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For the first time since Eleanora was nine years old, she was living with her father. It was odd having all of the remaining Marks' in one house, but strangely enough it didn't bother Eleanora. After her mother's death, she didn't want to reject the only parent she had left. All the same, she had trouble trusting Cillian after everything he'd done in the past. She settled for nearly-silent morning coffee with him when she came home from patrol duty everyday as a good medium. For the rest of the day, she would tactfully avoid her father, who spent most of his time with Daisy anyways. Nobody in the Order exactly trusted Cillian, but they were all willing to tolerate him for Daisy's sake.
Even after her mother's death, Daisy managed to stay cheerful. She somehow got everyone to smile just by entering the room, and she was persistent in her attempts to get the Order to like her father. "Look, Ellie, he's here now," she would say over and over again with a smile. "He's really not that bad."
Eleanora never argued with her sister. She would only shrug non-committedly and make up some excuse to not go downstairs. She was having a much harder time grappling with the reality of her mother's death. Over the last few weeks, she'd withdrawn almost completely into her bedroom. Really, the only person Eleanora wasn't avoiding was Bill.
"You okay?" he asked one morning, sneaking into her room when he got back from his patrol. Moody had separated Bill and Eleanora to "prevent distractions," so the couple saw each other even less than usual. With Bill at work during the day and both of them on patrol at night, they only got early mornings and evenings.
"Yeah, fine." Eleanora had a far-off look in her eyes and hardly even noticed when Bill climbed into bed next to her.
"Hey." Bill touched her arm lightly, snapping her out of her daze.
"Hey."
"What's up?" Bill leaned back on the pillows and clasped his hands together, looking at her in interest.
"Dunno." Eleanora leaned against his shoulder and closed her eyes. "What's up with you?"
"El..." Bill shifted so he was sitting cross-legged across from Eleanora. It reminded him of a time years and years ago when they sat under a tree at Hogwarts and talked about her home situation. That moment felt so far away. "What can I do?" he asked. "I know you're upset about your mum, and I'm here for you- but is there anything I can do to help?" He looked helpless. With other problems Eleanora had had, he'd always felt like he could actively do something to help. Now, he had no idea how to pull her out of her constant daze.
"No. I'm okay."
"I know you're not."
Eleanora shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair. "Yeah," she said quietly. "But it's alright."
"It's not." Bill was quiet for a long time. "Let's get out of here," he said at last.
"What?"
"Let's just go. You know, on a date or just to Shell Cottage or- anywhere. Anywhere you want. I'll take the day off work and- and we'll get all dressed up, and- let's just get out of here." He jumped off of the bed and grabbed Eleanora's hand, pulling her up. Eleanora stood hesitantly, but couldn't help smiling when Bill pulled her to his chest. "Wherever you want," he repeated before kissing her.
