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In the final minutes before the battle was supposed to resume, Eleanora and George sat on the front steps of the school, neither of them saying a word. Eleanora didn't mention the space they'd accidentally left between them where Fred would've sat normally. She couldn't even look at George. He was too much like Fred; even the way he was sitting was exactly how Fred always did when he was upset about something. Eleanora closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands. She was out of tears. All that was left was a painful empty feeling in her chest and an uncomfortably tightened throat. The only people she wanted to be with in that moment were the ones she could never be with again. "I want to go home," she whispered, all of the fight gone from her voice. She was done. She was ready for it all to be over.
"I want..." George trailed off, but Eleanora knew exactly what he wanted. She wanted the same thing.
They sat there for a long time before Bill found them, gazed at them sadly for a long moment, and then sat down on the other side of Eleanora, leaving the little gap where Fred would've sat open. Eleanora shifted closer to him, but didn't touch him. She didn't want anyone to touch her just then. She buried her face back in her hands and rested the backs of her hands on her knees. "There's only ten minutes left," Bill said at last. "They want everyone to go back in to prepare."
"Okay," Eleanora said softly, but she and George didn't move. She found that every time she tried to stand up, her legs wouldn't allow it. She was frozen, rooted to the spot by her unwillingness to go back to battle. She couldn't do it anymore. She didn't have the strength.
"El," Bill said, more firmly that before. His voice was pained and ragged from crying, but he couldn't lose Eleanora too. He needed everyone to at least put on a brave front for the end of the battle, no matter what the outcome was. He took a deep breath, and then stood up, offering Eleanora his hand. She took it and let him pull her up, and then turned to help George. Together, the three of them walked slowly back into the Great Hall.
The first person Eleanora saw when they got in was Oliver Wood. He looked tired and sad, but unharmed. She hadn't seen him since her wedding, and even then it had only been for a few minutes, but the second he spotted her he pulled her into a hug. "Hey... how are you?" He seemed to realize how ridiculous the question was the second he asked it.
Eleanora only shrugged. "I guess... I guess the hour's almost up?"
Wood checked his watch and nodded, his shoulders tensing up. "Two minutes."
At that moment, the Hogwarts grounds were filled with the voice of Voldemort again. "The battle is won," he boomed. Eleanora's eyes found Bill's and widened slightly. "You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anybody who continues to resist, man, woman, or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."
