Illicit | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 59

It was getting close to 6pm, and Andrew had already left to have dinner with his family.

Sirius, James, Remus, and Eleanor had gathered on the sofa with a snack to still a bit of their hunger. She had no idea where her mother was, but she surely would be home soon. Lyall's work at the Ministry usually had no ending, so she never knew when he'd ever get home.

It was after Andrew had left that the subject changed to the war. There had been another front-page article in the Daily Prophet on it that day, and the four of them were eager to share their ideas.

Especially James and Sirius had a lot to share. Apparently, strange things had been occurring at Potter Manor lately - or well, people.

"All these people just keep coming and going all day," he said, with Sirius nodding along.

"But what for?" Remus asked eagerly.

Both him and Eleanor were on the edge of their seats. Their father never told them much about what was going on at the Ministry or the war in general. He thought they were still too young and shouldn't be meddling in those sorts of things.

"Wouldn't know, mum makes us go upstairs every time," James said, fiddling with his glasses that he'd taken off.

"I swear I saw Dumbledore once though!" Sirius chimed in.

James groaned. "You didn't see him, Pads. Why on earth would Dumbledore be in my house?"

"But I saw him!" Sirius pushed on, making Eleanor chuckle.

Remus' brow had turned into a frown and he was looking out ahead of him. Like something very strange was going on just two feet in front of him.

"Maybe it is because of Voldemort," he said darkly.

Sirius and Eleanor gave each other an uneasy look. The name always sent shivers down her spine, like a spider crawling on your skin. It felt unnatural.

They all simultaneously grabbed their drink and took a sip, except for Remus. He leaned his elbows on his knees and frowned at the table.

"I mean, another young couple went missing yesterday, it was in the Prophet. Who knows what else is happening that the papers don't report?"

He met the grave-looking gazes of the others and gulped.

Eleanor immediately looked down again. Of course she wanted to know what was going on in the world, it was so important.

But another part of her wished she was oblivious to everything. The cruelty and horror of the past few months were getting too real for her. Too close to home.

"Let's listen to some music, eh? Or maybe there's something on that tevelision of yours?" James tried to lighten the mood, squinting at the TV set standing in the corner.

"Television, James," Eleanor corrected him with a little laugh.

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, just put the bloody thing on."

Eleanor sat on her knees in front of the TV and switched between different stations. They never watched a lot of TV. Not that she knew of anyway; they were at Hogwarts most of the year.

Nothing interesting came on. She just lingered a bit when a strange commercial came on for canned mashed potatoes, getting a laugh from Sirius and James. Other than that, back to the news it was.

James frowned at the screen. "I don't understand why Muggles don't just read the paper," he said.

"They do, but sometimes they don't-"