The Death Eater's Daughter

Relax - Part 4

The next day seemed to drag. Eleanore was luckily not seated next to Draco for any other lessons, and yet she could feel his eyes on her throughout the whole day. She had finally acquainted herself with some Slytherin girls at the dinner table; Missy Abbot and Florence Cooper. Eleanore, Missy and Florence caught each other up on their vague life stories.

"So, have you got a crush on anyone?" Asked Missy, a genuine look of curiosity in her eyes. Eleanore paused for a second, studying the Slytherin table and all the boy who sat there. She finally shook her head. Her eyes had rested on Draco but she was sure to pull her attention away from him quickly.
"Nope, do you?"
"I've had the biggest crush on Charlie Peasegood since 3rd year." Missy leaned over the table slightly, careful not to dunk her tie in gravy.
"Florence has a crush on Zabini."
Florence looked up from her plate immediately and playfully punched Missy on the arm.
"Shut up Missy, he's sitting like 5 seats away!"
The three girls burst into laughter.
"Are you sure you don't have a crush on anyone, Eleanore? Draco Malfoy seems to look at you a lot in lessons."
Eleanore looked quizzical at her plate of food, then fixed her eyes on Missy. She had long, dark brown hair which curled slightly at the ends.
"No. He's only looking around. He's probably just bored or something."
"Yeah...it's just Draco hasn't been the same since the year started. I don't think I've seen him smile once."
"What do you mean?"
Missy held a finger to her lips and in a hushed tone whispered to Eleanore, "there's rumours going around that he's a death eater now."
Florence punched Missy once again, forcing her to straighten her stature and act like nothing had happened.
"Don't be so ridiculous, Missy!" She retorted.

After dinner, Eleanore took her letter and made her way to the owlery. She was starting to get the hang of the castle now, and she felt more confident in her navigational skills as the days passed. She was also confident, however, that the ever changing stair cases would always frighten her. She spent her walk to the owlery very much in her own head, absorbing the gorgeous blue skies which blanketed Hogwarts, and tugging at her robes to gain a little extra warmth. As she turned a corner, she saw Draco, standing over what looked to be a first year. The younger boy was sobbing as Draco clenched his shirt collar with one fist, and prepared to punch him with the other. Eleanore couldn't bring herself to witness more violence from the blonde haired boy, and so she found herself running down the corridor towards the pair. Before Draco had realised she was there, Eleanore grabbed his arm and brought it down forcefully. She could feel his muscles relax under his robes, which filled her momentarily with hope that he didn't really want to punch the kid. "Draco will you please stop being such a bully." Pleaded Eleanore. She felt a lump form in her throat and her eyes essentially begging Draco to soften up. "Fine," growled Draco, "but if he bumps into me again, I swear to merlin, I'll-"
"You'll do nothing, Draco", Eleanore responded, sternly. The young witch nodded at the kid, as if to say 'go ahead, and I'm sorry'. The boy ran away, clearly shaken by what had just happened. Eleanore suddenly was aware of the time, and she really wanted to get this letter sent to her parents. She turned away from Draco and started towards the owlery. "Where do you think you're going?" Questioned Malfoy, causing Eleanore to freeze and let out a sigh of inconvenience. "To the owlery," she replied, "are you coming with me?" A short moment passed before the shuffle of Draco's feet and his presence beside her allowed the pair to take towards the owlery. Finally.

Draco and Eleanore made it back to the common room just on time, without a second to spare. Eleanore headed straight to the black, leather sofa and immediately sank into the cold fabric, with Draco to her side. A few minutes passed in silence as the two found themselves captured by the fireplace once again.

"I've always loved fire," spoke Eleanore, quietly. "In front of the fireplace was always my favourite place to sit whenever I felt lonely back at home." Draco's eyes looked softly towards the young witch, as he sprawled himself out next to her. "Mine was always the rooftop." He mumbled in return. "The rooftop? Bloody hell you could get yourself killed." Responded Eleanore. Draco conjured a laugh in return and both of them were suddenly smiling at each other. "You could get yourself killed with a fire to be fair." Draco proposed, looking towards the flames. "That is true," agreed Eleanore.

Quickly, she thumped his arm in playfulness and threw herself backwards into the sofa. "See there's the nice, charming Draco I met." The two seemed to get lost in their smiles for a second, before Eleanore spoke "why can't you be like this with everyone else. Surely you must see, Harry Potter has an already miserable enough life, without you relentlessly bullying him."

Draco's expression soured, and he responded with an air of seriousness. "You of all people, should know what's it like to live like me." Eleanore took heed of his words and thought about them hard. With being hidden away her whole life, she could sympathise with how lonely it is, but to act out on others, to exhibit such cruel violence; that's something she couldn't quite level with. "No, actually, I don't." She replied, sternly.

Draco sighed and strode silently to the boy's dormitories, and before he disappeared for the night, Eleanore spoke "It doesn't have to be so hard, Draco. You just need to relax." She could see his eyes dart towards the floor, pausing for a second, really listening to her words, before he headed upstairs.