The Death Eater's Daughter

Help - Part 24

Eleanore was on her way to Care of Magical Creatures, making sure to conform to the orderly line the class was being lead in. Missy stood silent to the left of her, occasionally glancing towards Eleanore in utter disbelief of how strict Hogwarts had become.

It truly had lost its magic.

The familiar stature of Neville Longbottom was walking in front of Eleanore, and she couldn't help but eavesdrop on his conversation to a small blonde girl next to him. She strained her senses to really focus on the words, and she swore she had heard something along the lines of "Dumbledore's Army", and "Room of Requirement"...whatever he was saying, it sounded worthy of heavy punishment. Eleanore rolled her eyes when she thought about the idiocy of this boy talking so loudly, well, loud enough for the Carrows to pick up any suspicion.

She gave him a swift kick in the back of the leg to shut him up, and she shot him and understanding glare when he looked towards her.

After the lesson, the students were lead to the great hall for dinner, and Eleanore took a seat with Neville and the blonde girl.

"Y-you're Eleanore Yaxley?" He stuttered, he almost sounded star struck. Either star struck or scared. Eleanore placed her bets on scared.
"Correct, what of it?"
"Well, if I'm not mistaken, you're a death eater's daughter...and Draco Malfoy's girlfriend. Hardly anyone I'd like to hang out with, that's for sure."
"Drop it, Longbottom. If you even bothered to spend more than 5 minutes with Draco and I, you'd soon learn how far you are from the truth."
It was then that the blonde girl piped up.
"Your father assisted in the fire which took place at the Weasley's burrow. That fire burned their house down...Your father also ambushed Bill and Fleur's wedding this summer just gone."
Something got caught in Eleanore's throat; disappointment, grief, she didn't know. It took her a few moments to gather her words, but the blonde girl seemed to soften up when she recognised the emotion Eleanore was exhibiting in front of her.
"I...I'm so sorry. I don't keep tabs on what my father does...I had no idea." The blonde girl nodded in acceptance.
"Who are you?" Questioned Eleanore, a look of genuine curiosity in her eyes.
"Luna Lovegood, it's a pleasure." Luna stuck a small, pale hand out and Eleanore took it.
"Listen, I heard you talking about something on the way to Hagrid's class. First of all, you have to be more careful next time, talk somewhere more private. Second of all, I want to know what's happening...and if there's anything I can do to help."
Neville scoffed immediately, which quickly turned to laughter.
"What are you laughing at, Longbottom?" Eleanore grimaced.
"There's plenty of rumours going around about you and Draco being death eaters. Harry said he saw you on the Astronomy tower the night Dumbledore died and-"
"Oh would you just stop, Neville. It's clearly no secret that Draco and I were roped into that disgusting cult. Take it from me, we never wanted this."
Neville seemed to cower at Eleanore's words.
"You do know, Eleanore...Draco's aunt, Bellatrix killed my parents."
There it was again, that weird lump of disappointment forming in her throat.
"Actually, Neville, I didn't know."
Eleanore directed a comforting gaze towards him, urging him to relax in her presence.
"One thing we can agree on, is that Bellatrix is a goddamn psychopath."
Neville allowed a small smile to play over her face as Luna reached over to take his hand.
"Now," continued Eleanore,
"I understand you don't want to tell me what's going on, but Draco and I have been requested to assist in punishment this year. If I can't help you directly, then I can help you stay hidden. I'll leave that offer with you."

At that, Eleanore rose to find her seat with Draco at the Slytherin table. She was met with a nasty smirk from Pansy, to which Eleanore felt her body harden with disgust.

"What the hell do you want, pug face?"
"More like, what the hell do you want...from Neville Longbottom nonetheless!" Pansy roared with laughter, but she was alone. Her amused gaze turned sour quickly when she recognised the look of pure hatred that was piercing her soul.
"Seriously, El, why were you talking to Longbottom?" Whispered Draco, leaning his lips down towards her ear.
"I'll tell you later on." She muttered back to him.

Later, in the common room, Draco and Eleanore gathered in the early hours of the morning, after Eleanore had owled Draco.
"What's up, El?" Asked Draco, clearly disturbed from his sleep too early. He was wrapped in a black, expensive looking dressing gown and taking a seat in front of the fire to gather as much warmth as possible. Eleanore, on the other hand, was dressed in a tank top and shorts, the adrenaline coursing through her veins was enough to keep her warm.
"I think I've found something to redeem this shit show of a year for us." She beamed, sitting in front of Draco.
"What do you mean?" He croaked, in response.
"Neville and Luna are up to something, I overheard them earlier talking about something to do with Dumbledore's Army."
Draco rolled his eyes and groaned.
"They did this in 5th year, when Umbridge took over. A group of them were coaching on the defence against the dark arts after Fudge's blatant disregard for the return of Voldemort."
Eleanore's eyes lit up at the revelation. Oh, how she hated to have missed all of that.
"Well, they're doing it again this year, Draco."
Draco looked at her absentmindedly, still shivering from the cold.
"What's it got to do with us?"
"We can help them, Draco!"
Draco stood, letting the dressing gown fall to his sides, revealing just his boxers. Frantically, he tied his robe and returned to his words.
"Are you absolutely out of your mind, Yaxley?"
Eleanore grew more and more excited by the minute, much to Draco's annoyance.
"Come on, Draco, if we play by every other rule, we can help Neville and Luna fly under the radar. Merlin knows the younger years need as much help as they can get, with Voldemort coming back even stronger and all."
"That's exactly why you're out of your mind."
Eleanore grasped at his arms, pulling him down to her level.
"I don't know the exact future of this school, Draco, but you and I both know it isn't good. Wouldn't it feel good to do something right, for once?"
Eleanore could see the internal battle happening in his mind as his eyes darted from left to right, hurriedly trying to make a decision so he could go back to bed.
"Fine." He spoke, finally. "As long as you promise to play by the rules. We can help them go undetected, merlin, we can even help them teach the younger years. But we have to play nice with the Carrows. Nobody can know, or we'll both surely die."
Eleanore shuffled closer to the still freezing Draco, enveloping him in her arms and tracing soothing circles on his shoulder with her palms.
"Whatever happens, happens Draco. We'll make it through, I promise."