The Death Eater's Daughter

Firewhisky, lots of it - Part 35

The next day was Christmas Eve, and Eleanore awoke in Draco's arms. They had been sleeping together every night since the other students left for Christmas. Nobody in Draco's dormitory had stayed around.

When Eleanore woke, Draco was facing away from her, and she took the time to inspect the way his shoulder blades moved so delicately under his skin when he breathed. She traced his spine softly and pulled herself closer to him, slipping an arm around his waist. It was then that Draco stirred in his sleep and let out a tired grunt.
"Turn around," he spoke, his voice hoarse with sleep.
Eleanore did as she was told, and enjoyed the way her body had fit so perfectly in his, his arms pulling her impossibly close to him.
"Draco," she whispered reluctantly. She wanted to stay like this forever, but this was the last day she had to do any last minute Christmas shopping.
"Oi, Malfoy, wake up." She spoke louder this time, earning her a grunt of disapproval as he rolled himself face first into the sheets.
"It's Christmas Eve, and you haven't done any Christmas shopping."
"And you have?"
Draco was sat up now, begrudgingly so.
"I've asked my father to send me a few things via owl. It all came last night whilst you were showering."
A sadness seemed to weigh heavily on her heart as she spoke those words. The last time she had spoke to her father in person, she was extremely unpleasant. Now, she was grateful for his forgiving fatherhood, and she wished so hard everyday that she could see him again to say sorry.
To her dismay, Draco begun to close his eyes, so she did the only necessary thing in that moment and jumped wildly up and down on the bed, forcing him to wake up with chaos.
Draco reached out an arm and grabbed her leg, causing her to come crashing down on the bed, landing on top of him. He groaned in pain with the force of her fall, but quickly pulled her up to him, planting a kiss on her forehead.

Later that day, Eleanore and Draco had gotten dressed and were heading out of the castle, when a familiar, ghastly voice came booming from behind them.
"Where do you think you two are going?"
It was Amycus. Eleanore turned quickly on her heel and turned her lips up into a pout.
"Christmas shopping. Maybe a few drinks at the Hog's Head. Want to come with?"
She took great pleasure in the look of distaste plastered on his face.
"If you aren't back by 10pm, Alecto and I will personally escort you back."
"A curfew? Really?"
"Well, it's either that or you don't go at all."
Eleanore could feel the anger growing hot in her being, and her fists clenched at her sides. Draco quickly remedied it, however, by snaking his long fingers over hers.
"Fine." Hissed Eleanore, before turning away.
The couple exited finally, and Draco could tell she was angry by her almost marching ahead of him.
"We're only staying here so they can babysit us, right?"
Draco nodded, his head hanging low with shame. Eleanore realised instantly that he felt bad for not telling her.
"It's okay. It's not like home would have been much better anyway." She spoke, calmly, taking his hand in her own.

A few hours later, Eleanore and Draco were wading through the crowds with huge bags of gifts in their hand. They both were extremely lucky to grow up with great wealth, and with each expensive gift Draco bought, Eleanore felt the crushing weight of guilt cause her heart to twitch in her chest. She could not shift her mind from her father and the way she had treated him.

"Shall we go to The Hog's Head, then?" Draco questioned, getting rather bored of shopping.
"Yeah, that sounds good," responded Eleanore.
Draco opened the door of the bustling bar, and Eleanore flinched slightly at the sight of so many drunken witches and wizards. Draco could sense her anxiety, so he took her hand and lead her carefully through the crowds.

"Eleanore! Come sit with us!" A familiar voice pierced through the mess of people. She turned her head and immediately spotted Neville, sitting with three gingers.

The Weasleys, she thought to herself.

Luckily, there were two spare seats at their table and Eleanore and Draco fell back into them, exhausted from the day. A small, ginger girl with hair as straight as knives warmly looked towards Eleanore and pulled her into a quick hug. She could smell the butter beer on her breath.
"It's so nice to meet you, Eleanore! Neville's just been telling us about how much you've helped him." Eleanore returned her warm expression and let herself relax around her.
"My name's Ginny!"
Two other guys suddenly popped their heads around Ginny's small frame.
"This is Fred"
"And this is George"
"It's nice to meet you." They were both grinning drunkenly at Eleanore, and she noticed immediately that George had a missing ear.
It was like watching a ping pong match with how quick they batted their words.
"It's lovely to meet you all, too!" Eleanore finally responded, feeling slightly overwhelmed.
Draco returned to the table and placed a small tumbler of fire whisky in front of Eleanore. He seemed to look wildly uncomfortable, but Eleanore quickly leaned forward, placing a hand on his knee under the table and squeezing.
"Draco, it's nice to see you too." Probed Ginny, also wanting him to relax. Draco returned her sentiment with a nod and a "Weasley".
"What have you got there, then?" Questioned Fred, sprawling himself messily over the table to inspect their chosen drinks.
"Fire whisky. Never sat well with me that stuff."
"Made him horribly ill, he was on the toilet for days." Interjected George, chuckling at his disappointed looking brother.

Their night continued with laughter and drinks for a while, and Eleanore and Draco were on their fourth firewhisky when she began to really feel the effects. To her satisfaction, Draco had relaxed significantly and was now engaging in conversation with Neville and the twins. Something about Quidditch, no doubt.

Eleanore nudged Ginny clumsily on the shoulder. "So...why didn't I see your gorgeous face at the DA?" Ginny smiled warmly in appreciation of the compliment, but her expression quickly turned into one of sadness.
"I thought it best to stay out, considering I'm very close with Harry, we're easy targets...the death eaters hate us."
Eleanore suddenly felt her stomach twitch, knowing Ginny was directly referring to her father and his closest allies. She looked into Ginny's brown eyes and thought of the warmth her being exuded. How could anyone hate her? Or the twins for that matter. Why would anyone want to burn down their family home?

Eleanore felt a frown tug at her lips when she finally spoke.
"You know, I don't affiliate myself with them. Neither does Draco. I hate them all...but my father really does have a good soul. I promise."
Maybe it was the firewhisky, maybe it was something else, but Eleanore felt tears building up in her eyes, causing Ginny to pull her into a warm embrace.
"I trust you Eleanore. What you've done for Neville, and the others...that was really brave, and it gives me no reason to think you're anything like them."
Eleanore could feel her cold limbs liven up at her words, and she squeezed Ginny tighter before pulling away and wiping the tears from her cheeks.

Draco and Eleanore quickly found themselves eight fire whiskys in, and Eleanore was starting to feel tired. She didn't want to leave quite yet, though, because the company of the Weasleys and Neville was exactly what they both needed. Clumsily, Eleanore reached over the table, so she could get a better view of George.
"G-George, I have to ask, what happened to your ear?"
George laughed, seemingly appreciating the attention.
"I lost it, in the battle of the seven Potters. Made an excellent toothbrush holder for a while."
Eleanore laughed, but then quickly fell back in her seat when she realised what he meant. She was a part of that ambush, and she was the one to cause the Order so much pain with the loss of Moody. Eleanore felt sick, and Draco was just about to lean over and kiss her on the cheek, when his expression suddenly soured.

"What time do you think it is?" A sickening voice boomed behind her. Amycus. She turned her head towards him, the anger brimming in her eyes.
"You reaaaally think you can- you can just drag us back to Hogwarts by our ears?" She realised now, that she was slurring her words considerably, which earned her a laugh from Amycus.
"Oh yes, Miss Yaxley."
Eleanore was trying incredibly hard to control her intrusive thoughts as she eyed an empty bottle of butter beer on the table next to them.
Without realising, Eleanore was now stood, face to face with the professor, and her fists were clenched at her side.
She felt a hand grab her arm, pulling her back to her seat.
"Come on, El. Let's just go." Spoke Draco, calmly, gathering their bags and standing. Eleanore begrudgingly followed him.
"Bye guys, see you n-next term!"
"You won't see us! We're alumni's!" The twins spoke in unison, causing Eleanore to laugh as she was forced from the pub.