eleanor-malfoy:
Eleanor couldn’t imagine what things would be like without Lily and her leadership. She couldn’t imagine what she would be like without Lily there to guide her. The Order had always given her an outlet for her anger at her family, had turned it into something productive, rather than harmful, and a lot of that had to do with how Lily ran things. She always just seemed to know exactly what they all needed and when they needed it. She would forever be in awe of the seemingly effortless way that Lily managed it all. She had always been there for all of them, and it was something that Eleanor would forever be grateful for, and would never be able to truly repay. “You guys are cute,” Eleanor said with a smile. “I’m grateful for him too. I just feel lucky that I have both of you in my life. Don’t know what I’d do otherwise,” she admitted. It made her sick to think of how her family would view her friendship with Lily and Ren, and how they would never approve of it. It made her glad that she had never bought into their programming, she would have missed out on so many amazing people if she had believed her family’s nonsense.
People might side eye them for smiling and laughing, but Eleanor didn’t care. Things were so messed up but they couldn’t just give in to it. And besides, Marlene was going to be okay and that was enough for smiling. There would be enough frowning in the coming weeks, and if they could feel lighthearted for even a second, Eleanor was all for it. It made Eleanor sad that families had to be complicated, but nobody had ever said that it would be easy. She had grown up in a messed up family and she had always been very aware of how she was different from Lucius and her parents. It just was what it was. “Damn right he is,” Eleanor agreed. She was sure that nobody would allow Sebastian to get away with what he had done. It worried her, that he might come back again, but they would handle that if it happened. “We all have Marlene’s back and we’re not going to let him ever do anything like this again,” Eleanor said. She smirked. “He won’t know what hit him if Marlene gets to him.” He would deserve it. Eleanor nodded. “I can do that,” She said with a shrug. “But whatever you need…you know i’m here,” she said. “I’ll see if anybody says anything at the Ministry that would be useful for us,” she offered. “People always say things that they shouldn’t in front of me. They forget that I have ears and i’m always listening.”
“I know,” Eleanor said, offering her a small smile. She wondered what her mother thought of Peter’s sudden appearance, Adeline Malfoy had always ignored her husbands indiscretions so long as they weren’t in her face. For a moment, it made Eleanor sad to think of her mother having to deal with her husbands love child coming in and out of the house. But the moment was gone as quickly as it came, as she thought of all the times that her mother had allowed Abraxas to belittle them for being women, and that her mother had fully committed to the party line that Lucius was the superior child. She deserved whatever she got now as far as Eleanor was concerned. “I can only imagine…I can’t really remember a time when you all weren’t together.” It was what made what Peter did even more hard to fathom. When had he found the time to go and meet with Lucius or her father? When had it even started? Eleanor had plenty of questions that she was sure would never be answered. She nodded her head. “He can’t just come back like nothing had ever happened,” she agreed. “He made his choice…I hope for his sake that he doesn’t regret it.” She couldn’t bring herself to feel bad for Peter, he had made his bed and he was going to have to lay in it now. “I know I don’t…but it comes with a lifetime of apologizing for my family, you know? I feel responsible for him…for the crap that they all do and the way that they treat people. I feel guilty for it all.” She shrugged. “I feel like I have to work ten times harder to show everyone that I’m nothing like my family. Everyone hears my last name and just assumes that I’m like them. It comes with the last name, I guess.”
___
Laughing, she shook her head, “Well we’re something. Our dad always said our family was meant to find each other. I used to think that was a very sappy way to look at things, but now I’m not so sure that he wasn’t right,” she admitted. Lily knew that her life would have been entirely different if her mother hadn’t left. If Aaron Evans hadn’t come into their life when he had, Lily knew that her life wouldn’t be at all like it was now. She wouldn’t have ever had Ren, wouldn’t have had a father that she could rely on and talk to, and her mother wouldn’t have reconnected with her roots in the way that she had. Their family was always meant to be a unit, and Lily would do anything to protect what they had built. “You’re a part of our family too you know. There’s always going to be a place for you with us, El,” she promised, giving the younger girl a small, reassuring squeeze. Despite the fact that the Evans family was relatively close knit, they always had room for people that needed a little extra love. They always had an open door policy to those that needed it.
When it came to humor, it had always been Lily’s choice of coping mechanism. In a crisis, finding ways to laugh or lighten the mood made it just that much easier to swallow. Lily knew that without those small moments to make things just a little bit lighter, they would be overcome and consumed with the darkness. Lily was still rolling at the idea that Sebastian had tried to take out both the love of her life and her best friend. It filled her with a rage that was quite frankly, pliable, and paired with Peter’s betrayal, she hoped she didn’t come across either of them in the next few hours, lest she take them out on pure impulse alone. “No he won’t, and it’ll be that much worse if he ends up dealing with all of us. I, for one, don’t know that I could hold back if truly given the chance,” she admitted. Violence wasn’t necessarily in her nature, but she was a lioness at heart and she would sooner rip a person to shreds than see them hurt someone that she’d claimed as her own. Nodding, she gave her a soft smile and her arm a light squeeze, “Good, thank you. If you do that, it’ll allow me to get my job done that much easier, at least for now. I know you are, and I’m going to need you soon. I’m going to put you in touch with Remus shortly, he’s something of an expert in certain magical creature fields, and I think between the two of you we could draft a counter argument to the new laws that were just ordered,” she murmured. Smiling, Lily nodded, “Being underestimated is one of your greatest assets and nothing makes me prouder than the fact that you’ve learned how to use it,” she admitted.
Imagining the pureblood mentality was hard, as she had grown up in completely opposite circumstances. Her family had functioned closer to matriarch in many instances, but mostly, her parents operated on equal footing. There was respect and support on both sides, and they played to each other’s strengths. Her parents' balance was part of the reason their family worked as seamlessly as it did. Swallowing, she nodded, “Me neither. Since the first day we were all sorted at Hogwarts really. It’s been the five of us ever since and now - it feels like we’re missing a limb,” she murmured, an almost far away look in her eye. Lily really didn’t want to dwell on the sadness it caused, because it was so much easier to function in her anger. Biting her lip, she gave a hum, “You’re a better person than I, El,” she mused, her voice holding a humorless amusement as she continued, “Because I for one, hopes he chokes on his regret from the choices he’s made.” Lily was snapped out of her trance, her anger, her creeping sadness at the other girl’s words. Instead, a protective instinct took over, and Lily carefully, gently, cradled the younger girl’s face in her hands. “Stop. That line of thinking ends right now. You are not them, Eleanor. You are not their choices, not their mistakes, and not responsible for their actions. That guilt is not yours to carry. Let it go,” Lily ordered, her voice a powerful balance of gentle and unyielding. Shaking her head, Lily pushed Eleanor’s hair back gently, “I know who you are, El. I know you’re heart. You’re never going to have to prove yourself to me, and I will vouch for you every single time,” she promised, kissing her forehead carefully.












