I Know The End {Fred Weasley, ACT I}

Chapter 47- The Beginnings of a Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Idea

Lupin and Sirius did in fact allow her to stay the weekend. They played chess and drank. Discussed some of the newer developments regarding Voldemort, then drank some more. They listened to her cry over Fred and filled her glass again. Eleanor wondered what James Potter would say if he could see them now; his best friends drinking away their misery with his daughter.

It was Monday morning, and Eleanor was nursing a hangover. True to her godfathers' word, they were kicking her to the curb. Technically, she didn't have to go back to Hogwarts. She was an adult, as Sirius had pointed out, and they had no authority over what she decided to do with her life. Sirius and Lupin were simply refusing to shelter her, refusing to be complicit in her crimes. Her choices were:

Go back to Hogwarts and face Fred

Buy an apartment somewhere, anywhere, and begin her life

Option two was feasible financially but felt lonely. And while Sirius and Lupin couldn't legally drag her back to Hogwarts, their disappointment would be force enough.

She didn't need to pack, having brought nothing with her. She sat in her school uniform, Fred's cloak folded in her lap, as Sirius ate breakfast next to her. Kreacher had washed her clothes, but not well. Dirt still smeared along her right sleeve; mascara streaked along the cuff where she'd wiped her tears.

Kreacher was sending her back to Hogwarts looking her best.

Lupin had run off on order duty before she'd awoken, leaving her and Sirius to eat breakfast alone. And maybe without Lupin there...

"You're still going back," Sirius said between forkfuls of eggs. "Don't think that just because Lupin isn't here that you can convince me to change my mind."

Eleanor scowled. "So, are you two back together again? Is that why you changed your mind?"

"Merlin, no," Sirius said with a shake of his head.

"But you..."

"I'm not talking about my sex life with my goddaughter," Sirius replied sternly, "but I will tell you this much – everything is going exactly as planned."

"Shagging him is a part of your six-month plan to win Remus Lupin back?"

"I told you the plan wasn't suitable for young ears."

Eleanor rolled her eyes. She hadn't touched her breakfast, her stomach churning at the thought of seeing Fred again. She clutched his cloak tighter in her lap. "That doesn't make any sense. That would just hurt."

"I said I'm not discussing this with you," Sirius repeated, poking his fork in her direction, "but... he just needed a taste of what he's missing."

"Merlin, Sirius," Eleanor groaned.

"I warned you."

"Sex isn't the way to someone's heart," Eleanor continued, her fingers tracing the lining of Fred's cloak. It smelled of him.

Sirius only shrugged before the topic of conversation was dropped but Eleanor was still pondering his words.

He just needed a taste of what he's missing.

"It's only three more months," Sirius reminded her, "and then you can come home. Maybe by then we'll all be living in that cottage by the sea like a proper family."

She returned to Hogwarts just in time for Herbology; Alicia, Angelina, and Iris all huddled around their usual workbench. An unusual quiet filled the room, especially unusual for a class such as Herbology where one could talk as they worked being there was no need to cast spells.