Virtues and Vices

The Polyjuice Plot

After stopping by at the hospital wing to get a quick check from Nurse Blainey—which she didn't like at all because a poorly looking student coming to her wasn't something she expected to see on a Sunday morning—Eleanor went to her room. It was empty. Nerida and Gretchen probably were at the Great Hall, having their meals.

She had no more time to waste now, so she quickly wrote a letter to her aunt with little hope she'd respond positively immediately. As she said bye to her beloved owl and watched him fly out of the room, she dashed to Arithmancy class.

A neat, tidy, and dimly lit room greeted her as she stepped into the office. A man in his usual white shirt with his back facing her direction—his blond hair making the room somewhat brighter—looked rather busy with a book in his hand. She took a deep breath, feeling a little nervous to learn what he meant by 'I've something to show you. Come meet me.' in his letter.

"Papa?..."

She could clearly see how he was deep in his own thoughts with his glasses on the bridge of his nose as he turned around, but then a smile was shown when his eyes met hers. "Ah, ma chérie, finally. Sit down, I have good news." And she did; she sat across him while he moved to find something on his other desk as he put his glasses on the desk. He went back and sat down, handing an envelope, she immediately recognised the handwriting on it as she took it. That was her aunt's, Lily.

"Is it?–" He nodded, his smile looked a little broader. She took the letter out of it and carefully read what was in it.

'My old coworker reached out to me three days ago regarding a possible cure for Ellie. We will talk more later at home since Christmas break is coming soon. Take her home as soon as you can. Send my love to my little stars.'

Her expression quickly changed from solemn to surprise. She looked up to see her father looking like an excited kid on a holiday morning. "Papa, this is... Awesome! Have you told Leo?" Elliot definitely would be thrilled to know this. She could imagine him smiling so bright at the news.

"I have, of course. He even wanted us to go home today," his words made them laugh. As the talk went longer than she thought it would be, it somehow felt like they hadn't talked for years and there were lots for them to catch up with, she stole a glance all over his room. Realised how the books weren't on the floor like they usually would be, perhaps he finally listened to his wife.

"Your mother," he said as he glanced at a pile of letters on the side of his desk and her eyes followed his, "Send me letters every single day ever since you went to school. I believe you'd know that even if you don't receive that many from her. How silly of her." He might have sounded like he mocked her, but it was rather full of love. She knew how much he loved her mother, the only woman that could make him head over heels for years.

But his words pulled another question from her mind; "But, Papa, does she know about this?" Edmond nodded, "She was the first one to know, in fact. Not so surprising if we're talking about your aunt– telling her best friend first, then her brother later."

She chuckled at how he looked a little annoyed before she stopped and her head was slightly tilted as he was staring at her with a questionable look. "What is it, papa?" He was only pointing at her hands, making her looked down at them who were patting her lap arrhythmically. "Do you have something you want to tell me, sweetheart?" She didn't even notice she was doing that, was she that nervous?

Her lips pressed into a thin line as she kept staring at her lap for a moment, not sure how to tell him everything. "Papa, I hope you won't be mad at me– or at any of my friends, after I tell you this," Edmond stared at his daughter, kind of confused what she had to say that she acted this nervous.