Blackeyed Girl

@Daughter of a Serpent: you have no idea how close you are! And yes there will be more Ellie-Draco eventually. Thanks for reviewing :)



Here is one of the few chapters that I had in mind from the very start when I started writing this story. Let me know how you like it, guys.

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Chapter 13

The Angel in the Fireplace



Eleanor had been intrigued when Snape told her that he was going to take her to his home in the town of Spinner’s End. She had not even considered that he had a home outside Hogwarts. As much as she thought she was going to miss her friends, she was looking forward to spending time with Snape away from the school. Perhaps she would be able to see other places and living in a real house like a real girl who had a family was an amazing prospect. Ginny had looked at her positive expression rather sceptically when she told her that she was going to go “home with Snape” but Eleanor didn’t care.



The holidays soon arrived and she apperated with Snape to Spinner’s End. She was somewhat shocked when they appeared at a smelly riverbank, which was littered with muggle garbage. She thought it was a mistake. They had somehow gotten to the wrong place. But Snape did not say anything but started walking up the hill towards the street. She followed him quickly, trying not to step into something filthy. They arrived on the street and now Eleanor could see the village of Spinner’s End before them, old grey houses with smoking chimneys and a factory building near the hills in the distance. Also the street was littered with filth but not quite as bad as most of it seemed to have been thrown out of sight down to the river where they had come from.



“You live here?” Eleanor asked quietly.



“Yes… I grew up here… I don’t come back often but I kept the house. It has its uses,” he said.



She looked around as they walked down the street and imagined Snape as a child playing in the neighbourhood, perhaps with the muggle kids… Somehow she could not quite imagine it. She could not imagine any child playing here. She looked ahead and just hoped that his house was nice from the inside.



Snape turned into another street and stopped at the very last house. It was small and grey just like the others. He opened the door with a flick of his wand and let Eleanor enter first. Eleanor stepped into a low ceiling-sitting room. As she had expected it was dark and dusty and not exactly welcoming but she found it cosy and even protective. All walls were covered with bookshelves and a few armchairs and sofas were draped around a fireplace.



Snape lingered only for a moment then he walked straight towards a wall of books. Eleanor watched him. He flicked his wand at it and the bookshelf rolled back into the corner to reveal a narrow staircase. Without a word he disappeared in it. Eleanor decided to follow him. They arrived at the first and only landing. The hallway was so narrow, a broader person would have had trouble to not brush the walls with his shoulders. Snape stopped and pushed open a door.



“This can be your room.” He said and Eleanor stepped forward to look inside. It was anything but welcoming. It was a small square room with a descending roof on one side. The paint on the walls and ceiling had gone dull with brown patches all over it. The floor was dusty and the furniture would not make anyone believe that this was a bedroom. There was a wardrobe that was leaning heavily to one side, probably struggling with the weight of its content. An old broken armchair stood by the window and a small sofa with wire poking out stood along the wall with the lower ceiling.



Eleanor’s eyes wandered over each item in the room. But she was not appalled by what she saw. It didn’t matter what the room was like now. All she saw was its potential and having a room in a real house was already exciting enough.



“It’s beautiful”, she said honestly.



“Well, it needs some work obviously. I have not been using this room in years.”



She turned and looked up at him: “I can do it on my own. You don’t need to help me.”



Snape frowned: “I should think not. No magic outside Hogwarts, remember?”



“Oh yeah”, she said quest fallen and looked at the room again, now seeing all the hard work it would need without magic.



“I will take care of it this evening.”



“Okay”, she answered disappointed she could not do the makeover herself. The idea to create her very own perfect bedroom had been overwhelming. It crossed her mind to ask if she could be there so she could make him do it the way she would like it, but she did not dare. It felt greedy to ask.



Snape closed the door again and walked back down the stairs. She followed. When they arrived back in the living room he turned toward the only other door there was, except for the front door. Again she followed him. They entered the kitchen. It was rather large compared with the rest of the house and there was a hole in the floor covered by something that looked like a trap door. Snape pointed at it.



“Down there is my laboratory. It is out of bounce.” Eleanor nodded even though her curiosity was triggered immediately.



They spend the next hours settling down and unpacking their things. They didn’t speak much. While Snape rummaged around the house Eleanor started to read the backs of the books in his shelve, which kept her occupied for a long time. About two hours went by until Snape came downstairs again and said:



“Are you hungry yet?”



“Bit.”



“I’ll go and make something up for dinner. Have a look at your room in the mean time. I brought your stuff up. I don’t like stuff lying around in the house so make sure you keep your stuff in your room.”



Eleanor nodded. She was a bit surprised. She had not noticed Snape had started doing her room up. Immediately she went upstairs to look at it.



She opened the door slowly and her chin dropped.



The patches on the walls had disappeared instead the walls were covered in stripy blue and grey wallpaper. There was a small wooden bench fitted into the windowsill. The wardrobe was straight now, the wooden floor polished and there against the wall stood a new iron framed bed. Snape also had added a small desk to the other wall and a matching chair, which had replaced the old armchair. And on the wall above the desk was an oil lamp that was lid and cast shadows across the room. This was a real bedroom. Adrenalin rushed through her as she imagine herself sitting in the window reading a book and sleeping in the bed and studying for the new term at the desk. And suddenly she could not help but jump up and down, clapping her hands and giggle. She heard herself and found it sounding extremely weird but she could not stop for a long moment. Looking at his room, -her room felt as though for the first time since her mother’s death she could imagine being a really normal girl again. She heard Snape calling and pressed her hands over her mouth to silence herself. Then she walked back down again. She entered the kitchen. Snape had put two steaming bowls on the table.



“Sit down”, he said, “I just thought you should know that I am not used to having… guests around so don’t get used to getting everything served to you. If you get hungry just help yourself. If you need anything from me just tell me. Don’t expect me to read it in your eyes. I will be working a lot so I don’t have time to care for you.”



“That’s fine,” she said and sat down. He did not say anything else and started eating. She watched him, warming her hands on her bowl.



“My room…” she said uncertain how to phrase it. He looked up, “yes, anything else you need in it? I don’t know what little girls need…”



“No! It’s… I was gonna say I…”



“What?”



“I really really like it.”



Snape hesitated then he simply said: “Good”, and continued eating.



Eleanor was still looking at him.



“It’s the best thing anyone has given me in years. Thank you”, now that she had said it she turned to her soup and begin eating.



She did not see that Snape looked up again, considering her a moment before returned to his meal.



The next two days Eleanor did not see much of Snape. She met him in the house but they did not speak much to one another. Most of the time he seemed to spend in his lab and his study. Eleanor spent a lot of time in her room, using it the way she had imagined, which she enjoyed immensely. But with Christmas suddenly being on the doorstep she started wondering if Snape was planning anything. Secretly she wishes they could have a tree and a real Christmas like she remembered from being a child but she did not want to ask Snape about it. He seemed so busy.



But eventually on the 22nd of December she asked him as she met him in the kitchen: “Would you mind if I get a Christmas tree?”



Snape frowned then put his hand in his coat pocket to retrieve a small amount of muggle money and with the words “if you need to”, dropped it on the table before her.



Eleanor took the money. She did not know how much it was worth but she decided to go straight away and buy a tree.



She walked down the street and soon found what she was looking for. A court yard filled with Christmas trees. She was uncertain about how this worked but after watching the scene for a while she approached the man who seemed to be in charge and held out the money to him.



“What do I get for this?” she asked.



The muggle frowned at her coins and then disappeared to came back a moment later, pulling a small thin tree behind him. Wordlessly she grabbed it and pulled it home. She placed it in the sitting room and leaned it against the wall next to the fireplace. She sat down on the sofa and looked at it for a long time. Now they had a tree. But how was she going to make it stand? And she did not have any money for decoration. Why did this have to be so difficult? She did not want to ask Snape again for something. At home the Christmas tree had always hovered. But she was not allowed to use magic. Later that day when it had already gone dark outside she heard Snape come back up the ladder from the lab and he walked into the sitting room. He stopped behind her and looked at the tree that was looking sad, pushed up against the wall.



“Is that all?” he said.



She turned to look at him: “I can’t make it hover. And I have no decorations.”



Snape sighed, then he flicked his wand and the tree stood up and started hovering above the ground in the corner.



“There should be some old decorations in the attic”, he said and disappeared back into the kitchen. Eleanor got up immediately and went upstairs to the attic. There was a lot of clutter and boxes full of random stuff. Some of the things Eleanor could not identify, as they were muggle things but eventually she found a box in the far back under a lot of other boxes. It had “Christmas” written on it in a female handwriting. She pulled the box down the stairs. She opened it in the living room and found it filled with little wooden toys and stars made out of straw and little silver balls and small red apples made of wood. Everything had a small string on it. So she started picking the things she liked and putting them on the tree. She mostly chose the toys, as they were all different, little figures on skates, little gingerbread houses and bazaar things like a squirrel with an accordion and a bear with only one eye, wearing a hat and scarf.



When she was finished she sat down and crossed her arms, admiring her work. It was not like in her memory but it was all right and she had done it all herself. She went to the kitchen, helped herself to an apple and settled back on the sofa to continue admiring her tree. Suddenly there was a noise and a massive green flash in the fireplace. Dust sped out of it and the tree shook violently. Eleanor froze in surprise and as the flash and dust subsided she saw a tall person stepping out of the fireplace. The person was furiously brushing the dust off his shoulders and travelling cloak, muttering angrily to no one in particular:

“God damn Severus…. That happens when you don’t have elves!”



He did not seem to notice Eleanor on the sofa before him and she did not dare to move. Apart from the angry muttering she thought she was seeing an angel. It was a tall man, with pale, clear skin, long silver blond hair and his cloak was the most elegant and expensive looking she had ever seen. And in his fury he was a consuming, overpowering force. Eleanor was overwhelmed and in shock at the same time.



The kitchen door opened and Snape entered. He did not seem to be surprised by the visitor. He had obviously expected him.



“Severus”, hissed the angel still annoyed and still brushing off dust off his cloak, “get an elf, will you!”



“You could have apperated”, said Snape unconcerned.



“And catch some muggle disease on the filthy way to your house? No thank you very much.”



“Lets go downstairs, I show you what I have prepared.” Snape said, changing the subject.



“Yes”, muttered the angel and turned to follow Snape, but then he stopped, his eyes narrowing. He had spotted Eleanor, who was still sitting on the sofa, the apple held before her mouth to bite into it, but frozen in action and staring up at him.



“Severus”, he started, “there is a little girl… sitting on your sofa.” He kept his eyes on her frowning slightly. Snape turned back.



“Yes, I’m sorry. This is my ward.”



The angel turned to him in surprise: “Your ward?”



“Yes, she is extended family. Her mother and father are dead…”



“And of course it was nothing worth mentioning…honestly Severus…” he turned his back on Snape and turned towards Eleanor again. His frown disappeared and was replaces by a friendly smile. He stepped towards Eleanor, bend towards her slightly and extended his hand.



“Lucius Malfoy. It is a pleasure to meet you.”



Eleanor’s mouth twitched but nothing came out. She slowly lifted her hand and took his meekly. He pulled her hand slightly towards himself, caressed her skin in his soft grip, unconsciously as it seemed.



“Now, Severus”, he called without turning his eyes away from Eleanor, “what side of the family is she from?”



“My mother’s of course.”



“Ah, of course, she’s a Prince. And both your parents were wizards, were they?”

Eleanor nodded vaguely. Her stomach had started twisting itself more and more as she tired to focus on his dazzling eyes rather than the sensation of his soft stroking of her hand.



“Well, that is more than our dear Severus can say about himself.”



“Can we go then? I have things I need to get on with”, said Snape crankily.



Lucius smiled at Eleanor and said, as though he was speaking to her:



“Of course. We all understand that your blood status doesn’t make you a less important person.” but Snape had already left the room, “I hope I will see you again, Miss Prince.” He graced the back of her hand almost with his lips. Eleanor shook as though electrocuted but remained silent as a rock. Lucius winked at her and turned away to follow Snape. When he had left the room Eleanor slowly started blinking her eyes again, suddenly noticing they had gone dry. She rose from her seat and stood, staring at the door through which the angel had left. No person in the world had ever made her feel so fuzzy inside.



She was disappointed that she did not see him again that day. But when she sat at the dinner table opposite Snape that evening she chose to break the silence.



“That man today… Lucius Malfoy. Is he related to Draco Malfoy?”



“Yes”, Snape said without looking up, “he is Draco’s father.”



Eleanor almost dropped her fork. Ginny’s words were as real in her head as though she was right there telling her again all the reasons why Draco Malfoy was scum. His father is a Deatheater. This angel was supposed to be a killer? And he went in and out of Snape’s house.



“What do you have to do with him?” she asked in what she hoped was a very harmless tone.



Snape looked up at her and it was instantly clear that he did not consider this a harmless question.



“None of your business”, he said coldly but then added, “we’re old friends and we are doing some work together. None of this concerns you.”



“Is he going to be around more often?” she asked. He looked at her again, searching her eyes. She did not look away. She knew her eyes were hard to read. After a while he said:



“Yes. In fact he will be back tomorrow. But like I said none of it is your business.”



Eleanor remained silent and finished her meal. When she went to bed she tried to remember that face and that smile and the touch of his hand. No other person had ever had such a powerful impact on her. She could not understand it. She found it hard to even care that he might be a Deatheater. She tried to imagine it but she just could not quite believe it or she did not want to and deep down inside she liked that dangerous air about him that perhaps he was an evil man. This thought send a nice shiver down her spine. It scared and thrilled her at the same time. And then again she remembered his eyes, so cold but so noble and the way he touched her hand so softly and the silkiness of his voice when he spoke to her. No one had ever treated her like a grown up woman. She had to be there when he came back tomorrow. She did not know why, she knew it was silly, but she just had to be there, she just had to feel this thrill again, this excitement, what ever it was. She pulled her blanket up to her neck and watched the shadows on her wall. Under her blanket her right hand searched her left and she tried to recreate the sensation of his caressing touch. It did not feel the same. His hand had been warmer and bigger and stronger and it had felt like his hand had a conscious of its own, touching her hand as though this was a different way of communication but she was not sure what it was trying to say. She only knew that his touch was full of confidence, knowledge, certainty and gentleness. She let her hand wander over her body, her shoulder, her breast, and her stomach and imagined it was his. The idea was both terrifying and exciting.



The next day Eleanor got ready early and placed herself into an armchair in front of the fireplace. She had a block of wood with her and a knife as she was going to make a Christmas present for Snape, while she was waiting for the angel to arrive. About an hour into her work the sudden noise and cloud of dust and the flashing light together with some now familiar angry muttering appeared and the angel hurried out of the fireplace, once again sour faced and brushing the dust off his cloak. But it only took him a moment to find his grace again. He straightened up and stopped brushing as Snape walked into the sitting room to greet him.



“Lucius.”



But Lucius was looking at Eleanor, who had put her carving work aside. But this time he was not smiling, not offering his hand, he was looking at her as though he had forgotten he had met her before and was surprised once again. He looked her up and down rather critically.



“Does your ward have no clothes, Severus?”



Eleanor looked down at herself alarmed and instantly glad as she confirmed to herself that she was dressed.



Snape frowned.



“It is Christmas and she looks like she just escaped from a convent, besides she was wearing the same dress yesterday. Do you not have anything else to wear?” he addressed her so suddenly and harshly that Eleanor only shook and blushed.



“I… I have two of these. That’s what we wore at my old school and… and I have my Ravenclaw uniform…” she said very quietly. Lucius turned to Snape:



“You have got to be kidding me, Sev.”



Snape only stood there, not sure what to say for a moment. He really never had considered her wardrobe to be a problem. There had been so many other inconveniences, clothes, as long as she was wearing some, really had not been an issue for him.



Lucius gave up waiting for a response. He sighed, shook his head and walked past Snape into the kitchen. Snape gave her a look she could not identify and then followed Lucius.



Eleanor looked down at herself. She had not seen this coming. She had not considered that he could take offence in her outfit. She had never considered her clothes at all. She liked her dress and she was comfortable in it. She could not see the problem with it. But she was upset, that he obviously did have a problem with it. Now she was scared to meet him again. She felt rude to have spoiled the angel’s view with her appearance.



Meanwhile Snape followed Lucius down into the lab, where a caldron was steaming over a fire with a purple paste bubbling away inside.



“I would prefer if you kept your opinions about my ward to yourself.” Snape said as he stepped off the ladder.



Lucius turned around to him: “Oh please. Someone has to speak up for the poor girl. I am surprised she has not been taken apart by the other kids yet looking the way she does. Do you want her to become like you? Is that why you’re doing this?”



“Doing what?”



“You are making her into a freak! She’s a pure blooded young woman. It is important for her to fit into society. You want her to have a good future. You don’t want her to still sit on your sofa in that dress when she is thirty-five without a husband or any kind of social network. How old is she anyway, fifteen? They grow up fast that age, Severus. You need to start thinking about her prospects as a wife.”



“Wife?!”



“Well, what were you thinking? You want her to end up like you? She’s a female. They are different from us. They have different rules, different requirements. One of their requirements is a decent wardrobe. She has to be able to make an appearance. Have you even noticed what a pitiful picture she makes on that sofa? She can’t even open her mouth properly.”



“She was just intimidated by you.”



Lucius sighed: “You may be brilliant at potions and …stuff”, he gave the lab a quick puzzled, almost disgusted glance before he continued, “but you are absolutely clueless when it comes to women and society,” he paused, “I want you to bring her to our New Year party. Get her a decent dress and bring her along. I will introduce her to a few people…and hope she can improvise the expected charm.”



“I don’t know…”



“Severus, trust me. I’m a father. And I know a thing or two about society. I want to help you. I want to help her. She could be an asset to the Wizarding society. It would be a shame, a real shame to let her just… waist away like this. Would you not be happier if she quickly found herself a decent husband who then can take care of her instead of you having to look after her for the rest of your life?”



That idea frightened Snape indeed. But taking Eleanor to the Malfoy’s annual New Year party was something he could not imagine. He could not imagine Eleanor there at all.



“I’ll think about it,” he said and turned towards his work.