Chapter Text
He finally found it. Privet Drive 4 was as unremarkable as the entire rest of the neighbourhood. Nothing out of the ordinary, like a fish in water. Everything as expected and as normal as it can be.
It was really a shame that someone like Eleanor has to live in a place like that. On the other hand that was probably the intention behind why Dumbledore left her there. If he could he would have brought the will himself to contest for her custody but after the war new anti-Dark creature Legislation was brought through. He technically didn’t even live in magical Britain at the moment.
Remus wanted to see her before he left for the continent in search of work. They had a lot less Legislation against his kind and a hell lot of less prejudice. The Light families were in this regard not really kinder than the followers of Voldemort. Most Dark families are actually more tolerating.
Luckily for him Petunia was a Muggle. As well as her husband and son as far as he could tell. They at least didn’t smell of magic. If they knew he was a werewolf they probably would try to throw their silver at him.
He has watched the House for a day now. The sun was creeping to the horizon and the light got less but that wasn’t a problem for him. As much Petunia and the rest didn’t smell of magic, their fourth resident just reeked just so of it. From what he could tell the house had some impressive wards. Probably Lily’s creation if he had to guess. After her Parents got murdered by a pair of Death Eaters she didn’t want to lose her last remaining family.
Petunia probably also didn’t know about that or she would have moved houses a long time ago. At least after what he heard her yell that day she wouldn’t take kindly to the idea that her house was surrounded by pretty impressive wards. Most likely through a blood ritual as far as he could identify the magic around and the longevity. Without adult mages, wards collapse after a while if they are not tended to.
He thought all day about his last talk with his former Headmaster. He almost yelled at him. All his talk about her being better off with minimal contact. He trusted him once and now Eleanor had no parents to speak of. The longer he waited the worse it looked. While her own child was spending the summer days playing with friends and enjoying himself, Petunia gave the other 4 year old chores? He couldn't even pretend to think about why he would give a toddler chores. Not to mention things like weeding the garden in the summer heat or scrubbing the kitchen floors.
Her eyes and lungs had to be burning because he did and he just got a sniff afterwards when Petunia opened the windows. To say it was cruel would probably be an understatement. That was also before the accidental magic she performed after lunch.
As far as his senses were enhanced he could clearly follow the flow of magic and the moment it happened Eleanor knew it was coming. She tried to suppress it but couldn’t manage the pure amount. At least for a four year old.
It was pretty subtle at first but after you noticed it you couldn’t unseen it. She changed every photo in the living room of Vernon and Dudley to pigs doing similar poses. Remus would love to see it. Even for a four year old she had unparalleled mouth work.
If he had to guess, he would bet that how Dudley ate sparked that bit of magic. That she got yelled at for a good while by Petunia wasn’t not anticipated, but her word choice had him almost storming the property. She didn’t make it better for herself by retorting that there were basically no visual differences between the two.
He had to muffle his laugh to not seem suspicious. He was disillusioned but you never know. One of the older ladies down the street had Kneazles, or at least a half-breed. So he had gone the extra mile of covering his scent.
What had running his blood cold on the hot summer day was what Petunia told Eleanor after her comment on her family's visuals. She was forced by the sound of it into a cupboard near the entrance and denied any food for the rest of the day.
His inner wolf was foaming by this mistreatment and he had to really reel himself in after that. His thoughts wandered back to his last conversation with Lily and James, before he was to spy on the werewolves in Romania. They were really worried about his wellbeing while there. It wasn’t unwarranted. But probably safer than being one of the three people on the top of the hit list of a megalomaniac. Not to mention if you were all three in the same house. He said his goodbyes to them and Eleanor. After two full moons he came back and the war was declared over.
It was really shocking news to him that Sirius was imprisoned for betraying the Potters and killing Peter on an open street as well as twelve Muggles. It was impossible for him to believe that Sirius was that stupid. He would never believe Peter was brave enough to go after Sirius if he really betrayed them. So the logical conclusion was, Sirius has sought out Peter. But why? If he was the one to betray them why go after Peter. So he came to the conclusion that it had to be all a ruse. Who would tell everyone who holds the info to your location and then let him still fight on the front lines? He had to guess that they switched the secret keeper. It also made sense of what Hagrid told him. The half-giant told him on one of his last visits how he was sent to retrieve Eleanor.
When he got there Sirius was there already and had her in his arms. He even tried to heal the curse wound on her chest. So to say that he suspected that Peter was the traitor was for him a sound conclusion. He had tried to at least visit him in Azkaban or get info on Sirius trial, but after the war it was still all chaos and werewolves were also not permitted to visit anymore and no one was trusting him enough to give a second thought to his requests in the chain. He wrote to Amelia Bones an acquaintance that he made at a meeting with James and Sirius at their office.
She made the point that she would look into it if she got time for it. Dumbledore believes in the official story even after Remus made his remarks of doubt. So he made the decision to not blindly trust him anymore and thus being outside Eleanor’s “home” if you could name it that.
Every minute he was there his picture of the all-knowing and all good Headmaster eroded into nothingness. He had made the decision to get her out of there a few hours ago. The only things concerning him were the surveillance and the blood ward. Both of the house and Eleanor herself. Lily asked his opinion on some rituals for a while. Especially one that used the sacrifice of the mother to reflect all life threatening harm three times a thousand times over back. It was old witch magic with roots in the Celtic culture. He really could not tell, but from what he read a blood ritual as this didn't need a power source. It used the magic of the mother and what was essentially her soul.
The blood wards on the house were more of a problem by the minute. He would not get access if he had any bad intentions towards Petunia or her family.
He made the decision to retire for the day, but made one last stop on his way out.
“Good evening, Mrs Figg if I am not mistaken.”
“Hello? Do I know you?”
“You might know me from one of the Order meetings, Remus Lupin,” Remus introduced himself.
“Ah the werewolf spy… I remember you. What brings you here on this nice evening?”
“I believe it is somewhat delicate what I want to talk about. Could I come in?”
Mrs Figg looked somewhat unsure. Remus didn’t know if it was the fact that he was basically a stranger or the fact he was a werewolf which prompted the women to caution.
“It will not take long I believe.”
“Alright,” and with that he was led into the living room. He saw at least a dozen things not normally found in Muggle homes. Some of the house plants were magical, there was what he believed was Floo Powder and probably only for him the most obvious was the Kneazle breeding.
He had never much of a good relationship with felines due to his condition but Kneazle somehow still liked him often enough. Lily always loved to lounge on him if he visited. Now he wondered what happened to it after that fateful night.
He summoned a stool for himself while Mrs Figg took a seat in her armchair by the fire.
“So what is the occasion?”
“It has to do with Eleanor if it wasn’t obvious. I was friends with her parents and wanted to see for myself that she is cared for and in good hands, as well as protected.”
“I see. I didn’t know you were so close to them. Tragic what happened,” Mrs Figg seemed to relax somewhat but was still observing Remus closely.
“I tracked her down through an elimination process.” Remus confided in the women, “It really was as simple as visiting the old guard and asking if anyone saw the girl. As no one on the magical site was aware where she was I came to the conclusion that she must have been given to a Muggle family.”
Mrs Figg just listened and stroked one of her ‘cats’.
“So because I helped Lily with the wards I knew she had an adoptive sister. From there it was just a thing of patience and looking, the old Muggle way, through a telephone book.”
One of the Kneazle hopped onto his lap and made biscuits on his lap.
“But I haven’t come here to tell you about how easy it could be to find her. I wanted to hear what you think of how the Dursley’s treat the ‘Girl-Who-Lived’? You have to know, at least that is what your job here probably is? Watching her, have an eye on the Neighbourhood, looking out for her health…”
Mrs Figg seemed somewhat taken aback by how he deduced all that.
“Yes, indeed I am here on Dumbledore’s request. He helped me a lot after my husband died in one of the Diagon Allay raids. It was the least I could do. I inform him every other month of the happenings here.”
“Indeed and what have you observed of them so far? You had a lot more time than me. I just watched today.”
She got a bit uneasy, as if reluctant to say what she wanted.
“I informed Albus how they are. He said that they are just a bit stern with their upbringing.”
“So what I witnessed and heard today is a regular occurrence?” Remus hesitated to ask.
“I’m afraid so…”
Remus ran a cold shower down his back. He made a split second decision he hoped he wouldn’t regret.
“Wouldn’t you agree that she deserves better? A home where she is loved? Somewhere where she is educated in our wizarding ways?”
“I thought so too, but I agree that she shouldn’t grow up with the expectations and pressure that are connected to her name.” Mrs Figg had a point where Remus had to agree.
“What if she doesn’t grow up in Britain? I know that in the later stages of the war Voldemort stretched his influence to the continent but they don’t have the same associations and a lot less people that would want to harm her?” Remus said with a small smile.
“What exactly are you proposing to me?”
She looked now suspicious of him and who could blame her? He just said that he would take her away.
“I’m proposing that her parents probably wanted a home where she is loved and not abused. Furthermore it would probably be safer, someone would have to just look at the family register in the ministry to learn of the Dursley’s and I don’t know if the blood wards on the home protect her, if she is out of house,” Remus gambled on the fact that the paranoid Headmaster didn’t tell Figg of the blood protection on Eleanor herself. She seemed to consider his offer but wasn’t fully on board yet.
“You probably have already noticed that she is pretty strong for a witch her age, but did you notice that she has begun to actively suppress her magic? If that continues I believe she will develop into an Obscurial…,” Mrs Figg seemed kind of horrified at the prospect of the ‘Girl-Who-Lived’ becoming an uncontrollable mass of magic with frightening anger issues.
“But the last one was seen almost 50 years ago…,” she didn’t want to believe it but if someone noticed it, it would probably be a Dark creature and werewolves were known for their incredible sharp senses, some say they even could smell the nature of magic wizards exuded.
“How would I know you don’t try to deceive me?”
“I would swear on my magic that I am not in cahoots with Voldemort and intend on giving Eleanor a home where she is loved. I’m an honourable uncle, the godfather title was Sirius’s but Lily made a point of telling James that he can only do that if I supervise him.”
She was apparently pleased with that offer, as she seemed to come more friendly and alive.
“Now tell me the details of what you have planned!”
It still took at least an hour to get her to agree to everything and plan out some details. They had come to the agreement that staying in touch was really important. Nothing deceives as good as the truth often enough. So Figg would send info on Eleanor that she got from Remus, photo inclusive, so she was sure of her wellbeing.
They also agreed that one visit a year till her school began was probably a good way to make sure she was getting good enough care. The only hard part was now how he got to her. It wouldn’t be hard to get into the house with the premise of being sent to check on her but getting custody was a whole different story.
He couldn’t adopt technically, at least not on the magical site.
He stretched on the street, his back popped from sitting too long. It had gotten dark. The streetlights were on and no soul in sight. If he talked to the goblins he could probably get to know a loophole. He made the decision to go first thing in the morning to Gringotts.
With one last look at Privet Drive 4 he disaparated.
Petunia hadn’t given her dinner indeed. It wasn’t the first time and by far not the longest. She suspected that they just forgot about her if they locked her up for too long. The only time everyone seemed to remember her was when there were chores. She probably could count herself lucky that she was still too small to do the cooking. That would be a drag, especially if she wasn’t allowed to eat anything if she didn’t want to incur the wrath of her aunt.
The next morning she had to clean the bathroom and the garage. Somehow there were always things to do and sometimes she fought; they just wanted to work her to the bone. She knew that they didn’t like her because of the things that kept happening around her. She had figured out that she was the reason for it happening after she overheard her aunt and uncle in the living room discussing what to do with her after one such incident a while ago. They used the forbidden m word. It was forbidden because she asked what it meant. At least she thought so.
She was still working on the bathroom floor when someone rang at the entrance. She was not allowed to open doors. So she assumed it was some people Petunia invited for tea. She resumed her work as she heard the front door being opened and a low conversation between her aunt and a man.
‘So it wasn’t tea? Whatever’ she thought. And shrugged her thoughts off.
The man was led into the living room after some discussion and tea was offered. She couldn’t make out what exactly was spoken, but she could make out that her aunt was agitated. There was a back and forth between them for probably half an hour. She couldn’t tell really because there wasn’t a clock in the room. Not that she could have read it.
She was almost finished when she was suddenly called by her aunt. It normally meant nothing good so she was reluctant to follow the call, but the man intrigued her. Even if it was because he wasn’t liked by her aunt apparently.
She slumped towards the living room and upon entering looked curious at the man. He had really brown hair, it looked really normal in contrast to her red ones. He also had a quite handsome face but she fought something was off about it. Straight nose, arched brows, caramel coloured eyes and some laugh lines around his eyes. He stood up and that just made him look larger and more slender. He was at least a head taller than her aunt and she wasn’t a small woman.
There was something different to him than any other person she had met. He somehow hummed with something and it was soothing her somehow.
“Hello, Eleanor,” got her out of staring as the man kneeled before her and extended a hand as greeting. He looked less intimidating like that before her. She hadn’t heard her name for a while. She was often called ‘girl’ or just ‘you’. He was racking up points fast to be her new favourite person, which wasn’t hard with the last one being the cashier who gave her a lollipop.
“Hi,” she squeaked. It was a wonder she got something out she fought.
“I’m Remus, Remus Lupin.”
What an unusual name. “Re-mus?”
“Yes, your aunt and I wanted to ask you something,” he smiled at her. It was not often she got asked something by her aunt. It was most often things she was told.
“What do you want to know?” she asked shyly.
“Would you want to live with me?”
She was really blindsided by that question. Live with Remus? She just stared at him for some good ten seconds before Remus took pity on her.
“I was friends with your parents and believe that you would have it better with me than your aunt.”
Said aunt had a sour expression on her face but said nothing. Eleanor herself just had some simple questions in mind.
“Are you a good person?”
He chuckled at that,” the ones that know me would probably say something like that.”
It was a satisfying answer.
“Do I have to do more chores than here?”
Now it was Remus who was caught off guard at the question.
“You don’t have to do chores till you are older. Not never but not more than maybe half an hour a day.”
That made her really begin to hope.
“Do I get a bed?”
At that his eyes got smaller and he threw a look to her aunt.
“Yes, you would not only get your own bed, but also your own room.”
“Oh, really? Then I want to live with you!” she exclaimed happily.
What an opportunity she thought. Remus seemed to also be happy with that.
“Then go and pack your things. I will just clear some last things with your aunt.”
With that she was shushed out of the room. She got to her cupboard. She hadn’t much to pack. She didn’t even have something she could pack. No backpack or trunk to speak of. She grabbed her toy soldier, a colouring book Dudley abandoned and the other two pairs of clothing she got. She put everything in her oversized shirt she wore to do chores. She had one summer dress and one woollen shirt and pants for the winter, everything oversized to fit her as long as possible. She bundled everything up in the shirt in front and got back soon enough to overhear.
“I hope I don’t have to see any of you ever again here.”
“You will at least never see me again, probably, after you sign the adoption papers so there is that,” retorted Remus.
He adopted her, she stopped and thought about it. Her aunt and uncle never seemed to want her and reminded her at every opportunity that what they did was from the goodness of their hearts. This guy wanted her enough he straight up adopted her. She was startled as footsteps neared the door and it was opened right before her. There standing her was Remus with his intimidating height and looked down on her.
“This is everything?” he asked.
She just nodded and he threw her aunt another look.
“Alright then, want to go now? Ah wait one thing before we go. Can I have your hand?”
She showed her hand, palm up. He took it and pricked her pointer finger fast with a needle and filled a few drops into a vial and closed it off. Then he proceeded to open the cupboard and while holding the vial murmured something under his breath. It took just a few seconds. He then placed it in the topmost compartment with a swish of his hand; it somehow vanished and he closed everything up again.
He turned to her and took her hand again and with another flick of his wrist the prick vanished. Her aunt was white as a sheet and looked with horror at Remus.
“Goodbye Petunia. I would advise not to touch that compartment, for your own safety.”
“Goodbye aunt!”
Remus took her hand again and out they were. After the door closed Remus turned to her and got a small pouch out.
“Give me your things.”
She gave up the little belongings she had. He took them and miraculously put them all in the way to small pouch. The only thing on her person now was her green toy soldier.
They were going down the street as Remus suddenly turned to one of the houses and knocked on the door. Mrs Figg opened as if she expected them. She looked them over and then let them in. In her living room sitting with tea in hand she didn’t know what to expect. Remus talked with Mrs Figg in the kitchen and her cats were all over her. They always were when she was over. They came back and Remus swished a light brown stick and a paper appeared. He read over it with Mrs Figg and got a darker look the further down he got.
“That should be evidence enough that this is a good decision.”
“Oh dear, you're right.”
She just looked curious at them until they acknowledged her.
“I will give you a copy. Can we use your Floo?”
“Of course. When will I hear from you?”
“Probably after we moved. I expect that we can do it in the next 10 days.”
“I see. Well then, I wish you good luck.”
“Thanks. Eleanor, would you be so kind as to interlock your hand with mine?”
She did as prompted and then where was his stick again and touched their hands. There was a tingling feeling and then it was over.
“You never Floo travelled so I try to explain to you what we are about to do.”
She gave her full attention to him.
“We will use something named Floo Powder. We throw it into the fireplace and then it will change colour to green. While we do that I will say our destination loud and clear. Don’t let go of me, tuck your elbows in and close your eyes or you will have soot in them. The first time will be a little uncomfortable. It can cause things like nausea, headaches, causes disorientation and will generally be a bit much, but they should go away after a few seconds. Ready?”
She shrugged and he took it as an answer. He threw some of the powder on top of the fireplace into the flames and called out.
“Sherwood Grove 76”
He confidently strode to the fireplace and Eleanor followed. Much to perplex by the green glow of the fire to resist or worry about the heat of the flames that never came.
It was incredibly disorientating and she closed her eyes fast after the light exploded in her face. Her stomach churned, but because she had nothing to eat since the day before at lunch there was nothing to throw up. She felt like she was going incredibly fast forward and at the same time spinning on the spot. It was over after a few seconds and she almost fell on her face if not for Remus holding her up.
She coughed and Remus swished his stick over them and all the soot was gone. What a useful thing, she wished she had it for her chores at the Dursley’s. Luckily she would not have to do them here. She took a look around after Remus let go of her hand. It was a small house as far as she could tell, one story. She could make out three doors and a kitchen. It was all really old style with old furniture and red, white and beige striped wallpaper. There was not a lot here. Two walls there were covered in bookshelves, one had the fireplace they apparently came out of and the last was half open with a TV in the corner. There was a couch turned to the fireplace with a coffee table and an armchair in front of the TV. The light source of the room came from the windows in the kitchen and an old lamp in the middle of the room as well as the fireplace.
Remus opened one of the doors and said,” this is the bathroom. It is not big but has everything you need.”
The next door was a bedroom, not as big as the one of her aunt and uncle but it had a decent sized bed, a bedside table, another bookshelf and a trunk at the feet of the bed.
“This one is mine, you can knock at any time of the day if there is something bothering you. And last but not least, your room.”
It was not as big as Dudley’s room, but it was probably the same size as the one Remus slept in. It just looked smaller because there were a lot of books. Two of the walls are again covered in books and an old bedframe with a mattress beneath a window. Remus took out his way to small pouch for all the items in it and gave her the things back he stored for her.
“Make yourself at home. I will be making us some dinner.”
It took not long to say the least. She found a place for her clothing, placed the toy soldier on the bedside table with the lamp and then put her colour book in the top drawer. Before long she made her way out of the room and towards the kitchen where she could hear Remus working.
“There will be Bangers and Mash. Hope you’re okay with that.”
“I'm not a vegetarian or something.”
“I just thought you might be picky with what you eat.”
Eleanor stared at him like she didn't understand the concept of getting to choose what someone wanted to eat. She had to eat whenever she could get something. Funnily enough she even sometimes forgot about it. That was because she didn't feel hungry, or full for that matter, not that she had much experience with that side.
She sat at the kitchen table and waited to wake up. She still couldn't believe someone actually wanted her. As Remus sat down and put a plate in front of her. While they ate, Remus spoke.
“We have to establish some ground rules, if we want to live together. So first of all. Don't go with strangers. I'm technically a complete stranger to you. There are people that would do far worse things to you then the Dursleys, if they got their hands on you.”
She nodded. Sounded good enough as a reason to not go with the next stranger who offers her something.
“Even if it is better than what I have?”
“Especially if they offer something way too good to be true.”
That was something she had to keep in mind. Remus himself offered something better but he had kept it realistic. After a nod he continued.
“I am now your legal guardian. At least on the Muggle site of things. I want you to come to me with problems you have. I will always try to have an open ear for you.”
Another nod later Remus hesitated.
“We will probably at some point disagree on something. That is perfectly normal and I won't abandon you just because you made me angry.”
That was something good she guessed.
“I try not to do that”
“Do what?”
“Make you angry?”
“It is normal that it will happen at some point if we live long enough together.”
Eleanor finished her meal and sat there and waited for something, she didn't know what.
“So the last point on my list is to tell you what you are…”
She tilted her head to the side in an inquisitive manner. That made Remus halt for a moment.
“Do you know your full name?”
“Am I not just Eleanor?”
“No, your full name is Eleanor Juliette Potter. Daughter of James Fleamont Potter and Lily J. Potter. Now that I think about it I don't even know what the J in Lily's name stands for.”
“Lily? James?”
“Yeah, that are your parents. They were great people. James was a great friend of mine throughout my school years and beyond. Lily also in later years. She was a really smart, kind and creative witch.”
The revelation that her parents were apparently still dead even though her aunt told her many times stung a little in her chest.
“She was a witch?”
“Yeah, you are too. What do you think all the weird things happening around you are, if not accidental magic?”
“Uhm, I don't know. I was told that they are strange and forbidden,” she explained shyly.
“It is completely normal for young wizards and witches to display acts of accidental magic up until the age of about thirteen. After that they become very unusual. It often happens if strong emotions are involved, like anger, sadness, but also if you are really happy. Older children can control their magic to a certain extent and can manifest the outcomes they want.”
That was something good she decided. That was a pretty good explanation for the things she did.
“To explain it for now in relatively simple terms. We, the magical population, live hidden from Muggles to protect them and ourselves. There is a whole parallel society to the one you already know.”
“What are Muggles? You used the word before?”
“That is what we call people with no magic. For example your aunt and uncle. Your mother told me Petunia wrote to Hogwarts to get accepted but got denied and lived with a lot of jealousy towards Lily's talents. I would guess that she didn't like you because of that.”
Oh, her aunt knew about that stuff?
“What is Hogwarts?”
“That is one of the schools that teach magic. There are a lot of them. Hogwarts is one of the five oldest in the World. There is one giant school in Asia that is the oldest and one in north Africa that is the second largest and second oldest but has the largest library in the World. The other three are on the continent. In Romania somewhere is Durmstrang and in France there is Beauxbatons. They teach children and young adults magic.”
She didn't know where all these places were. But she wanted to go to one of them.
“Can I go to one?”
“You are already enrolled in Hogwarts by your parents. You showed accidental magic so early, that they could still enroll you there. Hogwarts is somewhere in the Scottish Highlands. But I'm afraid you have to wait before you can go. Hogwarts only accepts people at eleven for the first year. So you have to wait a bit for that.”
She made a sad noise that broke Remus' heart on the spot.
“But now we come to the things that are relevant for your immediate future. I plan to go to the continent in the near future. To France to be exact. I want you to come with me.“
She could do nothing but stare. She was probably further from Privet Drive 4 than ever before. The most she got away was to the shopping centre in little Whinging. Now she should go to a whole new country?
“I know that is a bit much at the moment but you have to understand that you are really famous on the isle. You are not only the heiress to one of the old and Noble Houses but also…ehm…’defeated’ the last Dark Lord.”
She famous? Defeating a Dark Lord?
“I'm one of the only ones that know that it was your mother's protection that defeated him. But the rest don’t know and frankly don't care. They are happy he is gone. So you are famous here. But not on the continent. Because of that you are more protected there in my opinion.”
It made sense to Eleanor. She couldn't be strong enough as a babe to defeat anything.
“So we go to France and then?”
“I have a job there as a cursebreaker and have already asked some old contacts of mine if they can take care of you while I am at work. I know it will be hard to change countries but I think you will do fine.”
She nodded along and felt herself getting sleepy. Yawning, she asked,"Do we have desert?”
Remus smiled and handed her a bowl of chocolate ice.
She woke up the next morning and felt different somehow. She could not tell if it was because she changed guardian, the actual bed she slept on, the story of her parents Remus told her before sleeping, it was how they got together in seventh year and what a hard time her father had with her, the new environment or something completely different.
She just sat there a few minutes contemplating the things she learned the day before and what to do now. If Remus was already up or if it would bother him if she made noises.
She huffed frustrated and stared angrily at the books in front of her as if they did something wrong. She heard a door open and some footsteps that got quieter, presumably going towards the kitchen.
‘Well if he is up, I can also leave!’ she thought.
She had to sleep in her clothes, she had nothing else, and was going in the kitchen when she abruptly stopped.
Remus looked different. He was a bit dozy still, making tea. The most obvious were the multiple scars across his face.
“You hadn’t had these yesterday,” she blurted out.
He looked at her confused for a second, then it seemed to dawn on him.
“I hid them yesterday because of your aunt. And I didn’t want to scare you away.”
“Scare me away? They look really cool! Where did you get them?”
Remus looked really uneasy now.
“Ask me no question and I’ll tell no lies.”
“I have to remember that”
Remus got the feeling he just created a monster.
“Breakfast?”
A nod later he made it and sitting at the table he told her the plan for the day.
“We will go shopping for some clothing for you. You need more than what you have and something you can switch to. Then we will go get you a trunk for your things, have lunch somewhere on the way. You also need some other essentials like a toothbrush, shampoo, etc.” As something to compensate for not giving her something for her birthday the other day.
“If there is still time left in the day we can do something of your liking.”
It had to be the best day in her life.
It was a wonderful trip. They got her a few different sets of clothing. Shirts, pants, skirts, dresses, shoes, socks, underwear (Remus was really embarrassed while buying them), jacket and something weatherproof. With all that in big bags she thought they should have bought the trunk first. She got a medium sized wine red one. She liked the colour.
They had lunch at a burger place inside the centre. It was delicious. She had never eaten something like it. Just heard from Dudley and it was really as good as he said.
The next few hours they wandered through a lot of different shops to get her everything she needed. At some point they came across a toy shop and Remus caught the longing look she threw at it. He sighed.
“What do you think about getting something to play with?”
“But it is not essential?”
“For me your happiness is essential!”
With that he was going in and she followed. After a while looking through things and silently smiling at the look of wonder on Eleanor's face, they decided on something. It was a game for preschoolers to learn the alphabet, a reaktion card game and a black wolf plushy. While the first two made Remus laugh, the last made him nostalgic because Sirius gifted her a very similar looking one.
With that they concluded their shopping trip and made their way back. On the way Eleanor skipped ahead and Remus had fun watching her looking at the World with big eyes and answering the occasional ‘what is that?’ question. Suddenly a thought came to him. What if she was not a Gryffindor? At the current rate she was asking questions she will be a Ravenclaw. He squinted and tension grew through him. He looked at her and how she slowly got tired and relaxed, whatever house will not matter to me.
Eleanor was a peculiar child. She was way too trusting to a complete stranger. She displayed in the two days he knew her an incredibly large amount of words she knew for a four year old. She occupied herself while he organised their departure. She was also a really gifted child in terms of magic as far as he could tell.
She played with the learning cards they bought and her plush she named immediately ‘Blacky’. It was scary sometimes how intuitive she was. She almost looked like a carbon copy of a young Lily. The fiery red hair, a bit too slender build for her age, some lone freckles on her nose. The one thing that offset that all were her really dark brown eyes. It was the same colour as James, maybe even some shades darker.
She was a curious child. Apparently the Dursley treatment didn’t stop that. He was happy for her and still really angry at Petunia. They had discussed for a while who he was and how he found them and why he was there. In the end it was a short process of explaining what could happen if Eleanor would continue to live with them and she was all too ready to give her up. He read it himself in James and Lily's will but after meeting them he was sure it was a good idea not to give them guardianship. Why it never got read he didn’t know. The Potter accountant should have a copy of it.
After almost three years he had his doubts that it would be read anytime soon.
They would leave the Muggle way. It would leave way less of a track to follow for mages. They would also enter France the Muggle way, until they were somewhere near Marseille in the south of France. He had someone he knew from his days as a spy. He only reached out for a place to sleep and maybe a safe house or escape route. She was from the French arm of his fathers side of the family. Something like four generations back split. She was ‘retired’ and did what she wanted. Her husband died some years back in the fight against Grindelwald, but she was still part of the famous and influential Delacour family. At 97 she wasn’t the youngest but typically mages got around 150 and she still had all her brown hair, not even a grey streak.
Remus mused that he aged way faster because he hated his condition, he was only 24 years and had a few gray hairs. He learned that your passive control over the magic in your body could be influenced by yourself. To some degree, the body changed to what you liked and diminished the things you didn’t like. It made things worse if you thought you deserved whatever it was and it helped with long eyelashes and clear skin if you paid attention to such things.
After they settled he would register them with the French Ministry. They normally asked for emigration papers but he could probably get around that with being a werewolf. They knew that the Brits have something against Dark creatures in general and he also was technically only coming for work. He would make it clear that he would not permanently stay. He would get a few raised eyebrows at the fact he would magically adopt a four year old but they also knew he couldn’t do that in Britain. They didn’t really care for noble titles and more for achievements of a family. But luckily the Potters were an unknown family over there.
He hoped everything worked out. He spoke with the Goblins and they agreed to push the adoption through a backdoor some years down the line. That way, when they came back the only People that could sue for custody would be her Godfather and Godmother. Since Sirius was in Prison and Alice was in the St. Mungos, only Augusta could sue instead of her daughter in law.
He didn’t worry so much about that. The Longbottoms are a light family politically right now but culturally were a dark one. They would rather have a trained wizard having custody over a magical child than Muggles, even if it was a werewolf.
Everything would be handled over back alleys in the Child Protection department.
They had a few days left before they had to go and his goal was for Eleanor to become acquainted with him. She hadn’t trusted the Dursley’s and he knew that he had to build a trusting relationship with her if he wanted this to go anywhere.