❃.✮:▹　　◃:✮.❃

Summer holidays 6th year
❃.✮:▹　　◃:✮.❃

A HEAT wave had washed over England, leaving the Marauders, Benji and Lily hot and sticky as they walked through Manchester. Eloise was dressed in some black flared trousers, a black crop top with Sirius' old jacket over her shoulders. Similarly, James and Sirius were also dressed in full black. The other 4 attendees were sporting just a tad bit more colour.

"Maybe you should reconsider wearing all black," Benji muttered as he watched his heaving companions who were suffering. The eldest Potter had long given up holding his boyfriend's hand as it had just become too clammy.

"But black is their colour!" Eloise yammered back with a huff, a sweaty strand of hair dangling in front of her face. Before the girl could scream at it in anger, Remus subtly flicked his wand and curled the strand to its former glory. The brunette pressed a quick kiss to Remus' shoulder in thank you.

"Aaaand," James grinned. "It's our colour," He clapped Sirius' shoulder. "And his name." Sirius slapped James' upper arm and stuck out his tongue.

Peter pushed a hand through his hair and pulled at the collar of his short sleeved polo, which unfortunately for Peter, hugged the boy's body in all the wrong places. "The Witches of Blood surely won't mind--" His words faltered as James looked at him with a twitching eye. "Never mind," Peter squeaked.

It was Lily who tapped her wand rhythmically against a wall to open the passage to Parell El Alley. The redhead strode through the bricks and the others followed closely behind. Bustling muggles in office clothes, leather and colourful mohawks made way for people in bright robes, pointy hats and cloaks.

The group of 7 pushed their way through the crowded streets before they heard someone calling for them, more specifically for Eloise and James. The group halted and found Sean Wood marching towards them.

The former quidditch keeper had greatly matured since the Marauders last saw him. Unlike James, Sean's beard had fully come in. The man's hair had grown out and he somehow managed to make sideburns look good. In his arms, Sean held a baby that must have been nearly a year old.

"Wood, ye bastard!" Eloise grinned and jumped up, her arms encircling the man and hugging him tightly.

Sean laughed and pulled away slightly and as he said his greetings he hugged James as well. "It's good to see ye both, how are ye doing?" He then noticed the group crowded around his two former team mates and gave them polite nods.

"Good, good," James grinned before focusing his attention on the small child in Sean's arms. "That must be Oliver ey?"

New found pride blossomed in Sean's chest, simultaneously new found affection bloomed in Lily's. The redhead had never noticed how good James was with children, but that boy casually took little Oliver Wood in his arms and the baby cheered happily.

As Oliver Wood was passed on to Sirius, who looked like a nervous wreck, the boy looked to everyone for help. The father and son shared a grin before Oliver started pulling Sirius' hair. "Au, au you little--" Sirius didn't let any curses to slip past his lips at a warning glare from Lily and James.

Instead of apologising for his son, Sean grinned and stuffed his hands in his front pockets. "He's a little troublemaker, takes after me." Sirius whipped around to glare at Sean, but was at a loss for words and so Benji took the baby and bounced him up and down.

"How'd you grow your beard out so nicely?" James inquired, his brow furrowed. The Indian boy had in fact decided to grow a beard out a week before, and ever since he hadn't shut up about it.  Whilst Sean's beard looked luxurious, James' own consisted of a few hairs.

"Ask your dad, I used his elixir," Sean caressed his beard. "That and genetics."

Remus glanced at the watch on Peter's wrist. "Sorry mates, but if we want to be on time we should get going." Following Remus' words, Benji passed Oliver back to Sean, much to the child's chagrin.

As the 7 walked away, Eloise leaned in under James' head. "I bet you twenty galleons that boy will join the Gryffindor quidditch team."

James placed a hand on Eloise's head and pushed her away, earning him a sharp slap against his toned abdomen. "I'm not taking that bet."

"I think they have a gambling problem," Benji whispered into Peter's ear.

The younger of the pair snorted. "Gambling is their smallest problem." Peter grinned up at Benji who frowned, looked to Remus and Lily who just nodded. The eldest Potter turned to look at his boyfriend, only to find him holding Eloise in a chokehold as the girl smudged Sirius' eyeliner.

☆--⍟--☆

The Witches of Blood were in the midst of their upbeat disco-ask single called 'Willow the Wolf' the group of teens and Benji jumped up and down at the music, their arms weaving through the air.

Eloise was shaking and dragging Peter with her as they danced. In the whirl of the party they had met up with Marlene, Dorcas, Frank and Alice. The upbeat song washed away before the lead singer, Faba Dread, announced that the band was going to sing some muggle songs. Promptly after all 4 witches raised their index and middle finger, pointing it outward.

"Fuck the Dark Lord!"

The crowd laughed and chanted along. "Fuck the Dark Lord!! Fuck the pure- blood supremacists!! Fuck the Dark Lord!!"

Faba smirked at the crowd. "I'm cuffed about being part muggle you weasel," The witch cackled and there were various cheers and extra claps from the crowd. Faba revelled in the support and seemingly winked directly at Eloise. "Here's Blitzkrieg Bop by Ramones!"

The guitarist and drummer went off with the first notes of the upbeat song as Remus glanced at his girlfriend who was looking at Faba with a smitten look. He grinned and leant down, breath fanning over her ear and neck. "Tell me Elo, have you fallen for someone else already?" His tone was utterly teasing and innocent.

Eloise continued to jump up and down and scrunched her face at Remus. "Nah mate, I was Faba's before I was anyone else's," She quirked her brows, honey dripping smile with dimples on full display. "You are the entertainment until Faba and I marry." As to ensure that her words would not spark Remus' worries, Eloise gave him a quick squeeze before she started to blare out half the lyrics completely off tune.

Alas the words did spark a gnawing feeling in Remus' stomach. After all, if the Faba Dread who had been voted 'England's most eligible single witch' were to date anyone, it would probably be Eloise Prewett. Remus stared at his friends for a moment, Eloise clutching Dorcas and Marlene's shoulders, effectively exposing a large strip of her midriff. The urge to touch Eloise's naked lower back became overwhelming, even to just brush his fingers over the dip of her spine. A touch that he could savour for the future when Eloise had found someone better.

"Want to get some air? I don't feel so good," Peter half shouted into Remus' ear. The taller of the two nodded and so they clasped their hands together and pushed their way through the crowd.

Despite the heatwave, the corridor outside the concert room was a much needed refreshment for the two Marauders. Peter leaned against a brick wall, the boy was quick to start fanning his face with his hands.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked, flicking his sweaty hair out of his eyes.

Peter didn't answer immediately, he transfigured a leaf on the ground into a cup and filled it with water and took a large gulp. "Just a tad bit tired." Peter finished his water and rubbed his eyes.

Ever since Quinn had left Hogwarts, she and Peter had tried to maintain contact as best as they could with her parents disapproving of them. The two would sneak out at night and either get together at Peter's house when Mr Pettigrew's health allowed it, or in some small pub.

"Did you have a long night with Quinn then?" Peter blushed bright red at Remus' words, meanwhile Remus grinned to himself. "So that's a yes then, Wormtail."

Peter shrugged and slid down to sit, he crossed his legs. "Well it's fun and--"

"No, I don't need to know the details Wormtail," Remus interrupted with a low chuckle, which Peter tried to match.

The lights in the corridor flickered, causing both boys to frown. A breeze blew into the corridor and Remus absently palmed his wand, which was stuffed in his pocket. Then some warping figures appeared at the end of the corridor. Rabastan, Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, Antonin Dolhov, Corban Yaxley, Lucius Malfoy and Walden Macnair, as well as some other witches and wizards that Remus and Peter didn't know apparated into the hallway.

Remus grasped his wand and Peter scrambled to his feet whilst producing his own wand. "We have to go!" Remus called, he quickly cast a shield to stop a spell from hitting him and Peter. The shorter of the two stumbled into the door and swing it open. Terror enveloped Remus as Fenrir Greyback grinned at him.

Blitzkrieg Bop drowned out Peter's screams and the boy attempted to push through the dancing crowd. With a frustrated sigh, Peter pressed his wand against his neck. The spell enhanced Peter's voice enough to allow him to shout.

Chaos erupted as people apparated away and tried to find their loved ones. The music came to a sudden halt as the Witches of Blood exchange a few glances before producing their wands and cutting through the crowd in the direction of the hallway.

The Marauders, Marlene, Frank, Alice Lily and Benji each took out their wands and worked their way through the panicking crowd. Eloise used her short stature to her advantage and ducked under various people's arms. Eventually she bumped into the tall frame of Lily.

"LILY!! THANK MERLIN!!" Eloise screamed, her fingers tightening around Lily's arms so much that her knuckles whitened. Eloise's quidditch instincts kicked in and she pulled Lily down and out of the way of a green spell.

"We have to get to the others," Lily called back, her wave moving through the air elegantly. "Auga eructo!" Water sprouted from the wand and smacked into a hooded Death Eater and sent them flying backwards.

The two Gryffindors worked together and quickly found Benji and Marlene. Noticing that Death Eaters had gathered around them, the four moved to stand back to back. Now Marlene was an excellent dueller, but she couldn't help but worry for her friends. She didn't know Benji all too well, but he didn't seem like a great dueller.

Spells flew at the four and they managed to hold their own. Luckily for them a few wizards managed to take out the Death Eaters.

"LILY! WORMTAIL! BENJI!!" The group turned to find James turning in a slow circle with a glowing wand.

"PRONGS HERE!!" Eloise belted back, said boy turned around and sprinted towards her. James blocked a spell from hitting Marlene just as Dorcas fell to her knees beside them.

Before a spell could hit the fallen girl, Frank intercepted with a series of quick and effective spells. They quickly grouped together and pressed their backs and shoulders together to ensure their friends were at their side and that their backs were protected. "We have to find Black, Pettigrew and Lupin!!" Alice announced as she noticed a trio was missing.

Meanwhile Sirius found and tackled Remus to the floor before hauling the injured boy up. Together they found Peter whilst jumping out of the way for some rouge spells. Sticky warm blood was seeping through Remus' shirt and Peter desperately pressed his hand to the wound. "I think I see the rest," Sirius called out to his two friends. Sirius' gloved hand dug into Peter's shoulder and hauled the two other Marauders along.

Alice saw the three others and she pulled the rest towards him. They ended up forming a line, each of them holding on to one another. Alice and Sirius' hands met and they apparated away.

The pain of side apparating with so many people to an unknown location, was beyond excruciating. Eloise could only imagine that the cruciatos curse felt similar. After being pressed through what felt like a million keyholes, the group of ten collapsed onto the carpet of Dorcas' living room.

Some tears slipped past Eloise's eyes and the girl rolled over with a hiss so that she was on her back. The brunette lifted her head and leant on her forearms. "Everyone alright?" She asked, whilst quickly surveying if she had been splinched.

"No," Marlene whimpered, cradling her left hand which was gushing with blood. Within a second, Dorcas was by her side and muttering some healing incantations to heal the splinched fingers.

Luckily for the teens and young adult, Dorcas livid in a cottage near Manchester, which Alice had visited on various occasions, and thus the apparating had been relatively easy under their stressful circumstances.

"Elo?" Said girl rolled over to see Remus beside her, his once colourful orange and yellow blouse stained dark red. The girl scurried closer to him and ripped open the shirt, eyes racking over Remus' thin torso. There was a clear gash running over Remus' ribs.

"Fuck," Eloise muttered, she brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "This would be a great time for one of us to be a professional healer!"

At the Prewett girl's words, James immediately hovered over Remus and muttered some healing spells under his breath. Sure enough the quite shallow cut scabbed over nicely. "Thank you, Prongs."

James grinned crookedly. "Thank me by not getting hurt again."

Thankfully the rest all had minor scrapes and bruises but were ultimately unharmed.

☆--⍟--☆

The next morning arrived after a sleepless night, the Daily Prophet was covered in articles about the previous night and it didn't take long for owls to start arriving to inquire if the Gryffindors and Benji were alright.

By noon, Eloise traveled through he floopowder network to the Prewett manor. Since Molley refused to move into the manor due to the walls being haunted by grief, the twins along with Eloise and Valentina had moved into the manor.

Eloise sat on the porch area which overlooked the valley that had belonged to the Prewett family for generations. The girl smiled lightly to herself and held out a glass to the air. "Llongyfarchiadau, Ma, Pa." Her dark eyes focused on the castle which laid just a little higher than the Prewett Manor and about a 20 minute broom flight. Cheers.

"Hello," Eloise craned her neck up to see Fabian take a seat next to her, he held a cigarette in between his fingers and offered his little sister the pack and a lighter. "How're ye fairing?"

Eloise let out a laugh and shook her head. "I'm doing bloody brilliantly, other than the near death experiencesss," She chuckled and light her cigarette.

"Didn't doubt that for a second," Fabian grinned and looked away from Eloise to the Prewett valley which was kindly named Gruffudd Dryffryn after Gruffudd Prewett who had first settled in the valley. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

Alas for Fabian, Eloise chose to ignore the serious tone in her voice and thus she smiled mischievously. "What? You finally decided to name your child after me?" Fabian opened his mouth to interrupt. "No, wait, you decided to start working in the mines, or in that sex club by Silvery Oaks."

Fabian laughed at Eloise's antics before taking a large tug of his cigarette. "Actually me and Val were thinking of moving out."

Immediately Eloise turned in her seat and swung her legs over the arm rest. "Unacceptable," She waved her hand at the manor. "And leave me with your sorry excuse of a twin?"

"I HEARD THAT!" Gideon cried back.

"Would you prefer to live with a newborn baby?" Fabian demanded with a quirked brow. To that Eloise shrugged and grimaced. "Besides, we'll probably move back in eventually. Just after the diapers have disappeared."

"I'm not changing nappies unless she's named after me," Eloise stated before talking a large swig of her butterbeer.

Fabian exhaled through his nose and threaded his fingers through his red hair. "I'm not naming my first daughter after you-- AU!" He yammered, rubbing his arm which Eloise had slapped. "Git."

"Twat."

"Name your own child after yourself," Fabian murmured with a fake pout and whine.

"I've already told you, I'm not having children," Eloise said. "I had to be with Molly when Bill was born, I'm scarred for life mate," The two siblings laughed at the memory. Eloise had probably got some amount of trauma that day. "No child shall come out of here." She waved at the space in between her legs and Fabian shivered and gagged, begging her to not do that again.

☆--⍟--☆

A little later Valentina and Eloise were seated in the living room of which the walls were blue with gold vines and branches that moved along each other. Valentina was holding a book about some knight who fought windmills whilst Eloise was working on a small scale painting.

Instead of using the usually bright colours of her paint pallet, Eloise found herself utilising dark blues, greens and the colour black. With a groan, Eloise put down her brush and twisted her fluffy hair up into a bun and sticked her wand in it to hold it together.

The Prewett sauntered over to the couch and plopped down face down. Valentina looked up from her worn book and smiled fondly before peering back at the yellowed pages of Don Quichotte. "Care to share?"

Eloise let out a huff and rolled over, she kicked her legs up at the tall ceiling. "The world's just wonky," Eloise rubbed her eyes and brushed the curtain bangs out of her eyes. "It's just not right! The world's been going to rubbish for years all because some prissy twats think they're better than everyone else," Eloise sat up, a wild fire blazing in her chest. The embers flew out of her mouth like dragon fire. "It's not fair," Eloise looked at the painting above the fireplace that showcased a young Judy and Percival. "It's not fucking fair." Cinder spilled out of Eloise's eyes.

Don Quichotte was forgotten, Valentina raising to take a seat next to Eloise. the eldest of the two wrapped an arm around the youngest. "It's not fair indeed," Valentina whispered. There was a pull to tell Eloise everything would be alright, but how could Valentina say that? Eloise had already lost her parents to the war, had needed to fight for her life unprepared. To say everything would be alright would be an outward lie, Eloise was a young person in a brewing war. And young people in war tended to pay the price for whatever leader came with an ideal that required the young to fight and die.

Ever since the Prewett twins and Eloise moved out of the Burrow and back into the Prewett Manor, defence spells surrounded the house day and night. Their fireplace was always locked unless one of them wished to leave and they had to keep an eye out for owls to allow them into their defences.

So Valentina opted not to lie, instead she spoke the truth. "I'm sorry," The young woman said softly, her hadn't rubbing circles onto Eloise's shoulder. The teen only muttered back to Valentina that it wasn't Valentina's fault. "Doesn't mean I cannot be sorry."Eloise leaned into Valentina's side hug and let out a shaky breath.

"Fear be damned," Eloise spoke up after a beat of silence. "I won't allow this noseless lord to steal my youth," Valentina opened her mouth to say something, but Eloise continued to talk. "Yes, yes, yes, I'll be careful, but I'll still live my bloody life. And when the time comes, I'll hex Mr. Stinky into oblivion so Eloise Jr. doesn't have to see his ugly face."

Valentina chuckled and looked up at heaven, silently asking God just what she had done to end up married to a Prewett. "My daughter will not be called Eloise Jr."

"That's just what you think," Eloise fired back with a smirk, all traces of her crisis gone in the wind.

"Fabi and I already decided on Elena, mi amor."

The grin on Eloise's face widened. "So she's El Jr. then? I can live with that I suppose, 'tis more than fucking Molly or Arthur gave me..." Some brown strands of hair fell from Eloise's makeshift bun and caught the setting sun, spinning them into golden honey to match Valentina's usual hair colour.

"Well, Fabi and I were wondering if you would be the godmother? I know you're already a godmother, but you and Fabi have always been close--"

"Of course I'll be the godmother,' Eloise scoffed. "That was never even a question, Val," A paleness passed over Eloise's face as she realised that she was the godmother of three children with another three future godchildren on the way. "So like in Argentinean culture a godmother only had to be fun right?" Eloise rose her eyebrows and Valentina burst out laughing. "I may be a good aunt, but I am in no way equipped to raise one child, let alone possibly six! I'll have to teach the boys the bloody protection spell it seems," Eloise sighed.

"Elo," Valentina coaxed, and the two girls made eye contact. "I could think of no one else I'd rather have raise my child than you."

"Of course you haven't, I am amazing." Eloise struck a pose.

Valentina rubbed her growing stomach as little Elena made her presence very clear with a sharp kick. "Elena agrees with you it seems," The Argentinean woman placed Eloise's hands where the baby had just kicked and the two women enjoyed the smaller quicks of Elena. "I must say, we would like to hold a Catholic ceremony."

"Catholic?" In response Valentina showed off her cross necklace and Eloise made an 'ahh' sound. "Alright," She then frowned, remembering an incident from the first week of the summer holidays when Sirius, Benji, Remus and Eloise had gone out on a double date. "If someone tells me I'm going to hell there, can I hex flames around me?"

Valentina's eyes widened to the size of golfballs. "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"Yes, I'm doing it."

"Eloise Matilda Prewett, you are not doing that in the house of God."

Eloise stuck out her tongue. "You and your god are no fun." To that Valentina opened and closed her mouth to argue before admitting defeat.

a/n:
things are really starting to pick up around here and ugh.
i find it tricky to balance the war and youth aspect that is the most important thing
in this story because eloise is a complex character for this. she's brash and outgoing,
she hides heavy emotions so it's difficult to write her vulnerable moments. let me know what you think!

also as some of you know i stopped my regulus black fic to rework the plot and it's done!
so i'm pushing the fic to be released towards the end of this one just to make it a bit easier for me.
that story will follow therese windslow who grows up along the black sons, you can actually
see a few cameos from her in this book. therese will play a larger role later on in this fic, and
then in her book we'll look at it all from her perspective which i think will be cool!

in the story we are like end of june 1977 to put that in a timeline that means that judy and percival
have been dead for a little over half a year, tonks is around 3, oliver wood is nearly 1 and cedric, elena,
fred and george are in the womb. so like a lot of the people we'll see in book 3 are coming hahahaha.
also means we have a little over 4 years left to godric's hallow...
oh well, be sure to vote and comment! it really means a lot to me!

eloise's outfit, also if you're wondering what eloise's hair always looks like,
just google farrah fawcett hair. that is literally eloise's hair 96% of the time

sad post

as our babies get older and more aware and go out more we face this more 😭😭
date posted: 19 august 2022
word count: 4105