Eleanor sat in the attic with Buckbeak. She normally didn't do this. For one, Buckbeak still slightly scared her, and she preferred to see him only when she had someone else with her, and two, you only go into the attic if you want solitude.

Sirius had spent many days up in the attic before Harry and everyone went back off the Hogwarts, he had been disappointed to see them leave again. But he did perk up eventually.

Eleanor had no reason to sulk, yes she missed everyone dearly but sulking and pining had never really been her thing.

The Black household was absolutely bustling today. Eleanor didn't know why it was so busy but it seemed everyone from the Order had turned up. As much as Eleanor loved that, and she spent much of the morning downstairs talking to everyone, she eventually had to sneak off to the quiet of the attic.

Eleanor was sat in the far corner of the dull room, her phone sitting on her lap. She was waiting for Harry to call her. She was both very excited and very nervous. She had missed Harry's voice, and pretty much everything about him (Merlin, she had it bad) but he did say he had some important news, which translated meant that he probably had some incredibly bad news.

Eleanor had discovered that magic tends to disrupt Muggle technology. From some miracle, Eleanor's phone still worked, but she had noticed it was starting to act up. Maybe the longer she had it around magic, the worse it would get? Eleanor hoped this wasn't the case. Her parents had already spent enough to buy her this phone when Josh had destroyed the last. The last thing she needed was to go to her parents and explain to them that magic had broken her phone. She wondered if they would even believe her.

Eleanor's ringtone suddenly blared out, making Eleanor jump. Buckbeak gave an indignant squawk at being woken up from his nap and glared at her before turning his back on her and curling back up to sleep.

Eleanor answered the phone. "I've just pissed off a Hippogriff. Tell me, am I going to die?"

Harry laughed. "Merlin, its a good thing no one else was ringing you, wasn't it?"

Eleanor hummed. "I knew it was your number because I recognised the last three digits."

"Good news though, you're probably not going to die."

"Probably!"

Eleanor could practically see in her minds eye that Harry was smirking. The little shit. "Get him some ferrets just to be sure."

"Oh, of course," Eleanor said with heavy sarcasm. "Let me just go to my giant stash of dead ferrets."

Buckbeaks head moved, and he turned to sniff the air. "Oh great, now you've got his hopes up. He's sniffing the air."

"I've got his hopes up?! That was all you."

"Piss off, Potter, if you hadn't told me about the ferrets then I wouldn't have said it in the first place and Buckbeak wouldn't be sniffing hopefully at the air as if one is going to magically appear right in front of him."

Harry burst out laughing. Even though she could only hear it through the phone, the sound made her skin tingle. "What are we even going on about?"

"I've not a clue, Hazza."

They both laughed.

"I still hate it when you call me Hazza." Harry said, though he said it with much less resolve than before.

"You love it really." Eleanor said knowing it would annoy Harry even more.

She had not been expecting Harry's reply. "Maybe I do."

His voice sounded so sincere, it momentarily struck Eleanor into silence. But then she got worried.

"Alright what's happened? You only say those really sappy things when you're scared. Like when you think you won't get to say them again."

"That's so not true. Besides, I wasn't being sappy!"

"You were totally being sappy. You hate it when I call you Hazza."

"Yeah, well maybe its grown on me."

"Nope, something has definitely happened."

Harry gave a startled laugh. "You don't believe me?"

"No, I don't. In your letter you said you had something important to tell me, which normally means its something bad. You're being sappy with me because you're scared."

"That logic makes no sense, I hope you know that."

"Yeah, well your life makes no sense."

"Wow, I can practically feel the heat from that burn." Harry retorted wryly.

"Dick." Eleanor mumbled into the phone.

Again Harry's voice was wry. "I'm hanging up, I need to go and stitch up my ego after that."

Eleanor gave a reluctant laugh. "Stop making me happy, and just give me the bad news."

"Okay." Harry's voice went serious and hushed, as if he were afraid of being overheard. "But I meant what I said before. Hazza really has grown on me."

Eleanor felt herself melt, and the familiar sensation of butterflies in her chest came back. Still, she wasn't letting Harry win. Not today.

"And I still think you're a sap."

Again, Eleanor could tell that Harry rolled his eyes, even though she couldn't see him. She grinned. "Whatever."

"Wow, I can practically feel the heat from that burn." Eleanor echoed Harry.

"Haha, you're hilarious. Really witty and unique."

"Why thank you, Potter."

"I didn't mean that as a compliment."

"Oh, I'm aware."

"Right, as much as I love this, I need to get serious now. Okay?"

"Okay. I'm super serious. You see my face, it's so serious- do you think Sirius ever gets confused when someone says serious?"

"El!"

"Okay! I'm sorry."

Eleanor heard Harry sigh, but again, even though she couldn't see him, she could tell he was smiling. "Hagrid has a giant."

Eleanor laughed, then realised who she was talking to and fell silent. Out of everything that ran through her head on what could be Harry's important news, giants certainly never crossed her mind.

"He has a-? Hagrid-...But-" She sputtered.

"I know, and he wants me, Ron and Hermione to look after it."

"Tell him you can't. That thing could kill you. Why can't Hagrid do it? Actually nevermind, the most pressing matter is how in God's name did Hagrid get a giant?"

Harry explained. "Long story short, because I don't have much time. Hagrid has been missing for most of the year, he came back a few days ago. We went down to his cabin to see where he had been. He was covered in bruises, it was awful. He wouldn't talk at first, but eventually we got him to. He was doing a mission for the Order, basically he and someone else went up to the mountains to convince the Giants to join our side. It was a bit more complicated though because Death Eaters turned up, and the Giants kept killing eachother. Hagrid is hoping he managed to convince a few of them though, but he still reckons many of them will turn to Voldemort because Giants hate wizards for making them go into hiding."

Eleanor needed a moment to process this, but as she had heard many things like this before, it didn't take her long. "Wow, okay. Well hopefully you convinced some of the giant's then. But that doesn't explain how Hagrid got hurt, nor does it explain why he brought a Giant back to Hogwarts with him. And how has he hidden it?"

"Well to hide it was quite easy. At Hogwarts we have a giant forest called the Forbidden Forest. I'm sure I've mentioned it before. It's really dense and loads of other magical creatures live in there." Harry explained.

Eleanor nodded. "Okay, that makes sense. Why did he bring it back with him though, surely it would be happier back with its own kind in the mountains."

"Believe me, myself, Ron and Hermione don't understand it either." Harry mumbled. "Apparently Hagrid couldn't leave him there. The other giants were bullying him and besides, its Hagrid's half brother. It seemed Hagrid's Giantess mother had other children after leaving Hagrid's father."

Eleanor choked. "I'm sorry, what!"

Harry sighed. "I know. His name is Grawp."

Eleanor truly had trouble with what she was hearing. She laughed, unable to help herself. "Hagrid truly is-"

"Crazy, yeah I know," Harry said. "But that's Hagrid. He's always had a thing for dangerous creatures. He's also my friend. A really good friend. The first friend I made at Hogwarts other than Ron and Hermione."

Eleanor nodded. She knew Harry was really close with Hagrid. "So naturally you agreed to help him with Grawp."

"Yes."

"I still don't understand why Hagrid can't do it himself. He's half-giant, so surely it would make more sense for him to do it himself. Plus, this is Hagrid's brother."

"I know El, but Hagrid may not be around for much longer," Harry sounded sad. "Umbridge is still threatening to sack him."

"I should have known." Eleanor didn't bother to keep the hate out of her voice. "That evil woman, one day I'll get her."

"So Hagrid is afraid that if he is sacked, no one will be there for Grawp."

"Yes but to ask you of all people. Harry, if Umbridge catches you out of bounds, it'll be the perfect excuse for her."

"I know El, but what else was I meant to do?" Harry asked. "I couldn't say no."

Eleanor shook her head, though she knew Harry couldn't see. "Again, I understand why you were put in Gryffindor. You're far too loyal." Eleanor said. "Just be careful, I don't want any of you getting hurt, and try not to get caught either because then Umbridge will have an excuse to get rid of you all, including Hagrid, and God knows what she would do to Grawp."

"You really are amazing, you know that?" Harry murmured.

"But I didn't do anything!" Eleanor protested, though she wasn't sure why.

"You hardly know Hagrid, yet you don't want him sacked or to get caught with Grawp, and you know nothing about Grawp, only that he's a giant and you are afraid of what Umbridge and the others would do if they discover him at Hogwarts. You're extraordinary because most people would report me if I told them what I've just told you. A lot of Wizards believe Giants are inhumane, and violent. That's how Hagrid got most of his injuries."

"Yes, well I'm not a wizard. Plus," Eleanor began. "From what I've heard about Hagrid, I know he's not an idiot. He's spectacular around all magical creatures, despite how dangerous they may be so I wouldn't report him because I know Grawp will be in safe hands. Besides if Grawp ended up being really unhappy, I'm sure Hagrid would take him back to the mountains."

"Honestly Hagrid had a hard time giving up Norbert, I think he's going to get extremely attached to Grawp."

"Norbert was the dragon, right?"

"Right." Harry confirmed.

"Well Hagrid gave up Norbert in the end-"

"After much persuasion on my behalf."

"Well then you better get persuading Hazza."

"Wow," Harry said dryly again. "How ever do people live without your outstanding advice."

"Shove off."

Harry laughed then cursed. "El, I've got to go. I need to get back up to the castle, I've promised Hagrid that I would go and see him."

"Don't forget to eat dinner."

"I won't, I promise."

"And have fun at Hagrid's. Do you think he's going to get you to go down to Grawp again?" Eleanor asked, trying to distract herself from the sadness that was filling her chest. She didn't want Harry to go just yet.

"I don't think so. He only wants us to look after Grawp if he leaves Hogwarts for good."

"Well hopefully it doesn't come to that, for both of your sakes. Bye Harry, and don't let Umbridge get you down."

"I'll try. Bye Ellie."

"Bye Hazza, see you soon."

The phone went dead and Eleanor took it away from her ear with a sigh. She could hear the distant sound of laughter downstairs, especially Sirius' bark like laugh. It made her smile. She wished Harry could be here and feel the atmosphere in the house. Despite what was going on in the world, the house was so full of love. It made her heart warm, but then the small voice in her head came creeping in saying it wouldn't last long. She ignored it.

She could hear footsteps coming up the stairs, she didn't know who it was but guessed it could be Fred or George going to their room.

The door opened with a creak. It wasn't Fred or George. It was Remus. He smiled at her. "Molly's put on a wonderful feast again."

He was inviting her back downstairs. She smiled faintly. It was hard to always ignore the voice in her head, saying this wasn't forever. She was scared of what she could loose.

She opened her mouth to voice her worries, after all Remus had been there for her from the start but seeing his face made her halt. He was smiling, he was happy. His eyes held joyous glee. Despite everything, he was postively merry at the moment. He was having a good time with his friends and what he considered family, who was she to dampen his mood.

Despite everything Remus had been through, he was still capable of such happiness and Eleanor didn't want to take that away. She could voice her concerns another time. She reminded herself that Harry hadn't had a nightmare about her since the first one. He had only ever dreamed of the door since. While that was worrying, she reminded herself things could be much much worse.

"So what do you say kiddo, do you want to join us? I think Molly made cherry pie for dessert, your favourite."

Eleanor smiled. "You make a hard bargain, Lupin. How could I refuse?"

"I'm glad you said that, Sirius has been driving me crazy, at least with you he will leave me alone."

Eleanor scoffed. "I thought I only encouraged him?" Eleanor grinned as she stood up, remembering how many people had commented on the chaos Sirius and herself made. "Besides," Eleanor continued, feeling daring. "I thought you liked it when he drove you crazy?"

Remus' head whipped around to look at her, and Eleanor's smile slipped feeling she had over stepped a line. Eleanor held her breath, waiting for the anger, waiting for the lecture on how she's been sorely mistaken and to not mention such a thing again.

Instead Remus said nothing, but when he turned away from her she could have sworn she saw a slight shy smile on his face. And was it her or did his cheeks look slightly redder than before?

Eleanor couldn't help it and her smile returned, wider than ever. Until-

"Josh has eaten about four Chocolate Frogs. Your father says its your job to put him to bed tonight."

"What!" Eleanor's smile slipped instantly again. "You're joking!"

Remus was smiling, amused. "I'm afraid not. Look."

They had reached the dining room and Josh was currently standing on the table. Sirius was laughing his head off, clearly enjoying the show.

Josh saw Eleanor. "Ellie! Look what Dung gave me!" And in his hand, he held about four more chocolate Frogs.

Eleanor leapt forward to snatch them off him, fearing if he ate anymore chocolate he'd be bouncing off the walls. Josh leapt off the table with a scream of joy and ran around the room and Elenaor huffed, trying to hide her amused smile as she ran after him.

(There is a lot of dialogue in this chapter, and it's rather long, I hope you don't mind. I hope you enjoy and still love this story as much as I love writing it. Until next time.)