Eleanor Greene

OOC

Game	Journal	Portrayed By
Pons Novus	notayank	Emily Mortimer

Basic Stats

Full Name: Eleanor Sara Greene (née Branstone)
Nickname(s): El(le) or Ellie, mostly; Matt sometimes calls her Jenny
Gender: Female
Age: 45
Date of Birth: April 30, 1983
Zodiac: Taurus
Sexuality: Straight
Relationship Status: Married to Matthew Greene (Jan 1, 2003)
Bloodline: Halfblood
Hometown: London, England
Current Residence: Harrow, London, England
House & Year: Hufflepuff 1994-1997; Salem Witches' Institute 1997-2001
Occupation: Stay-at-home mum
Wand: 9.5 in, maple, phoenix tail feather
Pet: None

Family

Father: Eniale Branstone (muggle; age 66)
Mother: Helana Branstone (née Cichewicz; witch; age 66)
Brother: Gabriel Branstone (wizard; age 44)
Brother: Leon Branstone (wizard; age 44)

Husband: Matthew Joseph Greene (muggle)
Daughter: Sloane Greene (witch; Ravenclaw 2022; b. September 15, 2003)
Daughter: Leah Abigail Greene (witch; Ravenclaw 2024; b. November 14, 2005)
Son: Cameron Greene (wizard; Gryffindor 2026)
Daughter: Allison Greene (witch; Hufflepuff 2028)
Daughter: Brooklyn Sophia Greene (Gryffindor 6th; b. June 17, 2012)
Daughter: Madison Grace Greene (Ravenclaw 4th; b. October 6, 2013)

History

3 Significant Moments in Childhood

The bakery: For as long as Eleanor could remember, the bakery was like a second home. If she wasn't at home or in school, she was in the bakery, surrounded by her (albeit small) family and the smells of pastries in the oven. Her first-ever "job" was "taste-tester" for her grandmother, which was really just her grandmother justifying always giving Ellie little tastes of everything. Although she never had the desire like her brothers to join the family business of baking, she still loves being surrounded by family and by the smells of baked goods. And, of course, she knows how to make everything the CC Bakery sells, having learned at her mother's and grandmother's elbows.
First magic: The first act of magic is a big deal for every magical child. Or, well, that was what Helana said when Eleanor had her first display of magic. Ellie was five at the time, and sitting on the floor of the kitchen of the CC Bakery. Her grandmother had just taken a tray of kołacz out of the oven and had set them on the counter to cool. Ellie didn't want to wait for them to cool: she wanted to taste one now! Before her grandmother or mother (both of whom were there in the kitchen) could react, the tray was on the floor, and Ellie (who hadn't stood up from her seat in the corner) had a piping hot strawberry kołacz in her hands, but seemed unbothered by the heat as she munched on it. Helana loved telling everyone (well, their magical friends, at least) that they were going to have to keep a close eye on Ellie, the little pastry thief.
Hogwarts letter & Diagon Alley: Ellie, Gabriel, and Leon had grown up listening to their mother's stories of Hogwarts, and they were all excited for the day to come that they would receive their letters. Ellie received hers when she was eleven, and slept with it under her pillow every night until the 1st of September. The day it arrived, she wanted her parents to take her to Diagon Alley now to get her supplies, but they had to wait for a few days to things be slow enough at the bakery for Helana to take Ellie to the Alley. Although she'd been shopping in Diagon with her mum and brothers before, the fact that they were there to buy her school supplies made the trip … well, magical. Helana treated Ellie to ice cream at Fortescue's and they spent time poring over inks and quills, in addition to getting everything on the list. It was one of the best days of Ellie's life, a chance to spend time with just her mum and go shopping for things just for her.

3 Significant Moments During School

Hufflepuff: Once Ellie got to Hogwarts, the Hat placed her into Hufflepuff immediately. She was thrilled, of course: Hufflepuff was her mother's house, after all. The common room was every bit as cozy as Helana had said, and she had no trouble finding the entrance to the kitchens (a secret her mother had passed along to her in confidence). She arrived at Hogwarts on an interesting year: quidditch was cancelled for the school year (sadly), but there was going to be a tournament in its place, with students from other schools visiting! Most exciting of all was that someone from her own house was chosen for the tournament! In all, Ellie loved Hufflepuff, it was a definite home-away-from-home for her. She couldn't imagine ever loving anywhere as much as Hufflepuff (besides home and the bakery, of course).
Fleeing England: When Ellie had first boarded the train to Hogwarts, she was sure that she would never feel unwelcome there. But then the war happened, and suddenly the United Kingdom was no longer safe, not even Hogwarts. Everything that happened that August is still a bit of a blur to Ellie, but it was definitely a scary time. It was thanks to Lee Jordan, a Gryffindor who had been several years ahead of Ellie at Hogwarts, that the Branstone family escaped England at all: he got them to their first safehouse, from which they ping-ponged a few times over the course of a week before they ended up in the United States. It was the start of the scariest time of Ellie's life, where she was constantly looking over her shoulder in fear, afraid that the person who stopped and looked at her for just a second too long on the street was one of Them come to take her and her family to Azkaban.
Salem Witches' Institute / Massachusetts: Starting school at the Salem Witches' Institute in Massachusetts was a huge culture-shock for Ellie. For one thing, it wasn't a boarding school like Hogwarts was: it was a day school, with a bus that came and picked up those students from designated areas, who couldn't floo or apparate to the school. For another … just the fact that everyone at the school had such accents completely threw Ellie. But she actually acclimated to SWI fairly quickly, and really, she was just happy to be somewhere that was safer. Though she was worried immensely about her friends back in England, Massachusetts just felt so far removed from … everything. Even after the war was over, the Branstone family decided to stay there, at least until Ellie and the twins finished school. None of them wanted to face England again so soon after the war.

3 Significant Moments Since School

Staying in the States: Ellie made a conscious decision to remain the the States, even after her parents and brothers moved back to England in 2003. Part of it was Matt, but part of it was simply wanting to start over. By now, she was so far removed from her friends from Hogwarts that she wasn't even sure what she would be going back to, besides memories of what was gone (her grandparents, the bakery). It was maybe a little bit of running away, but it just felt right to her.
Moving back to England: Eventually, though, she began to miss England. And although Ellie and Matt had taken the children to visit their grandparents and uncles in England over the years, it just wasn't the same. Ellie and Matt spent forever debating the possibility of moving. Finally, they sat the children down and explained it to them, and Matt began looking at architectural firms in England. Finally, in October of 2011, the family (Ellie, Matt, Sloane, Leah, Cameron, and Allison) moved to England. Ellie tried to make the culture-shock transition as easy for Matt and the children as possible by introducing them over the preceeding months to English customs as much as she could, but she knew it was still quite a change for them all. Ellie worried for months if she had made the right decision to uproot her family, just because she was homesick.
What now? They did settle well enough into life in London though, and all the children (including the two who were born in England: Brooklyn and Madison) eventually went off to Hogwarts. Once Ellie started realising that her children were growing up and soon wouldn't need her at much, she started feeling a little bit lost. She had always put taking care of her family first, and when there would be no more family to take care of … what would she do then? Even though she still has a few years until Brooklyn and Madison are old enough to move out, the thoughts are still enough to keep her awake some nights.

3 Significant Moments With Matthew

Meeting: Eleanor was only thirteen when she first met Matt; meanwhile, he was eighteen. Ellie (though she was going by Jenny at the time) had come over to her new best friend Stephanie's house after school one afternoon, and Matt was visiting from college (he was a freshman at the nearby Boston Architectural College). For Ellie, it was love at first sight. For Matt … maybe not quite so much. After all, Ellie was five years younger (definitely outside the realm of "legal" in the States!) and just his little sister's new friend from school. But it was the beginning of everything, really. Not that Ellie was a stalker until Matt finally noticed her back, or anything, but it was still just the start.
Dating: It was like a dream come true, the first time Matt asked Ellie out. Every Disney movie that Ellie had watched with Stephanie was playing itself out (the good happily-ever-after parts, anyway) in Ellie's heart and mind. Their first date was horribly awkward, though, because Ellie was trying so hard to play it cool, and even though Ellie was seventeen by now, Matt still felt awkward and like he was a cradle-robber. Things got easier over time, but their relationship remained at least a little awkward for that first year. Of course, Ellie will always describe it as completely romantic, glossing over the awkwardness.
The wedding: Ellie and Matt's wedding was certainly unique. They had the idea of being the first couple to get married on New Year's Day, 2003. So the wedding started in the evening of December 31, 2002, with the reception coming first and taking the form of a huge New Year's Eve party with all their friends and family. As the countdown to midnight started, everyone gathered around Ellie and Matt at the front of the room, and right after the chorus of "Happy New Year!" and everyone else got their kisses out of the way, they said their "I do"s and had their own first kiss — both of the year and of their marriage. It was a completely untraditional wedding, but it fit them perfectly.

3 Significant Moments in Parenting

Becoming a mum: Ellie and Matt weren't married for long when they found out they were pregnant, and although Ellie was thrilled to become a mother, she was also consumed with worry that she would completely mess up this tiny little person who trusted her to know what she was doing. Ellie devoured all sorts of parenting books while she was pregnant … but most of what she'd "learned" went right out the window within the first six months, and Ellie realised that everything was ok. So what if she couldn't swaddle Sloane perfectly like in the diagrams? What was important was that she did her best and loved her daughter (and didn't drop her on her head, or pick her up by the leg).
Barely-controlled chaos: Having six kids in the span of a decade wasn't exactly something that had been planned out. All of the kids just sort of … happened. Of course, Ellie loves her children and wouldn't trade any of them in for anything (despite occasional jokes to the contrary), but it is definitely exhausting keeping up with six children of varying ages. Ellie'd already had some time-management skills, but she had to get herself completely organised or she would have just folded under the weight of all the everything. She may have overdone the organisation of the household, but at least she managed to keep everything running smoothly and nobody died.
Off to Hogwarts, one by one: Ellie was definitely one of those mums standing on the platform crying when they put Sloane on the Hogwarts Express for the first time. And when they put Leah on the train for the first time. And Cameron. And Allison. And Brooklyn. And Madison. Even after she'd been putting her kids on that train for years, the first time for each child still felt new and made her both happy and sad. She managed to remain composed on the in-between years, when nobody was getting on the train for the first time, at least. Once Madison boarded the train and Eleanor returned home to an empty house, she definitely started feeling at loose ends with herself, though. For the first time, there was nobody to take care of besides herself and Matt, for months at a time!

Personality

3 Positive Traits

Organised: Ellie may not have been the most organised of people in her youth (not particularly a slob, but not Yay Organisation! either), but out of necessity, she has become almost obsessive-compulsively organised. She has calendars with important dates and appointments marked on them. Schedules for who can use the bathroom when, and for how long, during the "bottleneck" times (morning and night). Everything is colour-coded: each person in the household has their own colour for everything from appointments on the calendar to space on the schedule to where in the coatroom they hang their coat and put their shoes. There is a place for everything, and everything goes in its place (and everything's place is clearly labelled and colour-coded).
Sports fan: Even from a young age, Ellie was interested in sports. Her mother liked listening to quidditch broadcasts on the wireless, so Ellie grew up listening to them, as well as watching the rugby matches that her father enjoyed watching on the telly. When she got to Hogwarts, Ellie was thrilled to have the opportunity to actually watch a quidditch match, even if it was just other students and not professionals. She was, in fact, supremely disappointed that quidditch had been cancelled in her first year for the tournament (but watching Harry Potter flying around to avoid the dragon was almost as exciting as quidditch, at least!). When her family fled to the States during the war, she was disappointed that the American witches and wizards weren't into quidditch … quodpot just wasn't the same. However, her muggleborn best friend was a major baseball fan, and she (and her older brother Matt) got Ellie interested in the sport. Despite being back in England, Ellie is still a diehard Red Sox fan, as well as a Puddlemere United quidditch fan.
Homebody: Ellie is most comfortable and at ease when she's at home, especially if her family is around, and most especially if she's in the kitchen. While she may not have the desire to join her mother in the bakery business, she still loves to bake regardless, and a house just isn't a home unless it smells of fresh-baked pastries. She loves to take care of people (her own family, of course, but also her friends), and feels at loose ends if she's cut off from her family, or if there's nobody around for her to take care of.

3 Negative Traits

Overthinker: If there's a problem, Ellie is going to overthink it so hard that she'll miss the most obvious answer that's staring her right in the face. She has a very hard time with just going with any kind of a gut instict, she has to think things through and make lists. (She even made a list at the age of thirteen as to why it was a Very Bad Idea to have a crush on her best friend's older brother. Matt laughed when Ellie found that list buried in a box when they moved in together.) When she was pregnant, she read every book on the subject that she could get her hands on, despite the wildly different perspectives and opinions she was getting from them. Oftentimes, this kind of overthinking leads to headaches, at which point Matt puts her into time out (seriously).
Not spontaneous at all: Tying into being an overthinker, Ellie has a very hard time with spontaneity. "Hey, let's go to the beach right now!" will turn Ellie pale as she mentally runs through lists of everything they need to get together for going to the beach. Oh, no, Ellie needs to have a plan in place before they go to the beach. Matt sometimes had to drag her along if one of the kids wanted to do something fun spontaneously.
Slightly co-dependent: Ellie has an intense need to be needed. She sometimes simply cannot function if she's on her own, she needs somebody to be taking care of. Her greatest fear (besides snakes) right now is that she won't know what to do when all of her little birds have left the nest. She has Matt, of course, but she's afraid of ending up smothering him without the children around to take some of the brunt of her caring.

Boggart: Snakes. Hundreds of snakes everywhere. Eleanor is terrified of snakes.
Mirror of Erised: Honestly, Ellie would say that the mirror would probably show her with her life pretty much the way it is: being surrounded by her family is really all that Ellie has ever wanted. In reality, that pretty much is what the mirror would show, but her grandparents would be there, too. Alive and well, happy to meet their great-grandchildren and spoil them.
What is your character's outlook on life? When one door closes, another opens. It's always darkest before the dawn. Every dark cloud has a silver lining. Sometimes, things have to get worse before they get better. Basically, all sorts of clichés about how life can be bad but it'll also get good, because … that's pretty much what happened. Yes, Ellie and her family had to flee for their lives and live in fear for a year, but if they hadn't ended up in the States, Ellie would never have met Matt, and her children just … wouldn't exist. Matt and her children are the silver lining of the war and of having to flee England.