Learn to Love Again | George Weasley

17. You Are Firewhisky

"Yes, exactly." she nodded.

"Any particular reason?" Fleur continued her line of questioning

"It's what he asked for." Eloise shrugged.

"He asked you to roll up a piece of parchment and put it in a bottle for us to deliver to him on Christmas Day?" Fleur asked as she narrowed her eyes at her friend.

"Well... not in those exact words, no. But he did ask for what I'm giving him."

"Alright Eloise, whatever you say." Bill chuckled.

"Maybe you two really are meant for each other, you're both quite strange." Fleur said bluntly.

Eloise merely rolled her eyes at her friend's comment, "Please Fleur, it's Christmas. Can't you bear to not tease me for a single day, as your gift to me? The bottle is just a little inside joke between friends, nothing more."

Fleur smiled slightly, "But if I did that, I would have to return the actual gift I got for you."

The slender blonde witch reached into the pocket of her dressing gown and pulled out a small grey box, topped with a sparkling silver bow. Fleur set the box on the island between her and Eloise, who looked back and forth from the box to Fleur for a moment as if she was trying to figure out what it could be before opening it. While Eloise was always keen to give gifts, being on the receiving end of them sometimes made her feel a little awkward, she was much more of a giver than a taker.

Eventually, she picked up the gift and glanced up at Fleur who gave her an encouraging nod. As she undid the bow and pulled off the lid, she found a small golden key laying in dark purple tissue paper. Eloise felt her heart inside her throat as she looked between Bill and Fleur, each of whom had kind smiles on their faces.

"What's this?" Eloise asked quietly, though she had a hunch, she needed to hear it from the couple.

"It's a key to our cottage, though we don't typically need keys of course. It's more of a symbol, really." Bill replied.

"We want you to stay. It's our invitation to stay, both of us agreed that we love having you here." Fleur continued.

Eloise instinctively shook her head, "Oh, but I couldn't."

"We know you've been going back and forth on whether you should move back to France or not, so consider this your sign to stay in England." Bill reassured her.

"You don't need to stay with us forever, but we do think you should stay in England. Besides, Shell Cottage will always be your home no matter what." Fleur said, reaching across the counter for Eloise's hand.

Tears welled up in Eloise's eyes as she took her friend's hand. Bill and Fleur had been so accommodating over the last several months of her stay, recently she was beginning to feel guilty and like she had far overstayed her welcome. The fact that they called their own home that they were starting their family in, her home, brought out more emotions than she had anticipated. Bill and Fleur didn't just consider Eloise to be their guest or their friend, she was their family. Fleur released Eloise's hand as she moved around the kitchen island to pull her into a tight hug. Bill walked around the other side to rub a comforting hand on Eloise's back.

"You have always been my sister, Elle. You left everything behind for me this past summer, I can never thank you enough for that." Fleur whispered into her friend's hair.

"I would do anything for you Fleur, you know that." Eloise replied as she pulled away to look into her eyes.

"Merlin, it's a good thing neither of us had gotten ready yet. Could you imagine the mascara mess we would have created?" Fleur laughed as she wiped away the tears streaming down her own face.