Say You Won't Let Go || Bill Weasley

Forty Six: Sleepovers at Shell Cottage

"Isabelle?"

Isabelle buried her face into her pillow and groaned quietly in response. She heard a soft sigh and footsteps move towards the side of the bed next to her, then felt a hand brush through her hair gently.

"I let you stay in bed all day, but you need to eat something," Bill said.

"I'm not hungry," Isabelle mumbled against the pillow.

"Look at me, Iz," Bill said softly.

After a moment, Isabelle reluctantly rolled over to look at him. Her eyes were still red and puffy, and she found it difficult to ignore the pain in her head from how much she cried the night before.

"This isn't the end of the world, and I'm not going to let you do this to yourself just because you think it is. It's a temporary problem," Bill said.

"You think so?"

Bill nodded. "I know so. The Ministry will see their mistakes and Dumbledore will be back at Hogwarts before you know it, and so will you."

"Do you have to be so optimistic all the time?" Isabelle asked.

Bill chuckled softly. "One of us has to be. Now come on, I made dinner."

Isabelle finally got out of bed and joined him downstairs in the kitchen, where they ate together in silence for a long while.

"I have no idea what I'm going to do about finding a job," Isabelle eventually said between bites of food.

Bill looked at her for a second before speaking. "I think you should wait until the summer is over."

"Bill-"

"I make enough at Gringotts to take care of both of us, and I don't want you to worry about that right now," Bill said, resting his hand on top of hers.

"But what if Dumbledore doesn't come back and I don't get my job back? I don't want to be completely reliant on you forever," Isabelle said.

"Then we'll figure that out when the time comes."

Isabelle was quiet for a moment. "You keep saying 'we'."

"Isabelle..." Bill said, rubbing his thumb along her knuckles and where her ring sat on her finger. "When I decided to ask you to marry me, I knew that I wanted nothing more than to always be there for you no matter what. Even if we aren't married yet, we're still in this together, because I love you."

"I love you, too," Isabelle smiled.

Bill lifted her hand and kissed the back of it softly. "Who knows? Maybe you could come work with me."

"Doing paperwork all day at Gringotts? I think there's got to be something more interesting that I could do," Isabelle said.

Bill let out a short laugh. "Actually, I meant as a curse breaker, once this is all over and things go back to normal."

"You really think I could do that?" Isabelle asked.

Bill nodded. "You're more than capable, and I'm sure you would love Egypt."

"Well, you did promise to show me Egypt..."

"Exactly," Bill smiled. "And I still intend to, someday soon."

They finished their dinner with little conversation, both of their moods lifted more than they were earlier that day, but Bill could tell there was still something on Isabelle's mind.

"Percy was there last night," she finally said.

"We don't have to talk about it," Bill said, remembering how she reacted to the topic the night before.