Learn to Love Again | George Weasley

55. A Pleasant Reprise

Things at the shop had been rather slow lately. May was always this way. January through April would bring in a steady flow of customers - from people wanting fireworks for New Year's, Love Potions for Valentine's Day, and just about anything to get a laugh for April Fool's Day.

But May? A few curious customers would come in and browse from time to time but it was nothing wild or unexpected. Certainly nothing like how it had been when Fred and George first opened the shop all the way back in '96 where each day felt like their grand opening for months on end.

When it was like this, George found himself unable to relax. His calendar had long since been marked for the end of June, when students would finally return from school for the summer holidays and bring new business to the shop.

It wasn't even that he was feeling particularly motivated to work. In all honesty, he just needed the distraction. Without keeping his hands and mind occupied, George worried that his anxiety would take over and whatever fearful thoughts had been ruminating in his brain that week would completely consume him. The busy work helped, sometimes more than the therapy. Distractions held back the memories for a little while and that's honestly all he needed.

Despite how much George would much rather be working than laying on Eloise's couch doing nothing, Charlie and Verity were the ones running the store that day.

The three of them agreed that with the slow business lately, each of them should get two days off, rather than the one day a week that the shop was closed. Although it wasn't necessarily that all of them agreed to the idea, it was just that George didn't think it was worth the argument. He could already see both Charlie and Verity getting into a tissy if George so much as objected to the idea of taking a break.

Eloise on the other hand loved when work was slow for her. When the piles of paperwork shrank to nothing and the interdepartmental memos weren't constantly zooming around her head. Her promotion to Percy's old position brought forth several new responsibilities but it also took away a lot of the mundane busy work she had to keep up with on a weekly basis.

On this particular Sunday afternoon, George and Eloise found themselves with nothing to do. And while Eloise was quite content sitting inside reading for an entire day, George hated it.

"I've been thinking-" he started as boredom had finally driven the man to the brink of madness.

Eloise looked over the top of the book she had been reading in the armchair, raising an eyebrow at the man laying on the couch petting a sleeping Simon. She instinctively took in a deep breath, almost expecting some sort of grandiose scheme to form in his mind that would cause some sort of trouble to spill from his lips.

"Yes?"

"We should go out this evening."

The blonde set her book down on her lap, her index finger still sandwiched between the pages to keep her place, "Where to?"

"That, I'm afraid, is a secret." George responded, already beaming.

"Can I at least have a hint?"

"Nope!" George said brightly as he sat up, effectively waking up a now rather grumpy Simon.

Eloise teetered on the border between amusement and worry as she gazed at her boyfriend. There was nothing wrong with surprises, not in her book. But with George, surprises could literally mean anything. Without noticing, she had tucked her bottom lip between her teeth - chewing nervously as wild scenarios played out in her mind.

"Sickle for your thoughts, darling?" George asked with a lilt of amusement.

The girl blinked her eyes at him, suddenly bringing her focus back to reality rather than the creative scenarios her mind had conjured up. In her hesitation, a laugh escaped from George's lips.