November 1999
Eloise was spending her Saturday morning sitting on the floor of the living room watching over Victoire. The baby was making her best attempt at crawling over to Eloise, but she only ended up kicking her back legs and scooting a few inches along on her belly with loud giggles.
In Eloise's mind it seemed like the six month old had been growing up in just the blink of an eye and she could only imagine how Bill and Fleur were feeling. But all she could think about now as she smiled down at Victoire, was the trouble she could cause whenever did finally start crawling.
Fleur entered the room from the kitchen looking slightly sleepy, but still beautiful. She was holding a small stack of envelopes, three of which she held down towards Eloise.
Tearing her eyes away from Victoire, she reached up and retrieved the envelopes from Fleur's hand and quickly shuffled through them to see who they were from.
One was from Dhani, replying to a letter she had sent to him earlier in the week. The second was from her parents, hopefully finalizing their plans for her to visit them over the holidays.
After everything that had happened between her and George she was itching to go home. Not just because she missed her parents, which she did, but because she had started to feel trapped in England.
She originally wanted to go home for just the week of Christmas and New Year's. But after everything that had happened with George, she decided she wanted more time away.
When she told her parents that she wanted to return home shortly after Charlie's birthday and spend most of the month with them, they were initially shocked. But they missed their only daughter dearly, so there was no way they were going to object.
The main reasoning behind her extended visit was because recently, in the back of her mind, she had been considering moving back home. There was nothing left keeping Eloise in England anymore, beyond her career. But she could easily transfer to the Ministère des Affaires Magiques de la France and do a similar job, even though that wasn't really her dream.
Of course she hadn't brought up this idea to anyone yet, she decided to wait until the end of the holidays before making a decision. As bad as it sounded, she was planning to use her visit home as a trial run to see if she truly wanted to move back. But she decided to put those thoughts aside for now and focus on the present.
Finally, her fingers grazed over the last envelope, immediately recognizing the handwriting on it as George's.
Without a second thought, Eloise quickly discarded George's letter into the junk pile next to the fireplace, fully intending for it to be burned without ever having to read a single word of what he had to say to her.
But unbeknownst to her, as she opened the other envelopes, scanning over the letters from Dhani and her parents, Fleur had walked across the room to retrieve her daughter as well as George's letter.
The usually blunt witch walked up to her friend, only coming Eloise's attention when a pair of grey slippers came into her view below the letter she was reading. As she brought her eyes up, she noticed look in Fleur's eyes was uncharacteristically sympathetic which worried her. But when her eyes fell to the envelope in her hand, a frown formed on Eloise's face.
"I'm not opening that." she said dismissively.
"It's the fourth time he's written to you in a week and a half, I get the feeling that he won't stop until you reply."
"I have nothing to say to him."
"At the very least tell him you need space. He doesn't need to keep wasting his time."
Eloise huffed and picked herself up off the floor, deciding that she didn't need to be under her friend's watchful (and somewhat judgmental) eye as she penned her response.
After snatching the envelope from Fleur's hand, she made her way up the stairs and into her bedroom, making sure to close the door behind her before taking a seat her desk.
The blue leather bound journal George had gifted her last Christmas sat in the middle of the antique wooden desk. It had been untouched for weeks, yet for some reason she had decided to no put it away. Part of it was because she had plenty of memories written within those pages that didn't want to lock away, but also because she simply didn't want to touch the thing.
As endearing as the sentiment was for George to charm the journal to show her mood every time she picked it up, it became increasingly frustrating to constantly be reminded of her heartbreak and frustrations. It almost felt like a sick game or a cruel joke, as if he were taunting her from afar even though she knew in reality that wasn't his intention.
But now, as a thin layer of dust accumulated on top of the journal she hadn't dared open in nearly a month, she couldn't help but feel like it was wasting space on her desk. Writing her feelings in that book felt almost like she was confessing her deepest secrets and most personal feelings to George. Even though she knew the thought was silly, she simply didn't want to imagine him as her confidant anymore.
Her fingers grazed the leather, just for for a split second, to push the journal aside and her initials on the spine immediately changed to a deep ruby shade so dark it almost looked black, but at the right angle the wine color was quite clear. It was a color she had become all too familiar with, one she recognized as 'heartbreak'.
Why George thought his silly little charm needed to include that emotion was beyond her, but it certainly wasn't helping his case at the moment.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, Eloise finally tore open the envelope and pulled out the parchment. Surprisingly, it was much shorter than she was expecting, but maybe the other letters she had tossed out were longer. She'd never know for sure.
'Elle,
I still miss you and I'm still sorry. I know you're probably sick of hearing that, but it's the truth. I'm looking forward to seeing you at Bill's birthday in a few weeks. Of course I'd love to see you before then, you know where to find me.
Yours,
George'
A grimace formed on Eloise's face. The sugary sweet words on the page contrasted greatly with the way he'd treated her on that horrible night when he had all but locked the door on their relationship forever.
Maybe he'd finally come to his senses. But Eloise refused to allow herself to be optimistic about the situation anymore. It only lead to disappointment.
Instead, she grabbed a scrap piece of parchment from her desk drawer and dipped her quill into the navy blue ink she always used.
'George,
I'll see you at Bill's birthday dinner. Until then it's probably best if we don't write to one another, I think we just need some time apart.
Hopefully you understand,
Eloise'
She hastily folded the parchment in half and pocketed it in her baggy cardigan. She'd resorted to wearing an older grey one that she wasn't really fond of after her favorite blue cardigan had mysteriously gone missing around a month ago. Fleur assured her several times that she hadn't seen it nor had she misplaced it while doing laundry. After a while she figured she'd accidentally left it on the back of a chair in the cafe at the Ministry after lunch one day and accepted the fact that it was gone forever.
Before deciding to hunt for an envelope in Bill's office, she decided to quickly write responses to Dhani and her parents. As cruel as it sounded, she didn't want to put forth the effort of going to the post office for only George, so writing to people she actually wanted to talk to made the trip feel more worth while to her.
Finally making her way across the hall to the study, Eloise dug through the drawers of Bill's desk in search of envelopes. After having no luck in the top drawers she reached for the handle of the second drawer on the left, one Eloise remembered as more of a 'junk drawer'. But when she pulled it open her eyes fell on the other three unopened letters from George sitting right on top of the clutter underneath.
Even through her annoyance, Eloise knew better than to think Bill was the one who had been sneaking these letters out of the junk pile and her mind went immediately to Fleur.
She quickly snatched them from the drawer, making sure to also grab the envelopes she needed before closing it. Immediately Eloise flipped over the letters to see that the envelopes were still sealed. At least Fleur's nosy meddling hadn't gone far enough for her to actually read them.
She stuffed the empty envelopes with her replies, sealing and addressing them before returning them to the large pocket of her oversized cardigan for safe keeping until she could stop by the Owl Post Office on Diagon Alley.
For now though, her focus was on why Fleur had kept George's letters she'd made it abundantly clear that she had no interest in reading them.
With George's letters in hand, Eloise quickly descended the stairs and found her friend relaxing on the sofa with a mug of tea in one hand and her daughter cradled in the other. She dropped the envelopes on the coffee table in front of where Fleur was sitting, giving her an impatient glare.
Fleur's eyes glanced down at the letters before she brought her attention back up to Eloise, clearly unfazed by her friend's discovery and the expression on her face.
"You'll want these someday, so I put them in Bill's desk for safe keeping." Fleur explained casually.
"Why on Earth would I want them?"
"I don't believe your story with George is finished yet."
"Oh, please." Eloise rolled her eyes dismissively.
"Do I think you should go crawling back to him? Absolutely not, he's an idiot." she clarified, "But you know you're part of our family now. George is always going to be around and so are you. I simply can't see a future where you can possibly cut each other off completely."
Eloise pressed her lips into a thin line. Little did Fleur know that Eloise was already contemplating moving back to France. If that happened she'd already be one step further away from all the Weasleys.
No more seeing Percy every day at work, no more exchanging recipes with Molly, no more casual visits to see Charlie at the shop, and certainly no more pining for George.
Leaving would make moving on much easier, and that's what he had told her to do after all.
"I'm not opening them." Eloise said firmly.
"You don't have to open them right now, just don't throw them away."
Eloise rolled her eyes, "Whatever. I need to go to the post office today, do you want to come along?" she asked, quickly dropping the subject.
Fleur nodded and got to her feet, "I've been wanting to go to Diagon Alley anyway, we should start birthday shopping for Bill."
-
By the time the girls had gotten ready and made their way to Diagon Alley, Eloise had mostly let go of her bad mood from that morning. From the moment her letter to George finally left her possession she felt a weight lift off her shoulders and the clouds above her start to clear.
The girls spent quite an uneventful morning browsing various shops, looking for gifts for the eldest Weasley child's 29th birthday.
They had eventually found their way to Madam Malkin's where Fleur was spending much too long glancing between robes, trying to decide between an emerald green, brown, or navy blue one. Bill had been wearing the same rotation of black and grey robes since returning to his desk job at Gringotts after the war, and Fleur wanted to get him something nicer.
Eloise had told her several times that either option would be good, especially since Bill was never particularly fussy about his clothes. But once Fleur thought she had decided that the navy would compliment his long red locks more, she changed her mind a moment later thinking the brown might be more practical for work, only to turn around once more thinking the green was more fitting for Gringotts.
Victoire was growing quite fussy in Eloise's arms, she must have been feeling rather impatient with her mother as well. Glancing at the clock she realized they had been there for over an hour now.
Eloise approached Fleur who was chatting with the elderly seamstress about coming back to tailor the robe once it had been gifted to her husband. Though the witch answered all her questions, she seemed slightly irritated that Fleur had yet to select a color.
"I'm going to stop in to Flourish & Blotts while you sort this out." Eloise said, shifting her body for Fleur to take the baby from her arms.
Fleur merely nodded and took hold of Victoire before returning her full attention to her discussion with the elderly witch who was wearing comically large glasses with lenses so thick Eloise wondered how steady her fingers were with a needle if her eyesight was truly that bad. Although, with magic perhaps a precise hand or perfect vision wasn't the most important thing when it came to fitting robes.
Eloise stepped foot back out onto Diagonal Alley, the chill November weather hadn't done anything to hinder all the witches and wizards who were out and about doing their weekend shopping.
As hard as she tried to avoid it, her eyes immediately fell on the tall purple building on the far end of the street. If only it didn't stick out so much compared to every other building, maybe she would have been able to ignore it. But it was looming over her, tempting and beckoning her to push past the orange door and run straight into George's arms. But at the same time it felt like it was taunting her, acting as a constant reminder of something she could never have.
Luckily Flourish & Blotts was on the opposite end of the alley and she didn't need to take a single step closer to the joke shop.
Pulling her jacket tightly around her, Eloise weaved through the crowd on her way to the book shop. She figured it would be a quick and simple trip, seeing as she already knew exactly what she wanted to get for Bill.
As she pushed the door of the shop open a jiggle of the bell rang throughout. The smell of old wooden shelves, leather, and parchment wafted over her and she immediately felt right at home.
What she thought was going to be an in-and-out trip quickly turned into Eloise mindlessly wandering up and down the aisles, running her fingers idly over the leather bound spines and occasionally picking up a book that caught her eye.
Eventually, she did find her way to the section she wanted to be in. The shelves filled floor to ceiling with large books discussing the history and use of curses and hexes. Of course Eloise had no use for this information herself. Beauxbatons didn't put much weight on studying dark arts and it never really interested her anyway. But she knew Bill was missing his old job in Egypt and she hoped maybe a book on curses would somehow fill that void.
"Need help finding something?" a deep warm voice asked from behind her.
Eloise quickly turned around and was met with the sight of a tall man with beautiful maple colored eyes, and an incredibly charming smile. Beyond being an otherworldly type of handsome, Eloise noticed his dark teal robes embroidered with a golden 'F&B' meant he was an employee of the shop.
Eloise realized she must have been taking in his all of his features for an uncomfortable amount of time when she noticed his eyebrow quirk up slightly.
"I um," she cleared her throat, "I was hoping you had a copy of 'Ancient Curses from Around the World' in stock."
A chuckle left his lips, "Curses? Should I alert the Aurors about a blonde witch looking to learn about dark magic?"
"It's a gift for a friend." she clarified, nervously tucking a curl behind her ear.
"Oh, so you're only the accomplice then."
"He was a curse breaker, if that makes you feel better."
"It does, but I think I'll still have to keep an eye on you."
For some reason his comment made her entire body heat up in a way she hadn't expected. Quickly she tried to shake it off, thinking it was impossible for him to be flirting with her. They had just met, and she felt that she was quite ordinary. In her mind there was no reason to believe that a man this beautiful would have shown her interest anyway.
Before she could give away the effect his words had on her she quickly returned her attention back to the shelf, continuing to scan it for the book she was searching for.
"We don't have that one in right now, but I could order it for you." the handsome bookkeeper explained.
Eloise glanced back over her shoulder, looking back up into his dark eyes, almost at a loss for words.
A smirk formed on his lips, "Come over to the counter so I can fill out your information."
The man turned over his shoulder, making his way to the ornate mahogany counter that had a ledger triple the size of any book Eloise had ever seen before.
With a loud 'thump' the bookkeeper opened the cover and found a blank space to fill in Eloise's order. After dipping his quill into the ink, the man started scrawling the name of the book Eloise wanted in perfect cursive before pausing to look up at her.
"Your name?"
"Oh uh, Eloise Laurent."
The man nodded and returned his eyes to the page in front of him, writing her name more beautifully than she'd ever seen it written before.
"Okay Eloise, I should be able to get that book in for you by Wednesday. Will that work for you? If not we can always have it sent to your home by owl, but that includes a small fee."
"I can come in, I work at the Ministry so it's not too much trouble to stop in after work."
The bookkeeper nodded and made a note next to her name with the date that she would be returning before setting the quill aside and closing the book that was so large the force of it shutting blew her hair back slightly.
"Well, that's all set. You'll just pay for the book once you come in. Did you need anything else today?"
"Erm, I didn't catch your name." she said.
"My name?" he asked with an amused grin.
"For when I come in to pick up the book, won't I need to tell whoever is here that you were the one who helped me?"
"That's not necessary, whoever is working should be able to find the book for you based on your name."
"Oh, right." she nodded feeling quite silly, a faint blush forming on her cheeks as she tore her eyes away from him.
A slight smirk grew on his lips as she gazed down at her, "It's Maxwell. Maxwell Holmes."
Eloise let out a sigh of relief, hoping it wasn't too noticeable, and looked back up at him, "Hopefully I'll see you on Wednesday, Maxwell."
"Hopefully." he repeated with a smile.
Empty handed, Eloise made her way back out onto Diagon Alley. Just as the brisk late autumn air hit her, she saw Fleur's silvery blonde hair in the crowd walking towards the book shop.
"Didn't find what you needed?" Fleur asked, noticing her empty hands as Victoire reached her arms out towards Eloise.
Without a word to one another Fleur allowed Eloise to take her daughter from her grasp, "I needed to have it ordered in, it'll be here on Wednesday."
As Victoire tangled her fingers in Eloise's curls Fleur narrowed her eyes at the girl.
"What?" Eloise asked.
"You met someone in there." Fleur said with a smirk.
"You've officially lost it." Eloise brushed her off as she pulled her hair away from the infant's grasp.
"I know you. You went in there all grouchy and came out in a good mood."
"I think you're reading too much into it."
Fleur decided not to press her any further, but she was adamant that someone inside that book store had made quite the impression on her friend and it took every ounce of willpower for her to not march right in there and see this mystery person for herself.
-
The rest of the weekend and the first half of the next week felt quite normal.
Really Eloise shouldn't complain, even though the days felt boring and as if they were dragging on for eternity, she chalked it up to being a slow season at work as the holidays approached.
In her mind it was better to be bored than sitting in the front row of the emotional rollercoaster George had been sending her on over the last year and a half.
Ever since her reply to him she hadn't received another letter. On one hand, she was relieved to not have to deal with that stress anymore and she appreciated him respecting her space. But confusingly, on the other hand, her heart felt hurt that it seemed like he had given up so easily. As selfish as it was, part of her was wanting him to fight a little harder for her even though she knew she didn't want to give in.
That Wednesday afternoon work was quite slow. The report she had been tasked at looking over was finished before lunch and she felt like she was just biding her time until the clock struck five.
A familiar face with horn-rimmed glasses approached her desk at around three that afternoon, looking almost as bored as she was. But then again, Percy always had an expression on his face that made him seem uninterested in almost everything.
"Afternoon, Percy."
For the last half hour she had been spinning her wand on her desk, deciding it was a better way to waste the day that actually watching the second hand tick around the clock for hours on end.
"Eloise." he greeted formally, pulling up a nearby chair to her desk.
She picked up her wand and placed it back in her bag, deciding it would be rude to keep spinning it around while her supervisor was trying to have a discussion with her. But the look in his eyes told her he really didn't mind her goofing off.
"Do you need me to go over something or...?" Eloise asked.
He let out a slight chuckle and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his knuckle, "No, just came over here for a bit of a chat with a friend. Unless you're too busy of course."
"Yes, I'm absolutely swamped, can't you tell?"
Audrey seemed to hear the two talking and exited her office a moment later. Eloise felt a wave of panic wash over her, it had been eight months since she started her job and still her boss never failed to fill her with dread. But shockingly a warm smile formed on her normally severe features.
"Ms. Laurent, Mr. Weasley." she greeted as she the two of them. While her voice was much friendlier than usual, Eloise could have sworn she noticed a certain type of warmth when she greeted Percy specifically.
Eloise never got involved in any water cooler office rumors, but in this moment she couldn't help but wonder if Audrey and Percy were ever a topic of discussion. The thought only crossed her mind because Eloise had never seen Audrey smile, nor had she been greeted by her without also being tasked with some sort of assignment in the same breath.
She knew it was inappropriate to wonder if something was going on between the two of them, but if being with Percy made Audrey more pleasant then Eloise was absolutely in support of the relationship.
"Hello, Ms. Everman." Eloise replied politely before quickly glancing to Percy who gave Audrey a short nod with a smirk.
"A bit of a slow day, isn't it?" Audrey asked, in an awkward attempt at making small talk.
Maybe Eloise wouldn't have felt so uncomfortable if Audrey was typically more forthcoming, but she was usually so strict even talking about the most mundane of topics with her felt somewhat uncomfortable.
"I'll say," Percy started with an enthusiastic laugh, "Let's just chalk it up to all of our hard work last month, right Eloise?"
The blonde, who already felt like an intruder in what she thought was budding romance merely nodded with a half hearted smile, hoping they'd eventually take their conversation elsewhere.
"Yes well, I was thinking it would be nice if we could all take a half day today, seeing as everyone has indeed been working hard. I've already informed the others, so you two can go ahead and clock out whenever is most convenient for you."
Eloise's eyes widened at the kind gesture. It almost seemed like Audrey was under some sort of spell with how uncharacteristically generous she was being. But Eloise wasn't complaining, she had been looking forward to going back to Flourish & Blotts at the end of the day to hopefully see Maxwell again.
"That's very kind, thank you ma'am." Eloise said as she stood from her desk.
"No need to thank me." she smiled before turning back to Percy, "Before you go Mr. Weasley, there is a report I'd like to discuss with you if it's not too much trouble."
"Oh, no problem." the redhead replied, looking very unbothered by the request.
Eloise wasted no time in pulling her coat from the back of her chair and pulling it on as she escaped from the office. If there was something going on between Audrey and Percy, then more power to them, but she didn't need to witness any more mild flirtations between the two if she could avoid it.
She quickly made her way to the atrium of the Ministry, thankfully it wasn't overly crowded. Being the middle of the day on a Wednesday, she didn't even need to wait in line to use a fireplace as she stepped inside and made her way straight home. Had she left work at five, she would have just gone straight to Diagon Alley from the office, but with the extra time she decided she wanted to look a bit more like herself before heading to the book shop.
Opening her closest, she opted for a loose cream colored cable knit sweater and a pair of burgundy corduroy pants before she pulled her hair out of it's bun and tousled it around. As she took a quick look in the mirror by her window to check her appearance, she found herself glancing over at the journal on her desk which only reminded her of the silver chain she still wore around her wrist each day.
These constant reminders of George were doing nothing but bringing her mood down.
For some reason, thinking of George when she had been so excited to see Maxwell again filled her with guilt. There really wasn't any logical reason to feel bad about the situation. She and George weren't together. Hell, they weren't even talking anymore. But even so, George was still occupying space in her mind somehow playing mental games with her from afar.
She quickly opened the bottom drawer of her desk and dropped the journal inside, not even bothering to check the color of her initials on the spine this time. Next she unclasped the bracelet from her wrist.
As she held the chain in her hand she almost didn't want to put it away, it felt like it was a part of her now. But she reminded herself that it was all in the past and holding out hope was a losing game. She set the bracelet on top of the journal before closing the drawer and setting back out for Diagon Alley.
After taking the Floo Network from Shell Cottage to the Leaky Cauldron, Eloise quickly realized that the light color of her sweater probably wasn't the smartest outfit choice for that mode of transportation.
The thin layer of soot covering her clothes was quickly whisked away with a wave of her wand and a quick whisper of 'Scourgify' leaving her lips. She was just thankful she noticed the state she was in before she stepped foot inside the book shop.
As nervous as she had expected to be, she oddly didn't feel anxious at all, only excited. But she told herself to keep her expectations in check, there was no guarantee that Maxwell would even be working that afternoon, nor was there any reason to believe he'd be nearly as excited as she was to see each other again.
With the familiar jingle of the bell above the door, Eloise stepped foot inside the book shop and made her way to the counter. There wasn't a single employee in sight, but she wasn't in a massive hurry so she decided to browse through a stack of unorganized books on the counter, picking the first one off the stack and skimming the pages.
"Good afternoon." a warm voice that sounded like honey filled her ears after a moment and she brought her eyes up to see that same charming smile she had met last weekend.
"Hi," she smiled, "I'm here to pick up a book, the name on the order is Eloise Laurent."
Maxwell already had a knowing looking in his eyes, "How could I possibly forget?"
Eloise appreciated the relatively dim lighting in the shop or Maxwell would have definitely noticed the blush forming on her cheeks.
Before Eloise could say anything that would have no doubt made a fool of herself, Maxwell bent down below the counter and came back up holding the large aged-leather book. He set it down on the counter between them and took a few steps further away to stand behind the till to ring her up.
"It'll be 8 Galleons and 8 Sickles."
Setting her purse on the counter between them, Eloise began digging through her belonging to collect the coins before handing them to him. When their fingers grazed each other, just for that split second, she felt something electrifying rush through her. It was honestly a feeling she worried she would never feel ever again after having her heart broken.
Without even being asked, Maxwell then laid the book over a large roll of dark teal parchment that looked almost identical to the color of the building itself as well as the robes he was wearing. With a wave of his wand, the book was wrapped perfectly and adorned with a golden bow. When he brought his gaze back over to Eloise, he noticed the hint of confusion in her eyes.
"I remembered you said it was a gift for your friend, so I took the liberty of wrapping it for you. I hope that's alright. No extra charge, by the way."
"You didn't have to do that." she smiled.
Maxwell returned her smile and gave her a shrug, "It's no problem. Just promise me you and this friend of yours aren't going to go around cursing anyone any time soon, I'd hate so see your picture in The Daily Prophet and know that I was the one who sold you that book."
Eloise rolled her eyes and laughed, "I promise. Thank you again."
"Any time."
As Eloise tucked the beautifully wrapped book under her arm and turned over her shoulder, she was stopped once more by Maxwell calling after her.
"Oh, Miss Laurent." he said with a charming grin.
"Yes?"
"You should stop by more often." he suggested with a wink before turning over his shoulder and disappearing into the back of the store.
Whether it was from the boldness of his comment, or the warmth of the store itself, she couldn't quite pinpoint why her entire body suddenly felt so hot.
As her heart skipped a beat, she reached for the handle and stepped foot back out onto Diagon Alley feeling relieved by the brisk autumn air. Without a single thought about the whimsical purple building on the other end of the road, Eloise made her way back to the Leaky Cauldron, her mind racing with all sorts of thoughts.
None of which involved George.
-
A/N: Omg really I hope you all love Max as much as I do! And don't worry about George, distance makes the heart grow fonder 😇🧡