"Do you ever stop working?"
Verity stood in the doorway to George's office with her arms crossed. The sun had long since set and the woman staring at him was more than eager to call it a day.
Out of the kindness of her generous heart – as she so kindly had been reminding him ever since the shop opened that morning – Verity offered to handle closing up by herself in order to allow George and Charlie to head out early for their mother's birthday. It seemed she was just about to make her own way to the festivities when George had suddenly apparated back.
"I'm not here to work," he replied as he set down his wand and quickly began rummaging through his desk drawer.
As soon as he found exactly what he was looking for, he glanced back up to see Verity was still watching him from the door with a look of curiosity in her eyes. In all honesty, it had shocked him that his nosy friend had yet to ask what exactly he was up to, if not working.
Then a thought suddenly popped into his head.
Other than the few tests he had done on the little invention himself, he never bothered to test it out on anyone else. Maybe the spur of the moment decision to give it to Eloise two months early was a mistake. But George was quite well known for acting before thinking.
"Come over here for a minute." he said to Verity as he beckoned her over with a wave of his hand
Verity rolled her eyes but didn't object. She'd do just about any task George asked her to if it meant they could call it a night. As she crossed the small room, looked at him expectantly as he picked up the small figure from his desk.
"Hold out your hands." he nodded his head toward the arms that still remained crossed tightly over her chest.
When she presented her opened palms to him, he placed the figurine into them. When it did nothing, Verity frowned with a deep crease between her brow.
"Okay? Now what?" she asked impatiently.
"What are you thinking about?"
She huffed and rolled her eyes, "I'm thinking about how you're wasting my time when I could be at your parent's house eating cake."
"You'd rather eat cake than spend time with Charlie?" he inquired.
Asking about Charlie seemed quite out of the blue to her but she didn't have a chance to ask why he even cared because the very second his name left George's lips, the invention began flapping its wings before taking off flying a lap around the office with silver sparkling hearts left in its wake. It circled George's small office a few times before it landed back in Verity's open hands.
Although she was quite confused, Verity wasn't able to get a single word in before George snatched it from her hand and ruffled up her hair – a bright, proud grin adorning his face.
"Oi!" she frowned as she attempted to flatten out her hair.
"Thanks, Verity, I owe you. Oh, and don't forget to lock up for me, would you?"
"What do you think I've been doing?" she called out to him, but he was already gone before she could even finish her sentence.
Back in the clearing, Eloise was busy counting the seconds until George's return. On more than one occasion, a limb snapping in the trees or the rustling of the wind through the grass made her lose count as the noise startled her. But if she had to guess, she assumed she'd been out there on her own for at least five minutes now.
But soon enough, the unmistakable sound of apparition behind her made her exhale in relief. She spun around to see George with a beaming grin and his hands tucked behind his back, hiding whatever her very early Christmas present was meant to be from her view.
Eloise practically skipped towards him, tightening his dragon-skin coat around her body as the sun's departure left the clearing much colder than it had been when they first flew over. Her wide smile mirrored his as she anticipated her gift, but really his return was all she needed. Not because she was uneasy standing out there in the clearing on her own, but because every moment by George's side felt like a gift in itself.
"Ready for your present?" he asked.
Eloise nodded as she bit her lip, doing her best to hide her childlike excitement. All of the gifts George had gotten her since they met had been so heartfelt and personal, she could only imagine what this one could be. She wondered if he'd made it a goal of his to try and outdo every gift he'd give her for the rest of their time together – however long that may be.
"Keep in mind it's just a prototype." he warned with a weary smile, as if he was worried it wouldn't work for some reason.
As he brought his arms out from behind himself, his hand remained closed around the object within it. Clearly it was a rather small item, but other than that, Eloise had no other clues as to what it could be. She met his gaze only to see for a moment what she could only describe as a sudden surge of nerves.
"Mon chéri–" she began speaking but there was a quiet humming sound coming from George's closed hand that interrupted Eloise before she could finish her thought.
Her eyes immediately darted to his hand and without a word, he opened it to reveal a small golden swan that looked like a bigger version of the silver charm she wore around her wrist every day. Before she could even speak, it flew out of George's hands and circled Eloise's head before flying out into the clearing.
A bright, glittering trail of silver and gold hearts followed the swan on its journey through the sky. They shined so bright, it almost looked as though the swan was creating a new galaxy filled with stars that were made just for the two of them.
When it circled back and landed in the palm of his hand, Eloise looked as if she'd just experienced magic for the very first time.
"George, that was incredible!"
"Want to give it a go?" he asked.
The nerves she sensed in him before were still there but she assumed he was simply worried that this prototype would malfunction in some way. Even if he hadn't worked out all the kinks yet, what she just saw was proof enough that George was the most brilliant wizard she'd ever met in her life.
Eloise nodded with a smile and held her hand out to him. He hesitated for a moment before placing the swan in the center of her palm. At first, it did nothing. Eloise gazed at it, concentrating hard, almost trying to telepathically order it to fly as it had when George was in control of it.
"Ellie."
All he did was say her name and when their eyes met, the swan flew out of her hand – higher into the sky than it had when George demonstrated the invention. It was the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen. The sparkling glow filled the clearing as if it truly was Christmas Day.
When the swan finished its second journey, Eloise beamed as it delicately landed in the palm of her hand. As she gazed up at him, she found the nervous look he had before was now gone as relief was written on his face.
"Glad it works." he said with a proud grin.
"How does it work, exactly?"
At first Eloise believed wandless magic was the culprit. She knew George was quite the powerful wizard and was more than capable of it, if he tried. She, however, had never attempted even the simplest of spells without the aid of her wand and the swan flew around the clearing just as much, if not more, than it had when it started in the palm of George's hand.
"I love you."
It was the most simple and straightforward answer he could have given yet the suddenness of his confession knocked all the air out of her lungs. The swan figurine fell from her grasp and landed at their feet as shock took over her body. She was utterly convinced that she had misheard him but the smile on his face never wavered as she looked at him in pure shock. George didn't seem interested in his invention that now laid in a heap in the grass.
All of his attention was on her.
"What?" was all she asked, the question barely able to slip through her lips.
She was mentally kicking herself from the moment the question escaped from her. But George only laughed as he reached a gentle hand forward to caress her cheek.
The look in his eyes said everything she needed to know before he even spoke a single word and Eloise thought surely if she hadn't misheard him, she must have been dreaming. None of this could be real.
"It's powered with love, darling." he explained, "I love you, Eloise."
The sound of her heartbeat was surely echoing through the trees because it was ricocheting off her ribs wildly as the surprised look on her face showed no signs of subsiding.
"Y-you love me?"
His thumb brushed over her freckled cheek as he nodded, "I do."
"For how long?"
With every question she asked, she mentally scolded herself for not telling him that she loved him too. But her mind was spinning, thoughts racing and she had no control over her brain let alone her mouth anymore.
"At least since last Christmas, I think. That's when I started working on that." he confessed with a slight chuckle as he glanced down at the swan laying at their feet before looking back at her, "I think I knew for a long time how I felt but I was too scared to do anything about it."
As she gazed up at him, she remained completely speechless. Almost as though she really was certain this was all a dream. Still, George continued because he had been holding this in for far too long.
"I wanted so badly to be enough for you, to make you happy and take care of you. But I didn't think I could do any of those things for you. That's why I felt too scared to admit to myself that I was already in love with you – I have been for a long time. You deserve the world, Eloise, and I'm going to give it to you somehow. You're my everything."
That curious lack of control took over her once more as she found herself throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him with the ferocity of, well, someone who had been desperate to hear those words for ages.
He stumbled back but caught her as her legs wrapped around his hips and he laughed against her lips. When she pulled away, George looked at her in a way she'd never seen before. As if the moon and the stars were all held within her eyes and he never wanted the sunrise to come.
"I love you so much, Ellie." he said once more and Eloise felt her heart soar.
"I love you too." she finally replied fighting back tears, "Merlin, George, I love you so much."
George let out a breath of relief as she finally reciprocated. Part of him had known since their trip to France exactly how she felt, but hearing her say it in response to him was an entirely different feeling. It was as if this moment was the missing piece he had been searching for for years. The one thing he was most afraid of, he now realized, was the only thing that could mend part of his aching heart.
There was no more fear, only warmth surrounded them as he gazed into Eloise's eyes and what he saw in them gave his life new meaning.
Love. That's what was held in her ocean eyes. The moon, the stars, and endless, unconditional love.
It was the most exhilarating feeling he'd ever felt. An adrenaline high that couldn't be matched, even when doing barrel rolls on a broom or setting off impromptu fireworks. Nothing would ever compare to this moment.
George was still holding her tight, as if he never wanted to put her down, and honestly part of him didn't. Her face was now buried in the crook of his neck, likely wanting to hide just how emotional this moment had made her. But he couldn't blame her, he was feeling quite overwhelmed himself.
"Ellie?"
She pulled away slightly and even in the dim lantern light he could see her eyes becoming puffy and the tip of her nose turning red. But she was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.
He kissed her softly and gently set her down, allowing the tips of her toes to touch the Earth before releasing her from his grasp. As she tucked her hair behind her ears with that signature shy smile growing on her lips, George felt himself wanting to blurt out every feeling he'd been bottling in for the last two years. Every emotion he'd been fighting and failing to forget.
"You changed my life." he said earnestly, his voice wavering slightly as the emotions he felt were becoming too much.
"Georgie..." she whispered, reaching up to cup the side of his face, "You changed mine. I'm a better person because I met you."
He grabbed the hand that was caressing his face as well as the one resting at her side. What he was about to say he wanted her to hear, to feel. To know deep inside her heart that every word that left his lips was absolutely true.
"You saved me, Eloise."
But she shook her head and squeezed his hands, "No I didn't."
A kind smile grew on her lips despite the confused frown that emerged on George's. To say he was taken aback was an understatement.
The only bright spot in the last two and a half years of his life was the moment he met Eloise only a month and a half after losing Fred. Every moment after his twin departed felt like a dark void of sorrow except when she was there. He'd been in denial for so long but now that he was certain, hearing her deny it felt like a blow to the stomach, despite the loving look in her eyes.
"I didn't save you, George. You did." she explained and when he parted his lips to object, she quickly continued, "I was there for you and I always will be. But I didn't save you, I gave you my love. That's all I did. You did the rest."
Tears were welling up in his eyes now and he couldn't even pinpoint the exact cause. It was a cocktail of overwhelming love as well as grief combining into a wildfire of emotion that he couldn't tamp down, even if he wanted to. But Eloise was there, like she said she would be – always.
And maybe that's why he suddenly felt so overcome by his emotions. Because for the very first time since that night in May of 1998, he felt like he genuinely wasn't alone anymore. He would always have Eloise.
"I love you." he said once more as a tear trickled down his freckled cheek.
He couldn't get any of his thoughts in order to say more than that. In that moment, his love for her was all he was absolutely certain about.
All Eloise did at first was smile, and in it, George saw the future. A future with her, where he would spend every moment doing his best to make her happy. To show her how grateful he was to have her in his life and to call her his.
"I love you too, mon chéri." she replied as she pulled her hand away from his grasp to wipe away his tears, "Forever."
The clearing held so many happy childhood memories of the one person whose death had convinced George he'd never be able to feel anything for another person ever again. The moment Fred died, George was convinced that his own life had ended. Without his other half, he had no purpose, no reason to go on.
But where he stood now, in that exact same clearing, was the one person who had broken through every barrier he set between them. The woman who loved him in spite of all of his grief and all of his pain. Surrounded by towering trees and cool autumn air, he stared into the hopeful blue eyes of his forever.
He returned her smile and leaned forward to press his lips against hers. It was gentle at first, almost careful. But soon enough, George's hands were buried in Eloise's tangled curls and their kiss deepened as if the passion behind it was their life source. The taste of their tears that lingered on their lips only proved how strong their feelings for each other were.
Eloise laid her hands against George's chest, feeling the erratic thrumming of his heart against the palms of her hands. At that moment, the golden swan figurine that had been forgotten in the grass beside them suddenly took flight, all without the touch of either of their hands. It seemed as though the strength of their love was powerful enough to trigger the charm within it, much to George's surprise.
When he pulled away from her and gazed up at his invention circling above them, he couldn't help but smile before looking down at Eloise once more and resting his forehead against hers.
He closed his eyes and let out a sigh, as if he was letting go of all the pain he had been harboring for so long and whispered, "Forever."
In the clearing, on that beautiful October night, George had finally learned to love again.
A/N:
The End!
I really can't believe it's over! To avoid getting too emotional now, I'm planning to post a longer author's note after I publish the Epilogue, so for right now I'll keep it brief.
Thank you so much!
Your support throughout this story has meant the absolute world to me. I don't know if I can ever properly express my gratitude to all of you. But I want you to know whether you commented on every chapter or were a silent reader, I owe you everything. I wouldn't have gotten here without your support!
On the bright side, even though this story is over, I honestly don't think I'll be able to let go of this universe for a while. So, along with the Epilogue, I've been working on a few one-shots (including an alternate ending!) If you don't want to say goodbye to 'Learn to Love Again' either, make sure you have my companion one-shot book 'Along the Way' saved in your library!
Love you and see you soon!
- Andi