Learn to Love Again | George Weasley

07. La Bise

August 1998

The evening of Bill and Fleur's anniversary party had finally arrived and Eloise was ecstatic, though she was doing her absolute best to hide her excitement from the couple so as to not raise any suspicion. For all Bill and Fleur knew, they were just having a nice quiet dinner with Bill's family. But Eloise and Molly had been working hard for the last week to plan a lovely event for the couple, Molly especially wanted to make it special for them since their wedding reception had been tragically cut short by a Death Eater attack.

What Eloise was most excited about though was that she was able to invite Fleur's family. They hadn't been able to make the time to visit Fleur since the end of the war, so Eloise felt like the anniversary party was the perfect excuse. She knew Fleur would be absolutely thrilled to see them, especially her little sister Gabrielle. While Fleur can have a bit of a blunt and abrasive personality to some people, she is incredibly gentle, loving, and sweet with her younger sister.

It was about time to leave Shell Cottage for the Burrow and Eloise was pacing around the kitchen waiting anxiously for the couple to finish getting ready. Eloise had told them to dress "nice, but comfortable." Initially Bill wasn't a bit annoyed with idea, he told Eloise that he has never had to have a dress code to eat dinner with his family, but Fleur would seize any opportunity for the couple to dress up a little nicer these days so she was able to convince him to go along with it.

Fleur emerged from the stairs looking effortlessly beautiful, as always. She was wearing a lovely light blue dress that ended right at her knees. It had a pattern of small white flowers all over the fabric and fit loosely on her body but was tied around her waist with a ribbon to still show her figure. To fight the summer heat, hair was pulled back into a long braid and she had slipped on a white pair of strappy sandals.

Bill followed shortly after looking as handsome as ever, though not particularly thrilled. Eloise had assumed that Fleur was in charge of choosing his outfit just by reading his face. He wore a pair of light grey slacks with nice black shoes and a light blue button down shirt matching the color of Fleur's dress perfectly. His sleeves were rolled up just above his elbows and his long red hair was pinned half up, Eloise knew these modifications to the ensemble were Bill's doing. A compromise between the couple, of course.

As for Eloise, she kept her outfit simple to make sure Fleur was the center of attention as she should be. She wore a simple white lace off the shoulder blouse that would feel comfortable in the muggy August air and a nice pair of black jeans. She pinned her unruly blonde curls away from her face with no real rhyme or reason, she just hated the feeling of her hair touching her face in the summertime.

"You look stunning as always Fleur and you look lovely as well Bill." Eloise smiled at the couple as they entered the kitchen.

"Merci, mon amie. Bill would look much more handsome if he wore the vest I set out for him though, I think." Fleur said, leaning into her husband and resting a hand on his chest as she looked up at him with a smirk.

"It's August, Fleur. Do you want me to have a heat stroke? It'll be bad enough in what I'm already wearing." he replied sarcastically, but ran his hand over Fleur's hair with affection in his eyes before placing a kiss on her forehead.

Though they may disagree with each other, the couple always made sure to show each other affection. That's the kind of love Eloise was desperate to find one day. Usually people would strive for a romance like one in a storybook, one that is filled with grand gestures and falling in love at first sight. But Eloise wanted what her friends had, a real unconditional love with understanding and undeniable compatibility. She wanted a soulmate.