Learn to Love Again | George Weasley

11. Charlie Weasley, Matchmaker Extraordinaire

Despite her reservations, Eloise decided to follow Fleur's advice to visit George at the store. Honestly, she didn't think George was very interested in seeing her, even with her friend's reassurance. It didn't help that Fleur wouldn't come with her to see him, she said it was because George doesn't like having her around, which to be fair was probably true. But Eloise didn't think George really hated his sister-in-law, he was more likely just annoyed by her nosiness and lack of a filter when she spoke, which Eloise was more than used to by now.

It was about mid-morning when Eloise arrived on Diagon Alley, and even though she knew exactly how to get to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes she couldn't bring herself to go straight there, her nerves were too much. Instead, she decided to stop into the cafe she and Fleur discovered on their last visit.

Night Owls Tea & Coffee was a cute little cafe tucked between a second-hand Quidditch supplies store and a stationary shop that Eloise was very interested in browsing through another time. Even though it was a Monday morning the cafe wasn't nearly as busy as she had expected it to be. The only people in there were a young witch working behind the counter, an older wizard reading that day's edition of the Daily Prophet, and a short blonde witch waiting for her order to be made.

"Welcome to Night Owls! What can I get for you?" the chipper young witch asked as Eloise approached the counter.

How fitting it was for an energetic morning person to work as a barista. Eloise loved mornings, but in a relaxed way where she could spend her time reading and sipping tea by the window. Not in the way that she could just hop out of bed and be ready to tackle the day immediately.

"Just a latte, please."

"You got it! That will be 8 Sickles. Can I get a name for the order?"

"Eloise." she replied as she dug into her purse for the money.

"Eloise?" a voice came from the end of the bar.

Eloise turned her head at the sound of her name and saw the young blonde witch she had only seen once before smiling at her, it was Verity. Eloise gave her a friendly smile and a short wave before paying the barista behind the counter. Joining Verity at the end of the bar, the two of them waited for their drinks to be made.

"Sorry we haven't really been introduced, so me yelling your name just now was a bit weird." Verity chuckled.

"That's alright." Eloise replied as she twiddled her thumbs, watching the barista prepare what she assumed was Verity's order.

"George has me doing the grunt work, making me pick up their coffee this morning. It's almost like he thinks he runs the place." Verity remarked sarcastically.

The barista set three coffee cups at the end of the counter and called Verity's name, as she went to retrieve them she turned back to look at Eloise, "I suppose I could use magic to carry these back, but what's the fun in that? Want to help me? Only if you want to of course."

Eloise wasn't about to tell Verity that she had already been planning on stopping by the shop that morning anyway. Or maybe she already knew that was the plan and that's why she was asking. Had George talked about Eloise to Verity and Charlie? Surely not, he didn't seem like the type to open up like that.

"Sure." Eloise nodded with a smile.

The two witches waited for Eloise's order to be made and then began their walk back to the shop. Verity reminded her a little bit of Fleur, they both certainly were not afraid to say whatever was on their mind. But Eloise noted that Verity seemed much more fun-loving than her friend who tended to be more serious.