Learn to Love Again | George Weasley

15. Revelations and Resentment

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trigger warning:
brief detailed discussion of coping
after the death of a loved one
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"What time is it?" Eloise asked, taking a final sip of the latte she had been drinking.

"Let me check." Dhani offered.

He gazed down at his watch and furrowed his brow, it was still on Romanian time. He had only arrived in London earlier this morning and clearly, in the rush of catching up with his sister and meeting up with Eloise, had forgotten to adjust his watch. With a tap of his wand, the hands on the clock quickly whirled around to display the correct time and he was shocked to see it was already after five. The two of them had been chatting over coffee for nearly three hours.

"It's about quarter past five."

Eloise's eyes grew wide, she was meant to be at the Weasley's for Molly's birthday dinner and Fleur's pregnancy announcement at five. Being with Dhani, while she clearly enjoyed bonding and socializing with him, made her lose track of time entirely. Though she had already formed a reputation of always running late, this is one event she really didn't want to miss.

"Oh Merlin, I have to go." she quickly began gathering her things and stood from the table.

"Oh, uh alright." Dhani stammered at his date's sudden desire to leave.

"I'm sorry, it's just that it's Mrs. Weasley's birthday and I'm meant to be there. I'm already late and I still need to go home to get her gift first, oh Fleur is going to kill me!" she spoke quickly, some of her words getting lost behind her French accent.

"Hey don't worry, it's alright. Maybe I'll be able to see you later this week. I head back to Romania on Thursday night." he was now standing, watching as Eloise was hastily taking a survey of her purse to make sure she had everything.

Dhani was quite a patient man, especially given the fact that the abrupt ending of their date didn't seem to bother him too much. Though even if he had been annoyed, Eloise probably wouldn't have even noticed since her mind was already elsewhere.

Eloise nodded, not entirely listening to everything Dhani was saying, "Yes, yes, Thursday sounds good."

"No I-" he attempted to correct her but he was cut off by her grabbing his shoulder and planting a quick peck on his cheek.

"I'm sorry again, I promise I'll send an owl soon." she said before taking a step back and disapparating to Shell Cottage, leaving Dhani alone outside of the cafe feeling quite confused.

-

Thanks to Charlie, he and George were early as usual for yet another family dinner. However this time George seemed surprisingly willing to attend his mother's birthday get together. Though Charlie didn't understand his brother's sudden change of demeanor, he knew better than to question it.

George couldn't fully explain why he was so eager to come. Usually any sort of social gathering was something he avoided like the plague, especially when it came to seeing his family. They were the worst when it came to walking on eggshells around him. But perhaps Bill telling him that Eloise was also invited was all he needed to muster up the motivation to come.

However, when Bill and Fleur walked in through the front door, Eloise was nowhere to be seen. His heart sank into his stomach, he had gotten his hopes up for absolutely no reason. This is the exact feeling he was trying to avoid. If he never let himself feel like he wanted to be near her, he wouldn't get hurt. But he foolishly followed Angelina's advice to open up more and was left standing here like an idiot, disappointed and angry with himself.