Lover ; George Weasley

Thirteen

"You seem distracted."

At the sound of George's voice, I looked up, raising my eyebrows before letting them drop as my eyes landed on him.

"Distracted?" I questioned. "Maybe a bit..."

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked and moved closer to me as we sat on the floor in my office, eating lunch together.

I shrugged, staring down at my foot for a moment before I sighed and pushed it away from me.

"My husband refuses to sign the papers." I said. "And he's yelling at our daughter and bringing women around when they're with him."

I sighed.

"It's a mess right now. I think I'm gonna have to take it to court. I'm just scared they'll give him full custody."

"Why would they give him full custody?" He asked and tilted his head. "You seem like a great mother."

I shrugged.

"I may be, but I'm close to not being able to provide. I live in a small flat. They share a room and I sleep on the sofa." I said. "Elsie is almost eight. She'll be starting Hogwarts in three years and I can't afford it. Malcolm will be the one to pay unless I get a raise... I haven't gotten a raise in over five years."

George moved closer to me and dug his fork into my pasta to eat some of it. I looked at him and he smiled cheekily at me while chewing.

"Your daughter's name is Elsie?"

"Elenora." I nodded. "We just call her Elsie."

"That's funny." He said, looking thoughtful. "My daughter is friends with this girl. They're not in the same year, but the girl's name is Elsie."

I raised my eyebrows and let out a chuckle.

"Well, the name is ranked pretty highly in the UK." I said and swatted his hand as he went to eat more of my food. "Oi! Don't eat mine because you finished yours."

He laughed softly.

"You don't share food. Noted." He grinned and put down his fork before he wrapped his arms around his knees. "Did you always want to work at Gringotts?"

I shook my head.

"No... I actually wanted—" I took a deep breath. "...doesn't matter. I ended up here."

"It matters to me."

I looked at George, seeing the serious expression on his face. He had his head ducked slightly as if to catch my gaze.

"I wanted to be a teacher at Hogwarts." I said. "But I found it easier to get a job at Gringotts and be close to my girls at all time."

A small smile spread on his face.

"So you like school?" He asked. "What class would you want to teach?"

"Either Defence Against the Dark Arts or Magical Theory." I said. "Though both of those positions are filled."

"Maybe next year, eh?"

I shrugged.

"I don't know." I breathed. "If Elsie or Leah needs me and I'm in Scotland."

"I get that." He nodded. "But you don't need to live at Hogwarts to be a teacher."

"No, I know." I hurried to say. "But it's... I am a very nervous person when it comes to my children. If they're at school and their teachers are calling me because something's wrong. I know I can use the floo system or a portkey to go home... but—"