Learn to Love Again | George Weasley

47. Dagger to the Heart

Valentine's Day 2000

Valentine's Day was a holiday Eloise once loved. She'd always been a hopeless romantic at heart, thanks in part to the fairytales of princes and princesses that her nan read to her when she was little. Not once did she ever see the holiday as a greedy cash grab or a selfish loophole for lovers to treat each other kindly only once a year. Eloise Laurent was a lover all year round, she simply saw Valentine's Day as an extra excuse to dote on the ones she adored even more than she usually did, and maybe even treat herself to something nice as well.

But this year felt different.

Maxwell had made reservations for them at a nice muggle restaurant in London. Apparently he'd had it all planned out for nearly a month, which was quite the romantic gesture, she couldn't deny that.

In the week and a half that had passed since Eloise and Verity moved into their flat, Maxwell had apologized repeatedly for his outburst and she hadn't seen George at all. Although the latter wasn't necessarily by her choice, it was merely their conflicting schedules keeping them apart. Still, her distance from him seemed to be keeping the peace between her and Maxwell, at least for now.

Sitting in the romantic candlelight of the muggle Italian restaurant wearing a dark red dress surrounded by candles and roses of the same shade, she found herself feeling quite out of place. Red was a color she rarely wore, she didn't like the way it brought out the rosy complexion in her cheeks and nose but something compelled her to wear it that night.

Maybe she was drawn to the dress because the color reminded her of the romantic holiday but in reality, whether she realized she was doing it on purpose or not, she had slowly started wearing colors she'd normally gravitated towards less and less. Namely blues and purples, opting for more neutrals instead. It was likely her subconscious trying to preserve her happiness by avoiding the color that George seemed to love and the one he associated with her.

As romantic as she was, Eloise wasn't really a fancy girl. Roses and candles just weren't her thing. She was a girl who liked to stay in to drink tea and talk all night long, she was someone who liked casual coffee dates and late night walks. She didn't like stuffy restaurants and frilly dresses.

It was almost humorous, thinking back on how last Valentine's Day she was sitting in a fish and chips shop with George and how much she'd rather being doing that instead. Not just because it was with George, but because it was more her style. It was simple, easy, and fun. Sitting in this fancy restaurant with Maxwell felt too serious, too stuffy, too boring.

When the waiter came by, Maxwell decided to order for the both of them. Maybe the gesture was meant to be romantic but she couldn't help but feel helpless and ignored. Despite this, she tried her best to ignore the twinge of irritation that washed over her in the moment. George would have known better than that, she thought to herself. At the very least, he'd ask her opinion before deciding for her.

Stop thinking about him, she pleaded with herself silently as she took a sip of the champagne Maxwell had ordered for them.

"You look lovely tonight, I think red is your color." Maxwell said kindly.

"Thank you." she muttered with a brief thin lipped smile.

"Everything okay?"

"Just a long day at work."

A few fleeting moments passed of them exchanging small talk about work and discussing books the two of them had read recently and Eloise finally began to feel herself relaxing. She had been so uptight the entire evening, overthinking every possible moment.