Learn to Love Again | George Weasley

51. Twenty Two

April 1, 2000

Twenty two.

George was twenty two years old today, and his twin was still twenty. Gone from the world of the living, remaining in his youth forever in whatever lied beyond life, Fred was still twenty while George aged what felt like a decade with every year that passed without his twin.

Part of George thought celebrating his birthday this year might've been easier. He'd already survived one birthday without his twin, after all. But for some reason this year felt even harder. Maybe it was because he hadn't downed half a bottle of firewhisky before making his way to the Burrow this year. There was nothing hindering his thoughts or emotions this time, it was all raw and real and it hurt. Merlin, did it hurt.

Truthfully, the only thing that kept him from wanting to shut himself away from the world for the entire day was that he knew he'd be able to see Eloise.

Everything about her had become so ingrained within his heart without her even trying, she felt like part of him now. Almost as if every little thing she did sparked joy within his soul, just by simply existing.

Like the way her soft smile could light up an entire room and how her contagious giggles never failed to make him crack a smile even on his worst days. The way her eyes were so blue he felt like he could drown in them, and he would do so happily. How her gaze could see into his very heart and soul and she seemed to feel everything he felt and somehow knew exactly how to take care of him. But most of all, the way she said his name. It sounded so delicate in her accent as it rolled off her tongue and he'd honestly never tire of hearing her say it.

Sure enough, as soon as he stepped out of the fireplace into the cozy kitchen of his childhood home, there she was. Chatting with his mother and holding little Victoire in her arms, who had her tiny fingers tangled into Eloise's frizzy curls. The women paused their conversation to look over at the newest arrival.

"Happy birthday, George." Eloise beamed.

There's that smile, he thought as the weight of the day suddenly didn't feel nearly as unbearable anymore, "Thanks, Ellie."

He was so tempted to embrace her, to walk across the kitchen and kiss her so casually like it was an every day occurrence, to wrap his arms around her like she belonged there. But they still hadn't really discussed anything beyond their past, their future still remained a mystery even after laying out their truth weeks ago.

It wasn't necessarily by choice, their work schedules simply got in the way. Eloise had been promoted at work, and he was so proud of her, but it required her to attend more training. That, on top of the busy weeks leading up to April Fool's Day for his shop didn't give them nearly enough time to see each other as often as he would like. Of course they wrote almost every other day, but talking about the complicated nature of their relationship and what the future would hold within a letter didn't feel right.

Besides, he knew he couldn't embrace her so freely in front of his family, at least not his mum. Most of his siblings had already concluded that something had been going on between him and Eloise for quite a while, yet Molly was none the wiser. Which came as somewhat of a shock, as his mother always seemed to love to meddle with her children's romantic lives.

George knew his mother well enough to know that if she caught any wind of he and Eloise having something going on, she'd most likely forget all about Ron and Hermione's wedding and start trying to plan theirs.