Just Like Home | Charlie Weasley

Chapter 25

Can you tell from the amount of chapters I've done this weekend that I'm putting off my work? Anyway, here's a nice long chapter for y'all this Sunday evening! <3

On Sunday, Eleanor awoke with a start and dread settled in her stomach when she realised the sun was much brighter than usual. She peered at her clock and almost gasped when she read that it was 9.57, remembering that she'd agreed to meet Darcie and Finn downstairs in only 3 minutes. She was exhausted, clearly, after having spent the better part of the early hours writing to Charlie, but she felt light. It was one of those sort of accomplished feelings of exhaustion. She grabbed a pair of jeans and a jumper that smelt okay from the chair in her room, throwing a quick scourgify at it before pulling it on.

She ran into the bathroom at the same time she pulled her hair up into a bun, before grabbing her toothbrush and hastily brushing her teeth. When the clock turned to 10am, she was running down the stairs with her shoes in her hand just as she heard the familiar sound of apparition come from the front of the shop. She rushed through the the doorway out of the kitchen and into the main shop where she saw Finn and Darcie standing. Their conversation halted when they spotted Eleanor standing in the doorway clearly out of breath.

"What happened to you?" Darcie asked, a laugh threatening to leave her lips. Finn stood with his hands in the pockets of his jeans and observed the exchange with a smile on his face.

"I– woke up late," Eleanor breathed, reaching down to tie her shoes up.

"I can see that," Darcie stated cheekily, gesturing to Eleanor's wild hair. "What's made you so tired this morning, hm? Late night with a certain beefy man?". She wiggled her eyebrows as she spoke and watched as Eleanor's cheeks blushed.

"No!" she protested, reaching up to flatten the flyaway hairs. "I haven't seen him since... Well you know," she informed, growing shy as she remembered the handsome, intimidating 6'3 man observing the conversation.

"Don't mind me," he muttered amusedly, holding his hands up as he took them from his pockets. "I don't mind a bit of gossip here and there,".

Darcie began to cackle and Eleanor blushed more vividly. "No gossip," she announced. "We were just... Writing to each other, that's all."

"Okaaayy say less!" Darcie said excitedly. "Now... Where do we start?".

After a couple of hours, they had shown Finn the ropes and he had agreed to help them out 3 days a week so that Eleanor could focus on production of new products. They left around 1pm, leaving Eleanor to wonder what she may do for the rest of the day. She peered outside and saw that the beginnings of a light dusting of snow had begun to fall from the sky. The sight of it was a bittersweet feeling for her; she'd always loved the snow and so did her mum, and to experience it without her each time was always difficult. They would always run out into the garden with no shoes on every time it started, no matter how little or how much it snowed, they always did the same whilst her dad watched on filled with amusement. Filled with feelings of nostalgia and an aching heart, she made the decision to go and spend some time with her dad today. It was unlikely that he'd be busy.

So as usual, Eleanor found herself making the short walk to The Leaky Cauldron to use the floo network. The pub was rather empty for a weekend, the usual witches and wizards dotted around the place as they took lazy sips of their beverages of choice, and Eleanor was able to pass through without having to speak to anybody, only giving a friendly smile and nod to Tom on her way through. It wasn't long before she found herself stepping out of the fireplace in her dads living room, surprising him as he sat in his chair facing the television.

"Eleanor, sweetheart!" Christopher announced in surprise as his daughter materialised in front of him. "I wasn't expecting you today."

She kicked off her shoes and sunk into the chair opposite him with a sigh. "I know, sorry," she mumbled.