Gunpowder & Cinnamon {Fred Weasley}

Chapter Six

"Well, well, well...look who decided to show up." Fred said as soon as his brother entered the shop.

"A good afternoon, George, would have worked as well." George smiled at his twin. Fred just stared at him. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Where have you been, Georgie?" Fred asked.

"I told Ellie I figured she would have informed you, I went on a date. "

"With who?"

Fred dragged him to a quiet corner of the shop.

"I'm not telling you." George chuckled.

Fred gasped. "Shame on you George! I tell you everything!"

"That's a bold face lie."

"How so?"

"You know how long it took for you to actually admit you liked Eleanor? Ages. That's how long, you didn't tell me until the very end."

Fred opened his mouth but paused."That was different."

"No it wasn't. Anyways, you'll find out who it is, soon enough. I just want to see where this goes, that's all."

"Ugh, you know at least you knew who I liked...don't I get a hint?"

"Ummm..." George began to walk away but turned around as he walked backwards. "Here's one, you know her."

Eleanor was in the backroom when she heard that George had returned from his date. She walked out to see Verity and George exchange a greeting.

"Hey!" she called to him, carrying a box to the counter.

"Hey Ellie."

"Ho-"

"Before you even think to ask, I'm not telling you who I went on a date with." George told her.

"Well, good for you, but that wasn't my question." Eleanor countered setting the box down.

"Oh."

"I was going to ask you how the date went? Did you have fun?"

"Actually, I did." George smiled. 

"Good enough to go on a second date?"

"Good enough to go on a second date." he said.

"That's great George, I'm happy for you." she said as she started rummaging through some knitted garments.

"Aren't you going to ask me who it is?"

"I already asked you this morning and you didn't tell me. Which leads me to think you don't want anyone to know until the right moment and that's fine with me. After all, it's your business George, not mine."

George laughed. "Well, do you mind passing that along to Freddie, he's not taking it so well."

Eleanor looked over to where Fred still remained in the corner, his hand resting on his chin as he seemed to be going through every person he knew to determine who George was dating.

"Just leave him, he'll get over it." Eleanor said.

"So what are you working on?"

"I actually got a special order." Eleanor told him excitedly.

"Oh really?"

"Yup, the cutest little old woman came in the shop." Verity added.

"Precious little being she was." Eleanor said," Anyways, she requested a knitted sweater vest."

"That's so exciting!" George said jumping up and down.

Eleanor glared at him. "Don't mock my happiness, Weasley." she said pointing one of her knitting needles at him.

George placed his hands up in surrender but quickly lowered them. "You know pretty soon, you're going to become a Weasley yourself, Ross."

"That's only if she chooses to take the name." Verity pointed out.

"Ha!"

George looked at Eleanor. "You know you're going to take the name." he said.

"Maybe I won't. I've been Ross this long."

"That's true, you didn't even take your father's last name." George reminded himself.

"That was for completely different reasons." Eleanor said. "I'm still a Lupin. I just didn't want everyone getting confused, considering everyone knew me as Eleanor Ross."

"Well, they're going to have to get used to calling you Eleanor Weasley."

"Or.." Verity interjected. "You can always hyphenate. Eleanor Ross-Weasley."

"Or Eleanor Ross-Lupin- Weasley." George teased.

"Or Eleanor." Eleanor said. "No last names, I shall only go by the name of Eleanor and nothing more."

"Now let's not be silly, Ellie."

"I work all day in a joke shop and  you don't expect me to be silly."

"No, I expect you to be professional." George said with a stern look before he grabbed one of the gags on the counter. It was a fake finger that one was to pull and upon pulling the finger would explode into confetti or make a fart noise, depending on which one was selected. "Now pull my finger."

Eleanor threw a knitted sock at him. "Shove it."

"Whoa, I think I walked in on the conversation at the wrong time." Fred said.

"I'm so hungry right now." Eleanor grumbled near the end of the day when the shop was closing. "I swear this is what it must feel like being Ron."

"Difference is, Ron never gets full." Fred pointed out. "His stomach is a bottomless pit."

"That's how I feel right now." Eleanor said. "Like I could eat for days."

"Yet, you always get a ton of food and never finish it all." Fred said.

"Well, I rather have food left over than not have enough."

"You've been hanging around my mum too much."

"That's not my fault. You know, one of these days you could go sit with all the women and discuss wedding details. Because at this point, I'll get married in a pair of jeans and call it a day."

"If that's what you want to do, I'm all for it." Fred smiled at her as he leaned on the counter.

She smiled as well. "Your mother would flip her lid if we dared."

"Well, love, it's not her wedding. It's ours, so you can do whatever you want. I wouldn't care if you walked down the aisle wearing pajama pants."

"Are you saying this because you want to wear pajama pants?"

"You know me so well." he said leaning forward and kissing her forehead.