Gunpowder & Cinnamon {Fred Weasley}

Chapter Twenty

"Ah she returns!" George said as Eleanor appeared in the flat.

"Hey George. Where's-"

"Downstairs."

"Ah."

She walked over and sat beside him on the sofa. "And what are you up to?" she asked.

"Nothing really."

"What? No date tonight?"

"I think I've been on a lot of dates recently." he said but Eleanor could see that something was bothering the man.

"Are you alright?"

George glanced over at her. "Who? Me? Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just fine."

"But?"

"Nothing." he shook his head. "Really, Ellie, I'm alright."

"George, you can lie your way out of trouble, but I'd like to think I know you well enough now ..."

He sighed. "You're not going to leave me alone unless I tell you, are you?"

"Annoying, I know." she smiled.

George smiled to himself. "Well, if you must know...I'm very happy with the dates I've been on. I've had a lot of fun and she's great...she really is...but..."

"You feel guilty?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Because I feel guilty too." she said.

"About what?"

"It's Artemis you're thinking about right?" Eleanor said.

"Yes." he admitted quietly.

"I think about her too. For some reason whenever I'm happy, I think about her and how much I wish that she was around to share in the happiness."

"That's what I think about to." George said. "I feel bad...you don't think I'm moving along too fast do you?"

"No, not at all, George. Technically, you two weren't together...right?"

George chuckled. "No, we weren't."

"Well, I think she would want you to be happy and it seems that this woman makes you very happy."

"She does."

"Then that's what matters most, Georgia. You need to be happy."

"Oh Ellie, so very wise." he said resting his head against hers.

Fred walked in to see the two and smiled.

"What are you two up to?"

"Nothing." Eleanor said," we were just talking. What have you been up to?"

"Trying to get this last customer out of the shop." he said walking over and sitting on the other side of Eleanor. "The woman had a question about every single product in the shop and didn't even bother buying anything. Waste of time, if you ask me."

"Well, perhaps she'll come back...that's a lot of information if she had a question about every single product." Eleanor said. "She just needs a good night's rest and then she'll be back."

"Forever the optimist." Fred said wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

George decided to go shower, leaving the two alone on the sofa.

"Is he alright?" Fred whispered to Eleanor.

"He's okay.." Eleanor responded. "I think in many respects George was just feeling bad about having a good time because of you know..."

"Artemis?"

"Yeah."

Fred frowned. "He really did like her."

"I know." Eleanor said. "But I suppose it was not meant to be...perhaps in another life or another universe."

"Another universe?" Fred said.

"Well, yes. Sorry perhaps it's just a muggle topic. I heard my mum talk about it one time."

'I'm listening." he said.

Eleanor smiled. "I guess it goes along the lines of...during this timeline things happened a certain way...like how we met to other events. In another timeline, something as simple as closing a door can change the outcome of something, altering the timeline completely."

"So, in one universe..." he waited for an example.

"In one universe it's quite possible that you and George turned out to be quite serious and Percy turned out to be a prankster." she giggled.

"Now that's just rubbish." he said.

"Not really, it's just everything could be different, you know, there's a timeline for every plausible outcome. I mean, say we didn't know about my knitting or I never knitted with my wand...what the outcome would have been."

"I never want to think of that."

"It's not like you have to. We're in this universe."

"Well, just so you know, no matter what universe or timeline, I'd love you in each one."

"Listen to you being extra sweet today.." she said hugging his arm.

"Ah well, you haven't been around much these last couple of days. Speaking of which, how's your dad holding up?"

"He was alright when I got there...wish I could say the same for the house, but it's all fixed. Like it never happened. Then I went over to visit with Sirius and Nixie."

"Oh I wasn't aware that you were going over there."

"It was only for a brief time, I want to talk to them about something. To see if I could find anyway to help out Dad a bit more. He always feels quite terrible after his transformations."

"One would imagine after what he goes through that he would feel terrible." Fred said. "Did Nixie or Sirius give you any good advice?"

"I think so."

After Eleanor showered she walked into the kitchen for a glass of water when there was tapping at the window.

"Hello Dermot." she greeted the owl opening up the window. "My, my, Marnie and Cedric responded quickly didn't they?"

She took the letter from the owl, and kept her distance from him in case he tried to nip her.

Fred came into the kitchen, still drying his hair.

"Another letter? What trouble have the two found themselves in this time?"

He walked over when Eleanor didn't answer.

"Uh Ellie?"

She turned to him, lowering her hands and staring at him wide eyed.

"Why are you looking at me like that? What happened? What did the letter say? Are Cedric and Marnie okay?"

"Oh yes, they're more than okay apparently."

"Why are you making that face?"

"Because...Marnie and Cedric...they...they got married."