Shy little Eloise Moreau found herself the proud owner of Ollivanders after his death in the war. Now she's left to cope with the loss of her mentor while attempting to run a business.
When Charlie Weasley drops by one day in hopes of buying a new w...
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"So the deal is all set? You've got your heartstring supplier?" Kiera chatted excitedly, almost knocking over her glass of butterbeer as she sat across from Eloise in the Leaky Cauldron. It was the Monday following her trip to Romania with Charlie and she was spending the evening out getting dinner and shopping with her enthusiastic friend.
She nodded, "Yep, it's over with, finally. I'm really glad to be done worrying about it."
"Yeah, I don't blame you," Kiera agreed, chowing down on her plate of fish and chips. Eloise was continuously impressed with Kiera's ability to completely demolish a plate of food in a very short amount of time. However, she stopped inhaling her food for long enough to let a sly smirk inch its way onto her pretty face. "Thank Merlin for Charlie, right?"
"I wish you'd quit that," Eloise sighed, trying to hide a smile at how the other girl seemed so unhappy at her answer. "You know nothing can happen there. Not that I want it to," she quickly added.
Kiera looked completely bewildered. "Why not? I see sparks. And plus, Charlie is just so sweet to you, considering everything you've mentioned."
Eloise didn't answer, stalling by taking a sip of her drink. It was true that nothing could happen between her and Charlie, even if it were something that either of them were interested in pursuing. Charlie was, as far as she knew, still planning on returning to Romania. And as happy as they were both able to appear most of the time, she knew that Charlie was still mourning his brother as she was mourning Ollivander. It didn't seem fair to start a relationship in the midst of the healing process.
"He's going back to Romania," she stated simply, avoiding eye contact with Kiera.
"Romania, shmania," she huffed. "You told me that that dude offered Charlie a spot that would let him work for the ministry here!"
She let her gaze wander back to the girl, taking in the earnest expression and trying not to get frustrated. Kiera probably would never fully understand the situation. Of course everyone had suffered loss and tragedy in the war, but some were better at bouncing back, and focusing on other, happier things. Eloise wishes she were one of those people. "You didn't see him with those dragons." And that's the truth of the matter. She saw how much he cared for those creatures, how much more at home he felt in that mountain range of the Sanctuary.
"I would've paid 50 galleons to see you pet a dragon," Kiera guffawed, sufficiently distracted by the change in topic. I saw you jump about a foot in the air when you saw that mangy stray cat turn the corner in front of you when we were on our way over here!"
"I didn't see it coming!" she defended herself, joining in Kiera's laughter.
Thirty minutes later and they were browsing aimlessly along the busy cobbled street of Diagon Alley. Eloise did feel somewhat guilty about missing an evening of work, but she had been putting in overtime to make up for the time she missed while she was travelling. She was so content with her lazy evening that she didn't immediately notice when Kiera started towards the chaos that was Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
"Where are we going?" she jerked to a stop on the top step, standing behind Kiera who was opening the door cheerfully.
"To get me a new spell-checking quill. I told you that earlier," she laughed. Eloise gulped, anxious at the prospect of bumping into Charlie alongside her meddling friend.
The inside of the Weasley joke shop was just as chaotic as she remembered. It was loud, with children laughing maniacally and flitting from shelf to shelf. Parents chased after them, frantically trying to get ahold of their offspring and out of the store. Keira knew where she was headed, thankfully, and they quickly navigated the shop (that was seemingly laid out with little to no mind to where things should go) and wound up in front of a display of different types of quills. She was studying a quill that claimed to smell like daisies when you wrote with it when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
She quickly whirled around, grinning, expecting to see the familiar freckled face of Charlie, but was instead faced by a different Weasley brother.
"Eloise?" he asked, smiling broadly down at her. It was moments like these when she was able to appreciate that while Charlie towered over her, he wasn't this tall. This height was intimidating, making her crane her head back just to look at his younger brother.
"Yes?" she answered, trying to figure out how Ron knew her name. She of course recognized him from the Daily Prophet, and from Charlie's description of him. But they'd never met, so it was intriguing that he was able to pick her out of a crowd.
"I'm Ron," he introduced, extending a hand for her to shake, which she did so tentatively. "Sorry, that's probably a bit creepy that I just came up to you, isn't it?"
At this point Keira had spun around, taking notice of the odd interaction and looked on in confusion.
"No, don't worry about it," she said, bringing her nails up to her mouth to chew anxiously. It was a nasty habit that started back up when she returned home from Romania and realized she had little to no time to make a few hundred wands.
"I'm Keira," her friend butted in, grabbing his hand and shaking it vigorously and distracting Ron successfully. Eloise almost started to laugh when she saw his expression go from cool and collected to nervous and flustered.
"Of the Harpies," he gulped. "Ron Weasley."
Keira bit back a smirk, and Eloise stifled a giggle behind her palm. "You were saying?" the quidditch player prompted.
"Right, sorry," he turned back to Eloise. "I just wanted to introduce myself, even though I'm sure Charlie will be bringing you around to the Burrow at some point. I see you around the Alley, and now I can say hello and have you actually know who I am!"
She nodded, worrying that he had acknowledged her at some point and she hadn't responded. She had a habit of keeping her head down as she made her way down the street, and as a result, very rarely greeting anyone.
"Wait, why don't you just come to lunch this Sunday! And you could come along!" he added, directing the last part to Keira.
Immediately Eloise's face went white and she wracked her brain for an excuse—any excuse—that would get her out of meeting her friend's entirely family. Before she could, though, Keira stepped in. "How kind! We'd love to join you! What time should we arrive?"
"About one? I think that's about when everyone arrives. I'll tell Charlie to write you!" He chirped, and internally Eloise face-palmed. "Happy shopping!"
"Bye!" Keira called after him, ignoring her dismay and turning back to the quills. Eloise gawked at her friend in disbelief, but her stunned reaction was ignored.
She sighed tiredly, picking up the daisy quill and heading to the checkout, leaving the traitor behind.
~ A/N:
Thank you for reading! I'm sorry for the wait, and the short chapter, but I have more on the way!
