author's note:

When I originally began writing 'Learn to Love Again' I did not envision a traditionally happy ending with the typical outcome of them getting married.

In fact, the epilogue I wrote didn't come to me until probably 5 or so chapters from the end. I was married to this idea (pun intended) for quite a while and even wrote part of it long before I started on the final version of George and Eloise exchanging their vows in the clearing.

Now, I bet you're wondering "Well Andi, which ending is the real ending?" and I'll be honest with you and tell you that I go back and fourth!

I truly love the epilogue I wrote for 'Learn to Love Again' and stand by it! However, I think what you're about to read is also true to their journey as well, in some ways even more so.

2007

It's true that there was never a love more strong than the one shared between George Weasley and Eloise Laurent. It was a powerful, all consuming, beautiful chaos of a love. A once in a lifetime kind of feeling.

It was a love that fell apart a year and a half after the word had first fallen from their lips.

It was no one's fault, the way things ended. Both were to blame in their own ways.

Eloise was moving up in her career, traveling all around the world, signing trade deals and attending meetings at foreign Ministries. As proud as George was of her achievements, he found that spending more and more nights alone had become the norm. In some ways, he almost felt like he had already lost her. Maybe that's what made going their separate ways so easy in the end.

She tried to make every moment of her time at home with him count, she really did. But it wasn't enough. Besides, George wasn't ready for a family.

They had talked about it several times during their time together. Back when it felt like a distant concept, he was more receptive of the idea. But when Eloise said that she had always pictured being married by the time she was twenty-five, he began to panic, realizing that particular birthday would be the following summer. It was just a passing comment, something Eloise never pressured him about. Yet the words remained in the back of his mind, slowly eating away at him.

In the end, there was no dramatic blow-up, no screaming match, not even any tears. Merely a mutual agreement that parting ways was a long time coming – something George had known would be inevitable from the very beginning.

The two of them crossed paths only a few times since that summer in 2002, when things came to an end.

The first was when Fleur gave birth to her and Bill's second daughter, Dominique, the autumn after. Even though it had been over a year, the wounds were still too fresh and neither spoke a word to one another despite their mutual joy for the couple.

The second time was when Eloise's father suddenly fell ill in the winter of 2004. When he heard the news from Fleur, George wrote to Eloise to let her know he was thinking of her. At her request, he traveled to France and sat at Patrick's bedside with her.

The fact that she wanted him there at all and that he had so willingly agreed to go honestly came as a shock to both of them. But it was that elusive, intangible connection between them that drew him back to her when she needed him most. George held her close during those nights that she cried so hard that she didn't believe she would ever feel happy again. If anyone understood that exact feeling, it was George.

For a brief and fleeting moment, it seemed as though there was a chance to reconcile. But after Patrick made a full recovery, George went home and that was that.

Once they realized that all the reasons they broke up were still true, any hope of getting back together quickly faded away. Eloise was more focused on her career than ever but she still craved the family George wasn't ready to give. Trying again would be futile, that much they could agree on.

When thinking back on it, Eloise felt like the second time they fell apart hurt infinitely more than the first. Perhaps it was because that part of her life had been filled with so much turmoil and George was there, just like he always promised he would be. Yet he still couldn't give her everything she desired and she'd never be present enough for him.

After that, she and George stopped speaking entirely.

The last time Eloise saw him was at Audrey and Percy's wedding a year and a half after her father's illness. It was awkward, to say the least, to both be a part of the wedding party and have to act as though neither existed.

She looked back on that night numerous times over the last several months, wondering if she had done one thing differently, would they have gotten back together? Or had all of their chances well and truly expired?

If he hadn't brought a plus one, maybe she would have asked him to dance or simply to have a quick chat – maybe catch up, maybe reconnect. It felt foolish, especially in hindsight, that Eloise didn't bring a date of her own to the wedding. Hope somehow still filled her heart and she thought maybe if she still looked available, he'd seem interested.

But the wedding was just over a year ago now. Their initial breakup felt like a distant memory and all of their encounters in the five years since only left her feeling more numb than the last.

As Fleur's thirtieth Birthday approached, Eloise had mostly convinced herself to move on. She had to if she was going to be seeing George again.

She wondered if he was still with that girl from Percy's wedding, if he had fallen in love with her. Those thoughts were quickly cast aside because if she allowed them to fester, she was likely to cancel her visit to Shell Cottage. But it was at that moment she knew she still wasn't entirely over him and there was no pretending like she was.

Bill and Fleur's home was a short ways away from the cottage Eloise had bought last year. When being promoted to Deputy Director of the Office of International Magical Cooperation (a title she knew was a mouthful) she relocated from London to Cornwall – finally getting her home with a view of the ocean that she always wanted. Although it was feeling incredibly empty these days.

She visited Bill, Fleur, and their children quite regularly, since she now lived so close. Even Hermione and Audrey would stop in for tea and a catch up whenever Eloise wasn't on a work trip. Of all the Weasleys, Bill was the only one she really kept in touch with, and that was simply by default. Her friendships with Charlie and Percy fizzled out over the years despite Eloise remaining somewhat close with their significant others.

It was nerve-wracking, honestly. The idea of being reunited with not only George but all of his family, many of whom she had been avoiding for so long. But she couldn't miss Fleur's thirtieth birthday. If she skipped it, she knew she wouldn't ever hear the end of it. So, she made the short trip to Shell Cottage with her heart racing and her mind filled with worry.

When she entered the kitchen of the place she had once called home, she was greeted warmly by those she had cut off, as if she was still their family after all these years. She worked her way through the room, exchanging pleasantries and catching up with everyone until she came to a stop in the doorway to the living room.

The feeling of guilt she had over avoiding the Weasleys couldn't manifest any longer because she was suddenly overcome with a rush of anxiety when she spotted George sitting in the corner of the lounge chatting with Harry.

The first thing Eloise did when she caught sight of him was glance at his left hand. It was pure instinct. She just had to check.

A bottle of something was lazily held in his grasp as he laughed at a comment Harry made. The sound of it made it feel like her heart was shattering all over again. That familiar smile she hadn't seen in so long made her realize how much she missed him. She used to be the one to bring that crooked grin to his lips. But now she was certain that, if anything, all of his memories of her likely made him miserable and regret ever meeting her.

But she dismissed the thought and quickly returned her focus to her search for a band on his ring finger.

In all honesty, she didn't even know what she wanted to see. Seeing his bare finger would almost feel like a sign of welcome. But then again, it would be proof that even after nearly ten years without Fred, George still hadn't been able to commit to anyone. Or, if a gold band adorned his finger, it would prove to Eloise that part of her heart had still been pining for someone who she truly was never meant to end up with. But at least it would be nice to know that he finally found happiness.

When her eyes fell to the hand that once caressed her cheek, and wiped away her tears, and brushed her curls behind her ears, there was no ring.

A wave of relief washed over her and she didn't quite know what to make of it. It had been so long since they had even spoken to one another, it wasn't as if there was a chance to reconcile now – that ship had long since sailed. Besides, just because he wasn't married didn't necessarily mean he was single. He could have a girlfriend, or a fiancée. Maybe he was still with that girl he brought to Percy's wedding last year – the girl whose name Eloise didn't care to learn.

"Do my eyes deceive me?" a familiar voice came from behind Eloise, thankfully before George had noticed she'd been watching him from the doorway.

"Hello, Percy." Eloise greeted with a smile as she turned over her shoulder, walking a bit further into the kitchen to catch up with her old friend.

"And here I thought you'd fallen off the face of the Earth."

"Very funny," Eloise replied with a roll of her eyes and a bright grin, "I've been in Romania for the last month, I just got back last night – Charlie sends his love, by the way."

She could tell that Percy was curious about her trip, but he didn't press her. When Eloise did cross paths with the Weasleys, George was always a topic all of them skirted around, even after all this time. Percy must've known from Audrey that George's shop was Eloise's sole purpose for visiting Romania to begin with. But he was kind enough to not bring up his younger brother anyway.

The suggestion Eloise had made to Verity several years ago to open up a new branch of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes must have been something that stuck in the back of their minds for a while because she, nor George, had made any moves on those plans until very recently.

Typically, as Director of the department, Audrey would have been the one to take the reins on making sure everything was done properly. But as luck would have it, the ambitious woman had settled down and just begun her maternity leave as she and Percy were expecting their first child. There was no choice but for her second in command to step in, that person of course being a Eloise.

The trip wasn't as uncomfortable as Eloise thought it would be, though. But that was only because George was nowhere in sight for the duration of her stay in Romania. He had made absolutely no effort to oversee this new branch of his shop, which Eloise found to be quite odd.

Of course Eloise knew that he trusted Verity but she still thought it was strange that he seemed to have no interest in being a part of the process. Then she considered the thought that perhaps he had put two and two together to realize that she would be the one the Ministry would send to assist in this international expansion. Of course it made sense to want to keep his distance, she just wished his desire to avoid her didn't hurt so much.

Even now, as he sat in the adjacent room, she wondered if he'd bother to even giving her a simple hello tonight. It felt unfair to long for his attention while he did everything in his power to deprive her of it.

But she didn't want that to sour Fleur's birthday. If he didn't want to cross paths, then that was fine. She'd stay in the kitchen mingling and catching up with his family while he stayed in the living room.

Everything would be fine.

And it was. At least for a while.

Almost all of the Weasleys were thrilled to see Eloise, as most of them hadn't seen her in quite some time – some having not seen her since Audrey and Percy's nuptials. Catching up with them felt like she hadn't been gone from their lives for more than a month or two. It filled her heart with joy to reconnect with the family she once considered her own. But there was still that lingering thought in the back of her mind, the thought that George was avoiding her.

Surely by now he knew that she was just one room away, chatting away with all of his family. Ron or Bill or even Fleur must've said something to him, she was sure of it. Still, he remained in the other room and as much as Eloise wanted to be fine with it, she wasn't.

When she saw Harry come into the kitchen to join in a conversation with Ron and Hermione, Eloise finally decided to take it upon herself to break down the barrier that was looming over her. Seeing her opportunity to hopefully catch George alone, Eloise excused herself from her conversation with Percy to make her way into the living room.

As she reached the doorway, she saw George tossing a small plush Quaffle at Dominique as the little three year old zoomed around the living room on the toy broom she recognized as the one he had gifted Victoire on her first birthday. Eloise leaned on the doorframe for a while watching the scene before her; the loud giggles from the little girl, the humorous coaching from her uncle, Teddy and Victoire jumping on the sofa and cheering as if they were watching the Quidditch World Cup.

All of it caused a smile to form on Eloise's lips despite the longing ache that was growing in her heart.

"Auntie Elle!" Victoire lept off the sofa and ducked beneath her little sister as she zoomed overhead.

Eloise crouched down so she'd be at eye level with the girl as she hugged her tightly. Victoire was the spitting image of Fleur, although she had Molly's warm brown eyes and Bill's fiery spirit.

"How are you, ma petite chou?"

"Great! Uncle Georgie says he's gonna take us to a Quidditch game with daddy and Uncle Harry next weekend!"

"Is he?" Eloise beamed as she glanced over at George who had been keeping a careful eye on the toddler still flying around the room.

"Yeah! You should come with us." the girl said as she jumped up and down excitedly.

Teddy soon hopped off the couch and bounded across the room to express his enthusiastic agreement to the suggestion, suddenly changing his hair to a dark blue when he told Eloise that it was going to be a Puddlemere United game – Angelina's team.

"Why don't you two go see what the birthday girl is up to and I'll go have a word with Uncle Georgie about the game?" Eloise suggested over the children's excited squeals.

By the time the kids had run recklessly out of the room, George must have gotten Dominique off of her broom because she soon toddled past Eloise, chasing after the older children.

Then it was just the two of them.

When Eloise brought her eyes to George, he was setting the old toy broom against the wall. He brushed his hair away from his eyes, it was a bit longer than the last time she saw him at Percy's wedding last year. She almost feared when his gaze would finally meet hers, it would be too awkward, that they had nothing left to say to one another and any attempt at small talk would be fruitless.

But when he did meet her eyes, a soft and familiar crooked grin grew on his lips. That same exact smile that she remembered all too well.

"Alright, Eloise?"

The fact that he didn't use her nickname anymore did sting, she couldn't deny it. Perhaps he thought it would be far too familiar and she supposed he was right in that regard. So, she nodded and tucked a strand of her golden hair behind her ear.

"Been as busy as ever."

"Yeah, sorry we couldn't meet up while you were helping Verity with the shop. I've been tied up with training new employees now that she's gone."

Eloise knew it was simply an excuse. The truth was that he had no desire to see her. She learned from Verity that Ron had been helping George at the shop since Charlie returned to the Dragon Sanctuary. That was little over a year ago now, more than enough time for him to be trusted to run the shop for a week, in Eloise's opinion.

But she didn't argue, she simply gave him a shrug and a wave of her and as though to tell him not to worry about it.

Then a lingering silence fell between them, only the muffled sound of conversations happening in the kitchen filled their ears. Absent-mindedly, Eloise dropped her eyes to her hands and began picking at her nail polish, just as she always had when she grew nervous. It had been a long time since she ran out her supply of Weasley brand no-chip polish, so the pale lavender varnish was quick to chip away.

"So, uh, Fleur says you've moved to Cornwall." George said, finally cutting through the silence.

Eloise looked up at him and nodded, the distance between them in the room almost feeling as though it was growing with every passing second of awkward tension.

"Yeah, I finally got that cottage on the beach I always wanted." she chuckled half-heartedly.

What she wanted to tell him was that her house felt empty without him, that even the sound and sight of the ocean waves that used to calm her had no effect anymore. Without his specific brand of chaos in her life, every moment felt horribly and painfully mundane. But she didn't say a word because she knew she'd sound like a mad woman if she did.

"I'm glad, I always knew you belonged here."

For a moment, Eloise was taken back to New Year's Eve just before the new millennium. Back to when she was willing to give up everything she had to move back to France. It was George who convinced her to stay, he was the one who made her believe that her life was in England.

In some ways he was right, she had everything she ever wanted after all. She was nearly at the top of her career at the Ministry, she'd finally bought her dream house on the beach, she lived close to her lifelong best friend whose children felt like her own. Eloise really did have it all.

Except she didn't have George.

The ache in her chest grew and part of her wanted to put an end to this uncomfortable exchange to find solace in the company of Percy once more, but for some reason she couldn't. It was like this was her last chance to right all of her wrongs. She'd been given a golden opportunity, all she had to do was take a chance.

Eloise had never been a risk taker, except when it came to George. Loving him had been the biggest risk of her life and it nearly destroyed her on more than one occasion. Yet that feeling in her heart still lingered and she was certain it would last forever, no matter where their lives took them.

"So, are things going well with the shop? Verity told me Ron's been a great help."

She found herself grasping at straws, doing anything she could to keep the conversation going.

"Yeah," he nodded, "Ron's brilliant, he's no Verity though. Don't tell either of them I said that."

Eloise smiled at his remark. Even though the two childhood friends often seemed at each other's throats, they really did adore each other. Verity was like the sister he didn't want, but loved all the same.

"I'm supposed to go back to Romania to check on her in a month, just to make sure everything delivered from here goes through the proper channels." Eloise said after a moment before pausing to chew on her lip as she mulled over what to say next, "I don't suppose you'll still be training your employees by then, will you?"

The corner of his lip quirked up only the smallest bit at her inquiry, "I'll have to check my calendar."

That charming way his lips curled up still got to Eloise and she was quickly forced to drop her gaze to the floor before an embarrassing tint of rouge painted her freckled cheeks – no doubt giving away her lingering fondness for him.

"Until then, what are you up to?" he asked.

When Eloise brought her eyes back up to him, she couldn't even hope to hide the shock and confusion on her face. It was quite infuriating that George looked so relaxed as he waited for her response because to her, it felt like such a loaded question.

"Well I mean, I'm sure the Ministry will keep me busy. Just like always." she said casually with a shrug, although she was quite certain George could see right through her attempt to act composed.

"Ah," he replied with an understanding nod, "Well, d'you think you'll have time to stop into Night Owls one of these mornings? For old time's sake?"

She couldn't help the way her brows furrowed at his suggestion. The ruins of their relationship had been rebuilt and destroyed more than once and yet it felt like George was attempting to open the mangled door one last time.

"You want to get coffee? Together?" she asked as if his suggestion wasn't obvious enough which earned her a laugh.

"Well, I was thinking tea." he clarified, "Still three sugars?"

A smile grew on Eloise's lips. It felt as though George's simple question had just answered five years worth of her own curiosities. Almost like the simple fact that he remembered that one small detail about her from all that time ago meant something more significant than either of them could ever fully understand. George still committing exactly how she liked her tea to memory almost seemed like it was his own way of confessing to her that part of him still held fondness for her in his heart.

And maybe he did, maybe he always would.

"It'll always be three sugars." she replied.

A/N:

I'm so excited to hear your thoughts!

To me, it made so much sense that their relationship wouldn't work out. From the start, this was the ending I envisioned. The idea that, even though they loved each other endlessly, there were too many things that would have caused issues for them down the line (like disagreeing on marriage and having children).

In my outline, this was the perfect final piece to the puzzle. But after I wrote George's love confession and looked back on their full journey together, it made more sense to me that they would have worked it out.

They spent so long battling with their miscommunication and other internal roadblocks, I like to think that as they matured, they would have learned to work as a team to get through those difficult issues and eventually reach their wedding day.

Part of me still really loves this idea, though. Because even if it their relationship continued to be on-and-off, I think no matter what, their bond was unbreakable.

Which ending do you consider the real one?