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content warning:
sexual themes
| nothing graphic |
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It was a dangerous combination of alcohol, grief, and self-loathing that put George in this situation. Hungrily tearing at clothes, getting tangled in sheets, sweat dripping from his forehead, feeling nothing yet everything all at once.

An hour that George would come to regret and a name he would never remember.

Long brunette hair tickled the skin on his chest as her body shifted to dominate him and he began to wonder if she too was battling her own demons by being with him that night, but he quickly pushed the thoughts out of his head.

Blurred vision and two bodies that never truly found a perfect rhythm with one another were all that occupied his mind that night. But foggy memories and a painful feeling of remorse would be all that remained in the morning.

It all started out as an ordinary night at the Leaky Cauldron. George hadn't been coping very well with the anniversary of Fred's death. The combination of his niece's birth, his confusing feelings for Eloise, and reaching a full year without his brother was enough to drive him to drink that evening - and drink he did.

He must have been on his third or fourth firewhisky by the time the beautiful brunette sat down next to him and introduced herself. Though he wasn't sober enough to remember her first name, he certainly didn't care enough to ask her what her last name was.

They spent another hour or so flirting with each other at the pub, sneaking the occasional lingering touch under the bar and whispering suggestively in each other's ears before George finally proposed they go back to his flat.

The fact that they were both stumbling down the sidewalk should have been enough of an indication that what was about to happen would be a horrible idea. But George was desperate, and at that moment he truly didn't care about the consequences of his actions.

He wanted to somehow feel something and forget about everything at the same time, and believed the woman with olive skin and long brown hair would do just that.

But all he could imagine was wild blonde curls, full rosy lips, and pale freckled skin in her place.

-

In the morning George fully expected to wake up alone, he hoped to wake up alone. But as his eyes fluttered open, he felt a weight on his left arm and glanced over to see the brunette woman from last night still sound asleep. He muttered curses under his breath and carefully snaked his arm out from underneath her, praying that his movements wouldn't rouse her.

Slowly and carefully, he shifted his body to get out of the bed, watching her the entire time to make sure she wasn't going to awaken suddenly. He figured she would have left at some point in the night, and that honestly was what he wanted. He really didn't want to deal with any awkward conversations or god forbid her asking him out for coffee.

George grabbed clean clothes from his dresser as quickly and quietly as possible before tiptoeing to the bathroom across the hall. Luckily Charlie had been spending more and more nights at Verity's flat, so neither of them were there to see the mystery woman. If either of them saw her, George knew he would be in for the interrogation of a lifetime.

Although the flat was completely quiet and empty at the moment, he hoped the sound of the shower turning on would be enough to wake up the woman and give her enough of a hint that she should leave.

He tossed his clothes down on the counter and quickly moved past the mirror to start the water as he hastily undressed and hopped in before it even had the chance to warm up. The freezing cold water felt slightly painful against his skin, but nothing hurt more than the foggy memories of what he did the night before.

For some reason he felt guilty, not for having a casual hookup, that didn't really bother George. What did bother him was the feeling of guilt in the pit of his stomach that kept telling him he had somehow betrayed Eloise. He told himself over and over that they weren't together, trying to convince himself that there was nothing to worry about, but the thought still lingered.

As much as he wanted to deny it or pretend that his feelings didn't exist, the truth was that he had fallen hard for Eloise. Being with that mystery woman was a mistake, that much he could admit. But his feeling of regret went beyond feeling bad about sleeping with a woman he never wanted to see again. It manifested as fear, wondering how Eloise would react if she ever found out.

For the next fifteen minutes he tried desperately to wash away both his hangover and his regret to no avail.

When he finally got out of the shower the mirror was fogged up enough so that he could finish getting ready without fear of glancing at his reflection. He threw on his clothes and grabbed a smaller towel in order to dry his hair as he made his way back across the hall to his bedroom.

He nervously reached for the handle, hoping he would see an empty room when he opened the door. But that wasn't the case.

"What are you doing?" George asked as he spotted the brunette standing near his desk.

She had nothing on but one of George's old Quidditch t-shirts, leaving her tanned legs totally exposed.

Obviously he had already seen every inch of this woman, but he barely remembered it and didn't have much interest in seeing any more of her. The brunette turned to him with an annoyed look on her face, holding his unopened birthday present from Eloise in her hand.

"Who's Eloise? Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked in an accusatory tone.

"Don't touch that." George replied through gritted teeth as he walked up and snatched it from her hands.

"So she is your girlfriend then. Merlin, why are all men the same?" she muttered to herself.

"Why are you snooping through my things?" George asked curtly.

"You kind of threw my bra over here last night." she replied as she lifted her other hand to show him the white lace garment, "Plus I didn't snoop, I glanced, and I saw your girlfriend's name on the tag."

"Elle isn't my girlfriend, not that it even matters. Why are you still here?" he asked with no effort to hide his frustration.

"Elle? Oh this just keeps getting better and better." she replied sarcastically as she rolled her eyes and brushed past him in search of the rest of her clothes.

"What now?" he asked impatiently.

"I thought you were saying my name last night, but now that I think about it more, you were obviously saying hers."

George's breath hitched at the thought of him saying Eloise's name during such an intimate moment. If he cared at all about the woman standing before him, he might've felt guilty for saying the wrong name. But he was too busy focusing on what his own subconscious actions were trying to tell him.

He'd be lying if he said he'd never thought about Eloise in that way before, but that didn't mean he ever wanted those thoughts to escape his mind. Maybe she was mistaken, how close could their names actually be?

His hesitation caused her to narrow her eyes at him, "You have no idea what my name is, do you?"

George didn't have the foggiest idea of what this woman's name was and at this point he didn't care if she got upset with him for forgetting, he just wanted her to get her stuff and leave.

After a moment he merely shrugged at her, confirming her thoughts. That small gesture caused her to start laughing in a way that made him feel like if she wasn't laughing, she'd be yelling at him.

"It's Michelle, not that you care. Where the hell is my wand?"

George tried to retrace their steps in his mind, attempting to remember where her wand was. At this point he'd do anything to get this witch out of his flat as soon as possible.

The entire night was a blur, there were only bits and pieces that showed up clearly in his mind but the rest felt like they had been cut away from the film reel of his memories.

She had sat down next to him in the pub wearing dark jeans and a low cut plum colored blouse. He was already several drinks in and honestly he was a sucker for the color purple, especially the way it complimented her tanned complexion.

Damn it, George. Focus.

The two of them continued drinking for another hour or so before George paid his tab and invited her back to his place. Beyond nearly stumbling off the sidewalk and fumbling for his keys, he didn't remember much about their journey to the flat. But as they made their way inside and up the stairs things got slightly more clear.

Once they were inside, she grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him in aggressively, planting her lips on him hungrily as the two of them stumbled their way to the couch. He remembered her pulling away from him breathlessly as she reached for her wand in the back pocket of her jeans, asking if they were the only ones home.

When he confirmed they were alone she mindlessly tossed her wand aside and pushed him down onto the couch as she straddled his lap to continue their encounter.

"It's probably in the living room." he muttered after a moment.

The second those words left his lips they heard the sound of the front door opening and keys being dropped on the table. Michelle whipped around and pointed an accusatory finger at him.

"I swear to Salazar if that's your girlfriend I'm going to hex you into next week."

"One, I told you I don't have a girlfriend, and two, it's probably just my brother."

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, as if they were both trying to silently decide what they should do. The way George saw it, they had three options:

One, George could go out into the living room and hope he could find Michelle's wand quickly without raising any suspicion. But George wasn't in the mood to answer any of Charlie's questions if he did happen to notice the random wand in their flat.

Two, they could both wait in George's room until Charlie either went down to the shop or into his own bedroom so Michelle could leave unseen. But he didn't want to spend any more time alone with this woman.

Or three... Michelle could just go ahead and barge out of George's bedroom without consulting him and cause an awkward scene.

Michelle chose option three.

George quickly tossed the towel he'd used for his hair and Eloise's gift onto his bed as he followed after Michelle, hoping to Merlin that Charlie somehow wasn't in the living room anymore. But of course he wasn't that lucky.

"Uh, hello." Charlie said with wide eyes as he gazed at the brunette woman who was still wearing only George's old t-shirt.

George followed shortly behind her, emerging from the hallway looking anything but pleased.

"Hi, haven't seen my wand have you?" she asked Charlie, though she didn't really wait for a response before brushing past him to look around on the sofa.

"I- uh..."

Charlie flicked his head towards George with an expression that said 'what the hell?!' to which George averted his eyes away quickly, hoping to avoid feeling any sort of judgment. He was already angry enough with himself, he didn't need Charlie making him feel any worse.

"Found it!" Michelle's voice brought both boys' attention back to her.

The Weasley men stared at the woman for a moment, Charlie in utter confusion and George with a hint of disdain.

"Well, it was lovely to meet you," she said as she glanced at Charlie before bringing her attention back to George, "Now, if you don't mind, I'll just go get changed and head home."

"Yeah, take your time." George muttered sarcastically.

Michelle quickly pulled her eyes away from him and made her way back down the hallway and into George's room. Charlie waited to hear the sound of the door latching before he began berating his brother.

"What in the world was that?" he started.

"Can we not do this?"

"No, I mean. I'm just confused. I thought you and Eloise-"

"You thought what?" George interrupted, the tone of annoyance in his voice was loud and clear.

"I just thought you two had something going on, I mean with Valentine's Day and you showing up to the hospital together when Victoire was born. I figured you'd finally gotten over the whole idea of pushing her away, but I suppose not."

The sound of a muffled crack let them know that Michelle had apparated out of the flat without saying goodbye to either of them, though George couldn't care less.

"There's nothing going on between Elle and I. We're friends."

"Is that really the truth?" Charlie pressed.

For a brief moment George considered confiding in his older brother. He clearly wasn't doing a good job of handling his feelings on his own and could really use some brotherly advice, especially since Charlie's relationship with Verity seemed to be going especially well. But ultimately he decided it would be best for him to keep it to himself.

If George confessed to Charlie that he had feelings for Eloise, he was sure the words leaving his lips would make him feel infinitely worse about what had happened the night before.

Charlie seemed to see the wheels turning in his brother's head and decided to give him a piece of unsolicited advice.

"I'm no expert when it comes to relationship stuff, and I'm not going to judge you for who you decide to sleep with. But I think you may want to start considering how reckless you've been."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You've been different since Ron's birthday. It's been two months and all you do is stay in your room. Everyone's worried about you but they're too afraid to tell you anything for fear of how you'll react."

A prominent scowl formed on George's face, he knew he was making bad decisions and not taking care of himself, but he didn't like feeling as though he was in an intervention.

"We care about you is all I'm really trying to say."

"I'm fine." George insisted.

"How much have you been drinking lately?" Charlie asked suddenly with a look of pity in his eyes.

"I'm not having this conversation." George replied as turned his back on his brother to return to the safety of his bedroom.

"You need to get it together, mate!" Charlie called after him.

George slammed the door to his room shut and kicked the side of his dresser angrily before plopping down on his bed and running his hands through his still damp hair.

Everything Charlie told him was true, but he didn't want to face reality. His drinking problem had completely consumed two months of his life. He rarely left his room, and if he did, he was most often going to the pub to drink more. He hadn't been to work in months, he hadn't talked to most of his family, all of the joy in his life had been sucked away. He felt trapped, he couldn't find his way out of the dark hole he had fallen into.

As he laid back on his bed he felt something under his back. He sat up quickly and shifted his body around to see the gift from Eloise he had tossed onto the bed just a bit ago when he chased after Michelle.

It had been left untouched for several weeks, and he had nearly forgotten about it entirely. Something about opening a gift from Eloise felt wrong, like he didn't actually deserve it, especially with the way he had treated her on his birthday. So he had tossed it aside on his desk and pretended it didn't exist.

But he noticed the entire source of his issues with Michelle that morning right away, the small gift tag that was tied to the purple ribbon. As he picked up the gift, he flipped the tag over in his fingers to see Eloise's beautiful handwriting in the same familiar navy blue ink she always used.

'Happy 21st Birthday, George!

Love, Eloise'

His heart skipped a beat at the word 'love'. Of course friends could use 'love' without any deeper meaning behind it, he and Angelina always had after all. But with Eloise it felt different. It was somehow comforting and terrifying all at the same time.

He pulled at the ribbon and tore the orange paper away to reveal a dark brown leather bound book that looked quite expensive. As he pulled away the rest of the wrapping paper he saw the title embossed in gold leaf, 'Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales'.

George had never been much of a reader, but he knew Eloise loved books, so there must have been a specific reason for her to give him something like this.

As he opened the cover he saw another note from Eloise written on the inside page.

'George,

I hope you think this is an alright gift. It's a book of muggle fairy tales that I used to read a lot growing up, they're all very good but I've marked my favorite ones and also the ones I think you'll enjoy.

I wrote notes for you throughout the book and even drew a few illustrations as well, though they're not very good...

But it was a lot of fun to go back through these stories that I haven't read since I was around fifteen, and it was even more fun imagining how you'll react to some of them. They're all pretty crazy! Maybe we could even read some of them together.

I really hope you like it, and if not, don't tell me.

- Elle'

George suddenly grabbed his wand from his side table and rushed back out into the living room carrying the book under his arm. He walked right by Charlie as if he wasn't even in the room and snatched up his keys from the table next to the front door.

"Where on Earth are you going?" Charlie asked.

"Out." he replied before suddenly disapparating.

-

George landed on the hillside next to Shell Cottage. After opening Eloise's gift, he desperately wanted to see the only person in the world who didn't make him feel like he was a lost cause. But as soon as his eyes fell upon the house his guilt grew more and more.

The woman he had completely fallen for had no idea of what he had done the night before and he began to wonder if he should tell her about Michelle.

A silent argument was raging on in his mind as he wondered if it even truly mattered. He and Eloise weren't dating, they had made it clear to each other that their relationship would only ever be purely platonic - or as clear as they felt necessary.

Glancing down at the book in his hand, he finally resigned to the idea that telling her would just complicate things further. It wasn't like George had any feelings for the brunette witch anyway, and he certainly didn't intend on ever seeing her again.

Maybe he could just move on and pretend it never happened, that way Eloise wouldn't ever have to find out. He didn't want her to see him differently, to see him for what he truly was - reckless and broken.

He pocketed his wand and made his way down the sandy hillside toward the front door. The window in the living room was open and of course, Eloise was sitting in her favorite spot reading and drinking tea as she always did on Sunday mornings.

As she heard the sound of footsteps outside she glanced over to the window to see George walking towards the house. She quickly closed her book and tossed it aside without caring about losing her page. Before he even had the chance to knock she had already ran to the door and opened it to greet him.

"Morning." George said with a slight smirk.

"What are you doing here?"

"Came to finally thank you for my gift." he said as he held up the book and shook it slightly.

"Yeah? Did you like it?" she asked nervously before clarifying, "Please spare my feelings if you hated it."

He let out a slight chuckle before replying, "Well, to be honest I haven't read any of it yet. I saw your note though and was sort of hoping we could read it together."

A sparkle of excitement shined in Eloise's eyes, "Do you want to come in?"

"I was actually thinking we could sit on the beach. I could probably use some sunshine, been somewhat of a homebody recently you know." he replied as he rubbed a hand on the back of his neck.

"Let me just grab my shoes and a blanket." she said happily before stepping away from the door.

George heard Eloise rummaging just around the corner of the door before she quickly popped back into his view with a large gingham blanket tucked under her arm and a bright smile on her face. At that moment, a distant cry of a baby could be heard and they both flicked their eyes to the staircase.

"Just in time." Eloise teased as she turned her attention back to George.

He let out a chuckle as he took a step back to let Eloise out the front door, "How's that been going by the way?"

"Oh it's been lovely. I think Bill and Fleur appreciate the extra help, though they've both taken to parenting quite well. They really make a great team. But I'm always willing to step in, I love taking care of babies." she replied as she pulled the door closed behind her and led George down the stone path to the beach nearby.

"I used to be good with kids," he started, "But now I'm not so sure. Feels like it mostly had to do with how immature Freddie and I always were. It's like we were kids as well so it made us easy to get along with."

"You don't still think you're good with children?" she asked as she flapped the blanket open to spread across the sand.

"Suppose I just haven't thought too much about it, not until I was asked to be Victoire's godfather anyway."

Eloise kicked her sandals off and sat down on the blanket with her freckled legs crossed over one another, leaning back on her hands.

"I can picture you being good with kids still." she reassured him.

"Yeah, maybe." he replied as he joined her on the blanket, hoping his short reply would be enough of a hint to drop the topic.

"Do you want my recommendation?" she asked as she glanced down at the book in his lap.

"I was kind of hoping you'd read it to me."

"Are you sure? I don't want my accent to ruin the story." she replied, nervously tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Are you joking, Elle? I could listen to you talk all day." he replied with a smirk as he held the book out towards her.

A shy smile formed on her lips as she took the book from his hand and shifted her body to lay on her stomach. Pulling the book in front of her, she quickly flipped through the pages, looking for the perfect story to tell George. At first she considered reading 'Cinderella' to him, but decided to save the love story for another time.

Eventually she came across 'Hansel and Gretel' and decided a story about two mischievous siblings would be perfect for George.

"Ready?" Eloise asked as she glanced over at him.

George moved to lay down on his side next to her. He propped himself up with his elbow before resting his head in his hand, making sure he'd be able to see both Eloise and the book while she read to him. He brushed his long red hair behind his ear before giving her an encouraging nod once he was comfortable.

Eloise began reading him the story and wasn't shy about giving each character their own unique voices. She even sang the songs that Hansel and Gretel sung to each other in the story with her own made up melodies. Occasionally she would pause to show George little doodles she'd made between passages and then apologize for interrupting the flow of the story before jumping right back in.

Her bare sand covered feet kicked in the air idly as she turned the pages and became more and more immersed in the story she was retelling. George found the whole thing quite endearing and was more than willing to lay there on the beach with her all afternoon listening to her read until she lost her voice.

As the story came to its conclusion and Eloise recounted Hansel and Gretle thwarting the evil witch's plans, George found himself to be much more invested in the story than he originally thought he would be.

"The end," Eloise finished as she closed the book and turned to face him, "So what did you think?"

"I'm still in shock... she tried to eat them!"

Eloise let out a laugh and nodded, "I told you Brothers Grimm stories were wild! This one is quite tame compared to some of the others."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, but most of them involve evil witches in some capacity." she said with a mischievous grin.

"Bloody hell...what makes you like these stories so much?"

"Nostalgia I suppose. My nan always read to me a lot. I was a bit older when she started reading Brother's Grimm stories, mind you, she probably knew they would frighten me when I was really little. But I think they're amusing to look back on, maybe I just have a dark sense of humor being a witch and enjoying them so much." Eloise explained.

"Did your nan just really like muggle books or...?"

"She was a muggle, both her and my grandad were."

George noticed that every time Eloise mentioned her grandparents there would be a sparkle of joy in her eyes and he wondered how long it would take for him to be able to talk about Fred in the same way.

"Don't tell my dad about that. He loves muggles, finds their lives and technology interesting. If he finds out he'll talk your ear off about them." George teased.

"That's okay, I love talking about my grandparents. Although I don't really watch muggle movies or listen to music as much as I did when I was a teenager, so I don't have as many recommendations as I used to." she explained as she rolled over to lay on her back instead, resting her hands over her stomach and gazing up into George's eyes.

The moment he allowed himself to really meet her gaze he felt himself fall even harder for her, if that was even possible.

He loved her ocean eyes; how they lit up when she got excited, how kind they always were, how they looked even brighter every time she wore the color blue.

But they also bore right into his soul. He felt like she could see right through him without even really trying. They made him feel guilty for all of his mistakes and made him want to right all of his wrongs. All the good in her made him reflect on all the bad in him. He wanted to get better, if not for her, then with her.

"I, uh, I'm sorry to change the subject, but I think I need to talk to you about something." he stammered.

"You think?" she asked as she sat up, giving him her full attention.

"No, I know I do. It's just..." he trailed off as his nerves grew more intense.

"What's wrong?"

The worry in her voice was obvious and George knew he needed to confess, he had to tell Eloise about Michelle.

Keeping it a secret felt wrong and he knew the guilt would eat away at him. If he ever wanted to break himself out of his bad habits, he needed a clean slate. But he couldn't shake the feeling that telling her might be a huge mistake. He had no idea how she'd react, for all he knew he was preparing to wreck the entire relationship he had built up with Eloise over the last ten months.

"I fucked up last night." he started.

"What do you mean?" she asked as she attempted to remain calm and not let her anxiety show.

The words got caught in his throat and he ran his hands over his face in frustration. He was angry with himself for his actions, angry with himself for falling for Eloise, and angry with himself for not being brave enough to just tell her the truth and get it over with.

"I, uh, I got drunk last night and hooked up with someone. I feel like absolute shit about it."

A brief silence fell between the two and George refused to look at her, he was too afraid to see her reaction. He desperately wanted her to say something, even if it meant her yelling at him. But instead she just sat there quietly, trying to get a grasp on her own thoughts.

"Why are you telling me this?" she finally asked.

His eyes met hers and for a moment he saw a hint of pain behind her confusion, "I don't know. I-I just felt like I had to. Keeping it to myself felt like I was lying to you."

"I'm not yours, George. Why should it even matter to me if you slept with someone?" she said with a slight tone of frustration.

As true as her words were, it didn't make them any less painful to hear. He was the one who shut down any hope of a relationship between them, regardless of if she had agreed to remain just friends, it was all his doing.

While one weight was lifted off his shoulders when he told her the truth, it was replaced with another. Instead of heavy guilt weighing him down, it was now a sense of sadness and longing.

"I suppose it doesn't matter." he muttered with a shrug as he looked away from her.

"Were you hoping I'd get jealous?" she asked, and he could hear it in her voice that she was growing more impatient with him.

"What? No! Elle, I swear it's not like that."

"First you kiss me on your birthday, then you tell me you don't want a relationship, and now you're telling me you shagged someone else. I guess I'm just confused."

"Yeah, me too." he muttered as he fell back and covered his face with his hands.

"What are we, George? Really."

A lengthy pause fell between them as George contemplated his response. He had no idea what they were. He knew what he wanted them to be, and what he thought they should be, but not what they actually were. He pulled his hands away from his face to see her looking down at him expectantly with the hint of a scowl beginning to form on her beautiful face.

"We're friends."

"We keep saying that, but why doesn't it feel like the truth?" she asked, doing her best to hold her composure.

"It is the truth." he insisted.

Her lips pressed into a thin line, as if she wanted to argue with him. He knew she was holding something back, he could feel it in the way she looked at him. He could sense her longing as well as her frustration with him, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't feeling all those same feelings too. But George had gotten very good at lying about his emotions.

As he looked at her and how she was reacting, he realized he had possibly let her get too close already. If only he hadn't kissed her on his birthday, then maybe things wouldn't have become so messy.

But he was adamant about keeping that one line of defense between them, he couldn't let her cross that border. Falling in love with her was something he wouldn't let himself do. If he did, he knew he'd only end up making her miserable, he just wanted to protect her from himself.

"I think I should get back to the flat." he said suddenly.

"Yes, I think you should." she replied curtly.

He grabbed the book and stood from the blanket before looking back down at Eloise, who was doing everything to avoid his gaze. His lips parted slightly, he wanted to apologize to her, but he felt like he had done more than enough to completely ruin her mood, so he decided against it and instead grabbed his wand from his back pocket before apparating back to his flat without another word.

Eloise waited for the unmistakable cracking sound of him leaving before letting the tears trickle from her eyes.

All of the frustration, jealousy, and sadness that she had been holding in bubbled to the surface and overflowed in a grand mess. She wanted to scream, to throw something, to run away but she just sat silently on the blanket and let the tears fall from her eyes.

She cursed herself for falling for George. For months he had pushed her away and yet he kept pulling her back in, like a vicious cycle he didn't even know how to stop. He was toying with her emotions like a yo-yo and the string was beginning to wear thin.

It felt like every time their relationship seemed to be moving in the right direction something would get in the way and block her from ever truly being with him.

Part of her wanted to let him go. Everything felt like a fight with George, and she was growing exhausted. But it wasn't that simple, she had already fallen too hard.

She had to decide which would be easier; moving on or holding out hope. Both options felt impossible.