September 1999

Fleur had been subtly complaining for a few weeks that she and Bill hadn't been able to truly celebrate their anniversary this year. While Eloise did cook them a nice homemade dinner to celebrate and even watched over Victoire for the night, she knew that Fleur was growing a bit stir-crazy being stuck at home all the time.

That's why Eloise had taken it upon herself to make the couple a reservation for the weekend at Fleur's favorite hotel in Paris. Although it was a month past their anniversary now, the couple were still grateful to Eloise as having a baby often meant they would put their own wishes on the back burner. But while Fleur was initially thrilled, the more she thought about leaving her baby for two full days, the more anxious she grew.

Everything had gone according to plan. Their bags had already been packed, Victoire was happily babbling Eloise's arms, and the couple were just about to step into the fireplace when Fleur stopped in her tracks and spun around to face her friend.

"You'll send a patronus if anything goes wrong, won't you? Bill taught you how to do that, yes?"

"Yes, Fleur."

"And you have the address of the hotel?"

"I'm the one who made the reservation, remember?"

"Darling, she'll be fine. You need a break." Bill reminded his wife calmly as he rested his hand on her shoulder.

Fleur nodded and grabbed her suitcase before walking into the fireplace. But before Bill could utter the name of the hotel, Fleur stepped out once more.

"Her favorite blanket that Molly knit is laid over the back of the rocking chair in her room. You'll need to give her a bath tomorrow and she'll probably scream her head off, but once she's wrapped in that blanket she'll be okay."

"Fleur, we'll be fine, now go." Eloise smiled.

Fleur nodded and finally returned to her husband's side once more. Bill wrapped his arm around her waist and Eloise couldn't quite tell if he was doing it to prevent her from running out again, or if he was doing it to comfort her. Knowing Bill, it was probably a bit of both. Eloise gently grasped Victoire's wrist and made her give her parents a little wave as they finally departed in a flash of green flames.

"Now it's time to party!" Eloise smiled down at the baby, giving her a tickle causing her to let out a giggle.

While Eloise was quite confident she could easily take care of Victoire for the weekend, she couldn't deny it was slightly nerve wracking being her first time watching over the infant alone. But overall the entire day had been going quite smoothly, at least until dinner time rolled around.

Juggling cooking while also feeding Victoire at the same time was proving to be quite difficult for Eloise. The minute she set Victoire in her highchair and turned her back to watch the stove, the infant would start wailing until she was held again. But after a moment of consoling her, the meal she had been cooking started to burn. It was a vicious cycle of back and forth that was only broken when a faint green flash could be seen coming from the living room.

At first when she glanced over and caught a glimpse of red hair, she assumed it was just Bill returning home to get something they had forgotten.

"Hey! I promise everything is fine." she called over her shoulder, thinking she was reassuring the baby's father.

"Are you sure about that?" a voice that was definitely not Bill asked.

Eloise immediately did a double take and saw George standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

"Oh, it's just you." she sighed in relief, returning her attention to the stove.

"Well, hello to you too." he replied with a chuckle.

Victoire was screaming her head off in Eloise's left arm while she was stirring a large pot of soup with her right hand. The blonde paused for a moment to grab her wand from the counter beside her to flick it at the cutting board, causing several varieties of chopped vegetables to float across the kitchen and submerge themselves in the broth before she turned around to look at George who had his arms crossed with an amused smirk on his face.

"Need a hand?" he asked after watching her struggle to handle everything she was trying to get done.

Eloise always hated asking for help, she didn't want to be a burden and would always try to handle everything on her own, but she couldn't deny that George just so happened to show up exactly when she needed him to.

"Please hold her for just a minute, I'm losing my mind." she sighed, admitting defeat as she walked up to him.

George laughed and held his arms out to take the girl from Eloise.

"Hi there baby, why are you being so bad for Auntie Elle, hmm?" George cooed at Victoire who immediately stopped crying and giggled at her uncle.

While part of Eloise felt slightly offended that little Victoire seemed to prefer her uncle over her in that moment, she was mostly just happy that the screaming had finally stopped.

Once she had dinner under control again, Eloise took a deep breath and brushed her hair away from her face. As she turned over her shoulder, she saw that George was smiling down at the baby and rocking her back and forth in his arms as she reached up to him.

The paternal skills he naturally had were on full display as he playfully pretended like he was going to bite the fingers that Victoire was reaching toward his face, causing the infant to let out a loud giggle each time he did it. Eloise couldn't deny the scene unfolding before her only made her fall harder for him as a smile grew on her face.

George brought his eyes up to Eloise for a moment before bringing his attention back to Victoire, "I think I'm the favorite, Elle."

"I think so too."

A timer on the counter went off and Eloise used her wand to bring two freshly baked loaves of bread out of the oven rather than searching for an oven mitt.

"Why're you making all this when it's just you?" George asked.

"Well, the bread's for your mum. I told her I'd make some for her the last time I was over at the Burrow but I haven't had the time until this weekend. As for the soup, I always make this much. You can freeze it and have leftovers forever."

"I didn't know you liked to cook."

"My nan taught me everything I know, but I don't have much time to cook anymore. That and Fleur's a bit of a control freak when it comes to the kitchen." she chuckled as she used her wand to bring all the dirty dishes to the sink.

"I can clean up for you, if you like." George offered.

"I'm almost afraid if you put her down she'll start crying again."

"She'll be okay, plus you've been working hard. Let me help you."

"It's okay, I can just use magic." she shrugged.

"Let me help you." he repeated in a lower tone, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Fine, fine!" she smiled as she took Victoire from his arms.

Victoire reached for George as he walked across the kitchen, but as long as he was in eyesight she seemed alright without him holding her. He rolled up the sleeves of his sweater and started filling the sink with warm water.

Maybe it was because of all the years Molly had the children doing chores without magic, but George still preferred to clean things up by hand most of the time. Keeping his hands busy let him focus on monotonous tasks rather than overthinking anything that might've been stressing him out that day.

"Why'd you come over again? I realized I didn't ask. You just sort of showed up when everything was falling apart." Eloise chuckled as she playfully bounced the baby, hoping to keep her in a good mood.

"Oh, I came to talk to Bill." he replied as he continued scrubbing the dishes.

"Well, him and Fleur are gone for the whole weekend."

"That's alright."

"Was what you needed to talk to him about important?"

"Depends on who you ask." he chuckled.

"Well, I'm asking you."

After moving the dishes to the drying rack beside the sink and grabbing a tea towel to dry his hands, he turned to face Eloise. The blonde raised an eyebrow at him, encouraging him to continue. A sigh left his lips as he laid the rag over his shoulder and leaned back against the counter with his arms crossed.

"Ron and Hermione got engaged."

Eloise's mouth fell open in shock. While she knew Ron had been talking about it since March, when June passed and Hermione returned from school nothing happened. The following months showed no signs of him proposing either, so she'd thought maybe he'd taken what George had said personally and given up on his plans. But now she was pleased to know he'd followed his heart despite his brother's negativity.

"That's incredible!" Eloise beamed.

"Yeah, I suppose." he shrugged.

Eloise's face fell into a frown, realizing his opinion on the matter clearly hadn't changed much since Ron had first brought up the idea.

"Did you really come to talk to Bill?" she asked.

"Yeah, I offered to share the news with him. But I really just wanted to get out of there."

Eloise nodded, "Well, you can stay for dinner if you like."

"That'd be great."

Eloise walked over to the kitchen table and set Victoire in her highchair, silently praying she wouldn't throw a fit again once no one was holding her. George seemed to be thinking the same thing as he immediately sat down next to the baby and kept her entertained by shooting out little blue sparks from the end of his wand as Eloise prepared two bowls of soup for them.

"Here you go. It's nothing too special, just plain old veggie soup." she said as she set the bowl in front of him.

"I'm sure it's great, Elle." he assured her as he set down his wand and picked up a spoon.

As Eloise went to sit across from them, she noticed after nearly every bite of soup George would glance over at Victoire to make sure she was still content. Almost as if he was ready to spring into action at the first sign of her becoming fussy.

"You'd be a good dad." Eloise complimented, causing George to flick his head toward her with widened eyes.

"Oh, I don't know about that." he shook his head.

"Give yourself some credit, you're great with Victoire."

"It's different when it's not your kid, I get to go home without her at the end of the day." he chuckled before turning to Victoire and tickling her stomach lightly and talking to her in a baby voice, "Yes, I do! I get to leave you here, don't I?"

Eloise chuckled and shook her head at him, "So, how did Ron propose?"

"Hmm? Oh, I don't know all the details. I just know that her birthday is next week and Harry apparently told him that he shouldn't propose to her on her birthday. But I guess that was his original plan, so he panicked and sort of blurted it out at breakfast this morning." he laughed.

"That sounds like a very Ron thing to do."

"It does." he nodded.

The two of them allowed a comfortable silence to form as they ate their dinner, the only noises in the room were Victoire's occasional babble and the ocean waves crashing on the shore just outside.

"Do you ever think about getting married?" George asked suddenly, causing Eloise to nearly choke on her soup.

"Erm, yeah I think I'd like to one day." she replied after a moment.

"What about having children?"

"Someday, but I'm not in a rush." she answered cautiously, not quite sure why he was asking her all these questions.

George nodded slightly and returned his gaze to the bowl of soup in front of him, "You'd be a great mum."

While she couldn't help but feel flattered by his compliment, she knew how dismissive he'd been about those particular subjects in the past. Although telling her that she'd be a good mum and asking her about her opinions almost made it seem like he'd be open to the idea himself.

But then again, it seemed quite obvious that his brother's milestones still bothered him quite a bit, it seemed unlikely he'd warmed up to the idea of that kind of commitment very much. The whole reason he'd come to Shell Cottage that evening was to get away from the newly engaged couple after all.

"What do you think?" Eloise asked as she set down her spoon.

"About what?" he asked, meeting her gaze.

"Marriage and kids." Eloise clarified.

George seemed to mull over his response for a few moments and while the silence didn't last long, it did feel a bit tense.

"I don't know if it's for me."

Eloise felt her heart sink, though she couldn't explain why. It was obvious he'd felt that way for quite some time, and she knew that. But part of her foolishly hoped that the closer they grew to each other, the more likely he'd be to change his mind.

"Not even if you met the right person?"

George brought his eyes up to Eloise and pressed his lips into a thin line. The look on his face was hard to read, but it almost looked as if he was considering not answering that question at all. She gazed at him expectantly before he eventually broke his eyes away from her and brought them back down to the bowl in front of him.

"Maybe the right person doesn't want those things either." he muttered.

"Right." Eloise nodded before getting back to her feet, deciding she'd completely lost her appetite.

Eloise dropped the bowl into the sink a little too loudly because seconds later the four month old returned to her crying fit. The blonde spun around, ready to take Victoire to the other room, but when she did George held his hand up to her.

"It's okay, I got her." he said as he stood up from the table and picked her up out of her high chair.

She watched as he carried her into the other room, gently bouncing her and cooing at her the whole way. Normally Eloise would have followed after him, but she just needed a moment to process what had happened over the last ten minutes.

Her eyes fell on the cheap bottle of wine Fleur had bought last time she got groceries. Though the new mother was never much of a drinker, she had started having one or two glasses a week to wind down. After taking care of Victoire on her own for only one night, Eloise completely understood why.

Grabbing a glass from the cabinet, Eloise poured a splash of the dark red liquid into it. She swirled the wine in her glass for a moment before taking a grateful sip as George returned from the living room with a much calmer Victoire in his arms.

"Drinking on the job?" he asked as he caught her in the act.

"Katie didn't make this, so I think I'll be alright."

George let out a slight chuckle, "Someone really should have warned you."

"I think Angelina tried." she laughed.

"How much of the party do you remember?" he teased with a raised eyebrow.

"Bits and pieces." she shrugged, setting down the glass on the counter.

"Remember what you said to me before going to bed?"

Her brows furrowed in confusion as she racked her brain trying to figure out what he was referring to and he seemed to notice as the smirk on his lips turned into a devilish grin.

"Did I say something embarrassing?"

"Why is that your first thought?" he asked as he gently rocked his body side to side as Victoire drifted off to sleep against his shoulder.

"Because of your face." she frowned.

"My face?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, you keep making this expression as if what I said is funny to you." she huffed as she gestured vaguely toward his face with her hand.

George let out a chuckle and glanced back down at the baby in his arms, "Think we ought to put her to bed, don't you?"

Eloise pursed her lips. All she could focus on was what she had said to him in her drunken state and she didn't appreciate the sudden change in the subject.

"Fine. But you're not getting out of telling me what I said."

Eloise brushed past him and made her way up the stairs without another word. Though George found that getting a rise out of her was quite amusing, he couldn't help but think how adorable it was that her nose would crinkle slightly when she got mad.

"Yes, ma'am." he grinned, following close behind.

George carried the baby into her nursery where Eloise had already charmed two beautiful illuminated butterflies the size of birds to fly above them, circling the ceiling as they filled the room with dim pink and purple hues.

Eloise had her back turned on George as she wound up the antique music box Fleur's grandmother had gifted to the couple when Victoire was born. As soon as the gentle tune filled the room, lulling the baby into her dreams, Eloise turned around to see George bending over the crib to lay a gentle kiss on his niece's forehead.

When he stood back up and glanced over at Eloise he couldn't tell if it was the dim lighting from the butterflies circling above them playing tricks on him, or the butterflies in his stomach, but he almost swore the way she looked at him was different.

Of course she had smiled at him plenty of times, but this felt new. The way her lips naturally curled up slightly and how her deep blue eyes seemed to be filled with adoration only for him felt much deeper than any other time she'd looked at him. It almost looked like love.

But that thought scared him.

As much as he desperately wanted to memorize the way she looked at him, as if he could somehow take a picture and keep it in his mind forever, he knew he had to tear his eyes away from her.

"C'mon, Elle." he whispered, beckoning her towards the door.

Her face fell slightly, as if she had been snapped back into reality from a daydream but she quickly nodded and followed him back out into the hallway. George pulled the door the Victoire's nursery closed behind them until there was just the slightest gap left open, allowing the occasional pink and purple light to dance off of their faces in the dark hallway.

"Are you going to tell me what I said now?" she asked quietly as George took one last glance at Victoire to make sure she wouldn't stir.

"We're back on that now, are we?" he grinned.

"Yes we are."

"What if I wanted to keep it to myself? My little secret?" he winked.

The two of them were standing close to one another so they could still hear as they whispered in hopes of not disturbing the baby. But Eloise couldn't deny the tension she felt as his body towered over hers. Something about watching him take care of his niece lit a fire within her heart that made her certain that there was no one in the world she could ever picture being with other than George Weasley.

Regardless of every warning sign and red flag that had presented itself to her, she ignored them all and had fallen hard for a man who had a million reasons to push her away. But all of those voices in her head telling her to move on were muffled by the pounding of her heart as she gazed up at him.

"But if I was the one who said it, doesn't that make me your secret?" she whispered.

The smirk on his face disappeared as his lips parted slightly, clearly being caught off guard by her witty remark. Instead of the usual mischievous look he had in his eyes, they turned into something darker. But before Eloise could decipher what that meant, he turned his back on her and walked down the stairs.

Mentally cursing him for not seizing the opportunity to kiss her, she followed behind after a moment and found him sitting on the couch in the lounge.

"Have a seat. We need to talk." he said as he gestured to the armchair across from him.

Eloise's breath hitched at his sudden change in demeanor. While he seemed quite serious, she couldn't tell if he was still joking around or if he was preparing to reject her one final time.

She wasn't emotionally prepared for him to tell her, yet again, that he wasn't ready for a relationship. While she already knew that, she didn't want to be reminded. But rather than allowing herself to overthink, she took in a long slow breath and made her way to sit across from him in Bill's old armchair.

George leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees as his eyes looked her up and down, reading her body language, "No need to be nervous."

"I'm not." she lied as she shifted slightly in a vain attempt to look more relaxed.

"I just need to talk to you about your behavior."

"Okay?" she replied hesitantly.

"Are you aware that when you drink you become a bit of a flirt?" he asked as the smirk he'd done so well at hiding returned to his face.

"I'm sorry?" she asked in shock.

"You came on to me at the party, Eloise Laurent." he grinned.

"I did not!"

"You most certainly did! When I tried to help you get ready for bed, you might as well have jumped me."

"Oh stop, that's so embarrassing!" she groaned into her hands, which only caused George to laugh.

"You mean you don't remember asking me to come to bed with you?"

Eloise quickly brought her head away from her hands and looked at him with widened eyes, her face painted in disbelief, "I didn't."

"You did." he nodded with a wicked grin.

"Don't say anything else, I might die."

"Oh, so I shouldn't tell you that you tried to undress-"

But George's words were cut off as Eloise leapt up from her seat and across the coffee table to cover his mouth with her hand, landing on top of him as he fell back on the couch.

"Speaking of jumping me." he teased in a muffled voice through her hand as he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Not another word!" she scowled as she pulled her hand away from his mouth.

"Are you sure? Because there's one more thing you told me that I think is pretty important." he said in a low voice as his gaze fell on her lips.

She narrowed her eyes at him, "What?"

He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "You told me that you want me."

"Well, I- I mean, that's just-" she stammered as she pulled herself off of him, her face heating up in a bright shade of crimson.

Embarrassment took over her entire body she sat as far away from him on the couch as humanly possible, doing everything in her power to avoid his gaze. But George laid back casually leaning on his elbows as if the conversation had no effect on him other than finding it all rather amusing.

"So you don't want me anymore then?" he teased.

"Yes, I mean, no- wait I-"

George sat up and laid a finger on the side of Eloise's jaw, turning her head to look at him, "Do you want me?"

Their lips were only centimeters apart and the magnetic pull was almost impossible for her to fight.

"I-" her voice was completely gone, she couldn't form a single word as she looked into his darkened eyes.

"I'm not going to kiss you unless you want me to, Elle. You have to tell me." he whispered, pulling away from her slightly.

Eloise paused for a moment as she drowned in his dark eyes. The right choice was obvious and George was giving her an out, but every single warning alarm going off in her brain was being muffled by the strong temptation taking over her every thought.

There was no alcohol coursing through her veins to cloud her judgement this time. There was no chance of her saying anything she'd forget the next day. There was only George, and there was no denying that she wanted him desperately.

"I do." she whispered.

"What was that, love?"

"I want you to."

"Want me to what?" he asked, leaning in closer.

His lips brushed against hers for just a moment and the warmth of his breath on her skin electrified her entire body.

"Damn it, George. Kiss me."

Without hesitation, he obliged. It was soft at first, almost timid, as if he expected her to come to her senses and stop him right away. But when he realized she wasn't going to, he allowed their kiss to deepen.

The taste of her strawberry lip balm was familiar and comforting, but it had felt like years since he'd been able to cure the craving he had for her and he was hungry. Kissing her was like cool water in a scorching desert, she was his oasis.

George's hands found their way to her waist as he pulled her onto his lap, refusing to break away from each other as they found their new position.

They were holding onto each other desperately. Eloise had the front of his sweater tight in her grasp and she pulled him in while George's fingers gripped onto her hips. It almost seemed like breaking their kiss meant they'd slip away from each other forever.

But after a moment Eloise pulled away breathlessly as if every logical thought had just come rushing back to her. George, however, seemed quite relaxed as he reached up to brush her hair away from her face so he could look into her eyes.

"Are you going to tell me this was a mistake?" she asked timidly.

His face fell slightly as he sensed her fear. While it might've been a mistake, he didn't want to stop. His hand gently cupped the side of her face as his thumb traced over her bottom lip.

"I'm not going to tell you anything you don't want me to say." he replied, before leaning forward and planting a gentle kiss on her cheek.

"But are you going to regret it?" she asked quietly as she began nervously chewing her bottom lip, desperately searching for the truth behind his eyes.

"I don't regret kissing you the first time, I told you that." he whispered trailing a few soft kisses down to her neck, before looking into her eyes again, "Do you want to stop?"

Eloise shook her head and George quickly pulled her in for another more passionate kiss.

As his hands began to wander, he knew they were playing a dangerous game. The more heated the moment grew, the more narrow the tightrope they were walking on became as they inched closer and closer to free falling into the unknown without a parachute.

Of course he realized this wasn't the right way to go about their relationship. Everything they were doing was just complicating things more, but pushing her away felt more and more impossible the closer they became to one another.

George's chest was rising and falling breathlessly as Eloise pulled away. He watched her with lust filled eyes as she reached for the hem of her shirt. But at that very moment, a distant cry could be heard from upstairs.

It was as if Victoire's cries were an alarm and Eloise had just been woken up from a dream. Without a word, she pulled herself off of George's lap and made her way to the stairs.

All of her fear came flooding back as soon as she was out of George's grasp. As she climbed the stairs, she was almost expecting George to realize what they had done and disappear into the fireplace without saying goodbye. As much as that would hurt, she almost felt as though it would somehow be easier to handle him running away than hearing his excuses again.

Regardless of his next move, she wasted no time in trying to avoid the situation all together as she entered Victoire's room. She quickly scooped up the baby and started rocking her as she did her best to console her.

"Need a hand?" George asked from the doorway causing Eloise to jump slightly.

Victoire's cries must have drowned out the sounds of his footsteps, or maybe it was the voices in her head scolding her for kissing him again.

"No, I'm okay." she replied before turning her back on George and attempting to wind up the music box with one hand.

Clearly seeing her struggle, George came up behind her and grabbed the box from her hand to wind it up for her. Once the gentle music began playing Victoire seemed to calm down almost immediately, much to Eloise's relief.

"Thanks." she said as she quickly glanced at George before laying Victoire back down in her crib.

"No problem."

She paused for a moment near the crib to make sure Victoire was okay before walking towards George who had returned to the hallway. He took a step back and allowed her to pull the door closed behind them as she avoided his gaze.

There they were, back in the dark hallway where their little rendezvous had started. Only this time Eloise had expected George to give her another speech about how they shouldn't have kissed and how he still needs time to work on himself. He'd probably give her a half-hearted apology only to avoid her again for a few weeks before they'd end up back at square one again.

It had already played out in her mind, and she'd been through it all before. As much as she knew it would hurt, she was ready for George to rip away the bandage and get it over with.

"I'm moving back to the flat next week. You'll come see me soon, right?" he asked.

"Listen George, I already know what you're- wait, what?"

Had the kiss only happened in her imagination? Or was he just acting like it never happened? He was behaving much more casually than she expected him to and was almost skeptical that he was only inviting her to his flat as a buffer for something much worse that he was about to say.

"I just thought you could come by after work some time if you're not too busy." he shrugged.

"Oh, I uh. Yeah, sure." she nodded, though her brows knit together in confusion.

"Great. Well, it's getting late so I better get going. I'll see you soon." he smiled before making his way back down the stairs.

"Wait!" she called after him before he could step into the fireplace.

"Yes?" George asked, letting out a chuckle as she emerged from the staircase.

Without warning she wrapped her arms around his neck causing him to stumble back slightly as his hands fell to her waist to brace themselves. Eloise pressed her lips against his before pulling away quickly, looking up at him expectantly. Almost wanting him to reject her.

At least his rejection would make her feel as if she wasn't going mad.

Though he looked slightly taken aback, a warm smile grew on his face, "Maybe I should help you babysit more often. Or am I always going to get a goodbye kiss from now on?"

Eloise took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest, "What's with the mixed signals? Is this some sort of game?"

The smile on George's face faded away immediately, "I told you I wasn't going to tell you anything you didn't want me to say."

"And now I want you to be honest." she replied sharply, almost as if she wanted to instigate an argument with him.

"Well, I honestly think you're an excellent kisser. Have a good night, Elle." he replied with a wink before stepping into the fireplace and saying 'the Burrow' before she could ask him any more questions.

While it felt like progress, it also felt too good to be true. Eloise had the sinking feeling that this was going to become yet another situation where she and George took one step forward and seven steps back.