July 2000

It had been several weeks since Ron and Hermione's wedding. When George and Eloise finally sat down and spoke about what had happened at the reception, she assured him that she had simply been overreacting. Apologies fell from her lips as she told him how much she regretted the way she responded. Despite how much she said that she simply wanted to forget about it and move on, George didn't believe her.

He persisted, trying to urge her to be honest with him, assuring her that he could handle whatever it was she was truly feeling. But she refused. No matter what he did or said, she maintained that she honestly wasn't upset by his words - that it was unnecessary for her to put pressure on their relationship when she wasn't even really interested in 'silly things' like marriage herself.

After a while, he relented, despite how horrible he felt. It was obvious that she was holding back in what he could only assume to be an effort to keep the peace between them. To desperately protect something that was already so fragile.

It only took him a few days to drop the subject entirely. Only because it was no use trying to get her to open up and he began to realize this must be how it felt for others to try to get him to be more vulnerable and honest.

Because George hadn't been fully convinced that Eloise was truly okay with how the situation had been resolved, he had been going out of his way to attempt to change his mindset.

The last few sessions with his Mind Healer, Suzan, had been spent trying to unpack his fear of commitment. Even though it was he who had brought it up, the first few sessions weren't nearly as productive as they could have been. He was guarded and defensive, even rude at times to the woman who was simply trying to help him.

Thankfully, Suzan was a patient woman, she had to be after all. The Mind Healer held her notepad in her lap, giving George her undivided attention whether he was yelling at her, crying, or simply sitting in silence as he gazed out the window and refused to answer any of her questions.

After a few fruitless sessions, they were finally beginning to make progress - slowly but surely. Unexpectedly, speaking with Suzan had even sparked an idea for the new product he had been struggling with.

At first, George's return to inventing had been rewarding. Each day he had something to work on, a goal to look forward to. But after hitting a wall on it, he had returned to simply going through the motions. Without Fred to help inspire new ideas, he thought he was well and truly stuck.

Eventually, he decided he was going about it all wrong. He was treating his job as a distraction again. This new product wasn't inventive or innovative at all. It was the same old song and dance he'd been used to. What he should have been doing was trying to tap into his emotions. He needed to search for what inspired him, for what he wanted to see in a product.

With renewed fervor, he made it his mission to finish the new contraption by the Christmas season. The holidays were five months out, after all. Plenty of time to work out the kinks and test it out on a few willing (or unwilling) participants.

Mid-summer in the joke shop was always the busiest. With students now home from Hogwarts, the sales floor was filled to the brim with hoots and hollers from children testing out the joke items on each other.

More than once did Charlie have to pull a nine year old down from the ceiling after trying out the Sticky Trainers. Verity was working like a machine behind the till, checking out the line of customers that felt as though it was never-ending. George circled the shop, answering the questions of concerned parents and preventing kids, who for some reason couldn't wait until they were outside to sample the Puking Pastilles, from vomiting on the floor.

All the while, Eloise was enjoying a warm cup of tea in her flat across the way. It was a Saturday after all, her day off. A peaceful summer breeze blew through the open window, wafting through her frizzy curls and she glanced out, looking across the road towards the joke shop. Even from here, she could see the small crowd jovial children on the sidewalk showing each other what they had just purchased inside the purple building.

Once she had finished her tea she decided she'd take a walk down Diagon Alley. Maybe she'd stop into the second-hand book store just down the way. Understandably, she had stopped being a regular customer at Flourish & Blotts. Even so, she preferred the wear and tear of older books anyway, it showed how well loved they had once been. Truthfully through, her real destination was the building that had been buzzing with chaos since the end of June.

When she entered the shop, the bell above the door was drowned out within the sounds of laughing children and the occasional firecracker explosion. The first recognizable face she saw was Verity, who had a mechanical smile plastered to her face as she rushed to check out customers. After a few young boys, likely no older than twelve, bumped into Eloise while rushing towards the Headless Hats, she spotted George.

It was easy to find him, of course. The man towered over the main demographic of his shop, after all. It only took a minute for him to spot her as well. Likely the volume of her hair was the easiest trait of hers to pick out from the crowd.

Eloise rounded the corner into the aisle George had been standing in, meeting his smile as she did so.

"Morning, love. I'm glad you're here." he greeted as he caught a box of Extendable Ears that had been knocked down by a child rushing past them.

After watching the kid disappear into another aisle, Eloise met George's gaze once more, "Oh? And why is that?"

"I have something for you. I was going to give it to you after work, but since you're here it's about as good a time as any."

George gestured his head to the back of the shop, beckoning her to follow him to his office. She did so without objection, noting how much quieter it was in the room when he closed the door behind them.

It made sense for him to put a silencing charm on the opposite side of the door so he couldn't hear what was going on out on the busy sales floor as he put his focus on paperwork. But then Eloise considered the fact that he wouldn't be able to tell when Charlie or Verity were knocking - maybe that's exactly how he wanted it.

On George's desk sat a somewhat familiar looking yellow box. But before Eloise could get a good look at it, he quickly snatched it up and hid the package behind his back with a smirk.

"Couldn't have you peeking and ruining the surprise, love."

"Well, at least tell me the occasion." she said as she tried to peer around his shoulder to catch a glimpse of her gift.

"You mean to tell me you don't know what today is?" Eloise's face flashed a look of worry as she tried to think of the significance of the day.

"It's the fifteenth." she replied, although her inflection made the statement sound like more of a question.

"It is." he confirmed with a nod, still hiding the box behind his back.

Eloise stood there perplexed, the fifteenth didn't hold much significance in her mind but clearly it was supposed to. Despite her confusion, George had a wide grin on his face, so clearly he wasn't upset that she didn't know what was so special about the date.

"Okay," he laughed, but seemed as though he was showing mercy, "Maybe if I show you your gift, you'll remember."

He revealed the yellow box with a, quite frankly, much too large orange bow on top that obscured what the actual contents of it were. As he held it out to her, Eloise reached forward with a tentative hand. No one could blame her for being cautious, it was George after all. For all she knew, pulling the lid away would unleash a fireworks show in the middle of his tiny office. She could already picture herself with a singed off eyebrow as a result.

Once the box was in her possession, George leaned back on his desk with his hands in his pockets waiting for her to open it with a crooked grin plastered on his face. With a sigh, Eloise first pulled the bow off the box to finally reveal that he had given her an ordinary box of Canary Creams.

At first, she was slightly confused. Why had he made a big deal about giving her something that he'd been selling in his shop for years?

Maybe it was a new recipe and he wanted to test it out on her. If that were the case, she would have much rather have him come right out and say it. Although, if she were being honest, she wasn't quite keen on the idea. Still, she'd prefer he be straight forward about it, so she could say no, than to have him try to make her remember what was so important about the fifteenth of July. Maybe the date was simply a distraction.

Tearing her eyes away from the box, she brought her gaze over to George who raised his brows at her expectantly. Clearly it was more than just a new recipe, based on his expression.

Eloise wracked her brain. What happened in July? What is special about July?

Then the memory hit her like a tidal wave and a warm smile grew on her face.

The very first time Eloise laid eyes on George was only a few days after she moved to England. The day Fleur and Bill took her to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes two years ago. The fifteenth of July.

Today was the two year anniversary of the day they met.

She laughed and shook her head remembering just how nervous she had been. A box of Canary Creams that held her undivided attention was the only thing keeping her grounded in that moment.

You would have thought she were truly impressed with the product given they way she couldn't tear her eyes away from it. The truth was that she merely used it as a distraction, trying desperately to not give herself the opportunity to make a fool of herself in front of quite possibly the most gorgeous man she had ever laid her eyes on.

In all honesty, Eloise never paid much attention to what product she had been trying to convince George she was interested in at the time. But as she thought back, she remembered that the yellow box had been the only thing that kept her from getting lost in his honey eyes.

"Verity knew from the start, you know." he finally said with a chuckle.

"Knew what?"

"That you fancied me. I'll be honest, I didn't believe her. I barely said a word to you that day."

A furious blush grew over Eloise's freckles, thinking back to how awkward she had been in their first encounter and how cripplingly shy she was. Of course Verity could tell, even Fleur took notice right away.

"You didn't have to say anything, you're just that handsome." she teased, although there was more truth in her joke than she wanted to let on.

His crooked grin even grew wider than Eloise thought possible, her little remark had clearly gone straight to his head.

"Oh yeah?"

Eloise rolled her eyes and pulled the lid away from the box in her hands to reveal the biscuits inside. As much significance as they now held, Eloise had never actually seen what they looked like. The shortbread sandwich cookies looked rather unassuming, the yellow filling inside made her think maybe they were lemon or perhaps custard flavored.

"I wouldn't eat those, not unless you want to turn into the prettiest bird in London."

"In London? Why not the world?" she quipped back as she returned the lid to the box.

"The world, the galaxy, the universe," he said as he pushed himself up from his desk and crossed the room to her, "You'd be the prettiest bird ever. But also probably the angriest, so we best not let you try one."

The box has been taken from her grasp and set on the desk behind him. With her hands now free, Eloise lightly tugged on his violently purple tie with a smile. George raised his eyebrow, a smirk growing on his face. At first, Eloise was absolutely certain that her intentions were quite clear to George, but the words he spoke next took her by a bit of a surprise.

"Let me take you out tonight."

"Out?" she asked as she loosened her grip on his tie, "To where?"

"Hogsmeade. I haven't been there in years - well, I stop in to Zonko's every now and then, but that's not the same."

Eloise didn't respond at first, her brows furrowed as she silently urged George to give her more information about his plans.

"I want to show you all the places I used to visit growing up."

A smile formed on her lips as she nodded, "Okay."

-

George's shift was meant to end at six. Unfortunately, the store needed a bit more reorganization than expected as well as making sure the till was balanced, on top of double checking inventory. By the end of it, the clock was nearing seven but Eloise didn't mind - the girl was notorious for running late anyway.

She herself hadn't even returned to the shop until quarter past six. Eloise had placed herself on the stool behind the counter that Verity typically sat in while she watched George finish counting the till. All of her offers to help Charlie restock or Verity clean had been shut down by George who kept telling her that he was 'nearly done'.

Finally, when George truly had finished counting the till, he turned to Eloise with a smile. She sat up a bit straighter in her seat expectantly as he placed a quick peck to her lips and told her he'd be back down momentarily after changing out of his uniform.

She sat there patiently, feeling slightly guilty as she watched Verity flick her wand at various shelves to reorganize the shop. But before Eloise could even make her way out from behind the counter to assist the woman in some fashion, George was already making his way downstairs.

"Ready, darling?"

"More than ready." she beamed.

A soft smile formed on George's lips before he turned to the aisle Verity had just been in, "You alright locking up, Ver?"

"It's not like I've never done it before." she called back from behind the shelf.

"She really does appreciate me, I think." he muttered with a grin before linking his arm with Eloise's.

The two of them apparated to quite possibly the cutest little village Eloise had ever seen. There was a tea shop, a post office, and a sweets shop (which Eloise, being the notorious sweet tooth she was, seemed quite keen on visiting) but, as George took her hand, he led her into a cozy little building with a sign above the door that read 'The Three Broomsticks'.

Upon entering, it almost felt as though they had stepped right into winter. Despite the blistering summer weather that England had been experiencing since Ron and Hermione's wedding, the fireplaces and candle chandeliers were lit - filling the entire pub with a warm glow. The sight of it caused Eloise to long for the holidays in the middle of summer. It smelled smoky, but in a good way. It reminded her of bonfires and sitting by the fireplace on Christmas and the way George's hair sometimes smelled after work.

The woman behind the bar, whose blonde curls mimicked her own, nodded at the couple as they entered. There was a familiarity in her smile at George, one that held fond memories - in hindsight, of course - of the identical boys and their mischievous friends who played countless pranks in her pub with the items they had bought from Zonko's Joke Shop earlier in the day.

George led Eloise to an empty booth near the fireplace, "It's usually much busier in the school year. Used to make it hard to find an empty table sometimes."

As soon as they slid into their seats, the woman behind the bar quickly made her way over to the couple to take their drink order. Eloise allowed George to order for her, realizing after the Valentine's Day debacle that she didn't really have that much of a gripe with someone making those kinds of decisions for her, so long as they were the right person.

George had decided on pumpkin juice for the both of them, which Eloise was more than happy with.

The barmaid nodded, "Alright, I'll have it right out. It's nice to see you here again, by the way."

George's eyebrows immediately shot up before they furrowed as a frown formed on his face. At his reaction, Eloise worried that returning to a place that held so many memories for him may have been a bad decision. But then a chuckle left his lips before it turned into a full blown laugh. Eloise wanted to smile or to laugh along, but she was simply too confused to form any sort of reaction.

"Sorry," he shook his head as he read the bewilderment on Eloise's face, "It's just surprising to hear that come from her, I think she hated Freddie and I at one point. She probably wanted to hang a photo of our faces above the bar and ban us for life."

Eloise knew that George could be a little chaotic and a bit mischievous at times, but she wondered how much trouble he really could have caused in his teenage years. Then again, thinking of more than one of him in a room sounded overwhelming enough that she didn't doubt the fact that he made a few enemies in his day. Of course, it was always all in good fun.

When the woman returned with two goblets of pumpkin juice, she lingered for a while to chat with Eloise - to get to know the woman who had perhaps finally tamed the infamous troublemaker.

To George's dismay, the woman told her a few embarrassing stories about his antics as a young boy and to Eloise's dismay, Alicia had been a topic that briefly came up as well. Overall though, the woman - who Eloise now knew was named Madam Rosmerta - was very kind and showed a fair amount of sympathy.

Once alone, George and Eloise laughed over their glasses of pumpkin juice as he told her some of his favorite stories of he, Fred, Lee, and Verity causing trouble all around Hogsmeade in their youth. It was nice to reminisce and not feel so weighed down by his grief. Returning to a place that once held so much significance to him was a daunting task but with Eloise by his side, everything seemed a bit easier, as if she were carrying some of the weight that had been crushing his soul for so long.

"I'm glad we came here today, I've honestly been avoiding it for a while." he paused as his hand ran through his fiery hair, "Y'know, Gin asked me to meet her here for lunch a few months ago and I shut her down - probably a bit more harshly than was necessary. Just the idea of it was too much."

Eloise nodded as she reached across the table to rest her hand on top of his, "I'm happy you trusted me enough to bring me here."

He smiled and looked down at their hands, "I've been working on it you know."

"On what?"

His eyes came back up to meet hers, "What I said at the wedding. I've been talking to Suzan about it. I'm trying to work through it because I know it matters to you even when you say it doesn't."

Her face fell slightly as she pulled her hand away, "George..."

"Listen Ellie, you mean more to me than my messed up brain can even comprehend. I want to make you happy, so I'm trying. Okay?"

Finally, a slight smile formed on her lips as relief visibly washed over her, "Okay."

The rest of their evening was spent showing Eloise around his two favorite spots in Hogsmeade - Honeydukes and Zonko's Joke Shop. He bought her a chocolate frog and laughed brightly when the card she pulled from the box was Ron. He introduced her to the owner of Zonko's who had ever more stories to tell Eloise than Madam Rosmerta had. Thankfully, George seemed rather proud of the tales the elderly joke shop owner had to tell in comparison.

It was the perfect evening, not only because George seemed to be making leaps and bounds when it came to overcoming his grief, but because Eloise had gotten more of a glimpse into how he was before they met. Of course she would always long for the time she could have spent knowing George when they were younger, but she was grateful for every moment she had with him now - especially on days like this.