February 2000

The day had finally come, move-in day! Eloise had been practically living out of boxes in Shell Cottage for the last two weeks and yes, she did have to use a summoning charm more than once to find something she needed for work that had been buried in the depths of knick-knacks and old sweaters. At least her wand wasn't something that had accidentally gotten packed away.

Behind Eloise's excitement hid a secret world of worry though. Not only because she was nervous about what Fleur would think of the flat - a few comments about the dingy old wallpaper and the cobwebs on the ceiling was to be expected - she just hoped her best friend wouldn't give them too much of a hard time. After all, Eloise was still quite confident that once they were all unpacked the flat would look much more homey.

But Fleur's blunt honesty was truly the least of her endless list of worries at the moment. The main source of stress lurking in the back of her mind, making her feel the most nervous, was the fact that Maxwell had offered to help her move. While the gesture itself was kind, all it did was attempt to break down a wall that Eloise had tried her best to keep intact.

All these months Eloise had been able to keep that one strong boundary between Maxwell and her friends. Maybe it seemed a bit rude but Eloise had no interest in Maxwell getting to know them, not yet at least. It just felt like it would make things in their relationship more official than she wanted, more serious. But now he was on his way over and there was nothing stopping him from meeting two of the most important people in her life.

How could she say no, though? It would have been foolish. Charlie and George couldn't help the girls move because they needed to watch over the shop and Bill was far too busy at Gringotts to take the day off. They honestly needed all the help they could get, even if it came in the form of Maxwell Holmes.

Luckily, last week at work Eloise was able to connect her and Verity's new fireplace to not only Shell Cottage, but the Ministry and Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes as well, making the move much easier. Being a Ministry employee does have its perks sometimes, including not having to wait on the Floo Network connection waiting list. Just a flash of her Ministry pin and a kind smile got it all taken care of in a single afternoon.

The plan was for Fleur, Eloise, and Verity to all meet in the flat and Maxwell would come by later in the morning. Verity said Charlie may be able to help on his break but she said it was unlikely. So it would be just the four of them, Flooing in and out, apparating and disapparating, charming boxes and furniture across the rooms all morning long. Even with the minimal help, Eloise thought they could get a good majority of the work done in a single day.

Once Fleur returned home from the Burrow after dropping Victoire off with Molly that morning, she and Eloise each grasped a box in their arms and stepped into the hearth at Shell Cottage. Eloise balanced her box on her hip as she grabbed a handful of Floo Powder and prayed that the connection had been done properly as she tossed it down and uttered the name of their destination.

With a flash of green and a sudden jerking sensation, the two girls found themselves emerging into the small old flat on Diagon Alley.

"Are you sure this is correct?" Fleur inquired from the fireplace.

"Yes, I'm sure." Eloise said with a laugh as she set her box on the kitchen counter and glanced around in search of Verity.

"Oh." Fleur muttered before pressing her lips into a thin line, almost as if she were physically trying to stop herself from saying anything rude.

There was a wall of boxes near the doors to the bedrooms, but no sign of the short blonde witch anywhere. There was, however, a fat gray cat that emerged from behind one of the boxes at the sound of the girls' voices.

"You must be Simon." Eloise cooed as she scooped him up and gave him a scratch under his chin, "Verity must've gone back to her old flat for something."

"No, I'm here!" a voice called from behind the boxes, although all Fleur and Eloise could see was a disembodied hand waving to them behind the sea of cardboard.

Eloise let out a laugh as she set Simon down and peered around the boxes to see Verity flick her wand at one she had just carried into her room. In a flash clothes began hanging and folding themselves.

"How long have you been here?" Eloise asked as a bright pink jumper zoomed by.

"Oh, I've been coming and going for about an hour or so. I don't think I ever want to apparate again though." she laughed before turning to Eloise, "I hope it's alright that I claimed this room, I assumed you liked the view from the other one more."

Eloise rolled her eyes, the clear view of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes from the large picturesque window had absolutely nothing to do with her preferring the other bedroom. Nothing at all.

"That's fine," Eloise replied as she glanced over her shoulder back towards the kitchen where Fleur was making fast friends with Simon, "Fleur and I need to go back to Shell Cottage to grab a few more things. If Maxwell comes by, would you let him in? And please pretend you weren't at the shop that day we came in last month."

"Got it, Maxwell who?" Verity laughed.

A slight smirk found its way to Eloise's lips, "Thank you, we'll be back soon."

By the time Fleur and Eloise had everything else packed up in Shell Cottage it was already half an hour later. They would have to wait for Bill's help to move most of the furniture, but the room looked almost exactly as it had on the day she moved in, as if she was never there at all. It was a bittersweet feeling, leaving the house and the couple that had brought her to England in the first place but Eloise knew she'd always be welcomed at Shell Cottage as if it were her true home.

Luckily, most of Eloise's remaining belongings fit into one box that Fleur already had grasped in her arms. All that was left for Eloise to grab was a small unassuming box marked hastily with a 'G'. It was everything from the bottom drawer of her desk. Everything about George that she wanted to hide away but was much too afraid to lose. With it tucked delicately under her arm, the women made their final trip back to the flat.

When they emerged from the green flames, they found Maxwell and Verity making small talk in the kitchen. The tall man with a bright smile held two paper cups in his hand, immediately extending one out to Eloise as she stepped out of the fireplace.

"Sorry I'm late, I wanted to stop by The Busy Bean to get you a tea. I couldn't remember exactly how you take it, so there's just one sugar and a bit of milk in it. I hope that's alright."

Without a second thought Eloise set the small box in her arms on the counter beside him and took the cup from his hand, "That's more than alright, thank you."

"It's no problem." he replied, subtly glancing at the box she'd set down before returning his attention to her.

Eloise took a small sip of her tea. It was lukewarm and not nearly as sweet as she preferred but it was free and a kind gesture from Maxwell, so she couldn't really complain.

"Maxwell here was just telling me how he knew Percy in school, so I apologized on the Weasley's behalf." Verity laughed.

At the mention of the Weasley's name Eloise diverted her eyes and gave a half hearted chuckle, "Percy's not so bad." she muttered as she quickly tucked the box marked with George's initial back under her arm.

Maxwell raised an eyebrow at her, finding it hard to avoid his curiosity when it came to the contents of the box she kept so close to her.

"So, what should we do first?" he inquired, trying to get his mind on something else.

"Well, we can unpack the kitchen or maybe my clothes. We won't be able to move most of my furniture until later when Bill gets home from work."

"I'll follow your lead."

"Okay," Eloise said as she looked around the flat. Verity was already heading back into her room to continue organizing her own belongings while Fleur had just begun unpacking books and placing them onto the shelf in the living room, "Let's go to my room and start on my clothes then."

Maxwell followed her through the door on the far end of the living room and into her new bedroom. It had two large windows, one pointed towards Diagon Alley and one that looked down onto the roof of the Quidditch Supply shop next door. Eloise set the small box in her arms down on the window sill before rummaging through the boxes of clothes that had been pushed up against the opposite wall.

"I'm not too particular about where things go. So long as my cardigans are hung up instead of folded." she said as she waved her wand towards the first box.

Shirts and jeans flew out of the box and began hanging themselves in the closet as she rummaged through the next box for her cardigans. On the other end of the room, Maxwell had just opened a box of formal clothes that Eloise typically wore to work but he couldn't help but glance at that simple little box she had set on the window sill next to him.

Shaking his head, Maxwell waved his wand at the pencil skirts and blazers and they all floated across the room, finding their home comfortably in her closet. Over his shoulder, he glanced at Eloise who had been preoccupied with pulling jumpers and cardigans out of another box before he brought his eyes back to the window sill.

Curiosity was getting the better of him, he truly knew it was none of his business what was in that box. Still, he couldn't figure out why it seemed to daunting to him. It couldn't have been anything nefarious, Eloise wasn't the type. It was probably just something fragile, that's why she wanted to keep a close eye on it. 'G' probably stood for 'glass'. Despite every attempt to rationalize his thoughts, Maxwell couldn't shake the feeling that he needed to know what was inside.

Surely a little peek couldn't hurt, could it?

Maxwell pulled on the flap of the cardboard quickly, before Eloise could notice what he was doing. That's when his eyes fell on the objects he'd never seen before in his life, yet somehow felt like he recognized all of them.

A bottle of blue nail polish with her name written messily on the label, very similar to the one from the joke shop. Beside it was a dainty silver bracelet with charm of a swan on it. Underneath all of that was a leather bound journal with her initials on the spine and probably a dozen envelopes all addressed to 'Elle' in messy purple handwriting.

"What are you doing?"

Maxwell spun around to see Eloise frowning at him with a cardigan dangling from her hands.

"I'm sorry, I just-" he stammered as he looked between Eloise and the evidence of her fondness for someone else.

She dropped the cardigan back into the box and crossed the room to grab the box from him, quickly closing it as she glanced up at him, "You shouldn't have gone through this."

"It's from George isn't it? The 'G' on the box."

Eloise shook her head, "That doesn't matter, you still shouldn't have opened it."

"Why did you keep all of that stuff?"

"Pardon?"

Maxwell gestured towards the box in her arms with a frown on his face, "All that junk, I thought you two were over."

"It's not junk."

"When's the last time you saw him?" he asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

His accusatory tone took her by surprise, "Why does that matter?"

"Just answer the question, please."

There was no way she was going to tell him she had tried to see him a few weeks ago, only to be intercepted by Alicia. The details of why she went to the shop that day didn't matter anyway, she didn't have the chance to even lay her eyes on him that evening after all.

"I saw him when I went to see Verity a few weeks ago. The day we came to look at the flat."

"And before then?"

She pressed her lips into a thin line. There was no was she could tell him that he showed up on New Year's Eve. She couldn't tell him how he had been the one to convince her to stay in England. Not only had Maxwell not known she was even considering moving back to France, she knew he wouldn't take it well to know that the man who had almost driven her away had been the one to be able to talk her into staying. All it would do was prove that Maxwell was never a factor in her deciding to stay.

Eloise was never much of a liar, but it felt like her only option now, "When you and I went to the shop in December."

Maxwell narrowed his eyes at her, "Really?"

"Yes, of course. I was really upset that day, you know that. I didn't have a reason to see him after that. Other than to see Verity like I told you."

"And you two haven't written at all recently?"

If Eloise already had one foot in the hole she was digging herself into, she was about to dive into it head first.

"No."

Maxwell seemed to finally relax, "Good," he said before pausing for a moment as he glanced back at the box in her hands, "I don't want you to see him anymore. There shouldn't be a reason to even go to the shop now since you and Verity live together, right?"

Eloise's jaw dropped before she could even stop herself. Words fully escaped her in this moment, all she could do was shake her head.

Up until now Maxwell had never struck her as the jealous type and certainly never as a possessive person. But then again, maybe they simply didn't know each other well enough at all. He didn't even know how she liked her tea.

"Why are you shaking your head?"

"Because, Maxwell. Fleur is my best friend, her husband is George's older brother. Do you expect me to just never spend time with his family ever again? Am I supposed to double check with everyone to see if George will be there before I go see any of them? Percy and Charlie are my friends too, you know. Do you want me to cut them off as well while I'm at it?"

"I expect you to respect me." he said firmly.

"I expect you to trust me." she retorted in a raised voice.

"How can I when you keep holding onto these things? You two didn't even date. Am I really second place to a guy who doesn't even want to be with you?" he asked, raising his voice to match hers.

She couldn't quite tell if his words stung so badly because Maxwell somehow knew it was the truth that George didn't want to be with her or if it was because he was simply trying to say anything that would hurt her, whether it was true or not. Either way, he'd succeeded.

"They're just things." she muttered as she shook her head.

"Keep telling yourself that, Eloise."

This was a side of Max she'd never seen before. It was uncharted waters and Eloise didn't even have a boat to sail in. It was becoming increasingly obvious that while she was still hung up on George things would never work out with Maxwell. Especially if he was going to try and control her every move and snoop through her things looking for a reason to not trust her.

But Eloise knew from experience that when emotions were high making any sort of hasty decisions could lead to regrets. However, she also knew that she couldn't stomach being in the same room as Maxwell any longer.

"I think you should go."

"Fine." he said quickly, not even bothering to object to her wishes.

As quickly as the fight had started, it ended. Maxwell had disappeared from her room with a slam of the door causing her to flinch at the sound. She glanced down at the box in her hands, at the things she'd been so protective over. The objects that were causing all of her heartache and all of her problems, as if part of George's soul somehow lived in the items he'd given her. Even from afar he was slowly tightening his grip on her heart and sabotaging any attempt she made to move on.

There was a quiet knock on the door and a creak from the hinges as it opened once more, "Everything okay, mon amie?"

Eloise glanced up to see Fleur and Verity standing in the doorway with worried looks on their faces. Despite how upset she was, all she could do was laugh and shrug her shoulders. If she didn't laugh, she was sure she would completely fall apart. The women in the doorway shared a concerned look with one another before taking a step into the room.

"We heard shouting, what happened?" Verity asked in a soothing voice, rubbing Eloise's arm.

"Maxwell got upset when he saw all this rubbish George gave me. I knew I shouldn't have kept them."

"Those things are important to you," Fleur said, "Don't let him make you think you should get rid of them."

Another sad laugh escaped Eloise's throat, "He told me he doesn't want me to see George anymore. We aren't even really dating and he's trying to control who I see."

"What?" both women said at the same time.

"You can't agree to that." Fleur objected, "Does he think you'll stop seeing all of your friends just in case he is around? I thought you said he was in Ravenclaw in school. C'est un idiot."

"Fleur's right. Does he really believe he can prevent you from going to the Burrow for dinner or visiting the shop?" Verity frowned.

Eloise shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. I think he was just upset. I'm sure he'll come around and realize it wouldn't make sense for me to isolate myself like that."

But even as the words left her lips, she wasn't quite sure she believed them.

"Don't ignore someone's true colors." Fleur said plainly just as the sound of a knock on the front broke their attention.

"I'll get it." Verity offered before quickly leaving the room.

Eloise didn't think much about the new guest. As long as it wasn't Maxwell trying to come back. It was probably just their landlord, Mr. Sullivan, checking in on how they were doing. A few moments later, the door to her bedroom cracked open again but this time it wasn't Verity coming back.

"Knock, knock." George said with a smile as he gently tapped on the door frame.

Eloise quickly wiped away any evidence from her face that she had been upset as Fleur instinctively took the box away from her before slipping past George to exit the room.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I took a quick break from the shop, I wanted to bring you your housewarming gift."

She glanced down to see the box wrapped messily in purple paper before looking up at him with a smile, "You didn't have to do that."

"I know, I just felt a bit bad that Charlie and I couldn't help you move. Besides, it's something you'll definitely need." he said with a crooked grin as he extended the box out towards her.

With a smile, she took it from him and hastily tore away the paper. As she pulled away the lid from the box and dug through the orange tissue paper on the inside, her eyes fell on what may have possibly been the nicest gift she'd ever received.

A light blue mug, almost identical to the one she always drank from in his flat, a tea kettle in the exact same color, a small glass bowl with a lid for her sugar cubes. But the one thing George had gotten for Eloise that really made her smile was a small tin of her favorite tea.

All the way back in September when she was spending nearly every evening drinking tea with George, she had once made a small comment about how much she missed the tea her mum always kept in the kitchen when she was growing up.

It was a muggle brand her grandparents always drank called 'Betjeman & Barton' and, thanks to practically being raised on it, Colette never had anything different in the house which made Eloise fall in love with it from an early age. It was such a silly story, one Eloise had barely even recalled telling him, but George remembered. He always had a curious way of remembering even the smallest details, which was something Eloise truly adored about him.

She didn't know how he got it, or when, but after that night George always had a tin of that tea sitting on his own kitchen counter as if it had been there all along but Eloise knew he did it just for her. She wondered if the tin was sitting there, waiting for her to visit for tea again even though she hadn't been to his flat for more than a few minutes in months.

"This is the best housewarming gift ever, George, thank you!" she beamed as she tucked the box under her arm and went in for a hug.

George seemed slightly taken aback by her sudden embrace, it had been so long since he'd held her in his arms. Even so, holding Eloise just felt right to him, it felt like his chest had been frozen cold for months and having her close was slowly thawing his heart. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and gave her shoulders a light squeeze before she pulled away. The two of them looked at each other with shy smiles before George cleared his throat and checked his watch.

"Well, I suppose I better get back to the shop. Next time I come by you'll have to make me some tea, yeah?"

Eloise giggled and nodded her head, "Sounds like a plan."

"I'll hold you to it. See you soon, Elle."

George gave her a small wave from the doorway before turning around and saying a quick goodbye to Fleur and Verity as he left the flat. The smile on her face showed no signs of fading even as he left. But there was something still lurking at the back of her mind, something that Maxwell had said that was painful but true - that he would always be second place to a man who didn't even want to be with her.

Despite how willing Maxwell was to be everything he thought Eloise needed, how ready he was to be with her and take care of her, it just didn't matter. The truth was that both of them were slowly realizing that he would likely never be enough for her, no matter how hard he tried. They just wouldn't be able to fully admit it until it was too late.

A/N:

Here's a drawing I did of Elle and Ver's flat!

Did you spot Simon napping in the window, Verity's work uniform tossed on the floor, the teapot George gave Eloise on the stove, and her journal sitting on her desk?  I had so much fun making this, I really hope you like it! 😇