The Girl who Survived (Fred Weasley)

CH 74. What If's

A/N: Ginny tried to persuade Elodie to look further into her past, While Fred is okay, with moving forward. but after opening up to one possibility, another continues to bloom in her head.

~Elodie's POV~

We had only a few days until everyone would be leaving on the train for the new term. If business hadn't already been booming, the last several days would have made up for it. Everyone wanted to get their shopping down as soon as they could. With the launch of the Wonder witch line, Fred and George had found a way to appeal to young women as well.

"Are you looking forward to going back to school?" Verity asked me as we restocked the display of love potions.

"Not particularly, but I'll have Ginny and my friend Katie to keep me company. And it's only a few hours a week. I think if I had to do the entirety of my last year, I wouldn't have returned," I told her as I moved a curtain out of the way to pull stock from an overhead shelf.

"Here let me," She said and pulled over a step stool to make it easier. "This will be slowing down here soon."

"I reckon you're right about that, but don't worry, that'll give the boys more time to invent products while you manage the front," I told her. "Hey, can you grab that box down too. That blue one on the left."

"Such a shame, I think the noise has grown on me," She said as she passed down boxes.

"I don't think that'll ever change," I said placing them down. I let out a little breath as I felt guppy doing flip after flip in my stomach. "Oi, you need to settle down in there," I said as I looked at my flat stomach. I'd had to run errands today and after deciding I didn't feel like being stopped and question by anyone I may run into, I'd cast an extension charm over my stomach which hadn't faded yet.

"Is your brother stopping in today?" Ginny asked as she came down the stairs.

I wiggled my eyebrows at her as my eyes narrowed in on her face. "I'm not sure, He usually spends his time in London watching the trains," I informed her. "How was your date last night?"

"Unimpressive," She said looking at the sparklers over our heads. "Do you have tea upstairs?"

"I believe so. Let's go have a look," I said as I picked up on her clue. I knew she wasn't quite getting on with Fleur, and she didn't spend enough time at the shop to get on well with Verity. I'd been so enamored in my own predicaments to reach out and notice what was going on with her.

I looked over as saw Cat lying on his back, completely hypnotized by the sparklers overhead. I clicked my tongue to get his attention and call him over so we could all go upstairs. I kept feeling a ringing in my ear and hoped that if he were in close proximity it would help. We entered into the flat above the shop and flicked the lights on. Ginny quickly took a seat at the counter while I put the kettle on and began looking for tea bags.

"Does Harry know?" She asked me, breaking the silence.

"No. How do you know?" I asked a bit suspiciously.

"I was snooping and overheard Fred talking about it with George," She said casually. "You'd think instead of trying to figure out how to talk to you about it, they would just talk to you about it," she said as I placed an empty mug in front of her.

"Even after all these years, I'm still not the most approachable. Bugger," I said. I reached for the steaming kettle, listening to the whistle it made as it blew steam into the air. "There's not a whole lot to say. What, am I going to start questioning everyone my mother was associated with and start playing 'Who's your daddy?'" I asked sarcastically.