stardust ⋮ george weasley

ninety-two :

N I N E T Y - T W O

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Adeline had let the Ministry of Magic take care of the task of explaining to the Muggle world the sudden death of her parents. From what she knew, the Ministry relied on their usual explanation of accidental gas poisoning and a small amount of magical manipulation.

The day after Christmas, Adeline had traveled to the home and charmed the mailbox at the home to deliver all incoming mail directly to the joke shop. She was shocked that within a few days, a thick envelope appeared on her desk. But, that didn't prepare for the contents inside.

Apparently, according to the papers the envelope contained, Adeline's parents had left her their entire fortune.

The family estate, all the contents inside the home, everything in their bank accounts, and whatever else had been in their family had all been left to Adeline. Technically, it was divided between Adeline and Emily. But, with Emily now gone as well, it had all been directed towards Adeline.

One of the few things they had told Adeline since she learnt that she was a witch was that she had been cut of out of the will. Adeline had been hurt, but she had spent years preparing for a life free of her parents wealth and influence. She had not been expecting to suddenly be receiving everything in the will.

She wasn't even entirely sure what was left for her. But, Adeline was one of the first to admit that she would have no idea to do with it all. With the help of George and Fleur, Adeline had set up a meeting with Bill to go over the will and figure out what to do next.

Adeline couldn't help but wonder if one of the things her parents wanted to talk to her about that night was the change in the will. But, she would never know. All she knew was that her parents for some reason had decided to put her on the will, and there wasn't anything she could do about it.  

The warm quilt made it even more impossible for Adeline to want to leave the bed that morning. Having George's arms wrapped around her and laying so comfortable on him only heightened those feelings.

Adeline wasn't sure how long she had been awake for when she felt George begin to stir. When he cracked open his dark brown eyes, George smiled when he saw she was already she was already awake and staring at him. "Well someone's wide awake this morning."

"I couldn't sleep for very long," Adeline admitted. "But I don't want to leave the bed. I'd rather not face the day just yet."

The sleep that had been clouding George's brain finally dissipated, and he suddenly remembered just what was happening today for Adeline. He sat up a little straighter in the bed, lifting his head up and resting his chin on top of Adeline's head. Adeline rested her head on George's chest as he ran his fingers through her curls. "Are you ready for today, Addie?" He asked.

"As ready as I can be," She sighed. "It's getting a little difficult to find the motivation to get out of bed right now."

"I know we've talked about this already, but I just want to make sure – do you want me to come with you to the meeting today?"

Adeline shook her head. "It's okay. I would prefer to do this alone if that's alright."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Adeline reassured as she pressed a kiss to his shoulder. "I'll tell you everything when I get home, promise. I just want to deal with this meeting on my own."

He nodded. As much as he wanted to be there in the moment, the promise of conversation later was enough to make it okay. Adeline continued, "I know you like to have Sundays as your free day, but could you come with me to my family's home tomorrow? I'd like to pick up a few of my old things, and I'm not sure how I'll be when I go back to the place where they died."

"Of course I can, Addie."

Adeline smiled softly up at George. Even though she knew she had to leave soon, she spent a few minutes curled up in arms.

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"Thanks for letting me come in."

Bill looked up at her and smiled when Adeline walked in the room and sat down in front of him. "I'm technically supposed to be off today." He cut her off when he saw her start to apologize. "But, there's no way you would've made it in the next two months with the waits we have. The bank's become madness. Now, let's take a look at those documents."

Adeline silently slid the thick folder across the desk to Bill, and he opened it up. While he kept his face mostly neutral, Adeline could see his eyebrows start to raise as he read through it. She could only shift uncomfortably in her seat as he meticulously went through every page.

When he finally finished it, Bill let out a low whistle. "You weren't kidding when you mentioned your family is wealthy."

"I don't know what to do with it," Adeline said, shaking her head. "I never thought that I would even be included in their will, and I'm getting this money because of the worst possible situation."

"Put it all in savings. It will take a while to convert all this Muggle money into Wizard money, but I can work through it. There's some people at the bank who are specialized in it. You can keep it aside for you and George and the future, or you can give it all away. I can help you figure  But you need to sit on it for a little while. Don't do anything with the money immediately when you're still dealing with the loss."

A part of Adeline knew Bill was right. She shouldn't be making rash decisions in the midst of her grief, especially when not talking about with George first. She shouldn't be listening to the little voice in her head telling her to just donate all the money and all of her family's possessions because she wanted the last ties to her family gone. 

"You also never really know what's going to happen," Bill continued. "There could be some sort of emergency and there's something you need to lean back on."

Adeline asked, "What do you suggest I do with everything in the house? All the material stuff?"

"Merlin if I know," Bill answered. "Take what's meaningful for you, leave the rest. That's all up to you, Adeline."

Bill started pulling together some papers for her to sign and muttered a spell that duplicated the folder so that both of them could have copies. "Thank you so much for all your help, Bill. I really appreciate it."

He shrugged, but then smiled at Adeline. "It's what family does for each other."

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a/n:

hi guys !!

it's been...a little bit. if you haven't seen the updates on my profile, i'll summarize it: school + life got overwhelming, i lost my motivation for writing for a while, and i also started my applications for grad school. i really wasn't intending to take nearly a six month break on writing, but sometimes these things happen.

however, i refuse to ever let a book go unfinished (especially when it comes to sweet addie + george). one of my new year's resolutions is to update more consistently, so hopefully that comes to fruition !!

i love you all, and i can't thank you enough for sticking around. i'll see you at the next update !!

- g ♡