It's Better If You Do

Bellamy Lefebvre watched as the brick wall in front of them slowly curled away. It was causing a rather loud ruckus as the bricks slid against one another before they finally clicked back into place to reveal Diagon Alley. She took a curious look behind her to the Leaky Cauldron then back to the bustling alleyway. She had been to this place, many years ago when she was a young child and remembered the colors and life there vividly. However, it seemed many things had changed since then and nothing at all. With a great sigh, she sent a hesitant glance to her sister with her light, almost honey-colored, brown eyes before tugging her trunk full of things just beside her.

Bellamy wasn’t a tall girl by any standards, in fact she was quite short. However, she remedied her lack of height with an extensive collection of towering heels for every outfit she had. Her face was slightly rounded, her eyes wide, and today they were lined, just on the upper lid, with black eyeliner. She wore a bright shade of red lipstick, a pop of color on her otherwise monochromatic face. A small spray of light freckles traveled the bridge of her nose and onto the tops of the apples of her cheeks, but she covered them with makeup because she detested them. She had long, wavy, dark brown hair that was pulled up in a high ponytail, her side-swept fringe occasionally falling into her face. Her outfit was a plain one, spare the bright red heels she wore, matching her lipstick to the shade.

Her eyes frantically roamed the alleyway, searching for any sort of sign for lodging, besides the Leaky Cauldron. She refused to stay another night in that place, despite the fact they had only just stayed one night. They arrived in London late that evening and didn’t think Diagon Alley would provide much for them at the late hour they had arrived. Biting her bottom lip as her search seemed to be futile, she glanced over to her sister and let out another heavy sigh.

“What do you suppose we do now?” She asked, a slight French accent tainting her words. She had lived in France for the majority of her young life, but was quite fluent and articulate in English. “I’m beginning to think this was a bad idea…and I don’t want to stay at that place anymore.” She lifted a dainty hand to the Leaky Cauldron. “There was a person in the room next to mine who snored like a mountain troll and kept me up all night.”

Rose Lefebvre gave a small laugh, a tiny smile curling it's way across her face. Her words were quiet, even more so than usual. She hated crowds. "I'm not sure. Maybe we could see if someone needed work, in exchange for lodging?"

She gave a shrug, before pushing her honey blonde hair out of her eyes. As it was her pride and joy, it was also the bane of her existence. It was straight, but very fine and wispy, reaching just to the middle of her back, though you could never tell from appearances. She never fussed with it, and because she never did so, it snarled and knotted until Rose wanted to scream. She had taken her wand to her hair many times, and had run to Bellamy to fix it. That was how it had always been with she and her sister. Rose made the mess, and Bellamy fixed it.

The loud, crude way the people in London behaved and talked made her shudder, but it all the more fascinated her. Throughout her childhood, if not for a watching chaperone at all times, she more than likely would have died in various instances. Always saying in a tiny persistent voice while they dragged her away, "But I wanted to see!"

Beauxbatons had been in no way, shape, or form but a beauty school to her. Endless parties, prissy girls, and manners, manners, manners. She did not want to sit in class all day, learning etiquette (though they rarely did so. The bad things stuck out more to her than anything); she wanted to be outside, in the world, doing things for herself, and most of all, she wanted adventure.

And that was why she has convinced Bellamy to come back to England, where they had both been born, though Bellamy had seen much more than she.

And now this was starting to backfire on her. Her sister's words of 'bad idea' took a deep root into her brain, causing Rose's temper to grow more sour by the moment. More than anything, she abhored being wrong. She would rather walk across hot coals, or give away a kitten than be wrong. The latter was harder than the former, as far as she was concerned, however. She marched forward, pausing to grab onto Bellamy's hand, and began weaving through the people in the alley.

"Well, we aren't going to find anywhere without looking," she muttered.

Bellamy gave a loud dramatic sigh, her head falling back as she begrudgingly followed behind her sister through the crowds that were unbecoming of ten in the morning. The shops surely had just opened and it wasn’t like people were in need of school supplies, because it was the middle of May. Despite the fact that Bellamy looked presentable, she was in no way awake. In fact, all she wanted to do was to find a comfy bed to crash in and sleep for another hour or two. She loved her sleep and could turn rather beast-like should it be interrupted or should she need to wake up earlier than she wanted to.

Willing away the strong inclination she had to childishly rip her hand away from her sister’s and stomp back to the Leaky Cauldron and deal with their thin walls for another night, she continued on, but wasn’t enthusiastic about it. It was far too crowded and with her small stature, she was likely to be knocked over and trampled into the cobblestones beneath her feet. Finally, more familiar signs made themselves present and she turned to her sister.

“Well…Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour may be a good place to start out, then maybe Madam Primpernelle’s Beautifying Potions, Flourish and Blotts, Gambol and Japes, and there’s always Magic Menagerie. I don’t want to work at Quality Quidditch supplies merely for the fact I don’t want to deal with inarticulate boys who just want to ogle the latest broomstick, and I don’t think the Prophet will hire us and they most certainly won’t give us lodging,” Bellamy mused softly as her eyes darted from sign to sign, mentally weighing the pro’s and con’s of having to work and live at each of the stores. Her brow furrowed as she noticed for every place she remembered, there was another new one. A particularly colorful store front caught her eye, but she hadn’t the slightest clue what the store was called or what it sold.

She noticed that more than one person had almost tripped over the trunk she drug behind her and that it would be polite to magic it small enough to fit into her pocket. Truth be told, Bellamy wasn’t particularly gifted with transfiguration or even charms, which earned her a lot of jests and flack from girls at Beauxbatons. They were expected to be perfect in everything, in every which way possible, but it seemed that Bellamy would not be perfect. However, she had a keen mind for potion making and an even keener wand for defensive spells. She knew that her gift with potions would come in handy someday, but she hoped she would never have to use her extensive knowledge of defensive spells.

“So…we’ve got plenty of choices…” Her voice died off as she glanced over to her sibling, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth again.

"Indeed," Rose murmured, her eyes lit up, as she looked around her. So many people! All hurrying off, doing their own thing. She could be anyone she wanted to be here! Well, she wrinkled her nose, perhaps not. Split personality was not something she was keen on exploring.

"Magical Menagerie sounds quite charming, actually, though the smell would get to you." She smirked a bit at her sister's scowl, and continued as if she hadn't noticed. "Or Flourish and Blo- What's that?!"

Rose let go of her Bellamy's hand and ducked through the crowd quickly to get to that interesting, colorful, lively store. Bellamy followed behind sullenly, bumping into people here and there. Rose could never understand why she had such a difficult time with her size; they were the same height! Maybe it was the heels, she mused, before stopping at an abrupt halt in front of the store's display window.

She barely acknowledged her sister's cry of annoyance at having ran into her. She was utterly spellbound. Never in her seventeen years had she seen anything even like this. Colors exploded in wonderful cascades of colors before her eyes, bangs and pops filled her ears, and a grin spread across her face. The street was full of people stopping, just like she was, to stare.

It was obviously new, from the way people were acting. There were sure to be hands needed to lift and carry, patch up old floor boards, and even invent stuff with them!

"Here!" she declared, triumphantly. "Let's inquire here!”