It's Better If You Do

Bellamy stared up in the building in awe, but for a completely different reason. It was all too much for her; the colors, the whizzing noises just beyond the doors, the laughter and children flocking in and out. She would have preferred her sister to pick something more subdued, like any of the numerous bookstores or cafes. The atmosphere of this one building seemed to be a bit hectic and would do nothing for Bellamy’s already high-strung nerves. Giving the building one last glance, she turned to her sister to as politely as possible tell her that maybe they should pick some place else and that they wouldn’t get any sort of sleep there if it remained that loud all night.

But once Bellamy saw the pure and utter joy on her sister’s face, she couldn’t do it. There wasn’t much for the both of them to look forward to anymore since they had both graduated and couldn’t find any suitable jobs for them in France. Bellamy had tried her wand at a fair few of them, but the majority required extensive charms work. Drawing in a deep breath of air and ignoring the part of her that screamed at her to think about what she was about to do, she finally said, in a slightly faltering voice, “I suppose it couldn’t hurt to try here.” She had a right mind to add on that they probably would have no use for her, because she thought herself bordering on being a Squib, but held her tongue. She was often too harsh on her magical abilities.

Gnawing nervously on the inside of her cheek, she slowly made her way to a door, only to be rudely pushed aside by a few young children who were eager to enter the store. Bellamy shot a wary look to her sister before pulling open the door, lugging the trunk behind her. She could have sworn it was continuously getting heavier and heavier as she went. Her sister laughed tauntingly at the grunt she let out just to get her trunk over a floorboard that stuck up further than the rest.

Whatever color the outside of the store lacked, the inside surely contained. There were potions, balloons, stink pellets, everything that one could imagine to pull an efficient prank on the other. She picked up a pink colored potion in her hand and frowned a bit before placing it down again. She glanced around the store a bit more before turning over to her sister.

“I can’t say I’m not curious to see who works this place,” she said, managing a small smile. She could only imagine the sort of zany, over-the-top person who would place so much color, noise, and entertainment into one building.

"They must be brilliant," Rose beamed. Her approval was just about as high as it would ever get. This was exactly the atmosphere she had been craving. Care free and fun, with no responsibility attatched. It was murder from her parents trying to be the perfect lady, and get a nice respectable job, when all she really wanted was to be free. She had done well in school, and fine with her magic, but a boring desk job at a place like the Ministry was no place for her. The respect she had for the person who had started this shop was unparalled, since she knew she never would have done it herself.

"That has just gotten you any free item you want in the store."

"And, if you keep going, you can take us home, too."

Rose whirled around quickly, her eyes wide. Two incredibly handsome ginger headed twin boys stood grinning ear to ear at the two startled sisters. The blood was pounding in Rose's ears and she felt quite faint. As outspoken as she was, she was as timid as a hare around boys- especially good looking boys. Their blantant way of looking at her made her duck her head, her shoulders hunching slightly.

"I- I was just..." she trailed off into mortified silence, blushing furiously.

The twins' eyes narrowed a bit in confusion, and when the next one spoke, his voice was much gentler. "Is there anything we can help you with?"

"Yes," she whispered. They leaned in to catch her soft spoken words, lilting with her french even more so when she wasn't concentrating on it. "We're new in England, and we're looking for a place to stay. We were wondering maybe, if we worked hard- which we will- if you could, maybe.. give us a place to stay?"

They straightened up, and had a more sensible business like approach to her words. One turned to the other, "What do you think, George? You think we could give these two lovely ladies a room here? We could certainly use a new outlook on things, for customers."

"A splendid idea, Fred," said George, clasping him on the shoulder. "I couldn't have said it better myself. When will you two start?"

"Soon, as soon as you can start us. My sister Bellamy didn't quite prefer the Leaky Cauldron." Rose said quietly, twirling a piece of her long hair around her finger, with a small smile perched on her face.

Upon seeing the two, tall ginger boys, Bellamy’s eyes widened, and they seemed to widen even more when the two seemed to immediately take to their idea of working for a place to stay. Her eyes then narrowed and darted between the two, looking more like her mother than she would ever want to know or admit. Bellamy crossed her arms over her chest, then glanced over to Rose, who was watching her expectantly, as if she were waiting for her to say something. Her eyes finally turned back to the boys and any shy, soft-spoken qualities vanished.

“So, you’re not even going to ask us what we’re good at? Or ask where we went to school?” Bellamy asked bluntly, catching the twins off guard with how rude she sounded. Immediately, she chastised herself for sounding so mean, but she had seen their type before and would not be fooled again. Knowing grins spread across the twin’s faces simultaneously and they looked like they were on the brink of laughter.

“You see,” the one called George started, “even if you don’t have any specialties in customer service, charms, or transfiguration-”

“-we always need help in taking inventory and testing new products.” The softer sounding one, Fred, finished. Bellamy raised a brow at the twins, pursing her red-painted lips together. Her ears were met with the sound of someone retching into a cauldron and she glanced past one of the twins to spy a few children trying some rather inconspicuous-looking candies. She watched as they gave a few chews of the candy before their heads disappeared into the small cauldrons they held in their hands, the retching sound echoing within the hollow space.

“Testing, huh?” She asked in a disapproving voice before sending a sidelong glance to her sister. She could only imagine the kinds of things she would have to test, and was certain that she would indeed before a tester. She noticed just how excited Rose looked, despite how timid she had gotten around the undeniably attractive, yet smooth-talking owners. Giving a characteristic roll of her eyes and uttering a “Mon Dieu” under her breath, she turned back to the twins. “You have everything required for a suitable living space capable to suffice two people, no?”

“Of course,” Fred nodded with a smile, looking quite pleased with himself. He obviously took Bellamy’s question as an agreement with the conditions she’d have to work under. He turned to George, who was wearing a matching smile as he watched the two French girls before him. Eventually, he turned back to Fred. “When do you suppose we can start them working?” George acted like he was thinking about it as he glanced between Bellamy and Rose.

“I suppose they can start today, Fred. I’d rather not have such pretty French flowers be hassled by the Leaky Cauldron for another night,” he replied as he shot the girls a charming wink.

Before she could help it, Rose let a giggle escape. She then proceeded to slap a hand over her mouth, while the twins roared with laughter. Bellamy let out a hiss of disgust, and rolled her eyes once more. She knew how her sister felt about prissy love struck girls. But it had been funny, atleast to her, since her name was a flower. Rose straightened up, and raising her chin with all the dignity she could muster, said, "My sister is being too modest. She does very well in potions making, and I am fine with whatever task you give me."

George nodded, "We could use some more love potions, or even batches for our new Skiving Snackboxes..."

"You sure you're up to testing? It's not," the retching grew louder and they all flinched, while Fred yelled briefly to the boy, 'Take the purple half!' and he turned back, unfazed, "pleasant, exactly."

"The purple.. end?" Rose asked, her eyebrows furrowed, causing a familiar crease on her forehead. The twins gave each other a look that the sister's would become very accustomed to within the next few days.

"You see-"

"If you take the orange end-"

"You vomit."

"It's for getting out of class, jobs-"

"And responsibilites on the whole."

"But, if you want to stop the puking-"

"You swallow the purple end. Simple, really."

She had to hold back a smile at the way they bantered back and forth. Already she had taken a liking to the one named Fred, though she would rather die than admit it. What they had done here was spectacular! While Bellamy's dissaproval seemed to grow, Rose's increased. She seemed to forget all about her crippling shyness in her enthusiasm. "That's- that's genius! How did you create them? That must have taken a long time!"

Their chests puffed out, easily proud of their mischief causing inventions. "It did," said Fred. "It took us all of seven years to hone in on our skills."

"I wish they had taught that at Beauxbatons." Rose muttered darkly.

George's eyebrows raised. "You went to Beauxbatons?"

"We both did," she corrected quickly, glancing at a stoic Bellamy. "I just graduated this year. Beauxbatons let's out early," she explained at the twins' confused faces. "Bellamy's been out for a few years now."

"You're eighteen, then? Then, why didn't we see you at the Triwizard Tournament?" Fred asked curiously.

"Not yet. I'll be eighteen within the next month," she said quietly. "I wasn't of age requirement for the tournament, you see. Fleur Delacour got it instead. She came back flouncing the honor to us all..."

"We know Fleur! She's engaged to our brother Bill. Been in England for about a year now, hasn't she, George?"

"Indeed so. Small world." said George with a smile. Rose nodded absently, still remembering how haughty Fleur had been, throwing it in the other's faces every chance she got. Nasty girl.

"Small world." she repeated.