It's Better If You Do

Rose laughed loudly at her sister's outright threat, and shook her head. Oh, Bellamy, she thought affectionately, how you do like to scare people. Turning to the boys, she said, the laughter still in her eyes, "I'm going to go get ready. I'm not likely to wear this around the city."

"Alright, Rosie. I'll be waiting in the front part of the shop, then." Fred said, pushing back the curtain and dissapearing.

Turning to George, she hesitated remembering last night's conversation with Bellamy, and said, "Don't ask anyone about Bellamy's book."

He frowned. "Why not?"

Sighing, she whispered, "Umm... it's about... well, it's..."

"What, Rosie? It can't be that bad."

"Sex." she whispered, beyond all mortification she had ever felt. Her cheeks burned as it registered with the ginger headed boy.

George's face turned the color of his hair, and said weakly, "Oh."

Rose started for the stairs, extremely embaressed at having even mentioned that to a male. "I'm going to... go."

"Yeah," he said, wanting to immediately go tell Fred of his discovery. He left the second she did, and walked briskly over to where his brother sat on the stairs. "She set me up."

"Who?" though Fred had a shrewd idea of whom.

"Bellamy. That- that book is about shagging!" George blustered.

"Really?" Fred asked taken aback. He hadn't expected her to be like that, though from her choice of pajamas was pretty suggestive. "How d'ya know?"

"Rose told me. It embaressed her half to death, but she told me. And, you know she wouldn't lie about something like that." George said, his curiousity peaking. "I wonder if she-"

"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it, mate." Fred said, cutting him off quickly. "Or you'll have to take another cold shower. OW."

Rose walked up the stairs quickly, the awkward conversation already forgotten, and shut the door, zooming over to her trunk, and pulled out all her clothes. Her forehead was tensed, and she frowned dramatically and she sorted through her clothing. "Not that one... No, that's not comfortable... Too fancy... Ahhh, here we go!"

Hurrying to the bathroom, she shut the door, and set to work on making herself thoroughly attractive. Pulling on her clothes quickly, she began to fix her hair into a messy bun, letting tendrils fall down around her face and neck, and applied simple and understated makeup just to make her eyes pop a little. Just as Bellamy accentuated her brown eyes, Rose made sure to do the same with her blue.

By the time she was finished, she felt good about the way she looked. It wasn't uncomfortable, it showed off her figure, and it had always made her feel pretty. Smiling, she slipped on her white flats, and started for the stairs, humming a happy tune.

"I'm readyyyy!" she said in a sing song voice, as she pushed back the curtain. The boys were sitting on the bottom step, and looked up at her approach. Fred's eyes widened a bit, and she blushed, making herself even prettier without realizing it.

George elbowed Fred, smirking. Fred shot him a look, and said, "Alright then. We'd better get going. It's only going to get more crowded as the day goes on. You have your wand? Good. Now, just take my arm, and we'll be off."

"Where is it we're going?" she asked, looking up at him curiously, as she took his arm.

He winked at her, and whispered, "It's a surprise."

And then familiar sense of being suffocated, gagged, and blinded filled her senses, and just when she thought she couldn't take anymore, they appeared in a dark alley. It was cold and dark with the abscence of sunshine, and Rose hugged herself, shivering. Fred noticed, and said, "This way. We'll be out of here in just a moment."

Rose followed him into the sunshine, where they turned onto a busy sidewalk. People barely noticed their sudden appearance, and she was too distracted looking around. The buildings were old, and quite unique looking. France had always had a romantic feeling about it, and these were exactly the opposite.

Fred was looking for something else entirely, and when he spotted it, he smiled triumphantly, and took her hand. "We're going to ride on that."

A large red double decker bus was stopped at a corner, and Rose looked up at Fred, questioning his sanity with her large wide eyes. "We are?"

He laughed loudly at her expression. "Yes. Are you afraid?"

She bristled, her eyes narrowing. She raised an eyebrow, and said coolly, "I was only wondering if you had muggle money."

He chuckled. "That I do. Come alone, mademoiselle. Adventure awaits."

They hurried up to get on board, and Fred had to fumble a bit with the money. He grumbled, to Rose's amusment, "Pounds. What a ridiculous name. And they way the money it set up is all but nutters..."

As they went to the top and sat down on the back row, he murmured, "It's a lot easier than trying to show you everything myself. They've got special tours for where you're wanting to see."

"I've no problems with this at all," she told him, her eyes bright. "It's exciting, really. Look at this view."

It was a great view. They were crossing the Thames river, and the sun shone down brightly causing the water to sparkle and shine back. The sprawling city up ahead showed the Tower of London, and muggles began to feverishly click away with their cameras.

He nodded, and said, "My dad would kill to be doing this right now. He's working at the Ministry, though."

"What does he do?" asked Rose curiously.

Trying not to laugh, he told her, "He works in the Magical Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. He's mental about anything to do with muggles. He once bewitched a Ford Anglia to fly. George and I took it out once, to help Harry. That was a fun night, but Mum went ballistic when we came home."

She laughed and said wistfully, "Your family sounds so... fun."

"They are, a bit. I figure that we've got a personality type of each between the nine of us. Well, eight if you don't count my stupid prat of a brother, and George and I don't." Fred said, his tone darkening.

Silence fell between them, and neither of them noticed that the tour guide was talking, and all around them people were chattering. Her heart went out to the boy, as she watched his face. He was frowning, but there was a betrayal in his eyes that Rose saw daily in Bellamy's eyes. She impulsively squeezed Fred's hand. "I'm sorry. I don't know why he's a prat, but I'm sorry."

Fred's brown eyes softened, and he smiled at her, shrugging. He squeezed her hand back gently. "Nothing to be sorry for, love. It isn't your fault."

"I'm still sorry all the same." she said, wondering just what their brother had done to cause the happy-go-lucky brothers to resent him so. She made a mission to find out.