It's Better If You Do

George continued to stare at Bellamy suspiciously, as she continued to fill up the goblets with water, and place them beside their plates that held a series of sandwiches that were apparently named Croque Monsieurs. Which happened to smell very good, he thought begrudgingly, his stomach already hungry again, even though he had just eaten but not a half hour before. There was also a chocolate parfait, he noted.

Fred smiled at her quick disposal of the fish and gave her a congratulatory nod and a smile, which George happened to see, and glared at his twin. Fred widened his eyes innocently, but the damage was already done, and his brother's suspicions about something secret going on were confirmed.

The french woman straightened up, wiping her hands on her shorts, and looked up at the twins, frowning suddenly when she noticed her sister was missing. Rose didn't take long to dress, and she should have been down here by now. Glancing up at the top of the stairs, her eyesbrows furrowed slightly, she called, "Rose! Le déjeuner est prêt!"

After a few minutes, when the Croque Monsieurs really started to make her stomach growl, Rose stumbled upon one of her shirts that she hadn't worn in quite some time. It was blue, mostly, with brown swirls of paisley into the soft fabric. The last day she had worn it was the day Bellamy had received Julian's letter.

Freshly out of Beauxbatons for the year, she had been ecstatic helping her sister with the wedding, doing everything she could to plan it. She was to be her sister's maid of honor and it gave her even more initiative to make it the best she could for Bellamy. But, it had all been for naught, because that bastard took back his promise, and threw Bellamy's heart at her feet, shattering it.

Biting her lip, Rose considered ripping the thing to shreds. There was no way she could wear it; Bellamy would recognize it immediately and it would further push her into a state of sadness and anger. But, it had been one of her favorite's before what had happened with Julian had taken place...

When her younger sister gave no indication that she heard and Bellamy heard no movement to suggest that she was coming down, she murmured to the boys, "I'll go get her," moving swiftly to the stairs. Pausing at the slightly opened door, she rapped gently on it, "Knock knock."

When no reply came, she pushed open the door wider, and found her sister immersed in almost every article of clothing she owned, sitting on her cot, with a slightly distraught look on her face. It took Bellamy a moment to realize Rose was holding a very familiar shirt, one that she only associated with the worst day of her life. That horrid day she had gotten Julian's letter, she had hurdled to her sister's room, half weeping, half hysterical searching for the comfort of Rose's arms. She had spent all that day with her head in her younger sister's lap, crying her heart out, and that was the shirt she had been wearing.

Rose glanced up, and her eyes become filled with horror at seeing her sister stand there, and began talking hurriedly, "Je suis désolé, je cherchais seulement à elle-"

"Pourquoi êtes-vous présenter des excuses? C'est seulement une chemise." said Bellamy kindly, looking through the large pile of clothes to find some matching pants. "Ici nous sommes. Ceux-ci correspondent parfaitement, et j'ai une ceinture qui fonctionne assez bien si vous le portez autour de votre taille," she murmured, going over to her own trunk and handing her the soft leather belt.

Scrutinizing her sister's shoe collection critically, she pursed her red lips. "Hmmm. Vous ne semblez pas avoir de chaussures, soit. Je vais corriger cela. Parfois, je voudrais que vous portez quelque chose en plus de celles appartements stupide pour un changement ... mais, peu importe. Ceux-ci travailleront. Allez-y. Je veux voir à quoi ça ressemble."

Distracted, Rose held up a pair of suede tan four inch heels, and looked at her sister as if she had gone insane. Clumsy as could be, her sister expected her to wear death traps? "Vous voulez me faire porter ces?"

"Ils match comme si elles étaient faites pour le costume, et si vous avez peur de tomber, sans doute Fred vous attraper, oui?" said Bellamy loftily, knowing her sister would consent now, blushing as she was.

Rose nodded, taking all of the things Bellamy had been handing her, and walking to the bathroom. "Oui."

"Maintenant, allez sur et les essayer. Je vous attends ici si vous pensez même pas les porter." the brunette warned, a slight smirk on her face.

Rose smiled as she closed the door, shaking her head slowly. Her sister was distracting herself as well as her, and it was working. She took off her shirt and shorts, switching them for the blouse and brown trousers. Glaring at the heels, she slipped off her flats, and sat down on the loo to slide her feet into the dangerous looking shoes. Wobbling, she stood with her hands out straight, like a tight rope walker at a circus using her arms for balance. Cautiously and carefully, she gathered up her previous articles of clothing and shoes, and walked out to meet Bellamy's critical eye.

The brunette beamed openly as Rose stepped out, saying, "Vous êtes jolie comme une image. Les chaussures de travail à merveille. Puisque vous êtes tous habillés, il ne faut pas garder ces garçons idiots plus attendre. Ils sont probablement saliver," She paused, and smiled at her younger sister. "Oh, et je fait de vous un parfait au chocolat, si George ne l'a pas déjà mangé. Il est presque aussi folle de chocolat que vous êtes."

Rose raised her eyebrows, and smiled ominously, "S'il tient à sa vie, il vaut mieux ne pas avoir."

The boys were, in fact, very close to salivating as they sat in front of the Croque Monsieurs, waiting for the french girls to come down and join then so they could eat. Fred hadn't eaten anything at all that day, and glared at George when he went to take a small bite of his sandwich.

"What? I'm starving! And they smell delicious!" George pouted sullenly, as he placed it back on his plate.

"I haven't eaten anything at all, you prat. We were going to stop in for a few minutes while she changed. It's been over forty five minutes since we got here. If I don't get to eat, you don't eat." Fred said sternly.

George cast a dark look at the top of the stairs, "I wish they'd hurry up and stop gossiping in french."

At that statement, Fred gasped delightedly. George gave him a confused look, but his twin lowered his voice and rushed to explain, "I've got a french- english dictionary, Georgie!"

"Blimey! Are you joking?" asked his brother eagerly, looking as if Christmas had come early.

Fred shook his head vigorously, pulling the small book out of his pocket. "I'm not. We stopped in a bookshop to ask for directions, and I picked it up."

"Now we can finally know what they're saying!" crowed George quietly.

"Indeed we can, mate. Indeed we can."