It's Better If You Do

"So, Rose, where'd Freddie take you?" George asked, leaning back in his chair, his arms behind his head. He almost put his feet on the table, but saw the look of utter outrage Bellamy was giving him, and contented himself with leaning back, grumbling to himself about 'just like mum'.

"Well, we got on one of those red muggle buses for a bit, then we went in that muggle contraption..." She paused, thinking hard, and said slowly,"I think it's called a ferris wheel?"

"Oh, the London Eye. You weren't scared to go up in it? I pegged you as the 'keep my feet on the ground' type." George said nonchalantly, not seeing the wide eyed look Fred was giving him as he shook his head no. Bellamy smirked, watching Rose puff up in anger.

"What," she began rather loudly, taking George completely by surprise. "Is you twos' obsession with me being scared of things? I am perfectly capable of doing anything I please without being crippled with fear, and having to hide behind someone else."

"I-I didn't mean anything by it." George stuttered, shrinking down in his chair. "I just thought-"

"Thought what?" Rose asked, raising an eyebrow. Fred covered his mouth nonchalantly as he tried to stifle his laughter. His brother did not seem to be having a great day with either of the girls.

"Just that- Merlin's Beard! Most girls don't like heighths!" he said desperatedly, throwing up his hands in defeat. Rose let out a small laugh; her anger had gone as swiftly as it came.

"I'm not like most girls." she said quietly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears. "If you tell me I won't do something, I'll do it just to spite you."

Bellamy smiled knowingly at her younger sister, and playfully said, "Isn't that the truth. Do you remember when I told you you couldn't eat that chocolate cake I made you for your last birthday?"

Rose laughed merrily, "Oh, that was a disaster. I was so sick I couldn't move for the rest of the day."

"You ate an entire cake?" asked Fred in astonishment, quite impressed with the small blonde. She and Bellamy were so small; he had assumed their appetites would be too.

She smiled proudly, nodding. "It wasn't easy. Bellamy's actually known around where we live for her desserts. It was triple layer chocolate with chocolate mousse in between each of the layers, and then buttercream frosting on top. I almost gave up, it was so rich."

The twins looked over at Bellamy slowly, their brown eyes wide with longing. George actually looked like he was salivating at the idea, though he had just had a large meal, and eaten it faster than the rest of them, to boot.

Bellamy's lips pursed against a smile, and she said, "If you two act right, I'll make a really nice dessert sometime this week." They immediately smiled, and sat up straighter, knowing they would bend over backward for a dessert half as good as the one Rose had just described. She smiled ruefully at Rose, and said, "So Mama was right. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

"Smart woman, your mother." George said, nodding.

Rose laughed, and took a small spoonful of her parfait. Before she was about to take a bite, she paused, and looked over at her sister's, puzzled. "Wasn't I telling you all something before?"

"About where Fred took you." Bellamy said softly, smiling a bit. Her sister could get distracted so easily. Rose nodded thoughtfully, and took her bite of the parfait.

"Well, when we got to the London Eye, we didn't have any tickets, so I paid the man with a galleon. You should have seen his face. It was so funny. Fred and I got into one of the things by ourselves, and looked around for a bit. We started to get bored, and left early. That man probably had a heart attack when he saw we were gone," she said grinning, before she burst into laughter.

Fred continued for her, smiling a bit at her laughter. "We then went to Queen Mary's Rose Garden, and looked around for about an hour, when her stomach growled. Do you always have to force her to eat, Bellamy?"

"Most of the time. She'll make something for herself occasionally, but if there isn't anything right in front of her, she'll starve." said the brunette, giving her sister a scolding, but fond smile. Rose bashfully smiled, and shrugged.

"There's no point going out to eat if you're the only one hungry. Anyway, we left the rose garden and ended up in a bookstore, where Fred asked for directions to a French restaurant. But, I got cold, so we came back here so I could change." Rose trailed off, twirling her spoon in her parfait.

Silence fell after that, but not the comfortable kind it had been when they were eating. George had a stubborn set to his jaw, thinking of the dirty mop water that had been uncermoniously thrown ontop of his head. Fred gave Bellamy a furtive glance to see if she was angry or not at the reminder of what had happened between her and his brother, but to his surprise, she looked quite calm. A bit stoic, but calm, nonetheless. She saw him looking, and raised her brow a tiny bit, and asked, "So where are you two going to go after this?"

"I'm not sure. Do you have anything in mind, Rosie?" he asked, facing the blonde. She bit her lip, deep in thought, but eventually shook her head.

"Not really," she said softly. "I'd be fine with wherever we went."

Bellamy gnawed on the inside of her cheek, trying to think of ways to keep the couple out and about until dinnertime. She began clearing plates and goblets slowly, keeping her mind off of when she had been the one out on dates. Shaking her head slowly, a simple idea, but one she knew Rose would be delighted with, came to mind and she smiled to herself, and said quietly, "You two should go see if there are any zoos. You always liked Zoo de la Barben."

The younger sister's eyes lit up, and gave Fred a dazzling smile. "Can we go?"

"Of course," Fred answered, grinning at her enthusiasm. He should have thought of that himself, from the way she loved the Pygmy Puffs. It'd also give them more of a chance to talk. He turned to give Bellamy his thanks for the idea, but she was gone.

"Mon dieu, she's trying to do the dishes by herself," muttered Rose. "I don't know why she does that. I'll be right behind you!"

"No you won't!" called Bellamy sternly. "Go on! I can take care of these!"

But Rose ignored her sister like she always did and took the parfaits that they had all but finished, and hurried after her sister, determined to level out the chores.