It's Better If You Do

“No! I saw it first!” A tiny voice squealed from behind a shelf somewhere behind Bellamy.

“NO! I saw it first!” Another tiny voice insisted and there was a sound of a scuffle. Bellamy quickly handed away one of the last love potions--she had sold the majority of them, ironically enough--and turned in search of the source of the voices. She felt quite miniscule next to a few of the teenagers that showed up without her heels, but she didn’t want to risk another near fall again. That had scared her into leaving her beloved heels behind for the rest of the day.

Soon enough, she spotted a small girl and boy having a tug-of-war over a box that Bellamy had previously looked over. Bellamy quickly stepped over to them, thankful that she was taller than the both of them or she’d probably encounter some problems. She seized both of their collars and easily pulled them apart, the box slipping out of their grasps and falling to the floor with a hollow thud.

“Both of you, to your parents,” she said in a no-nonsense kind of voice, sending them both a stern look as she let go of their collars. The children merely stared up at her, appearing to be too frightened to move. “Now,” Bellamy continued simply and they both jumped into action, scampering away from Bellamy in opposite directions. The brunette pulled a small frown, clearly underestimating how intimidating she could be. With a short hum, she picked the box up off the floor, scanning quickly over the dreamy looking couple on it before her eyes fell on the title and description.

“A thirty minute daydream for a simple incantation,” she murmured softly to herself. She flipped over the box in her hands, unaware that someone was coming up behind her. “Not for children under sixteen…well, I wouldn’t have been able to make a sale to the little twerps anyways,” she said with a shrug as she moved to place the box back onto the top shelf.

“I was unware that you were such a saleswoman,” a voice suddenly said behind her and she jumped and shrieked, dropping the box as she spun around wildly to find Fred Weasley standing behind her with a slightly accomplished smirk on his face. She stared at him with wide eyes for a moment before bending down and picking up the box. This time she returned it to its rightful place on the shelf and turned back to Fred.

“That’s the whole point of working here, isn’t it?” She asked, raising a brow. “Making sales?” Fred grinned a bit, sparing the girl a shrug.

“I hadn’t pinned you as much of a people person…” Fred started, but quickly rethought it once he saw the look Bellamy was shooting him. “But…I could be wrong…” He added in a withering voice, not wanting to direct any of the petite French woman’s wrath at him. They had both been through enough for the day and he’d rather not add another occurance to his list. Bellamy let out a sigh and crossed her arms over her chest, staring up a him.

“Who ever said I wasn’t a people person? George?” She asked brusquely, pursing her lips, which had been cleaned of all red lipstick, as she stared at Fred. Fred stared back at her hesitantly as he gnawed on the inside of his cheek.

“No…I just…no matter,” he said quickly, trying to change the subject, “I stand corrected.” There was a long pause in which Bellamy stared up at him expectantly. “I also know that you’re meeting a mystery man on a date today.” A blush that quickly gained a striking resemblance to Rose’s blushes flooded Bellamy’s cheeks.

“Well…I…” Bellamy started, uncharacteristically speechless. She quickly cleared her throat when she noticed Fred was trying to keep from laughing at her. The blush vanished as quickly as it came and Bellamy held her head a bit higher than she had before. “It probably won’t lead to anything,” she said softly, her expression going stoic, like she normally appeared, “most of the guys I meet aren’t up to my standards.” Fred managed a very serious look, despite the mischievous laughter he had bubbling just beneath the surface.

“I can’t imagine why,” he said in an equally serious voice before he noticed a child behind Bellamy glancing around sneakily and pocketing a Ten Second Pimple Vanisher. “OI! You!” He barked, catching the kid by surprise. “Empty out your pockets before I hang you up by your ankles and empty them out for you!” Fred advanced on the kid, who quickly dove into his pockets and pulled out a few more items than just the Ten Second Pimple Vanisher.

Bellamy let out a heavy sigh and shook her head a bit before turning and beginning to retreat to the back room, to fill up the violently pink vials of love potion to put back out onto the floor. As she pulled aside the curtain, she noticed George had temporarily stopped his demonstration of fireworks to send her a large cheeky smile. She paused for a moment, sending him a look that almost looked as though she had been Confunded, before ducking into the backroom. She spent an hour or so filling up nearly all the vials the twins had in a box.

As she stepped out of the back room, her arms toting a box she had found and filled with the filled love potion vials, Bellamy had to step around George, who seemed to be continuously smiling at the girl and waiting for her to reemerge from the back room. She managed a small, albeit confused smile that didn’t reach her eyes before she quickly made her way over to the WonderWitch products and spent another twenty minutes restocking and reorganizing the vials before giving a satisfied nod. Sighing heavily as she brushed her fringe to the side, she picked up the empty box, preparing to return to the backroom.

Rose, however, approached Bellamy before she could even step away from the WonderWitch product line. She, like George, was smiling widely as she stopped beside her, only confusing the girl even more. Rose, sensing this, merely took the empty box from her sister.

“Why don’t you go and take a nice, long bubble bath before you get ready for that date of yours,” she said and suddenly Bellamy realized why her sister was smiling at her. She still didn’t quite understand why George was smiling at her. Perhaps, she thought, he’s merely happy that he nearly knocked me down the stairs. This caused Bellamy to pull a bit of a frown. “Fred, George, and I will fair just fine without you,” Rose quickly added once she noticed her sister’s sour expression.

Bellamy merely sighed and looked over at Rose with a sort of defeated, tired look before conceding with a short nod. “I suppose you three have got things handled. Just remember that,” Bellamy paused and glanced around to make sure that neither Fred nor George were in hearing range before continuing, “there’s marinara sauce simmering in the back room. I don’t want you to scramble around for food if you forget that it’s there.” Rose gave Bellamy a bashful smile and laughed lightly.

“I won’t,” she said, knowing she had a tendency to being a little bit scatterbrained, “now go on and have a nice relaxing, uninterrupted bath.” Rose shooed Bellamy away, who made her way to the curtained-off back room slowly. George was standing just beside the curtain and shooting a charming grin to the petite brunette; which had undoubtedly disarmed plenty of other girls. However, Bellamy took one glance at him and gained a very harsh expression.

“Don’t you have someone else to smile at?” She asked irritably. George, unfazed by her annoyance, grinned even wider and gave her a secretive sort of shrug. Bellamy scoffed and stomped into the backroom, nearly stepping on George’s foot as she did so, but whether it was with purpose or accidental, neither George nor Rose knew. When George finally turned his attention to her, she was wearing an expression similar to one that Bellamy nearly always wore. She gave his arm a sharp smack and the dreamy grin quickly faded from his expression.

“Hey! What was that for?” He asked, massaging his now stinging arm. Rose let out a sharp sigh.

“You!” She exclaimed, her cheeks turning bright red. “You’re going to ruin it all if you keep smiling at her every time she turns around. She gets freaked out by stuff like that.” George suddenly stared at her, looking a bit confused.

“Well, how do you expect me to act? Like I’m cross with her?” He asked, shaking his head. Rose suddenly grinned and pat the top of his head, much like a proud mother would a child.

“That is precisely what you must do,” she said excitedly. “If you suddenly have a change of heart, Bellamy will know something sneaky is going on.” George was suddenly wearing an understanding smirk as he nodded slowly in response. “Now…however enamored you may be of my sister when she gets all dressed-up for a date, you must act like you’re enraged that I’ll be cooking instead of her. Trust me, it won’t hurt my feelings. You could even take it a step further by arguing with me over scaring away that Careena girl earlier, but setting her up on a date.” George now looked thoroughly enthralled with what Rose was saying.

“So…I just act like an all-around grouch?” He asked to which Rose replied with a nod. “And what do I do when I get to the Leaky Cauldron?” Rose paused for a moment, clearly thinking through the situation.

“You need to act like you’re just waiting for the girl to show up and let it be clear to Bellamy that you had no idea that she was going to be there. I’ve given her enough hints to put two-and-two together so that she’ll realized that I’m the mastermind behind all of this, so if she gets angry, it’ll be at me,” Rose said with a small smile. George happy expression suddenly looked apprehensive.

“What if she gets really mad at you?” He asked. Rose gave a short laugh and shook her head.

“I’m her sister, George. There’s only so mad she can get with me,” she replied with a wide smile. Fred began to set off another set of fireworks, immediately making the store only that much louder. George still didn’t look convinced.

“Okay,” he said slowly in a voice rife with disbelief, “if you say so.”