It's Better If You Do

"I do say so," Rose said simply with a charming wink, before walking over to a group of children crowding around the Reusable Hangman, occasionally shoving each other as they pushed closer to get a closer look. It was rather interesting, she thought as she peered over their heads to see it. Most of the children were taller than her, and it would have depressed her infinitely if she hadn't chosen not to dwell on it. After a moment or two she sighed, and turned away right before hearing a loud crash of glass hitting the floor. Hurrying over to where the sound came from, she saw a violently pink liquid staining the floor. The culprit was already gone, and it seemed the rest of the potions were in tact, otherwise she would have tried to find the person.

Rose huffed wearily before quickly plugging her nose, and making her way through the crowded shop to the backroom. The wash cloth she had cleaned Fred and George's wounds with was still sitting on the table and she bent to grab it when she noticed an odd string curled up in one of the boxes. Curious, she made her way over to it and picked it up, tilting her head ever-so-slightly. It seemed you placed one end near your ear... She gave it a scrutinizing glare. Bellamy had already had a black eye from one of their many odd inventions, and though Rose hadn't had any sort of bad experiences, she attributed this to an uncommon amount of good luck on her side. Taking a deep breath, she placed it cautiously near her ear, listening carefully.

It took her a few seconds, but what she heard shocked her and made her a little angry. Bellamy's humming was very distinct, even if it was far away. The sloshing of water in the tub gave her an odd sensation of being near the ocean and hereyes narrowed as she that the string snaked it's way around the corners of the rooms and up the stairs. Raising her eyebrow, Rose gave a short unamused laugh. So that was how George heard about Bellamy's blind date. And no doubt everything else that had been said between the two. She had been fine with Fred's French-English Dictionary, but this was just an invasion of privacy. Well, if they were going to be sneaky, she could play that game. The next time she and Bellamy were upstairs alone, she would say things that would scare the twins half to death. What these scary things were, she didn't know, but she would sure figure it out.

Remembering the spilled potion, she hurried back into the shop before some poor person slipped in the potion, or worse, inhaled it and gained the moony, lovestruckedness the potion was entitled to give. Rose had always steered far away whenever Bellamy had ever worked on them because it had a worse affect on her than even Bellamy, who began to smile like a fool and talk pleasantly. Thankfully no one had seemed to wander over, but she thought this was more due to the fact it was near closing time than anything. The shop was slowly but surely clearing out of customers and Rose gave a sigh of relief. Today had been hectic, but more so do to the issues between the four of them than troubles with the customers. Dropping the cloth on the floor, she began moving it around with her foot, as she was afraid to bend over; her skirt was not extremely short, but if either of the twins happened to sneak up on her... well, she thought ruefully, better safe than sorry.

"That's a bit lazy," remarked George as he stopped in his tracks from surveying the shop to watch her unorthodox cleaning method. Rose merely shrugged, a small smile perched on her lips. Fred came over to stand beside his brother, interested as well. George suddenly turned to Fred, grinning widely and his eyebrows raising.

"Too bad she didn't inhale it, Freddie. You should have seen Bellamy earlier when she did," George said wickedly, laughing to himself. A grin slowly spread across Fred's face as he eyed the potions, and Rose cut her eyes at him when he reached out for a potion.

"You better not," she said in a dark tone. Fred's grin grew, and he raised an eyebrow.

"What would you do to stop me?" he asked cheekily, moving his hand closer to the potion. Before Fred could blink, she had whipped her wand out and pointed it at him, and suddenly he was bound tightly in ropes, his eyes wide as he gaped at the petite blonde. Tucking it back into the waistband of her skirt, she calmly continued mopping up the potion while George roared with laughter.

"What was that for?" Fred finally burst, struggling against the ropes futilely. Rose smiled sweetly, her eyes gleaming in a mischevious way.

"I don't think either of you take me seriously," she said lightly, quickly unbinding Fred. He flexed his arms and his mouth twisted in a wry smile.

"If I didn't, I sure do now," he said, his eyes now holding a sense of admiration in them. George was wiping the tears from his cheeks, still chuckling.

"That was bloody brilliant, Rosie," he congratulated, before peeking at the backroom with a wide, eager smile, "I assume she's getting ready, then? Should I start being a prat now to get into character or just wait until she comes out?"

This reminded Rose of the weird eavesdropping string, but instead of calling them out like she wanted to, she merely laughed quietly, before shaking her head, "You can just wait until she's ready, unless you just really want to be mean to me. She'll be another half hour or so. Primping for a date takes time, you know." Fred shook his head ruefully, before giving her a teasing smile.

"That's the truth. It took you, what? Forty minutes to change an outfit?" he asked, watching with a satisfied smile as the blush crept across her cheeks and her blue eyes narrowed at him in a mock glare.

"It was not forty minutes," she defended heatedly, though knowing very well it had been. "I had to mop, and that took more time. Which reminds me," she mused, looking down at her outfit; it was still very cute, but she longed to slip into something comfortable, and not wear shoes anymore. "I'll be right back."

"Changing into more of your never ending collection of clothes?" Fred asked with a smirk. Rose held her chin high, and raised her eyebrows.

"Like you don't want to see," she said bluntly, before striding away hurriedly, hiding the blush and walking away before she could hear his cheeky response and his brother's teasing. Letting out a soft hum, she pushed back the curtain to see Bellamy wrapped in her black silk robe and a towel on her head, sitting at the table and sipping tea.

"You look comfortable," Rose remarked, and the brunette nodded with a small smile. It seemed the excitement of the date was creeping up on her, for the smile didn't slip and it actually reached her eyes. Rose could hardly remember the last time her sister had smiled genuinely, and it raised her own mood considerably, knowing that she was atleast helping Bellamy in her pursuit of happiness. "Well, I'm going to change real quick. I know you're going to take over the flat soon enough, so I thought I'd do so before you threw me out."

Rose grinned at her sister who was giving her a playful scowl and tried to swat at her as the younger sister passed. Laughing, she walked up the stairs and locked the door, slowly walking to her trunk and pulling various items out before settling on a gray, oversized t-shirt and a pair of soft black capris before changing swiftly. After her day in that red skirt, it was a relief to be able to move around as she pleased, and not have to worry about anyone seeing too much leg. Sitting on her cot, she stretched her arms above her head and yawned loudly, shaking her head. Yesterday night had been very much worth it, but now that it was almost closing time, she was exhausted.

Kicking off her shoes, she wiggled her dainty feet in the air with a smile, glad to be free of them. Suddenly, she heard a rather loud voice ask, "Where's Rose? I need to have a word with her." and she smiled and stood, knowing the show had just begun.