It's Better If You Do

“What does it matter to you where she is, George?” Bellamy asked in a surprisingly calm voice. “It’s not as if it’s going to stop me from going out on a date.” Fred could almost see a bit of a mischievous smile on her lips before she took a sip of her tea. George stammered over his words, gesturing between Bellamy and the staircase with wide eyes.

“But…uh…that means she’ll be cooking dinner,” he finally found his voice. Bellamy went to reply but was cut off as Rose suddenly, and noisily, stomped down the staircase, barefoot, looking murderously at George.

“You were asking for me?” She asked in a low voice, her teeth clenched together angrily. Rose crossed her arms over her chest as Fred thought she looked remarkably like Bellamy with such a sour expression. George glared at her, finding it a bit fun having to pretend to be angry with someone. At least he wouldn’t have to deal with any of the consequences like he had faced with Bellamy.

“What’s all this about?!” He roared. “You set her up on a date with some random bloke, yet you completely scare off the bird I was talking to? And you’re cooking dinner?! It’s not fair!” Rose suddenly drew in a deep breath of air, her cheeks turning a bright shade of pink. Fred scowled at his brother for about two seconds before realizing immediately was going on. His expression grew to a near smile, faltering for a split second, but he quickly returned to a scowl, knowing that he had to pretend well enough that a certain brunette wouldn’t get suspicious. Bellamy had a bit of a humored expression, however, as she glanced between Rose and George, casually sipping her tea.

“My cooking won’t kill you, you know,” Rose snapped crossly, now placing her hands on her hips as she glared at George. “Now…I’m not Bellamy when it comes to cooking…but it shouldn’t matter to you. You’re getting fed and it’ll be a home cooked meal.” George cut his eyes at Rose and she cut her eyes right back at him.

“What about Careena?” He asked in a low voice.

“What about her?” Rose replied in a passive tone. “You should be thanking me, George. She was about as ugly as a Blast-Ended Skrewt.” George scoffed, glaring even more ferociously at Rose. “Then again, maybe that's either what you find attractive in a girl or that’s all you can attract.” Bellamy snorted into her tea cup, splashing a bit of it on the table as she clasped her hand over her mouth, unaffected by her lack, and rare slip, of manners. George suddenly turned his “wrath” to her as she smiled up at him from her spot on the table.

“You think that’s funny?” He asked, his face turning a bright and, to Bellamy, satisfying shade of red. The tips of his ears were tinged pink as well, which only seemed to make the spiteful girl happier.

“Well…from what I’ve seen…with those two gorgeous women in pink…” she said, tittering with soft giggles. George scoffed and flung his arms down at his sides, turning to Fred.

“I don’t care if you really like Rose, mate. There’s only so much of their tag-teaming I can handle,” he growled before marching out of the backroom, throwing the curtain to the side with enough force that Fred thought he was going to rip the fabric. Fred and Rose watched the curtain swing back and forth before turning to Bellamy, who was giggling softly behind her hand, waving her wand over the droplets of tea and evaporating them up.

“Can’t you just get along with him for me, Bellamy?” Rose asked, exasperatedly. Bellamy merely gave her sister a sprite-like, tightlipped smile and shrugged as she stood.

“I’m going to go get ready now,” she said softly. Without another word, the woman turned and walked up the staircases, pulling her damp hair from her towel as she did. Rose and Fred watched for a few moments as the door closed softly behind her and the sound of her pleasantly humming softly traveled down the stairs. Not a few moments later, George peeked his head through the curtain, checking for Bellamy before stepping into the room.

“Did I do okay?’ He asked nervously and quietly, in case Bellamy could be listening in. He was looking between Fred and Rose who were both grinning widely.

“You did fantastically, George,” she replied softly before looking over to Fred, who was glancing between the two of them hesitantly.

“So you told him, then?” He asked, raising a brow. Rose immediately regret not letting Fred become aware that his brother knew of the blind date. She nodded, curling in her lips as she nodded slowly.

“I didn’t really have any other choice, Fred,” she said softly, hoping that he wasn’t mad at her. “I had to go stop George from talking to this girl, Careena-”

“Was she really as ugly as a Blast-Ended Skrewt?” Fred asked George, wearing a slightly taunting smirk.

“No,” both Rose and George said at the same time. Rose, however, continued, “I just added that on so Bellamy wouldn’t get jealous or suspicious and that she‘d think everything-”

“Jealous?” George and Fred cut in, wearing matching expressions of confusion. Rose merely smiled secretively.

“How do you think Bellamy would feel if I had Fred,” she shot a glance to the twin, who returned her smile, “you had Careena, and she was all alone? She doesn’t like you yet, George.” She noticed his happy expression fell a bit at her words, but she quickly added, “But that doesn’t mean she won’t in time.” Fred gave a snort of laughter before turning to George.

“You wouldn’t happen to know if Bellamy has any Felix Felicis in that potions kit, would you?” He asked Rose, smiling wryly. She looked up at him hesitantly.

“No…why?” She asked curiously, tilting her head to the side slightly as she stared up at Fred.

“George is going to need it desperately,” he said through laughter, which Rose quickly joined in. George was wearing a bit of a smile as he shook his head.

“I’m going to make you eat those words, dear brother of mine,” he said with a smooth amount of confidence as he hooked his thumbs into his vest pockets.

Bellamy, who had been completely clueless of the conversation going on down the stairs, was looking over the outfit she had laid out on her cot. She had picked out a sleeveless, strapless blue, floral print dress that would just skim the tops of her knees. She knew that she should have probably picked out a cardigan, but if the man were a gentleman, he’d end up having to offer her his coat. Forgetting her near tumble down the stairs, she had picked out a pair of crème-colored heels with golden accents. She had picked out a few golden pieces of jewelry, like a ring, locket, and antique-looking bracelets. Then, to hold her wand and her choice of lipstick--which was a dusty rose color, instead of red--she had a small black clutch with a golden clasp on the top.

She gave a satisfied nod at her outfits, pleased with how it would look, before she walked into the bathroom, still humming softly under her breath. She did her makeup plainly, putting on a thin swipe of black, liquid eyeliner on the upper lids of her eyes and putting on just enough foundation to cover the stubborn stripe of faint freckles across the tops of her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Once she was done with her makeup, she contemplated what she whether she was going to wear her hair up or down. After she had curled one strand of hair around her wand, satisfied with the loose ringlet, she decided she would wear her hair down and curly.

Thirty minutes later, after having forced Fred and George back out into the shop so she could pretend to make the marinara sauce, Rose was standing over a boiling pot of lightly salted water, dropping some spaghetti noodles into it. She could tell that George was getting a bit antsy. As 7:30 was growing nearer and nearer, and he would occasionally pop his head into the back room with a cheerful expression, only to pull it back out again with an almost defeated look. Soon enough, Rose hear Bellamy’s soft footsteps coming down the staircase and she drew her eyes away from the boiling pasta and over to her sister.

“Comment belle!*” Rose exclaimed before she could stop herself as she walked over to her sister, smiling broadly. “He’s not going to be able to take his eyes off of you,” she said, shaking her head a bit. Bellamy gave her a nervous smile in return.

“You think so?” She asked in a timid voice. Rose merely smiled even wider and gave her sister a convincing nod.

“You’re going to have to teach me how you do that with your hair and make it stay like you do. It’s positively gorgeous,” she said, gently taking one of the tendrils into her fingertips.

“Talking about me are we?” Fred asked as he and his twin strode into the room. Rose jumped a bit at the sudden intrusion and pulled away, turning to the two of them, staring particularly at George. He had been spending the past few minutes going through what rotten thing he was going to say when Bellamy finally had gotten down the stairs, but it seemed to have vanished completely when he saw the pale, beautiful girl he was going to go on a date with. He stared at her with his mouth dropped open, his eyes slowly roaming over her perfectly accentuated figure and pretty features.