It's Better If You Do

Bellamy sat on the bed beside the little calico kitten named Mavise for the longest time, simply petting her. It seemed that the cat had taken a liking to her in the short time and it surprised George to say the least. He had always believed that cats had some sort of ability to sense a mean or evil person, but perhaps this cat wasn’t as discriminating as some other cats were. Bellamy was focusing on the tiny kitten that pawed playfully at her hand, which gave George time to look over her features. He noticed that she had forgone makeup and she looked younger than ever. Her skin was dewy and fresh looking and the line of freckles across the bridge of her nose and the tops of her cheeks were more visible than ever. Her hair was damp and wavy and her fringe hung low in her eyes.

Heaving a great sigh, she stood from the bed and ran her hand over her face. The door to the bathroom opened and Rose stepped out fully dressed. Bellamy shot a look to her before looking over at George.

“After you’re done with your shower, we need to have a talk,” she said in a hoarse voice. George merely gave her a terse nod before slowly righting himself. He leaned over to his dresser and picked out a set of clothing, taking no notice if they matched or not, just that he had a shirt, trousers, vest, and blazer. He scuffled to the bathroom and closed the door behind him softly, probably for both his and Bellamy’s sakes, but mostly his. Bellamy then turned to her sister and drew in a deep breath of air.

“I think we probably need to have a bit of a talk as well,” she said, staring directly at Rose, who was giving her a wide-eyed, slightly scared look. Fred glanced between the two of them curiously and it was obvious to him what they were going to talk about. Rose stood, shooting a glance to Fred, and began to make her way down the stairs. “Breakfast will be ready soon, Fred,” Bellamy commented before making her way just behind her sister, silently telling him with her eyes that he was to stay in the flat and not eavesdrop.

As soon as Bellamy’s feet hit the floor of the backroom, Rose turned around reluctantly and gave her a very hesitant looking smile.

“So…how was your date?” She asked in a soft voice. Bellamy merely scowled, crossing her arms over her chest.

“It wasn’t a date,” the brunette said in a low voice and Rose’s already faltering smile fell. Silence lingered between the two of them as Bellamy stared hard at Rose. “I want to know what you thought when you decided to have George and I meet up at the Leaky Cauldron.” There was another long pause before Rose felt brave enough to reply.

“I just thought that maybe you and George should be able to have some time alone.” Bellamy, however, didn’t seem swayed by this explanation. She continued to stare at her sister with a steely sort of look, her jaw set and her cheeks tinged pink.

“We had enough of that on Sunday, I assure you,” she said, cutting her eyes at Rose. “What was the real reason?” Rose stared up at her, mentally debating on whether to tell her the truth about George or not. Clearing her throat, she steadied herself for however Bellamy would react.

“Truthfully,” Rose started, “it had come to my attention that George fancies you.” Bellamy’s harsh expression immediately dissolved as she stared at Rose almost timidly.

“H-how?” She asked breathlessly before shaking her head as if coming out of a stupor. “Why?” She asked in completely different tone. Bellamy almost sounded a bit confused; something she normally wasn‘t. Rose gave a tiny laugh at her sister’s confusion, disbelieving that she would ask that question.

“A man fancies you and all you can say is, ‘Why’?” She asked in a voice rife with unshed laughter. Bellamy cracked the smallest bit of a smile before thinking through things a bit more thoroughly. She let out a heavy sigh and walked over to the kitchen, pulling out a few pans and setting them over fire. One of them, she cracked a few eggs and began to scramble them and in the other she began to fry up some bacon and sausages. “Is that all you’re going to say about it?” Rose asked softly as she let the food be and pulled out a cauldron, adding ingredients to it from her tan suitcase, appearing at random, but Rose knew that Bellamy knew exactly what she was doing.

“What else is there to say? A boy fancies me merely because he thinks I’m pretty,” Bellamy said in a lofty voice. “I have not shown him any bit of my personality to make him fancy that.” Rose’s expression turned sour as Bellamy looked away, stirring the contents of the cauldron with the swish of her wand. Bellamy obvious did not want to continue on with the conversation, but Rose only wanted to press it even farther.

“Perhaps that’s what he fancies about you,” Rose offered with an impish grin. Bellamy shot her a look from the corner of her eyes before turning back to the food, moving it around with short flicks of her wand to keep it from cooking unevenly and burning.

“Let’s hope that’s not the case,” Bellamy said, her expression going as stoic as ever, “because then I’ll have to start being nice to him to keep him from fancying me even more.” Rose was about to same something more on the subject but the sound of footsteps stopped her from saying anymore. George stopped at the foot of the stairs, straightening up his tie as he looked between the sisters.

“You wanted to speak with me, Bellamy?” He asked softly before walking over to the table and sitting down at it. Bellamy looked at him for a moment with a sort of unreadable look in her eyes before turning to Rose.

“How about you go and get your daily dose of snogging from Fred?” She asked with a slight smirk as her sister tried her best to scowl, but the potency of it was ruined by the bright splotches of red on her cheeks as she ducked out of the room. Bellamy waited until she heard the door to the flat close and turned to George.

“I just wanted you to know that I do not count last night as a date,” she said in a stern sounding voice. George let out a sigh and ran his fingers through his damp, gingery hair.

“So you constantly keep reminding me,” he said with a slightly saddened look in his eyes. Bellamy looked at him with a displeased look before sighing and running a hand over her face.

“I’m sorry if I did or said anything to embarrass you while I was…” She closed her eyes and gave a heavy sigh before looking at George. “…incoherent. And I just want you to know that I came here for a job and nothing more,” she said, only dampening George’s spirit even more. “I’m not sure if Rose feels the same way but…you are my boss, George. It’s a bit…improper.” He looked over at her, knowing she made a good point. Bellamy stared at him for him for a moment longer, glancing over her shoulder at the food before walking over to the table and sitting down in front of George. “Getting my sister that kitten was very sweet of you, George,” she said in a much softer, sweeter voice with a small smile curling her lips. “I like that you care enough about her to make up for a simple mistake as the one you made.” George did not know what to say, but merely smiled at Bellamy, glad that he could at least bring one smile to her face.

Bellamy stood and walked over to the cauldron, grabbed two goblets, and began to fill them with a ladleful of the liquid. She walked them back to the table once she was done and handed one to George.

“What’s this?” He asked with a furrowed brow as it tentatively smelled the liquid. It was a dark, murky green color and was not appetizing looking at all. Bellamy gave him a wry grin.

“A hangover remedy of mine,” she said with a shrug. “The first few times I made it from the recipe it didn’t taste all that pleasant. Then I realized that you could add peppermint and not affect the remedy itself. Peppermint also helps calm an upset stomach, so you should be able to keep breakfast down.” George glanced to the kitchen area with a slight smirk, having only just realized that she had cooked, as she waved her wand over her shoulder and shut off the heat to the pans.

“Bellamy, you are a saint,” George said to the brunette, half expecting her to get temperamental with him. She merely smirked back at him for a moment.

“I try,” she said, cutting her eyes at him before downing the remedy. George gave the liquid one more hesitant look before downing the liquid as well.