Belle Et Lumiere
Justin Finch-Fletchly lazily flicked through a copy of Vogue, dangling his feet from the counter of Sylken's, probably the most upscale address for robes in Diagon Alley. He'd been an apprentice here since leaving Hogwarts, and had learnt so much about Magical pattern-making, draping and tailoring that Melodia Sylken, the moody and eccentric American shop owner left him alone to deal with customers from time to time while she went for ridiculously long lunch breaks, from which she returned positively reeking of soy-sauce, and sometimes even smiling. But despite her eccentric, slave-driving nature, she was a wonderful seamstress and a good, albeit demanding teacher. He studied the glossy pages of the magazine for awhile, marveling at an extravagant seafoam Versace couture gown with a thousand layers of ruffled silk. If only Madam Sylken would let him make something like this! But she was a snob that way, and so were most of their customers. Rich, snobby witches who needed a set of robes for a formal picnic at Parkinson Cottage and…
"Hello?" Justin looked up as a high-pitched, timid voice rang through the shop. A pretty blonde in her early twenties was frowning into the shop. "Is anyone in?" She looked terrified, Justin thought irritated, as though the Chinese-important silk gowns on display (gorgeous- radiating in green and pink, with pearl-studded high collars and asymmetrical skirts) were about to eat her. He knew the type- young witches who'd saved all year to splurge on a Slyken's gown for New Year's Eve and ended up buying overpriced, tacky dresses with low necklines and no originality. Smirking, he slid from the counter and approached her.
"Can I help you?" She turned, visibly shrinking into the wall, playing with her heavy, shoulder-length hair and frowning at him. Oh for crying out loud…
"Justin?! Is that you?" Her voice, with a slightly drippy quality to it, rang a very distant bell. Together with her glowing cheeks, the thick blonde hair…
"Hannah! Well this is a surprise!" He stared at her. It really was Hannah Abbot, his old housemate, who'd left Hogwarts after her mother's tragic accident in sixth year and whom no-one had heard from since. And her she was, two years, a war and NEWTs later, strolling into Sylken's –of all places!- as though she'd never left. The hadn't been particularly close, although being the only two Muggle born Hufflepuffs in their year had been uniting in first year particularly. "Whatever happened to you? When did you…you know…come back? We never heard from you."
"Well, I never heard from you either," she snapped, suddenly fierce. Justin rolled his eyes impatiently. "I've been 'back'"- she practically spit out the word- "more than a year, for your information. I work at the Ministry now."
"Really?" Justin asked, surprised, and choosing not to reiterate the fact that he'd drawn her a very nice card of condolence and bullied half the house into signing it. Maybe she'd been offended when it became obvious that the card was a duplicate? But that was just churlish- it had been a fine piece of art, of course he had to keep the original for his portfolio, and please, who was she to go around being all huffy about his shoddy Duplication-charms? "You work at the Ministry, hmm? That'd odd, because so do Suze and Meg –and Ernie, come to think of it!- and they've never even seen you… Are you in the DoM, then?"
Predictably, Hannah blushed a little more and Justin smirked a little more.
"In any case," he said smoothly, all courteous business man, "you're in search for some robes?" She nodded. Her eyes were narrowed rather dangerously, but he chose to ignore it as he gestured towards the materials, cuts and robes on display. "Well, the first thing you're going to need to decide is whether you want them fitted or off the rack. Fitted robes are more expensive, but they're an original of course, and you don't have to settle for anything."
She looked up with interest. "How long would it take to have them fitted- you see, I need then by-"
"Tomorrow? For New Years Eve?" When she nodded, he grinned. "We do magic here, Hannah. You can have them by tomorrow morning, nine o'clock. Did you have anything in particular in mind?"
She shook her head, her eyes darting through the shop in search for inspiration. "Can you give me any advice?" She asked him, not meeting his eyes. For a brief second, he pictured her in the Versace gown and surprised a laugh with some difficulty.
"We-ell," Justin sighed, "is this formal or not? Do you want sexy, gorgeous, laid-back…are you going to be outside? What about colors? Cuts? Is there a boy present you're going to want to impress, or just your cat?"
Hannah held up her hands, actually laughing. "Not so fast, okay? I remember why I didn't let you near my dress robes for the Yule Ball at school again-" She shook her head. "It's a formal party, there'll be a bunch of grownups present, but people my age, too and I want something no-fuss, please." She paused, adding. "I've been…keeping quiet. There'll be a bunch of people from Hogwarts there, and I want to be…a surprise. You know?" She studied the displayed materials, her eyes resting on a roll of pinkish tweed. "This is pretty."
Justin snorted. "Oh my goodness, how old are you, exactly? 52?"
Hannah blushed. "I like it. It's nice."
"No no no no no! I'm not letting you walk around like Umbridge's maiden aunt! How about this?" He pulled out a roll of Japanese silk, sky blue with a pattern in light lavender, and simultaneously started waving around with his wand and a tape measure. It zoomed up to Hannah, measured her once from head to toe and then flew back to the dummy at Justin's side. It wrapped itself around the dummy's wait, which immediately turned into a head-to-toe wooden model of Hannah. "This was Mr. Olivanders," said Justin lazily, waving around his wand to drape the Japanese silk, "And believe me when I say you don't want to know how we got it…there." He proudly gestured at the dummy, which was wearing a beautiful, floor-length gown of sky blue silk, complete with a plunging neckline and a real amaryllis adorning the shoulder.
Hannah gasped. "Is it…I mean could I just…wear it?"
Justin laughed. "No, that's just the way the dummy works- it's sort of conjured up, you couldn't actually wear it at all. Do you like it?"
"No! I mean…" She added hastily, "It's gorgeous, but it's not…me. At all!"
They went round and around for another twenty minutes or so. Justin came up with some fabulous creation- an extravagant Little Black Dress with real pearls adorning the shoulder straps, a lilac A-line with a poofy petticoat, a tunic-like creation of pastels… Hannah shook her head at all of them, deeming them "too showy", "too extravagant" "oh my…no!" and so on. The empire-wasted, deep red gown was "too showy", and the linen "too summer-y". Where he wanted skin, she wanted fabric, where he wanted pearls and flowers, she literally demanded "no frills". The whole thing was becoming absurd and Justin was thisclose to just throwing her out and telling her to buy a set of high-neck, floor-length, made-for-grandmother cotton robes at Madam Malkins in which she'd look as hideous as she was behaving when…
"Oooh, I like this!" Hannah exclaimed, pointing at a roll of apricot muslin. "And this one, too" she added, glancing at it's pink twin. "Oh these are just beautiful!" She exclaimed, dreamily. And there it was, the idea he'd been waiting for all afternoon, the inspiration he'd been missing.
"Hannah, darling, we are in business," he grinned, grabbing the two rolls from her. Carefully, this time, he measured out, draped, fixed it all with it's wand, and proudly stepped back. "Take a look, missy."
It was, he thought, one of his better pieces of work. The two fabrics each made up half of the dress- each wrapped itself tightly over one shoulder, then spilled down the dummy's front in a v-shaped neckline, where they met at a high, pearl-studded waist before spilling down in BAHGNEN in a flowing, elegant skirt that ended just below the knees. It fit the dummy (and, in extension, Hannah) perfectly, bringing out her thin legs and taking away the attention from her less-endowed chest.
"Oh," Hannah managed, stunned short. "It's…nice."
"Isn't it?!" Justin beamed. "Now, do you have shoes to go with it? Go shop some. Not here- god no, get them in London- do you know where to get some? Harvey Nichols is always good. Heels, of course, but nothing fussy, they'll take away attention from the dress, and something you're comfortable in, no complaining on New Year's, okay? I'll make you a stole to go with it so you're not cold…and now get out of here. You have shoes to buy, and jewelry- pearls! nothing flashy, please- and you really need someone to take care of your nails, do you bite them? Do people our go still do that? Don't just stand there, go! Go!" She took another careful, measured dress, and, still lost for words, gave him a quick hug before darting out the door. Justin smiled, studying the dress, and ignoring the strong temptation to use a Duplication Charm…