[Q.Apparel] Shopping Therapy [Open]

[Lana Landers]

As Lana wandered down the street of Hogmeade, she was in the mood to shop, but she didn't see any place that caught her attention. Shopping was something she really needed right now, because she had been so busy with school work that she hadn't gone shopping in way too long. She wandered around for what seemed like hours, but was probably just a couple of minutes. Just when she was about to call it quits and give up on finding a good place to shop, she noticed a little clothing store that she had never really noticed before.

Stopping in front of the store, she looked at for a few minutes deciding whether or not she wanted to go in. After deciding that she had nothing better to do and having had a hard enough time finding a place to shop, she decided to go in. Lana walked up to the shop and gently pushed the door open. There were a few people milling around the place, but not anyone who seemed too interesting.

Walking on into the shop, Lana let the door close behind her. She made her way over to the clothes. Slowly she walked around them, looking for the colors that she would normally wear. Dark colors and dull colors that would blend in when she was in crowd. Lana had never cared for bright colors that could draw attention to her. Her hand ran against the fabric of the clothes as she waited for a color to catch her attention.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

It was a Friday afternoon which meant the shop was getting read for the weekend crowd. Ash was restocking some racks and Jen...well, he wasn't sure where Jen was at the moment. As the raven-haired boy stood folding jeans and shirts, he heard the door open and turned to face the customer. It was a girl who looked to be about fifteen. A Ravenclaw if he wasn't mistaken. He was after all a former Ravenclaw himself.

"Hi there. Welcome to Queen's Apparel." he said with a smile. "I'm Ashton Laurent. Is there anything I can help you with?" As he awaited her answer he continued to unpack shirts, skirts, and jeans from the boxes at his feet, fold them, and place them in their respective places.

As he folded he discreetly inspected the girl's clothes. Dark colors, a bit of black, nothing that would make her stand out in front of a crowd. Pretty much what Ash wore himself, except that color had inevitably found it's way into his wardrobe. Not that he minded. In fact, he rather enjoyed it. But enough about him, he needed to be helping his customer.

[Alexis Heart]

Oh boy oh boy, her mother sent her a little present. It wasn't a special occasion or her birthday it was a just because gift. Her mother liked to do things like that because she missed her daughter so much. So the owl that arrived had a gift not a letter and this gift was a bit of money. Alexis had been wanting to go shopping for so long, so many of her clothes were getting a bit too tight on her. So much so that she was gaining looks from a lot of the boys, looks she didn't fancy too much.

Excited now she dressed in jeans, a pair of those fancy boots with the fun inside to keep your feet toasty warn, in a dark gray, and a long sleeved cerulean blue vneck sweater that was also starting to become a bit too form fitting. It looked good on her but she was showing more then she wanted to. Alexis was all about comfort and this didn't make her feel comfortable. Lucky she was going to wear her big bubble jacket, because it would cover her up right proper.


Leaving was easier than she expected today, knock on wood if there had been any for her to knock on. Well when she got to the oak doors she'd do it. Knocking then pushing them open she was out into the sunlight. The day was a bit chilly but that wasn't stopping her she had money to burn and clothes to buy. The walk to the village seemed lengthy but her spirits were high and when she spotted the store she walked in happy a little clam.

Everything she could possibly want all in one place. Alexis was a kid in well a clothing store. A pretty purple sweater caught her eye the color was sweet like nothing she'd ever really seen before. Heading over to it Alexis stopped as she noticed another Ravenclaw girl shopping too. Friendly as always Alexis skipped over to her. "Hey there you're in Ravenclaw too right?" She figured the answer was yes but then again she didn't want to be too presumptuous.

[Lana Landers]

Lana jumped a little when someone spoke to her. She had been in her own little world and hadn't expected anyone to come talk to her. She couldn't control the blood that rushed to her face. The fact that she was blushing just embarrassed Lana more. She couldn't explain why she was embarrassed. It just always embarrassed her when strangers would speak to her especially in this situation when they asked if she needed help.

As she was about to answer, she felt as if the boy was inspecting her clothes. Maybe he wasn't. Maybe she was just being paranoid because she was in a clothing store, but she felt as if he was criticizing her wardrobe. "Umm....I'm just looking around she said." Her eyes wandered back to the clothes for a moment, but then she turned again to the worker. This time all shyness and embarrassment gone, because she was the one addressing him.

"Actually, if you wouldn't mind you could help maybe find one or two things. Really I'm not looking for anything specific. I just tend to prefer dark colors. Something that will blend in. I don't really care for bright colors." As she said this she found something in a bright orange and grimaced a little at the thought of wearing, to demonstrate what she didn't like.

As she finished talking to the boy, a girl came up to Lana. The girl just came up to Lana and blurted out a question. At first Lana just gave her a strange look and then answered. "Yes, I am in Ravenclaw. I will assume from the way you worded your question that you are too."

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash smiled when she answered that she was looking for dark colors that would help her blend in with a crowd. Exactly what he had expected. "I think I can help you with that. Yeah, I did notice that." he laughed a little as she grimaced at a bright orange top. He would have to agree, it wasn't the most flattering of colors!

Then he realised what his little confession must've sounded like. "Oh! I hope you don't think I was critisicing your clothes. I was just trying to get an idea of what you like so I could find something for you." He smiled again. "I usually try to anticipate the customer's needs ahead of time. Of course I don't always get it right, but hey," - he shrugged- "I'm only human."

He smiled again. "So, are you looking for jeans? Skirts? Tops? Or a little of everything?" he asked as laid a few items on the table in front of her.

As he was talking to her, another customer entered. Alexis Heart. Another Ravenclaw. Ash hadn't really talked to her in school, but they were on a first name basis. "Hey Alexis. What's up?" he asked with a small smile at his former house mate.

[Lana Landers]

Lana turned away from the girl back to the boy when he laid some things out in front of her. She was excited and started looking through the clothes. Completely forgetting about the girl, Lana carefully examined a black top that the boy had set on the table, trying to decide whether she had anything that it would work perfectly with.

Lana very much liked Ashton. He was very nice and helpful. The perfect type of person to work in a job like his where he had to deal with people everyday. Lana certainly couldn't do it. She was definitely not a people person.

"Umm..." Lana thought for a moment about what she wanted. She hadn't been thinking about anything specific. "A little bit of everything I guess." She didn't look at the boy as she spoke. She was still looking at the shirt she had picked up. Looking back up at the boy Lana laid the top back down on the table, unable to decide if she really wanted it.

[Alexis Heart]

Alexis tried to be the kind of person who was always observant. It was trait of hers just like her ability to morph into something else. So when she came in bustling asking the poor girl who was shopping if she was in Ravenclaw Alexis couldn't help but notice the look she got. Maybe she should tone it down a little, funny since this wasn't normally the way she behaved. Trying something new didn't seem to work too well. At least she didn't run away screaming, about crazy Ravenclaw girls just running up to her.

No, instead Alexis got a response the dark haired girl was also a Ravenclaw. At least that much was correct. Smiling and taking in the things at the store, trying to figure out where to start Alexis hadn't heard anything until her name was called. Holy cow it was Ashton Laurent. A fellow claw who had graduated school already. He was cool they'd played on the same Quidditch team when he was still in school. It slipped her memory that he worked here.

"Oh hey there Ashton, how's it going? Helping out huh," she eyed the things the girl she was looking at. Didn't really seem like her kind of things but then again it wasn't like Alexis knew her or anything to? "Sounds good, all those clothes, hey Ash maybe you can help me too I'm looking for something, well maybe something a little different. I mean I want a bit of a new look a couple things that aren't exactly Alexis like I guess you could say." Smiling over at him and Lana Alexis wondered how she could spice up her look a bit. Getting older she was ready to move in another direction.