[Queens.A] Back In Business!

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash had spent the past week getting "Queen's Apparel" ready for its re-opening. Cleaning, re-stocking, adding a fresh coat of paint, re-arranging the racks and displays had taken up much of his time, and now he was finally done. In just a few minutes, the popular clothing store would once again open its doors.

Doing a little bit of last minute cleaning, and straightening up, Ash looked around and surveyed his work. He smiled in satisfaction, it wasn't the same without Jen of course, never would be; but he was happy that she trusted him to run the shop in her absence. It was certainly a break from the mundane routine of the castle. Not that he didn't love the castle of course, he did; it was just that, well... as much as he had enjoyed being an Apprentice, he felt that his future lay somewhere else. Where? He wasn't quite sure yet. But hey, he was young. He had plenty of time to figure things out.

The only real disadvantage to moving out of the castle of course was not being able to see Tyler as much. But he knew his boyfriend would visit him as much as possible, so it really wasn't that bad.

Finally, the shop was ready and so was Ash. Unlocking the doors, and walking outside, he stood under the big banner that said WELCOME BACK TO QUEEN'S APPAREL and smiled at the waiting crowd. He didn't like using Sonorous so he had to raise his voice a little to be heard. Luckily they weren't being too noisy

"Hello everyone. As many of you may know, Jennifer Queens has been away for the past several months and during that time Queen's Apparel has been closed. Well, Jen contacted me and asked if I was interested in running the shop for her while she's away. Of course I said I'd be glad to, and so I would like to welcome all of you back to Queen's Apparel!"

With that, Ash pushed open the doors of the shop to welcome in his first customers.

[Prof. Victoria Potter]

Victoria needed something to do in order to get her mind off her issues, and seeing as it was rather early in the day time grabbing a drink at the local pub didn't seem like a good way to go. So instead she headed to Hogsmeade in search of something normal to do. Her money bag full of plenty of galleons she figured maybe a little shopping trip would be in order for her. It had been a while since she indulged in something like that and her wardrobe was suffering for it. She normally would have headed for Queens Apparel but last time she went in search of clothes there she found that the place was closed.

So she needed to head somewhere else, but she had no idea where since Queens was where she had purchased most of her clothes since coming to work at Hogwarts. They usually had a wide selection and she always managed to find something she liked. Of course she was sure there were other decent stores but she preferred dealing with places she was familiar with.

Walking around a while she couldn't seem to find anything she liked, and she had been to several clothing stores so far. Sighing she thought that perhaps her time would be better spent in one of the pubs. So that's what she was about to do and that's when she passed the one store that could deter her from grabbing a drink. By some miracle as if someone in the cosmos knew she needed this she saw that Queens Apparel had re-opened under new management.

"Hot damn" Vicky muttered rather loudly gaining her an odd look from an elderly witch passing by. Simply smiling at the old woman Vicky made a beeline for the store and walked in. Lucky girl was the first customer there to boot. "My lucky day" she muttered again, this time quietly so she didn't get a reputation for going around Hogsmeade talking to herself. Wondering who the new owner was Vicky wandered around in search and soon found what she was looking for to her great surprise.

"Ashton, you're running the place now?" she asked happy to see someone familiar in the place even if it wasn't Jennifer.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash looked up as his first customer entered the shop. "Vicky!" he exclaimed happily, still not quite used to calling his old professors by their first names; despite the fact that he graduated three years prior. It was hard to believe it had been that long. One minute he was a student just trying to get through school, and now here he was, twenty years old and running a shop. Well, running it for someone else that is. But hey, it was a steady job. Or, he hoped it would be.

He laughed softly, giving a small half shrug when Victoria asked if he was running the shop now. "Yeah, Jen contacted me a few weeks ago and asked if I could re-open it and run things while she's away. Didn't really say when she would be back. But luckily I've managed to pick a few tips up about shop management. Mostly from working here earlier when I was in school."

Quickly realising that he was babbling and really needed to be helping his customer, he straightened up from his relaxed position leaning against the counter, and circled around it so that he was in the open and not hiding behind it. "So, what can I help you with?"