November 11, 1893 — Wildflowers, Diagon Alley
@"Daffodil Potts"

Chastity supposed that it would have been easier to go to Hogsmeade for this, but she spent so little time in London these days that she was surprised to find sometimes that she missed parts of it. Which, admittedly, felt a bit odd, since she was much happier now than she'd ever been while living in London, but there was no accounting for nostalgia, she supposed.

At any rate, her desire to brighten up her room had brought her to Diagon Alley for the added reason that Wildflowers was owned by a friend, and buying flowers was as fine an excuse to see Daffodil as any other. Pushing her way into the shop and finding it empty--for the moment--of other customers, Chastity called out, "Good morning."

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   Daffodil Grimstone

Daff was still a little out of sorts after her encounter with Noble this past week, trying not to think about it too much. She shouldn't care. She shouldn't be concerned but she was. They may no longer be together, and she was head over heels in love with Elias, but that didn't mean she wasn't worried about what Noble was doing. It wasn't her place to do or say anything though, as he'd reminded her quite frankly.

Fortunately she was busy with a large project for a local charity, putting together small centerpieces for an upcoming auction event. She liked the cheery colors and the variety in the blooms that the sponsor had wanted and was humming along happily at her workbench in the greenhouse when she heard the bell above the door signal someone's arrival.

Wiping her hands on her apron, Daff tucked her hair behind her ears and made her way to the front of the shop. "Chastity!" She beamed. "It's good to see you, what brings you to London?" Her friend's position in Irvingly felt so far away these days, so she was glad that Chastity had made the trip to the Alley.

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Chastity smiled warmly. "I'm in the market for some flowers for my room at home," Chastity said. "And obviously I had to come here first." It would have been easier to go to Hogsmeade, of course, but Chastity didn't mind coming all the way to London to see a friend. It wasn't as if it was a chore to get back to Irvingly for her, after all.

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"Oh! I appreciate that." Daff was trying to make this thing work. She'd made it a whole year and was still in the green, it seemed like business was steadily growing, for which she was thankful. That her friends chose to come to her first before others also made her feel like she'd done the right thing, striking out on her own. Fortunately being in London didn't really put her in direct competition with her own mother, of which she felt like there was no contest anyway.

"What is it you're looking for? Something specific?" Daff could whip up just about anything Chastity was looking for either from her stock or from the greenhouse.

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"I'm not really sure," Chastity confessed. "Unfortunately, I don't know much about flowers--only when they look pretty." She smiled sheepishly, though, of course, that was part of why she was here. "I'm hoping for your expertise."

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"I think I can help with that," Daff chuckled and waved her friend to follow her back into the greenhouse. The front of the shop housed only a fraction of what she had available for bouquets, but most of the popular ones, roses, lilies, things like that. The back however, had a wide range of blooms that she used to make arrangements. Most of the time people came in with something in mind and Daff was just responsible for putting it all together sensibly. Truthfully, she preferred when people came in with less of a vision in mind, it allowed her to get more creative.

She pulled her sheers from the workbench, careful of Winston who was snoozing dolefully beneath in his bed. Her corgi preferred the warmth of the greenhouse to just about anywhere else. "Favorite colors? Just looking for a little something to brighten up your space?" This time of year, Daff liked to pull as many spring flowers in as she could to keep things light and fresh. While she waited for an answer, Daff pulled some easy fillers; silver eucalyptus, baby's breadth, a couple of broadleaf ferns. Oh, she could make an entire bouquet of green. "I have some pretty ranunculus in the most gorgeous peachy color, and some fresh lilacs blooming in the back." She offered, in case Chastity needed some inspiration.

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"I do like pastels," Chastity said, following along behind her friend. "Yellows, pinks... though peach does sound lovely, too." Chastity admittedly didn't know much about flowers, but she did at least know what she found pretty, which was probably most of what mattered. At least when she was buying for just herself.

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"Pastels, those I can do." Daff sighed, this would be fun. After pulling a flat basket from near the door, she tucked it on her arm, surveying her options in the water pots near the side of her workbench. This was what she used to make quick bouquets like this when somebody came in without anything specific in mind. The greenhouse contained such a variety of blooms that she could put just about anything together, but these big buckets housed the most common bouquet flowers for easy arrangements.

Daff leaned forward and pulled a few of the ranunculus, but white instead of the peach, before adding some lisianthus in a pretty purple. Next she pulled a couple of soft yellow gerbera daisies, adding them the pile. "Did you want more than one? I can make coordinating bouquets for a couple rooms if you'd like?" She tossed Chastity a smile over her shoulder. These would make for a nice table centerpiece, but she could also make some smaller ones for a side table or bedroom if Chastity wanted. "Does anything catch your eye?"

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"Oh, I think I'll only really have room for one," Chastity said. Her rented room was relatively small--cozy, she thought, and nicer than the bedroom she'd had before this one, so she was hardly complaining, but still easily overwhelmed if she wasn't careful.

At Daffy's question, Chastity let her eyes wander until they landed on a splash of pale yellow. "Oh, these are lovely," she said, gravitating towards them. "What are they?" She smiled sheepishly. "I'm afraid I'm not much good at recognizing specific kinds."

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"Gerbera daisies," Daff smiled and pulled a couple more to add to the ones she had in hand. "They come in such a lovely variety of colors, but I've always been fond of the yellow myself." It was hard to be named Daffodil after all and not like yellow, even if she knew she looked terrible when she wore it; far too pale in complexion for that. Orange may be her favorite color, but yellow was a close second.

Daff added a couple of dark purple carnations to her basket and looked at what she'd gathered critically. It would be lovely all upright and in a tall vase. "I'm going to cut these, but if you see anything else you like, we can add it." Daff moved toward her workbench and donned an apron, getting her sheers down to get to work. "How are things, I feel like it's been a while since I've seen you. Are you still in Irvingly?" Daff very rarely got to go over there, but though she should make more of an effort. Calla seemed to enjoy the zoo so very much that it was hard to imagine it not being somewhere worth spending time.

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"Thank you." Pleased with her choice, Chastity let Daffy do her work. "Still in Irvingly," she confirmed. "Though now I'm teaching at the village school, now." Not the future Chastity would have expected for herself once upon a time, but she found she was quite content with things as they were.

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Daff hummed a long to a pretend song, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she worked. She clipped off stems and a few sad leaves. "Oh, that's lovely though. I could never, I don't think I have the patience. Do you enjoy it?" She tossed her hair over her shoulder as she looked at Chastity. It never stayed in whatever style she put it in, so it wound up in a plait most days.

The flower shop had always been what Daff would do with her life. After graduating she'd gotten deeper into the business side of it, learning the books and the management and the finances, but then she'd gone and opened her own shop and now she couldn't imagine doing anything else. Daff was going to have to learn to balance her life a little better, hopefully, later when things changed, but hopefully she would figure it out.

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"I do," Chastity answered. "More than I ever thought I would." Child-rearing as a career hadn't been her choice in the beginning, rather something that was chosen for her, but she'd settled into it properly now, and teaching at a school was different enough from being a governess to a family that it felt like a refreshing change of pace.

"Is business going well?" she asked.

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"Wonderful, I'm glad to hear it." Settling into an occupation wasn't always an easy thing, so Daff was relieved that Chastity was enjoying her work. It made things so much easier. Enjoying what you did on a daily basis was much easier than just schlepping off to a job to get paid for it. That had to be a miserable sort of existence.

Daff finished off Chastity's bouquet and reached for some ribbon on the roll above her workbench. It had been an ingenious little way to put all of the rolls up there, courtesy of Elias, so she could just pull it off and cut what she needed. When she needed to replace the spools she just pulled the dowel out and stuck new ones on. It certainly beat the stacks of ribbon cluttering up her already chaotic work space. Tying a lovely little bow around the stalks with yellow ribbon, Daff held it out of Chastity's inspection.

"Well enough, better than I expected." She was able to make a living off of it at the very least. Owning the building helped. She was going to have to look into hiring a manager in the future so she could be more present elsewhere, but hopefully it would be doable. "It's a lot of work, but I do enjoy it." Daff smiled wistfully, knowing just how lucky she was.

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Chastity smiled. "Enjoying your work certainly makes it easier to bear," she said. She took the bouquet from Daffy and turned it over in her hands to inspect it. "Oh, Daffy, that's lovely!" She gently touched the petals on one of the blooms, her smile growing. "Exactly what I wanted, thank you."

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Daff would never grow tired of seeing people's reaction to a fresh bouquet. Pleased, she grinned. "I'm glad you like it." It was a gift, if Daff thought about it, but she also suspected it came from her deeply rooted need to make people happy. If it was as easy as a bouquet, well she was happy to oblige.

"Come upstairs, let's have tea." Daff offered as she wiped her hands on her apron. Her employees could handle the shop for an hour while they caught up.

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wrap?

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   Henry Berkwood

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