December 22nd, 1890 — Lytton's / Diagon Alley

Juliana didn't usually care enough about this job to be annoyed about anything that happened during her work day, but today was an exception. She'd shown up today already in thin spirits, as the timing of the full moon this month and its coincidence with the holidays had set her worrying about all her subjects with whom she'd corresponded over the years. She wanted nothing more than to finish an uneventful day and get back home to spend a little time with herself, but Mrs. Reading had determined to make her day quite eventful. She'd decided, apparently this morning, that she was to buy a new Lytton dress for Christmas, and wanted to wear it to a party on boxing day. Even under normal circumstances that sort of turn-around for a custom designer dress would be unreasonable, but it was especially silly given that Mr. Lytton had given every one in the shop Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day off.

Jules had explained politely that it was impossible, then she'd explained it impolitely when her first explanation didn't seem to get through to Mrs. Reading. Then they'd argued for at least twenty minutes — as though berating her would change the facts — until Mr. Lytton had intervened. He'd said much the same thing Jules had, but had also managed to pacify Mrs. Reading, which left Jules wondering why the infuriating woman would listen to Mr. Lytton and not to her. Was it because Juliana had less money than either of them? Because she didn't wear haute couteur to work herself? Because she was a spinster? Because Mrs. Reading had no respect for women who worked, or women in general?

In any case, the interaction had left her seething as she tidying up the store to close. She was doing everything just a bit more forcefully than usual, making the front room echo with little bangs as she cleared the tea set. She opened the front window and dumped the bucket of old, cold tea that had been collecting throughout the day in the gutter, as she always did — except today she sent the liquid sailing down over the eaves instead of just into the gutter, and it splashed over a passerby, soaking them in what would very soon be freezing tea.

"Oh my stars! I'm sorry!" she called down immediately, mortified by this turn of events.

  

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Prof. Marlowe Forfang

Jules

After work, Josie had decided to head to Diagon Alley to do some needed Christmas shopping. She had gotten most of her presents sorted earlier in the month, but still had to collect some final bits and bobs. Although she was very tired from work, Josie strolled through Diagon Alley with a smile on her face. She was very much in the Christmas spirit. At every shop she bid everyone a Merry Christmas with a beaming grin, and then happily skipped onto the next shop.

Nothing could dampen Josie's mood. She headed down the street, admiring the Christmas lights, imagining her parents opening their gifts and how pleased they would be. The games they would play together. The songs they would sing together. It was going to be bliss.

And then it happened.

Ice cold liquid. Josie could not even compute what it was. All she knew is that she was doused in something very very cold. She looked up in horror to where it had come from. Josie saw the woman, and her mortification. She probably felt terrible!

"I'm fine!" Josie half-shrieked back, her voice was high-pitched and clearly not the tone of a person who was fine, "I'm fine!"

Merlin she was cold.

  

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

Jules' heart sank a little more each time her poor victim protested that she was fine. "I really didn't mean to!" she called down, as though that made a bit of difference. The poor young woman was covered in tea, whether Juliana had intended it to happen or not. It had been a large bucket, too, which meant that it was likely going to soak through all her various layers, if it hadn't already — and the cold air would probably give the poor lady pneumonia, so merry Christmas to her.

"Stay right there. I'm coming down to get you," she yelled before bounding away from the window and towards the narrow stairs that lead down to Diagon Alley. Most of their clientele used the floo, so the stairs were rather neglected; Juliana nearly tripped halfway down on an uneven board as she hurried, but managed to catch herself and avoid another calamity. Once at street level she threw open the door and gestured the young woman inside.

"Here, come in, please. We've a warm fire, and I can help dry your things out. We'll have to get those off right away or they'll stain," she said with a frown. Tea was, after all, not exactly the best thing to wash one's laundry with. Fortunately, the House of Lytton was more or less the best place to have a wardrobe catastrophe, as she would have all the tools on hand to assist with drying and stain removal. Hopefully she could manage it without letting Mr. Lytton know what had happened. An opportunity to be chastised would be precisely what she didn't need, after having had to deal with Mrs. Reading!

  

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Prof. Marlowe Forfang

Jules

Josie always did was she was told. So it was no surprise when she remained where she was, waiting to be collected. Besides, there wasn't much else she could do. What else could she do? Scurry off down the street while she was soaking wet, rush into a shop while she was soaking wet (would she even be allowed in a shop in her current state?), have everyone stare at her because she was soaking wet, so she could finally floo home to get herself dry? That did sound like a good idea. So wait she would.

"Thank you!" was all Josie could say as she rushed inside. She was so happy to be inside, and did not mind as she stumbled up the rickety stairs. When she reached the top, Josie realised where she was. She was in the House of Lytton. Josie had always taken an interest in the latest fashion and beautiful dresses - and had always endeavoured to make sure that while she would look as good as she could despite her budget issues.

Josie looked around in wonder. Never did she think she would ever get to step foot in such a posh place! She was just Josie Jones the DMGaS secretary. She didn't ever get to go to the House of Lytton. Josie turned to the woman while moving some wet hair which had stuck to her face behind her ear. All she could muster was, "Wow."

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

Jules had become inured to the wonders of the House of Lytton, having worked there as long as she had — and she had never been particularly keen on fashion in the first place, which meant the adjustment hadn't taken long. She entirely missed the young woman's comment, then, as she busied herself with making the front room as warm as possible. The fire had been dwindling down to a single log as they prepared to close for the day, but Juliana threw a bundle of small sticks on top and stoked it with the poker. They would catch quickly and burn hot, and be nearly consumed by the time she finished drying the young lady's clothes, in all probability. She then went and fetched her wand from the desk before bustling back to the young woman.

"Here, let me take your coat. It'll dry quicker if we remove it," she said, not waiting for a response before helping the young woman out of it. She fetched a rack and brought it close to the fire, then hung the coat up. "And you can hang anything else you want to take off — just wait here and I'll fetch something for the stain. And — well, what can I give you to make you comfortable?" she said fretfully. She had just thrown out the last of the tea, after all, on top of the girl's head. It seemed unlikely she'd be in the mood for another cup. "I've got a few biscuits in the cupboard. Just wait here."

  

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Prof. Marlowe Forfang

Jules

Josie did feel better once her coat was gone. It had been so heavy, and had kept a layer of cold pressed to her skin. She began to feel much warmer as she moved closer to the fire.

"A biscuit would be lovely." she replied quietly, feeling extremely out of place in the grand shop. Josie studied the woman as she busied about. This woman was so... assertive. She knew who she was and nobody was stopping her. Even in the DMGaS offices, where she had spent most of her time the last three years, she didn't move around so confidently. There was always someone to apologise to for getting in the way, or asking someone to do their job properly in the most apologetic and roundabout way possible.

Feeling too awkward to do anything else, Josie fumbled with her wet layers between her fingers. She looked at her coat hung up, and was mentally debating with herself what her next move should be.

"Thanks again." she called over to the woman, stalling so she didn't have to sort herself out yet "It's much appreciated."

  

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

Merlin, whoever this woman was, she was a world away from the unreasonable Mrs. Reading. Juliana could hardly believe her ears. Thank you? Much appreciated? Jules had just dumped tea on her and caused this whole predicament in the first place, and this woman was treating the entire situation as though she was an inconvenience. Juliana got down the typical small plate of biscuits that she always put out for customers at Lytton's, then added a second layer of treats so that the plate transformed into a small mountain of iced treats. It was Christmas, after all — and she was determined to make up for nearly freezing the poor young lady to death. It wasn't as though Mr. Lytton paid enough attention to the refreshment closet to notice the discrepancy, anyway — and if he did, he'd probably just blame it on Juliana, who had a habit of absently snacking when she was bored.

"Here," she said upon delivering the cookie plate. She was about to flit away again in pursuit of the stain-removing potion, but hesitated when she noticed that the woman was still entirely dressed except for her coat. She didn't want to press if she wasn't comfortable undressing any further than that, but it would be much easier to dry and clean everything if she stripped just a bit more. "Perhaps you could hang your scarf and gloves?" she suggested gently, indicating the rack again. She then promptly turned her back, in case her unexpected guest was shy about taking anything off why she was watching, and went off to find the stain remover.

"Mr. Lytton has all the best potions stocked, you can imagine," she explained, calling back over her shoulder as she busied herself in a closet near the tailor's fitting area. "Just in case anything should happen. So it won't be any trouble at all to get the stain out, particularly if we get it on right away. They'll be good as new in a heartbeat, honestly."

  

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Prof. Marlowe Forfang

Jules

Yes. Right. Scarf and gloves off, that would be a good idea. The scarf was particularly soaked. Josie took both off and hung them up. She then studied the skirts of her dress, which were indeed too soaked. As too was the bodice. Josie weighed up her options in her mind. Either strip in front of the woman - who seemed kind and not one to judge - and have her sort the stains with the proper stuff, or spend ages scrubbing later instead of relaxing after work. Josie took a deep breath.

First came off the bodice, and it was hung up. Then the skirts. They too were hung up, and afterwards Josie did feel very exposed. She had to mentally remind herself that she still had multiple layers on. A woman who worked at Lytton's did most likely not mind about seeing another woman's chemise (the benefit of her having been wearing thick winter clothes was that said chemise had escaped tea-free). Josie ate a biscuit, hoping it would give her some mental strength or fortitude.

"What's it like working at Lytton's?" Josie asked, her voice becoming more confident as she distracted herself from her predicament, "You must see the most beautiful dresses. I see them all the time in Witch Weekly."

Josie mainly read Witch Weekly as she found a large amount of humour in the problems of high society. After sharing a room with upper class girls at school, and then working with most of the male members of high wizarding society, Josie did not have much wonder or awe about the upper class. But its articles were spectacular. The most recent one on Mr Prewett had left her struggling to breathe, and she did enjoy the helpful articles too. But the dresses. The dresses were the most fantastic part of Witch Weekly, she could - and had in the past - spend hours looking at them.

  

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

What was it like working at Lytton's? Today, Juliana would have said it was positively dreadful, because at Lytton's one tended to deal primarily with customers who were too obsessed with themselves to treat you like a person — but she recognized that her answer today would have been colored quite heavily by her interaction with Mrs. Reading. And that wasn't what the young woman was asking, anyway; as she continued it became clear that she was more interested in the product than the customers. Juliana had never had an eye for clothing, so the wonder of Mr. Lytton's creations mostly passed her by unnoticed.

"It's much the same as any other shop, I imagine," she said as she returned to the fire, stain remover in hand. "Some pleasant days and some stressful ones. Oh, we're closed now," she added, on noticing that the young lady had taken Jules' cue and stripped down. "I ought to have said that straight away. So you needn't worry about anyone coming in and seeing you half-dressed."

No wonder she'd been reluctant to remove her outer layer! Jules had been so busy with the biscuit and the stain potion she'd failed to convey some essential information. "Even the seamstresses have already left for the day. But even if they hadn't, no one would be shocked," she added with a smile and a shrug. "This being a dress shop, they see ladies changing all the time." Not usually in the front room mere feet away from the floo-connected fireplace, of course — Jules was responsible for this room, which just involved date books, receipts, and making trays of tea and biscuits to greet customers. The most she typically saw someone undress was when she helped them to remove their coats.

"Oh, you know — they have robes in the fitting areas," she remembered suddenly. "I should have offered you one. I don't typically work there — I just book appointments and handle bills, mostly. I'm an absolute loss on the fashion side of things. Just a moment," she said, putting down the potion and running to fetch one of the big, fluffy dressing robes.

"I'm sorry I'm so scattered. It's been quite a day," she said apologetically as she held the robe open for the young woman. "Do you work here in Diagon, too?"

  

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Prof. Marlowe Forfang

Jules

Josie took the robe and put it on. She felt much better now. This was much more like it. Perhaps Josie's eternal nervousness had been shrugged off as normal issues about modesty. That was probably a good thing.

"I don't, no," Josie replied. "I work at the ministry. Just secretarial work - in the ever important department of magical games and sports" - Josie accompanied this with a sarcastic nod to the woman, and chucking slightly afterwards - "Basically, I know far more about quidditch than I ever wanted to." While Josie enjoyed her job, and did it very well, perhaps had she had more options upon leaving school she would have chosen something else. Something more within her interests. But the ministry provided a secure and well paid job.

"I don't think I could work in a shop," Josie added, "I'm probably too nervous and awkward for that." Working within the small department that was DMGaS was beneficial to Josie. While it was never perfect, at least she didn't sink into a pit of awkwardness every single day - just lots of days.

  

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

"Oh! I know nothing about Quidditch," Jules remarked. She had never been particularly interested in the sport, or in sport more generally speaking. She played a few card and table games, but nothing more robust than that. If this woman was as disinterested as she said, though, her exposure to the sport must have been similar to how Juliana felt about fashion. She was utterly disinterested in it of her own accord, but knew enough to get by from day to day with the customers.

"Talking to customers is just like talking to anyone," she opined. "Some of them may think they're a little better than the rest of us, but they're just people. And a shop job is just like any other, I imagine," she continued, focusing her attention on the stains as she dabbed the potion over the edges. Of course, that wasn't true at all — there was some work that hardly felt like work at all, when one was passionate about it, but Juliana was a long way off from being able to work on her research full time. Maybe someday, if things kept going just as well as they were presently.

"Oh, you know, Miss... I don't think I caught your name? I'm Juliana Binns," she said pleasantly. "How are the biscuits? Are you quite warm enough?"

  

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Prof. Marlowe Forfang

Jules

Josie finished chewing the biscuits she was eating and swallowed before replying. "The biscuits are really good thanks." she replied. After work Josie ended up quite hungry, so was grateful for a snack. "And it's Josie Jones. Nice to meet you Miss Binns." When speaking to working women, she always assumed they were a Miss. It did fill her heart with terror that she had gotten it wrong, but it was the best course of action.

"You're doing a great job with that," she added, motioning to the stain removal, "I'm glad I came in because I could never have dealt with the stains so easily."

  

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

"Well, if it weren't for my carelessness there wouldn't be stains to remove in the first place," she pointed out in response to Miss Jones' compliment. It wasn't as though what she was doing was difficult work; she was only applying a potion that had been made specifically for the task. The right tool for the right job made things easy — and the timing worked in their favor, too. If Miss Jones had waited until she'd gotten home, the stains would have started to set and then it was mostly a matter of luck whether even a strong potion would get them out. Luckily her guest had eventually taken her invitation to strip off the worst of the wet clothes.

Glancing over at her, Jules was struck by how small she looked, and how young. It was probably a function of the time of year; winter layers added a lot of bulk and losing them suddenly was bound to make anyone look small by comparison.

She finished with the potion and stoppered the bottle, which she placed on a nearby table. Most of the stains were gone, and the remaining ones were fading. She removed her wand and ran her hand over Miss Jones' dress, using a drying spell to finish what the warmth from the fire had begun. "This is ready," she said, removing the dress from the rack. "Should I help you put it on, or would you prefer to do it yourself?"

  

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Prof. Marlowe Forfang

Jules

"I can sort myself out." Josie replied, motioning towards her clothes. "It's the sort of frock that doesn't need a maid to help you. Obviously the only reason I don't wear Lytton clothing is that I can't get in and out of it myself." Josie delivered her joke dryly, but smirked at the end.

"And it's still much appreciated," she added, as she headed over towards the line to grab her clothes "You've done me a huge favour - and a thanks goes a long way."

She gave Miss Binns a warm smile of gratitude, then grabbed her bits and bobs off the line.

  

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the beauty is of course, MJ's

Juliana smiled at Miss Jones' joke. "It's not even that comfortable, really," she whispered as though she were sharing a secret. Mr. Lytton might not have been gratified to hear her say it, but Juliana was sure he knew it to be true and simply didn't care. Style over comfort. No one came to the House of Lytton for a set of new lounging pajamas.

"I'm glad we were able to get everything sorted," she continued brightly. "Take care, Miss Jones."

  

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Prof. Marlowe Forfang

Jules