The urchin blinked back a stunned expression, wondering how she could have gotten Missus Crouch so wrong. If she looked at the woman's hand, there it was plain as day. A ring. Charley smacked her palm into her head with an audible sound, not caring how many heads she turned. The only one she cared about shook nearly hard enough to dislodge the cap that kept her head dry and her braids tucked away. "Blimey, Missus, and I en't one to miss that sort o' thing. A hundred times I musta looked, too!"
Charley scoffed and blew a spout of air up past her nose, waving a strand of hair that had come lose from her head. She glared at it for a second before looking past to Missus Crouch. The woman was practically doting on her, and all Charley had to show for it was a gigantic flub about her married nature. That would never do.
Sitting up straighter, the urchin did her best to recite off the lessons Mrs. Mann had drilled into her over the past few weeks.
"They're just fine, I reckon. Mrs. Mann wasn't all too happy about my wand waving, she says I let my wrist go limp at all the wrong times." Charley said, holding her eyes steady so they could roll like they had in front of the shop matron. The urchin was sure her form hadn't been all that bad, it wasn't like anyone else in her year at Hogwarts was all that much better. That was when Mrs. Mann pointed out that her peers would be starting their third year in a month and she'd finally relented. A petulant tug at her lips came along with the memory, "I had to practice swishing until my arm near fell off, and she only really let up on me when I said I'd never be able to hold a watering can again if she didn't."
Her wrist might have swished a hundred times again for how sore it felt at the moment, complaining at the mere thought of doing those swishes again. It wasn't like Charley could blame it, she hated them just as much. She took a bite of the ice cream to try to forget it all, letting it melt away with the frozen dessert.
"Then there was, lessee." Charley tapped a sticky finger against her chin, muddled in thoughts that had to fight the threat of another cold spell. She mastered it quickly, her face alight with the glow of victory. "Oh! Mrs. Mann taught me those spells for tidying up the shop. Not the grand one like she does come closing to set the whole broom closet at work, more the ones that gather up the dust and grime in one spot so I can sweep it away. Mrs. Mann says the drapes need tending every day and that's how I can get good at it, but they make me cough something wicked let me tell you!"
She looked pointedly over at Benevolence, not entirely sure the woman had ever cleaned a set of drapes in her life. If that really was the case, then it was about time someone told her what it could do to a body.
"Oh, and this one time, a bloke shopping in right near tipped a pot and I used that to clean up all the dirt that wobbled out!" Charley said more proudly, taking a triumphant spoon of ice cream between answers. It was melting faster now, so she spoke more quickly, all the better to have more time to shovel the rest of the dessert into her mouth before it became a puddle in her bowl.
"An' there's the plant things she wants me to learn. Not to give the orchids too much water or they'll drown, and keeping the Whispering Wisteria Vines separated so they don't get into spats. Are they always that much of handful?"
Her two scoops were all but gone now. Charley gazed down wistfully, scraping the spoon against the bowl with all the dedication of a raccoon washing his supper. She ignored the cries it made as the metal screeched against the bowl, too intent on scraping up the precious droplets of the dessert instead. Her belly cried as well, begging for more.
The urchin had none to give it, nor was she going to ask. Missus Crouch was being too nice as was today, it wouldn't do to put her out of sorts. Particularly not since the shop owner seemed all too happy to overlook her own shortcomings, Charley wasn't about to make her rethink that stance. Instead, she made herself put down the spoon and wipe her mouth with the back of her hand. As clean and presentable as she could make herself, the urchin told her benefactor, "That was sooooo good. Thanks a hundred times, Missus Crouch."
Charley scoffed and blew a spout of air up past her nose, waving a strand of hair that had come lose from her head. She glared at it for a second before looking past to Missus Crouch. The woman was practically doting on her, and all Charley had to show for it was a gigantic flub about her married nature. That would never do.
Sitting up straighter, the urchin did her best to recite off the lessons Mrs. Mann had drilled into her over the past few weeks.
"They're just fine, I reckon. Mrs. Mann wasn't all too happy about my wand waving, she says I let my wrist go limp at all the wrong times." Charley said, holding her eyes steady so they could roll like they had in front of the shop matron. The urchin was sure her form hadn't been all that bad, it wasn't like anyone else in her year at Hogwarts was all that much better. That was when Mrs. Mann pointed out that her peers would be starting their third year in a month and she'd finally relented. A petulant tug at her lips came along with the memory, "I had to practice swishing until my arm near fell off, and she only really let up on me when I said I'd never be able to hold a watering can again if she didn't."
Her wrist might have swished a hundred times again for how sore it felt at the moment, complaining at the mere thought of doing those swishes again. It wasn't like Charley could blame it, she hated them just as much. She took a bite of the ice cream to try to forget it all, letting it melt away with the frozen dessert.
"Then there was, lessee." Charley tapped a sticky finger against her chin, muddled in thoughts that had to fight the threat of another cold spell. She mastered it quickly, her face alight with the glow of victory. "Oh! Mrs. Mann taught me those spells for tidying up the shop. Not the grand one like she does come closing to set the whole broom closet at work, more the ones that gather up the dust and grime in one spot so I can sweep it away. Mrs. Mann says the drapes need tending every day and that's how I can get good at it, but they make me cough something wicked let me tell you!"
She looked pointedly over at Benevolence, not entirely sure the woman had ever cleaned a set of drapes in her life. If that really was the case, then it was about time someone told her what it could do to a body.
"Oh, and this one time, a bloke shopping in right near tipped a pot and I used that to clean up all the dirt that wobbled out!" Charley said more proudly, taking a triumphant spoon of ice cream between answers. It was melting faster now, so she spoke more quickly, all the better to have more time to shovel the rest of the dessert into her mouth before it became a puddle in her bowl.
"An' there's the plant things she wants me to learn. Not to give the orchids too much water or they'll drown, and keeping the Whispering Wisteria Vines separated so they don't get into spats. Are they always that much of handful?"
Her two scoops were all but gone now. Charley gazed down wistfully, scraping the spoon against the bowl with all the dedication of a raccoon washing his supper. She ignored the cries it made as the metal screeched against the bowl, too intent on scraping up the precious droplets of the dessert instead. Her belly cried as well, begging for more.
The urchin had none to give it, nor was she going to ask. Missus Crouch was being too nice as was today, it wouldn't do to put her out of sorts. Particularly not since the shop owner seemed all too happy to overlook her own shortcomings, Charley wasn't about to make her rethink that stance. Instead, she made herself put down the spoon and wipe her mouth with the back of her hand. As clean and presentable as she could make herself, the urchin told her benefactor, "That was sooooo good. Thanks a hundred times, Missus Crouch."
![[Image: bZbZdaH.png]](https://i.imgur.com/bZbZdaH.png)