Charley's smile quickly vanished, replace by a seething scowl. The horsefaced girl had no sense of respect, just none at all. Anyone could see her song was just a silly gimmick, it couldn't do any real harm. It wasn't like the urchin wanted to see the Potts shop burned down or anything terrible to befall them. Still, as long as she lived —or worked at Montague's, anyway— the Florist Potts would be her number one enemy.

The older girl rocking her shoulder was making a strong case for number two.

"Oi!" she cried out with the force of the blow, and spun around just as fast. Charley struck without thinking, thrusting the heels of both her hands right into haughty girl's back and shoving hard. The motion almost knocked her out of balance herself, which only drew her narrowed eyes in further. Rude as it was to lay her hands on another, it was ruder still to try knocking the urchin down to the ground.

The fury in her came down hard, planting the other foot behind her first. Charley squared her shoulders, and puffed her chest forward, wishing herself two sizes bigger so she might make a bolder impression. "I en't a liar," she started, the indignant word full of spittle hoping to reach the other girl. There were times when she had been called uncouth, but here was the living, breathing definition of the word. Her freckles blurred together now, with her eyes both threatening to cross the other. If she wasn't wearing it herself, Charley might have started seeing red about now. "An' you don't fool me, I know yer kind."

She snorted this time, feeling the bullish heat coming from her own nose. The urchin tossed her head once, if it was only that easy to lose the scent gave her such disgust. The ill-mannered girl could have come along, even just to humor her. Then they would both be smelling the sweet scent of flowers, rather than this odious reek. "Thinking yer so much better 'cause yer still at Hogwarts. Not everybody gets to point their nose that high."

---