Stick Them With The Pointy End

[Adasia Mohr]

Adasia didn't usually buy her clothes from clothing shops. She was rich and she could afford custom-made dresses. Not to mention that Adasia hated wearing the same clothes as other girls. She liked being original and that couldn't be accomplished if she bought her clothes from clothing shops.

But Adasia had seen a dress a couple of days ago and she decided that she wanted it. Her governess had tried to change her mind and tell her that they could find a better one, but Adasia, being the stubborn girl that she was, decided that she wanted that dress and that nobody could change her mind or make her buy anything else.

So they went to buy it, but the lady who was working in the fitting room was the clumsiest person ever and she pinched Adasia with a needle more than once. Finally, the half-veela could not stand it anymore and said with an exasperated voice: "That's enough! If I am pinched once again I am afraid that I will return home with less blood in my body!" she complained to her governess who sighed and walked away with the employee in order to find a new one. Adasia sighed and sat on a stool and waited patiently for someone better and more experienced to come.

  

[Marissa Greene]

Even if Marissa could afford expensive dresses she was æforced' to ask her older brother for money. Cory was the head of the family, but he was acting very much like her real father because Marissa could not remember any other. Losing her parents when she was three months old, it was natural that she was thinking of Cory as the closest thing she had to her father, even if he was only eleven years older than her. It never stopped them from being close, even if she was left with their grandmother while Cory and Casey were at Hogwarts.

Having just been getting new coal-pieces and paper for her sketching, Marissa had asked her older sister and her chaperone if they could go into Twilfit and Tattings and at least look for maybe a new dress for when she would be starting school again in less than two months. I cannot understand that it is already july. My darling little niece is so sweet. she thought with a smile on her lips as she entered, just to hear a young female voice, at least what Marissa would guess it would be, complain about being pinched.

She bit back a reply that would not be looked well upon, but instead she stepped closer and looked around. "I am sure they did not pinch you on purpose." She said casually and smiled friendly to the young girl who was clearly getting a dress fitted.

  

[Abigail Ashwood]

Abigail did not usually work. That was her brothers' role. It was Abigail's job to keep the house clean, make clothes for her brothers, cook, and look after her mother. However, today was different. Both her brothers had the day off, and this morning, she got an owl, requesting her assistance at Twilfits and Tatting's. Two of the usual seamstresses had taken ill, and they were so short-staffed they turned to Abigail.

To her, it was a dream come true. Exquisite fabrics! Beautiful threads! Designs that were to die for! Even if it was only for a day, it would be a day that she would never forget.

She was just out the back, working on the most beautiful gown, when poor Trinia, the other shop girl, came in exasperated. "There's another young rich twist out there. Can't stand her. Say's I pinched her. By Merlin's mum... Abigail, you go out and help the little miss. I'll work on this." Trinia snatched up the dress. "Go on! Don't wanna loose a client!"

So Abigail sighed. She wasn't terribly good at selling things. She walked out from the back, and saw a young girl in the process of being fitted. This was the girl.

"Can I help you, Miss?"

  

[Adasia Mohr]

Adasia was usually good at maintaining a friendly profile, but this time she was too irritated and exasperated to bother doing that. An older girl approached and if Adasia did not have manners she would have told her to go away and mind her on business. Nobody had asked her to come and Adasia didn't want to hear people defend that idiotic employee who couldn't even do her job properly!

"I do not care if they did it on purprose!" Adasia commented, fighting an urge to roll her eyes. "It is her job to make sure that I am never pinched. If she cannot do that then she might as well seek employment elsewhere!"

At least that useless girl had found her replacement quickly. Adasia just nodded and stood from her stool, so the new girl could continue what the other had left in the middle.

  

[Marissa Greene]

Marissa took a deep breath and looked at the youngest girl. When the other girl came and asked if she could help, Marissa just gestured towards the youngest, not needing any serious help except from her sister. "Anyone makes mistakes, it is in the human nature." She said softly, not wanting to give in, but at the same time she would not resolve to yell. She was stronger than that, she was not going to let the young girl win this round. "Marissa, what do you think of this dress?" asked her sister and per instinct Marissa turned her head to look at the dress Casey had found.

The soft creamy colored dress was simple, yet elegant. Marissa was not sure what she would use the dress for, maybe when she was older and had to go to balls to search for a husband, but the fourteenth year old could not see any other reason to wear it. "I do not know, when would I need it?" she asked gently, wanting to hear her sister's reason of why she needed that dress. She looked back to the two other girls, slightly judging the dress the youngest was getting fitted. It was quite beautiful and suited the young girl in color, but Marissa kept her mouth shut for now.

  

[Abigail Ashwood]

Abigail got started on the little girl's dress. It was nice enough, she thought. Nothing special. Pale blue. A little out of fashion, a darker blue would've been much more suitable in Abigail's opinion. Jewel tones, now they were in. Gorgeous greens, ravishing reds, glamorous golds... oh they were to die for. But then again, probably not best for one as young as her client.

She deftly pinned the hems and seams. "Would you be wanting your waist to be high or low, Miss?" She inquired. The design said that it could be adapted to either, but it was more common to have a mid waist. But, looking at the girls frame, an empire waist would be just lovely.

The other clients were looking at another dress. Cream. Simple, pretty, and not at all the right colour, in Abigail's mind. She tried to bite her tongue, which was hard enough when her mouth was filled with pins. No body wanted her opinion, they just wanted the dresses.

  

[Adasia Mohr]

Although she didn't even know the older girl's name, Adasia already disliked her. She wasn't going to tolerant being considered cruel when she was the victim of the situation! The woman had pinched her and then some people dared to protect that lady who couldn't even do her job properly. This older girl was surely a petty Hufflepuff.

The second seamstress didn't pinch her, but Adasia doubted that she knew anything about fashion at all. "Low, of course! We are not in the 1820s, nor I am in need of a night-gown."

She turned her eyes to the Petty Hufflepuff, who seemed to have picked a creamy coloured dress. "It is obvious, by the colour, that this would be most suited for tea, or perhaps a morning dress." Adasia commented, sounding as friendly as her irritation would allow her to sound. She was good at hiding her emotions (unless it was anger), so unless the Petty Hufflepuff was a legilimens, there was no way she would have known how much Adasia wanted her eyes to be clawed off by owls.

  

[Marissa Greene]

Marissa was not going to say anything else to the younger girl, in Marissa's head no one was above anyone else, they were just unlucky enough to not be born in the good families like Marissa and the young girl. As the new seamstress, who did not look much older than Marissa, asked of the waist and was snapped at, Marissa used every fiber in her body to not lash out after the young girl who did not seem very polite. She took a breathe and closed her eyes, calming herself down. It was not something Marissa usually had to do, she usually had her emotions under control.

"A few years and I could use it for a ball-gown. But Casey, the young lady is right. I have plenty of those dresses. If you insist on getting me more dresses it would be a walking-day-time dress. Maybe something in blue tones?" she said to her sister. She turned to look at Adasia, tilting her head slightly and admiring the dress. It was really beautiful, but Marissa was not going to copy the dress.

  

[Abigail Ashwood]

It was times like these when Abigail hated being poor. Not because she was surrounded by things she could never afford, but because those who could afford everything never so much counted her as a human being. It was all she could do to stop herself from stabbing the girl with pins in spite.

A low waist? Really? At eleven, Abigail was doing everything she could to be a lady. And dropped waists were so juvenile. "Would you like a pinafore with the dress too, miss? It seems a shame not to, and ruin your pretty dress." Not that the dress would be pretty with a low waist. Urgh. Well, it'd still be nice, but the dress was a lady's dress. Not for mere children, even if they were rich.

Whilst she was sewing, she looked up at the other girls. Perhaps they were going to change their minds about the colour. Abigail couldn't resist putting in her two cents. "Yes. A deep blue would be lovely, with pale blue embroidery, perhaps? And a jacket, for walking. We have some lovely designs in the left corner, if it pleases you."

  

[Adasia Mohr]

She could use it for a ball gown?! How could this girl even think about using something as a ball gown when that could be used--and was obviously supposed to be used--as a every day dress? Did she wear her nightgowns and riding habits as ball gowns as well? It was now very clear to Adasia why this girl seemed to be so supportive of those seamstresses. If she couldn't make the difference between a ball gown and an every day gown then she obviously would support stupid seamstresses that couldn't do their job properly.

And as if the Petty Hufflepuff's mistake wasn't enough, the seamstress suggested she put on a pinafore above her dress. What was she, seven? She was still young, true, but she hardly looked like a child.

"Do I look like the seven-year-old daughter of some farmer, Miss?" Adasia snapped at the seamstress, as she turned around abruptly. "I want you to make this dress like it was shown on the mannequin! With a fashionable low waist and no pinafore, for Merlin's sake! So stop with the stupid questions and do your job properly!"

  

[Marissa Greene]

Marissa was not going after what she wanted to wear, but what looked the best on her depending on the dress and what she needed it for. She smiled as the seamstress seemed to agree with her. Marissa had never been one to try and understand fashion, a dress was a dress in her eyes, which was why she was asking those who worked in the shops most of the time and them combined it with her sister to help her. Casey was far better at it than Marissa was.

“See Casey, there is nothing wrong with having a selection of blue dresses.” She said with a smile. Okay, so Marissa had several different blue dresses at home, she loved blue dresses in different cuts and shades. Blue was definitely her favourite colour and she felt it made her eyes look even more pretty than they did on their own. She loved her eyes.

She tensed in her jaw as the youngest girl snapped again. “I assume you want the dress to look as good as it possibly can get. Well, she is asking to make sure the dress is getting exactly like you want it.” She said, trying to defend the poor young seamstress who seemed to be stuck with the young demanding girl. Without waiting for a long time, she began to walk slowly towards the left corner to look at the designs the seamstress had suggested.

  

[Adasia Mohr]

Adasia sent a glare at the older girl. She didn't need her to be the good protector of the poor. Adasia wanted her dresses to be perfect and if her seamstress didn't have the same images as her then she clearly couldn't be helpful at all.

"Your comments are nor needed nor appreciated, Miss." Adasia said with a painfully polite voice and an equally 'polite' smile.

  

[Marissa Greene]

Marissa took a deep breath. “You get much father will real politeness.” She replied before she took a closer look at the dress she might consider buying. She had plenty of time to think about it, she was more than settled for the summer, she would not need any new dresses until closer to school, then she would seriously consider if she needed some new dresses.

“Casey, this is pointless. You know I do not mind the dresses from Gladrag’s, and I have more than plenty of dresses for the summer.” She said, looking at her sister, hoping that Casey would leave it there and give her time to think about the dresses. Marissa was raised in the upper-class, but she had a kind soul, it was not easy for her to just waste money on dresses, when she could use them to help others.

  

[Adasia Mohr]

Adasia just raised her eyebrows in a rather mocking way at the girl's words. Real politeness was for the poor and ugly, not her. She was not going to be polite when some idiot girl had pinched her with needles and then some other asked stupid question after stupid question.

When the older girl mentioned Gladrag's Wizardwear, Adasia just scoffed and murmured. "So middle class."

  

[Marissa Greene]

Marissa just sent a glare at the younger girl. “It is a matter of knowing how to spend your money. You only need expensive dresses if you are not confident in yourself. They are a front, a shield of protection from letting people know the real you. Just because some of us worries more about the inside than the outside.” She said with an annoyed look in her eyes as well as in her voice.

“Casey, come on, we can look tomorrow if you really insist on getting me a new dress.” She said and looked at her sister before she began walking out of Twilfit and Tattings.

  

[Adasia Mohr]

The nerve of that girl! She was attacking Adasia and her words were not even smart ones! Did Adasia really look like someone who didn't have confidence to that goose? Only ugly people believed in inner beauty and strenght! Besides, Adasia could wear a pillowcase and she would still look good. That older girl, on the other hand, was horse-faced and ugly and it was a pity she didn't want to wear something nice so she could at least look presentable.

It was sad, really.

At least the seamstress finished quickly; Adasia didn't want to spend more time in that ridiculous shop. She had learnt her lesson, her dress would only be custom made from now on.