I'm Dancing In The Dark With You ** (OPEN)

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open!
<3

It was Celia's opening day of her new shop in Hogsmeade! It had taken her a few months to find a manager of the boutique in Paris, but thankfully someone had come along that she trusted and was incredible at doing what they need to do and helping her run it from Countries away. C'est La Vie was doing so well in Paris that she had eventually saved up enough money to open another, and where better to do so then back at home in England? Especially a place where she could still keep an eye on her younger cousin, Cyrus' little sister.

She wondered if her first customer would be a student or not, but either way, she grinned brightly, turning the music on in the store. Celia took a quick run around the store, making sure everything was perfect and that the cash register was all set. They had clothes for both men and women, but the majority was for women. Shoes lined the back walls, and the shiny floors made her feel so at home. There were photos and paintings hung up on the walls of different places in France, and small light bulbs were hung around the room. Skipping over to the front door, Celia clicked the lock open, and made way to one of the tables, awaiting someone's presence.

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Of course the opening of a French boutique's first British outpost had had to coincide with a Hogsmeade weekend. Lucy had developed something of a resentment towards anything French, considering it was a new job in France that had separated her from Asa, though being one of the first few people in the doors didn't seem like a bad idea, either. What better way to assert her dominance over most of the rest of the Hogwarts student body than by snapping up the items that everyone else would be coveting in a few weeks' time?

To Lucy's surprise, not only was she one of the first people in the boutique; she was the first. The atmosphere was pleasant. Everything was neatly arranged, and music, too, was playing. It didn't seem to Lucy as though anyone was trying too hard, possibly because the woman who owned the shop wasn't much older than she was. Celia Ellsworth had been a number of years ahead of her in school, but she knew of her. The Ellsworths had always been well-respected, and there was the additional bonus of being able to support a female entrepreneur who had clearly done quite well for herself.

Spotting none other than Celia herself working there, Lucy gave a polite smile as she looked to see what was available. “Good morning,” she greeted, taking advantage of the fact that people were only just beginning to dwindle in to strike up a conversation. “Everything in here is lovely,” she remarked, a lace blouse catching her eye. “Do you design everything, as well?” Once people got word that the boutique was open, Lucy had no doubt that it would end up being packed.

@jill10

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@lucy
<3

The doorbell jingled open and Celia turned around, hands clasped together with a gentle smile. The girl who had walked in looked familiar, and if Celia thought hard enough she'd most likely be able to remember her name. But as of right now, she knew they had gone to school together. Many of those faces you don't really forget. And if she was being honest with herself, Celia recalled her being a Weasley. Though which one she wasn't even going to attempt to guess. Celia knew of Victoire, as they were only a year apart but the others were years younger.

The girl glanced around and Celia moved forward a few steps. "Good morning!" She complimented the clothes and Celia laughed quietly. "Well, merci, Miss! I do my own designs yes, it's something I've loved to do for years, and thankfully I've got plenty of drawings in my books." She saw her eyeing a lace blouse, and Celia walked closer to it. "Is there anything I can help you find or try on?"

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Celia thanked her, and Lucy forced herself to overlook the affected “merci”. She said that, yes, the designs were her own. “It's something I've loved to do for years, and thankfully I've got plenty of drawings in my books.”

Lucy nodded. It sounded as though Celia had no shortage of inspiration.

“Is there anything I can help you find or try on?”

She looked at the blouse again. “I quite like this blouse, actually…” she considered, already imagining how it might look on her. “Have you got a fitting room?”

@jill10

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@lucy
<3

The girl mentioned the blouse, and Celia grinned. She grabbed the second blouse and held it up, looking from the girl to the shirt. "You look like you'd be a small, correct?" Celia had become fairly well versed in being able to decipher the sizes of most men and women. She carried sizes up to a 2XL, and if asked would usually make something for someone if they needed it bigger.

"Dressing room, yes, right over here!" Celia waved the red haired girl over the left middle side of the store and hung the shirt up in one of the dressing rooms. She grabbed a marker out of her back pocket and looked back to her. "What's your name?"

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With no one else looking to try anything on yet, Lucy wasn't able to discern if Celia was trying to flatter her by suggesting that she would be a small or if the woman had a keen eye. Vanity sizing was much too common anymore, though Lucy couldn't say that she had ever fit into anything much larger. The blouse that Celia held up looked to be right, so she nodded, not questioning it.

Celia motioned her to the fitting room and hung the blouse up for her inside of it. Preparing to mark the door to signal that it was occupied, she asked for her name.

In case anyone else from Hogwarts decided to come into the boutique, there were pros and cons to using her actual name. On one hand, Lucy knew that she could mark C'est La Vie as her territory, which was not a terrible idea. On the other hand, she also wanted to see the look on someone's face when they discovered that—oops—they were wearing the same thing… and that it looked so much better on her. If only she and Anna were identical, she thought, she could have gotten away with using her sister's name. (And the perks she would have gotten for being the “Hogwarts Champion” would have been too good to pass up.)

“Lucy,” she answered. “Lucy Weasley.”

@jill10

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@lucy
<3

It seemed to Celia like the girl was questioning herself on what her name was, but her attitude never faltered. As the owner of the Boutique she did not want to give off any unusual actions to make it seem like she was judging a customer on anything. In France she had learned that quite quickly, as many of them were angered easily and did not show any type of nervousness.

And there it was, she's a Weasley. Celia nodded and immediately wrote Lucy on the door and gestured inside of it, clicking the cover back onto the marker. "There you go, Lucy. Let me know if it fits well or you need another size or style." She smiled widely at the girl. Putting the marker back in her front pocket of her coat she took a few steps outside of the door and waited, glancing around to see if there were any stations that needed refolding.