There was something about upcoming events or anything that made time seem to drag on. It was still only mid-July and time seemed to be ticking on very slowly, all one could really do was to find ways to kill time in any means. For some, it would be hanging out with their friends while for others it would be working the days away. Such was the case over at Lindsay's Tailoring, a quaint and humble shop that's undergone several changes throughout its time in the family. Inside the shop had three sections; upstairs for the family as a breakroom, a viewing station where the patrons could see one of the owners working on orders or little projects here and there, and the rest being the store for patrons to browse and shop.

Eloise was at the said viewing station as she was cutting the black fabric needed for her son's robes for the upcoming term. Her husband was on the floor showing customers around and even promoting the quilts they had; while they were but common blankets, Eloise had always said they held a special magic in them. A magic of blessing, due to her affinity with nature and music, she always poured her heart into every embroidery stitch; quilts with love in them would have flowers such as baby's breath or honeysuckle and even taking a step further with stitching a line from a song she deemed romantic enough. Her quilts of love were always popular especially around valentine's day.

Over at the checkout counter, Chrys was mindlessly flipping through the newspaper as he worked on his own embroidery project. Having grown up around a tailor for a mother, it was only natural that he would pick up the trade in some way, after all, he would be inheriting his mother's shop one day and he aimed to continue the family's tailoring legacy in one way or another. Of course, there was one part of the tradition he was expected to follow that was non-negotiable; whoever he wed would be part of the family, meaning that Lindsay's Quilts will one day become the name of the significant other. Chrys wasn't too worried, that was years to come and he had no intentions of marrying anyone, it would remain as Lindsay's for a very long time. As such, his mind was focused on other things; Hogwarts being one of them and what he was reading about in the newspaper, a new reptile house was opened at the local indoor zoo!

Setting the embroidery hoop down, he moved from the counter and approached his mother at the viewing stand, carefully moving by some of the customers watching her pin the fabric and pattern together. "Mom?" he called, to get her attention. "Can I go to the zoo? They have a new reptile house opened."

Eloise paused and looked up at Chrys with a stern expression. "And what are the rules?"

"Go straight to the zoo and back, don't talk to strangers, call if there's any delays."

"Then I see no reason why you can't go." She started to gently turn the handle for the chainstitch machine she was using.

It took a while for Chrys to move from the sight, he was always in awe whenever his mother used some of the older machines for something – mostly to show off. Silent and able to do thirty stitches per inch as she turned the handle of the old Willcox & Gibbs machine. Of course, Chrys dared not touch it, he knew his mother banned him from touching the older machines without her constant supervision and he was going to do just that; leave it alone and just carry on his day. He pulled from the crowd and grabbed his bag from the counter before making his way out of the shop, promising to be back soon.

A city that never rests; that could be said about a lot of places in the world, London was just one of many in that regard. It seemed no matter how often he was in town it was always busy, people rushing around to get to places and the noise coming from the cars around. Honestly, while he loved it here, it was always a blessing that he lived a little ways into the forest to block out the noises. Well, suppose that blessing was also a curse as he didn't really have neighbors so most of his childhood was being around kids his age in school or being at the family's shop, and it got a little lonely. After all, who wanted to hang out with the quiet tailor kid with the 'freak' of a father? Well, maybe there was a chance he'd make friends at his new school…everyone else had a 'freak' for a family, right? There's a common ground; they're able to use magic, they have family members who can use magic, it was a win-win!

Coming to the zoo, Chrys paid for the entrance fee and made his way inside and hurried over to the Reptile Room; he was actually excited to see the reptiles on display, and a part of him was hoping there was an enclosure with a cobra inside. Probably wouldn't find one, the zoos weren't that reckless in having one, but it would be amazing to see regardless. Still, the layout was amazing; it was spacious for people to walk around in, the enclosures varied in sizes but they were still big enough for some of the reptiles to move around, and there were a variety of well, reptiles.

Chrys had fallen in love with some of the turtles they had and even greeted a few in a soft sing-song voice whenever he stopped by them. But when it came to snakes it was another story altogether; he found himself drawn to them as he walked by the enclosures, the one that caught his attention most was a Burmese Python, he leaned on the rail and watched the sleeping serpent – was it asleep? The little scale cap over its eyes always made it hard to tell whether or not a snake was awake or just staring into the void.

"Move you dumb snake." A voice said.

Chrys looked over and found himself rolling his eyes; The Dursley Family, he never really got along with their biological son during the school years and frankly why would he? He was a massive jerk, and whenever the wife came into the shop it was a constant fight to not roll his eyes at the counter. All in all, he just didn't like them.

Though, now that he thought about it, Chrys had noticed that when it came to the family his mother had this weird way of talking with Mrs. Dursley. It felt like he was watching Glendale give that seminar to the Coldtaurs whenever his mother worked her own magic, well…suppose it made sense since his mother had her degree in psychology hanging in the shop. That still didn't mean Chrys had to like the Dursley Family by any means.

"Snakes are ambush creatures." Chrys said, albeit a bit harshly. "How else do you think they hunt?"

"Well he's not hunting, now is he Lindsay." Dudley sneered.

"Oh no?" Chrys pointed to a mouse scurrying around the enclosure, moving closer to the snake. "What do you call that in the enclosure? I'm pretty certain the snake's waiting for the mouse to get close enough to strike."

"Keep telling yourself that, freak."

If he didn't have a moral compass, promised his parents that the wand would remain at home, and if he wasn't in the public eye, Chrys probably would've slapped or jinxed him, even if that would stoop to his level! All he did was watch the three leave the snake and went to look at something else, probably to find another poor reptile to harass. He sighed and turned back to the python, at least his dinner was starting to get brave enough to go near him so he won't be stressed out at least.

"Sorry about him. He doesn't understand what it's like, laying there day after day, having people press their ugly faces in you."

Chrys was about to verbally agree, before he turned to see who said that. Messy black hair that hid a strange scar on his forehead, green eyes behind round thin glasses, no mistake it was the curious cousin of the Dursley family; Harry Potter, another classmate of his back during the school year. Unlike Dudley, he didn't really have strong opinions of Harry, he was just as quiet and 'a freak' as much as he was. He actually found some solace in that information, the only problem was…neither just made the attempt to approach the other, maybe it was because Harry was just good at hiding his true feelings? Well, he wouldn't be seeing him anyway, suppose it didn't matter if both talked this one time.

"Honestly, I don't get why people have to press up so close to the glass." Chrys looked at Harry. "You can see the handsome lad from where we are."

"Handsome?" Harry repeated, looking at the snake who was lifting its head at them. "He seems to like that, do you like being called handsome?"

The snake nodded. Wait…the snake nodded? Maybe it was just shaking, there was no way that the snake reacted to the question like that, they don't understand human speech. Clearly the surprise held in their eyes said it all, both looked at each other for a brief moment before turning back to the snake.

"Can…can you understand me?" Harry asked, they got another nod from the snake.

"Uh, I hate stating the obvious, but the snake understands you." Chrys said. "You're talking to a snake and it's understanding you."

"I can see that…" Harry paused. "Do you talk to people often?" The snake shook its head no. "I guess that was a given, not that many people would talk to animals, not unless it's a common house pet like a cat or dog."

Chrys just cleared his throat at that. "My mom talks to owls." He looked at Harry. "I think it just depends on the person, though I'm pretty certain the number of people talking to snakes is very slim…"

"Your mom talks to owls?" Harry raised an eyebrow at that.

"Well, yeah they're beautiful creatures." Chrys pointed to the snake. "And so is he, right buddy? You're beautiful." That the snake turned to look at Chrys. "…Did you understand that I called you beautiful just now?" no reaction that time.

"Maybe he only understands so much." Harry looked at the name of the snake. "So, you're from Burma…is it nice there?" the snake turned from them and looked over to the 'Bred in Captivity sign.' "Okay, he clearly understands what I'm saying…"

"Then maybe I'm just bad at talking to snakes." Chrys laughed lightly, his laughter got Harry to laugh a little bit as well.

"Maybe when I master the art of snake talk I'll teach you in class this term."

This term? He wouldn't be in the same school as him anymore. Chrys was now starting to feel some regret about wanting to head to Hogwarts in a heartbeat. The first and now probably only time he's spoken to someone who was just as quiet and a social outcast and he wouldn't see him again until next summer, and even if he was able to send letters to him…he doubted the Dursleys would honor him in reading them.

"Listen…uh, this might be weird, I know we've been classmates for a while – I don't think we've really formally introduced ourselves, so there's that as well, but…I'm actually…"

Just as he was about to tell his (hopefully) new friend that he was going to be starting school elsewhere, it happened. The brash cousin, Dudley came by and 'nudged' the two from the snake enclosure. It actually happened pretty sudden; both Chrys and Harry meeting the ground, the plexiglass vanishing and not only having Dudley fall in but also letting the snake out of the exhibit! It may have been their hearing, but both Harry and Chrys could've sworn it said thanks before it slithered off to who knows where! To make matters worse, the glass returned and Dudley was stuck inside until workers had rushed over to get the boy out, the entire zoo was in a pandemonium panic! All Chrys and Harry could do was just look at each other in silent confusion before they were separated with Chrys rushing out of the zoo to return home.

What on earth happened? How did that glass vanish? Why was that snake able to understand Harry and partially him? Magic had to have been involved, that was the only explanation, but how? Chrys didn't have his wand – he left it at home and he promised his parents he wouldn't use it outside the house or Hogwarts! So…how…

*
They didn't want to be here, what would a muggle shop have to remotely offer? Well, like with Diagon Alley, it took a lot of convincing to arrive at Lord Lindsay's establishment; it wasn't too hard to figure out where in the muggle side the little tailoring shop was, all he had to do was ask the cloak maker from Diagon Alley about Mrs. Lindsay and she was eager to tell him all about this shop. From there it was just asking a muggle where the shop was and patron it.

Small, quaint, it was hard to believe that the head of the Lindsay household and famous Quidditch chaser Alister would ever work here off seasons! It was actually amusing to see him helping other customers find what they need or filling out orders for something custom. Alister knew who he was when he walked in with his family; of course, he would know, even a blind person recognized the family crest!

"First time I've seen you on this side, Lucius." Alister greeted. "What can I help you with?"

His father just grinned at him. "I've been told you and your family were in Diagon Alley the other week, we've merely been curious what you were up to these days, Lindsay."

While the two were occupied, it was time to make a move, slinking through the racks of quilts and looking them over – very high quality, in terms of a small store like this. Beautifully embroidered too if he had to admit to himself. Of course, he was here for one reason only; him. The very heir of the Lindsay household. Chrysanthos Lindsay, the heir was at the counter ringing up orders like some sort of a plebian, if the heir wasn't doing that he was working on some embroidery project (alright, assuming if Chrysanthos was one of the contributors of making the quilts, he actually had some skill in the field. Useless, but still skillful).

As much as he wanted to continue watching, his target moved from the counter and hurried over to where his mother was with an old sewing machine. So Muggles still hadn't advanced much in terms of the sewing department, how very typical! Of course, that machine had its uses, it clearly was taken care of as it continued to run smoothly as she was about to assemble – what he assumed to be – the first robe for Hogwarts. Putting that on the backburner, he listened as he overheard Chrysanthos asking about going to some zoo to look at reptiles, with the approval the boy was out the door. No. He wasn't going to let him out of his sight. Nodding to his father, he followed the Lindsay Heir out of the shop, down the busy (and very noisy) streets of London until they came upon the zoo in question.

He'll admit, it was pretty neat seeing these animals on display – especially the snakes. He stayed at a distance looking over at a rainbow boa as well as observing from a distance. Chrysanthos was arguing with some boy about the Burmese Python on display, unlike the Lindsay heir, it wouldn't be too much to get out the wand and make an example out of that muggle boy. Never got the chance to as the brute left him alone. Shame, well, there's always next time in the future. Of course, now Lindsay was talking with someone just as quiet as him, they were so soft he couldn't hear a word! This annoyed him greatly.

Well, at least entertainment came in the form of a vanishing glass, and honestly, he can say he had no hand in it! Did he thought about it? Well, yes, but he didn't even have time to get his wand out; either it was Chrysanthos or that other boy that caused the glass to vanish and also trapping the brute from before inside the enclosure while freeing a snake. Oho, so the Lindsay boy was a troublemaker! Suppose someone was going to have to watch over him when they were at Hogwarts together. Of course, first would have to be leaving the scene of the chaos as well – as much fun as it would be to enjoy the suffering of the brute trapped in the empty snake enclosure, he couldn't linger around much longer, not when his target was fleeing from the site as well. No doubt it was back to that small little tailor shop that the boy mostly called home, which is fine, he could finally see the end results of the cloak that was made by that muggle mother of his. Time to see if it would be up to par with what they're used to.

"I can't believe it." Lucius was holding the sleeve of a robe. "You've mixed cotton with raw silk to make this?" He looked over the stitches. "Chain stitch too I see."

Eloise smiled with pride. "I don't work with these materials that often, but when I do…I take the extra care, which is why I use my grandfather's Wilcox & Gibbs machine. Thirteen chains per inch with just a crank of a handle. Gentle on the fabrics as well."

"How remarkable!" His eyes turned to the Chrysanthos boy that had returned to the shop. "Ah, and here is who I assume this robe is for, the Young Lindsay."

That was enough for Alister to gently guide his son over to his side and hold him away from the head of the Malfoy family. It was a sight that never got old, the Malfoy Family was renowned for a reason and respected above all in the wizarding World.

"Yes, my son will be attending Hogwarts this year." Alister said, with a tint of pride in his voice. "We've already done our shopping and we're just running the shop until it's time to board the train."

"Of course." It was time to make an appearance, his father was quite the figure when it came to introductions. "My son will be there as well, why, I believe they'll even be in the same year together. Perhaps our sons will even become the best of friends, wouldn't you say, Draco?"

That was all Draco needed to approach the Lindsay boy face to face; the steel grey eyes staring into Chrysanthos' hazel eyes as he held his hand out for a handshake all the while wearing a grin that could be described as a Cheshire cat's grin. A grin that grew that when the boy reached out to take his hand to shake, Draco latched on with a tight grip; tight enough to keep him still but not enough to leave a mark

"Yes, Father…I'm sure Chrysanthos and I will be very good friends."