First meeting Pv

It felt strange, yet calming, to be back in the muggle world again. At least, as calming as a place could be for the perpetually anxious boy. At least here, there would be minimal chance for something to unexpectedly blow up, come to life and eat the his hand, summon a goat from seemingly thin air, or all three at the same time, in that order. Most of all, life was predictable. While some from his class would miss it all dearly, wishing to never go back to the dull life of before, wishing to never need hear endless droning on about businesses and banking and muggle history when there was an entire world of mythical creatures come alive waiting for them, Leonard was perfectly content being able to predict all events in the day.

And yet, there was something nagging at the back of his head. Something that said that though some of his experiences in the castle had been rather unpleasant, some of it he did miss. Acquaintances he'd plotted dominance of the school with, glowing potions much more exciting than any volcano he'd seen at science fairs, and perhaps even the thrill of adventure, though the last time he'd had what one could consider adventure he nearly got himself landed in the Hospital Wing. He wasn't usually sentimental, and yet he found himself wearing his Slytherin tie for weeks after school had ended.

"Hi. I think I remember you from school this year. Would it be possible we were in the same House?" A boy no older than he was asked.

Leonard smiled. It was a nice surprise to see another wizard in London. He had about half an hour before his father would come back to collect him, and what better way to spend that time conversing about the absolute atrocity that was Hogwarts?

"If that house was affiliated with snakes, cunning, and ambition, then, yes, I'd say we were in the same House."

Leonard then whispered to the boy, "Best not to talk about it with a bunch of muggles around, though."

“Name’s Leonard. Leonard Oaksworth,” he said, taking the hand of the other and shaking it. While his usual hygiene habits would prohibit him from doing so, he could make an exception. After all, a fellow Slytherin would most likely not forego washing their hands, being part of the obviously superior house in terms of intellect. Well, perhaps not the superior house, since he’d met many people who brought down the reputation of the house of serpents with behaviour as mature as kindergartners. No matter, it was likely William, he now knew, would not be such a person.

He studied the other snake, eyes darting to every feature of the boy for quick first impressions. A sober face seemed to be the automatic expression of his, something the two shared. While others may have found an unsmiling face to be something worrying, Leonard didn’t mind much. An expression such as that usually meant thoughtfulness, and one was not to fault another for having an inexplicably racing mind. If anything, it was something to be commended. So far, so good.

And, while on the topic of the boy’s features, it also didn’t hurt that the other was fairly good looking. He wasn’t one to judge others based on looks, but if someone’s grooming was that impeccable it said something quite good about their character.

“Hogwarts really is a strange place, isn’t it? I mean, I nearly burned my hand off in the very first lesson. Or was it fourth? Or perhaps both? I don’t know, it all blurs together, really,” he chuckled a bit. While Leonard had taken measures to make sure he’d stay in touch with his fellow makers of mischief over the summer through letters, it never had quite the same effect as physically being in the same place as a fellow wizard. “Only thing I really remember from there are the people. Weird people, there are. Not weird in a bad sense, just, weird. Although I can’t really say who’s weird without being an absolute hypocrite, after all, I am the person who once accidentally made a book fly just so nobody else could borrow it.”

“Uh, I was four, back then,” he rushed to clarify. If he were to make a friend out of the only other Hogwarts student he’d met this summer, being known as a selfish prick who would make things levitate to keep it out of others’ reach wasn’t exactly the way to do it. “I’ve gotten much better at sharing.”

“What about you, William? Any experiences that may or may not involve fire from our dear old school you’d like to share?”

It had been a while since Leonard met someone that he would truly consider to be someone alike, a kindred spirit with the generally same amount of dislike for the death trap of the academy they both attended to. Everyone he'd encountered in the school year had been filled to the brink of their bodies with excitement and wonder for the perilous lessons of flight and the sports that were almost certain to end with every member somewhere near their passing before the age of thirteen. It was an enigma, a mystery to him. In his case, the wonder and love for it all had expired as soon as he caught a glimpse of how many burn marks were on his table for Charms class.

Fortunately for him, the boy across him was to break the streak of tired insistences on why school wasn't exactly the best thing in life. It was fun, in a way, and fun was not at all something that Leonard experienced. If one were to ask any person who'd known the snake for even a minute whether or not fun was something common to be seen on his face, it was likely the answer would be a resounding no, so this was a feat in his mind, one he didn't quite understand how it had occurred, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. Perhaps the fun came from making someone laugh a bit with biting comments about their peculiarly named school. Perhaps the fun came from making someone who appeared to be the stoic type actually smile. Perhaps it was both. He didn't know, as previously stated, he wasn't at all familiar with fun. Though, if this was what fun felt like, he was quickly getting used to it.

"Weird thing is, Herbology was one of the better subjects for me. I nearly passed out more than a few times, but that's much less than most other classes. Might come from the fact I've been watering my neighbour's flowers for most of my life. You should come with me, we can practice not being disasters with plants together," the words came out quickly, confusing Leonard slightly. He didn't usually invite others to his own home, much less a boy he didn't know the existence of until around a minute prior. Another strange thing, one to be investigated later. "Now, Charms? That was a theatre of many, many accidents. I swear, it's either my focus gets me a good grade or it gets my life expectancy to be chopped in half. Same with Transfiguration, which, if I'm being honest, is probably the one class I'd cut out of my schedule if I could. Can't turn wood to metal if my family depended on it."

A sigh of relief came from Leonard as the other boy accepted the offer. He still wasn't sure what he'd been thinking, really. It seemed the school he'd been condemning for the past few minutes decided to bring on the singular good trait it had to show that not everything about it was utterly awful: spontaneity. As with everything, however, the older snake managed to find the negative in his horrific outburst of friendliness, deciding to backtrack a tiny bit.

"I mean, sure, yes, it definitely still stands," he replied. "I'd love to hose down some flowers with you. Be warned, though, the place has this absolutely giant dog, so it'd be best if you'd wear a raincoat. Seriously, it's like a flood of saliva when Fangs manages to get his paws on you."

Despite his light laughter at the end of his comment, nervousness was now clear in his expression as he fidgeted with the bottom button of his shirt. Really, what was happening to him? Had one of the phantoms followed him from the halls of Hogwarts and thought this was the right time to possess him? How long would it be until his head started literally spinning?

Clearing his throat and composing himself, he said what he'd meant to say before being chosen as this mystery spirit's new vessel.

"But, well, it probably won't be able to happen anytime soon. My dad's preparing for this business trip all the way in Dublin that lasts around a month, and I'm going with him, so it'll have to wait. That being said, though," he took a pen from his pocket, then caught a stray sticky note floating along the street. Quickly scrawling his address down, he gave it to William. "Head here once September's over. If my mum's asking why you're there, tell her you're there to see Leo."

Addressing the latter part of the other boy's words, he repeated them in something close to disbelief.

"Transfiguration in relation to science," he trailed off, contemplating how one could possibly create an explanation for the relevance of the two subjects. Though in his brief pondering ended in no results, he did know only a creative, curious mind could do so. As such, his own mind became much more curious about his partner in conversation. "I always felt as though Potions was closer to science than anything else for obvious reasons. Also helped that I grew up in a bakery. Baking's closer to Potions and chemistry than most people think, especially the burning part."

Leonard, upon further inspection of his feelings buried deep within the thick layers of awkwardness and general denial, found he was content. A rarity within the confines of existence, but one he found was more common when in the company of someone who shared a logical mind, as William clearly was. He was having fun, even, without the presence of a trophy newly won or a bothersome peer falling into mud.

The snake made a mental note to plan more meetings with the other boy, whether involving that of plant caretaking or another activity entirely. He had limited time left in the predictable, dull, utterly brilliant muggle world, and he was absolutely going to make the most of it.

"See, I tried to convince one of my other housemates of the similarities between those two things, never worked. You're a lad after my own soul, William," he replied. "I'm sure we'll get along fine once schedules allow for a bout of gardening."

He addressed the latter portion of his conversation partner's chatter with a glance to his back and a slightly more stilted smile. "No, no, I wouldn't say I have to go just yet. I'm waiting for my dad to get back from his business meeting, and even if he told me it'd only take ten minutes to sort all the affairs out, he always takes at least half an hour before he actually gets to the business things," he replied, hoping not to attract the mystical forces of some deity's spite and cut one of his most enjoyable. He'd barely opened his mouth when he was, as expected yet denied, proven wrong.

"Leo! My boy!" A familiar voice exclaimed much sooner than expected, causing Leonard to jump a bit. "Where are you? Did you get picked up by the mannequin bloke again? Leonard Wendell Oaksworth!"

"Merlin's sake," he muttered, stopping himself before saying much worse, definitively muggle words that would make him something of a brutish sailor. Really, one of the scarce times he was getting along easily with someone occurred on the same day as his father finally getting serious about marketing strategies? Running a quick estimate, Leonard had expected the chances to be something between never and not happening.

Alas, it was happening. The man who could spend hours discussing the creation of a singular pie had turned into someone who, well, didn't do so, much to Leonard's chagrin. No matter, it was better than the equal chance of a house coming to life and destroying the entirety of East Sussex.

"Coming, Dad," he exclaimed in the newly-decided businessman's direction, a slight groan dragging his tone down.

"Well, guess this is goodbye, then," he waved a little, then cleared his throat. "I hope to see you soon, William. I really do."

"LEONARD WENDELL-"

Leonard bolted off in the direction of his shrieking guardian, hoping to quiet his father down before another exclamation of his full name would be heard throughout the United Kingdom.