Lua waved her wand with a careful, steady hand-- something she had been working on for ages now-- and bit the side of her lip in anticipation. The knot looped itself slowly, mid-air, and then tugged tight into the braid of colors that was so unlike the fine, uniform tassels at the corners of the well-kept tapestries that dotted Hogwarts.

Her watchful expression became a more obvious grin. Another bit was finished. She couldn’t wait to write her sister about it-- she’d send it, even, but she knew that delivering a magicked gift, however innocent, into the hands of a muggle, was grounds for government intervention. She could only imagine the look on her dad’s face if that happened. (Admittedly, this only made her smile more, out of fondness.) Mr. Taylor was wary enough of the muggle government, and though he found Lua’s gift positively psychedelic, a government that was actually capable of wiping memory would be alarming to him.

Not that he would remember.

She smiled wider and shook her head, shaking out messy curls in the process.

Teacup, the niffler, took this as a sign of encouragement, and his little paws found their way up on to Lua’s pretzel-crossed leg. He sniffed around the loud pattern of her trousers before finding the end of the braided jewelry.

She held it up, inspecting it with unfussy approval, letting it hang just low enough for Teacup's enjoyment. A few more beads, some feathers (only ones that had been shed and gathered from her friends in the hippogriff paddock, of course), and the brooch she had bought on a day trip to the beach would finish it nicely. She had already pinned a brassy nicknack to its purple, lilac, and turquoise, center, a lucky cat-- whoever said they were unlucky was a silly person-- with bits of color that changed idly in the sunlight. It winked at her. “Cheeky thing,” she announced, running her fingers over its little head.

The niffler tilted his head at her, and Lua laughed. “Not you. Well, maybe you,” she said, reasonably.

The little ropes of the charm barcelet (in the aforementioned hues, plus blood orange, cloudless sky, and thin strands of sunshine yellow) had a few dots of potions lining them, a Cheering Charm here, a Warming Charm there, simple magic that allowed Lua to practice spells and do something fun. She was the most successful when homework turned into an adventure, a story, or a little bit of innocent trouble. It was the lion in her.

The Gryffidonr set the bracelet over her leg, and tied a knot with her fingers. The charms (as in trinkets) fell softly, a mishmash of teenager’s treasures; she fastened one more tiny, musical chime to the end, and then began to tie the ends together. The chime had come from an old wind chime whose charm had worn off and whose fate had been a bargain bin in the secondhand shop in Hogsmeade. She had magicked it tiny, fit for a bracelet. Lua did not see why a wind chime, charmless or not, was not perfectly charming.

Perhaps her professors would think otherwise when they heard the thing chiming down the corridor, as Lua rushed to make it to class on time. But it was a sunny day, and she was outdoors, and both of those things were worthy of noise.

"Do you think Professor Kesali will accept this as homework?" She asked Teacup, as her grin become somewhat smirk-ish. In a Lua way, anyway. There was lots of time to do her real homework. They had only just got back from break!

It was just after classes, before Zia was planning to meet up with Figaro. She had just a few hours, and since it was such a beautiful day outside she wanted to get some fresh air before being stuck in the library with her books. Not that she was unhappy about this; extracurricular time with Figaro never was. Zia twirled a finger through a curl of hair as she exited the building, her arm falling once she entered the sunlight.

The weather was gorgeous! Zia stopped a moment to take it in, letting her skin warm up. It had been a long, brutal winter -- they were always long and brutal, as far as Zia was concerned. Spring was a much better season, and Zia loved to spend time outdoors (besides the fact that there were bugs, which she hated). If she was ever feeling sick, even just a few moments of fresh air were rejuvenating. Zia took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she closed her eyes, a smile unconsciously appearing on her face.

She was in a good mood, not just because she was meeting Figaro. Excellent weather always influenced Zia's mood, just as horrible weather did. Zia opened her eyes and surveyed the area, her eyes catching on a bright piece of jewelry. "Ooh," Zia reacted. She wandered over to the pretty jewelry, disregarding the niffler, and watched as a younger girl tied it about her ankle. "Did you make that?!" Zia exclaimed. She was impressed.

Lua looked up, as someone other than the curious niffler (no doubt craving gold) offered intrigue. She looked around, head spinning, and found a lovely older girl with a brilliant shade of hair. “I did!” She lifted her ankle a bit to show it off, a move usually reserved for wrists and ring fingers. The niffler scurried from her leg and did a circle out of excitement. “I might need to use a muffling charm during class. The wind chime gets a little… chimey.” She grinned. “But I think some of the classes could use music.” Her voice had lowered to a loud whisper, even if it wasn’t such a huge secret.

Though they didn’t know each other well, Lua did recognize the girl. She tended to notice the most colorful people. “You’re Zia, right?” She asked, extending a hand from her place on the ground. “I’m Lua.”

“And this is teacup,” she added, gesturing to the niffler. “He usually hangs out in the pumpkin patch, but we’re old friends.” That was how Lua described their post-assignment relationship. She looked at the jewelry again, to the niffler, and back to the girl. “There’s no gold on it…” She shrugged, still smiling. Nifflers might have loved it, but jewelry didn’t need gold. Lua’s favorites were usually homemade and cheap— or thrifted and cheap. “Do you ever make jewelry?”

As the girl held out her ankle, Zia admired the colorful jewelry tied about her ankle. From the distance she'd previously been at, she hadn't noticed the sound it made. Now it was even more charming, and Zia agreed with the girl that some classes could use some music. She nodded as a gesture to show her concurrence.

"You're Zia, right? I'm Lua."

Zia joined the girl on the ground and shook her hand there. "Nice to meet you, Lua," Zia responded. It was a little curious that the girl knew her name already, but then again, Hogwarts wasn't a very big school and Zia did have very unique hair. She was sure plenty of people only knew her as 'that pink-haired girl,' so it was nice to see that Lua had bothered learning her name.

"And this is teacup... He usually hangs out in the pumpkin patch, but we're old friends."

Surprised to see a creature before her, Zia jumped a little. "Oh!" she squeaked. "Hi, Teacup," she added, hoping that the creature would be kind to her. Zia had always been a little nervous around animals, forever wondering what their motives were. Did they like her, or were they going to bite her? Zia could never tell. She smiled at the animal to (hopefully) prove to him that she came in peace. The niffler didn't seem too interested in the anklet, and Lua noted it was because it didn't have gold. Zia remembered this from her time in Care of Magical Creatures.

"Do you ever make jewelry?"

"Nothing as good as this," Zia responded. "I like to crochet, though. But scarves aren't really jewelry." Zia had learned to crochet from her older sister Rita a few years ago, and since then Zia had saved plenty of galleons on hats, scarves, and mittens. She'd also made a few bracelets but had never been creative enough to add things like feathers or things that chimed.

“He won’t try to eat you,” she promised, as the girl joined her and offered a greeting to both the Gryffindor and the niffler. The sheer number of magical beasts that Lua had discovered in her first year at Hogwarts (before even being able to take Care of Magical Creatures) had been overwhelming… or might have been, if she didn’t find them perfectly suitable for one-sided conversations.

He would, however, sniff around for gold.

As Teacup began to inspect Zia, Lua ran a hand through his fur and smiled at the older girl. “Crocheting is awesome! I mean, I can’t do it, I’ve never learned, but I’m always amazed at what people can crochet! And it takes so much patience…” Lua trailed off, thinking of the things she’d seen in the London markets, as well as the things her very old neighbor had made. The amount patience was almost as impressive as the things people could crochet. “Do you ever magic them to do things?” She asked, tilting her head. She supposed it could be tricky with a scarf. She wouldn’t want it to hurt someone. “Oooh, I bet you could sell them in house colors for quidditch matches! I’d love one. Could I commission you?”

Although Lua assured her that the niffler wouldn't bite her, Zia was still a bit wary of the creature. She kept a safe distance, focusing on the discussion at hand. Lua was asking a few questions about crocheting, which Zia hadn't done in a while (a few months, at least) but was happy to talk about. She smiled bashfully as Lua complimented her.

"Do you ever magic them to do things?"

"Well, there was this one time..." Zia responded cheerfully. 'But... it didn't work out so well." The image of her brother Nico wrapped up like a yarn mummy would forever stay with her, though, much to her delight. Since then, though, she hadn't given the spell another attempt. Perhaps it would be worth a try, though, and Lua was making a great suggestion.

"Oooh, I bet you could sell them in house colors for quidditch matches! I'd love one. Could I commission you?"

It really wasn't a terrible idea at all. In fact, Zia had done this for herself, and couldn't believe that she hadn't thought about doing it for other people before. Not even for her sisters or brothers! "Of course!" Zia chirped. "That's a really good idea. Which house are you in?"

If Zia’s vagueness on the subject of charmed crocheting gone wrong had been purposefully that, Lua was only further intrigued. “Why not?” She asked excitedly, grinning despite the fact that it hadn’t gone well. “Maybe you should try a different one. It’s really fun when it’s not homework.” A lot of things were. “Sometimes I end up with charms on my charms that almost land me in detention… by accident… but then you just have to figure out new ones to replace them.” She grinned encouragingly. “I bet you could do it.”

Crocheting, by comparison, sounded harder, like patient work.

The muggleborn’s smile grew brighter as the girl seemed to like the idea of taking commissions. “I’m a Gryffindor.” She looked around on the ground, hand roaming past Teacup again to fish up the tie she had haphazardly… tied… around her backpack strap while changing out of her uniform earlier. She held up the scarlet and gold like an advertisement. “But I’d love a scarf in any color, really. The more colors, the better. Oooh, all of the houses woven into one would be lovely. I do like to support my team during games, though.” Unless they weren’t playing, at which point Lua alternated every time someone caught the ball, cheering them on, then feeling bad for them, then cheering on the next person. “Scarlet and gold is perfect, really,” she decided. “Maybe a little sparkly…” She had saved up enough money to pay the girl well, even if Lua didn’t have the deep pockets of some of Gringotts’ oldest customers.

"I sort of trapped my brother Nico in a yarn cocoon," Zia answered honestly, grinning a little at the memory of it. She hadn't wanted to tell her parents, so he was stuck like that for quite some time before one of Zia's older sisters showed up. Luckily Lucia had been the first to arrive home -- if it had been one of the others, the situation would have been a lot worse (and probably would have involved a lot more yelling).

She wondered how Lua's jewelry had gotten her in trouble, and Zia's confusion showed on her face. "What kind of charms are you wearing?!" Zia asked. She always had a smile on her face, so she did not ask this in a judgmental way -- to her, the idea of getting a detention for a charm bracelet was amusing. Zia was not a judgmental person and was rarely seen that way.

"I'm a Gryffindor... But I'd love a scarf in any color, really. The more colors, the better. Ooooh, all of the houses woven into one would be lovely. I do like to support my team during games, though... Scarlet and gold is perfect, really. Maybe a little sparkly..."

Lua's indecisiveness reminded Zia of her own, which made the girl a lot more likable for Zia, whose philosophy was that you could never be too sure about anything. "You have so many good ideas!" Zia chirped. "Those both sound incredible. And I do know a spell that makes yarn sparkly," she added, "so I could definitely do it." The Gryffindor girl would make a good business partner, Zia decided. She admired Lua's creativity, and waved her hand at the girl's money. "Just help me sell more!"

Lua’s eyes went huge, her mouth opening gleefully. A yarn cocoon didn’t sound dangerous, just wonderful (if annoying for the trapped person). “Did he come out a butterfly?” She asked, giggling. “That sounds pretty cozy to me. Like a really nice sleeping bag, or one those scarves that’s a hood that’s also a shawl.” The mysteries of random bits of cloth in high street stores. Usually overpriced, but always fun. Lua would pay more for something handmade, though.

“Just loud ones… But I can’t help adding a bit of music sometimes, especially when the weather gets nice.” Her arms came out to her sides and fell with a soft thump, as if she were about to do a yoga pose. All weather was nice weather; it all had its moment. But some weather was nicer than other weather at certain times… like sun after ages of storms. “I did have one that spun, a little dancer, and the light refracted in the afternoon and almost blinded a professor.” But that could have happened without magic. It was simply a little more problematic because the dancer charm was charmed to… “dance"… nonstop. Unlike a classmate’s standard silver bracelet catching the light.

“Oooh, that’s brilliant!” She didn’t want to inundate the girl with orders, but she was already getting excited about the potential. The idea of having too many scarves seemed slim, even to Lua, who wasn’t enough of a clothes fiend to worry about whether her shoes matched the trends. "I could definitely help you. I bet people will want all sorts of things with the quidditch cup approaching. Maybe we could set up a booth?” Lua had seen it done a few times, and surely no one would fault them. It was how the professors and graduates did things for the career fair. “Or do little owl forms… a waiting list or something, if it gets massive. Maybe posters?” Lua could rattle on all day, especially if it meant breaking out the art supplies.

When she had accidentally wrapped up her brother in a cuccoon of yarn, he did not come out as a butterfly and Zia reported such to Lua. "It was like the opposite of becoming a butterfly, really," Zia commented, "Because he was furious when he finally got out." Nico's angry face wasn't exactly the most beautiful thing to grace the Earth -- not because he was ugly, but because he was very very scary looking.  It had been a few days before Nico wasn't making that face at her anymore.

Music on jewelry was something that Zia had never thought about doing, but the idea was a fun one. Having a little tune to jingle along with her on the way to class seemed like a really fun idea. "Maybe there's something we could do with the scarves, to make them blink or cheer or something at the games," Zia suggested. She already knew a charm to make yarn turn sparkly, so she was sure that there were other crafty spells that she could apply to this new business venture.

"Posters would be a good idea!" Zia exclaimed. Although she wasn't the best at it, she did like to draw and was already imagining some concepts for a poster. "What we really need is a good business name." It was the key to all great businesses, at least in Zia's mind. It was half the battle, really.

“Brothers do get mad over the most random things. I have two. The older one is usually very nice, but my twin…” She shook her tangled hair mildly. “You would think he’d love a cocoon.” Zia’s brother, she meant now. “It’s sort of like being in a womb, isn’t it? That’s very relaxing. There’s a womb embryo pose in yoga, actually. Oooh, I think I need to teach my friend that,” she said suddenly, as if remembering something. But Lua made no move to write it down. “He’ll think of it one day and laugh,” she said comfortingly, though it didn’t seem as if Zia were too terribly worried, judging by the small grin she’d had when she began the story.

“That’s perfect! People get really into it, you know, like with football. Not as violent as football.” Luckily. Then again, Lua didn’t have as much experience with quidditch fans as football fans. “Could you imagine if one of the matches went into the night and everyone’s wearing blinking scarves?” She asked. The professors might not like it, but everyone else would love it. “You could make the Gryffindor ones roar.” As for snakes and birds… those were trickier. “What do you think best represents a badger?”

A philosophical question if there ever was one.

Lua nodded, her tangles working in another way now. A name… “Spirit Scarves… maybe.” She pushed her lips toward one side of her mouth. “Snitch Knits, Snitch… no… Piselli’s… something,” she murmured loudly, and then squeezed her eyes shut, thinking. “Piselli’s Charmed Crochets… Whims and Needles. But you don’t really use needles.” Her eyes popped open again. “Something with hooks? You know, I’ve never run a business. My parents are anti-capitalism, but I do love the artsy side of it.”

Even though Zia had two sets of twins in her immediate family, she was always intrigued by them. She found her older set of twin sisters to be fascinating, the way they were so different despite having the same face. "I have five brothers," Zia nearly groaned. "And seven sisters. If it had been any of the other ones, I probably would have ended up in a cocoon myself." She smiled  a bit as she said this, thinking about her other siblings in cocoons, wiggling around like colorful worms.

She listened to Lua's suggestions, her face displaying her concentration. Zia wasn't the best at coming up with ideas on the spot, but she had one this time. "You could add some of your cool beads and things to it!" Zia exclaimed, her hands directing Lua's attention to her anklet. "We could make them customizable.

The badger question was a valid one that Zia thought hard about. For her own raven scarf she could put some feathers, maybe, and for the Slytherins.... some cool-looking snakeskin design? "That's a tough one," Zia responded hazily. "Maybe we just knit some snacks on there - if there's one thing Hufflepuffs know, it's good food," Zia said. This wasn't a judgmental statement -- many of her friends and family members were Hufflepuffs, and she'd had too many good meals with them to think otherwise.

A name for the company was a difficult choice as well. She didn't want it to be her last name -- there were too many Pisellis to begin with. "Hmmm..." Zia said absent-mindedly. "I like the idea of snitches in the name... mayne Snits? Snookies? No, those are both pretty bad." She shook her head and tried to clear it of all influences. "Whims and Needles was probably better, maybe. Or Snitch Knits." She genuinely did like both of the names, and could admit that she wasn't great at that. "I'm not too good with money, probably," Zia blushed. "I've never really had to deal with it." In saying this she was admitting that she'd grown up rich, maybe a little bit spoiled -- but she was grateful and thankful for everything she'd been given. She had to share her goods with a lot of people, and she loved to spread the wealth.

Lua’s eyes went huge. “Wow, I thought I had a lot of brothers and sisters.” Thirteen! That was amazing! “You must have the best parties! Do you all cook? I bet it’s like a sleepover all the time, you must never run out of things to crochet,” she giggled. “But it might be hard to find seats on the bus…” The very important musings of Lua Taylor. “Unless you’re all witches and wizards. The Knight Bus seems very accommodating.” And slight dangerous. In the best way ever.

Their collaboration was getting off to a great start— much better than Lua’s waiting homework. But that could keep waiting. “I think that would be awesome. You don’t even have to wear a necklace if you scarf has beads… not that you can’t! It’s a lovely combination. But if they make noise, you just take it off and stuff it in your bag before the professor gives you detention,” she reasoned, grinning.

“Oooooh!” Who didn’t love snacks? “I might want to become a Hufflepuff now,” she laughed. “Their dorms do sound cozy.” And snacks. “Those will be very useful at a game.” Especially the long ones.

“One of those… or… Hoop Loops![1].” It covered quidditch, the loops made in crocheting, and any bits and bobs they might attach to the scarves. “I think we could figure it out,” she said cheerfully. “The product is the hard part and we have good ideas for that.” Easier said than done: even before Hogwarts, mathematic had never been Lua’s favorite, not unless she turned it into a little story. And by then she got waaaay off track. Her face became excited, then hugely sad in quick succession. “We could donate a certain percentage to charity! Did you know there’s an epidemic among dragons?”

1.	Jess’ cute suggestion

A 'giant sleepover' was not really the term she'd use to describe her home life, but now that she thought about it, she supposed that was a pretty accurate description. Most of her older siblings had moved out already, but the younger ones -- especially the Whoopsies -- were very close. There were countless times when Zia and her sisters and brothers had fallen asleep on each other in a big lump. "We're all witches and wizards - but we live in Italy most of the time, England some of the time, so mostly we do Floo powder. I'm the youngest, so by the time I was old enough to go anywhere, a lot of them could Apparate anyway, so..." Zia was starting to ramble, suddenly nostalgic for family vacations, especially the ones where the whole family had been able to come.

Zia had never been in detention before (not that she hadn't come very, very close). This girl talked about it casually, knew the ropes of getting away with things. That was a handy skill, one that Zia admired in a way. "We could put snacks for all of them, really. It's not a bad idea. Kind of like a scarf-necklace-purse thing. With sunglasses!" Okay, maybe they didn't need all of those things in one piece of apparel. "Custom-order, though, I think that's the way to go. I feel like personalization is very in right now." Everybody wanted to be unique now, didn't they?

"Hoop Loops!" Zia exclaimed giddily. What a great name for a company! "Our motto could be 'We'll go through loops for you!'" With a blush, Zia let out a nervous giggle. What a silly suggestion. Lua just brought out that side of her, apparently. "I would love to donate some money!" The last thing Zia needed to worry about was money, after all. Her family was extremely well-off, and though she wanted to make her own money, she believed that there were other people who needed it more. "I didn't hear about the dragons, but I think you're onto something with the charity thing."

“Oooh, wow, I’ve never been to Italy. Which part? Is it beautiful?!” Of course it was. But Lua had suddenly hit the jackpot of someone to question about random, wonderful things. “I mean of course it is. But there’s so much to see there… and here, too, for people visiting from Italy,” she reasoned. It was also nice to talk to someone who had grown up in a big family: it made being away from them easier. “You must queue in front of the fireplace like you’re waiting for the bus though,” she giggled. It was a lovely mental image, distinctly warm.

“I like it, then there’s a million ways to hang it on a coat rack.” Even though none of those things were coats. “And you have your sunglasses in your purse all the time, which is nice.” It was amazing, how many places one could lose one’s sunglasses.

She nodded in agreement: the more personal, the better. The best gifts were always the ones that came from that angle, too. Picking up Teacup, Lua grinned. “Yeah, the kids in London are very into social media. I wonder if there’s a wizarding version? Could you post photos of yourself with your arm extended out in a pensieve? That would probably get expensive.” Like the shiny gadgets her muggle cohorts loved. It was also potentially less successful for spreading the word on causes and niche information. “So custom orders… yes, it’s perfect.”

She was still smiling (had she stopped?) when Zia seemed to like the name. And provided a brilliant motto. “Yes! See, we’re not bad at this at all.” Teacup gave her a curious sniff. “Oooh, the poor dragons. A lot of them are getting sick and laying sick eggs, too. It’s terrible. I know we could donate to the fancy gala coming up, even if we aren’t allowed to go. One of the people hosting is a brilliant writer, we write letters sometimes.”