At the Bippity Boppity Bakery, around 10:00 AM.

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Adelebert had been looking forward to this coffee date with his brother all week.  It was Spring Break, but that didn’t mean his brother got a break from his job—he was a workaholic, and that was no secret. Though he was currently residing at the castle for the school year, he still made an effort to go to London whenever possible to visit family (or old coworkers!). Sometimes, he felt like he visited with family more than Archie did, regardless of whether or not it was true.

He leaned back in one of the plush chairs and crossed one leg over the other, cup of warm coffee in his hands. On the small, circular table in front of him were some doughnuts as well as a couple ham and cheese croissants.  Across from him, sat his favorite older brother—who was also his only older brother. Alfred was the youngest, with Gertie being Bert’s twin (she was older by just a few minutes… But that didn’t count.)

“Dad must be happy to see the kids.” He commented, swishing his coffee around in it’s cup.

“So…” Bertie made a clicking noise with his tongue, “Have you heard from any of our dear relatives? Besides the Peppers, I’m seeing the younger ones much more often now that I’m a teacher.” He said the last word with a bit of pride, his cheeks flushing ever so slightly. Adelebert had a tendency to blush at everything, whether it was something he was embarrassed about, or if he saw something he thought was particularly cute. In fact, his face was red more often than not.

Archie still couldn't believe that Adelebert called this a 'coffee date'. Really? A Date?. Last time he checked, his brother was not a beautiful and clever woman who had a fetish for nerdy, 30-something anthropologists with two kids. But then, who was?

Coffee was good though.

Taking a sip, Archie shuddered happily at the bitterness. He needed his fathers' famously strong and bitter coffee after the last couple of weeks. There had been a new cache of ancient wizarding urns that popped up in Africa and he had been given the joy of sifting through the remains and figuring out what shattered femur and random molar belonged to who. It was exhausting work but he adored it, even when it meant getting only a couple hours of sleep a night. His brother called him a workaholic but Archie resented the implication. He only worked this hard when he truly enjoyed something. If anything, he was a 'work enthusiast'.

If anyone had a right to complain about his working habits, it was Gwen and Toby. They were the ones stuck staying with family while he practically lived out of his office. So when Bertie made the comment about how much fun their father was having with his kids, Archie couldn't help but turn in his seat to see. Sure enough, the three were grinning ear to ear as the kids helped Tobias frost some cookies. Well, 'help' was a relative term. At least half of the cookies had about every topping concieved by man and every 4th or 5th cookie disappeared into 'The Pit' (AKA Toby's stomach). To top it off, every couple of minutes or so, this conversation happened:

Gwen: *Shrieks* Toooobyyyy, you ate my super-duper-special cookie I made just for Grandpaaaa!
Toby: *Through mouth full of cookie* But... It didn't look any different... What was so special about it anyway?
Gwen: It... uh... *pauses, obviously trying to remember, before tearing up again* It doesn't matter! It was my special cookie and you ate it, you big... stupid...pratface!
Tobias: Okay okay, calm down you two. Toby, you have had enough cookies anyways. I don't want you ruining your dinner... and Gwen, these cookies are for sale not for me, so don't worry about making me a special one. *ruffles her hair* Besides, you're sweet enough for me...

This would mollify the two for a couple of moments before Toby would sneak another and Gwen would immediately draw it to Tobias' attention with another furious shriek.

Yep, loads of fun over there.

Turning back to his brother, Archie shook his head with a grin "Well, better him than me." Though he hated to admit it, Archie was better with dead people than the living. He loved his children, but he didn't know what to do with them half of the time.... Allright, most of the time.

“So…Have you heard from any of our dear relatives? Besides the Peppers, I’m seeing the younger ones much more often now that I’m a teacher.”

Archie rubbed his face and sighed "Unless they are about 1000 years old and from Ethiopia, and are currently in about 2000 pieces on my desk, no." Honestly, he wasn't very good at keeping up with his family members... or friends or lovers. In fact, he only kept up with his boss because she was the one writing his checks. It wasn't that he didn't care, he just didn't have the time or energy to sit down and write letters. That was what he had Bertie for. "... But how are they doing? Enjoying having you as their teacher?" Archie smirked, sipping his coffee.

He leaned to peek into the back area, only to see Toby stuff another cookie in his mouth. Bertie patted his own belly. Oh, he remembered very fondly eating all the cookies that Alfie and Gertie decorated. It seemed like the kids were getting so big now—and not just his nieces and nephews. But the children of his cousins! Linus was already attending Hogwarts… Ambrose was a fourth year with a girlfriend. A girlfriend! When he imagined Theta and Zeta, he remembered them as much younger than they actually were.

Bertie gave his brother a disapproving look.

“I’m sure they’d love to hear from you. Flynn, Audrey, Francis and Monty. Have you not seen them since Boxing Day?” He grumbled. The holidays seemed to be the only time all of them were able to get together.
But, it didn’t mean that Archie loved them any less.

"... But how are they doing? Enjoying having you as their teacher?"

“Well. I think they like me.” Adelebert sighed, “I mean—I’m still learning how to teach. I’m not sure if I’m doing a good job yet.” He was skilled when it came to transfiguration—it was one of the few subjects that he latched onto naturally. But being good at  a subject didn’t necessarily mean you were good at teaching it, and he hoped he was getting across to students. Teaching at Hogwarts was a great honor. He hoped he could live up to McGonagall’s legacy.

"Enough about family though--" He took a sip of his coffee, "Have you found any lovely ladies? Or men?" Bertie groaned dramatically, "And do they have sisters?" He was doing rather poorly in the romance department. None of his romantic relationships have ever lasted long.

“Well. I think they like me. I mean—I’m still learning how to teach. I’m not sure if I’m doing a good job yet.”

"Eh, just transfigure one of the little blighters into a newt. After that, those that don't fear you will look up to you..." Archie said with a chuckle. It was hard for him to show just how proud he was of Bertie for becoming a teacher or how much faith he had in his brothers abilities to teach, so he resorted to the age old answer of 'taking the piss' out of him as a show of affection instead. He was half-joking anyways. He knew Bertie cared too much about his students to turn any of them into newts. It'd be funny to see though.

"Enough about family though-- Have you found any lovely ladies? Or men? And do they have sisters?"

Archie stared at his brother blankly for a moment, before leaning in his seat and saying in an almost conspiratorial tone. "Bertie... I don't know if you noticed, but I'm a 35 year old divorcee with two children whose idea of a good time is using a peasized bone to sex a corpse." He grinned and let the double entendre sink in for a moment before sitting back and adding in a more serious tone. "But no... I just don't have the time. Between those two and work, I'm lucky if I get to sleep. Instead..." He lifted his mug up as Exhibit A "... Coffee is my mistress. Just like I like them... a little dark... a little bitter and strong enough to kick me in the teeth." He added before taking a drink and wincing slightly when his tastebuds protested another onslaught so soon after they had recovered. "Ooh what a harsh mistress she is too..." he murmured to himself.

Glancing back over at Toby, who was going around and looking at the underside of every table for some, probably unspeakable, treasure, Archie sighed a sigh that spoke of both melancholy and relief. "Speaking of Hogwarts, I can't believe the boy will be going there in just a few months. Ever since he and Linus connected over Yule, all I have heard is..." He switched to a high pitch voice with the timbre of someone whose sugar intake probably needed better regulation. "'Linus says theres this club where we can actually hex each other and not get in trouble' and 'Linus told me that there are like a thousand different desserts every night' and 'Linus said blah blah magic blah..."

He waved his hand and took a sip of his coffee, adding."I could go on and on, Merlin knows the boy does." There was a brief pause here as Archie stared off into the distance thoughtfully. Whether he was sadly contemplating on the fact that his kids were growing so fast or rejoicing in it, was anyones guess. Then he took another drink and continued on, a smirk playing at his lips. "I'd feel sorry for you having to be stuck with his 'ask a thousand questions and then promptly forget the answer, and repear' approach to learning but I bet you love it, eh? Solving the puzzle that is teenagers..."

His face scrunched up in the way faces often do when presented with confounding thoughts that brains needed to be wrapped around, "They're like this... very loud, hormonal and incredibly disagreeable crossword puzzle where all the clues are in some weird teen slang and it screams 'you don't know me at all!' and slams the book shut every time you dare to guess. I honestly don't know how you do it."

Well, Archie wouldn’t be Archie if it weren’t for his snark and sarcasm.
 
Still, he was hung up on something his brother had said. “What? Kicks you in the teeth? What kind of coffee have you been drinking?!” It sounded like a product from Zonko’s. “That doesn’t sound healthy.” Bertie shook his head in disapproval. He would never want to drink coffee (or be with anyone) who was prone to kicking him in the teeth. He was rather fond of his teeth, and would prefer to keep them. Oral health was of the utmost importance!

He followed his brother’s gaze, only to see Toby sticking his head under tables.

“I’m looking forward to teaching him.” Bertie laughed at Archibald’s rather bad impersonation of his son, “I won’t give him any special treatment, I promise.”

"They're like this... very loud, hormonal and incredibly disagreeable crossword puzzle where all the clues are in some weird teen slang and it screams 'you don't know me at all!' and slams the book shut every time you dare to guess. I honestly don't know how you do it."

“I’ll teach you a trick.” Bertie leaned forward, “Treat them like people whose thoughts and opinions actually matter. It’s not difficult to do.” He had yet to have a student blow up on him yet. “Treat them with respect and kindness, and they’ll probably treat you the same way.”

“I’ll teach you a trick. Treat them like people whose thoughts and opinions actually matter. It’s not difficult to do. Treat them with respect and kindness, and they’ll probably treat you the same way.”

Brows furrowed, Archie leaned forward and eyed his brother incredulously, "You... You have met teenagers, haven't you?" he said with palpable sarcasm. "You know... Little zit faced... hormone driven... blighters, the lot of em. I mean, I would have thought they were a hazard of the job..." Sitting back, he sighed and added wearily, "Respect, though... ha. Most of my classmates wouldn't have known what respect was if you tied it to a bludger and hit them in the head with it..." before muttering under his breath, "...but then, perhaps that was the problem..."

He had barely swallowed a sip of his coffee before his eyes briefly looked into the distance and his lips twisted into a secretive smirk, as though he was recalling a fond memory."Remember when I painted that ostrich egg green and told you it was a dragon egg and that we would get arrested if we told anyone we had it?" Ignoring any heavy sighs Bertie sent his way, Archie leaned in and continued on with gusto, his voice cracking with laughter "And then I convinced you that you had to put a heating charm on your pants and sit on it, or else the dragon baby would die?"

"You sat on that egg every night for weeks. I remember mum wondering why you kept getting a sunburn on your arse...." Chuckling, Archie sat back and sighed happily before adding in a much more sober voice, "But you never complained or tattled, even when the paint melted off." Raising his mug towards his brother in cheers, Archie paused before taking a sip to add, "You were... are... a good guy, Bertie. You always take things in stride and do the things that no one else wants to do. Sometimes I wonder if we are related."

Bertie merely stared at Archie. “Yes, beloved brother, I have met teenagers.” Every day he worked with them! And every day he loved it! Some day, he may return to the auror force, but he was truly happy with where he was now, working at Hogwarts in an influential position. Bertie had never much been one for power, but he also felt like his current job gave him the opportunity to influence people’s lives in a different, just as positive way.

He was glad for the subject change—Bert wasn’t much in the mood for arguing with his brother over whether or not teenagers had the capability to respect others or not. To be fair, Adelebert was never in the mood to argue.

He remembered very well when his brother had convinced him that an ostrich egg was a dragon egg. Bertie ahd been so gullible back then, and to be honest, not much had changed. Adelebert couldn’t help but laugh—“Remember how dad’s face turned purple after he walked in on me sitting on the egg?!” Tobias had turned purple, at first with anger—but then with laughter. Their father had never been one to stay angry.

“You do what you love, even if others think it’s weird. That’s a Hughes trait if I ever saw one. We’re definitely related, even if you’re the mean one.”