For a Thursday, Diagon Alley was bubbling with faces and shopping bags. Trudy took a moment to watch them from her perch inside Alohamocha -- prime seating, right next to the window. She had arrived only a few minutes ago and ordered herself a cup of tea. She proceeded to set up her work station, pulling out from her bag several planning accoutrements. Several pens in assorted colors, a few stamps, and finally her beloved planner.

Leather-bound and filled with important dates, Trudy was religious about keeping this updated. Of course she had several planners, as an event coordinator must. This calendar was the motherload -- the culmination of all significant happenings in Trudy’s life, both personal and professional.

It had taken quite some time for her to perfect such a tome of an organized life. Color coding and a symbol key were included. Trudy took one of the pens and started clicking and unclicking idly as she examined her schedule.

Bertie didn't normally go to Alohomocha. However, as he was passing by the restaurant he saw a familiar face-- his sister. With a slow smile, he promptly entered the shop, ordered a cup of tea, and took a seat across the table from her. She was the closest to him out of any of his family members-- they shared a bedroom growing up, they had been in the same Hogwarts house, and they had shared a womb. Although they were fraternal twins, there was still some sort of bond between them that wasn't quite the same when it came to their brothers.

And that was perfectly fine with him. Bertie loved all his siblings the same, but he connected to them all in different ways.

"Traitor." He said, blue eyes twinkling humorously. "Dad would cry if he saw you in here, instead of ordering coffee from his shop!"  Bert teased, knowing full well that she was probably working here so that family wouldn't interrupt her business. Too bad, he was here to disrupt her plans.

"Traitor… Dad would cry if he saw you in here, instead of ordering coffee from his shop!"

Trudy recognized her brother immediately, and scoffed at his bold accusation. “You know I’d just end up baking ten dozen cupcakes,” Trudy defended herself. She gestured to the planner in front of her. “And I’m trying to get my own work done.” And that just wasn’t feasible if Trudy were to try this at her family’s shop.

A young woman brought over the tea that Trudy had ordered, and Trudy said a quick ‘thank you’ before the girl walked away. Trudy picked up the teacup and blew, letting the steam warm her face. “Did you want anything?” Trudy asked before taking a sip. The tea was hot, but Trudy was apparently unaffected and smacked her lips before putting the cup down.

“So what are you doing around here?” Trudy asked. Her planner dinged, reminding her that she still had all of her tasks open. Little bubbles representing different events bobbed just above the table, and a few double-booked appointments started vibrating much more energetically. Trudy took her finger and moved a few things around so that the planner would calm down. "Just come to distract me?"

"I have the day off." Bertie replied, and decided that he best tell his sister about his day.

"I woke up, took the dogs for a run, realized how out of shape we are, and took them back home to nap. Showered. Ate breakfast. Went grocery shopping..." He took a sip of his tea. Like Trudy, he drank his tea nearly boiling. He didn't like to add any milk or honey, not usually. "I wanted to check out the new yarn shop in the area. I hear that they have some beautiful color-changing yarns that automatically match whatever you're wearing. And they're soft."

Bertie gave his sis a mischievous grin, "Then I saw you here, sitting alone like an old spinster, and decided to make you look less alone by sitting with you." Neither of them had partners, much to Bertie's dismay.

“Well aren’t you lucky,” Trudy responded sarcastically. “Some of us have to work for a living.” She gestured to her planner. Lots of events this month -- with Valentine’s day came weddings, engagements, elaborate dates, dances… Lots of pushy clients who wanted the perfect day for their significant other. One of her upcoming events was for a pair of yorkies that were apparently “wildly in love.” Evidently the dogs something in each other’s persistent yapping that Trudy did not.

As Bertie began sharing the details of his day off, Trudy listened while flipping through days of the upcoming week. Her brother had the tendency to go into more detail than was really necessary. Trudy was used to it, so she nodded along with what he was saying. When he mentioned the soft yarn she tore her eyes from the book. “So you’re gonna make me a sweater?” She asked, with serious expectations that she would get a scarf, at least!

”Then I saw you here, sitting alone like an old spinster, and decided to make you look less alone by sitting with you."

Trudy’s jaw dropped in mock scandal. She whacked her brother in the arm. “What’re you doing with that yarn, making mittens for Ulysses?” Trudy teased. She tried to disregard thoughts about how cute Bertie’s dogs would look in knitwear. She pressed her lips together but eventually she broke and a smile crept onto her face. “That would be so cute," she admitted.

He laughed. Work for a living? Bert was an auror. It seemed like all they did was work and clean up disaster after disaster. All the chaos happening in the wizarding world was part of why he left teaching. That, and he missed the thrill of solving a case and apprehending a suspect. He missed the look of joy and relief on the faces of family when their missing loved ones were found. He didn't miss the death, the blood, and the lost causes. But that came with the territory, and the good outweighed the bad. Bert's parents had never thought he could make it as an auror, but he had gone at it for years-- and now they expressed pride rather than skepticism.

Gertie Trudy had been one of the few that believed in him, in her own way.

"I could make you a sweater." Bertie mused, "Or a hat." Of course his favorite sister would get a gift, either way. Her closet was likely full of knitted goods. Each one of his immediate family had their own afghan blanket-- lovingly, painstakingly knitted. If a knitter gifted you an afghan, that was indicative of how much they treasured you. Those blankets were hard work-- even with magic.

"Ulysses already has mittens." Of course he did. Both the dogs had sported them in December's Christmas card that had been sent out to family.

"Are you seriously busy this time of year?" Bert inquired. He thought that June was the busiest time, after all-- people preferred to have their weddings in the summer.

"I could make you a sweater." Bertie mused, "Or a hat."

Talking with her brother allowed Trudy the freedom to react without filtering herself. In response to Bertie’s offer she groaned. “Not another hat, Bertie, my hair is still recovering from the last one,” Gertrude whined. She looked up toward her forehead, then used a hand to fluff up her hair. She was convinced that the yarn in the last hat had to be somehow cursed. It had been a season of up-dos.

"Ulysses already has mittens."

“I hope you’ve made Rosie a pair too,” Trudy replied. After thinking about what she said for a moment, she felt irked. “Two pairs?” After all, dogs had four feet. Four feet and no hands. Trudy laughed and shrugged off the query. There were some things that weren’t meant to be thought about too hard, and the logistics of canine winterthings fell into that category.

While her brother talked Trudy multitasked. She sipped her tea and flicked through her schedule. "Are you seriously busy this time of year?" Trudy’s eyebrows shot up.


“Well, this may seem like a foreign concept to someone so perpetually single,” Trudy began, “But some people like to elaborately spoil their significant others for Valentine’s.” So many proposals, intricate dates, flower orders, chocolate designs -- the different events swirled around her head. There was one woman throwing an Anti-Valentine’s Day party, but Trudy hardly thought her brother would fit in there. "Crazy, huh?"

"The hat I gave you didn't mess up your hair!" Bertie insisted, "It had to be something else!" His hats didn't affect his hair, or anybody else's. No. Only Trudy had that mysterious hat-head problem... Drama queen. He smiled fondly at her. Yes, she was a drama queen, but she was his very favorite drama queen. The fact that she didn't throw fireballs at him like cousin Audrey was a plus.

Ugh. Even cousin Audrey was dating somebody. Somebody that Bertie had once harbored a small crush on! Well, if anybody could melt that icy heart, it would probably be Shona Donovan. They were a good fit, he thought-- with their scary smiles and high cheekbones. If those two ever had children, they'd be terrifying.

"Oh, right... Valentine's." Bertie sighed as he lamented the absence of a love life. He'd gone on a date with a girl from the werewolf wing-- Brynn. She was so sweet, and fun, and sweet. But work got ahead of him, like it always did. Horrible things just kept happening to prevent aurors from having social lives. That had to be it.  "One day, I won't be single." He said, "And when I get married, you'll be my best man."

“It had to be something else!”

Trudy’s eyes narrowed. “Are you implying that I have bad hair days?” She said this very seriously but of course she was kidding. Mostly she was kidding. Trudy liked to believe she had control over absolutely every aspect of her life, hair mood included. She ran her fingers over her hair to check its status -- everything seemed in order. Satisfied, she gave the end a quick twirl.

While her brother moaned about his love life, Trudy flipped through her papers and avoided thinking about hers. She was just too busy -- so busy that she had four conflicting plans on Valentine’s day, despite being single.

“There’s an event happening up near all those mansions,” Trudy offered. She found the flyer and handed it to him. The invitation was, of course, as ornate as one piece of paper could get. These wizards seemed to have a limitless budget - not just for their parties, but for every aspect of their lives. “Find a nice witch there and you could be living in the lap of luxury,” Trudy teased. “Find an old one, and…” Trudy rubbed her fingers together, implying that if Bert were to play along with a sugar mama for a few years, he could end up with more riches than he could imagine. She’d snuck him into a few of these ostentatious parties -- he knew what they were like.“Then maybe you could go to one of my parties without using the staff entrance.”

"...you'll be my best man."

Trudy smirked. "Only if you promise to be my maid of honor," she countered. She bumped her brother's shoulder with her own and laughed. The twins were both so busy that they didn't get to hang out and chat like this very often. To Trudy that felt strange, like she was ignoring half of her brain.

Bertie let out an incredulous laugh, "You definitely have bad hair days! Are you forgetting that we grew up together? I've seen all your bad hair days." God, he loved how ridiculous his sister was. She didn't flaunt her weird like all the other Hughes' did, but she still had it. Archie, Audrey, and Elysia also hid their weirdness well, but he'd seen it in each of them. It was a dominant genetic trait; nobody could escape from it.

"I don't want to live in the lap of luxury, Gert--" He paused, "Trudy. I just want to find a sweet witch who can stand to be around me for longer than two hours at a time." He'd gone on dates, he'd gone on singles cruises. None of it had worked out for him so far. And part of him still missed Effie. That was never going to happen, and Bertie knew it and had moved on. Still, he missed what had been and looked back on that time with fond memories. Despite the war.

"I promise I'll be your maid of honor." Bert grinned, "But do I have to wear a dress? Or can I still wear a suit?"

In response to Bertie’s comment about her hair, Trudy glared at him so hard she could have bored a hole in his head. “Don’t bring that up. This is what my hair looks like when I wake up.” An obvious lie - Trudy used magic to fix her frizz, just like every other witch. As if to prove herself she fluffed it a bit and turned up her nose.

"Trudy. I just want to find a sweet witch who can stand to be around me for longer than two hours at a time."

She understood her brother’s frustration - it was a sad one too, a disappointment in himself. Which was insane. “You will, Bert,” she encouraged gently, “And it’ll be worth the wait.” Optimism was hard around Valentine’s day when you were perpetually single. She was repressing the feeling by occupying herself.

Trudy bumped her knee against Bert’s. “Seriously though, there are parties. Have you ever heard of a stoplight party?” The concept was strange but effective. Chatting with a few cute girls would probably be good for his self esteem, even if it didn’t turn into anything.

"I promise I'll be your maid of honor." Bert grinned, "But do I have to wear a dress? Or can I still wear a suit?"

Maintaining a serious face Trudy considered this quandary. “A dress would be traditional,” she commented. “But you couldn’t look prettier than me.” She smirked. After all, theoretically, the female version of Bertie would be Trudy herself.