It was Wednesday afternoon, and Augustus had given the falcons the rest of the day off training to go and enjoy the sunshine with their families...or at the pub, whichever suited best. He had been working them particularly hard since the disaster that was their match against the Kenmare Kestrals at the back end of May, and decided that it was time they recouperated - he didn't want any injuries or bad feelings amongst the group.

Augustus' generosity on this fine day wasn't completely selfless. He had a particularly important errand to run in Diagon Alley - a trip to see his sister, Aurelia. He apparated back to the Snark family home after training and made his way up to the house. After a quick shower, a bite to eat and a change into clean clothes, Augustus decided that he looked decent enough to be seen out in public. Perhaps not decent enough to be seen at his sister's boutique store, Magique Couture Clothiers, but he was past caring about the insults that tended to get thrown his way from his sisters.

Augustus was tired from a hard day on the pitch, so decided that to save himself from possible splinching, he would travel via the floo network. He crouched in the fire place [being so tall had its drawbacks], took a handful of floo powder, threw it into the fire and shouted "Diagon Alley!" He spun up in the air in smoke, and landed in another fireplace. Years of practice had enabled him to land rather gracefully, as opposed to tumbling in a ball of soot as his daughter still tended to do. Augustus stepped out of the designated floo fire and brushed some of the soot off his trousers and shirt. He pulled out his wand and aimed it at his body. "Scourgify." Every last remnant of dirt vanished in a split-second, and he looked as though he had just stepped out of the shower once more.

Augustus made his way out into Diagon Alley and had to take a step back into the doorway to make sure he wasn't knocked flying. It was busy today. He had specifically chosen Wednesday because Aurie told him that was her least busy day of the week. Not that it mattered, if she was busy, he would wait. This was a matter of urgency.

He made his way down the street, weaving in and out of various people bustling all over the place, and arrived at the shop. It was a very quaint, neat, one-of-a-kind shop. Augustus stood for a moment and took in the site of it, smiling to himself. He was so proud of Aurelia for what she had achieved. Waking himself up from his little dream world, Augustus pushed the door to the shop and heard the little bell above the door tinkle.

There was a middle-aged man standing on a stool in the middle of the shop in just his underwear. His arms were oustretched like a bird and he had the look of someone who was completely fed-up of people seeing him stark-naked. Aurelia wasn't there. The man jerked his head towards the back room, indicating that the owner was pre-occupied somewhere in the vicinity of the shop.

"I only came in for a cloak..." the man sighed and shook his head. Augustus couldn't help but chuckle - that was just like Aurelia. Everything needed to be done properly. She tended to keep all of her customers' measurements on record, just in case they needed to order something last minute and couldn't get into the store. Augustus shrugged his shoulders at the man, as though to say 'I wish I could help you, mate. But really? I can't.'

Augustus sat himself on one of the small tub chairs next to the window and waited for Aurelia to finish with her customer. He picked up the top magazine from a precarious pile that looked as though it was going to topple over at any minute. He pulled a face at the front cover. Peacock. Fashion? Not Augustus' sort of thing. The model on the front looked like a peacock, too. He was a young man, and he knew that some of his daughters friends were 'into' him. "Thank god Arielle's not like that..." He muttered, tossing the magazine back on the pile. Then he remembered why he was here in the first place, and his expression soured.

Once more there was a busy day ahead of her, but when wasn’t she busy? Aurelia was always moving and always on the go. Soon she would have to make her stop in France to check up on things and see if her manager was doing a good enough job. Aurelia worried about it, but it was her baby after all. Still there were things to be done with the shop in England her line to finish here, she had expanded and it was through no other fault than her own that she stretched so thin and trusting no one else to be completely in charge. Aurelia liked to be this busy though otherwise she would get bored. Aurelia was currently in the back running up a draft of her letter to her future intern, Evie Pascal, picked from a pile of applicants. Evie seemed the most qualified and the most suitable for the position. It was only as she heard the man outside mention something about only a cloak that she remembered the middle-aged man outside left with her shop assistant.

She left her purple quill upon the table and pushed back from her desk, her designer robes moving with her swift strides to the front of the shop. “That will be good enough,” she said to her shop keep who no doubt was not paying enough mind. She really might need to hire new staff.” Aurelia looked to man, “she will help you with the costs and the desired fabric.” She was going to attend to him but from the corner of her eye she noticed a familiar face, family. Now Aurelia was not generally a family person, but since this customer was not paid for by herself or an agency purely just a man with the desire to wear premium quality he did not need her complete attention for the moment. Her shop keep, this particular girl, was capable despite some incompetence to work with the middle-aged man. It was a pity it was the other girls day off but unfortunately employees were entitled to these things called ‘days off’.

“Augustus!” Aurelia spoke with enthusiasm, which was reserved for Augustus, had the face she had seen resemble that of her own she would have been less enthused. Analiza would be a less than welcome face, purely because it probably was bearing bad tidings. It was unfortunate that was where her mind went when it came to her dear twin sister, but after years of rivalry what was to be expected. “What do I owe the pleasure of this visit too?” Aurelia calmly spoke before motioning for them to retire to the back of her shop. She started to walk back there glancing over her shoulder at Augustus, “Now would you care for some tea?” She examined his soured expression, “Or perhaps something a tad stronger?”

Aurelia's warm reception was just what Augustus needed in these difficult times. He felt his signature lopsided grin fall firmly into place as she said his name with the type of gusto that only one of his family could provide. She motioned towards the back of the shop where they would be away from prying eyes. Augustus flashed the gentleman on the stool an apologetic look, as he was being touched up by the assistant. He followed Aurelia into the back room and nodded as she offered him a cup of tea as she glanced over her shoulder at him. "A cup of tea would be grand...thank you..." He scratched the back of his neck nervously as she offered him something stronger. He chuckled. "No, tea will do fine..."

She eyed him warily and he averted his eyes to some of her clothing. He let his finger trail against a cloak that was made of fine material, but quickly pulled his hand back through fear of facing his elder sister's wrath - Merlin knew she was possessive about her 'babies'. "I'm sorry to disturb you at work." He said sheepishly, trailing the toe of his shoe in circles on the floor. "I wouldn't have, if it wasn't...." He nearly said 'urgent', but stopped himself not wanting to make the situation sound dire. "important." He said eventually.

Tea it was, with a soft grip on her wand she flicked her wrist and soon a pot of tea and two cups floated over to the table settling down smoothly followed by the milk and sugar. She turned in time to see Augustus fondling the material of one of the cloaks just hemmed for a customer who would pick it up later today or tomorrow. She held back from treating him like a small child and scolding him for touching things he should not, Augustus was old enough and wise enough to know better, which was why his hand pulled back. Aurelia did not mind him touching things but not when it had just been finished.

The tea began to pour into the cup as Augustus began to speak. The way he paused between the end of his sentence cause for more concern. “No it is fine, I need to take a break now and then.” Had Augustus not arrived she would have probably worked through the day and her meals like usual. “Please sit down,” she motions towards to seats around the small bistro style table. “What is plaguing you?” She asked as she settled into the seat and spooned some sugar into her tea stirring the spoon as she watched him with some concern on her face. Augustus was one of her only family members to receive the look of concern or worry.

“What is plaguing you?”

Ach, those words. They resounded in his ears and echoed into the far depths of his brain. She was going to think him silly. But how would she know? She didn't have children. She didn't know what it was like bringing up a child on one's own.

"I..." He started, spooning three heaped spoonfulls of sugar into his cup and stirring absent-mindedly. "Well," He took a deep breath, ready to do the damage. "I think Arielle is at the age where she wants to start..." He paused slightly and grimaced as he forced himself to say the word in a whisper. "Dating."

He looked at his sister as best he could with such a hunched back, and waited for the teasing to start. This was not the situation where he would take kindly to teasing, and he had expected that was what he would get if he went to Analiza with this problem. This was exactly why he had chosen his other sister as his advisor. Much as though Ana had the experience of bringing up a child, it was harder for a father to let go of his daughter than a mother to let go of her son - wasn't it?

Aurie sat looking at her younger brother hoping he would say something soon because the sound of his spoon and her own hitting the cup as it stirred was becoming almost painful on the ears. It was all this mystery around what was wrong that it was making Aurelia agitated, in addition to the fact she was now doing one thing and not multiple things. It was glorious when Augustus started to speak, Aurie pulled the spoon from the cup and placed it to the side. A small smirk spread across her lips as her younger brother spoke. Dating was what this conversation was about? Arielle wanted to date? Well it was about time wasn’t it? Fifteen, if she was correct and that was a good a time as any for a daughter to find interest in dating.

“Oh Augustus!” She chuckled as she leaned back in the seat much relaxed by the lightheartedness of the conversation; she had expected something so much worse. She felt as if the weight of trouble was lifted from her shoulders for the moment until she had a need to start fussing over work. Letting the teacup and sauce rest back on the table she shook her head. “August darling it time for her to grow up, and wishing to date is a part of that.” Aurie paused crossing one leg over the other. “She is at the age, so all you can do is let her date but encourage her to let you in on who it is.” The worst thing Augustus could do was forbid his daughter from dating because she would still do it just behind her father’s back. “Trust me you would rather know she is than have her date behind your back.”

Augustus felt his ears burn with embarassment as Aurelia chuckled at his predicament. “Oh Augustus!” He felt his shoulders slump even more as he almost sank his head into his tea cup. Was he that pathetic that he warranted such a patronising response? Or perhaps it was just the way he was feeling at that moment. He stirred the spoon around in his cup more viciously as his sister carried on speaking.

“She is at the age, so all you can do is let her date but encourage her to let you in on who it is.” Augustus groaned and grabbed a handful of hair at the right side of his head, tugging in frustration. "But I don't want her to be at that age!" He whined like a child who had lost a lollipop. "“Trust me you would rather know she is than have her date behind your back.” He let go of his hair leaving it spiked upon one side like a weird punk, and sighed. "I know." He said softly. "I just...I know it sounds stupid...I don't want her to get too...close to anyone." He swilled the tea around in his cup, avoiding all manner of eye contact as he was known for doing in awkward situations. "I don't want her to have to go through what I went through..." He looked at his sister for the first time in the few short minutes he had been there, and had to choke back the evidence of emotion. "...Losing someone."