It had been four months since Hunter had decided that Archer needed an epic pillow fort taking up the entire living room of his flat. It had been fun to construct, and better yet, Archer had enjoyed it after it was all said and done. No doubt that his brother had admired his magical prowess, and marveled at his architectural ingenuity. Hunter was the Master of Pillowfort, and had perfected the art of various other in-door construction projects. Pillow forts very barely scraped the proverbial (and soon to be literal) tip of the iceberg.

Archer stressed himself out too much. His big brother had lost his inner child somewhere along life's journey, and seemed to spend his life in a perpetual lack of adventure due to his being consistently high strung. It was Hunter's duty, as the baby brother, to bring Archer back to his roots and remind him that life was not all aurors and dark-wizards*. Life should be enjoyed, every day, and he ought to count his lucky stars that he had the things he did. Things like the best mum in the world, a pretty girlfriend, a brother who cared about him, and the perfect igloo sized living room.

Thus, it was Hunter's mission to bring his brother back to basics.

He knew that Archer had been out of town with his girlfriend. He had heard about what happened, and though hew as worried, deemed it the perfect change to help ease Archer's frustrations and tensions. So he found his way to Archer's flat, wand in hand, and a quickly drawn schematic of How to Make an Igloo. Hunter also had with him a small box that contained more than a few live snow-faeries that would only complete the decor once he and his Accomplice had completed the task at hand.

It was mid-day now, and Hunter had no doubt that they would be finished before night fall. Then they could cast the proper charms to prevent the scene inside from melting, and have a nice dinner on the town. All in all, it was the perfect plan. Hunter glanced at his watch, somewhat impatiently, and smiled when he saw a familiar face approaching. "It's about time," he greeted with a charming smile. "I was about to get started without you."




*aurors and dark-wizards is what I think of as the wizarding equivalent to cops and robbers

"And deprive me of the opportunity to get revenge on your brother?"  Charlene flashed the Quidditch announcer a sly smile as she approached, tugging her winter coat up around her shoulders.  "You ought to know me better than that by now, Radley.  I might have to construct an igloo in your living room if I miss out on the chance to practice on his."

It had already been a long morning.  Raynor had recovered enough that she'd begun to take on some of Level Two's necessary paperwork again, but Charlene and her partner had still been pulling long hours with the rest of the department to keep things organized and running.  Working on a Sunday was nothing new for the Auror, but she'd gone in especially early that day to get through what needed to be done, and then had quietly excused herself for the rest of the afternoon.

With their boss still out, work had been particularly overwhelming recently.  All too often, Charlene found herself sliding from one day directly into the next, without so much as a chance to catch her breath outside of the office.  That was one reason why the current interlude with Hunter Radley seemed a particularly bright idea - it was an opportunity to break out of the normal Level Two grind, have some fun, and nonchalantly take revenge on one of her two co-workers who seemed to think he was entirely immune to pranks going in the opposite direction.

"Sorry, it took me a bit to make it out of the office," she replied, giving Hunter a quizzical look as she glanced up at the building.  "You'd think we were trying to keep a government running or something, the way the work keeps piling up, and I didn't want to abandon Pratt to it all alone.  So this is the place?" she asked, a slight smirk creeping onto her face as she glanced at Hunter again, her eyebrows raising.  "Looks promising.  You didn't forget the snow fairies, did you?  They're going to be a nice touch."

"I figured it would take you a while to get out," Hunter told her. "Especially with Archibald holing up in the hospital instead of doing his job down at the office. He ought to be out catching bad guys with you all, eh?" he elbowed her, then lifted up the box. He shook it gently in her direction. "And of course I remembered them."

Hunter led Charlene up to Archer's flat, carefully picking his way through each of the magical enchantments to keep people out. He had really expected that Archer would change everything after the pillow fort incident. He had not, though, which led Hunter to believe that attacks such as this one were welcome. Archer liked knowing his brother cared, even if he showed it in weird ways. Like the soon to be construction of an igloo in the living room of the flat. It was a shame that Hunter had not been able to find any gnomes to dress up as eskimos or live penguins to set loose in the flat. But, he supposed, they would make do with what they had- which was two wands, to brilliant minds, and a box of snow faeries.

"Well hopefully this will help to distract you from all that mess at work," Hunter offered, opening the door. "After you, m'lady," he gestured grandly, motioning her through the door to the flat. "I'm sure Archibald deserves it. He's an awful prick sometimes. Last time I visited he was rushing me out the door so he could go spend the night with that girlfriend of his. And when I ran into them out, he all but shunned my existence. I can't imagine why he'd be ashamed of me." Why would anyone be ashamed of Hunter? He was good looking, well known in the wizarding world, and people generally liked him. Sure, he had the tendency to be immature and melodramatic, but who didn't?

"I figured after we got finished up here, we could have dinner before calling it a night." Hunter shut and locked the door to his brother's flat after Charlene came inside, and he set the box of fairies down on a table and inspected the room that they had to work with. "So where should we start?" Hunter asked. "I haven't given a whole lot of thought to the actual process of this brilliant plan," he confessed. Not that it was anything new. Hunter often had elaborate schemes but wasn't sure how to carry them out. Hopefully with Charlene helping him out, this would turn out about a million times more awesome than if he had done it on his own.

The ease at which Hunter picked the locks and broke through the charms on his older brother's door was a bit disconcerting.  Charlene had to force herself not to file the fact away as possible evidence for an eventual case.  She wasn't here to work; she was here, for a change, to relax and have fun, which was something that Fox (whom she still looked up to as a mentor, even though it had been years since he'd trained her) was constantly urging her to do.  What did it matter if Hunter Radley knew how to break into an Auror's apartment, where potentially sensitive information might be kept?  The only nefarious purpose that he was putting his skills towards was pranking a brother who undeniably deserved it.

"You mean Raynor?" she asked, giving Hunter an amused look as she followed him inside.  "I'm surprised they went out.  The two of them keep things as discreet as they possibly can.  It's probably not you," she added, flashing him a smile.  "Unless they thought that you were going to point things out to everyone you came across.  Being indiscreet isn't exactly one of your many charms."

She followed Hunter into the front room, pausing to glance it over.  Whatever defenses Archer Radley might have prepared against intruders, Charlene sincerely doubted that he had expected anyone to change his parlor into a winter wonderland.   It was probably lucky that he wouldn't be home for days; they didn't need him walking in on their prank in action, even though it did mean that their anti-melting charms would need to be exceptional.

"Dinner sounds lovely," she agreed, giving Hunter a smile.  "Which means we ought to work quickly.  How do you feel about transfiguration?" she asked, turning a discerning eye on the sofa.  "That might work best, if we're sure we can get the charms right to keep it all from melting.  Otherwise, we'll have an awful lot of furniture to vanish."

Hunter grinned at Charlene, then goosed her side, planting a quick peck on her cheek. "I must have many more charms to make up for that one flaw to have such a pretty lady helping me to break into an auror's home to turn it into a yeti cave."

As for his feelings of transfiguration... Hunter grinned. "Quite good at it. And you have a lot to learn, Charley. You don't vanish the furniture, you put inside the igloo. When I made the pillow fort I just put the furniture inside. That way Archer has a nice, cozy place to sit and to entertain should he decide to bring his lover-" Hunter waggled his eyebrows, "home for a little fun."

"I'm not so great with charms, though, so I hope that it's your strong suit." Hunter peeled off his coat and hung it up on a peg, then rolled up his sleeves. He pulled a wand from his pocket, and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Should we start with the igloo in the front room?" he asked her. "Then build around it? That might be best. We need penguins. I couldn't find any live ones, though..." Hunter trailed off as he began to use his wand to rearrange the furniture so that it would all fit inside of the igloo.

Then he summoned a piece of parchment from his coat pocket, holding it up in front of him. It was the schematics for the igloo, along with a list of helpful spells to get things done. Who said that Hunter Radley wasn't smart and never did his homework? He was incredibly prepared for this particular endeavor. "I found a charm that sounds like a yeti scream," he told her. "It's an alarm of sorts. It would be great on the doors. Nice and scary, don't you think?"

"Positively terrifying," Charlene replied, her normal half-smirk growing into an enormous smile.  The best part of this would be listening to Radley gripe about it at work, once he was finally back at the office.  With any luck, she might be able to cast the Yeti charm on his desk drawer when he wasn't looking, though that might give away the fact that one of the Aurors had been involved.  No matter.  He'd likely just blame it on Pratt.

"The door to the loo might work well, don't you think?" she suggested, and then rethought it.  "Or on the loo itself.  Open the lid and the Yeti expresses its displeasure.  Or what about some select cabinets through his kitchen?"  The thought of what they could do was becoming far too amusing.  "We could just put it on anything that opens, really.  He might spend months trying to find them all."

It was really quite incredible how different the younger Radley was from his eldest brother.  Where Archer was full of himself, taken with his own sense of humor, and far too obsessed with Quidditch, Hunter was...well, also a bit full of himself.  And even more obsessed with Quidditch, to be honest, though it was somewhat tempered by the competing fascination with his own mother.  But he was charming.  Funny.  He made her laugh.  Charlene wasn't expecting much out of this fling, although she was almost looking forward to Archer's reaction if he ever found out, but at least she was enjoying herself in the meanwhile.

"I'm impressed," she said, flashing him a smile as she nodded to the plans.  Until they got the ice going, it was warm enough inside the apartment, so she removed her own coat.  "I hope he appreciates the results.  How do you want to do this, you take the transfiguration and I'll handle the charms?  It might be a nice touch to enchant the floor so that it's slick like a skating rink."

Hunter snorted. The idea of the toilet roaring at you when you were trying to pee was hilarious. At least, Hunter thought that it was. But he was also known to have the maturity of a four year old who enjoyed wearing superman underoos... As an every day outfit, and not as undies. "Brilliant!" he agreed. "Every place that opens." Any box, cabinet, bottle or anything in the entire house- they would all roar in yeti displeasure. It would drive Archer absolutely insane. "It'll be four months down the road and he would find a new one. Just to remind him of awesome we are!" Hunter had no doubt that Archer would figure it out the second that he stepped into his flat.

"That works," he told her. "Though I guess first we should start with the igloo. That's going to take the longest. Cause we'll need to make ice blocks and assemble them and charm them. Finishing touches can go last," Hunter said to Charlene. "Like the yeti charm and whatever else."

"It's a shame that a dog sled team won't fit... But maybe we could make a snowman. A whole snow person family! And they can be on the furniture when he comes in. Is there a way to charm them to greet Archer when he comes in the door?" That would scare his brother to death. Opening the door, seeing an igloo in his living room, and a whole family of snowpeople (that he couldn't see until he went inside the igloo) shouting a very hearty hello. Yes, Hunter was indeed a genius. And he couldn't have pulled off this elaborate, awesome plan without the help of his very pretty partner.

Hunter thought Archer would appreciate it after he was done being mad. He had appreciated the pillow fort after throwing his hissy fit, and this was far more epic than a pillow fort. This was his own personal winter wonderland. "It could all be very romantic if he brings his lover back here," Hunter said to Charlene. "They could do it in the igloo. That would be a great story. I don't know anybody who can say that they've done it in an igloo." And Hunter knew someone who had done everything, at least, he had thought so.

"And a skating rink is perfect. Don't want Archer to fall down and get hurt though. Maybe make the kitchen an ice skating rink? That way he will know to be careful after he gets used to the idea of his house being covered in ice. Don't want to surprise him too much when he walks in. If he gets hurt, he'll get mad. You wouldn't like Archer when he's mad. He gets all diva on everyone." As if Hunter had any room to talk. "Right, so, igloo first," he told her.

The Auror let out a laugh, flashing Hunter a grin as she twisted her fingers through her hair.  "I'm certain that there is.  But if we're going to have a snow person family, then we ought to transfigure some of his throw pillows into penguins so that they have a few pets," she agreed with a bright smile.  "Maybe we could enchant the lot of them to carol once he arrives?  Even if it's a bit after the season, I'm sure he'd still appreciate it.  Music makes any day a little brighter."

The idea of Archer Radley opening his front door only to be greeted by a family of snow people singing one of the cheery carols from this year's Muggly the Bear Christmas Special was almost too much.  Chuckling to herself, Charlene started into the kitchen, opening cabinets to check them and assessing drawer locations as she pulled out her wand.  It shouldn't be too difficult to add a layer of ice to the floor, and a slow-melting charm would be just the thing to keep it in place until the flat's owner returned home.

"Oh, I've seen him angry!" she called back to Hunter in the main room.  "You forget that I work with him on a daily basis.  Although he seems to take a lot more pleasure in making everyone else mad."  It was probably lucky that Radley had been gone for Pratt's reign of terror; Charlene still suspected that leaving her partner in charge had been the big Auror's idea while Raynor had been out of commission.  "It's nice to give him a bit of his own medicine for a change."

Pulling open a cabinet, Charlene discovered that it was where Radley kept his eclectic collection of pots and pans.  It seemed as good a place to start as any.  Raising her wand, she began to cast an icicle spell, enchanting them into solidity so that they dangled from each shelf.

"What was that Yeti spell again?" she called back to Hunter.  "I'll start putting it into place in here!"

Hunter really couldn't believe his luck with Charlene. Most women would find this entirely immature. The fact that she was not only tagging along, but helping him and encouraging him to go further than his original intentions was amazing. Where had Charlene Malone been all of his life? And, to make matters even better, it would drive Archer mad if he knew about it. Hunter got a weird satisfaction out of knowing Archer's reaction would be a... well, a weird one. He figured Archer wouldn't be pissed, but he'd at the very least find it annoying and inconvenient.

"I think that you are entirely brilliant," Hunter called to her. He was busy working on transfiguring things to make ice blocks, and levitating them to form the shape of an igloo. He repeated the icantation to her for the yeti screaming, too. "Make sure you put it anywhere there is food. Archer needs to learn to watch his figure. It ought to growl and then call him a fatty." That would be hilarious.

Hunter continued working on making the igloo, and finished it surprisingly fast. That was the magic of... well... magic. It allowed you to do things in no time at all. Hunter entered the igloo and carefully rearranged the furniture inside of it before turning the carpet underneath it into snow. He stepped back out into the room to admire his work.

"You know, they should greet him as Archibald," Hunter said to her as he tried turning things into penguins. "He hates being called Archibald- so I make it a point to address him as such as often as possible. If I ever have children, they shall call him Uncle Archibald. I'll teach them from a young age that it is his real name so they will torture him with it all the time!"

It wasn't long before Hunter had turned all of the couch pillows into penguins, and enchanted them to waddle. It was an awkward waddle, to be certain, but at least they moved without falling down (much). He grabbed one and carried it into the other room to show it to Charlene. "Still looks like a pillow, but it moves and quacks." Of course Hunter didn't take into consideration that penguins were not supposed to quack. He set it down and it fell a few times on its way over to Charlene before quacking loudly at her and heading back into the living room with the other penguins.

"I got the igloo done pretty quickly," he told her. "I'm going to go turn the bathroom into a yeti cave. I should have got a potion to make it smell like a yeti in there. But I think Archer might kill me if it stank in here. Then he couldn't bring that pretty woman over. He was mortified when I caught them out at dinner, I think. I sat down to chat- just to make it worth my while."

Enchanting her co-worker's kitchen probably shouldn't be this entertaining.  Charlene moved from cabinet to cabinet and drawer to drawer, casting wintery charms and adding the roaring yeti spell with a flourish to each one.  It was nice to be able to use magic creatively for a change - his icebox, she enchanted to let out a wintery gust of snowflakes every time it was open.  The faucet began jingling like a sleigh ride when it was turned on, and she left the forks and spoons using the knives as sleds as they trudged up a now-snowy mound of dirty dishes and went racing down the other side in an endless loop.

Even though he couldn't see her in the other room, she flashed a smile in Hunter's direction as he called out the compliment.  Humming a Christmas carol to herself, Charlene began to enchant icicles to hang from the ceiling, charming each one to blink on and off in a prismatic pulchritudinous spectrum as if they'd been frozen along a line of fairy lights.

Archilbald.  She smirked.  It had never occurred to her that Archer must be short for something; she'd assumed that the Radley mother was simply aiming to have militant sons.  Archer, Hunter...she had never heard the name of their third brother, but she assumed it was something like in the same pattern.  Spear-Thrower Radley...it did have a nice ring to it.

She had just finished turning the floor into an ice skating rink when Hunter returned with his penguin.  "Adorable," she said with a grin, bending over to examine it as it quacked at her and began waddling away.  Charlene laughed, glancing at Hunter as she straightened.

"Which pretty woman?  You don't mean Tamis Raynor, do you - oh!"  Her shoe failed to make traction on the ice and she almost lost her balance, grabbing on to the Quidditch announcer's arm to steady herself.  "I suppose I should watch my step," she remarked, smirking as she returned her attention to Hunter.  "You saw him and Raynor together?  I should like to come across that.  There's probably a pool in the office I could win if I came in with evidence," she added with a smile.

Hunter grinned when she caught herself on his arm, helping Malone steady herself before planting a kiss on her cheek. "Yes, Tamis. They were out to dinner. You know..." he trailed off, grinning, "I couldweael them into a double date. Threatening him with certain things makes Archer putty in your hands." Not entirely true, but Archer did tend to cave into simple requests to avoid any drama that Hunter might threaten to create with their mother. "Then you could have all the proof you need."

"Maybe we will have to drag them out for Valentine's Day?" he suggested. "That would really make Archer squirm!" Because naturally it was Hunter's main goal in life to make things difficult and/or awkward for his brother. It was all in good fun, though, and Archer was often more than happy to return the favor.

"I think we're better off to leave his bedroom alone, though," Hunter said. "He might really get angry over that. Last time this happened I only messed with the living room. He'd probably murder us if he came home and his bed was Santa's sleigh." Sleigh! Reindeer! Genius! Too bad he was way too chicken to actually go into his brother's room. Besides, a bedroom was just too private to toy with. To compensate, Hunter would just put antlers on the toilet.

He parted ways from Charlene again to go and turn the bathroom into a yeti cave. "Charlie! Do you know any spells to make it stink in here?" he hollered, after working to make it look gross and cave like. The toilet lid and seat were also charmed to roar when moved around, and the shower curtain screamed when you opened it. He left the door alone, though, so as to not ruin the surprise. "A yeti cave shouldn't smell like cleaners."