Since she had opened the bakery, Candice had been surprised at the level of regular customers she had already managed to snag. People liked her sweets, and they came back for more- some even making owl orders, or asking if would mind if they apparated in and out to take boxes to work or to take home. It was a pleasant surprise, and so far she had managed to handle things on her own- though it certainly had not been a simple task. Candice had already hired some part time help to prevent herself from working 12 hour shifts and to lend a hand in the kitchen.

Success was not something she was a stranger to- but this level of personal success was incredibly satisfying. She had been through a lot the last year- a lot of uneasiness and confusion in her personal life. She had gotten fired from the ministry, moved on to Calaveras, and now had gone out on her own. It was a big leap to go from ministry psychologist to bakery owner- but she was happy, and the medical training was going to come in handy. It helped her with her potions skills and if someone got sick or choked or something else awful she'd know how to help them.

But spending the morning baking was just incredibly therapeutic, and left Candice in a wonderful mood. This morning was no different. She had decided to do a large batch of donuts- so there would be fresh ones for the early morning crowd and the late morning crowd. Candice had just set a tray of chocolate covered creme filled donuts in the display case when she heard the bell over the door tinkle.

She wiped her hands on her apron, and smiled brightly at the tall figure that came through the door. Candy remembered him from that random night she had dropped in at Signature for a beer. He taught at Hogwarts, and had been very nice. She also recognized him from some new ads that had just come out in Witch Weekly- and couldn't help but giggle at the thought of students running around with photos of their professor modelling high fashion clothes.

"Good morning!" she called out cheerily from behind the counter, perching atop her stool. "I see you've found my little shop after all! Anything in particular you're looking for?" she asked.

The students were milling around the town behind him as he headed into the bakery. Tapendra had elected to go on this trip; like them, he needed a day off, though unlike them a day off implied fattening, artery-clogging food and a good book. And possibly a bit of feeling sorry for himself, though he was determined to break that habit.

He'd kept an eye on the bakery, but with all the trouble recently had had no time to visit or check on it. Still, it seemed to be doing well, much to his pleasure. It was cheaper than the tea shop, it apparently delivered, and it didn't require you to get tea with everything. It was also less lover-y, which was a point in its favor. There was only so much white and pink lace and flowers  and hearts you could take.

"Good morning," he replied with a smile, nodding in greeting. He'd run into her some time ago - it seemed quite some time, actually, since Spring Break. He wished it was Spring Break again. All this shit with Ignan and Dolly and his mother wouldn't have happened yet.

"Actually, no, not really," he  admitted with a soft laugh, sitting at one of the nearby tables, absently adjusting his dark blue tie. He looked at the long lines of different sweets, then back up at Candy. "What would you recommend?" He asked, smiling.

He didn't seem to have a particular taste in mind, and asked that she suggest something. She looked at him for a moment, then looked upward in through, twisting the apron between her fingers. "Well really, it all depends on the type of things you like. But I tell you what I can do for you, Tapendra, I can make you a little sample plate." It was something she did for most people who weren't sure what they wanted. She would cut a few thew things into halves or quarters and fill up a plate with it. Most of the time she wouldn't charge, either, knowing they would come back again to get something delicious.

"You can help yourself to something to drink if you'd like," she said. "Or I can bring you a glass of milk or juice."

She found a few larger plates and set them on top of the counter. Candy then began to pull a variety of pastries and sweets out from the case, cutting pieces and placing them on the plates. Making one meant she had to make more- and she could keep them for later, or set them up as free samples.

Candice took the plate set it on the table. "A little bit of everything never hurt anybody. I didn't give you anything potion infused- but if you want to try one of those, I don't mind. I just figured a plate full of conflicting emotions wouldn't do anybody any good. If I had to say, though, that chocolate strawberry cheesecake is the best."

He looked down at the platter, certainly not starved for choice in the least. He nodded as she spoke, a piece of donut being the first thing he tried. He chewed thoughtfully as she spoke, eyes gazing into the middle distance as he considered. However, a few of her words really, really registered, and he spun his head and looked at her, bright blue eyes wide.

"Chocolate cheesecake?" He asked, as if she'd just casually mentioned she gave all her food away for free and it didn't rot teeth or make you fat. "Can you do it with raspberries instead of strawberries?" That would be divine. As...unmanly as it might be to even think that. But still. He'd put on a skirt for a regular supply of raspberry chocolate cheesecake.

A very modest skirt, mind. Floor-length, plain. And tasteful. And he wouldn't wear it outdoors. But the thought was there!

The rest of the things she'd baked were very good, and after a moment he laughed. "I almost hope you can't. This shop may be very bad for me." He eyed the plate pointedly. "I'm bad at resisting good food."

Candice couldn't help but laugh when he said something about raspberries. She nodded. "Of course I can! I can make almost anything. It's even better if you put a little bit of raspberry flavoring in the cheesecake and then put fresh raspberries on top. If you want, I can make one for you and you can pick it up before you head back to the castle tonight?" she offered.

"And I'm sure it won't be that bad for you, I mean the house elves make amazing food, too- I know that. So it's not much different from that," Candy suggested. "And I'm glad you're bad at resisting- it means that even if I didn't do a great job in the kitchen you would still want to eat things." But she knew that she was an excellent chef, so that would never be a problem.

She got up from the table and came back with a glass and a bottle of milk. "You're going to need this," she said. "A lot of that stuff is very rich."

She settled back into her seat. "So how have you been since I ran into you at Signature?" Candice asked. "As you can see life is still going pretty good for me. I hope things are good for you, too. School's out for summer soon- I bet you're getting excited about that!"

"That would be lovely, if you could," he said, with a shimmer to his eye. He grinned at the thought of it. Oh yes; definetly bad for him. The elves could make just about anything, of course, but it wasn't quite the same...

And having a price tag attached would help him refrain. In theory.

"Hah, thank you," he said, as she handed him milk. Milk wasn't his favorite, but he wasn't about to turn it down. He drank, eyes scanning the plate for his next target. He looked up when she sat down, though, and instead reached blindly. His grab turned out to be peach flavored, a pastry of some kind.

"I've been fine." It was amazing, how easy that lie was. It was such a huge lie, and yet it didn't feel like one. "Glad to hear you've been well," he added, smiling. The shop seemed to have taken off, which was good for her; certainly better than what she'd said back in April.

"To be honest, they've all got to pass their exams first," he said. "It reflects on the teacher's skills if they all do badly, and, well - whoever the current teacher is takes the blame if they all fail." He shrugged, but it was true worry. "My predecessor wasn't the best Hogwarts has seen. I've been cramming as much as I can, but if they all struggle, my job gets axed. I've actually had time to prepare. They brought in a new teacher two weeks ago. I don't envy him."

Sipping the milk, he chuckled. "But in general, yes, I am looking forward to summer. What about you? Made plans for the holidays?"

Candice nodded. "Not a problem at all. I've been making cheesecakes so long it's like second nature. I'll definitely have it ready before you leave for the castle this evening. Do you like a lot or a little- as far as raspberries are concerned?" she asked. "I don't want to put too many on top, but I always love the crust and the fruit topping more than the actual cheesecake. I scrape the cheesecake off the crust and save the crust for last, usually." Candice knew she wasn't alone on that one, though. She had seen lots of people do it. It was actually a habit she had picked up from her grandfather.

She cringed when he said they'd just brought in a new professor with only two weeks left to go in the school year. "Seems a bit silly to me, to have someone come in for just two weeks," she said. "But I am glad that you've at least had time to prepare. It's a shame, though, the professor turnover rate these days. I've heard it's been extra awful this past school year. Maybe things will settle down some, though. At the very least you seem competent- which has to help with your job. I'm sure all your kids will do fine. If they care about passing the class then they'll study. If they don't care- then they won't. It's really as simple as that."

"If you do get axed, though, at least you can know you tried and that you didn't go in there and half ass it. At least, I hope you can know that. I don't know you well but it sounds like you tried."

Then he asked about her summer, and she shrugged. "Working, I guess. I don't have any big plans. Just running the shop here, hoping the novelty doesn't wear off and that I don't go under. I mean- I really don't need another failure feather to stick in my cap. I've got enough of those already. I suppose I might try to get away for a few days, but I have no idea where I'd like to go. And it's never any fun to go on holiday alone," she added. "Which is what would be happening if I tried. I had a lot of muggle friends but since I moved out to a wizarding village instead of living in London and started working here in Hogsmeade we've not been as close. But I suppose that's just life, yeah? Can't really tell them all I'm a witch. It's kind of against the law and all."

She frowned for a moment, but it didn't last for long- soon Candice was smiling brightly, as she usually was. "But that's alright. I've been making some new acquaintances from the shop and I'm sure I'll find more friends soon. Besides, I'm happy- and that's what really matters in the grand scheme of things."

"Whichever you think is best," he said happily, halfway through a piece of strawberry tart. "I'll take the chef's preference on that one, eh? I'm fine either way." He, personally, was there for the whole experience from berry to crust. But the chocolate was the best part, of course.

"Better than no instructor for NEWTs and OWLs, though," he said. "But yes, it is a shame. Disruptive too, I expect. I came in at the end of the Winter holiday, so it was at least between semesters." Maybe next year would be better. One could only hope, right?

"Hah. Thank you." He had tried, certainly, but perhaps the shift in curriculum had been too big. He'd tried to minimize it as much as possible, but... "Teaching wizard children anything remotely scientific is difficult," he confessed. "Half of them don't know about dinosaurs! At all! Can you imagine?"

Actually, he could.  He hadn't known about them til Ryan told him. But nevertheless...

He smiled sadly. "I know what you mean. Can't call, can't text, can't email, can't change your Facebook status. You can write, but who does that anymore?" He shrugged. Thankfully, he didn't completely live at Hogwarts - and he went home when he had the chance. If he hadn't taken on Head of House, commuting had really begun to enter his mind as an option.

Still, her sentiment was correct, wasn't it? He chuckled. "So long as you have a positive attitude and don't look back, right?"

Candice nodded. Whatever she thought was best? That was a lot of faith. She'd probably go somewhere middle of the road, then, just to make sure that she didn't over or under do things. But over analyzing cheesecake was a little silly, she supposed. "I'm sure you'll love it," Candice said with a smile.

"Well- I guess dinosuars aren't part of a normal wizard education," Candice offered. "I can imagine how hard it is to teach science stuff. I went to muggle schools before I went to Hogwarts- so when I got there I didn't fit in at all. And I couldn't believe how hard they thought math was and they laughed when I talked about science."

"I always thought about trying to go back to school- but after spending so much time at Hogwarts and doing training at St. Mungo's, and now that I'm... well, just so old, I guess, I'm satisfied with where I'm at. It was always hard to explain to my muggle friends why I never went to university and where I had gone to school. Even now they don't understand why I'm so secretive about my life. Most of us have really grown apart. It's kind of sad. I mean- it's great, having the best of both worlds, but at the same time it's hard to make the life work... I guess eventually you do have to choose on world over the other."

Candice nodded- in complete understanding- when he mentioned cell phones and internet. "Trust me, I know. My house now is outfitted with electricity and such. I have a kill switch for if I need to do major magic or use the floo so my appliances don't get fried. But when I'm here or in Diagon no cell phone. And they're just so convenient! Really- how have wizards not moved past owling? It takes so long! It's just not practical!"

"I don't see how they get on without the internet! It's the best thing ever. I love it! It's so funny to watch wizards try to understand it, too. I think if I ever taught Muggle Studies I'd try to teach them about that kind of stuff. I think it's important."

"But you know- eventually there might be someone who is revolutionary," Candy commented. "Just not now, I guess. But at least the purist sentiments seem to have really died down. I haven't heard so much about not liking muggles like I did when I was in school and when I first graduated."

Candice was aware that she was rambling a little. But she liked chatting- especially with people who were familiar with the muggle world. It seemed most of her friends in the wizard world were totally clueless about muggle life, and they just got confused when she tried to talk about her life. "Sorry- I just get a little carried away sometimes," she said to Tappy. "I've always talked a lot."

He nodded, silently. In the end, you sort of did have to chose. There was only so much overlap, and with what magic did to computers...

"I chose the muggle world," he said, simply. "Until this year, when both my kids are going to Hogwarts. It got lonely at home without them." He glanced at his wedding ring. "The wizarding world isn't exactly welcoming to people with more modern ideals. War over or no." Of course, he had other reasons for the withdraw, but still. He laughed. "And yes - I wish they'd invent the internet! Or television, or phones, or at least invent some sort of shield to make them work."

He chewed his way through another pastry. "Hah. Yes, eventually. The issues with wizards is half the time you have to convince them they need something before they'll try it. Hopefully with this new, more muggle generation, we'll finally see some of that sort of invention. Less walking tea kettles and more mp3 players, eh?"

Swallowing, he smiled. "No worries. I do the same thing, sometimes." Especially on certain topics.

Candice laughed, nodding. "They definitely aren't welcome to modern ideals. But you know, their society works for them. And some of us are lucky enough to have seen both sides of the coin. The unfortunate thing about the wizard world is that so many have no clue how muggle society works. A lot of the people higher up in the ministry who run the country would be lost if you dropped them in the muggle world. I really think the ministry should focus more on understanding muggles to make life a bit easier for them. But you know- that's likely never going to happen."

"One day there will be some witch or wizard who comes from a muggle family with the brain to invent that kind of stuff, I'm sure. I'm just not that witch. But with the number of muggleborns and halfbloods increasing, I'm sure there will be one eventually. For all we know the Department of Mysteries might already be working on it. They tinker with some very... interesting things up there."

"Walking tea kettles are fairly convenient though, especially at a dinner party. It's just that the wizards seem so content and- like you said- don't think that they need to change. I guess if likes work for them, there's no reason to make waves. But really, I can't imagine not wanting to keep evolving."

Candice reached forward, and picked up a miniature muffin from the plate and bit into it. "I guess I'm lucky. I love to cook, and that's pretty much the same in both worlds. Except adding potions now and again. But I prefer to cook without them. Only time I make an exception is if I need something to cool me off or heat me up depending on the weather. Gotta admit that warming potions in coffee are really convenient."

"So you've got kids then?" she asked. "How old are they? I bet it would be weird to have your dad be your professor. I can't imagine."

"We can only hope, right?" Tapendra smiled, not really feeling up to a full debate at the moment. Though it seemed she was - at least on the surface - more or less in agreement with him.

She'd made was what either a massive mistake or an invitation for hours of chattering or both - she'd asked about his kids. His eyes glittered happily as he pulled out his wallet, which on revelation was full of pictures - 15 of them, in order. He smiled broadly.

"Two girls, yes," he said, and the pride was obvious. He turned the wallet towards her. The pictures of Georgiana started when she was a baby; in the last one before Cy showed up, the black haired girl was sitting on the floor of a wood-floored room, a stove pot covering most of her head and wide grin on her face. The change in home was obvious when Cy showed up.

The rest of the images were cute but largely mundane. The two girls appeared for a few photos with a large, busty blonde woman; then she disappeared, and the two girls grew older (and in Georgiana's case, more sullen).

"Cyhirae's my daughter, and Georgiana's my sister," he said. "They're both at Hogwarts now. Gigi is in Slytherin, a 5th year, and Cy's in first year. Ravenclaw." He was clearly very pleased with his daughter's house. "Cy likes having me as a professor. Gigi's in that teen revel phase, so she's not too keen on the idea."

Candy didn't complain when he pulled out his wallet- showing her pictures of the girls. Candice had always loved chldren, and couldn't wait for the day she'd have her own and could carry around pictures of her own little cherubic angels. She leaned across the table to better see the photos.

She noticed that the woman in the photos left- but didn't ask. It wasn't any of her business, and since he was still wearing a wedding ring, it was probably a complicated situation. Then he explained that Cyhirae was his daughter, and that the other girl was his sister. That sparked an even larger part of Candice's curiosity- but again, she kept her questions to herself.

"Cyhirae looks just like you," Candice told him- tripping over the name. "And it's good that she likes it. Maybe with her growing up with you at Hogwarts it will be less awkward for her when she gets older. Though I'm sure it won't be fun that she can't have a boyfriend or anything without Dad knowing what's going on. I can't imagine if my grandparents had been teaching at Hogwarts when I was growing up and going here. They would have been in my business even worse than they were when I graduated!" she laughed. "Bless them, though, they're wonderful people and took such great care of me."

"And unfortunately there's not much to do for that teen rebel phase except give her some space. If you smother her it will only make it worse." Not that Candice had ever had children- but after doing counseling she definitely had learned a thing or two.

"She does. She's more like her mother, though, especially where temper is involved." He smiled again, almost not noticing the trip over Cyhirae's name - he was used to it, by now, as was she. Any substitute teacher at her primary school had fallen over it.

"That's true," he said, and his smile was ever so slightly predatory. "Especially true if she tries to date the boys in her year. There's only one I'd even consider good enough for her." The stiffness of his shoulders and the set of his jaw  was only momentary, but spoke volumes. All the first year boys had value in their own way; most of them were bright, and in general most of them meant well.

That didn't mean they could lay hands on his daughter.

"Hah, well, Gigi's at the stage where I could relocate to the moon and still be too suffocating," he said. "If I'm lucky she'll calm down soon. She doesn't really fit in with her dorm mates, unfortunately, so..." He shrugged. "She takes after our mother. Hopefully, she'll grow out of that." His tone, which had gone dark, was suddenly lighter; he smiled again. "No kids of your own?"

Candice laughed when he said the moon would still be too suffocating. She remembered when she thought that about her real mom- but Candy had never really gotten along well with her biological mother, so that was a little different. But at least he was aware, and he seemed like he was a dedicated parent.

When he asked if she had kids of her own, Candice blushed and shook her head. "No- no children of my own." Not because she didn't want any. The opportunity to have a family just had never presented itself. She had been engaged once, and had thought that would be it for her... But, well, it just had not worked out the way that she had expected it to.

"I want kids some day," she told him. "I love children. I think they're really wonderful. But I just haven't really had the chance to have any of my own. Not to get overly personal, but suffice it to say that I've never had very much luck with men. Especially not in the last few years..." Candice shrugged, and smiled. "But that's alright. I'm still young and I've got great things going on in my life, and I'm happy. And you know that's always what's most important- being happy."

"I learned a long time ago that it is better to be miserable alone, than to be miserable with someone. So I've just decided to put it off until the time is right, I guess." But there she was- babbling again. "But one day!" she added with a bright smile. "One day I'll have a wonderful family of my own."