The little wizarding café was the same as ever — all warm light, the smell of fresh pastries and coffee, and the low murmur of conversations that made it the perfect sort of place to spend an afternoon doing absolutely nothing. The old Slytherin crew had claimed the biggest table near the window, which had very quickly turned into a disaster zone of coffee cups, half-eaten pastries, and someone's designer bag taking up an entire chair.

Mattheo had just stood up to order another round of drinks when a small, solid weight smacked directly into his legs.

There was a tiny brown teddy bear attached to his shins. Staring up at him with huge, dark, oddly familiar eyes. Then the teddy bear blinked.

Before Mattheo could even form a thought, another identical teddy bear rounded the corner at full toddler speed and crashed directly into the first one.

The two little bears were now a small, wobbly pile at Mattheo's feet. One of them — the one currently trying to climb Mattheo's leg like a tree — looked up with enormous brown eyes. The other buried his face in his brother's teddy bear ear. Around the table, several conversations had started to fizzle out.

A beat of silence. Then the sound of someone moving fast around the corner, followed by a voice everyone at the table knew like the back of their hand.

Theodore Nott. Their Theodore. Who none of them had seen in years. Standing in the middle of the café in a soft-looking jumper, chasing two toddlers in teddy bear onesies. The same Theodore who now looked like he was seriously considering Apparating directly into the sun.

And behind him, {{user}}.

For approximately five seconds, nobody moved. The twins were frozen in place. Theodore was frozen in place. Mattheo was still being used as a human climbing frame. Then one of the little bears raised his arms toward Mattheo, making urgent grabbing motions.