Archery

[Stefan Archer]

The eldest of the 3rd generation of Archer, didn't even realise what he was to that family. Being apart for so long, and never quite thinking that a family could be something he of all people could have, the teen had always believed that it would never be for him. His father, his mother, were the two people in his life. Who had left him, leaving him with nothing. They had had nothing, he had nothing, it seemed to be a common trait for him. Just having the bare minimum wasn't really enough anymore. Things had gotten better, things had changed, and well, it was time to do with that change what he had always feared in a sense. Stefan Archer, was a lonely Archer. A sole Archer. While he now came to realisation, that he had to have a wider family, that they had to exist somewhere, he'd also told himself to not get his hopes up too much. After all, his parents had to come from somewhere. There was however, one huge problem with this theory, this line of thought, something he simply couldn't shake, why hadn't the family looked for him. Helped his father, helped him. He had been sent to a horrid foster family when his father had died, he had run away, and yet nothing. No one looked, contacted, or did anything. How could he even attempt to accept family who simply hadn't cared enough to look for him. Even if they hadn't known of Stefan's existence. He was sure, that his father had been a son, a brother, surely they had cared enough to look. And his mother? What of her family, he was so much more lost in that department. How to begin looking, when he didn't even know his mother's real name? Which was why, as much as he longed to believe that his future held, family, and a better treatment than before, he found it difficult to see how it could be possible. After all, he was a little old to really want the comfort that a mother might have to offer. Stefan had long since stopped wishing for his own mother to wrap her arms around him and take him away from the nightmare of his life. He was fine on his own. He knew this. He was adamant of this, but, even as he thought of this, the monochromatic slytherin couldn't help but wonder about this supposed family. The family that he might just have. The family that Kate had told him about. The other Archer. His family, that family. Would they even want him? After all that he's had to deal with, would they want to help him. Would they care about him. The slytherin feared, that they were just trying to find out what happened to his parents, and really didn't care about him at all. Which he didn't want, since his parents tale was short lived, and poor Stefan would have very little good to say about it, he had basically no memories of his mother, and the memories of his father, he would rather forget.

A part of himself, a strong part of himself believed that if the other Archers asked after his parents, he wouldn't be honest with the possible new family. If they turned out to be his family, he would lie to them. Pretend everything had been fine. That he hadn't grown up in the most awful of ways. For all he knew they only had good memories of his parents. Stefan didn't want to ruin it. He wouldn't know where to begin, how could he, probably having known them less time than they had would be seen as the liar. Not them. The Slytherin was too used to be being called a liar when he wasn't. It was better therefore to not tarnish the memories they had. It wasn't like he actually wanted to talk about it, or deal with it. It, in part suited him fine though he was sure that Kate would not see it in the same way. After their spontaneous and completely unplanned three in the morning dinner, Stefan had thought a lot about things. His life, his future, their future. He had no idea what he was going to do with his life. He had no idea of what his future, or their future held. But, it had been speaking to her, and thinking of the family that she had, even if it had it's problems, at the end of each day, they looked out for one another, cared for each other. Stefan would be lying if he said that didn't make him jealous. He loved Kate, he really did, but Stefan was at a point in his life, where, the storm had settled, things looked better and maybe it was time for him to get some family who might care. He had spent too much time surrounded by people who treated him like a speck of dust on the ground, he wanted something different. Something normal, some family he would feel proud to call his own. Some people who just maybe cared about him. Who just maybe gave a sh1t about his little life. There was just one problem with all this, Stefan had no idea where to begin. He had no clue where to find this other Archer, what to say, or anything. Which was why, on an incredibly rainy Saturday afternoon, Stefan had left his revising, and was in the library. He was looking for something very specific. He had no idea what he would find, or if it would be what he wanted. But, Stefan felt a little more determined. The rain outside hammered down on the glass windows, he wrapped his arms around his thin frame, feeling a slight chill, as he went from a populated section of the library, to one that was really not. He had never been to this section, mostly as he had never needed to use it until then. Having no reason for this sort of research. It was only now. When he had finally made the decision to try to change his future. To make it brighter. To be the change he desired within himself.

The school records section of the library was a lot quieter than the rest, despite the fact it was library, there was a window half open giving this section of the room a chill to it, one that he wasn't expecting, he was sure that what he needed was at least in this section, but he wasn't sure where abouts it was. After spending a few moments searching, he noticed what he needed. The Accio! Yearbooks. Stefan had never bought a yearbook, he'd never had any money to, but he knew that they existed in the library. Having overheard two young slytherins talk about the first year they'd done it, with only two years of students. The start of the list, was indeed the first year it had run. Which was odd, he had always expected the school had been around for years, but, it really wasn't that old. It was roughly the same age as him. Which was odd to think about. He made his way to the last book, tucked neatly in at the end, a lot shinier than the rest. A lot less of a broken spine. He pulled the book from the shelf, and tucked it under his arm as he searched for the table, which thankfully for him, was hidden away in the potions section of the library, equally quiet, and without a drafty window. Taking a seat, the monochromatic Slytherin open the year book to the first page, he wouldn't go through it page by page, but it was useful to actually figure out how the thing was set up. What he knew was that the boy had been a first year last year, so that was what he needed to look for. Turning to the page, Stefan looked down at the faces of the first years. He recognized a few of the faces, since he had seen them around Slytherin. Going to the start, the first picture he went through the names, Adkins, Amherst, Anderson, Archer. The face staring back up at him for Archer wasn't really what he expect, but he didn't know what he was expecting. What would he really be seeing when he looked at it. He couldn't tell if this boy looked like him. He knew they both had the same condition, but it made this hard. How was Stefan suppose to tell if they had the same eyes, or hair, or anything. Anyone else, would be able to tell that they had identical eyes, and similar features. Stefan being the much skinnier version. For any person, the resemblance would be quite startling, considering they were just cousins. Stefan without registering what he was doing, began to flick through the rest of the year book, smiling as he saw the faces of the people he knew. Little did he know, that on this incredibly rainy Saturday afternoon, two Archers had the exact same idea of how to spend their day. As if for once, Archer luck was working for good, forcing the meeting the two had avoided for almost 3 months.
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[Tybalt Archer]

The young small Gryffindor, was the youngest Archer at Hogwarts, though in his family he held the title of eldest. He did not like this title. The problem with being the eldest was that he had no one to fall back on. He had no one he could really turn to when things got bad, after all, his parents tried to help, but as was the example of the school bullies showed, in reality his parents could do very little to actually help him. The kids could be told off as many times as was humanly possible, but this didn't make much of a change. This didn't alter what his school experience was. It had gotten pretty bad, but, the joy and way the young boy had pushed through it was by the simple thought of I'm of magical blood, and they aren't. He didn't care if they maybe were, for him that was what got him through. It had. Now, he didn't have such worries, but it didn't make the title any easier for him. It made him feel so powerless, like all things could occur and no one would be able to help him. All in all, Ty just wanted his older brother back. He just wanted the guy who had promised him he'd always be there. But, the monochromatic Gryffindor was an Archer, and Archers were unlucky. Well, his family were. He believed it. He knew it had to be true. It was the only way to explain his family and the incredible series of misfortunes that had fallen upon them. The tip of which were all of Ty's problems. He felt was always trying so hard to keep things together in his family, and every so often it felt like his family didn't want to. Sure, since coming to New Zealand they were closer than before, but he felt that he had fought so hard for his family, and it was something completely unrelated that had fixed it. Sometimes he felt like he tried too hard for people who didn't care about him as much as he cared for them. This was largely untrue in reality, his parents were fairly closed off people, worried for their remaining children, young Tybalt only saw the worst of it. He read it wrong, and got the wrong impression. He was seeing only what he believed to be true. However, at the end of the day, Tybalt was glad for the family that he had. While they annoyed and deeply frustrated him, he knew that they meant well. That they did care and if he got hurt, they would help. Even little Lydia. Tybalt had these fears, and they weren't fading anytime soon, but one day they would. And that day would be the most perfect of days. The young gryffindor knew that one day things would be okay, he knew that he'd find a place for him, to succeed or be his own person. Be an Archer without the bad luck, and family drama would be a very nice thing indeed.

Being an Archer meant family drama. That much was clearly obvious. All someone had to do was look at the summer that Tybalt had had. He had mentioned this other person. This guy who was also an Archer whose dad was supposed to be his father's brother. The uproar. The chaos that had caused. He hadn't even said anything other than there was another Archer at Hogwarts, that he too was colourblind, and that he had a picture of Tybalt's uncle who had died. Claiming that he thought it was the other person's brother. His ma had asked him more, where as his grandda had asked him very impolitely to stop talking. Tybalt had always known that this brother, the guy was a dark spot in the family history. He had been told a very horrifying story of how the man had died, and how he should never be spoken of every again, but was clear, that his father hadn't really ever bought the story, and his family had so many secrets, he wasn't surprised that this was one of them. But, the entire family wanted to know if this other Archer was the relation they were speculating about. Even those still in America. His father had been shocked to hear, that the guy existed, which puzzled Tybalt in a completely different sense. He couldn't understand why his father wouldn't have looked into it. Wouldn't have tried to find his own brother, and the man's son. Since if Ty did the maths right would've been born in the same year as Mason had been. Which meant that someone had to have known. Someone had to care enough to look for him. Tybalt couldn't imagine himself in this other Archer's position. Knowing and finding out about a family, hundreds of miles away living perfectly contently as they knew nothing of it. He remembered what that girl Kate had told him, that Ty's uncle the other Archer's father hadn't been A-standard as far as dads were concerned. Did his family know that, did they ignore such a thing. The questions floated in his head. He was unable to get rid of them. He just couldn't in his heart understand why the boy had been left alone, and his father had always preached about Archers sticking together no matter what. That wasn't what had happened. Tybalt couldn't understand that. He was so curious about how his family could say such things, and then decide they weren't true on some occasions. It was ridiculous. It was annoying. He just could not understand it. He loved his family, his sister, his parents, his cousins, his uncles and aunts but, the family was so closed off to one another. It was ridiculous to him that the family hadn't care enough about their little brother to find him once he disappeared. Ty knew that his brother would've looked high and low for him, had he disappeared, and he knew that if his sister went missing he would not rest until he found her. What made this so different. Where was the reasoning in not helping this family member.

The rain was coming down hard, it had started midway through the day, and well, the rain seemed to give the whole of Hogwarts a lazy feel. He knew that half the team had gone out to practice, but Ty had pretended to feel unwell so he could get out of it. He disliked heights, and also disliked the idea of heights, heavy rain and his eyesight. Instead, he had dressed in the large over sized jumper, and jeans. Choosing his glasses rather than contacts, give his eyes a bit of rest. He was trying to get some revision done, but the small Gryffindor found he couldn't concentrate in the Gryffindor common room. Someone had turned on the wireless wizarding radio, and well, it was too loud for him to do any form of revision, which was why he found himself in the library. Part of the young Gryffindor had wanted to dedicate this day to finding out more about this other guy, Stefan. He had seen the boy's picture in Rumor has it articles, but that was it. He had to find him properly. Now his parents wanted to find him, to get to know him. Which Tybalt was thinking it was probably just a little bit late for that, would Stefan want anything to do with them now, considering their lack of contact during all those years. He sighed as he made his way through the library. Not sure where his wondering would take him. His thoughts were lost, he was just trying to not think about it too much. He just wanted some guidance, someone to tell him what to do. He knew if his brother was around, he would know what to do. He would've done it months before. His brother had been so much stronger than he currently was. Tybalt reached the part of the library he always studied in. He had no idea why, but it was always the emptiest part of the library. with barely any students, ever. He looked up, and noticed at his usual table sat a boy, much older than him. Someone who looked vaguely familiar. "Excuse me" Ty said, the usual southern twang clear in those few words that he spoke. The other person looked up, and this stunned Tybalt. A silence engulfed them both, the heavy battering of the rain against any nearby windows the only noise. He felt like he was staring at the face of someone he knew. Maybe, a much skinnier version of someone he knew. Then, after a brief moment standing in silence, Tybalt realised who it actually was. Who he was actually standing in front of. The person barely looked like what Ty had envisioned. For one thing, the guy was thin. After so much thinking, in a school of nine floors, three towers, and countless classrooms, he had accidentally run into the one person he had been avoiding for three months. But no time like the present, right? Tybalt glanced down at his feet, then back up, and in a quiet voice said, "Stefan Archer"
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[Stefan Archer]

The smiles from the yearbook was bittersweet for the monochromatic Slytherin. He was staring at the pictures of people who looked perfectly happy with everything, who were engulfed by the security that a school brought. Knowing nothing of the struggles the outside world brought. He smiled at the 6th year page. All of them. Sara, Kate, Tara, all the other people he knew from his year, the way they had continued on without him. He knew now, he knew in his heart that they had been worried for him, cared about and all the rest, but this didn't actually make anything easier for him. He still had this idea in his head that if he hadn't come back, that if he had died at some point after leaving school, they would've lived on, eventually forgotten about him, and everything about their memories of him would be faded. He would become a distant memory of time gone past. Of someone better forgotten. Little more than a picture in an old and worn yearbook, the phrase, oh I remember him, I wonder what happened to him. Nothing more. Stefan didn't like the idea of that being him. Of that being something that could've happened. But, he knew in the very depths of his heart that no matter what he hadn't ever expected them to just stop everything for him. He had left without a word twice. He knew what would've awaited him, had he never returned. But, the yearbook did that to him. He got a sense of longing, of home, of something new. It was easy to him to think of it in the sense that he just wanted what they all had. Which was safety. The safety of a home, of a warm roof over their head every single night, of a warm meal, three times a day. The simplest of things was all Stefan had missed. It was what he saw in those pictures staring back up at him. The group shots, the singular shots. Everything. School had been something he'd missed in his absence. He had missed the normality it provided, and the way it didn't need to do much to make him happy. Seeing his friends, or girlfriend briefly in the morning before classes, essays, hard work. Being rewarded with house points. School was so simple compared to what else he'd been through. It was to the point, on the straight and narrow. He was always wandering a little far from that path. The return to school had been well timed, he had been fairing some what poorly, since the packages from Elvera's family had been scarce, and the money had been running short. Now, all he could think of, is why he hadn't just come back sooner. Once he had felt comfortable, once he no longer felt like a place could suffocate him he should've returned, but he feared that no matter how hard he would try, the school would not accept him back. He was ashamed of what he had done, how badly he had handled things. He should've come back sooner, but he'd come back once those fears were not as loud as his rumbling stomach, and the ache in his heart.

Surprise had filled him, learning of the younger Archer's Gryffindor status, he had never thought Archers would be brave. But, he knew too few Archers. His father was not brave in any sense, and while he hated to speak ill of his mother but she hadn't been all that brave either. Stefan also knew that of all Archers that he knew he was the least brave of the lot. Unable to handle himself against his own family, the foster family, the kids at the muggle school, living on the streets, this school. He feared so much, he still feared most of the professors at the school. The male professors, and even if he knew they posed no harm to him, life had taught him that nothing good came from trusting men. Sighing to himself, the monochromatic Slytherin, almost felt proud, proud of this kid, who was surely unlike most other Archers. It was as he smiled at the picture of the kid smiling up at him, on the Accio! Staff page, that he heard someone speak. He glanced up, ready to let the other person share the table with him. But, his bright blue eyes, the mirror image of the young boy's eyes, widened at the sight before him. Here in front of him was who he'd wanting to look for. His eyes fell back to the page he was looking at, then back up. The kid was a lot smaller than he had imagined he would be. But, he didn't look thin, he looked well. He wore glasses, much like the pair that Stefan had once owned. But, they were in much better condition that Stefan's had been. The kid was in much better condition than Stefan had been at that age. This at least filled him with the relief that this family wouldn't be like the other two. Stefan stood, unsure of what to do. Unsure, of how to greet this person, this possible family. His maybe cousin. Thankfully, the other spoke first, just uttering his name. In an accent that was much like the one he remembered his father having when the Slytherin had been no more than four or five. Stefan nodded nervously, unsure of how to really react. Unsure of how to be around this kid. "Tybalt Archer" Doing what the other boy had done. The seemingly safe option. He didn't know what else to do. What did you say to a family member, who was younger, who hadn't known about your existence till someone else had brought up the fact they looked similar. He didn't really see it, they looked alike, really? Stefan of course couldn't see the same blue eyes, or the very similar hair colour, Tybalt's just that little bit lighter, due to the time he had spent in the sun. Stefan decided that it would just be best, to in this situation be polite. To start as though they had no history. Surely that would be the best way to do this. He wiped his hand against his jeans and then held it out to Tybalt. Through all his desires for family, Stefan had never thought it would be possible. He wanted to, he had tried, but he was an unlucky Archer. Family had been something he had never imagined he could actually have.

"It's nice to meet you" He muttered, letting his eyes fall to his outstretched hand, that Tybalt seemed to take with the same amount of nerves that Stefan felt. He felt this could be the start of a joke, two monochromatic teens walk into a bar. Or something. Stefan didn't know. His mind was trying to keep him calm, telling jokes, and making him think of Kate. He let go of the boys hand, and motioned to the table. it seemed that fate had brought them together, while Stefan's desire was to leave, to make up some excuse so that he wouldn't have to do this, he couldn't. In his heart, Stefan was tired of running. "So," Stefan said nervously. His voice shook slightly, as if, trying to keep himself composed. "We are maybe meant to be family." Stefan kept his eyes on Tybalt, unsure of his reaction to this, if he would even want to be family. Stefan had no idea how a real family worked. What this meant for him. How much family did he actually have, "You're monochromatic too, right? Kate said that you were," He approached carefully. Stefan knew that it was a genetic thing, so something that they had to get from the same genes, it had to be a place to start. How to even figure this out. Stefan was only seventeen, this kid couldn't be more than thirteen. They had to figure out what had gone wrong, how Stefan fitted in a family that had basically shut him out. They were young, Stefan couldn't help but think that this was unfair on them. He didn't think they'd have a proper cousin relationship. Above all else Stefan simply didn't know how to be someone's cousin, nephew, grandson. This was a large task, Stefan had been sure he wasn't actually ready for.
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[Tybalt Archer]

The new teen had spent a lot of his spare time recently doing things that the year before he had thought impossible for himself. The biggest of which was that flying thing. When the small Gryffindor got upon the broom, and rode into the sky, he didn't feel what others felt. He just couldn't bring himself to enjoy it. He couldn't in his mind. All he could do was stop himself from sobbing, and crashing into the ground. He couldn't understand why anyone would give him such a position, why anyone would think his ready for such a duty, why he thought himself ready for such a position. It had been done on a whim, the young Gryffindor had not expected in all his years to be picked. But, he had, and why had he even done that in the first place, you might ask, well, the reason was simple. It was surprisingly simple. Family. While he had his reservations about his family, and knew they kept too many secrets to count, he wanted to be different, he wanted to break away from his title of shy small boy, to the confident type who was good at sports and such. Even though it was close to six years since his brother had died, Tybalt still lived in the shadow of his brother. Unable to make himself appear better than him. He was always being compared to him, and well, he wanted to change this. He wanted to teach little Lydia all about flying. He was desperately saving money to buy her a mini broom, knowing that she would enjoy that so much more than he did. She didn't have the problems of sight, or anything like that. He was the one left, struggling to learn a sport that scared him for her. Because he knew that was what brothers did. It's what his brother would've done for him, and well, Ty sort of left with the big brother position needed to do that too. While he didn't want to be carbon copy of his brother, there was no escaping that he was trying to be exactly what his brother might've been. Which meant, joining lots of clubs, doing sports, and the yearbook. The only one he was actually happy with was the Yearbook. Since it was always funny to tell people that the monochromatic Gryffindor was responsible for most of the pictures in that book. He smiled at the thought. He had bought the yearbook for his first year, mostly just to show his parents about all the things he had done. He had also tried to take one of the earlier yearbooks, with his maybe cousin's picture, but the school hadn't let him. However, this wasn't a bad thing. He had to just hope his parents actually believed him. He had one picture of him, and the picture of the other guy's parents. All enough, at least to set his grandfather off, which meant something. It had to mean something.

The boy, or man, in front of him was nothing like the Stefan he had seen in his head. Although, now he was altogether unsure of what he had really been expecting. Maybe Ty thought he was expecting to see someone who was just like his father, tall, well built, not skinny. Stefan he noted, as the boy stood was tall. Unlike Tybalt who was still one of the shorter members of the Archer clan. Most Archer's grew to be fairly tall, but for this young Gryffindor that hadn't quite happened yet. He was still at the in between phase. Desperately hoping that Lydia would not end up being taller than him. He let his eyes drift to what he'd had in front of him, the yearbook. Clearly Archers had the same line of thought. Tybalt had started with the Yearbooks, not knowing where else, or how else to start. His father had told him in a letter that there were no records of who he had been speaking off, but, here in front of him, stood the very person his father had once claimed could not possibly exist. The person he had once claimed could not exist. Not because he disliked him, but just because of what he had been told, and what he believed. Now, he truly knew that to false. It was odd, but he could see in Stefan's eyes, the same expression his father wore from time to time. While like Stefan, Ty could not the colour similarities, for him, this was all he needed. Being young, the only thing that Ty was nervous about was how to make up for all the years completely abandoned by this entire family that he had. Nodding as Stefan said his name, it was nice to have established that they were with the person they needed to be. It was so odd, that they had probably lead such different lives until this point. Had his family not moved, then he would've continued not knowing of the existence of the other. Tybalt had always loved the move, but, he loved it more now. Having been so adamant that Stefan wasn't possible, that his family wouldn't do such a thing, it was nice to know that he would play a major role in helping the family back together. He watched, as Stefan held out his hand to him. Polite, that was how to play it. With the same nerves, Ty took a few steps forward and shook his hand. However, he was genuinely happy to have accidentally run into Stefan. Tybalt loved family, he loved every part of it. In the moment of the handshake, Tybalt knew that if he was family, he loved Stefan too. The small Gryffindor closed the distance between them, and without giving it much thought wrapped his small arms around the older of the two, leaning into his chest and just giving the guy a huge hug. He did feel the older one stiffen, but did eventually return the hug.

"You too," The small monochromatic Gryffindor said as he pulled away. Taking a seat as it motioned to him. His eyes stayed carefully on Stefan. He still couldn't see the entire resemblance, but he could see he was definitely an Archer. Careful, and shy. He wasn't sure how to actually start this relationship. In his head, Ty imagined that the two of them would get along great, that they would be the best of friends, that they'd laugh together, as he did with his other cousins. The Archer cousins. In his heart however, Tybalt realised that his family had a lot of questions to answer before he could create some incredible memories with Stefan. He knew that the elder of the two would want to know all about everything that had happened, and from that decide what he wanted. Ty didn't want that, but his ma had told him, to not push it. They had no idea what had happened to him, or the family. All they knew was what Tybalt knew and really that wasn't too much. Just that the parents, his aunt and uncle, were dead. Thankfully, Stefan broke the silence, with the only words that could possibly be said in a situation like this. To which, Tybalt just nodded. He wanted to retort that they were already family, that of course they were family. Archer's stuck together. And finally the family would act upon that. He however didn't say anything, instead was glad, when Stefan went on. Tybalt nodded, "My da is too, my uncle.." Ty stopped himself, clearing his throat before starting again, "My da, your uncle is, our uncle Branson is, and your da would've been too, my uncle Mason, and our grandfather, grandfather Archer." He said, making sure to include Stefan with everything that he said. He fell silent. Realising that Stefan probably didn't know anything about the family, or how far it stretched. Ty looked down at the table, "I'm sorry" The words fell from his lips without him thinking, without looking up. "And don't say it's okay, because it's not. I'm sorry about this being how you find out about the Archer family." He shrugged slightly, looking back up at Stefan, "Archer luck I guess." He said, giving a small smile at him. Not sure how else to explain the lack of contact that they had had over the many, many years. He wasn't sure how to talk to him about it. He was the least qualified of his family to do such a thing. He wanted nothing more than to be able to go back in time and avoid this from ever happening. Stop his family from splitting. So, this would never have to happen. How could a thirteen year old apologise for a family secret. So deeply hidden, only his grandfather seemed to know anything about it. Tybalt also had no answer's about the other side. This was truly an Archer affair.
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[Stefan Archer]

Knowing little about family, was the biggest problem that Stefan currently had. It was fine and well being told that he had it, that it was possible for him, but Stefan didn't know how to be a family member. All of his ideas of family were constructed with the idea, at the end of the day that he did all the housework, got little to no food, and got the sh1t beaten out of him. There was no in between. Nothing changed this from being what had happened for the first 14-15 years of his life. He got the impression, no matter how hard he tried to make this better, to be better, that it would follow the same path. He would become to punching bag for this new family. Stefan didn't think that his fears were silly, or not plausible. Having grown up with that kind of treatment a new family couldn't just get it to go away with a simple snap of their fingers. It wasn't that easy, and well, it would never be that easy. Not for him. There were some things that had just become part of Stefan, things that had been beaten into him. Now, he just believed them to be right. He was ready to try with this new family, give them a chance, but at the back of his mind was expecting the same treatment. He just wasn't sure about if it did occur what he would do about it. He was older, wiser, and just that little bit stronger. He wouldn't ever been in that sort of a position ever again. Not matter how hard someone tried to make him. He wasn't ever going to be forced into a situation that he didn't like. That wasn't for him. He was bored and tired of being treated as such, so he would want to know soon. However, as the younger of the two stood in front of him, there were no tell tales signs that Stefan would recognise. Maybe the rest of the Archer family, was much unlike his father had been. Unlike the foster family. Maybe ever since discovering that he actually existed realised that they did indeed care. It had taken long enough, but maybe, just maybe, this was his chance at a happily ever after. It would be different, finally something that he desired, something that he needed. Stefan Archer wasn't going to let this pass by him, not because of those fears he held deep inside of him. The fears that brought no good. Brought nothing but memories of what his life had been like before. It was why, when the younger boy, following the hand shake had wrapped his arms around him, that Stefan had stiffened. He was used to such contact off people he knew, it was hard to feel comfortable. However as he glanced down at the boy with his hands around his waist, Stefan couldn't help but smile to himself. It was as he smiled that he relaxed every so slightly, and wrapped his own arms around the boy.

Once seated, Stefan's eyes glanced back at the yearbook. The picture was unmistakably the boy in front of him. He knew that it had to be. This young boy in front of him, was a little older but it was clearly him. Stefan didn't know what else to say about it. He was in a sort of stunned silence. It was odd to think that the last real family member he had in front of him, had died almost three years before. The last family who had been blood related had left him, and this was just him getting more. Sure, following his meeting with Elvera, he did realise that family didn't mean blood but Stefan had always wanted family. Even when he had been younger, he had sort of hoped for a sibling. He knew that it would horrible, to have to deal with his father and a sibling. Had the sibling been older, Stefan would've felt bad for all the beatings it would've gotten, more than for his own, and had the sibling been younger Stefan would've done everything in his power to protect it from his father. But, really he just wanted someone to talk to. Not to vent his anger, but just someone he could have a conversation with. Someone who completely understood him, what he had been through and what that meant. Talking to Kate was great, and he loved her with all his heart, but there was no denying that she sometimes just didn't know how to react to what he spoke of. Which was why, he always tried hard to just not talk about it. To not tell her the horrors he had suffered through. He tried to keep his eyes on Tybalt, but his confidence slipped often. Thinking that the boy was probably none the wiser of Stefan's upbringing. Who didn't know how awful things had gotten for Stefan. He hadn't known anything about them, and they hadn't known anything of him. But while they had lived on happily, Stefan had been dragged through a war that had raged within his father. A war he had no say in. Stefan wondered that had his father been better, would he look more like Ty. Slim, but not thin. Small, confident. Brave. He wondered. Wondered if what this boy knew of Stefan's father. He knew his father's name, but that was only recently he had learned such a thing. His eyes drifted up to the boy, he couldn't help but finding a small smile slip onto his face. He wasn't necessarily happy, just glad. Relieved. That it hadn't been a complete lie, that bad luck was not the only thing that defined him. His smile faltered when the boy spoke. Ty's father was monochromatic. Not much more needed to be said, Stefan already understood what that meant. Oddly it made him feel like his father was back, screaming at how pathetic he was. Kicking him repeatedly until he passed out. That pain which had been the feeling he had only really known growing up. The feeling of worthlessness that still raged inside him.

As the other Archer continued to speak, correcting himself, Stefan's thoughts were confirmed. His father, had been just like him. It made him feel so worthless knowing that was confirmed. His father had beaten him so often, so often to the point where Stefan believed he was going to die, using the excuse of no good, monochromatic b@stard son. Yet, during all those beatings, during each time his father had thrown his fist, or a plate, he had known that he had the same condition. His father, who had treated him no better than an ignored house pet on the good days, had been exactly like him. Most of Stefan's claims of deserving it, flew out the window with that. His father had no reason for treating him like that. It was the anger, alcohol and hatred of Stefan that had driven his father down that path. His annoyance at Stefan's monochromaticness might've been somewhat justified, but it wasn't like Stefan had been the first one. Stefan whose chair was a little distant from the table, felt his head slump forward. He rubbed his eyes, and focused more on Tybalt, not wanting to show weakness in front of him. They'd just met, and Tybalt didn't need to know anything about what had really happened to Stefan. It was as he thought this, as he struggled to keep his emotions in check, that the younger Archer said something he really hadn't expected. An apology? Now, he could understand why he might say something like that. Stefan looked up, unaware, his blue eyes were brimming with water. He had been about to say that it was okay, to shake his head to dismiss it, but the other kid seemed keen to make him see that it wasn't okay. The first time family had apologized to him about anything. Stefan hadn't been on the receiving end of too many apologies, ones that he thought were even remotely justified. This didn't make up for the years that Stefan had gone through thinking none of them existed, but it felt nice. Archer luck indeed. Archer luck was a phrase that Stefan thought he had invented, thinking it the best way to explain all of his misfortune, but it appeared that maybe it was more an Archer wide thing. Not just Stefan. Maybe everyone in his family suffered the same back luck as him. Stefan just nodded, "It's okay," he muttered, before correcting himself, "At least I know now." He gave a small shrug. Wiping his eyes briefly with his sleeve. Keeping his eyes on the other guy. He wanted to know more, like what was everyone like, who many were there. Did he had any other cousins, or was Tybalt it. In any way, Stefan wanted to know more about this family he had never met. He didn't know if he would meet them. Only time would tell them that. Stefan opened his mouth to speak, but no words followed. He took a small breath, and tried again.

"How big is the family? Our family?" Stefan looked down at his hands, his voice had been quiet. He had corrected himself, it felt odd to refer to him having a family. Sharing a family with Tybalt. Having people who might just break the trend of his life. Be the people to help him believe that families didn't always treat him like sh1t. He didn't want to ask the younger Archer the bigger questions, like why hadn't they looked for him, or what had his parents been like, what he needed to know at this point was the size of the family, and what he thought of them. Since a child was more honest that most. Then, Stefan realised that he could at least try to ask him something a bit more personal. "What have you been told about what had happened to me?"
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[Tybalt Archer]

In all his life, Tybalt had never been good at dealing with other people's emotions. He could deal with his sister's, mostly because unless she was happy he wouldn't have to worry about it. Thankfully she was happy a lot of the time, and he didn't have such issues, but other family members, his parents, cousins. All of that, if they weren't doing Ty struggled. After all, his line of thought was, what can a boy like me do. I'm young small and stupid, people would laugh in my face sooner than they would take advice from me. He had felt this way when his brother had died, and his parents had just sort of lost it for a while. His mother getting close to tears every single time his name had been mentioned. Ty had never been good at dealing with that. He was reserved to just not saying it, and not mentioning his brother, but this would be a time he would have to mention it. Let the other person know about the family he hadn't known about. Tybalt was glad to have met his cousin, but he felt that he was highly unprepared for this. He felt like this wasn't going to be easy for him, that of all the possible Archers to tell Stefan about his family, Tybalt was the person no one would expect would do it. However, he was the only person at Hogwarts, and he didn't want it to be told to Stefan from someone who wouldn't really want to talk about everything. Tybalt knew that he maybe didn't know the most about his family, about all the extensions, but he was the person who would be most honest. Since, Ty wanted his family to start being more honest with one another, rather than not being honest. Which was what had really lead to this situation in the very first place. He was tired really of his family's dishonesty towards one another. No matter what happened, if Stefan really was his cousin or not, then he would be honest with him. The signs all pointed to yes. He wasn't going to back on this, he would be honest until Stefan gave him a reason to not be. Which was not going to happen. Young Tybalt was sure that following this they'd be good friends. Or could just be good friends. There wasn't much pointing them in the direction of not being good friends. Since, they had a lot in common, and Ty was sure that Stefan wouldn't mind a little friend. However, he would attempt to respect the elder Archer's position whatever he chose at the end of the day. No one had to force him into a family, this was simply the first invitation. The young Gryffindor knew that he was the representative for his family. He had to be sure that this went well, or he'd lose another family member. While Ty hadn't lost too many, he didn't want to lose one he had just met. One that had never known of them until now.

The way he watched Stefan as Tybalt had been speaking, made him almost regret his words. He wasn't sure what to do, since he had little experience having to comfort to someone. He wasn't good at it, so he didn't do it. he always tried, but he figured that any words of comfort he gave, would mean nothing. Now, he was left wondering if maybe he should be more careful with his words with Stefan. How was he supposed to know about what troubled the elder of the two, when he hadn't known about his existence until last year. It was hard to know how things would fit. How things would mould together. How they would work once this meeting was over, once he met everyone else. Since, even Tybalt could tell that it wouldn't be easy. Moving from family to family couldn't be easy. If just moving house was hard from someone, changing almost everything would be harder. It was possible that it was the hardest thing any person had to actually do. Ty had thought that he'd go through a lot of hard things in his life, but this, seemed so hard for him, and he wasn't even the one it affected the most. Just the simple act of having to be the one who tried to comfort and show it was alright. He didn't like when people were upset, but it didn't mean he was a genius at solving it. Instead all he could do was sit in silence, waiting as the boy spoke. It was the same way his father spoke. While around new people, quiet, carefully picking words. Ty had no doubts that they were related. Not anymore. It wasn't possible for them to not be. It really wasn't. He could see the Archer movements that he knew so well. He could see the same Archer reluctance to accept things, the way he sat. It was just surprising to Ty that this was actually happening, that this was actually the truth. His poor cousin. After he said that it was okay, Tybalt just shook his head. He understood what was being said, but it didn't make it okay. It didn't make it better. He couldn't for the life of him understand why they hadn't wanted to find Stefan sooner. The small monochromatic Gryffindor knew that if it had been him, his family wouldn't have rested. Why was this person so different. What horrific thing had to happen within a family for such a divide to occur. He felt so bad, he had no idea what he could do or say that could make it remotely better. He felt like nothing could actually be said. Nothing. Which wasn't good for Tybalt, since he didn't want that of all things to be the reason that the entire family didn't get back together. He could only think of how annoying that would be for everyone. To come so close, and for it to then not work. Ty really wanted it to work. He wanted his family, and for Stefan to be one family. Even if they were just cousins, that didn't mean they couldn't be close cousins.

The question which followed was sort of expected for Tybalt, though he wasn't sure if Stefan really wanted to know the answer. After all, it was a long list of people that had never bothered to ever get to know him. So, young Ty could understand the annoyance, and fears he might have towards it. He was about to begin, when Stefan asked a second, equally hard question to answer. Though the Gryffindor knew where to begin. At the best and simplest story. Just the family, their average size family. He took a moment to figure out how to start, should he mention the grandparents, "Well, in the Archer clan, there are 12 of us altogether counting those who married in, so not too big. With you it'll be 13." He paused for a moment, "We have, our grandfather, who can be strict, but you don't have to worry about him, then our grandmother, she's amazing. She'll love to meet you, she's this old Scottish woman, tells us tales from the homeland. Mostly just how cold and wet it is. And this weird thing called Irn Bru, it's orange, or something." Ty smiled fondly at the memory, he then smiled at Stefan, before looking to his fingers and continuing. "They had fours kids, the eldest, is our uncle, uncle Cristian, he's married to this woman called Zoe. He was married before her, but that ended badly. He has two kids, so we have two cousins, Madelina who is nine years old, and Annabeth, who is five," He did the maths quickly in his head. He realised that Stefan hadn't asked for a full round up of the family, who they all were, but he figured better to know this now than later, "My dad, Branson is the second oldest, there is me, my ma, and my sister Lydia, who is six after him is our Aunt Zefira, she's married but she doesn't have any kids yet. And the last was your dad, Mason, your mom, whom I don't know anything about, and you" Tybalt said, doubling checking to be sure that he got everyone. of course he left out his dead brother, not thinking this the right moment to bring it up. He then paused and gave a quick breath before speaking again. "And not much to be honest. Grandfather Archer, said that your father had died years ago, around 18-19 years ago. Drove off the road and into shallow water or something. But, there was never a grave, and we never spoke of him. Guess that should've been the indication that something wasn't right." Ty shrugged slightly to Stefan, "I don't know what happened there, but, when I told my dad, about you, he was surprised. He wasn't surprised to here his brother hadn't been dead that long, but, he didn't think you existed. Sorry" It seemed like the only thing he could say, "Do you know what happened?"
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