(A/N): Part 2 of the 'Little Leo' arc (yes, I'm going with this being part 2, rather than calling it part 1 of this set, because it was getting rather confusing. So, from here on out, I will be labeling them as Part 1 [397], Part 2 [this chapter], and so on). I apologise if the dialogue tagging gets a bit confusing (aka, who is saying what), because it was a little complicated, based on what Leonides calls them, and the fact that there was usually more than one of a certain type of person in a scene (ie, two woman, meaning two 'she/her', or two 'he/him', or two people designated 'Healer') I tried to make it as clear as possible, and I think if there are bits where it's a little confusing, it's not a big deal if you think the other person said it, rather than the one I intended. You will be seeing a lot of 'his mother'- I couldn't figure out how else to refer to Cipicia, since Leo would pretty much never use her first name. This chapter was somewhere between 7,700 and 8,100 words without any of the Author's Notes or ending memes or information or anything (the range is because the document editor says 8,100, and the external word counter I use says 7,700, so I'm really not sure.) Either way, it's the longest chapter yet.
Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse (obviously). Mostly verbal and psychological, but Leo references some stuff that happened in the past that was physical. There's also a nod to some neglect. A bit of a class divide? Basically, Cipicia being awful to her servants/staff, and anyone else she deems to be 'beneath her'. Also kind of internal and external misogyny- again, on Cipicia's part. Cipicia makes threats to multiple people, but she doesn't really outline what the consequences entail- Leo, however, does sort of take a swing at what those consequences might be, so we can tell they're not empty. Cipicia does not physically hurt Leo in this chapter, but she does essentially force him to hurt himself. There is also a brief mention of, er... forced/arranged marriage? Just in case that bothers you, I thought I'd put that in here.
October 18th, 1967
"What. Happened?!" His mother stormed across the gardens, and the first thing Leonides noticed- after the furious expression on her face- was the fact that she had hiked up her skirt. The fabric was balled in her fists as she kept them down by her knees, to aid in her ability to cross the distance as briskly as possible. He thought it was odd that seeing her legs was what surprised him at a time like this, but it was something he couldn't help getting distracted by. Amelia's hand leaving his arm, as she spun to face his mother, snapped him out of his distraction.
"Maman-" His mother cut him off.
"Don't you dare 'Maman' me, Leonides Judas Joannis!" She spat, and he forced himself not to flinch- no matter how much he wanted to.
"But Mère-" She threw up a hand to cut him off, and as she finally reached them, he saw her eyes land on the cut in his trouser leg, before they snapped to Amelia, with all the disgust of someone who had just learned they had been fed dragon dung.
"Speak." The way her mouth curled around the word sent a shiver up his spine, and he saw Amelia swallow nervously, before she followed the command she had been given.
"The wind stole Miss Miasenna's hat-" Leonides saw their mother's eyes dart to Mia's bare head- and messy hair- before they returned to glaring down their governess. "-I was scolding her for being careless with her possessions, when I realised that Master Leonides was... missing." His mother's lips curved into a sneer.
"So," She began haughtily. "You were scolding my daughter for being careless, as you lost my son?" Amelia winced, and opened her mouth- only to falter. As he watched, he saw a muscle in her cheek jump.
"Yes, Mistress. I fear that is the measure of the situation." His mother's eyes narrowed, even as the corner of her lips quirked up in a cruel approximation of a smile, clearly pleased by the governess's admission.
"Continue." Amelia drew in a breath, and Leonides was glad that she had the self control- and good sense- not to glance at him for help... or any other reason.
"I heard him fall- heard the branch break. He insisted that his leg was broken, so I- there was a pair of secateurs left out nearby, so I... cut his trousers open, in order to be sure." She held eye contact with her employer the whole time, which he thought was rather impressive. "I wanted to be sure he wasn't lying- or exaggerating- before I resorted to bothering you, Mistress." His mother scrutinised her, staying deathly quiet for a few seconds.
"And yet," She said, rather innocuously, but he knew better than to believe it. He knew it was leading somewhere- the calm before the inevitable storm. "You chose to send a gardener- a filthy laborer- to fetch me." Her voice was frighteningly silky. "Why?" He could tell that the 'filthy laborer' comment irked Amelia, but he hoped that his mother couldn't.
"It's true that I could have levitated him directly to you, Mistress, but I feared that I would be unable to keep a close enough eye on Miss Miasenna- and while I recognise that you are an incredibly busy woman-" She wasn't, in fact, ever all that busy. "-and I apologise for the inconvenience- but I refused to take the risk that she might also be injured, through my distraction." Amelia took a deep breath. "I understand, Mistress, if you feel the need to terminate my employment because of this- but I need you to know that I am deeply disgraced by this most unfortunate incident. If you would be gracious enough to allow me the chance, I will do better. I promise you that." His mother eyed her caustically.
"You failed in your duties." Amelia flinched slightly. "You allowed my child to injure himself, on your watch. You took it upon yourself to damage my property- his clothing- and interrupted me while I was attending to a vitally important letter-" He assumed it was probably something about who some pureblood was making the grave mistake of marrying, if he knew his mother. "-and you have the audacity, to tell me that you 'need me to know' anything?" She scowled. "You insolent little child- you are exceptionally lucky that I do not have the time to search for a new governess at the current moment." But Leonides worried- did that mean that she didn't have the time to punish her?
"Mistress, I did not intend for-" His mother cut her off, throwing her hand up once more- just like she had done to him.
"Your 'intentions' are of little consequence- least of all to me. Do not misunderstand me- I will take the reparations you owe me, when I am less preoccupied." But the question was, would that come out of her salary... or her flesh? His mother turned her sharp gaze to him. "And you..." He winced.
"Mère, I-" Her glare made him cut himself off, with a thick swallow.
"You know better, Leonides. I didn't raise a fool, you know it just as well as I do- tell me, what was going through that impetuous little head of yours?"
There was no way to get out of this without incurring her wrath- or, well, more of her wrath, and Leonides knew it. If he lowered his gaze to try to seem submissive, she would scold him for not having the respect to meet her eye. If he lowered his head, but kept his eyes on hers, she would scold him about keeping his chin up, like the heir to the Joannis and Meliflua families should- even now, he eyed her hand as if he expected the riding crop she had often taken to using during their dancing lessons to materialise- but if he stared her down, he would appear too combative. He couldn't win. So, he tilted his head back, and pointed up into the tree- to Mia's hat.
"I wanted to get Miasenna's hat back- if I did, I thought... I thought Ms Rochester wouldn't be mad, anymore." She narrowed her eyes at him, and he felt her testing his mind- and he let her in. He let her see what he wanted her to see- and nothing else. He could only hope that she hadn't- or wouldn't- check Mia or Amelia's. He felt her retreat from his thoughts, and she gave him a scornful look, before she turned on Mia- which instantly filled him with dread.
"And I suppose you begged him to do so?" Mia's eyes widened, and he could see the fear plain on her face. "He's only ever disobedient when you push him in that direction. He's always been the... accommodating sort- Merlin knows how difficult it's going to be for me to find a wife for him, that won't leave us with a Lady from some other family as the head of the household." Leonides felt himself flush, and huffed- mostly just to get her attention away from Mia.
"Miasenna asked nothing of me- she was being scolded by Ms Rochester, remember?" Her eyes flashed, and her nostrils flared.
"Watch your tone, boy." He flinched, even though he knew something along those lines was coming.
"My apologies, Mother... I suppose I was just trying to defend my little sister." She had already made her point about him being under Mia's thumb, he figured he might as well lean into that.
"And that would be an admirable goal, if you weren't choosing to disrespect me to do so." He dipped his head just slightly, as a sign of that respect- "For Merlin's sake, Leonides, what have I told you?! You're a pureblood- and a Meliflua, no less! You are the very best of society, and you need to act like it! Chin up!" He jerked his head up, and her eyes stuck on him for a second, before they dropped to his leg. "How bad is it?" He knew this question wasn't for him, but for Amelia.
"His lower leg is definitely broken-" She paled. "-you can see that the bone is... in two halves, and they are very clearly misaligned." His mother sighed quietly, like this was all rather bothersome. "His ankle is almost certainly broken as well... we're not sure about the knee." 'We'? Leonides headed off any sort of questioning his mother might come up with because of this slip.
"I told her that the other leg hurts too, but I don't think it's-" His mother cut him off with a fierce glare.
"Leonides." He pretended to be surprised by her fury. "You are on thin ice- speak when spoke to, and not a moment before." He saw Amelia frown, but luckily, by the time his mother turned her attention back to her, she had hidden it. "Continue."
"He told me that it hurt all the way up to his hips, and even part way up his back- and that when he fell, and when I tried to pull his trouser leg up to inspect it, it felt like someone has stuck a red hot butter knife into his ankle." His mother sighed again, and brought her hand up to smooth a lock of hair back into place- even though it had never moved, most likely stuck there by whatever spells she had applied that morning.
"How inconvenient... I suppose it's a good thing my schedule is reasonably free for the rest of the day." Leonides saw the disbelief and following anger in Amelia's eyes, but he hesitated to do anything to discourage her from saying anything, knowing that if he did, he would be openly disobeying a direct order.
"He didn't scream." Mia said, quietly, but even so, both women turned their attention to her- for better or worse, he thought. "You always tell us that showing pain is wreak- weakness- he was very strong." Amelia's expression was horrified, but even as their mother looked irritated, she also looked proud. Or, well, at least, what passed for 'proud' with her. Satisfied, he supposed.
"Did I give you permission to speak?" Mia kept her eyes on our mother's, and Leonides squeezed her hand in his- showing her that even if their mother wasn't proud, he was. "And lower your eyes, girl- Merlin, how is it that I have the misfortune of being saddled with a son who is too accommodating, and a daughter who is far too willful?" He wanted to drop his head, and he could tell that Mia wanted to keep hers up, but instead, they did the opposite- but their mother still shook her head.
"It's not relevant right at this moment. About this broken leg business," She paused, considering. "I will give you a choice- apparition, floo, or carriage?" He winced, and saw Amelia's eyebrows crease.
"Not the carriage- too bumpy." Not to mention that he would have to walk in order to get there. He didn't look at her, but even from the corner of his eye, he saw realisation dawn on the governess's face. "Apparating would most likely squeeze the leg, which could be... not the best. With the floo, I would need to be supported, and I'm getting too big to travel with another person in that way- our fireplace is fine, but there's no telling about the hearths we may pass." Amelia spoke up.
"We should bring a Healer here, to attend to him a bit before attempting to travel-" His mother spun on her, eyes ablaze.
"A waste of time." She hissed, and he saw the disgust in Amelia's eyes at the sentiment. "Heal him here, just to heal him there- no. He'll go directly to St. Mungo's, or not at all." Amelia paled.
"But Mistress-" Leonides knew she was playing a dangerous game, and his mother arched an eyebrow at her.
"It would do you well to remember that you are a servant, Ms Rochester- and that my son isn't the only one on thin ice. You have no business trying to argue with me, especially not about how I choose to manage my children- my property." Amelia stared at her, very much looking like she wanted to keep trying to argue on his behalf, but he shot her a look past his mother's side- and it was enough to still her tongue.
"Yes, Mistress." His mother nodded firmly, and slowly, turned back to him- clearly giving Amelia time to change her mind... and make a mistake.
"Your decision?" This time, he didn't need to think about it.
"Apparating. I would need to be supported either way, so it might as well be that." Amelia nodded, although she looked like she might be sick.
"Alright. Shall we-" His mother huffed out a dark, haughty laugh.
"Do you really think I would let you take him? After you already let him out of your sight, once?" Amelia's jaw dropped. "For Merlin's sake, girl, close your mouth, I won't have you gaping like a fish- it's not proper." Her jaw clacked shut. "No. You will stay here, and monitor the less valuable child." She gestured to Mia, and he could tell that Amelia hated that sentiment as much as he did.
"Yes, Mistress. Of course, Mistress." Amelia placated, even if he could see the tenseness of her jaw, as if she were having to bite each word, just to get them out. "If I may ask, who will you be sending with him?" His mother narrowed her eyes at the governess.
"I know there is no way you could possibly be questioning my ability to accompany my son to the Healer's, because that would be incredibly foolish of you." Amelia blanched. "There is nothing for it. There is no one else I trust to complete the task properly- and unfortunately, this is a woman's sort of work." Amelia didn't look like she disagreed, but like she would have much preferred to be the one to do said work.
"Of course, Mistress." She repeated, and his mother's lips twitched downward. "Would you like me to ask one of the gardener's to fetch Miss Miasenna's hat? To save you the trouble?" She narrowed her eyes at the governess.
"No. You are to keep an extremely close eye on her- do not take your eyes off of her for a second. If you were to seek out the gardeners in their workshop, Miasenna would be forced to follow you- and that is no place for a girl of her standing." Her addition of, 'but not beneath yours' didn't need to be said, to be heard. "You will return to her lessons while we are gone, and if we are not back before then, you will accompany her to dinner. You are to stay with her until I return- no matter how long it takes." For once, Amelia didn't look like unhappy with this.
"Yes, Mistress." His mother gave her one last, long look, before she turned to him.
"You know what I require of you." He hesitated for a second, then, reluctantly, nodded.
"It will take a minute to do- I am not trying to delay it, I am only trying to avoid passing out from the pain." He told her plainly, and the look she gave him was indecipherable- which made him nervous. Briefly, he glanced to Amelia, attempting to warn her of what was to come- and urge her to keep her reactions close to her chest.
"Do not make me wait- you know how much I hate waiting." He barely resisted shuddering, and lifted his right hand, in order to move it to join his left hand beside his left knee, before he started to turn his hips- and his whole body- as far to the left as possible.
And then, he drew his left leg up, and bent it, until he managed to slip his left foot just barely under his right thigh- his face scrunching up as the movement jarred his bad leg. Then, he repositioned his right arm, pulling it back across his body, in order to use his forearm to lift his right leg from beneath its lower thigh. He pulled it back, out of the way, so it wasn't in contact with the ground, at the same time he shifted his left leg underneath him, to support his weight. He released his right leg as he pivoted, so he was resting on his left knee, in order to use both hands to brace himself on the ground- essentially ending up on his hands and knees, but with his right knee hovering just off of the ground.
Until it wasn't. As briefly as possible, he moved his weight to his right knee- and even as he tasted blood from biting down, to keep himself from screaming at the pain, the shuddering breath he sucked in through his nose could be heard by all- but in the end, he managed to put his left foot beneath him.
With his weight now on his left foot, he used his arms to push himself up until he was standing on that foot, but he was still bent over. Then, last of all, he used the strength of his uninjured leg to be able to rise until he was finally upright- for the first time since he had hit the ground. His position was very shaky, but before he had the chance to stop her, Mia was holding his arm- steadying him. He could see the concern in her eyes, and he flashed her the slightest of smiles, before his mother interrupted them.
"Leave him!" She barked. "He either succeeds by his own merit, or he suffers the consequences." Reluctantly, Mia let him go, and past his mother, he saw the horror on Amelia's face- he hoped that she would get that under control, before his mother saw it.
"And have I? Succeeded?" She stared him down, her lips pursed unpleasantly.
"You're on your feet." She acknowledged. "It would be in your best interest to remain that way." Which was about as close as she got to praise, these days. She stepped up to his side, and held out her arm, like the last thing she wanted in the world was for him to take hold of it. "Do not vomit- it would be an embarrassment to your entire bloodline." He swallowed thickly, then nodded.
"Yes, Mother. I'll... try my hardest." She glared down her nose at him, and then, they disapparated.
They appeared in the Arrival Hall of St Mungo's Hospital, and immediately, Leonides crumpled.
Rather than pull on his mother's arm to get the support he needed, he fell- the agony of apparating throwing him off balance, and therefore, off of his feet. Foot, technically. Singular. Two Healers rushed over in an instant, and while one dropped to their knees beside his prone form, the other addressed his mother.
"Ailment?" The Healer barked, and she blinked.
"Excuse me?" She spluttered, and the Healer rolled her eyes at her.
"Why's he here? On my floor, clearly in quite a bit of pain?" He tried to lift his head, but the other Healer- a man, this time- rested his hand on his upper back, in order to stop him from moving too far.
"Don't move." The man murmured. "Don't push yourself too hard, until we know what's wrong." Leonides blinked, not knowing whether he should ignore the Healer and try to get up, knowing that his mother wouldn't want him to be laid low like this, sprawled out on the stone floor, even if it would be even more agonising than apparating to try to reach his feet, once again.
"A broken leg." His mother enunciated slowly, carefully, like it was made of glass- or like she was swirling an ice cube around her mouth- but all this seemed to achieve was earning her another eye roll from the female Healer.
"Alright. Stay out of the way, we'll get him fixed up in a jiffy." His mother blinked, looking incredibly offended, but the Healer woman turned away from her, and stalked over to him- but despite her demeanor, he didn't find himself fearing her. Maybe that was just because she didn't seem to care about his mother's status- or maybe it was because she wasn't his mother- but maybe not.
"Which leg?" He didn't delay, not wanting to waste her time, and took the opportunity to lift his head a little, so he could speak clearly- and so he could reclaim some of his lost dignity.
"Right. Lower. Ankle too, we think. Maybe the knee as well, but we're less sure about that one." There was silence for a second, before he felt a slight weight on his back, as the male Healer gave him a pat that he assumed was meant to be somewhat reassuring.
"Well, at least someone's helpful." The female Healer huffed out, and Leonides felt himself flush slightly. "We're going to levitate you to a bed now- is that alright with you, dear?" He blinked, and his blush only got worse. Was she- was she talking to him? "Dear?" Her fingers brushed his arm, and he jumped- which was... not pleasant.
"That's fine." He croaked, and there was quiet for a second, before he felt himself start to float. He saw the floor start to move away from him, and after a moment, he started to rotate in the air, until eventually, he was staring up at the ceiling, instead of down at the floor.
"Still okay, dear?" It took him a second to get his bearings, but when he did, he nodded. Then, he realised that that wasn't an appropriate response, and moistened his lips before he spoke.
"Yes." The female Healer hummed quietly from behind him.
"Don't fret, dear, we do this sort of thing all the time." Briefly, Leonides was confused at to what she meant, before he realised that she most likely thought that he was worried about being levitated- which he wasn't. If anything, he thought it was sort of soothing- that weightlessness, it was... nice.
"I'm not scared." He informed her, and when she spoke up next, he could hear the smile in her voice.
"Of course not, dear. Strapping young lad like you? Not a fear in the world, I'm sure." She was wrong though, he thought, because he quite feared his mother, who was just a few feet behind them, monitoring the whole thing. He didn't bother to correct her, though, and hoped that the angle he was facing would help hide his blush at being deemed, 'a strapping young lad.'
It wasn't a quick trip to a bed- out of the Arrival Hall, down a short corridor, and into a private room- but it was certainly faster than it would have been if he had been forced to walk it, and before he really knew it, he was being rotated again- this time, to face towards them, instead of away- and gently set down onto a bed. It wasn't as comfortable as his bed at home, but it beat falling asleep on the floor of the attic, so he didn't complain.
Immediately, the male Healer moved to the right side of the bed, and bent so he could examine the cut in his trousers more closely. He made a quiet, almost disapproving noise in the back of his throat, clearly already able to see the swollen ankle the cut revealed to him. The Female Healer clicked her fingers- and thankfully, no one seemed to notice as Leonides flinched at the sound- and a clipboard already arrayed with parchment flew toward her from its place on the wall above the head of the bed.
"Name?" She asked, and before his mother could get further than, 'Le-', she was cut off- likely by her own incredulity- as the Healer waved a hand at her. "I'll hear it from him, thank you- unless he's suddenly been struck mute, it's vital that we use this opportunity to assess his faculties. Now- name?" This, he was used to.
"Leonides Judas Joannis." The Healer didn't even blink- she simply nodded, and drew her fingertip across the parchment, in lieu of using a quill.
"Alright, Leonides..." She met his eyes now, over the clipboard. "Can you tell me what happened?" He swallowed thickly, glancing to his mother, who looked like she'd rather be anywhere else.
"I fell. From... from a tree." The Healer's eyebrows furrowed, even as she nodded, and once again slid her finger across the paper.
"And why were you in the tree?" He flushed slightly.
"I... I shouldn't have been." Her finger hovered. "The wind took my sister's hat- her favorite hat- I just wanted to get it back." Her eyes lifted to meet his, and he saw her face softened slightly.
"And you slipped?" He hesitated only briefly, but clearly, it was long enough. "Or... something else?" He winced.
"The branch broke underneath me." She nodded again, and added this to the document she was working on.
"You must be quite the little athlete, if you made it any sort of distance up a tree in your Sunday Best." He blinked, then his eyes drifted to his mother, before he snapped them back to the Healer.
"I... I'm used to them, I suppose." She eyed him for a second, then pulled on a smile.
"Can you tell me your birth date?" Knowing it was for the document, he nodded.
"The fifteenth of August, 1960." She noted that down with a quick little flick of her finger.
"Right, very good. You're recently seven, then? Big strong boy like you, I would have thought you were at least eight." He flushed again, and she marked something down- which confused him a little, since he hadn't told her anything. "And what about your trousers? Did that happen when you fell?" He winced slightly- not wanting to have to remind his mother of Amelia's desecration of her 'property'.
"I asked my governess to cut it open, to check whether the leg was broken, because trying to roll it up hurt too much." She added that to her notes, nodding somewhat absently.
"Prue." The male Healer said quietly, and her head snapped up, her eyes locking onto her coworker, who looked concerned.
"What are we looking at?" She asked, leaning forward and hooking the clipboard onto the foot of the bed, before she stepped closer, so she could inspect the broken leg herself.
At some point, while Leonides had been distracted by the Healer's questioning, the other Healer must have carefully pulled away the flayed fabric of his trousers, to reveal his injured lower leg. As the female Healer got a better look, her face changed a little- it didn't necessarily harden, but it certainly didn't soften.
"Tibia's snapped completely in half. Ankle..." She tilted her head. "Broken, too. The knee... what's the verdict?" The male Healer shrugged, just slightly.
"I'd need a closer look. This isn't the best..." He trailed off, and she nodded.
"We'll check that first, in case it affects the treatment of the rest." Leonides tensed slightly, and as if she had seen it, her eyes rose to his face. "Before anything else, we'll cut your trousers above the knee, so it doesn't get in the way." His mother huffed, and this time, the Healer's face did harden.
"They have already been butchered once, is it really necessary to-" The Healer cut her off.
"Yes, it is 'necessary'- and even if it wasn't, did you really think to salvage them? And do you expect me to believe, Mrs Joannis, that he doesn't possess any other pairs of trousers?" His mother flushed at the scolding- clearly, she was flushed with anger, rather than embarrassment. "Soren, cut the trousers." He nodded, and retrieved his wand from the sleeve of his lime green Healer's robes.
He placed the tip against the edge of the cut, and after a second, he started to drag it across the fabric, around to the side, where Leonides's thigh met the bed- and in its wake, the fabric fell away, as if his wand tip was as sharp as a knife. Then, he swapped to the other side and did the same, until the knee was bare, and there was only a flap of fabric trapped beneath the leg. He nodded to show that he was finished, and she stepped forward.
"Now, Leonides, I'm going to start numbing your leg now, if that's alright with you." He blinked, then shrugged.
"Yes, ma'am." His mother shot him a look, but he didn't know how else he was supposed to address her. They were always being told to respect their elders, but the second that 'elder' wasn't of a certain type, the rules changed. The only issue was that he was never sure what the new rules were, and asking would get him punished just as harshly as if he got it wrong... so he usually just guessed.
"You can call me Prue, dear- or Prudence, if you prefer." He shot his mother a panicked look, and she scoffed.
"That is ridiculously unprofessional of you, don't you think-" Prudence narrowed her eyes at her.
"And you may call me the wholly professional 'Healer Dinitia', Mrs Joannis. I am simply trying to make my young, overwhelmed patient more comfortable- if that isn't 'professional', then I don't suppose that's something I need- or want- to be, in this situation." His mother looked down her nose at her, but said nothing- probably because she knew if she got into an all out argument with the Healer, she would most likely have to deal with a different Healer instead, and be stuck there longer. Instead, she just sniffed haughtily, and Prudence turned her attention back to Leonides.
"Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Not knowing how else to respond to that, he nodded, which she seemed pleased by. "Right, dear, tell me if you are in pain at any point- you shouldn't be, and it means I need to tinker with something, so do let me know." Reluctantly, he nodded- and only because he worried that if he didn't, she wouldn't be able to do her job correctly.
"Yes, ma- Healer Dinitia." She took a second to eye him, before she shook her head slightly, like she was almost disappointed by his choice- or maybe just the reason behind it. Then, she pulled out her wand, and raised it to his knee. A second later, the tip began to glow blue, and as she moved it slowly over the surface, he felt the pain start to melt away- from his knee, at least. He let out a slow, relieved breath, and when he looked up, he saw her smiling at him.
"I take it that means you're feeling the effects?" He flushed slightly at being caught out, but he didn't let that prevent him from giving her a nod, to confirm it for her.
"Yes, m- Healer Dinitia." Her smile grew, ever so slightly, and she moved her wand downward, to his lower leg.
"Now, I'm going to do the same for the tibia and ankle, but only part way. We'll need to be able to manipulate the leg a little, but we need to know when we've pushed it too far, so we don't risk doing any more damage." Hesitantly, he nodded, and she spent another second eyeing him. "It's not going to be agony- the second you feel pain, you are to tell me, you understand? That's how we're supposed to know." His nod was much less hesitant, this time. "Good boy." Thankfully, she dropped her gaze to the task at hand, and therefore didn't see him flush at that.
Her wand began to glow again, and like before, the pain started to dissipate- not all the way, but he could certainly breathe a little easier- and when she finished with his ankle, he huffed out a quiet little laugh. She raised her head at the sound, and the corner of her lips quirked up.
"Feeling a bit better, I hope?" He nodded firmly, and her smile grew. "Now- let's get to fixing you up, shall we?" She turned to the other Healer. "Soren, would you do the honors?" The man nodded, and slowly, carefully, he brought his hands up to the knee. "Remember," She said. "You must tell us if there is any pain whatsoever." Leonides nodded, trying to appear as serious as he could, to reclaim some of his distinction and poise, even if he suspected that the two Healers- or at least Prudence- didn't much care about that sort of thing.
The male Healer- Soren, apparently- started to manipulate his knee a little- gently, carefully, and Leonides couldn't even feel his hands on his skin. He could feel the pressure of his knee moving, through his lower leg, but seeing as there was no pain, he didn't say anything on the matter. Instead, he simply sat and watched, as his knee was poked and prodded, as respectfully as one possibly could. After a few seconds, the fingers were swapped out for a wand, and then, a moment later, the wand lit up. It was yellow this time, and as Leonides watched, the swelling started to go down, and the color changed from purple, to its regular shade, if slightly pinker than normal from the manipulation.
"Not broken," Soren murmured, and Prudence seemed satisfied with that verdict. "Took the swelling down. It'll still be numb, though." She nodded, and patted him on the shoulder.
"Thank you. Well done. Now- the tibia?" He moved his wand downwards, then hesitated.
"More numbing. Do you-?" She shook her head, and a second later, his wand lit up the same blue that hers had, earlier. The rest of the pain drained away from that section of his leg, and Soren braced his wand hand against the outer side of the leg, before his fee hand met the inner side- then, he brought them together, stretching the flesh downwards so that, as Leonides watched, he saw the two halves of the bone slot back together, as if they had never been apart. Soren glanced up at him, and met his eyes- looking almost surprised to have done so- before his face mostly returned to its previous, slightly nervous state.
"Makes it easier to reattach them." He explained, quietly, and as Leonides took note of the look of pride on Prudence's face over Soren's shoulder, he gave the man a nod.
"Okay." The Healer looked oddly relieved, and went back to work on the leg.
He removed his wand hand so he could level said wand at where the break was, while keeping his other hand where it was to continue to brace it. Then, his wand glowed purple- a rather nice lilac- and Leonides heard the tiniest little grinding noise, before... nothing more. The Healer flourished his wand once more, but nothing seemed to come of it, before he nodded.
"It's set." Prudence, once again, looked pleased.
"Good work. Are you up for the ankle, as well?" When he nodded, she patted his shoulder again. "Good lad- off you pop." He moved down to the ankle, and went through much the same process as before- numbing the area, before he went about healing it, and then, once done, he flourished his wand like before. And for the first time, he smiled.
"Healed." He announced, and briefly, Prudence's lips quirked up, before she managed to school her expression, and sort of politely ushered him out of the way.
"Alright, just have to do a final once over, if that's alright with you, dear?" After Leonides had given her a nod, she pointed her wand at him- something he struggled not to flinch at, even if he knew, on some level, that she wouldn't hurt him- and waved it. Only to frown. "What-?" She murmured quietly, sounding in complete disbelief, as she leaned in closer- her eyes darting between the boy on the bed in front of her, and whatever she was apparently seeing in the air in front of her.
He couldn't see anything there, but by her reaction, she must have been seeing something- and that something seemed to distress her. Leonides assumed it must have been some sort of diagnostic spell, which... didn't bode well for him.
"Is... everything okay?" He asked tentatively, and her eyes snapped to his, before she swallowed thickly, and pulled on a smile- that was not, at all, convincing.
"Absolutely spiffing, dearie. Soren?" The man jumped slightly at the almost desperate tone in her voice, before he shuffled closer to her side. She rested a hand on his arm, and he glanced down at it like it was, in fact, actually something incredibly bizarre. "I would be very grateful if you could stay here, and... talk to Leonides about the salve we're going to want him to use." He began to nod, before she continued. "I will be talking to Mrs Joannis privately, about- about his treatment plan." Soren's eyebrows furrowed, and then, slowly, he finished the nod he had started.
"...alright." He agreed, and she flashed him a smile that was the least happiest thing that could still be considered a smile.
"Right- Mrs Joannis?" Prudence said, turning to Leonides's mother, and holding out her hand to gesture to the hallway. "If you'd care to join me in my office, that would be much appreciated." She eyed the Healer suspiciously, but eventually, she lifted her chin so she could look down her nose at the older woman.
"I do hope this won't take long." She bit out, and Prudence grimaced, once again gesturing to the hallway.
"Please." Reluctantly, after a few seconds, his mother started to move, and allowed herself to be guided by the Healer, out of the room.
Leonides didn't have much of an idea of what was going on, and for a moment, worried that something had gone very badly wrong. Maybe he was dying, and Prudence didn't want to tell his mother in front of him- or maybe, she somehow knew that he had lied to his mother, earlier. He didn't know, so he put it from his mind, and started working on another goal- getting Soren to share one of the butterscotches he could tell he had in the pocket of his robes.
He waited for a minute, as Soren sort of awkwardly puttered around, and eventually pulled a chair over from the corner of the room, so he could take a seat by the side of the bed. He flopped into it- then immediately shot upright, and resituated himself so he was perched primly on the edge of the chair, looking a bit embarrassed. He leaned forward, and produced a stout glass jar of salve seemingly out of nowhere- but Leonides suspected that it was either freshly summoned, or had been hidden in another one of his pockets.
"This salve is formulated to encourage healing- y'know... reduce swelling, get rid of bruising, help with pain... that sort of thing." Leonides tilted his head at him.
"You don't talk to people very often, do you?" Soren blinked, then flushed slightly, before he ducked his head.
"That obvious, huh?" Leonides shrugged lightly.
"You're not doing a bad job of it, you're just clearly nervous, and I could see that putting people off." Soren frowned, and Leonides continued. "Not me! I think you're great- I... I should thank you, for fixing my leg." Soren blinked again, and his expression changed, almost as if he were confused by the gratitude.
"It's my job." He said, rather simply, and Leonides paused, as if considering that for a second.
"Does that mean I can't thank you?" Soren frowned slightly.
"I... no?" Once again, he looked confused, and Leonides felt himself smile.
"Then I would like to thank you. Not just for healing me, but for giving me a break from the pain, at least for a little bit." Soren's face went slack, his eyebrows shooting up, and his jaw dropping open- before, after a second, it clicked shut, and he looked away, sniffing quietly.
"Right, uh... I... is there... anything else I can do for you, while I have the opportunity?" Leonides pretended to consider this for a second, before he shrugged.
"Do you have any sweets? Mother says I'm not allowed, but-" Soren's face lit up, and his eyes darted to the empty doorway, before he hunched over conspiratorially, and slid his hand into his pocket- the one Leonides knew contained the butterscotches.
"Well, if there's ever a time to bend the rules a bit, it's a time like this. Here." Then, he poured a handful of the individually wrapped pieces of butterscotch into Leonides's lap, and was rewarded with an elated laugh.
"Are you sure?" He asked, somewhat incredulously, and when Soren nodded, he unwrapped one of the sweets, and stuffed it into his mouth. After that, he hid the rest away in the pockets of his trousers- and made a mental note to remember to remove the sweets, before he took them off.
"Don't tell your mother- or Healer Dinitia, for that matter." Leonides quickly shook his head, giving the man the biggest smile he could manage, in an attempt to convey his joy.
"Wouldn't dream of it." Soren smiled at him in return, then hesitated.
"Actually... I might have something else that could help- y'know, ease the pain." He stood from the chair and crossed the room, to the corner he had fetched the chair from. While there, he started to dig through one of the cupboards, clearly looking for something, and when a sudden wave of anxious energy hit him, Leonides tried to look down the hallway outside the door, to check whether his mother was on her way back- only to find that his view was blocked.
Outside the door, in the hallway, there was a man. A tall man- taller than Leonides's father, and taller than Soren, who still had his back turned. This man had black hair, that looked like it had once been well-groomed, possibly even gelled into some sort of fashionable style, but was now just a little bit messed up, as if he had recently been running his hands through it, none too carefully. He was well dressed- or at least, his clothing was formal, clean and properly fitted- but his button up shirt wasn't buttoned all the way up- like it had been hastily undone while under duress, to reveal what was probably slightly more than an appropriate amount of upper chest- and his cuffs had been unbuttoned as well, the sleeves pushed up to his elbows.
Even from his place on the bed, all the way across the room, Leonides could see that the man had blue eyes- very bright blue eyes, that were somehow, inexplicably, familiar. He could also see- quite clearly, in fact- that this strange man was glaring at him. And not just glaring at him, but glaring at him like he hated him. Like he wanted him dead- preferably in the most painful manner he could think of, at that given moment.
Leonides blinked, too shocked by the intensity of the man's apparent ire to do much else, before he was briefly distracted by Soren's triumphant exclamation. His eyes darted to the Healer, before something inside of him screamed at him to keep an eye on the strange man- but when he returned his gaze to the doorway... the man was gone.
"There it is- fantastic! Moringa oleifera, Ehretia cymosa, Cryptolepsis buchanari, Symphtum officinale-" He saw the look on Leonides's face, and paused. "Right, sorry. Comfrey- or Knitbone, if you prefer. There's also Horsetail, Devil's Claw, Skullcap, and- my personal favorite, Pholidota articulata. Or as they're commonly called- Rattlesnake Orchid." Leonides blinked again.
"Are all of those... safe?" Soren shrugged, then froze, and flushed.
"I- I mean, yes. Well, in this context. Certain plants have certain parts that are inedible, or even harmful, but of course, none of those make it into a healing poultice. We're very careful about that sort of thing." Hesitantly, Leonides nodded.
"I guess you have to be." He said, and after a moment, Soren nodded too. Then, he walked over, and once again, he perched on the edge of the seat of the chair, before he leaned forward to show Leonides the small tin of poultice.
"Now- this is specifically for broken bones, but it has its other uses. It's analgesic- er, it ... helps with pain. It's anti-inflammatory- reduces and prevents swelling- not to mention its antibacterial, antimicrobial, anti-fungal and antiviral properties. It's also meant to protect the area you apply it to, limiting the chance of further damage, or pain." He held out the tin a little closer. "Any time you're in pain, use this. External use only- no eating it, or... anything else." Leonides's eyebrows furrowed, and slowly, he reached out and accepted the poultice from him.
"And can it..." He hesitated, and Soren waited. "If someone else is hurt, can it... help them, too?" Soren blinked, then his eyebrows furrowed, and he tilted his head.
"I... I mean, yes? It's not... tailored to you, or anything. I just don't really see why you would want to do that, when you're the one with the broken- well, fractured, now- tibia. And if someone else is in that sort of pain, they should be getting medical attention- like you are." Leonides frowned, and dropped his eyes to his lap, staying quiet for a second.
"But what if..." He hesitated. "What if they can't get medical attention?" Soren's eyebrows furrowed even further. "What if they're... not allowed?" He frowned.
"Why wouldn't they be allowed?" When Leonides shrugged, he continued. "I could understand not being able to get to the Hospital right away- and in that case, if it's a minor, closed wound, I would say that it's perfectly fine to use this poultice- but for something like a freshly broken bone, I wouldn't recommend it, because it could set wrong. Open wounds... well, some things aren't meant to be administered in that manner, or could sting a bit. For that case, the salve I gave you earlier would be better." Slowly, Leonides nodded, trying to commit that information to memory. "What-" He cut him off.
"Do you know why Healer Dinitia wanted to speak to my mother in private?"
(A/N): Prudence, to Leo: 'What a strapping young lad. What a nice boy. What a joy to have around!'
Prudence, to Cipicia: 'Not you.'
Prudence, to Leo: 'What a little athlete!'
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Prudence: *writing notes on Leo's chart*
Prudence: 'Can you tell me your birth date?'
Leo: 'The fifteenth of August, 1960.'
Prudence: 'Right, very good. You're recently seven, then? Big strong boy like you, I would have thought you were AT LEAST eight.'
Leo: *blushes*
Prudence: *writes 'blushes easily, praise goes a long way'*
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Prudence: *asks Cipicia to speak to her privately, after viewing Leo's final diagnostics*
Leo: 'Oh no, am I dying?'
Leo: '...anyway, about those butterscotches-'
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Leo: *subtly manipulates Soren into giving him butterscotches*
Soren: 'Jokes on you, I stole these from the staff room.'
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Cipicia: *acts like Leo breaking his leg is nothing more than a giant inconvenience*
Cipicia: *refuses to let Leo get medical treatment before going to St Mungo's so he can travel more easily, because it would be a waste of time*
Cipicia: *refers to Mia as 'the less valuable child'*
Cipicia: *makes Leo stand up on his own with a broken leg*
Mia: 'He didn't scream. You always tell us that showing pain is a weakness- he was very strong.'
Amelia: 'whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck'
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Leo: 'I fell out of a tree.'
Prudence: *doubt*
Translations (French):
Maman = Mama.
Mère = Mother.
Name Pronunciation:
Prudence Dinitia = Proo-dense Die-nih-sha. Prudence means 'caution', or 'discretion', and is of Latin origin (and I found it by googling 'badass old lady names). Dinitia means 'follower of Dionysus'- Dionysus being the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. Again, I didn't know that until right this second (her name being related to Dionysus, not the stuff ABOUT Dionysus), so disregard that when it comes to character choices. I swear I found it on a list of names that were related to healing in some way, but apparently not? I don't know. Maybe it's the fertility?
Soren = Soh-ren or Sorr-en (like sorry, not sore. Note the lack of umlaut or 'o with slash' [ø]). It's of Danish origin, and means 'strict, stern or severe'- which makes sense, since apparently it comes from 'Severus'. I didn't know that until right this second, so feel free to disregard that in terms of why I chose it. I just liked the same Soren. When I was on the page where I found Prudence's name, I clicked on the related link- 6,000+ Dog Names. Soren was the third name, after 'Royal' and 'Maeve'.
Herbs:
I will only list the qualities that I feel are relevant for this particular poultice- I got some of these (pretty much all the ones that have their Latin names first, except for Moringa) from a medical paper I read titled, 'Medicinal Plants and Bone Healing'. I mostly picked the ones that sounded the coolest, but made sure to avoid ONE that was on the list- Verbena/Vervain. Yeah... that would have been bad for Leo.
Moringa oleifera = Antibacterial, anti-fungal, antiviral, anti-parasitic, and anti-inflammatory properties.
Ehretia cymosa = (Part of the Borage family) Used to cover fractured area or for joint dislocation, the healing is accelerated.
Cryptolepis buchanari = Pain relieving, anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic. (typically mixed with mustard oil and applied to a fracture)
Symphtum officinale/Comfrey/Knitbone = Reduce pain (including muscle, joint and arthritis pain), and speed wound healing.
Horsetail = (Equisetum) Calcium, bone healing.
Devil's Claw= (Harpagophytum, also known as 'Wood Spider' or 'Grapple Plant') Relieves arthritis pain, reduces inflammation.
Skullcap = (Scutellaria, related to Mint) Reduce inflammation.
Pholidota articulata/Rattlesnake Orchid = Known as bone-joining plant in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand (a state in northern India, crossed by the Himalayas)
About the Ms Rochester vs Miss Rochester thing- I imagine that Amelia is a pureblood, but not from a family that is a member of the sacred twenty-eight, and she's either the youngest of quite a few daughters, or her family have fallen on hard times, but still act quite posh. She basically had to get a job as a governess to survive (which is the way it was for most historical governesses), and essentially, Cipicia (and Sebastien/anyone else well to do) looks down on her because of it. I think Amelia is about... like... 25? Which makes her only about two younger than Cipicia herself, but I wanted the Ms vs Miss thing to be sort of a nod to Cipicia looking down on her for not being successfully married with kids yet, and basically treat her like a spinster. Nolan calls her Miss Rochester because he isn't an asshole like that, and doesn't care whether she's married- well. I mean, he cares, but in a very different sort of way.
Also, I would just like to say, that- Leo getting up off the ground? I did that. I couldn't figure out how I was going to get him to his feet, with the broken leg, so I acted it out myself, and I managed to do everything without using my right leg up until the point where I mentioned that Leo has to rest on his right knee, because I found it physically impossible for ME to do it without it. Leo's quite a bit stronger than I am, so he'd probably have less trouble with it, but still. It's doable, up to that point, and after that point, but whether him managing to get through that pain is realistic, I don't know. Again, I've never had a broken bone. I will say that I ended up quite sore the next day, though.