(A/N): We're back in 1967 with Soren, Prue, Cipicia and Mia.

October 19th, 1967

Soren

Once we- and by we, I mostly mean Prue- had guided Mrs Joannis and her daughter to their very own room, Prue closed the door behind us, and carefully cast a privacy spell. There was a brief second where she stayed there, facing the door, and from my position to the side of her, I could tell she was most likely bracing herself. I couldn't blame her- I doubted things were going to get any easier from here, and if Miasenna was like her brother... well, it certainly wasn't going to be a pleasant experience for any of us, I'll just say that. After that moment to herself, Prue spun around and clapped her hands together quietly- neither one of us missing the way the little girl flinched at the sound.

"Right, well," Prue said as brightly as possible. "Before we get to all that-" 'All that' meaning checking whether she was human or not. "-we need to fill out her patient forms." Mrs Joannis huffed in an entirely entitled manner, but Prue looked like she'd expected this- she most likely had, since I'd been expecting it, too.

"Must we?" Mrs Joannis asked, but it wasn't really a question, more like a pointed 'suggestion'. Find another way, she seemed to be saying, and if we'd liked her, maybe we would've tried to do so. "After all, she's not injured or ill in any way, she merely needs a diagnostic charm to confirm that she's-" I wasn't sure what she'd been about to say. 'Normal'? Human? Not part vampire? There was no point wondering about it, because she'd already moved past it. "I would perform the spell myself, if I knew it-" But she didn't- couldn't. It was a closely guarded, trade secret for several very good reasons... not least of all the fact that it could possibly be used to identify vulnerable groups, such as 'half-breeds' or muggleborns. "-is there no way I might persuade you to keep this between us? Off of her record?" She batted her eyelashes, almost managing to appear like a regular, innocent woman.

Prue's lips drew to a thin line. "No." She said simply, firmly, and the innocent demeanor disappeared. It struck me then, that when she'd looked innocent like that, it was the most Mrs Joannis had resembled her son- at least in my opinion. Now, she looked irritatingly privileged once more, and Miasenna's eyes were darting back and forth between her mother and Prue as though she expected to brawl to break out. Now that, I'd like to see. My galleons were on Prue- she was old, sure, but scrappy, and I doubted the heiress had ever thrown a punch. On the other hand, I'd seen my mentor take an elbow to the nose and keep right on going, even with blood streaming down her face. Yeah, I was sure Prue could take whatever anyone could throw at her, let alone someone like Mrs Joannis. Then again, if there was a fight, I'd be expected to break it up... I sobered immediately.

"We have to follow Hospital protocol-" Was as far as I got, before Mrs Joannis flung an incredibly dismissive hand up in my direction.

"Did I not command you to be silent?" I gritted my teeth on instinct, to stop myself from snapping back in the way that I'd had to train myself not to, then forced myself to shrug as casually as I could.

"I believe you tried, but then got distracted before you could realise that I'm not at your beck and call." Her blue eyes flared, and I felt a thrill of something run up my spine- was that fear, or excitement at yet another challenge being thrown in my path?- only for Prue to step between us, her hands raised in a placating gesture.

"Soren, calm yourself," I wanted to argue that I was calm, which... I suppose was proof enough that Prue was, as always, right, and I was far too worked up to be able to deal with someone as frustrating as- that. Woman. I took a deep breath, which was almost immediately rendered useless as my 'rival' pulled on a self-satisfied little smirk. "Mrs Joannis, Soren- Healer Townsend- is an indispensable ally of mine... and yours, at a time like this." The smirk dropped into another scowl.

"He is a nuisance as well as a liability. He should not even be here, but since you refuse to allow-" Prue cut her off, which I was sure she didn't appreciate, even before the Healer's words sunk in.

And sink in, they did. "He knows," The color drained from Mrs Joannis's face, and her eyes darted to me. "He saw the pamphlets." Her expression hardened, and she crossed her arms over her chest before turning to face me head on. She looked... if I didn't know better, I would've said she looked like she expected me to laugh, or to express my disapproval of the whole thing.

"Did he, now?" She asked archly, almost swaggering as she stepped toward me. It was an overly confident gesture that didn't fit with the situation- perhaps she was trying to brazen it out? An odd choice, if you ask me. "And that's supposed to make me-" I cut her off again, being very careful not to change my attitude in any way, now that she knew that I knew.

"I don't care. I have never cared, and I will never care. Focus on your daughter, not me." Although, if she was going to brazen it out... "I know I can be rather arresting, but try to control yourself." An odd thing happened, then. She scowled- that wasn't odd in any way- but then I noticed the blush rising to her cheeks as she turned away from me. Merlin, that had better be an outraged flush, because it surely couldn't be a flustered one!

"...insufferable little..." I only caught part of her aggravated muttering, but that was more than enough to leave me grinning quite broadly. "Fine, do as you will." She told Prue irritably, and the older Healer approached the young girl, where she waited by the bed.

"Hello again, dear," Miasenna glanced at her mother, and upon receiving no warnings not to, gave Prue an acknowledging nod. Hm... a theory, but one I had no proof for, yet. "Would you like to sit on the bed, or would you prefer to stand?" When the girl hesitated again, Prue pulled out the big wands. Coincidentally, that phrase never made much sense to me, since the size of one's wand had no proven affect on the power of the magic it produced. "Your brother sat on the bed, but of course, his leg was bro-" Immediately, the girl hopped up on the reasonably low bed- albeit with a bit of difficulty- and Prue presented her with a small, kind smile. "Alright, dear," The girl's brow furrowed slightly, and it was confirmation for Prue and I both, I think.

While Leonides had reacted well to be called 'dear', and 'a strapping young lad', and was quick to blush, his sister seemed to be the opposite. It wasn't uncommon for young children to take offense to being treated as such, and it seemed that Miasenna was one of these. That was fine by me, if a little bit sad that she didn't feel like she could act like a child at this point of her life, but given the way their mother seemed to treat them, it made complete sense. "I need your help to fill out these forms, if that's okay with you." Hesitantly, she nodded.

Prue fetched the clipboard from the wall manually rather than summoning it to her with magic, probably because she didn't want to risk startling the young girl. "Now," She said, finger hovering over the parchment. "A lot of these questions will seem easy, or even unnecessary, but we're required to ask them nonetheless. We're also required to have the patient- and only the patient-" A pointed reminder to Mrs Joannis to keep quiet on the matter, unlike she'd done with her son the day before. "-answer these questions, in order to assess their mental faculties, especially in the event of traumatic injuries. Do you understand?" The girl was quiet for a second, her eyes dipping to her lap, before they shot back up to meet Prue's.

"Like Leo's broken leg?" Prue opened her mouth to respond, but Mrs Joannis cut her off.

"Leonides." She corrected, then appeared to be almost angry with herself for doing so.

"Maybe if you would let me see him, I would remember what you want me to call him." It was the most she'd said so far, and I realised with delight that not only did she seem just as bright as her brother- if not more- she also seemed to have quite the temper, and was certainly not happy with her mother.

"Miasenna-" Mrs Joannis inhaled deeply through her nose, as though she was struggling to calm herself. "I will not argue with you on this, and we will not be talking about this now- but remember, 'maybe's-'" The girl cut her off in turn, looking incredibly irritated as she finished the sentence for her.

"'Are for babies'- yes, I know." But... she was a baby. Maybe- perhaps- not in the literal sense, but she was so. Young. Surely it didn't matter whether she used a particular word that wasn't as 'eloquent' as another option- especially not as much as her mother was acting like it did. "I understand," She said, turning her attention to Prue, who wasn't hiding her discomfort as well as she usually did. "Ask your questions." Prue's eyes dropped to the clipboard, and I saw her throat bob as she swallowed thickly.

"Name?" This was the first time Miasenna didn't hesitate to answer.

"Miasenna Karma Joannis." First 'Judas', and now 'Karma'? I glanced at her mother, who was, presumably, at least partially responsible for naming these poor children, and her eyes flicked to me in return, glared already affixed. Clearly she'd been expecting this sort of response- good. Apparently I wasn't the only one that wasn't the keenest on her choice of middle name. I mean, the first names weren't great either, but at least they weren't as ridiculous as the middle names.

When I returned my gaze to Prue, I saw her finger still skimming over the parchment, and I knew she was taking the opportunity to fill in the section that recorded the reason for the visit. For Leonides, it had been a broken leg, but for his sister... well, it was a little more complicated. Speaking of... "Did you get your hat back?" It was silent for a second, before Miasenna seemed to realise that I was talking to her, and jolted. Then, her little brow furrowed.

"How did you-" Then she remembered where she was, why she was here, and recovered from her shock. "Leo-nides-" Her eyes flicked to her mother as she barely caught herself from calling him by the shortened version of his name, and I was mildly surprised that the woman chose not to reprimand her, even after she'd automatically corrected herself. "My brother told you, didn't he?" I nodded.

"He was explaining why he was in the tree in the first place. It's a very nice thing he tried to do for you, if quite reckless." The words may have been disapproving- entirely for Mrs Joannis benefit, since I didn't want to encourage her to butt in again- but I tried to make it known to Miasenna that I honestly couldn't care less what Leonides- or she- chose to do, as long as they were safe about it. It was, after all, part of inspiring trust in your patients- if they were too scared of disapproval to come to you when hurt, then there would be trouble for all involved- but that wasn't the only reason. I had the distinct feeling that both children knew that their every move was being closely observed- and judged- and I didn't want them to think that I was doing the same. I refused to add to what I suspected was already an incredibly heavy burden for both of them- whether Leonides was shouldering most of it or not. "He must care about you very much." I said, and even as Miasenna nodded firmly, her mother narrowed her eyes at me.

"Yes, he does. He's my best friend." It sounded so simple, like that was the be-all and end-all of it- and I guess, at that age, it likely was.

"He cares a little too much, if you ask me." No one had, but Mrs Joannis added her two sickles- which she likely thought was worth galleons- anyway.

Miasenna was quiet, as though she didn't want to risk her mother's ire, and yet eventually, she spoke up anyway. "Not yet." She said, and for a second, I thought she was saying that Leonides didn't care 'too much' about her yet, but then I realised she meant that she hadn't gotten her hat back, yet.

"I'm sure it won't be long." I told her, trying to sound confident, even though I knew nothing about how that sort of thing was supposed to work, but she simply shrugged.

"I don't care about the hat anymore," She said, which was... a little sad, honestly. Had Leonides broken his leg for nothing? Had she ever cared about the hat, or- "I only care about getting to see my brother." Mrs Joannis exhaled through her nose, long and slow, before addressing her daughter- as though she was trying to vent her anger, rather than take it out on the girl.

"Depending on how this assessment turns out, you might be seeing him quite soon," She told her, and I wasn't sure why this struck me as almost... threatening. I wasn't the only one, because Miasenna looked conflicted- simultaneously excited about the prospect, and filled with dread. Mrs Joannis aimed her gaze at Prue, whose finger had stopped moving, by now. "Continue with your questions." Prue was quiet for a few more seconds, as if only to avoid capitulating to the younger, far more entitled woman. Then, she raised her gaze, flashing Miasenna a small grimace, which was apparently as close as she could get to a smile, right now, and asked,

"Birth date?"

(A/N): Soren: *judging Cipicia for giving her children the middle names 'Judas' and 'Karma'*

Soren: *glances at Cipicia*

Cipicia: *already glaring at him*

Cipicia: 'Say it, I dare you.'

Soren: *hearing the words 'I dare you', and seeing red*

Soren: 'Those are some whack-ass middle names, Blondie.'

Cipicia: *seething*

Cipicia: '...you know what, that's on me. I should have expected that.'

Magical Idioms:

'Big wands' = Big guns. Instead of 'pulling out the big guns', meaning using the most powerful method at your disposal, I used 'big wands', because wizards don't have guns. Soren then goes on to say that the phrase never made sense to him, which is of particular interest because I was debating just outright keeping it as 'big guns', since this is written from Soren's pov, and Soren is definitely NOT a pureblood. Not sure yet if he's half-blood or muggleborn, but he definitely didn't grow up around wizards, that's for sure. I originally had Soren say, 'Eh, the motion of the ocean and all that, I suppose, right?' afterward, but I figured that was a bit too on the nose, even for me.

'Two Sickles' = Two Cents. Soren says that Cipicia adds her 'two sickles' on the matter, which is a play on 'two cents' on the matter, which means that someone adds their thoughts on the matter. He then goes on to say that she likely thinks these are worth galleons (her thoughts being worth galleons, not sickles being worth galleons- she wouldn't be very good with money if that was the case, and we know that's not true).

'Maybe's Are For Babies': Not a magical idiom, just a Joannis Family/Cipicia saying, used to make Leonides and Miasenna feel bad for using the word 'maybe'. She does this because A, 'maybe' is less proper than 'perhaps', but also because B, she doesn't see much point in using uncertain language. If you're not sure, don't say it, basically. Of course, that's ridiculous, but... so is Cipicia.

So, Soren specifically says 'normal' and 'half-breeds', with the quotation marks around them. This is because he doesn't like using the term normal in general, but especially when describing people like Leonides as 'not normal', because it can be alienating, and technically, they are normal- just in their own category. He also doesn't like the term half-breed, again in general, but also specifically because it's used to refer to creatures born of non-human parents, and it's just kind of weird to use the term 'breed' in that context? As I mentioned above, I'm not sure whether Soren is half-blood or muggleborn, but either way he has really personal reasons to not like the term half-breed, because half-breed, like half-blood, is very dehumanising, and also, he equates the term half-breed to basically be the equivalent of saying 'mugglebreed' instead of muggleborn. If you can't tell already, Soren is sympathetic to 'half-breeds' and 'vulnerable groups' whether he's part of them or not, but unfortunately the world he lives in isn't really ready for the kind of changes that need to be made. And who will make those changes... hmm?

Also, I'm not sure how far I'm going to go into Soren's story (or his background, at least), especially anytime soon, so I thought I'd explain a little bit of it, since I figure the 'excitement at yet another challenge being thrown in my path' thing might be a bit confusing. Basically, Soren's entire life has been difficult. Everything he's tried to do, there are a hundred things standing between him and his goal, and his entire life, he's fought through it and conquered everything he's set his mind to- eventually. He works tirelessly, no matter how hard it is, and relishes being challenged at this point, because that's essentially what he's used to. He's incredibly ambitious and hard working, and every time someone tells him he can't do something, he grits his teeth and GETS. IT. DONE. To that end, Cipicia constantly trying to get him to leave or shut is basically like waving a red flag at a bull, and Prue's just standing there like, 'Oh, for Merlin's sake- Soren! Shh, stop!' and Soren's like, 'You have a point.' only to be immediately drawn back into it the next time Cipicia does something. Annnnd Brynn's sitting in the corner eating chips like, 'Bet you can't get her to actually write a complaint', which of course, sets Soren off again. He's a really good guy, he just happens to have a 'turbo' button instead of an 'off' switch. He was quiet when he first met Leo because he was nervous about screwing up, whereas the second time around (lovingly titled 'round two' by Soren) he's already geared up to spar with Cipicia, so he isn't as concerned.

Also also, Cipicia says, 'Depending on how this assessment turns out, you might be seeing him (Leo) quite soon,' and it sounds threatening because it is- if Mia turned out to be half vampire like Leo, Cipicia likely would've dumped her in the same place, in the same way, if Mia hadn't died fighting her- which she wouldn't have, because literally all Cipicia would've had to say was, 'I'm taking you to your brother' and Mia would have been like, 'hell yeah, see ya- wouldn't wanna be ya!'. Of course, then Mia would've had to find Leo... But anyway, of course, we know that Mia isn't half-vampire, so it didn't end up happening that way, but that's what would've happened if she had been, I guess.