(A/N): We're back with Sebastien, Cipicia, and an unconscious Miasenna. Foreshadowing, but probably not in the way you expect.

Trigger Warnings: Child abuse as is typical of Sebastien and Cipicia, and Anthophilius. A house-elf is present, so depending on how you view that whole thing, minor warning for slavery, as is canon typical. Abuse of power (as is to be expected of Sebastien, at this point). Talk of infidelity, and eventual death (maybe of old age- maybe not...), and sort of slur usage, if you count 'bloodsucking piece of scum' as a slur. Sebastien certainly meant it as one, so even if the slur itself doesn't bother you (assuming none of my readers are literal vampires) maybe the sentiment behind it's usage will.

October 19th, 1967

Sebastien

Before I could do anything else- try to find Leonides, determine why Cipicia was acting so strangely, or come up with a way to prevent my father-in-law from killing us all- I had to handle what was in front of me, first. There was no way I could leave Miasenna lying unconscious on the couch in my office- and I certainly didn't want her there, even if I could have- so after taking one last look at Cipicia's appropriately horrified expression, brought on by my comment about her father, I plucked the hand bell from my desk, and rung it.

There was a loud crack that caused Cipicia to jump- possibly expecting her father to appear in the aftermath, as if he might somehow miraculously know what she had done. But instead of Anthophilius Meliflua apparating in, a different creature appeared in front of me- one I had to look down at, rather than being eye to eye with. "Bromley is at your service, Master." The house-elf bowed, then waited patiently to receive instruction once upright. It only glanced at Cipicia the once- to make sure she wasn't about to offer a contradicting order- but other than that, it kept its beady little eyes focused solely on the bell dangling from my grip.

"Bromley, I want you to take Grimsby and clear the path from here to the children's bedrooms. Any staff you come across, inform them that your Mistress and I are taking some private time with our children, after Leonides's injury yesterday. Make it known that we will not tolerate being disturbed. Once that's all sewn up, return here to let me know the task is complete- understood?" The small house-elf nodded so firmly his entire body bobbed with the movement.

"Yes, Master. Bromley understands, Master. Fetch Grimsby and clear a path, then come back to Master." I waved a hand at him, and with that dismissal, there was another crack and he disappeared. Disapparated.

I turned to Cipicia, who had relapsed into hovering above her daughter like an uncharacteristically concerned vulture. "Will you carry her to bed, or is one of us going to levitate her?" It was almost as though she didn't hear me, so minute was her reaction. "You're certainly strong enough to achieve such a feat, and if I do it, I'm likely to bounce her head off of every single doorfra-"

"What would you have done?" I blinked; it wasn't often I was caught off guard- especially not by Cipicia, not anymore- but I suppose she was determined to turn everything on its head, today.

"Excuse me?" I asked, only just barely managing to avoid spluttering, and Cipicia looked back at me over her shoulder.

"If you were the one that went to St Mungo's with him- If I had come to you afterward, and told you what he was... what would you have done?" Was she asking because she was curious, or because she was attempting to alleviate her guilt?

I took a slow, deep breath, and thought about it. "Well..." I started carefully, after a long moment of contemplation. "Knowing myself as well as I do, and knowing how you're reacting now... I most likely would have paused from shock, then commenced making both of your lives far more difficult- as I tend to do." I specifically didn't address her question about the Healers, because there was no point in doing so. I never attended either of our children's medical visits, beyond their births- if that even counted- not only because it had always been considered 'women's work' among both of our families, but because it made me quite uncomfortable. Once she regained herself, she would remember that. "And if you continued to fret, or saw fit to try to remove him from the situation, then I would have stepped in, and put an end to it." This didn't seem to comfort her any, if her frown and the crease between her brows was anything to go by.

"You wouldn't... be angry?" My confusion must have been evident on my face, because she continued quickly. "I didn't- I have no memory of being unfaithful. Not until after Miasenna was born, and we stopped- You're hardly the pinnacle of fidelity, but... I know that men are typically more sensitive, when it comes to matters of... bastardy." She said the word delicately, almost as if it were a swarm of bees that stung her mouth on the way out.

Once again, I took my time to think this through- half because I wanted to give as honest an answer as possible, and half because I liked leaving her on tenterhooks. When I did finally supply her with a response, it was accompanied by a shrug. "I can't pretend I'm ecstatic about some bloodsucking piece of scum cuckolding me and ostensibly stealing my heir out from under me, but no. I know what you're asking, and I would not take that out on you, or- the boy. At least not any more than I usually do." She didn't seem relieved. "I have quite the incentive to keep our family together, wife- perhaps even more than you do, if your instinct to forcibly remove a member is anything to go by." She flinched, and then her eyes flashed cold with fury.

"I did what I had to do!" She protested again, which I still didn't entirely understand. Maybe she would be more inclined to explain that to me later, when she was in her right mind. "When my father finds out-"

"If. If, your father finds out-"

"He knows!" She spat, effectively freezing me in place with the sheer terror a statement like that induced. "He always knows- don't you get that?! There's no escaping him, there's only- only- delaying the inevitable! He will catch up eventually, I'm just... buying time!" She said it with such desperation that I nearly took her at her word... but the absurdity of it brought me back to reality.

No human being was omniscient, not even Anthophilius Meliflua- and no matter how relentless I knew him to be, he was a man teetering on the precipice of entering his sixties... he couldn't keep going forever, surely...? I chuckled bitterly at her paranoia, and she glared at me. "If you truly believed it was a lost cause, you would have handed Leonides to him personally, instead of-"

"Never!" She growled, and I sighed heavily to convey my exasperation.

"Obviously, darling- which means, you still have hope. Hope that there is an escape- maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow... but the man's mortal, which means..."

The fire I sought sparked and caught alight in her eyes, and she breathed exactly the words I had left unsaid- left waiting for her to snatch up greedily, and speak aloud. "He has to die eventually."

(A/N): Bastardy = the state or condition of being a bastard; illegitimacy / the act of begetting a bastard / the quality or state of being born to parents who are not married to each other. (It's more a term used for legal reasons than in casual conversation, I think, but that's sort of the kind of people Cipicia and Sebastien are)

Bromley is the name of a borough of London, as well as a town in said borough. Grimsby is the name of a town in North East Lincolnshire. Both house-elves, as well as all the others that are under the family's control, have been renamed by the Joannis's to reflect their... not patriotic, exactly, but like, 'proud of their heritage'-ness? Despite the fact that neither Cipicia, nor Sebastien, are entirely British. I did stick with sort of house-elf sounding names, since maybe the Joannis's offered the house-elves a list of approved names and they got to pick their own, but that also sounds like... kind of too nice of them? Idk, maybe it's just a coincidence or we can chalk it up to an external naming mechanic (which is what it actually is), but yeah. Also, it makes them sound like little butlers, which I think Sebastien and Cipicia would appreciate.

'He was a man teetering on the precipice of entering his sixties' - Anthophilius is 59 in 1967 (having been born in 1908) and Cipicia's name is a play on the word precipice, so I thought it was funny to have Sebastien phrase it that way. Their comments about him dying eventually isn't so much a, 'oh, he's old, he'll die of natural causes eventually' kind of thing, it's a more a... 'well, at some point he'll get too old to fight back and we can murder him', sort of thing. Anthophilius being Anthophilius though, it'd be far longer than anyone expects.

Maybe is for babies- but Sebastien uses it. Well, Sebastien is a man child, and also, it's very much a 'do as we say, not as we do' kind of thing, since Sebastien and Cipicia are old enough to CHOOSE to speak poorly, whereas they consider Leonides and Miasenna too young for such a thing.

Sebastien never attended the children's medical visits 'beyond their births'. Leo wasn't born in a hospital, but a Healer was likely summoned soon after he was born, and Sebastien was probably present for at least a moment, and I also assume he attended Mia's birth (which DID happen in a hospital), since it is kind of an extremely important milestone for purebloods, but he was extremely reluctant and probably waited outside for most of it because he was grossed out (because Sebastien is exactly the type of person that cares nought for 'the miracle of life'), which Cipicia was most likely rather grateful for. Also because he knew if he said the wrong thing she was liable to throw something at his head so hard that it took his head OFF, so...