The coffee shop was full of regulars who chatted to the staff like friends and had their particular coffees made without the need to request them. Miranda Storm was an outsider, a rare visitor sat in a quiet corner with an untouched cup of tea steaming on the small table before her.

It wasn’t an ideal location to have an interview with the Witch Weekly writer that had scandalised her to the public. Much preferring to do it in the privacy of her office at St Mungo’s, Miranda had been aggravated by the refusal. It had been a sign that the interview wasn’t going to go in her favour very easily and Miranda had had half a mind to ask Ignan to come instead. The only thing stopping her was the knowledge that he would more likely threaten Lil Snigger and cause a far worse article to be written about the pair.

No, Miranda would handle it and she would make sure Snigger didn’t write about them again after this.

As she sat watching people entering the café, Miranda questioned if each witch was the one she waited for. It was unnerving waiting for a witch that seemed to know far more about her than she did them.

Koko wasn't stupid.

Not true - she was a journalist and all journalists are a teeny bit stupid for sticking their noses where it don't belong - but she wasn't completely stupid when it came to her job. She only met in public spaces if she could help it and especially if it was with someone she had written about.

And really this was all Sandy's fault. He wasn't even in the business, he just bloody owned it didn't he?

The witch walked into Alohomocha, a bounce in her step and a large leather-bound notebook in her hand. She grinned when she spotted Miranda in one of the less busy corners, waving energetically at the older witch as she approached.

"Mrs Storm!" Koko declared in her sing-song voice and took off her hat, placing it on the table between them. "Good morning to you," she dropped into the seat while peeling off her jacket. "Fine weather, innit?"

It was not, as there was rain, and Koko removed her absolutely unnecessary sunglasses to wink at Miranda. She opened up her notebook to a blank expanse before pulling out a self inking quill that had been flattened between earlier pages. "Would you like to get right into it then, or d'you want more to drink first? Bit of somethin' cheeky? Courtesy of Witch Weekly."

Koko smiled again. "Obviously."

Perhaps it was prior experience and the dreadful articles written about the healer, but she instantly felt a surge of dislike for the singsongy short and perky witch as she waved eagerly and sang “Mrs Storm!” in a type of voice Miranda had thought was reserved for pixies and house elves. It took control to not glare back with pursed lips and a dark gaze. She managed to keep her expression plain, unreadable, cold.

Did she want a bit of somethin’ cheeky? Mira’s brow rose.
“So you want write about the pregnant alcoholic healer in love with a criminal? I’ll pass.” She pulled her steaming cup of tea closer and lifted it to take a sip.

Dark eyes now began to take in the short witch in front of her. She dressed like a teenager despite clearly being substantially older.

“I expected younger.” The healer’s analytical gaze didn’t move from the reporter. She was decidedly unimpressed.

Mrs Storm wasn't drinking anything but Koko had signalled for her usual on the way in, a plain black coffee, so she kept her ears pricked for her name to be called at the counter. She could charge it to the magazine as a work cost later.

The younger witch laughed at the disinclination anyway, though she would keep pregnant alcoholic healer in her memory banks for a future headline. Imagine! That would get their knickers in a knot, it would.

      “I expected younger.” Miranda remarked, causing Koko's eyes to widen innocently.

Older women were always catty - they hated no longer being a pretty young thing - but Koko was used to that sort of stuff. They were just jealous they couldn't pull off what she easily could. "So do my dates but they get over it," she rolled her eyes comically as if to say: boys.

A barista called out her name ("Cocoa!") and she hopped to her feet, leaving Miranda alone a moment to go pick up her drink. She took two long sips of the coffee while walking back to the table.

"Right then! Caffeinated!" Koko set down her mug, clumsily spilling a splotch of the liquid on her notebook but not really caring. "Now before we begin, Mrs Storm, any boundaries? Questions I shouldn't ask? Subjects off-limits?"

With a lively look, she clasped her hands together and met Miranda in the eye eagerly.

“Use your common sense.” The witch’s expression was deadpan in response to the prospect of subjects out of bounds. The list was endless in what Snigger should never mention but that hadn’t stopped her before; Miranda knew it wouldn’t stop her now. The younger witch had alrady demonstrated her lack of common sense when she decided Ignan and Miranda Storm would make perfect subjects of any gossip magazine article. she’d made two quite powerful enemies and she didn’t seem in the least bit bothered.

“But I suggest no more lies or preposterous speculation comes from your quill again, Madam. You won’t like the repercussions.” The threat was dealt with a dark glare before her expression softened and Miranda very nearly smiled as she sat back and took another sip of hot tea.

“Shall we start with Musgrave? You seem perplexingly more interested in coming up with tales of love and lust than the reality of his criminality and danger to the wizarding community. Bizarre priorities.”

Koko nodded once at every beat of her interviewee's threats, seemingly allowing them to go right over her head as she made a quick note at the top of her notebook. This was all normal. Someone had once stalked her for two weeks straight because she had implicated them in a love affair.

M.S: "Use your common sense",  the note read.

"If Musgrave is where you would like to start," she acquiesced and took out her wand with a quick smile - Mrs Storm was probably good with banter or whatnot so Koko simply ignored all the pointed digs at her integrity. The healer didn't understand this job. "Let me get us started. Everything is recorded, obviously, to protect against actual libel..."

This was all muttered with a practical air, like reading someone their rights. "... and recordings are capable of being verified as authentic if necessary in a court of law." Koko touched her wand to the hat on the table. "Heus!"[1]

The air around the hat shimmered for a second. It shuddered. She put away her wand and picked up her quill, writing down 1. Lawrence Musgrave.

"Good morning, Head Healer Storm." Koko's manner changed, she spoke more slowly and with a touch of respect this time. "Considering recent speculations about the nature of your relationship to the criminal Lawrence Musgrave," a wink that betrayed her professional veneer," and your recent visit to the head of Magical Law Enforcement: is there anything you care to clarify?"

1.	Recording Charm - Latin, "Listen!"

“Your recent speculations.” The statement was firm as Miranda glanced at the hat now recording their conversation. She’d watch her tone now.
“Nothing has ever and will ever happen between Musgrave and myself. I went to school with him. He knows what I specialise in and wants my help. He’s come into my home twice and threatened my life. He brought a dozen dementors to my husband and I, and you have taken that as a love affair.”

---

Koko began taking notes, writing in Japanese as she did so - her kanji was rusty and she used four or five where her mother might have used one but it was her usual method. She nodded at different points without looking up from the book.

“Thank you,” a quiet pause as her scratching quill came to a halt and she made a thoughtful noise. “What compelled you to allow Lawrence into your home, after he threatened your life the first time?”

The reporter picked up her coffee while the healer answered.

---

“I wanted to help him. It’s my job.”

---

“Of course,” Koko raised her eyebrows over the rim of the mug before drinking. “So you feared for his life over yours or your husband’s?”

---

Miranda bristled, “I’m not saying I made the right decision. On the contrary it was a mistake.” She paused, debating sharing the information. “He’s a danger to society and himself and the ministry haven’t made any headway in catching him. He wanted hot chocolate. It seemed like an ideal opportunity to slip some sleeping potion in and call the aurors.”

---

The quill started once more, Koko scribbling away and nodding sympathetically. “Very brave of you Head Healer,” she murmured softly. “It is terrible that he had taken advantage of your kindness.”

It was tough not to make fun of Mrs Storm trying to play Auror but Koko decided not to, and to save that for her article commentary. “And are you privy to what progress the Aurors continue to make in this investigation? Why do you think they haven’t caught Lawrence yet?”

---

“Merlin knows.” Miranda responded and took a sip of her tea. She wasn’t privy to anything. Carstairs’ had shut her out on the account being a ‘civilian’.

---

“I see,” the journalist made a perky little full stop in her book and raised an eyebrow at the other witch. “So you’re only really… speculating on what headway the Ministry has or has not made?”

---

“He hasn’t been caught. That’s not speculating.”

---

Koko smiled skeptically, and wrote down a quick line about this black and white view of criminal investigations.

“You’re perfectly entitled to that opinion,” she cleared her throat before jotting down in plain english: 2. Babies. “While I have you here Mrs Storm - you were obviously not with child when accusations were made, or you would possibly be showing by now! I would like to apologise on behalf of the Witch Weekly for our insinuation.”

Here she placed her free hand on her chest, pulling a sad and sorry smile at Miranda. “Is there anything you would like our readers to know about the subject, or should we move on?”

---

It was surprising that Miranda continued to maintain a plain cold expression when the pregnancy debacle was mentioned. For those more observant, the darkening of her gaze was just visible. She lowered the mug to the table.
“You’ve made the point clear.”

---

A meagre response, it justified only a couple of points under the new header. No little baby Storms for Snigger’s loyal readers. A shame! But who knew - accidents happened.

“Right. A private matter, I completely understand.” Koko sighed softly and with a somewhat dreamy manner. “One baby is enough, isn’t it?” she waved her hand casually, leaning over with conspiratorial grace. “And Mr… I mean Professor Storm has so many children as part of his job. Some men aren’t cut out to be fathers.”

---

Miranda blinked, eyebrows raising above her glasses as she stared at Snigger.
“Excuse me?” She had half a mind to get up and walk out at this point. But how would that look?

---

Koko stuck out her lower lip, an effeminate pout that seemed to throw doubt on the level of her interviewee’s intelligence. “Oh! Well you know…” she trailed off before wrinkling her nose,

“From what I understood, your husband did not take well to the Dementors. And he’s much older, so one can’t blame you for not wanting a baby if you’ve him to take care of.”

This was accentuated by a frivolous laugh, Koko leaning back in her seat with a light-hearted look.

---

Miranda’s irritation was observed by a twitch by her right eye as she stopped herself from giving the witch a piece of her mind. She was being recorded.

“I’d like to see how well you take to a dozen dementors trying to kiss you.” she calmly spoke, “Such exposure to that amount of dementors will do damage to anyone regardless of age. I’ve worked with many people exposed to one dementor that have come off far worse than my husband.”

---

Dementors, thought Lil Snigger, were irrelevant to her motives.

“He does teach Defences,” she conceded and finished the rest of her coffee with flourish. “Better onion breath snogging than Dementors, right?”

The deflection was boring so it was time for a mental summary of their interview so far… Musgrave, check. DMLE, check. Babies, check. Ignan Storm, check. What was she missing? The witch frowned to herself.

OH. Of course! The hospital. “To wrap up our little tête-à-tête Madam Healer,” Koko saved the boring for last, “Maybe you’d care to share a few lines about how St.Mungo’s is recovering from last year’s poisoning?” she had to throw this one in.

You couldn’t interview a Head Healer without talking a smidgen about it.

---

Finally, a question Miranda felt comfortable answering.
“We’ve taken every precaution to ensure it doesn’t reoccur and we are working tirelessly to regain the public’s trust.”

A nod, the one question about which Koko didn’t have to make a note. She slipped her quill back between the pages and shut the book with a thud of finality.

“Brilliant!” she exclaimed and dug out her wand once more. “Thank you so much for your time Mrs Storm.” The hat was tapped, ending the listening charm that would be replayed for Sandy once she got around to it.

He was going to have a conniption when she told him about her draft. “That’s all we need.” Koko returned her headgear to its rightful place on her head as she began to rise, looking around at the other customers to ensure there were witnesses now that they were off the record. 

Finally the listening charm was taken off the hat and Miranda felt suddenly more comfortable that she could speak freely. Lil Snigger stood and glanced around the room and Mira sat forwards, elbows resting on the table between them.

“For the sake of your job, my dear, don’t twist that.” The younger witch knew Miranda’s link to Sandy, she knew the influence she had. It would have been highly unwise to write another article akin to the first two but Miranda wasn’t sure exactly how stupid the reporter was.

With what Ignan had admitted to her a couple of days before, it was perhaps more than her job that the stupid witch should have been worried about. Miranda drained her tea and also stood, putting her light pink hat on, towering over the short witch in her tall heels.

“This article will come out gleaming or I will destroy you.” It wasn’t just Witch’s Weekly’s boss Miranda could influence. Few people were willing to make an enemy of the Head Healer of Britain’s Wizarding Hospital.

A warm smile was offered to Snigger and Miranda offered her hand to shake. “You could have a bright future. don’t cut it short.”

Koko smiled sweetly at the other woman, unshaken by the threats. Of course she knew what was at risk... but well known people always had more to lose with things like this. If Miranda Storm fulfils a threat, that's news. If Lil Snigger did something terrible? That's just expected.

She accepted the handshake, enthusiastic and not without cheer.

"From where I am, the future has never been bright." Koko explained nonchalantly and began to pull on her jacket - it was still raining outside. "There's always going to be more Lil Sniggers, Mrs Storm. We're flies on your wall. Swat us all you want but there's someone else to take my place."

Someone hungrier, smarter, better with the quill. Many of them. Koko worked as hard as anyone but she was lucky to be here, lucky to have the experience and to be in the right place at the right time.

"Have a good day. We publish next week," she zipped up her jacket and clutched her notebook to her chest, ready to leave. "Good luck with the hospital."