A/N:I have no idea how this came to me but hope you like it anyway!
Walking Through Snow For Ethie
Esmerelda played with her hands and tried to clear her mind, trying not to think about it. Her sisters had just left for school and she was trying not to think about Cackles as she knew she would not be returning and it made her sad. She looked around her bedroom, trying to decide what she should do to distract herself and that was when she saw a large pile of books on her bed that she had been reading over the summer and had soon piled up. If she had magic she could have cleaned the room in a few seconds, but she didn't so she had to do it the old fashioned way. Oh well, she told herself. At least it kept her mind of Cackle's Academy.
She cleaned off the books and put them back on the correct bookshelves before walking over to the dresser and starting to clear away the hair things she had left out. There was a box on the dresser she kept various stuff in and she lifted the lid and saw something inside and gasped as she took it out the box. She jumped up and rushed down the stairs and outside, hoping she would be able to catch her sisters.
"Esmie walk!" her father said as he saw her running down the corridor and scolded her. When Esmerelda realised her sisters had actually gone, she ran back past him in the opposite direction.
"ESMIE STOP RUNNING!" Mr Hallow shouted annoyed she was disobeying. The girl slowed to a walk until she was out of his sight then ran again, she grabbed her cloak of the hanger and put it on quickly making sure she had what Ethel needed with her before she left.
She stepped outside and rushed down her driveway, wondering how she would even get to Cackles without the powers of flight to get her there. She had no choice she would have to walk.
She started the long journey to the castle, covering her chest as she was cold, wishing she had worn a warmer coat but she had grabbed the first thing she picked up. It was the beginning of September and there was frost on the ground, it was so cold she could see her breath, but she couldn't give up she had to keep going.
She started the long journey up the mountains, cursing the fact she did not have the ability of flight as she would be there by now. She walked and she walked panting more as she did so and there journey did not seem to end, halfway through it started to snow. It was only September! A bit early for snow wasn't it? Though she wasn't surprised, she did live in Britain after all. There snow was sticking and she was not dressed for this weather but Ethie's health was much more important, she couldn't stand the thought of Ethel being in school without this so she carried on her journey.
When she finally made it up the mountain she had the problem of how she would actually get in the school, there was a fence blocking her from going in and the gate was locked so she climbed over the fence and started to climb down when she fell and cut all her hands in the rosebush she fell into it, but she was almost there.
It seemed her appearance had gone unnoticed but it had been hours since the girl arrived and they were still outside in the courtyard, Miss Cackle clearly ranting on about everything as usual. The girl looked around for her sisters but couldn't find them in such a large crowd so she started to push her way through it, looking for them.
"Sorry, excuse me, sorry, oops sorry, excuse me please" the girl said as she pushed past pupils and people slowly started to turn to look at the intruder pushing through the crowd.
"Sorry I am looking for Ethie" she told the students pushing past them. People then clicked as to who she was, only one person used the name Ethie and only one person had that nickname.
Ethel indeed heard people saying her sister was here and she started to look around to see where she was, it didn't help everyone was in black so Esmie did not even stand out.
"Esmie" Ethel said looking around. Esmie smiled hearing her sister's voice and headed in that direction until she finally found her. Everyone gasped as she emerged shocked to see her there, Ethel was stood near the front of the group and Esmie looked up.
"Sorry Miss Cackle, Miss Hardbroom, I just need to give Ethie something" she told them as she reached into her pocket pulling out the little thing she had come all the way here to give Ethel. She held it out for Ethel to take, which Ethel did wearing a look of confusion. Miss Cackle and the other teachers fell silent as did the other pupils.
It was an asthma inhaler, not many people knew the middle sister had had bad asthma when she was younger, in fact she had quite a lot of allergies when she was younger but most of them had gone as she had gotten older, her asthma included. She had not seen her inhaler in years and could only stare at it.
"My asthma inhaler!" Ethel said looking at it confused and then her sister "I thought mum and dad chucked this out years ago, my asthma hasn't played up since I was five" Ethel commented not knowing why Esmie had brought her this here.
"They were going to throw it but I asked them if I could keep it, I always make sure you have access to it, when you were at home remember I told you about looking in the box in my dresser if your asthma played up? And I brought it to school with me last year" Esmie replied explaining why she had brought it all the way here for Ethel. It might have been years but she always always made sure Ethel could get a hold of it, just in case.
"Erm Esmerelda, why did you keep that all these years when she hasn't needed it?" Felicity asked the girl as she was confused.
"In case she needed it obviously, I always kept it just in case" Esmerelda replied so simply like it should be obvious to everyone there why she had kept it. A lot of the pupils looked at her in a strange way, most of them would have chucked it after about two years of Ethel not needing it.
Ethel, who was normally quite loud and liked the sound of her own voice, had fallen silent and was staring at the inhaler like she had never seen it before. The youngest sister, Sybil, came to stand by her sisters and was looking at Ethel concerned.
"Ethie are you alright?" Esmerelda asked her sister then worried about how she was not moving.
That little inhaler. This little thing Esmerelda had brought to Ethel by walking through snow and cold weather to bring to her made it finally hit the younger blonde like a ton of bricks. It was not that she did not love her sister but up until now she had found it hard to trust her, her parents had always let her down she was expecting the same of her sister but in that moment everything changed.
Esmerelda, for Merlin knows why, loved her so so much, in fact she was the person who loved her the most in the world, even after everything Ethel had put her through. Even though Ethel really did not deserve it. Her sister cared about her and couldn't stand the thought of her being sick or hurt. The girl mothered her truthfully. She was proud of her, even when her achievements were not that special, she stuck up for her and believed in her and she had just walked through freaking snow to give her something she didn't even need anymore because she could not stand the thought of her not having it. Yes, it hit Ethel then that Esmerelda's feelings for her were truthful.
Ethel could hear her name being said and looked up dumbstruck at her older sister who was looking at her concerned. Ethel forgot in that moment the entire school was looking at her and threw herself at her sister hugging her. Esmerelda automatically hugged her back and then hugged her for a few minutes and then pulled away without words smiling at her. She somehow knew what Ethel was saying to her even though she wasn't talking. She hugged Sybil quickly too and sighed knowing she had to go now.
"I better go….I will see you both soon" Esmerelda told her sisters, reluctantly letting go of them and looking around at everyone looking at them.
"Sorry" Esmerelda said in the direction of the teachers before she turned around and left, Ethel kept the inhaler in her hand promising herself to keep it safe. Esmerelda had just walked through snow to give her this, and it had showed Ethel the truth. Ethel would be keeping it safe, just like her sister had done for so many years. It was no longer an inhaler it was a special possession to Ethel.