Disclaimer: I don't own The Worst Witch.

A/N: Greetings! So this is my first piece of writing since August and my first Worst Witch fic since March! Eeeek! I decided to split it into two chapters so hopefully, the second part won't be too far away.

*famous last words*

Every Day's A School Day

Hecate Hardbroom cursed as her name was called for what felt like the millionth time that morning.

She had hoped that if she ignored them for long enough, then her classmate would eventually get the message, therefore leaving her in peace. In theory, it had been a solid plan, save for one little detail.

One annoying little detail.

A crumpled ball of paper suddenly landed perfectly on her desk.

One incredibly annoying little detail.

'Leave me alone, Pippa. I'm not speaking to you.'

Pippa Pentangle smirked in amusement, watching on as the dark-haired witch shifted forwards in her chair. Part of her was unable to believe that the girl was actually being this petty, while the other part of her had expected nothing less.

Distant. Stubborn. Abrasive.

It was little wonder that Hecate was something of a piraha amongst the other girls in their class.

Okay, yes, so that piraha currently had good reason to be mad at her, but that didn't mean she had to exercise that right. Besides, it was going to make for an awfully boring day if she insisted on keeping up the so-called "silent treatment".

'Well, that's funny,' Pippa said. She smiled sweetly, and although the Hardbroom still had her back to the blonde witch, she could practically feel the devil horns sprouting amongst the loose curls. 'I could have sworn you just did!'

Hecate's cheeks flamed as she finally turned around, furious that she had just been bested by a blonde nitwit. 'The only reason that I spoke to you in the first place was so I could inform you that I wasn't speaking to you, and now that we've established me not speaking to you, guess what, Pippa?'

'What?'

'I'm not speaking to you!'

With her piece said, she shakily turned to face the front again, tutting loudly as she spotted a fifth spelling mistake within the ancient text she was copying from.

'Hecate?'

The Hardbroom's self-imposed vow of silence lasted all of two minutes.

'I cannot believe that you've landed me in detention!'

Her head whipped round so fast that for a crazed minute the Pentangle thought she might actually be possessed. The wild, almost feral look that was present in the normally Bambi-eyes did absolutely nothing to dampen that fear.

'I-'

'Me! No Hardbroom has ever had a detention in their life before! Do you have any idea what my father will do when he finds out about this?'

Pippa shook her head. Apart from one sentence uttered during Miss Moonbeam's "Introductory Icebreaker" at the start of the year, she actually knew very little about her detention buddy. Of course, there were those long-standing rumours that the Hardbroom family still practiced dark magic, but she had been raised not to automatically believe everything she heard. Besides, magic or otherwise, she honestly couldn't picture Hecate voluntarily breaking any rules. 'Why?' she eventually asked, now genuinely curious. 'What will he do?'

Nothing. Hecate thought sadly to herself. Absolutely nothing.

Since losing his beloved Lorelai eight years ago, her father was practically unrecognisable. Gone was the brilliant, suave wizard, and left in his place was a man utterly broken by grief for his late wife. Hecate could still recall the hours she had spent just sat outside his locked study, tears streaming silently down her cheeks as she prayed that this would be the day where he would finally open the door and his arms to her.

She was still waiting.

Pulling herself away from unhappy memories, she realised that the blonde was looking up at her expectantly, obviously still waiting to hear all the terrible things that the infamous Mr Hardbroom was capable of.

'Well, he-,' she faltered, not quite sure what to say next. 'He won't be very pleased.' She tried to make it seem threatening, but even she could hear how totally pathetic she sounded. Before Pippa could pass any comment though, she turned away, signalling the end of the conversation. An uncomfortable silence soon descended over the room, broken only by the ticking of the clock.

As the two witches watched the hands crawl round, the same thought echoed through both their minds.

It was going to be a long day.