Disclaimer - I don't own the Worst Witch, I wish I did though. It's way more interesting than Harry Potter. Good thing I like a few things about that universe though.

Anyway, this story is a gift for Hallow Sisters On My Mind.

Enjoy all!

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"I must protect Ethie."

A part of her knew this was wrong, but as her hazel coloured eyes focused on her younger sister and the…..boy she was with, Esmerelda's overprotective sister/mother mode's fire was stoked while her rational side kept trying to tell her that Ethel was old enough to go out dating with boys.

Esmerelda had followed the two around, she had magicked herself into the cinema and had spent the entire duration of the movie watching her sister and this boy.

Okay, she admitted it to herself, in the cinema she couldn't really see much harm in the two just sitting in their seats, watching the movie (Esmerelda didn't care what the movie was about, she was here to protect her sister's virtue, not watch a film. What if she got distracted?)

And then the and the rational voice was silenced for another ten minutes. The boy Ethel was with didn't look like that Pentangles kid, Zac, but that didn't matter to Esmerelda. The boy could have an awful, old-fashioned name as far as she was concerned, boys were all the same in this day and age to her.

HE WAS TOUCHING HER HAND! AGAIN!

No, he was…..CUDDLING HER TO HIS CHEST, AND ETHIE LOOKED LIKE SHE WAS ENJOYING IT!

If she wasn't invisible and if it were possible, then Esmerelda would have had steam and smoke coming out of her ears as she burned with rage.

She knew this date could lead to other things. It started with snogging, then fondling, and then….pregnancy!

Overprotective mother/sister mode fully engaged by the time the boy had taken Ethel to the restaurant, but Esmerelda didn't take down the invisibility spell she'd cast over herself. Her rational mind had finally given up on trying to tell her to tell her she was overreacting when exposed to the sight of Ethel smiling and looking at the boy with lovestruck eyes.

By the time the meal was over, Esmerelda was on the verge of tearing the restaurant apart just to get to the boy. Her desire to murder him got worse as she followed them out of the restaurant, but fortunately, he escorted Ethel back to the flat she was sharing with her elder and younger sisters.

Well, that was a plus.

Sensible boy, she thought approvingly, delighted the little bastard wasn't taking her to where HE lived. She had horrible visions in her eyes of such an event. Bah, what was thinking? Of course, he wished he could take her back to where he lived, that way she'd have a bun in the oven and she would be an auntie before she was ready.

By ready, Esmerelda meant when she was 30 years old.

Why couldn't Ethie see that she wanted her to have kids when her big, wonderful, caring sister was 30? Was that too much to ask?

Esmerelda had become so tired of her parents, their attitudes, the way they pushed Ethel away until she was a ghost in their eyes, the way they tormented her. It hadn't been difficult once she had reached her majority to enact a loophole in the Witches' code that allowed her to claim custody of a younger sibling, though in this case, she had applied for both of her sisters to live with her.

All she had had to do in the case of Sybil was ask her; who do you want to live with, me or them?

Sybil had gone with her. Clearly, she had been dreading spending the next few years with them until she reached her own majority, and had jumped at the chance to get away from them. The best thing was there was nothing her parents could do about it. Esmerelda loved her parents deep down, but she found their overbearing attitudes and the way they emotionally neglected her and her siblings hateful.

It was when Ethel kissed the boy, pressing her body against his chest instinctively that Esmerelda finally exploded with rage.

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Sybil Hallow was happily eating some cake in the flat she shared with her older sisters. Life for her had become fantastic now she was no longer under the dubious care of her parents - while she loved her parents, she was still scared of them. But while she was still slightly intimidated at Cackles, she still had her best friends Clarice and Beatrice, Mildred, Maud, and Enid, whom she considered older surrogate sisters while she considered Clarice and Beatrice as sisters her own age, which was a change.

She was getting to the last few crumbs of the cake when she checked the time. Esmerelda had been gone a long time, she said she was only going out for something, but she'd been vague about what she was getting. Sybil hadn't thought much about it at the time, except it was odd. Sybil kept looking at the clock and wondered when Ethel would be back from her date.

She smiled at the thought of romance in the air, but that smile quickly faded when she heard loud voices from outside, and she winced while she tried to make herself as small as possible. She knew the drill, first the door would be banged open and then slammed shut, followed by a bellow of rage, and a stream of abuse.

BANG!

That was the door.

"How could you do that?!" Ethel shouted as she stormed into the flat, knocking the door so hard the thing nearly came off its hinges. "We weren't doing anything wrong!"

"I was trying to protect your virtue," Esmerelda shouted, just as angry as her sister; Sybil was impressed, very little angered Esmerelda, but she wondered what had happened, but she was scared that if she gave into her curiosity then the two girls would turn their anger on her.

"How, by storming over to my date and shoving him away from me?!" Ethel shrieked.

"He was touching your backside, no, he was groping it-!" Sybil gaped at that.

"And I was running my hands over his chest, but you don't see anyone appearing from thin air and shoving me aside and threatening me!"

Oh, magic, Sybil thought to herself. She was beginning to get an idea of what had happened. She took a good look at both her sisters. Esmerelda and Ethel were both glaring at one another. Many people often wondered about the similarities between the Hallow girls, but they only had to take a look at this scene to see that they both glared the same.

No, Esmerelda's glare was worse than Ethel's, but Sybil was unsure if that was because Esmerelda rarely glared since she always tried to act rationally and patiently compared to her more volatile sister. Ethel was usually always angry.

Finally, she decided to announce her presence and find out what had happened, but she had to mentally steel herself in case Ethel or Esme lashed out at her.

"What happened?" she asked. Sure, there were better ways to ask, but those two words were always a good starter. "I thought you were out on a date?" Sybil asked Ethel.

Esme and Ethel started as if only just realising that she was there. Sybil sighed mentally. "I was, and it was a wonderful date. The film was fantastic, the meal was amazing, and the kiss was phenomenal," Ethel said, her tone and expression wistful and calm as she remembered how the date had gone, clearly trying to keep the memory fresh in her mind. But the happy expression on her face as she mock swooned while all the time mocking Esmerelda when she mentioned the word kiss made Sybil sink a little in her seat when she noticed the burning anger return.

This was not going to be good.

Ethel was about to explode; Mildred Hubble had once described her sister as a bottle of nitroglycerine, which was some kind of bomb according to the brunette witch, with blonde hair. Now she was about to blow up, definitely.

"But then, suddenly, out of nowhere, she," Ethel jabbed a finger straight at Esmerelda and putting a hand over the older girl's mouth so she couldn't interrupt, "appears and pushes the boy off, even grabbing him by the shirt and jacket at the base of his neck," Sybil gasped, "shouting at him not to kiss me. She didn't even stop when he pleaded with her! But then she went on about him trying to, what was the exact wording?" she asked, adopting a pretend thinking pose, "Oh yeah, she said 'How dare you take advantage of my sister, putting a bun in her oven before I am 30 years old!'"

Ethel took her hand away, glaring at Esmerelda. "I mean, no one would believe it, would they? That someone's sister would appear out of nowhere, grab their shirt and shout something like that? Now, if you don't mind, I would like to go to bed!"

Ethel had turned around and was about to go to the bathroom to get ready for bed, but she stopped when the object of her anger spoke.

"Well, I'm sorry," Esmerelda suddenly said, still peeved but looking suddenly calm like she normally did. "I was trying to look out for you like I always do. But I was so scared."

Ethel turned around. "Scared, of what?"

"You're my little sister, Ethie," Esmerelda said, looking ashamed at her actions. "You both are," she added when she glanced over at Sybil. "I don't want either of you both to get hurt because some boy took advantage of you."

Ethel suddenly felt bad about the things she'd said. "Oh, Esme," she whispered, moving over to hug her big sister. The person who had finally told her parents that she'd had enough, the sister who'd helped her all this time. "I love you, really I do, but you're going to have to let me make my own decisions. Besides, Jack and I had agreed to take things slow when we started dating. All we'd done was hug, cuddle, and kiss. Having a boyfriend won't make me walk away from you. Besides, I want my kids to know and love their cool Auntie Esme."

Esmerelda smiled, but her face was tinged with sadness. "Please don't hate me."

"I don't hate you, you stupid witch," the smile on Ethel's face told both her sisters she didn't mean it in a bad way. "Boys will come and go, but you're both my sisters. Just please, try to keep your cool and don't humiliate me like that again. Promise?"

Esmerelda nodded. "Promise."

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Two months later.

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Sybil grinned at her date as he escorted her back home to the flat. Tom was a Pentangles boy around her age who was like her in some ways, only a little more confident in himself than she was.

"Thanks for tonight," she said softly and sweetly.

"No problem," Tom smiled, trying desperately to keep up the confident facade. Sybil sighed mentally, wishing he would relax and realise he didn't need to put on airs and graces with her.

Gently she wrapped her arms around his neck. She felt Tom start with surprise, but she smiled as he slowly and hesitantly wrapped his arms around her waist. Sybil pulled back so she could look him in the eyes, and very slowly she leaned forward to kiss him on the lips-

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY SISTER!" Someone hollered from nearby.

Sybil and Tom leapt off one another in shock before a blond blur appeared, and Tom was forced back. Sybil's eyes shot open in surprise when Esmerelda shoved Tom far away from her, pushing the poor scared boy against the wall.

"Esmerelda, get off him!" Sybil cried in distress and shock.

Esmerelda didn't hear her, she was too busy threatening to castrate Tom if he ever thought of 'taking away Sybie's virtue!' Listening to that horrified and embarrassed Sybil as she fought with her elder sister to let her friend go. She wondered if she could even get Tom to take her out on another date, but after this, she was in two minds - she strongly thought he would be too scared to take her out.

Did Esme want her and Ethel to go up lonely and childless? It looked that way.

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What do you think?