I wrote out this story with my friend Hallow sisters on My Mind and so she knows I've written this, and I don't own the Worst Witch.
Enjoy.
Please tell me what you think.
An Actual Mother.
Ethel Hallow was angry.
Normally that wasn't an unusual occurrence since she was usually annoyed, lashing out at the world, but few people realised she was only angry to stave off her feelings and her frustrations, which she took out on anyone foolish enough to say the wrong thing or just otherwise crossed her path.
This time was no different. She had spent virtually a whole year trying to find a way of helping her sister get her powers back after she had tricked Esmerelda into giving them to Agatha Cackle in the first place.
All her hard work and she wasn't getting any credit for it and her mother was still taking Esmerelda and Sybil to the spa without her!
Granted she had to admit that finding a solution would not be easy; there were few books on the subject of transferring magic from something to another.
The Founding Stone was an opportunity she had not anticipated. One of the greatest symbols of the Craft, full of magical energy to spare. In a way it was Maud Spellbody's fault for giving her the idea in the first place, but the middle Hallow sister was grateful. It had been a nightmare getting her hands on the Founding Stone, but fortunately Sybil's allergic friend Beatrice had solved that problem for her though in the ensuing panic the trio had nearly burnt themselves to death in a fire just to find a way to get the stone back to where it was.
Ethel had cloned the Founding Stone and put the copy back during the chaos caused by her own clones, and she had spent a long time trying to find a way to get Esme back to Cackles to restore her powers. Unfortunately Esmerelda had refused, and to make matters worse she had seen through the excuse Ethel had given which would have fooled anyone else. So she had needed to find another way, she had cast a spell on the room the stone had been hidden in to trap Esmerelda so then she would have no alternative but to take some of the magic from the stone. Unfortunately she hadn't anticipated Sybil to wander in and become trapped enough that she would try to leave by climbing out of the window, but it had worked out; in desperation Esmerelda had taken some of the magic from the stone and rescued Sybil.
Ethel felt bad about what had happened, but it had all worked out hadn't it?
But no-one could have anticipated the mess that followed; Esmerelda had drawn far too much magic from the stone, virtually killing it. Founding Stones were not a common magical artefact; what was known about them was set down in legends, secret texts known only to the Great Wizard, or to witches and wizards who had lived centuries ago, so it wasn't entirely Esme's fault she had taken so much magic from the stone in this case.
Nor was it her fault that the Stone had tried to restore itself by freezing everything and everyone around it while trying to feed on their magic so it could survive again. Cackles began to freeze up, while the magic itself began to fail.
For some reason it affected those stupid family trees (Ethel wondered what the point Miss Mould had been trying to make with the trees, but she didn't know and frankly didn't care) and all of her Hallow ancestors came out, making her search for one who had 'supposedly' reignited a stone in the past.
Ethel had pushed her reactions and feelings towards her mean ancestors aside in favour of thinking about this latest…..latest….. argh! Words could not even begin to describe what she was going through right now.
She had been glowering around the hall, angry and hurt ever since Esmerelda and Sybil had told her about the spa, but now she was desperate to get out. She was even more hurt and offended by the happiness of everyone in the hall, oblivious to how she was feeling and what she was going through.
It was almost as though she were invisible. She needed to find some way of getting rid of her excess anger. Now!
She wandered around the hall before she bumped into someone - later Ethel would ask herself when she had calmed down enough to put everything into perspective just who was responsible, but she didn't care at this point. The impact took her by surprise, so she didn't see who it was until she froze when a familiar voice spoke and her anger was stoked even more.
"Oh, sorry, Ethel-," Mildred Hubble's voice reached her brain and it made her erupt into fury. Suddenly all the anger and frustration she had felt for the past term and the last two hours exploded, and before she knew it she was shouting into Mildred's shocked face. "Oh, you're always in the way, Mildred Hubble!" And with that she violently shoved the brunette to the ground and stalked out of the hall in a rage.
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"ETHEL!" Esmerelda yelled out in shock and horror as her sister shoved Mildred to the ground, and she rushed over to the scene with Sybil and the curly haired woman in the blue shirt and black dungarees that she knew was Mildred's mother. She groaned mentally in her mind; one of the advantages of this school being a boarding school was Mildred's mother, Julie she was sure the woman's name was, had few opportunities to attack Ethel, but it seemed she now had that chance. And she became worried.
By the time they reached Mildred, Ethel was already out of the door and slammed it so harshly the door shook in its frame, and Esmerelda shuddered at the sound, realising that Ethel was really angry.
Meanwhile, Sybil and Mildred's mother were kneeling next to Mildred. The brunette was more shaken than hurt by what had happened.
"Are you okay, Mildred?" Sybil asked frightened and worried.
Mildred nodded, still shaken. "Yeah, I'm fine. What was all that about?"
Both of the Hallow girls still in the hall looked at each other curiously as they thought about what could have set Ethel off this time, and Esmerelda groaned and mentally kicked herself for being so stupid.
"It's our fault," she looked between both Hubble's sheepishly, "our mum is taking Sybil and I to a spa to celebrate me getting my magic back," she ignored the curious glimmer she could see in the eye of Mildred's mother and carried on, "and she didn't invite Ethel, we don't want to go to the spa in the first place, but you don't say no to Ursula Hallow."
Sybil shivered a little at the thought of her mother, but she was too busy looking at her friend to make sure she was okay to really give out a proper reaction. Besides, she was keeping an eye on Mildred's mother. Sybil was naturally unsure about every adult that she came across, and she didn't know enough about this woman besides the fact she wasn't a witch and that she was Mildred's mother to feel any different around her.
Meanwhile, she was busy fussing over her daughter, her face a mixture of concern and anger. Sybil was surprised that the concern seemed to outweigh the anger.
Mildred's smile towards her mother further convinced her that the woman was nothing like her own mother. "I'm fine mum, really," she said.
Sybil looked over her shoulder to meet Esme's eyes but to also find time to truly give herself the chance to define Mildred's mother. "We'd better go, check on Ethel," she said to her elder sister.
Esme sighed, clearly not happy with the prospect. Sybil knew her sister was not looking forward to trying to get through to Ethel in her current mood, and Sybil could hardly blame her for that. "Yes, that's wise," Esme whispered, mentally preparing herself for the meeting and the definite abuse she was likely going to take from her sister for going to a spa, something she didn't want in the first place.
Finally, she sighed. "Come on, Sybie," she said, "let's go find Ethel."
The two blondes stood up but they paused when the person they had dreaded speaking began to speak, dropping the worst case scenario on their shoulders.
"I want to come with you. I think it's about time Ethel Hallow and I had a chat, don't you think?"
Esmerelda shared a look with Sybil as they turned around slowly so they could speak to the woman. They didn't want Mildred's mother going anywhere near their sister. They had a mother who didn't really care about them, and along with their father she manipulated and poked them into becoming perfect, treating them like trophies while ignoring them and their good points while caring only about what they could give their political agendas.
Their lack of experience with other adults, specifically parents of others made it even harder for both of them to see that Mildred's mother may actually try a different approach though both sisters knew Mildred well enough to know she loved her mother deeply, but they could not imagine or work out how to visualise it.
Esme decided to let the woman try when she realised just by looking at the older woman in the eyes that she would go after Ethel one way or another.
"Please," she begged, "don't be harsh with her. She has been through a lot."
If she was expecting Mildred's mother to simply discount that then she was in for a surprise. Mildred's mother looked at her with a genuine smile with a gleam of respect in her eyes. "She is lucky she has you two fighting in her corner," she said, "in fact… Look perhaps it would be better if I spoke to Ethel alone, I promise I won't lay into her too much."
Sybil changed a confused look with her sister. "Then why do you want to talk to her?"
The expression on Mildred's mother's face shifted into one of confusion and slight worry at the question but it was quickly gone. "Just trust me. I promise I will not be too harsh on her, you two just stay and enjoy the party. You too, Mildred," she said before she stood up and walked out of the Great Hall.
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Julie Hubble had had a helluva day; she had been sitting down about to tuck into a sandwich while she was reading a magazine when she met a mini version of herself telling her to shift her backside (though not in so many words) to the Academy, and to find Mildred who was in trouble along with everyone else though her min version vanished before she could get any further answers.
She was still not one hundred per cent sure about what had been going on this time; she knew enough to know the older Hallow girl had lost her magic - she vaguely knew about that - but she was just as surprised to learn she had magical ancestors in her family, but Mildred was the first one in a long time to have magic.
She was just pleased there was a happy ending, but she had been enjoying the party before seeing one of the blonde girls she had seen in the tower along with Miss Hardbroom and that stone thingy just shove Mildred to the ground.
Julie was not surprised her name was Ethel Hallow. If anyone had asked her, they would have quickly worked out she was actually looking forwards to this and dreading this meeting at the same time. Thinking about the Hallows made her think about the other sisters. Both of them worried Julie when they had told her to go easy on Ethel, at first she was sure they expected her to scream at their sister but now she was not sure. It was almost as though they expected her to go so far as to hit their sister…
Julie pushed that thought aside when she was out of the Hall, though her worries about her daughter were not far from her mind as she looked for Ethel when she heard sounds. She paused and listened, realising it sounded like someone was patting the stonework and she followed the sounds all the way down the corridor and she paused when she turned a corner.
There was Ethel. Her face was screwed up tightly with anger, and as Julie approached she could see that the girl was not tapping the wall at all, she was punching it. Julie winced every single time the girl's knuckles impacted against the wall, and because the lighting was absolutely poor she didn't know how badly damaged they were with each impact.
"You're going to break those bones if you're not careful," Julie said evenly while trying to keep herself as calm as she could be.
Her arrival stunned the blonde clearly enough, and the girl paused. Julie caught a look of angry recognition on the blonde's face but it screwed up tightly again in anger and she kept punching the wall. "Good!" the young witch snarled angrily, "I don't flaming care!"
She let loose a particularly major punch to the wall, but this time Julie could see the girl gasp in agony.
As a nurse, Julie's first instinct was to stop this girl causing too much damage and to try to take the pain away. She approached the girl cautiously, hoping that she wouldn't turn her into a frog like she had heard she had done to Mildred. With each step she took Ethel just glared dangerously at her, Julie was unsure if that was a good sign or not, but she still walked closer anyway.
"What do you want?" Ethel spat aggressively at her. "Why don't you go back to your precious daughter?"
"Calm down, Ethel," Julie said. She wasn't surprised the girl knew who she was since she had seen her in the tower, but she hoped that the girl would not do something else she might truly regret.
"Don't tell me what to do," Ethel hissed like an angry cat, but those hisses were more due out of pain from what she'd just been doing to herself. "You are not my mum, you can't tell someone else's child what to do, just leave me alone!" With that, she turned around and punched the wall again, and now she was closer Julie could clearly see the hand was bleeding.
This was too much for Ethel, who stepped away from the wall, gasping in pain and cradling her injured hand, staring at the injury as though she had never seen anything like it before.
Julie used the opportunity and she took the girl's hands into her own. She touched it gently, but the girl still flinched and was clearly uncomfortable. "I'm a nurse," she said to Ethel as reassuringly as she could, "but…I can't tell just by looking it's broken."
"Good," Ethel replied uncaringly.
The girl's lack of interest in her own health frightened Julie, and she stared at Ethel in plain disbelief. "Why is that good?" she asked in surprise.
Ethel just shrugged, but Julie could see the anger clearly in the girl's eyes.
"Ethel, calm down," Julie said to the girl, and she hesitantly touched the girl's upper arm in a soothing way hoping that the girl would not push her aside. But luckily she calmed down.
In a more even voice, while she held her hand in pain, Ethel said, "If you've come to tell me off for pushing Mildred, just get on with it."
"Don't give an annoyed and worried parent ideas," Julie warned the blonde witch, hoping that she got the message that although she was doing her best to help after punching a wall she was still annoyed.
Ethel looked at her with a sigh and then she sat down on a nearby flight of stairs while nursing her hand. "Then what do you want, I am not being funny or anything this time but why are you actually talking to me?"
Julie sat down next to the blonde. "Actually, this talk has been a long time coming. I've wanted to have a chat with you for a while now."
Ethel was silent for a second as she assimilated and worked out where Julie was heading with this. "Are you…..are you going to threaten me, to make me leave Mildred alone?" she asked.
The question surprised Julie. Why did everything have to be aggressive or provocative with her, and did it have something to do with the clear fears in her sisters' eyes when she had told them both that she wanted to speak to Ethel? More than that, she had seen the clear fear and nervousness on the face of the little blonde girl, Julie could remember kneeling down next to her while checking Mildred over and making sure she was okay after Ethel had shoved her to the ground.
It was like the little blonde had expected her to lash out, or she was nervous around adults in general.
But Ethel's question both worried and concerned Julie, and it made her wonder if the girl was having problems at home. She knew that no-one teaching at the school would interfere. She had read the code, and while she had hated reading some of the parts of it because some of it seemed archaic and written by some lunatic, she knew enough to know magicians kept themselves to themselves.
"What would that get me?" Julie asked. "I don't have magic, and even if I do have magical ancestry I haven't inherited magic like Mildred has. How can I threaten you? Besides, I don't threaten people. It's not in our nature."
Ethel shrugged, but Julie could see she was clearly worried and uncertain by what was happening. "Isn't it? I thought it was normal."
"Normal for you, do you mean?" Julie had to ask; when she had agreed to go easy on Ethel, she had planned to do just that, but she couldn't resist being a little bit cruel after all the girl had done. "Not everyone needs to go through life threatening people."
Ethel's face darkened with anger. "Don't you dare judge me!" she snapped.
Julie wasn't bothered by the anger even if the girl had the power to hurt her or turn her into a frog. "How can I not?" she asked.
Ethel was hurt deep down by the question. She had begun to like Mildred's mother even if she was Mildred's mother, but with that question, she could see that the woman didn't trust her that much after everything that had happened though she couldn't really blame her.
"I am a Hallow!" she said in an attempt to make the woman understand. "My parents threaten people all the time, so excuse me for picking up some bad habits."
"I can understand that," Julie said, "I've certainly passed some habits onto Mildred. But are your sisters like that?"
"Don't bring my sisters into this!" Ethel snapped defensively.
"Just answer me," Julie snapped back irritably though she kept a strict hold over his temper to keep the girl as calm as possible. The only reason she snapped at her was because she was getting seriously tired of playing games with Ethel. "Just answer me," she repeated more calmly to make Ethel cooperate.
It seemed to work and Ethel looked down at her feet. "No," she whispered.
Julie didn't say anything but she nodded anyway. "Then you don't have an excuse," she said.
Ethel glared at her, and despite the clear pain she had in her eyes that glare was as dangerous as ever. "I don't want to talk about my stupid parents, or stupid sisters, now whatever you have to say to me, get on with it!"
Julie was angry with how the girl saw her siblings; granted, she didn't know the Hallow sisters that well enough for her to pass judgement but Ethel didn't have the right to lash out like this not after the clear way both girls had been worried for her. "Those stupid sisters of yours care about you. Your stupid ELDER sister that you tricked into giving her magic to Agatha Cackle told me to go easy on you. Your stupid YOUNGER sister wanted to CHECK on you, but you are truly not grateful, are you?"
Ethel shook her head. "They don't love me!" she whispered. "Why can you not get that into your head!" her whisper now became a shout. "You think you know everything but you don't!" she was yelling now, tears running down her cheeks as all of the anger Julie was now sure was down to the girl's insecurities. "Esmerelda and Sybil are too nice to let any harm come to me, but all I am to them is a flaming nuisance and don't you DARE say that is because of the way I behave because you know NOTHING at all about how things are between us at home."
Dear lord, this kid is seriously messed up! Julie thought to herself, wondering how anyone and any stupid code could justify letting a child suffer mentally to this degree. But before she could get through to Ethel, find some way to make her calm down and see that she didn't need to do this, get angry and lash out at others Julie went cold when a familiar voice stuttered out, "Is….. is that what you really think about us, Ethel?"
Julie's heart nearly shattered when she looked up and found the other Hallow girls just standing there. The little girl, Sybil if she remembered rightly, was looking at Ethel with tears coming down her face, but the look on the elder sister's face - Julie didn't know her name still - shattered her heart. It was filled with such….hurt, such devastation and pain that it threatened to overwhelm the older girl.
Julie licked her lips, she hadn't planned on getting involved to this extent, and now because of her interference, the Hallow girls were about to have a fight. She wanted to get away from this before anything really bad happened, but she was afraid to move in case the Hallows lashed out at her.
Looking horrified by what she had just said, Ethel lost it suddenly, "Alright yes. YES. you two go on about how I crave attention from mum and dad and yes I do but you two are always going off with them to all these outings and events and leaving ME at home alone. You two want the attention just as much and you don't care who you are going to hurt to get it, so yes I know how you both really feel, go to the spa, don't go, I don't care anymore!"
Julie wondered how long it would be before someone came to either investigate what was going on or interfered outright. But she watched in silence when she realised that the Hallows needed to handle this by themselves. She was okay with that, she had wanted to speak to Ethel and try to get through to her. All she had gotten back in return was a messed up kid.
But this was too much for Esmerelda; Julie had heard from Mildred the girl had the veritable patience of a saint. But even a saint was allowed to lose it from it to time, and it looked like Esmerelda had reached the end of her patience. Julie could not blame her. "Do you KNOW WHY WE GO WITHOUT A FIGHT?! IT'S BECAUSE WE'VE LEANT ARGUING IS A WASTE OF TIME!" Esmerelda's voice was a whisper before she was shouting so loud her voice rivalled Ethel's.
Ethel sneered back at Esmerelda, her tears trickling down her face as she glared back at her sister, the hurt warring with the desire to cause pain.
"OH, YOU'RE SCARED OF MUM?! GROW UP! YOU'RE PATHETIC! YOU GAVE YOUR MAGIC TO FLAMING AGATHA CACKLE AND YOU ARE SCARED OF OUR MOTHER?!" she shrieked.
Esmerelda suddenly laughed. It began as a low chuckle but then she looked at a bewildered and terrified Ethel who was shocked by her sister's sudden shift of mood. Julie was confused and worried as well, she was beginning to wonder if it was Esmerelda who was nuts.
The laugh suddenly turned bitter. "You would if you lived with that psychopath, and saw her for a change, instead of trying to suck up to her!" Esmerelda finished off her rant with a shriek of rage, before she rolled up the sleeve of her left arm, revealing an ugly jagged burn on the skin, the girl had probably tried to snatch the arm away but it hadn't worked. Julie gasped at the sight of the horrific wound. The skin looked like someone had taken a welding torch set to a mild flame and then scorched it, and the healing flesh looked like it stretched tightly across the arm and looked more like knots than the smooth creamy skin on the rest of Esmerelda's arm.
The reaction from the other Hallow girls was expected; Sybil was crying her eyes out as she couldn't take her eyes off of her sister's arm, and Ethel….. Ethel was staring at the arm in disbelief, the look of such heartbreak threatened to shatter Julie's own heart before she looked away and fell quiet. Julie watched her closely, she could tell the young girl was trying to find something to say but she wasn't having much luck.
Esmerelda grabbed Ethel's broken hand in a completely out of character move, making her sister gasp and flinch in agony. "Oh, don't look away," she snapped, her voice showing she had really lost her patience with her sister, "seeing how you think Ursula Hallow isn't like Agatha. I've got an enormous curse burn on my back, because of that little stunt you played last year! Do you truly believe that actions don't have consequences?"
Julie shuddered at the thought of a burn like the one on the arm covering the whole of Esmerelda's back. She had always wondered if the witching world was worth it, but now after hearing about the way the girls around her were being treated she felt sick.
Ethel was crying. "I am so sorry…. I hate myself more than any of you ever could."
Esmerelda let go of Ethel's hand and she began pacing up and down the corridor, deep in thought.
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Esmerelda was in turmoil.
She and Sybil had known that even if Mildred's mother had the luck to get through to Ethel, their sister would be lashing out and cursing everyone around her because it was easier for her to place the blame onto others rather than accept the reality.
She had never planned on revealing the burn on her arm, the pain of it was still too fresh in her mind, nor had she planned on revealing to anyone her other injuries. The one on her back had been one of the worst she had ever endured for her sisters, but now they knew about them. It was time for Ethel to finally see reality.
She speared her sister with a look, trying desperately to stop herself breaking down into tears. "I took the fall for you," she said, "Maybe if I had shown you what I have to go through EVERY. SINGLE. TIME you do something INCREDIBLY stupid then perhaps I wouldn't have these injuries."
Ethel shook her head. "You never told me about them. I'm not psychic Esmerelda, I didn't want you to get hurt!"
Esmerelda shook her own head, making her loose hair sway from side to side. "You hurt me all the time!" she said, no longer denying it. "Every single stunt you played, but not every injury is physical. You have given me a lot of grief, Ethel. And for what? For two people who don't care about you, for two people who will ignore you until the end of time? Every time you do something, I pay the price. Are you even capable of seeing that, or am I wasting my time on you, because you seem to have a memory like a sieve. Do you want me to keep showing my injuries off every time one of your petty schemes goes wrong?"
Ethel had been crying more and more as Esmerelda went onto the attack, by the end of her sisters' rant Ethel broke down even harder than Sybil if that was possible. "I know, it would have been easier if I wasn't born because then life would be easier. But I didn't ask to be born, I brought into this world with no choice, so I am sorry if you've suffered, but I didn't know did I?"
Sybil and Julie became nervous when they saw Esmerelda's face become angrier than before; Sybil looked more hurt than worried than Julie though.
Ethel herself took a step back when she realised she had said something really bad for Esme's ears.
Esmerelda shouted angrier than ever, "I ASKED FOR SISTERS! IF YOU WANNA HAVE A GO, NOW IS THE TIME!"
Esmerelda took a deep breath, she had never shouted at her sisters before. Ever. She had always been able to keep tabs and control them both if they got into one of their little fights, but she had never shouted at them like this. Sybil was easy enough to keep track of, her baby-baby sister was a sweetheart and she loved her big sister.
But Ethel was sometimes difficult. She suffered from insecurities, she got depressed easily, and she had a temper that would make an angry dragon look tame.
But Esmerelda had never been this angry with Ethel before.
Did she really think that she was not important? Did she really feel that way about her life, that she'd have been better off not being born? Esmerelda loved her sisters, lived for them… without them she was nothing.
To hear her own sister say that…. it pissed her off.
Ethel stepped back. "I know…. am I'm so sorry. I am the one who disappointed you, I am sorry you got me as a sister. I know, after everything, deep down you must hate me and I am so sorry you feel like that, but I can't change the past. I know you were probably hoping for someone much more different…..someone like Sybil…..but you….you got me instead….and I am evil. I can't help it."
Julie's mouth dropped in shock. From the sounds of it all of the Hallow girls were messed up by their parents, but why? It made no sense at the moment. She was feeling physically ill, really ill….. the scar on Esmerelda's arm, the one on the teenager's back the girl had implied was even worse than the one on her arm made her want to puke.
But for Ethel to think that about herself…. Mildred had told her a fair amount about her feud with Ethel Hallow. Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom seemed to think it was nothing more than a temporary thing, something that they didn't want to bother about them, but Julie knew that if something was not done it could get worse. At first, Mildred had thought the blonde was just your typical bully, but as time passed it became clear she was more than that.
But Julie had never imagined the girl would see herself as an evil monster. How could any parent do this to their own child? Oh, she wasn't stupid, she knew the world was not perfect, and she knew that many kids had parents who were cruel but seeing a case like this was rare for her.
Julie shook herself out of those thoughts, they would do no good at the moment. So she focused on the Hallow sisters, and she was unsurprised to see them look upset.
Esmerelda sighed and placed a hand on her chest, "I, Esmerelda Hallow, do swear on the Witches code and on my life, I love Ethel Hallow. This I swear and give my oath. So mote it be!
Ethel gaped in surprise as Esmerelda's body glowed.
Julie's eyes widened. She didn't know much about the Witches' code, but she had reached the part where magically binding oaths were written down and the rules that surrounded them. The wizards and witches used them to prove they were telling the truth, but they also used them for legal matters to show there was no deception and they were not given lightly. Esmerelda was telling the truth. Julie just wished even if this had nothing to do with her and Mildred that Esmerelda hadn't needed to make this oath to get through to Ethel, though perhaps it made sense. Ethel gasped, "Esmie!"
Esmerelda sighed. "You idiot come here," she grabbed Ethel and hugged her close, "why do I always have to prove I love you in the most stupid way?"
Ethel leaned her head on her and cried her eyes out over her sister. She felt stupid, she had made her sister potentially put her life at risk. Oaths were tricky things to make, one wrong word could have meant her sister's death. "I don't know," she sobbed. "I am sorry...I think I don't deserve you."
Sybil laughed even if she felt it was a bad idea, but she wanted to desperately lighten the mood. "You probably don't, but you are stuck with us."
Julie spoke for the first time in a while as she wanted to know more about what the oath meant, she knew the theory of what they idd, but not the finer details. "Wait...so if you and Ethel ever fight and you feel anger towards her...you die!?"
Sybil shook her head, "No, it is not that strict, she has to lose all love for her which won't happen."
Julie touched her chest out of relief. "Oh, thank god," she smiled but then it faded as something else occurred to her. "Sorry - non-witch here. What about your mother, her branding you like that. Doesn't she get punished?"
Sybil looked down sadly, clearly what she had seen had shaken her but she was still looking at her sisters with love and devotion that it was clear she had no intention of leaving them. "She's allowed to do it," she admitted sadly, not happy her mother got to get away with it.
"What?" Julie whispered.
"She's allowed to do it," Esmerelda clarified with a sigh and a solemn expression that spoke volumes. "Under the witches' code, children are meant to be punished if they mess around; magic can be incredibly dangerous if used wrongly. Technically speaking if my mother caught me damaging the potion's lab at our home, then she would be well within her rights to punish me, either by physical violence or by using magic herself but the rule leaves a lot of leeway."
"You have to be kidding me," Julie whispered in horror as the implications entered her mind. With abusive people out there, that kind of law allowed all kinds of abuse to flourish. Worse, it gave kids the message that when they were older they could abuse their own kids. It was sick.
Ethel sighed and leaned into her elder sister, now that peace had been made Esmerelda and Ethel were clinging onto each other like their lives depended on it and Esme was wrapping her arms around Sybil to bring her into a three-way hug. "Sadly we aren't," she said, speaking normally for a change even if the person she was speaking to was the mother of the same girl who'd driven her mad and vice versa for nearly two years. "When our mother came earlier this year, Sybil and I did a runner from her. I'd cloned myself and I knew if she saw what I'd done, her punishments would have been harsher than anything HB could have come up with.
"When our mother drew up that petition, she basically said Sybil and I didn't matter," Ethel admitted, "not next to you," she said to Esmerelda. "She was more interested in scoring points, wasn't she?" she asked her sister.
Esmerelda nodded sadly. "I didn't want Miss Cackle out," she whispered. "I didn't like what she and HB were saying to you about not bothering to exert much effort into working, but I didn't want her to be hurt because Ursula Hallow was only doing it all for herself and not for me; getting her kicked out wasn't going to get me my powers back was it? But that's our mother… besides I think she wanted Miss Cackle out of Cackles for a long time, what happened to me gave her the excuse."
Esmerelda sighed wearily and looked at her sister. "Look, I understand why you do it, but I can't let her hurt you, but please, stop trying to get her attention; it won't work."
Ethel looked sadly around at all the faces grouped around her. She looked into Esmerelda's face, her big elder sister, the one who had roped her into…everything since the day she had walked and talked for the first time ever, the one who had cuddled her whenever she'd had a nightmare, the one who always made an effort to play games with her and Sybil.
But Ethel felt it was not enough. "But I need a mother," she said with a sigh, but then she noticed everyone falling quiet. "What? Why are you all looking at me like I am missing something?"
"You've got your sister," Julie said slowly. "She's doing exactly what I'd be doing if my own mother was an abusive bitch to my own sister."
Sybil gasped at the swearing, making Julie smile at her apologetically. "Sorry love, I just had to."
Ethel realised what everyone was trying to tell her. "I just want to fit in the family."
Sybil chuckled and shrugged her shoulders uncaringly, or at least that was what Julie thought; the girl just lacked the ability to pull it off correctly.
"You fit in with Esme and me, mum and dad only care about us when they're showing us off," she said, nodding when Ethel looked at her in surprise, "Yeah. They took me to a magical zoo because they knew one of their business rivals had a kid my age, so they brought me along so I could play with them and provide an icebreaker. I didn't tell you because you wouldn't believe me."
Ethel gaped at her sister. She was hurt that Sybil had believed that about her, but she guessed it made sense. Sybil knew like Esmerelda that she wanted to win her parents love but now she could see it was a waste of time and effort. "Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not too different from an ancestor of ours that I met with Mildred, Maud and Enid in the woods, apparently her mother ignored her and never appreciated her talents."
Esmerelda nodded, privately asking herself how many of their ancestors had the same problem growing up. "Our mother is in the wrong, you know that right Ethel? You may have a point about that ancestor, and it doesn't give our mother an excuse, does it? She shouldn't do it."
Ethel nodded and she winced suddenly from some pain in her up-to-now forgotten broken hand. "Esme, can you heal my hand now, please?"
Esmerelda frowned, but the moment she saw the state of her sister's hand she instantly got down to business. "I think I am still a little rusty but I will try," she said as she took Ethel's hand and it healed as good as new.
Julie gaped with amazement. She had seen magic performed before, but never anything like this. "Well I don't think I have ever seen anyone heal like that with magic before," she commented with a smile.
Esmerelda smiled back at the woman who'd done her best to help but had in fact done more for them all in ten minutes - making Ethel actually talk with her sisters, for Esmerelda herself to confess what Ursula Hallow was really like, hopefully, it would go a long way to making Ethel see their parents were just not worth the pain. "When you have younger siblings they are the most important spells to learn," she observed, "you wouldn't believe the type of things they get up to."
Julie smiled back gently at the girl, and she saw that although Esmerelda was Sybil and Ethel's sister, she was definitely their mother. You didn't have to give birth to be that.
Ethel swallowed. "Is Mildred hurt?" she asked.
Julie and everyone else in the corridor were surprised by the question, but Julie quickly recovered and replied, "No, she is fine, thank you."
Ethel looked down at her feet. "That's good. I am so sorry," she whispered.
Julie couldn't resist it; she walked over to Ethel and gently pulled the blonde into a hug. The girl squeaked in surprise, but she began to cry again as she realised what was going on, and she hugged Julie back slowly and hesitantly before the older woman pulled away. "It's alright," Julie said soothingly. "Just…. just try to work on your temper a little bit."
Ethel looked down again. "I will," she whispered.
Julie smiled at her and then she smiled at the other two girls. "Group hug?" she suggested and soon she was hugging all three of the Hallow girls. When they pulled away, Julie gently escorted Esmerelda away. "Listen, if you need anything, a shoulder to cry on, a friend to talk to, or someone to take care of them if you need them…. give me a call."
"Why….would you do this?" Esmerelda whispered, overwhelmed by the woman's kindness. She could see the genuine kindness and compassion in Julie's eyes and knew she was telling her the truth.
"Because I don't want you to feel you are alone," Julie replied. "that and I want to stay in touch if you'll let me?"
Esmerelda smiled slowly, her eyes watering as she saw the genuine compassion in the woman's eye. "Thank you," she whispered, genuinely touched.
Julie smiled back and she loudly said, "I don't know about you, but I think we're missing a party, don't you think?" she asked, adding, "Be a shame to miss it."
Sybil smiled and she eagerly grabbed Ethel's hand and pulled her away down the corridor, ignoring her sister's protests while she left Esmerelda with Julie. "Kids," Julie offered and made the blonde laugh.
It was the start of a beautiful friendship.
The End.