Lotte carelessly poked around on her breakfast plate in the surprisingly warm morning, her little fire spirit watching over her to make sure she didn't collapse or end up going into a darker, more depressed state. Her mother washed dishes in the back as her father worked on the laundry outside. Some of the snow had started to evaporate after last night, which was certainly nice for the entire town, not just the Yansons. However, it was still extremely important to them after absolutely everything that had happened the night before; Mrs. Yanson wanted to get her daughter a therapy session immediately, but figured that it would be more sentimental and easier for the family if she had been there herself. She was very disappointed in herself that she would let all this slip past her current knowledge. Mr. Yanson himself was also angry at himself, but he was more easy to release it onto some other task, such as chopping wood and the laundry. Gods knows what would have happened if Mrs. Yanson would have been able to release all her anger directly.

Lotte finished her breakfast pie and immediately went to her bedroom, handing the plate to Mrs. Yanson as she walked away. Her spirit rested on her shoulder and snugged into her shirt pockets.

As she walked into her bedroom, she once again began to feel the sense of nostalgia and whimsicalness in her soul, like she was as a little girl. Artwork created when she was around 3 years old of her family hung up on the wall. While it was still very scribbly and obscure, it was something she was always proud of even to this day. A few posters of her favorite magicians and historical figures hung alongside it, but not to overshadow it. A collection of stuffed animals and plushies were stored in a basket in a small closet to the right of the room. It contained all kinds of animals, doggies, kitties, even a cute little hippopotamus. And of course, the gigantic shelf of Night Fall books that stood before the wall. She smiled as she pulled out one of the small turtles and crawled back into the covers, the spirit resting on her collar. Lotte pulled the spirit into her hands and gently tickled the underside of its head, the spirit quietly squeeing and giving off a cute little smile. At this point of the year, it was good for Lotte to have any sort of connection to a friend, no matter how small. She took her glasses off and turned on the lamp to give her some sort of comfort.

" Lotte! "

" Oh! Y-yes, mama? "

" Someone's here to see you! "

" R-really? " Lotte slowly threw on her slippers and dropped her turtle as she walked over to the front door. While she was glad someone came to check in on her, she was nervous that it could be some kind of trick. What if Barbara and Hannah had been there to see if she-

" ….Lotte? "

She was only kidding. But as she opened the door, she immediately went silent. For there they were, the two last people on earth that she would have asked to appear at her doorstep, the two people who wouldn't even dare to try and see her out in these hard times, who would consider the opportunity absolutely repulsive. Yes, there, in the flesh, were Barbara and Hannah.

" Are you okay, Lotte? You seem a bit surprised..." joked Barbara. " I know we haven't been so...compliant with you the past couple of weeks, but I promise you I'm not trying to take you in as a fool or some clown, do you know what I mean? "

Lotte nodded.

" From what I heard, you were speaking to this " BigBen " about your troubles, and so Akko and Diana really….gave us a bit of a comeuppance, let's put it lightly, " explained Hannah. It was a very serious talk that the two had experienced, but with the way she described it, Lotte slightly giggled, imagining the two getting talked down to by Akko and Diana:

" NO WAY ARE YOU GETTING AWAY WITH YOUR SCHEMES, BUCKOS! "

" HOW DARE YOU TRY AND DISRESPECT THE CAVENDISH NAME REPEATEDLY! DO YOU WANT ME TO DON THE APPEARANCE OF A JESTING FOOL?! "

" WE'RE SORRY, WE'RE SORRY! "

" Lotte, I'm serious! We're really sorry! " pleaded Barbara as she launched her back into her reality.

" Sorry, heh….so did Akko and Diana find out about the messages? "

" I believe that was the case, yes, " said Hannah as she sighed.

Mrs. Yanson, who observed the conversation from the kitchen, suddenly stopped. Hannah and Barbara were up to something. She knew exactly where this was going, and it was going to end with Lotte in the worst possible shape along with her and Mr. Yanson. She immediately walked over to the living room.

" Girls, " she proclaimed, " I want you to promise me something before you do anything else. "

" Yes, Mrs. Yanson? " the two asked. Mrs. Yanson took a deep breath.

" Do you promise that you will not be throwing my daughter into a deeper, darker state than she already is? After all, you two are the ones who seem to be the culprit in her misery. I know what you're trying to do; You think this is some kind of snitching game going on, and all you want is revenge, correct? Don't you dare. "

The two gulped. " Yes, Mrs. Yanson, " the two calmly agreed. Lotte and her mother nodded as Mrs. Yanson went back to work.

Lotte felt a bit nervous, but she understood that the two appeared to want to reconcile for their bitter acts of guilt by assocation. Maybe this would be the day/year where the three reconcile once and for all. Lotte quickly threw on her school uniform along with a light brown jacket as the three headed out.

The sun slowly soothed the land below as the two friends of Diana took Lotte out for a relaxing walk. The two were honestly amazed at how vast the timid witch's home was. Farmers would do their work so far out in the forest, sweeping up snow and fallen leaves off of their crops. Reindeer were herded into many farms as their masters collected their dung, which was absolutely disgusting, but a small part of their mind was intrigued by it. The shops were bustling around this time, along with the farms themselves.

" Is there somewhere in particular you wanted to….take me, you two? " Lotte meekly asked them. They suddenly stopped and turned to Lotte.

" We're sorry, Lotte. We really are. We really had no idea about everything that happened to you, both in and outside of school. We were so pathetic, we had to go out and try and get at you, and we barely knew at the time how timid you'd be...we were stupid to try for guilt by assocation. We're sorry for everything, alright? "

Lotte stared at Hannah's recent apology as Barbara began to speak.

" It's just been really hard for us to come to terms after everything that happened today...but I think after hearing all that...I think now's the right time to...figure things out. You understand, right? "

" Oh, uh...yeah...thank you...so much… " Lotte wiped her eyes a bit. There was no way she was going to burst into tears again. " Thanks you guys...it's not every day that someone who pushes someone around...actually tries to make amends…with the people they hurt…it makes me a feel a lot better about myself and the people around me. "

" And...I'm really sorry about what happened during your childhood, too, " added Hannah. " To think that not even an actual witch could be safe from bullies… "

" Yeah, I- " Lotte stopped. " Wait- "

" They must not be really skilled witches, " Barbara also added. " A bit pathetic now that I think about it… "

" G-guys, why are you- "

" I know, right? " said Hannah. " Perhaps it would make sense after you rattled us off! "

" Hannah, what are you doi-AH! "

Lotte's hand was suddenly grabbed rather forcefully as she was dragged away by Hannah. Her little spirit hung on for dear life, quickly sliding down into her vest as Barbara held onto Lotte's waist. " Hey, what are you doing?! "

" You wanna talk about comeuppance? " joked Barbara. " Now it's time for ours after you spouted all that crap to BigBen! "

" W-wait! How did you find out about all this? How do you know about BigBen?! "

The two went silent as they ran over to the nearby lake where the reindeer sat. The ice had pretty much cleared out in all of the areas on the water, leaving the water crystal clear. The reindeer scattered as the two threw the poor witch to the ground, almost near the lake. Lotte got a faceful of snow in her view as her glasses cracked, but didn't quite shatter from the impact, gasping for air. Hannah immediately pulled her back up.

" I hope you understand now that you and your friend are in big trouble! " spouted out Hannah.

" Who are you to judge me?! " suddenly yelled Lotte. " You're just a student, like me and Akko, even Diana! If she were here right no-NNGH! "

Hannah tossed her aside. " How gullible do you have to be?! You think that just because I admit that you have problems in your life means I can sympathize with you?! How pathetic, you invisible little toddler! I know what you're trying to do! YOU are trying to act all cutesy-wootsy when you just end up looking stupid and suspicious! I try my hardest to be as honest as possible, and this is what you do with your life?! "

Lotte said next to nothing as her spirit attempted to lift her up. Her expression remained neutral, unseen from the girls as she shivered in silence. Inside her was a rage, ready to explode any second. Her entire family was sick of them at this point. All they were there for was to use everyone else as a punching bag and place Diana on a holy pedestal, despite her not even caring about their attitude in the first place. She could cry right now, but it wasn't worth it; it only served to prove their point anyway. Hannah leaned down with a smirk.

" Don't you see I'm trying to help you realize your faults and help you build from them?! "

" Is that what you say after almost throwing my daughter into the river?! "

The two froze and turned around immediately. Mrs. Yanson had finally caught up with them and realized what was going on. Her expression was of legitimate anger and scorn for Barbara and Hannah. She saw her daughter lying in the chilling ice and immediately ran over as hurriedly as she could.

" Oh, gods! Lotte! Are you okay?! "

She turned her over and found her glasses cracked as she gasped, turning to the two girls as she pulled Lotte into a light hug.

" I am disappointed in the both of you! I expected an occasion like this to be one of learning from mistakes and figuring out how to actually HELP each other improve, and THIS is what you give to me and my daughter?! I don't know why you act like this, but it needs to change soon, no, now! And don't tell me that's just the way you are, either! I don't want hear a single bit of it! I will ask to leave this instant! "

Barbara and Hannah sighed.

" Well, I'm sorry, Mrs. Yanson, but it looks like you'll-AAAH! "

Barbara was suddenly lifted into the air and spun at high speeds by Mr. Yanson.

" You touch one hair on my pumpkin, and I swear you will FEEL THE FULL FURY OF THE YANSON NAME! "

Hannah stared at the events unfolding with complete uncertainty and confusion before her expression slowly evolved into a few giggles, and then full on laughter.

" MM…..hehehe….haahah...hahahahahaAAAAAA! "

Of course, there was no way she was going to get out of punishment either. Mr. Yanson decided to give both girls a good spinning for their crazy ideas.

Lotte turned around, still bearing her gloomy expression. She was absolutely tired out after all the horrid vileness she'd faced recently. Mrs. Yanson helped her daughter up.

" Lotte, is everything alright? "

" …..heh….heh….heh… "

" Lotte? "

" Hee hee….hah...hahah….hahaha! "

She was slowly starting to become more amused by her father's actions as he started laughing along with her. Lotte and Mr. Yanson had a great big chuckle as he continued to spin around the helpless bullies. Mrs. Yanson was starting to get a little kick out of it too, but remained quiet to retain her goodwill. Once again, her daughter felt the strongest need to cry, for the bond the family shared was magical in many different ways, especially shown here.

" Hey, hey, it's not funny! It's not funny at aaaaaaaaaaall! " yelled the two constantly.

" Heh, heh, okay, okay! We're done for now! And I sure hoped you learned ya lesson, babies! "

Mr. Yanson gently tossed them into a batch of snow and then turned to Lotte. " Are you okay, pumpkin? "

" I am, dad… " she said while wiping her eyes a bit more.

" Well, don't cry now, because you're goin' next, honey! "

" Wait, why woul-YAAAAAAAH! "