Disclaimer - I don't own the Worst Witch.
This is a little one-shot I cobbled together with my good friend Hallow Sisters On My Mind, and I know she is going to love this.
Enjoy and please let me know how you feel about the story, and please feel free to read my other stories.
A New Friend.
As she walked through the grounds of Cackle's Academy, Esmerelda wondered how this was going to go for her.
It had been a year since she had left Cackles Academy, but Esmerelda had not expected to come back to the school as the guardian of her two sisters when she had graduated so being here for the Parent's Evening of the year, and she was nervous of what was coming tonight. It was going to be a test for her tonight, a learning curve; all her life, Esmerelda had been told to excel, or else, and she had been pushed through challenges all her life.
And I always got through them because I had to, it's not different now, she thought to herself as she looked up at the school.
It was late in the evening, and already the castle lights were on, illuminating the castle in warm shades of orange, yellow and red. That was the beauty of Cackles, Esmerelda thought, it may have biased teachers like HB and Gullet before she was sacked, but during the night it's cosier than anywhere I've seen, even my old home.
As she strode through the doorway into the entrance hall, Esmerelda ignored the stares she was getting from the parents. They knew she was visiting since she wasn't wearing her old Cackles uniform, and she was clearly a teenager and would be considered too young to be a mother even if she old enough for that kind of thing but she wasn't going to bother speaking to them. She could read the curiosity on their faces but unless they actually came over to speak to her, she had no intention of actually talking to them.
Parents evening. Esmerelda was dreading tonight mostly because she knew she'd need to control herself and her temper if one of the teachers said something about her beloved sisters, and she couldn't lose her temper.
Many of her former teachers were not and had never pretended to be fans of her or her sisters, and she was dreading what they had to say, and Esmerelda doubted that they'd overlook the fact she had taken on guardianship of the sisters. If there was one thing she had learnt about her old school it was that they spoke first and never thought later.
Esmerelda still remembered the embarrassment and worry she had felt when she had seen the expression on Ethel's face when she'd introduced herself to Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom; Esmerelda had seen and had even helped her sister practice her flying so then she could arrive at the school and make a good impression, and she had worked long and hard on developing her potions repertoire all summer. Ethel had been really looking forward to arriving at the school and finally making their stupid parents proud of them before Ethel finally realised nothing she did would work.
And then she was disappointed with that carelessly uttered remark about how her older sister was better than her, and that she shouldn't really bother with trying to do any better. That really helped, Ethel already had self-esteem problems as it was thanks to their mother and father.
She knew Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom were tactless sometimes, but to say that to a girl when they hadn't even started….. Esmerelda shook her head, though she couldn't help but ask herself what in the name of Merlin and Morgana had possessed the two teachers to even say such a horrible thing, and decided to focus on the Parents' evening. The sooner she got it done, the better. She had a busy week but she did plan on spending a little bit of quality time with her sisters, see how they were doing and then leave.
She took a deep breath and looked around for any sign of her sisters.
Unfortunately, she caught a few more curious stares from the parents. Exasperated, Esmerelda looked away, rolling her eyes. Honestly, she thought to herself, if you're all so curious about me why don't you come over to me and actually ask instead of standing there like idiots?
She blew out a breath and walked through the crowd while looking for her sisters.
Fortunately, they found her.
"ESME!" she heard Sybil shout, and she turned with a smile just as a smallish blonde blur rushed towards her with Ethel right behind her. Esmerelda caught the youngest girl just in time, mentally wondering if Sybil was faster only because of Miss Drills' obsessive drive to make each student become athletic whether they liked it or not, but she didn't care.
Esmerelda wrapped her arms around her little sister happily even as Ethel joined them, uncaring how she looked to the other parents, and she definitely did not give a damn how her parents would have felt about her reaction to Sybil or Ethel. They didn't have the right to pass judgement on her anymore, they had lost the right to even speak to them after the way they'd treated Ethel.
But what had made her really happy was how Ethel had rushed towards her as Sybil had instead of coming up slowly and sedately as though embarrassed by the emotion on display. That was one of the problems of being raised by Triton and Ursula Hallow; they were masters of making people as miserable as they were themselves.
It didn't matter anymore, thankfully, Esmerelda reflected herself as she pulled away and smiled at the two girls who beamed back at her. "My girls!" she grinned, hugging them again. She couldn't help herself.
Ethel pulled back, smiling happily. "You came!"
Esmerelda rolled her eyes, she had a good idea what had made her sister say that. "Of course I did," she said in a mock offended tone which was ruined by the smile on her face that simply could not go away. "And no, I am not a hologram."
Ethel sighed happily and hugged her back. "Oh thank Merlin for that!"
Sybil laughed and pulled away, beaming happily at her elder sister. "Come on," she said, tugging on Esmerelda's hands, "it's HB first."
Esmerelda groaned as she let herself be pulled along. "Oh the joys!" she said while trying to hide her worry. HB may have been a brilliant potions teacher and she may have been a powerfully exceptional witch, but Esmerelda did not like the manner the woman spoke about her sisters as though they were retarded clones of their older sister.
She tried to push it aside, but Esmerelda was certain she was not going to like what HB had to say to her.
Half an hour later Esmerelda was walking through the corridors, moving past the parents who blocked her path or scared without realising it when they saw the expression on her face. Ethel and Sybil had both gone off to talk to their friends while she calmed down and had the time to mentally prepare herself for the next talk with the teachers, she only hoped that they were a bit more aware of the feelings of her and her sisters.
I'd known Hardbroom would push me tonight, she thought to herself angrily as she marched furiously through the corridors, not even bothering to really take into account who was in front of her, but I thought that after I'd left she would realise she no longer had me around to compare me to them. Oops, I should have known better.
It was rare for her to get angry; oh, she was typical of every Hallow, she was prone to lose her temper like the rest of her family. She was calmer than Ethel was, but she did have a temper.
But what HB had said….
The older witch hadn't changed. Esmerelda had just sat through at least 20 minutes of listening to the woman insult her sisters while both Sybil and Ethel were right there. Esmerelda had lost count of the number of times she had asked the older witch, politely at that, if she could please keep in mind Ethel and Sybil were not her clones, and it was unfair to expect them to be as good as she had been at potions, but now she could see that she had basically wasted her time and her breath.
Hardbroom was never going to listen to her on that matter, so as a result, any respect she had for her former teacher had just died. It was sad, but it was true. Esmerelda swore right there and then when she had kids of her own, and she planned to have them while Sybil and Ethel were around, then she would make sure that they knew enough potions to get by, but not enough to make the stupid witch happy. It was clear nothing was going to please her anytime soon so why bother?
Anyway, Esmerelda had been so angry and so frustrated that she had asked her sisters if she could have a few moments of herself to calm down. Ordinarily, she wouldn't have minded the company, in fact, she would do her level best to make sure it was there, but right now she was so furious she needed time to herself to calm down. But she had been annoyed for….Merlin knew how long, she had been walking around so lost in her own thoughts and so barely aware of the time, and so the rational part of her mind was not really surprised when the inevitable happened and she bumped into someone.
Esmerelda was so shocked she had to back off with a gasp of shock, cursing herself for being so caught up in her emotions and not looking where she was going she bumped into someone. She was so stunned she didn't even know what the person looked like, never mind who they were.
"Oh, I am so sorry-," Esmerelda tried to apologise even as she tried to focus on who was in front of her.
"No, it's okay," the other person - a woman with a familiar voice by the sounds of it - replied, just as stunned as she was. "Hold on, you're Esmerelda Hallow, right?"
Esmerelda shook her head out of her shocked state and got rid of her residual anger and focused on the woman while wondering who it was. She found a woman close to her in height, with long curly, messy hair a shade similar to her own with a kindly face. But she was still a little bit dazed from the impact, so she couldn't exactly remember where and when she had seen this woman.
"Erm, yes, that's me…," Esmerelda replied, knowing that her confusion was showing on her face, but the woman didn't seem bothered.
"It's nice to see you again," she said, and Esmerelda looked at her closely, and then she realised where she had seen this woman before, and she mentally kicked herself for not realising sooner.
"Oh," she said, embarrassed and trying desperately to hide it; she had already bumped into this woman and she didn't want to look any more foolish than she felt already, "you're Mildred's mum, aren't you? Julie, isn't it?"
Julie nodded happily. She seemed delighted that Esmerelda remembered who she was. "Yeah, that's me! How have you been?"
Esmerelda smiled, pleased the woman was not going to act like her own mother and never letting her forget the incident, "Busy, that's the only way I can describe my life at this point."
Julie smiled, she seemed amused by the reply though Esmerelda could not tell. "I know how that feels." Her smile faded a little as she cocked her head curiously at Esmerelda. "Sorry if you think I'm being nosy, but when you bumped into me, you looked annoyed. There was even a dark cloud hanging over your head!"
What?! Esmerelda looked up in surprise, expecting to see a massive dark cloud just bursting with rain above her head, but Julie laughed.
"It's an expression," the woman explained.
Esmerelda laughed, cursing herself for not realising that and she felt even more foolish than she had before thanks to the mental conditioning that was left over still from her parents, which stated she should never make such stupid mistakes, but fortunately Julie didn't seem to be bothered. But she had so limited experience with the woman so she had no idea what she was really like.
"Oh, sorry," she said, laughing (why was she laughing? she asked herself and wondered if she could just stop looking like an idiot!) "Yes, I'm just annoyed with Miss Hardbroom." Just thinking about what the woman had said to her about her sisters while they had still been there in her presence only served to make her even more annoyed.
Julie sighed and she looked unhappy herself just by hearing the woman's name herself, something Esmerelda found easy to notice. "Oh, what has she done now?" she asked, folding her arms.
"Oh, just the way she is so thoughtless. My sisters were sat right there, listening to her the whole time, as she went on and said that my grades were far better than theirs," Esmerelda replied, and Julie could see for herself just how angry the teenager was, and she snorted before she spoke about her own problems with Hardbroom. "Yeah, for her tact is something that only occurs in other people."
Esmerelda nodded in agreement though a part of her was surprised that she was in perfect sync with this woman when they hadn't had that many conversations in the past. "She annoys me so much, you would think she could at least congratulate my sisters on the things they have done well, but no," she said with a shake of her head.
Esmerelda felt that her unhappiness was written clearly on her face because Julie Hubble's expression was just as displeased. "I know how you feel," the older woman said, looking unhappy herself.
Esmerelda looked at her knowingly. "What's she said about Mildred?"
Julie sighed. "That she is clumsy and doesn't try," she said, "and then she proceeded to insult me for being non-magical. Mildred and I have heard it all before, and I can tell my daughter is fed up with it but she's past interest and is just uncaring now. Unfortunately, Hardbroom doesn't seem to have noticed that bit, she seems determined to punish Mildred just by being here, never mind the fact Mildred and I have magical ancestry."
Esmerelda looked at her sympathetically. Mildred wasn't a textbook example of a witch, at least not in the minds of her judgemental parents, and that was even before you took into account Mildred had not made friends with her mother after Ursula's fiasco with the petition she'd faked to con the Magic Council into getting rid of Miss Cackle.
How could Ursula be so stupid to play games with the Council? In Esmerelda's mind, Ursula had gotten off far too easily. But the problem was Ursula had not learnt from her mistakes, she was still arrogant and she blamed no-one but "that non-witch who is unworthy of learning the subtle science of the Craft," as she deemed Mildred.
But Esmerelda saw Mildred as a witch. Okay, so she needed to work on her skills, but it was there. Esmerelda had seen it over the years she'd known the brunette so she knew how Julie felt, after all no parent or guardian, unless they were cold-hearted monsters like her own parents, liked to hear their child was stupid.
"Don't take it too personally," Esmerelda found herself saying as comfortingly as she could, though she wondered if she was also trying to convince herself, "she's is just unsympathetic to everyone."
She tried offering the older woman a smile, which was returned, but her smile disappeared; over Julie's shoulder another woman, much older than either her or Julie, was staring at her. Esmerelda looked around and saw a few more people staring at her still, some were even chatting with their neighbours, and even a few students were talking to one another while they chatted; Esmerelda didn't recognise some of them, so they were probably first years since when she had welcomed Ethel's year she had made a point of getting to know everyone in her sister's year.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Julie was following her gaze. "They're interested in you," she said redundantly, but the point was there. "You'd think they might have said something."
Esmerelda chuckled, more than used to the "if it doesn't concern us, don't bother asking" attitude of the witching world, though she guessed there was something similar in the non-magical world as well. "They probably don't know what to say," she observed. "I mean, I am a teenager, but that's the thing about some people in this world, if it doesn't concern them then they don't bother speaking, but that doesn't stop them guessing. I'm not bothered, if they want to talk then they can. Meanwhile, I just want to be left in peace."
"I hope I'm not bothering you."
Esmerelda smiled at the woman. "You're not," she said simply. "I'm glad to have someone to chat with while I'm here."
"Do you mind if I ask you something?" Julie asked her after smiling at the reply she'd just received.
Esmerelda nodded. She had a good idea what the older woman wanted to know. "Sure."
Choosing her words carefully Julie asked, "It's great to see you again, but why are you here? I get you're here because of your sisters, but is that because your parents are too busy?"
Esmerelda studied Julie carefully for a second, wondering if the woman was genuinely curious or was just trying to satisfy her curiosity, but then she decided it didn't really matter one way or another. She had the feeling that Julie Hubble was seen as much as an outsider like Mildred was from time to time.
"Well," Esmerelda said carefully and cautiously as she tried to work out the best way to put this without being judged, "the thing is…..," finally she sighed and just decided to say it, "my sisters, Ethel and Sybil… We don't live at home anymore. I am their guardian now."
It was impossible for Julie to not be surprised by this unexpected news. "H-How did that happen?" Julie kicked herself mentally when she realised she was poking her nose into the Hallow sisters' business. "Oh, sorry, it's none of my business-,"
"No, it's okay," Esmerelda replied, though she was curious as to what was possessing her in being so open with a stranger, but she had the feeling it had something to do with the fact Julie was nice and because she was not a witch she would not be able to judge her. But then she realised she would be speaking about something deeply personal, but then she decided to just get it over with, to get it out of the window to help the woman understand.
"I didn't like the way my sisters and I were being treated at home," Esmerelda began before she stumbled a little on the last word and she grimaced lightly. "Home, hardly the word I'd use for that place, but anyway, my sisters were miserable and our parents were always concerned with work, and so they never bothered to look after us, and they made sure our servants kept an eye on us, but they just poked their heads through door to make sure we were still there, and that was as far as it went.
"I was already caring for them, making sure they had enough to eat, that they were warm and comfortable, that sort of thing, but I always tried not to think too much into it, until…..," Esmerelda took a deep, angry breath -it may have happened over the last summer, but the anger it conjured always remained. "I found my father trying to hit Ethel one day. That was it. The last potion…..so I left with them."
Julie visibly became furious when she thought and conjured an image of someone whom she didn't even know hurting their own daughter. "You did the right thing, the responsible thing," she said before she sighed and asked the most logical question that she felt could lead up to this startling new. "How are the girls taking being away from home?"
"Surprisingly well. Sybil was never that close to them, she was always more clingy with me. Ethel….. well she had spent most of her life trying to get our parents to love her, but it never worked. That was one of the reasons why she kept acting up. But after what our father tried to do, she lost all the respect she had of our parents, understandably. She's become happier, I think. She has finally realised our parents are not good parents, I just wish it had happened differently but I wouldn't change it for the world. They are happy, so that makes me happy," Esmerelda smiled. "But they are both taking it well, they're tough kids."
Although she was happy to hear that the Hallow sisters were okay, Julie did ask herself if the sisters' were okay deep down. But she decided that it was best to leave the sisters to sort out their problems since she doubted she could do anything to really help. Instead, she said to the older Hallow sister to change the topic and bring it back to the younger girls. "I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but Mildred said Ethel was doing much better," she said.
Esmerelda's expression became openly curious; that was a good sign as far as Julie was concerned, she had been worried that the observation would have set off the infamous Hallow temper Mildred had described. "Really? What did she say exactly?" she asked.
Taking this as a positive thing, Julie replied, "In the past, Mildred could hardly go a day without Ethel attacking her. During their first year, Ethel had a go at her when it came to mirroring her parents."
Esmerelda sighed, nodding in remembrance. She knew precisely what Julie was talking about; she had known that Ethel would have lashed out because of what Ursula had done that day, so long ago now, but she had genuinely wished Ethel had found some better outlet than a girl whose only crime was to have a loving mother. "I remember," she said, "My mother kept me in the Mirror room longer than she should have done, but that was Ursula Hallow for you, she loved repeating herself." Esmerelda then performed a rather cruel but accurate impersonation of her own mother. "Now remember Esme, score well on this test…. don't forget that test, you have to have a perfect score," Esmerelda slouched and grimaced like a moody teenager. "She drove me mad."
Julie had to fight to keep her composure; Esmerelda's attitude and her impersonation had been funny since that was more or less the image she herself had of the woman; she hadn't met Ursula but she knew she didn't want to. "Yes. Mildred remembers how angry she was at that. During their second year, Ethel was not much better, I think she missed you not being there as she was more moody, at least Mildred said that."
Esmerelda sighed as she thought about the mess Ethel had gotten her into by giving her powers over to Agatha when the older and far nastier witch had promised the younger Hallow she would, at last, be recognised by her peers and her parents, though Ethel had quickly found out it was an empty promise. "I'm sorry." she began, not knowing what else she could be saying right at that moment, but it was the only thing she could think of saying to the mother of her younger sister's "rival." "I know, I've said it too often, but Ethel always had a want for love from our mother. But Ursula was always like that. What else did Mildred say?" she asked, genuinely curious and interested in knowing what the brunette witch had to say about Ethel.
But Julie was smiling now, and that intrigued Esmerelda. "Mildred says Ethel's become a lot like you," she began kindly, "she's kinder, more patient. She says that only you could have done that, not your mother. Anyway, what do you mean about your mother always being….what?"
Esmerelda doubted at that moment, hearing from another parental figure that her younger sister who had always been so determined to earn at least a smidgen of attention from their parents despite all the evidence to the contrary that she was wasting her time and her energy.
The way Ursula had just sent a hologram to the school on Ethel's first Parent's evening was a prime example of their mothers' uncaring cruelty. Another was when Ursula had faked that petition and basically told Ethel that she and Sybil did not matter next to their elder sister. It had sickened Esmerelda when she had heard that when she had overheard her parents talk about it.
But now she was beaming at the news Ethel was behaving more calmer and more tolerant than she had been in the past, and in her mind it seemed that the disease their parents' had spread to Ethel which had made her so difficult to live with not to mention deal with had been let up, but her smile disappeared when she registered the question Julie had just asked her, and she sighed before she answered the question.
"Ursula is…. well, she is cold," Esmerelda began before she let out a virtual deluge, "she hated us showing affection towards her. She never showered us with love in return."
When she was finished Esmerelda started playing with her hands, and her expression told Julie that she was trying to think of a new way to put what was now on her mind into words. But deep down Esmerelda was having trouble trying to think of a good example of how Ursula Hallow was an unloving woman who didn't even register she had one child, never mind three. Finally, she looked at Julie and she was hit with a one, and it had been staring in her face the whole time.
"Mildred….. she's always had problems with potions, right?" she began.
Surprised by the sudden shift though she was openly curious as to why her daughter was being pulled into this discussion at this point and what she had to do with Ursula Hallow, Julie nodded nonetheless, knowing she definitely did not want to meet the woman. "Yes."
"Well, so has Sybil," Esmerelda said, sighing," Sybil has never been…enthusiastic around potions, it's her weakest subject, and she barely managed to pass her Entrance Exam, though our parents made a big thing out of it, though you could tell she was uncomfortable since Ethel was close by."
Esmerelda looked down at her hands again before lifting her eyes up. "You may have gathered that witches learn potions and brewing at a very early age, and we do. It's magical tradition that young witches learn from their mothers, or from another member of the family in case the mother is unavailable, how potions are made. It's one of the most important rites of passage that any young witch learns during their education, Julie, I can call you Julie, right?" Esmerelda added when she realised that she hadn't bothered to ask the woman's permission to use her name earlier.
Julie nodded. "Of course," she replied, but she was more fascinated by what Esmerelda was telling her. "So, if what happened to Mirabelle Hubble, my ancestor, had never happened then I would have learnt how to make potions in the way you just described from my own mother, and I would have passed that knowledge onto Mildred?"
Esmerelda nodded happily, pleased she understood though it wasn't exactly difficult to comprehend. "Exactly. For a witch, a knowledge of potions is one of our defining qualities; there are dozens of stories in the non-magical world of witches, both good and bad, that you hear about that spend a lot of time hovering around a cauldron. Well, there's a basis of fact to that kind of image. Young witches learn how to brew potions safely from their mothers as soon as they have matured enough to stand on their own two-feet what their mother, her mother, and all the mothers that had come before knew about potions. The knowledge is meant to be passed down the family line, generation after generation. The young witches are taught the basics of brewing first, how to use the cauldron and about the more dangerous and volatile ingredients, things like that. But this passing on of knowledge is important because it creates a bond between the mother and daughter because the mother is passing on her knowledge of potions. It's similar to a son spending time with his father," Esmerelda explained, making a face.
Julie had been listening to the description of how potions were taught to young witches. She had already gotten the idea girls like Maud, Enid, and Ethel was taught potions as children and how to make them, and this proved it. But the moment she saw the look on Esmerelda's face she had a good idea what Ursula had done after speaking so passionately about potions before. "Your mother never taught you potions, did she?" Julie asked the teenager quietly.
Esmerelda shook her head. Well Julie was unsurprised by that, she had worked out what Ursula had done, and it upset her even if she knew nothing about potions besides it being a field of magic, one her daughter had problems with though she knew that Mildred really tried her best no matter what Miss Hardbroom felt, but she could see just how much this had hurt Esmerelda. She could see it in the teenagers' eyes, and the mother in her wanted to wrap the girl up in her arms, but it was too late for that. Esmerelda had probably gotten over the disappointment.
"She passed me off to Grandma Josephine," Esmerelda whispered but Julie heard her nonetheless, and the teenage witch shook her head. "I still remember the argument Ursula had with her. I was with my sisters upstairs, playing, when they argued." Awe entered Esmerelda's tone. "I have never heard my grandmother so angry before. Oh, she's shouted at both me and my sisters whenever we got on the wrong side of her, but she made up with us quickly. But this….. She was furious with Ursula, and with Triton, our father."
Pushing aside her desire to laugh at the bizarre name of the girls' father, Julie asked, perhaps foolishly, "She was angry because your mother didn't teach you potions?"
"Trust me, if there is one magical family that really cares about magical traditions like this, it's the Hallow family," Esmerelda's voice was both grim and strangely wistful. "Grandma Josephine's yells could be heard even five floors up. She was furious that Ursula was ignoring a very important part of the magical tradition. My grandmother screamed at my mother she was missing out on the chance of actually forming a bond with her children, and passing on knowledge to the next generation."
Julie had been listening to what Esmerelda was talking about and she felt sympathy for the girl and for her grandmother for having a family member just let her down so badly. "I'm not surprised she was upset," she commented, thinking about all the traditions of her own family that they valued, and could effortlessly picture her own mother's feelings if either she or Mo refused to follow them, "I think anyone else would be."
Esmerelda sighed. "Anyway, that is our mother for you, always finding ways to get out of doing the important stuff. She rejected Ethel pretty much instantly, don't ask me why. I haven't the foggiest idea and our father just went along with her though I don't know for sure if he genuinely wanted to have a hand in our early education in potions or not. But my gran and my granddad were both amazing teachers."
"Oh, what were they like?"
Esmerelda's smile lit the corridor brighter than any torch or lantern. "They were amazing, and they more or less taught me everything that I know about potions." Her smile faded a little as a memory entered her mind, and became visibly upset which worried Julie. "I told Ethie not to get her hopes up when it came to learning how to make potions, but she did. Ursula and Triton were already ignoring her, but when it came to the point where she would need to learn potions… well she got it into her head Ursula would do it, and they could bond over it. She threw a fit when our mother didn't bother with the lessons but hired a TUTOR to do it, and that was only after I called my grandmother and told her that Ethel needed a teacher since there was no chance in a million of Ethel being admitted into Cackles without the potion grade. Potions is an important part of the entrance test, and if she didn't have that knowledge then she would never have been admitted, and our parents would have been shamed for not taking on the responsibility. I think that's the only reason Ursula hired a tutor."
"Image seems to be the only thing that woman seems interested in," Julie commented, not bothering to hide her contempt for the woman.
"True. Ethel hated the tutor, she would never behave for her and when it came for Sybil to learn potions, she was so timid she was just too scared of the woman and kept messing up, she was a horrible woman," Esmerelda's eyes flashed angrily in remembrance.
"Did you meet her?" Julie asked before she winced and realised that Esmerelda must have done. "Sorry, stupid question," she apologised."
But the teenager just smiled back kindly at her, though she still looked upset. "I met her alright. I think Ursula told her lies about Ethel," she frowned in annoyance at how thoughtless and how low Ursula could go, "so the woman went in with a biased attitude without even bothering to find a way of making her learn how to brew. In the end, I had to teach her potions. Same with Sybil, who preferred me. Sybil kept telling me she'd screw up with brewing, but I worked with her whenever she did something wrong with her potions. She had already been mentally abused by that woman who came to tutor her. She expected me to do the same. The woman didn't help matters; she was forever hovering around Sybil, berating her and constantly picking on her…. hm, not much has changed for Sybil, actually, since HB is exactly the same," Esmerelda commented darkly at the thought of the two witches causing her sisters' problem with potions.
Julie frowned. "You'd never pick on her, I've seen the way you are with Sybil, albeit briefly and she looks up to you."
"It's hard to know that when you've been told that you're nothing for so long."
Julie had been asking herself what had happened to the Hallow sisters' grandmother and grandfather during all of this, and she felt this was the perfect opportunity to ask that question. "May I ask…. why your grandparents didn't teach all three of you?"
The moment she saw Esmerelda's suddenly sad face she felt bad, but the moment the teenager opened her mouth to speak Julie felt even worse. "It's okay…. Our grandfather died," she said quietly.
Instantly Julie felt terrible and she clapped a hand to her mouth. "I am so sorry, I-I shouldn't have asked-," she apologised thinking she had gone too far.
But Esmerelda didn't seem to mind. Instead, the teenager said quickly, "No, no, its okay. I'm glad you asked, and I was wondering if you were going to ask me why I was taught by my grandparents and yet my sisters were taught by a tutor." She smiled sadly in remembrance of her grandfather. "He was lovely, my grandfather. My grandmother married for love, rare as it is for a Hallow. It's a curse of our family to love and to marry someone who has something going for him, but he was lovely. Granny Josephine was not the only one furious with our parents; our grandfather personally stormed into the mansion and angrily confronted Ursula and Triton of breaching magical tradition. Our grandparents were already frustrated and concerned with Ursula and Tritons parenting style, but grandpa lashed out at Triton for his cowardice for not standing up for magical tradition in front of Ursula and teaching us himself."
"Could he have done that?"
Esme nodded. "It's rare and uncommon for witches to learn potions from the father. You may have heard wizards take on apprentices, other wizards. Well, that's true enough, and young wizards learn potions and other arts from their wizard fathers, while witches learn from their mothers. It might be seen as sexist, but it's the way it's always been. But Triton could have taught us the basics of potion brewing, and give us hints and tips in how to do it properly. If he had done that then it would have shown me and my sisters he at least cared. I mean, he and my mother have spent my entire life telling me to be perfect, to always aim high with my achievements, and yet all that time they were planning on not bothering to teach me potions, sabotaging not just my education into becoming a fully-fledged and educated witch, but he also went along with his wife in ruining the educations of his younger daughters. The code may say that the elder child is important for the future of the family, but that excuse is unacceptable in my eyes."
Esmerelda shook her head angrily. "I hated him for not being a proper family then, but I hate him even more for being so apathetic."
Julie shook her head. "I'm sorry," she apologised, not sure what else she could say at this point.
"It's okay," Esme shook her head. "Grandma Jo would have been happy to teach Ethel and Sybil. She's a lot like Ethel, only she's much calmer and settled and has years more experience. If she had taught Ethel, then she would have made sure my sister learnt about potions, and if she had taught Sybil then when my sister arrived here, she would have been a little more confident instead of being nervous and terrified."
Julie nodded. In her mind, a teacher, a good teacher, should be someone approachable and patient with students who were difficult. But Hardbroom was not that type of person. Mildred and Sybil proved that, but from what she had just heard about Esmerelda's grandmother she was willing to bet that the woman had been fair-minded but unafraid of putting her foot down in case one of the girls misbehaved.
"I'm sorry," she repeated, but she didn't have anything else to say. She was not a witch. She hadn't been raised in the same manner as girls like Enid or Maud, so she couldn't imagine what kind of life the Hallow girls had led before Esmerelda took guardianship of them.
"Don't be," Esmerelda smiled, though it was tinged with confusion before she went on and it was gone. "She loves Ethel and Sybil. She would have been more than happy to teach them herself, but he died and she couldn't cope with the grief she felt. He was the only one she had loved and he had died suddenly. After his funeral, she packed up and went to Australia. She was upset to leave us but she wanted to make a new start somewhere important to her because she and her husband had spent a lot of their time in Australia in the past, and it was full of great memories."
Julie could understand that. "How would they have been with her?"
"Probably great. When my parents rejected Ethel and creeped Sybil out, Grandma Josephine took on a lot of childcare. She loves all three of us deeply and equally. As a potions teacher, she was incredibly patient. I made a few mistakes when I began, but she was always there to make sure they didn't get out of hand while my grandfather made me learn on the job by making me brew increasingly more complicated potions. His speciality was potions research before he'd retired. He would sit me down and talk me through the brewing process of some extremely complicated potions before we actually got down to making them, but not the type of potions you get taught in a magical school. No magical parent would ever teach their child or expect them to brew some of the more dangerous potions; that is reserved for their education."
"That makes sense. Potions sound wonderful, but incredibly hazardous since you are mixing completely different mixtures together, and there is bound to be a reaction," Julie said thoughtfully.
"Hmm," Esmerelda nodded in agreement. "My grandfather was a good teacher. He knew more about potions than anybody else I know, even Miss Hardbroom could give him a broomstick ride for his money. If he had taught at Cackles, then he would have made the lessons exciting and informative. If that happened, then Mildred would probably be much better than she is. But the problem is, traditionally, a teacher at a school like this one should not have to teach the basics of brewing, even if it's needed. HB is out of her depth with Mildred, so she has to hope for the best. She can't drop everything and teach Mildred from scratch because it would hold everyone else back. That's why Mildred is often left to flounder."
"I had wondered about that," Julie whispered, not suddenly understanding why HB was the way she was. "But your grandmother… how did she feel about the tutor? I can't see her being happy about it."
"She wasn't, but there was little she could do though she does know about the steps I took to make sure my sisters learnt enough about potions. She blames herself for it."
"She shouldn't, it's not her fault."
"No, it isn't," Esmerelda replied, "but home life was horrible. I wanted to stay with Ethel and Sybil at all costs but I knew how hard it would be to take them when my dad when to attack Ethel though he gave me a loophole in the code which I am grateful for."
"How is it going?"
"Great," Esmerelda said, though Julie could see the sudden exhaustion in the girls' eyes. "We have a little flat, it is not much but it is our first home together, It is hard, I have never had to worry about money myself but we have been lucky."
The implication of that statement was obvious to Julie. "How are you doing for work?" she asked curiously.
"I have a few little jobs, nothing big. They're mostly cleaning jobs. They don't pay much, but I can't afford to be picky. I don't know when my inheritance is going to come, but you know what? I don't care, and I'm not going to wait. I need the money to make sure my sisters are well fed and healthy," Esmerelda replied.
Julie nodded thoughtfully. A crazy idea was entering her mind, and she hoped that the girl accepted it. "Esmerelda, I work at the local hospital, and one of the administrators is a friend of mine and she owes me a favour. If you'd like, I can talk to her and see about getting you a job with better hours…?"
Esmerelda suddenly became nervous, reminding Julie of Sybil at that moment. "I don't know, I have never worked anywhere like that before.."
Julie smiled at the girl kindly. "You won't be thrown into the deep end immediately, you'd be given training. Does that sound better?" she asked, placing her arms gently on the teenagers' upper arms.
Esmerelda was tempted by the offer. She knew that a job at a hospital would go a long way into easing her financial problems, and it would be good for a fallback in case her parents, in an act of typical pettiness, tried to block her inheritance. Esmerelda had no intention of relying on an inheritance for anything, and to be honest, it would be good to have her own life without servants and a mansion, and always being away from her sisters.
But she had other worries. "Yes but...what about during holidays, after experiences at home I won't let anyone babysit the girls," she said worried.
Julie shook her head fondly at the girl. "Esmerelda, you're worrying too much. Yes, you may have to work during holidays, but let me tell you something; I sometimes take Mildred with me into the hospital. She sometimes sits around, draws, reads... but sometimes she actually helps the nurses get the patients what they need; food, water, a paper or magazine, that kind of thing, or someone to talk to."
"I panic too much, I always have," Esmerelda countered. Julie wondered if she was deliberately picking out little bits to talk herself out of applying for a job at a hospital.
But she had to get through to her. She knew the girl panicked a bit thanks to stories Mildred had told her over the last few years.
Before she could speak, however, Esmerelda had a question for her. "Why are you doing this?" she asked as though expecting a catch.
Mentally Julie was telling herself that she should have expected this, and she replied simply, "Because I like you."
Esmerelda shook her head, she was tempted, Julie could see that, but she could also see her nervousness. "There's more to it than that, there has to be," she whispered. Julie had the impression that the girl was tempted, but she was unsure if she could accept it only to receive a disappointment, but Julie guessed the girl had been disappointed a lot.
It was time to change that.
But she was curious about the girls' statement. "What do you mean?" Julie asked.
Esmerelda gave her an annoyed look. "I live with Ethel," she stated like it should have been obvious to her. "I know when someone is holding something back."
Julie sighed. "I want to help you, Esmerelda," she said honestly, feeling like she was a vinyl record and repeating tracks. I have been where you are now. When I was having Mildred, I had problems with my job because I had to take maternity leave, I had to sometimes bring Mildred with me to work because my mother and sister Mo couldn't look after her. Let me tell you, my boss at the time was a heartless bitch."
Esme whistled. "Sounds like my mother."
Julie chuckled. "In the end, I was fired. I didn't blame Mildred. In the end, I went to work at the hospital because a friend of mine worked there, and suggested I do the same. And they've been good to me ever since they are very understanding and Mildred's made some friends amongst the hospital staff. I will be frank when I first heard of Ethel... I wanted to come here and sort her out, but I didn't because bullying happens all the time at schools, and there's nothing you can do; you can stamp one bully out, but another will take their place. Mildred's been bullied a lot over the years, so she thought Ethel was that type of person, but she realised there was more to her than met the eye, and she's tried her best to not push Ethel or give her problems even unintentionally in case she hurts her again."
Esmerelda still looked a bit unsure, but Julie could see that the girl looked sad that Mildred was bullied long before she had met the girl. So she decided to push her point. "Esmerelda," she said stepping closer. "Mildred respects and looks up to you because you are shouldering so much stress, and yet you've made Ethel into a kinder, more gentler person."
Esmerelda suddenly looked overwhelmed, and Julie realised the teenager had been so busy caring about her sisters and juggling her life like other responsible single-mothers she hadn't stopped to consider how her decisions and actions appeared to the rest of the world.
"Mildred looks up to me?" she whispered speechless over the news. "I don't do anything special, I look after my sisters as it is my job."
Julie shook her head. "Looking up to someone doesn't mean that person has to do anything special," she said wisely, "Mildred looks up to you because you share a bond with your sisters, sometimes she will never have herself, but also because you helped her a great deal. You gave her a shoulder to cry one once, right?"
Esmerelda looked at her with her brow creased in confusion. "I did? I don't remember," her voice trailed off before she clicked her fingers, "Oh yes, I remember... sorry. Yeah, I heard Mildred crying in her bedroom after she'd had a bad day, and this was before Maud became friends with Enid. Back then Mildred was under a lot of stress because Maud had become jealous of all the attention Enid was getting, so Mildred was taking everything pretty hard. One minute I was asking her if she was okay, the next I was hugging her. I was just doing my job," she finished though Julie could see the uncertainty.
"No, I think you are a natural mother. It doesn't matter if a kid is your sister or not, you care about them regardless. In Mildred's case, she has always been grateful for that, she was so upset when you lost your magic because of that, sorry if that is a sensitive issue."
More than happy and touched by the compliment, Esmerelda whispered, "No it is fine, I am fine talking about it now...thank you though, I would appreciate the job."
"Great!" Julie clapped her hands with a happy smile, and Esmerelda could honestly see no sign of malice in her eyes, no triumph, just happiness. "You're not going to regret it."
Esmerelda smiled back, though she was still unsure what Julie got out of it. "I still don't understand why you'd offer this..," she said.
Julie sighed mentally. "I want to help. I want you to have a new life, one where you'd be able to be there for your sisters. And... I want to be your friend."
Esmerelda snorted. " I don't think you want to be friends with me, I am quite boring and pretty much talk about nothing but Ethel and Sybil."
Julie shook her head. "I've found you to be a stimulating conversationalist; you've given me an insight into why HB is still on the verge of giving up teaching Mildred how to brew potions. There's also something else. No-one is a good conversationalist. I've got friends and we talk about whatever comes up in the conversation, and believe me, half the time i don't even know what they're on about."
Esmerelda laughed. "That is what the girls in my year said, I didn't really have any friends they thought I was weird."
Julie smiled. "Everyone is strange in some way, that does not make you less important."
Esmerelda smiled. "Thanks….," she nodded as she decided she wanted to go into the hospital, but she just wanted a few minutes before she finally made her decision. "You know, it's nice to have someone to talk to, sometimes I am not sure if I am doing it right."
Julie just seemed amused and she looked down for a second before she looked up again. "People think I'm strange, many people think Mildred is weird. Runs in the family. It's our lot in life."
Esmerelda smiled but then she remembered something Julie had just said. "What do you mean I gave you an insight into why HB is always on the point of giving up teaching potions to Mildred?"
"It was what you were saying about tradition, about what you said about HB being out of her comfort zone teaching girls brewing from scratch," Julie replied.
"Ah, yeah. HB is traditional," Esmerelda nodded, "but then many witches and wizards are. It's difficult to break. But the main problem with her is HB expects all her students to arrive with knowledge of how to brew properly. But we can't have everything we want, right?"
"No, we can't," Julie said seriously, folding her arms. "If that happened, then the world would be a little too perfect. I'm sorry to say this, but I'm glad it's not just Mildred she is hard on."
Esmerelda didn't take it personally; she had seen dozens of other girls be chastised by HB. "I've seen her be hard towards others, but I don't think she realises just how harsh she can be, nor that everyone does things differently in potions. Everyone works at different speeds, but HB follows one tune."
Julie nodded thoughtfully in agreement. "Yeah, I've got the feeling HB doesn't engage her brain before she speaks. But it's not right for her to make expectations of other growing up. Sure, she may have been raised that way and she adopted it into her personality, but kids like Sybil and Mildred don't work like that, they may have talents in different subjects."
Esmerelda nodded in agreement. "My thoughts exactly."
Esmerelda Hallow stood in the hospital locker room, slowly and surely putting on her nurses' uniform, putting on her blue tunic and then clipping on her ID card to her left top pocket before she put her hair into a bun at the back while letting some of her hair go a little bit free so then she didn't look as though she had stretched her skin back into a mask like HB did with her hair.
It had been a year and a half since she had met Julie Hubble at the Parents' evening at Cackles Academy and the meeting had changed her life. Before the meeting, she had been struggling with work and knowing she could not be picky. But now everything was changing. She had spent the past year and a half learning how to be a nurse, and she was having fun. Sure, she didn't like the gore and the messes, but she enjoyed caring for people, especially children.
Looking up at the mirror, she smiled at her reflection. It was just so bizarre that she, the heiress of the Hallow family, was now a nurse at a non-magical hospital. But she didn't care. Her grandmother was happy for her, and she was just so happy that she was doing something worthwhile. As for the rest of the family, she didn't know and frankly did not care about their opinions.
Smiling to herself, Esmerelda recalled how she had felt about the non-magical world. She had almost been forced to live and study in it when she had lost her powers to Agatha. It had been her worst nightmare because she had felt as though her life had been deprived of meaning, but now she could appreciate the irony of her situation. She was just happy to have such a great job now. With a smile still on her face, Esmerelda left the locker room and entered the main wing of the hospital.
Esmerelda grinned as she saw her two sisters. Ethel and Sybil were beaming at her with pride; both of them knew how hard she had worked to achieve her new role as a nurse, and the moment they saw her they both gushed over her neat uniform.
"It's so…..clean," Ethel whispered as she ran her fingers over the light material, and Esmerelda chuckled. Typical Ethel, always lost for words.
"Clean?" Sybil snorted uncharacteristically, as least when you compared this incarnation of the girl to the one who had cowered at the tiniest thing, but she had become more confident now. "Is that the best thing you can say?"
Ethel glared at her, and Esmerelda laughed over them both so then they wouldn't fight. "It won't be clean for long in a hospital," she clapped her hands together with a smile. "Anyway," she began hoping that she didn't sound and look too nervous, "it's my shift. Wish me luck."
Ethel grinned, her annoyance forgotten. "Good luck," she said sincerely.
Esmerelda smiled sweetly at her. "Try to behave," she said seriously. "I want a good night, I don't want to hear you two have been fighting."
"We won't," Ethel sounded and looked insulted at the idea she would give her sister problems when she hadn't even started at her job properly.
"We'll be okay," Sybil smiled before she spotted someone. "Oh look, there's Mildred now," she said, and she waved at her happily when she saw the brunette witch with Julie.
Esmerelda looked at her middle sister seriously, knowing that although they were friendly the two girls sometimes locked spells together. "Be good," she said seriously.
Ethel groaned and whined when she saw Mildred. "Oh, Esmerelda-," she tried to say but Esme didn't give her the chance to argue or protest. Instead, Esmerelda fixed her with a stern glare. "Ethel!"
Ethel sighed and looked. "Okay, I'll try not to fight," she whispered with a light huff as though she were a six-year-old being deprived of her favourite past time.
Esmerelda rolled her eyes but she couldn't help but grin at her sibling, and then she smirked at Sybil. "Works every time," she whispered, making Sybil giggle and making Ethel huff and glare.
The Hallow sisters and Mildred became unlikely friends (well, just Ethel), and the three of them entertained and helped the patients and made sure they were happy while Esmerelda worked with Julie with the patients. When her inheritance came through, Esmerelda decided to put it on the backburner and only concentrate on the Hallow family businesses when she felt it was necessary, but she concentrated on nursing, for which she found a true passion.
All in all, Esmerelda was grateful for the opportunity to be something different from her family.
Until next time.