Author's Note

Dear reader,

Thank you for returning to this little fiction. A huge thanks to those who have taken a bit of their time to review: Chrissiemusa, Duchene-fan (I love your screen name) and of course my darling sis, NCD.

I hope you will enjoy this tiny chapter!

Love,

Lemondrop

Before we leave

Chapter 2: Enid Worried

Monday, 8th of July 2002

Enid Nightshade nervously checked her watch for what it seemed like the hundredth time in the past two hours and noticed that she had only five minutes left. Five short minutes and her last, and most dreaded Higher Witch Certificate exam, would be over. She took a second look at the exam paper and wondered if she should try to fill in any of the multiple blank spaces she still had left. Her eyes wondered along the multiple questions on bindweed and she tried, for a second, to remember what her fearsome potions teacher had said about the plant. She quite frankly had no idea. Truth be told, during those last months of potions she had acquired a very important and useful skill: the skill of drowning out HB's voice. It had taken her years to learn how not to listen to her form tutor and, after thousands of failed attempts, when she had gained mastery of that particular skill she had used it to the fullest. In consequence, she could barely remember her teacher mentioning the blasted plant.

Enid took a deep breath and leaned back into her chair, her eyes vacantly looking at the paper in front of her. She wondered if she had answered enough questions to score a pass on the exam. Hadn't it been for the stupid Guild rule saying that failing one of the HWC exams meant failing the entire certificate she wouldn't have worried much. Yet, as things stood, she was well aware that failing potions would mean failing HWC which in turn would mean having to go back at Cackle's for another year. That, to Enid's mind, would be the most horrible fate possible. She once again checked her watch: four minutes left.

It wasn't that she hated the academy. In fact Cackle's as a whole wasn't too bad, the girl admitted to herself as her pencil was hovering over the blank space where she was supposed to draw a bindweed leaf. She had, after all, met her best friends there and had, for the first time in her life, felt included and appreciated. Her parents, both upstanding middle-class citizens, who put more stock in the appearance of happiness than in the actual feeling, had never made her feel as accepted as her friends had. Frankly, as years flew by and Enid entered the delicate period of her teenage years, she had felt a certain distance emerge between herself and her parents. They were ill-equipped to deal with such a delicate period in her life. They were too perfect, too successful and expected far too much for Enid's taste. Being an only child had certainly not helped her feel attached to her family. Maybe if she had had a sibling she would have managed to form a relationship with him or her and as such she would have, maybe, disregarded some of her family's flaws. As things stood, Enid had the feeling that the only thing she shared with the two people who had given birth to her was DNA.

Yes, at Cackle's she had made friends. The only two, four if you counter Ruby and Jadu, but she wasn't that close to them, people in the entire world that truly got to see the real Enid and appreciated her for who she was. Maud and Mildred, after a rocky start involving broom, cupboards and Miss Cackle's birthday, had formed a beautiful friendship and Enid could honestly say that she would miss the two when they all left Cackle's. For the past two summers, the thought that she would be once again see her two friends at school had kept her going through terrible tea parties with her mother's bridge club with an artificial smile on her face. If it hadn't been for Maud and Mille she would have definitely taken her broom and would have run away. Where? She didn't know. Maybe Paris to try to become a model. Or maybe Milan. She let the pencil fall next to her paper and, once again checked her watch. Three minutes left…

Yes, Cackle's with her friends wasn't that bad. Cackle's without those stupid, old-fashioned rules, Cackle's with heat and electricity and Cackle's without HB would be brilliant. But the academy was as likely to change as HB was to wear pink and, as such, Enid couldn't help but feel somewhat worried. Although she wasn't the best student in potions and she had always been average at best she had expected the exam to come easier to her. Like Miss Cackle had said on various occasions, in her usual roundabout way while having Enid in her office to mildly chastise her for one thing or another, she was quite smart. The girl reckoned that maybe, had she truly wanted to, she would have been able to be one of the best in her class. Spells, potions, chants, they all came easy to her. But Enid, slightly superficial and flippant as she tended to be, had never actually bothered to learn more than required for her to score a pass. She didn't mind being average.

Yet, Enid pondered as she looked at the half empty last page of her exam, her partiality to mediocrity and ingrained idleness might be her undoing as things stood. She felt afraid and quite remorseful, for she knew that her lack of studying might mean that she would have to come back to the academy in the coming fall. She wasn't particularly worried about what her parents said if she failed her HWC. She already knew what they would say, she could already see the looks of disappointment on their faces and it didn't miff her one bit. Her parents tended to be disappointed in whatever she did anyway, so for them, failing her HWC would just mean yet another item on the long list of unsavoury things thing they needed to hide about their daughter. What she was worried about was that failing those blasted exams meant returning to a place which was as restrictive as a prison without having the comfort of her friends. She sighed and yet again checked her watch. Two minutes left…

Sitting at the desk next to her, Maud scribbled furiously trying to cram as much information as humanly possible in the small answer boxes. Enid felt a small smile creep on her face. She was proud of Maud and she wished that her friend would do well on her exam. After all the hell Maud had been through the past three months she deserved getting a high grade in potions. Sometimes, Enid wondered why she couldn't be as determined as her friend was. Maud was the type of person who knew what she wanted, knew how to get what she wanted and wasn't afraid to work as hard as possible to attain her goal. Enid admired that for she was the exact opposite. She had no idea what she wanted to do and hated to work hard for anything. Unlike her friends, Enid had no idea what she was going to do after she left the academy. Quite frankly, at that particular point in her life she didn't exactly care. All that she did know was that she wanted to be free. Free of her parents and their obsession with their image, free of the Miss Hardbrooms of the world and their old-fashioned ways. She just wanted to be free. Free to break rules, free to experience things, free to live. But that wasn't exactly the most realistic goal... One minute left…

Enid frantically looked at her paper once more and wondered if there was something else that she could do. Stupid bindweed. She was sure that HB had mentioned it before. Why couldn't she have listened to her? Why couldn't she have at least asked Maud for her notes? A wave of guilt hit her full force and for a moment Enid had a moment of absolute acceptance. As she was looking at her incomplete exams she realized that no matter whether she passed or not she would have to live with the fact. She realized what she wanted most in this world was a goal in itself, a goal that could be pursued and attained. She knew that there was no point to think about what she could have done differently and if she indeed failed her HWC, then she was certain of one thing: she would not return to Cackle's. Enid wasn't naïve, and she knew that a witch without a HWC under her belt was virtually unemployable, but she also knew that if she were to spend one more year in the academy without her friends to support her, she would loose her sanity. As such, Enid figured that she could do what Maud usually did: find a way to get what you want and do whatever you can to get it. She will figure out a way to support herself and make ends meet, for what she wanted most was simple: to break away from all the confines of her life. She looked at her wristwatch one last time…

"Girls, put your pencils down!" Miss Hardbroom's voice pierced the pregnant silence of the room and the quiet screeching of pencils was replaced by a noisy rustling of papers. As HB came to her desk Enid handed in her exam, a sense of serenity invading her soul. Regardless of how things ended, she was sure that after her last twelve days at Cackle's came to an end she would experience the sweet taste of freedom.

A/N: *hands cookies for everyone who has freaked out during exams…* I hope you liked this chapter. I would love to hear your thoughts through your PM's or Reviews. Until next time!

Next Chapter: Ruby Copied