A/N: I know this isn't that long but I wanted to get something posted for you guys since it's been a while since my last chapter. I hope you enjoy
As soon as Imogen spotted Mildred weeping in the courtyard, she changed her course and headed back to the dining hall. As much as she wanted to be there for Mildred at this time-she felt a connection with the third year- she knew that she wasn't the right person to comfort the girl. Spotting a despondent Ethel and Drusilla being led out of the hall by the strict potions mistress, Miss Drill's lips twitched as she momentarily forgot about her own beef with the older woman. She stopped in front of Enid and Maud and asked them to come and talk to her.
Confused, the two girls followed their PE teacher to a deserted corridor where they were quietly told about Mildred's situation. They both gasped when they were told about Mildred's parents and a tear slipped from Maud's eye for her friend. Miss Drill told them where Mildred was at the moment and mentioned that Mildred really needed some comforting right now. The two third years rushed off to find their friend. Knowing that this was all she could do for the moment, the blonde headed off to her office to try and think about some new sports she could introduce the girls to.
/
When Miss Hardbroom returned from her talk with Miss Drill, she marched over to the two girls who ruined Mildred's day on a regular basis, and informed them that they would be scrubbing all the cauldrons clean. They grimaced, knowing how grimy some of the cauldrons were, but didn't dare protest seeing as the potions mistress looked like she wanted to shout at them but wasn't simply because she didn't know where to start. Clearly, she wasn't above a little insult though.
"Miss Hallow, Miss Paddock, I recommend that next time, you keep your unusually large noses out of other peoples' business."
Ethel puffed herself up and was about to deliver a retort when she noticed that Miss Hardbroom looked eager to use any excuse to punish the girls more. Wisely, she kept her mouth shut. Knowing that there was no way they were getting out of this one, the two girls made their way to the potion lab and fulfilled their punishment under the watchful eye of the deputy headmistress.
/
"Millie?" The girl in question looked up to see Enid and Maud standing a few paces away, looking hesitant.
"Oh. Hi." Mildred said miserably, not having anything else to say.
"Erm...Miss Drill told us what happened," Enid softly explained. Maud suddenly rushed over and sat beside her best friend, putting her arm around her.
"I'm so sorry Millie, that's such a horrid thing to happen to you." Mildred nodded, again not having anything else to say. Enid spoke this time. "We're going to be here for you. You're our best friend and we hate to see you so upset." Hearing the immense amount of compassion in her friend's words, Mildred grabbed both of the girls and clutched them in a fierce hug.
"I miss them so much" the girl sobbed. The two other third years patted their friend's back.
"We know."
/
The fearsome potions headmistress of Cackle's academy watched the two students trudge out of her office after being forced to clean the lab until it met her perfection driven standards. Although she would be loathe to admit it, her head was spinning. Over the last couple years, Constance had fallen into a routine. Mildred would cause trouble, Constance would fix it, and then the teacher would yell at Mildred. She liked routine; it helped maintain order in her life. It was also much easier to deal with things when one knew they were coming.
This new information about Mildred had just turned her cherished routine on its head. As much as Miss Hardbroom would have liked to just carry on with her routine as though nothing had happened, her conscience simply would not allow it. She was starting to see things in a new light. In the two girls that she had just dismissed, she was starting to see a pair of mean-spirited bullies where she had previously seen only two students. Where she had previously seen Mildred as a troublemaker that was deliberately trying to give Constance an aneurysm, she now saw a young, vulnerable girl with thoughts and feelings and who was really just seeking approval.
A warmth rose in Miss Hardbroom's chest as her thoughts jumped to the time at the end of the previous year when she had almost resigned and Mildred had tried to talk her out of it. There was also the time Mildred had saved her from going over the rapids. A fierce protective urge suddenly swelled up within her, startling the witch. The woman sighed and rubbed her temples; she had never really experienced feelings like these before. She had heard about them though; the maternal instincts that women talked about having for children. Miss Hardbroom shook her head to clear it of the confusing thought. It had been a long day and she would much rather go to sleep than continue questioning herself as to why she was experiencing feelings she had never felt before for a person she had never really liked before.
Right about the time Miss Hardbroom fell to sleep, on the other side of the castle, three girls, one still crying softly, curled up together on a bed and fell asleep.
