Chapter 4

Mildred walked down to the great hall with Maud at her side, the other students weren't saying anything but she could feel their eyes on the back of her neck and could just imagine what they were thinking. And if they were anything like what she was imagining, her life at Cackles had changed completely and forever. And not for the best.

"Millie" Enid said as she meet them outside the great hall. And gave her friend a hug. They all proceeded to walk into the great hall, and grabbed Friday's morning's usually breakfast, cold lumpy porridge.

She just sat there at the table with her friends around her, but didn't pay attention to anything they were speaking about; she just stirred her porridge and occasionally took a bit of it. While she stared at the fire in the fireplace

"Millie….." Ruby said trying to get her friends attention but it was not working, so Maud leaned across and tapped Mildred on the arm.

"Millie, are you in there? Ruby was just asking if you were prepared for today's potion test."

Mildred dropped her spoon and it clattered onto the bowl below, she had completely forgot that there was a potion test.

"Potion's test! I completely forgot. What's it on?

"One of the potions we have studied in the last fortnight. About turning ourselves into different parts of nature. But that's about it. It could be anything out of that lot."

Mildred looked up at Miss Hardbroom who knew that Mildred had just been informed about the potions test which she knew was the last thing on her mind. So she carefully mouthed some words.

"Look underneath the potion bottles label."

Mildred understood what she meant straightaway, and hurriedly excused herself from the table not before mouthing a quick 'Thank You' to Constance on the way. Running all the way to her room, she grabbed the potion bottle from where she had left it and pulled of the loosely placed label saying Wide Awake Potion to revel what the potion bottle had contained previously, something which was related to the test she was about to take in ten minutes time, which just gave Mildred enough time to locate the potion in her book and memorise it.

She memorised the potion with barely enough time to spare, and skidded into the potions lab just before the test started. Just when Miss Hardbroom had placed her test paper on the place she would be occupying for the test. Usually she would have received a sarcastic comment from Miss Hardbroom there was none today, just the smallest of smiles which only Mildred detected, the rest of class were just starting at the front of their test paper, nervously waiting what it was going to be and hoping that they had looked at the right potions for the test.

Constance placed the final test paper down and walked to the front of the class and checked the clock she had placed there and once the second hand had reached the 12 she spoke.

"You may begin girls."

She watched the girls open the paper, and heard the mutter of groans from a few of the students who had by the look of it had revised the wrong potions. But Mildred had worked out what she had meant and was confidently at that moment collecting the ingredients that she needed. She wouldn't normally herself have helped a student in regards to one of her tests but she knew what Mildred had gone through in the last few days and for once she wasn't against giving a hint, but that was it. Mildred was the one that had to remember the potion and by the look of it she had managed it admirably in the short amount of time that she had had.

The half an hour she had given them was just about to finish and the smell of varying potions was around the room, but by the look of it no major mishaps has happened.

"Time Girls, now if you can all make a line outside and take your potion with you I will call you in one at a time to test it."

The girls started to file out of the room making a hell of a commotion as they did.

"Quietly Girls."

The girls came into the room one by one when Miss Hardbroom called their name, but she left Mildred to last wanting a few extra minutes to talk to her.

"Mildred Hubble."

Mildred came into the room, and walked to the front and was about to take a sip of her potion when Constance stopped her.

"Mildred, I know that potion is correct, so you have passed this test. But to make something clear this will be the only time that I will help you like that with a test."

"I wasn't expecting the help today. I know that I'm not going to learn anything if you tell me it. So thank you."

"There is something I wish to ask you Mildred. As tomorrow is your birthday would you care to join me at Cosies for a cream tea to celebrate?"

"I would love to Miss Hardbroom. But Cosies is out of limits, and especially as I am not supposed to leave the grounds at the moment."

"Millie" Constance said reverting to the nickname that she never called Mildred but was to prove the point she was try to make. "When we are at alone you don't have to call me Miss Hardbroom, you can call me Mum or if you are not hundred percent comfortably in doing that the moment, Constance will suffice. And as for you restriction to the ground, seeing as I am the deputy head, I will over turn your restriction for the day only. But you will still have to carry on through the rest of your punishment."

"Okay Constance, thank you for the invite. And for letting me off restriction for the day."

"It's my pleasure Mildred. Now run along now. You don't want to be late for chanting."

Mildred quickly gathered the rest of her stuff together and left the room.

Constance pulled the drawer open on the right hand side of her desk and pulled out a small box. She placed it on the desk in front of herself. She was slightly upset that Mildred had called her Constance instead of Mum but their relationship was still only a few days old, but she was going to enjoy tomorrow with Mildred, the first time she had celebrated the birth of her daughter with her actually being there. And to give her something she had wanted to pass on since the day she was born. Something which was always passed to a girl who turned 13 in her family.

Enid stood in Mildred's room right by the door, slouching against the door frame as she asked Mildred a question

"So what are we going to do for you birthday tomorrow? " Enid asked as Maud sat at Mildred's desk and stroked Tabby who sat on it. "I know we can't do much as you are on castle restriction but I am sure that we can think of something interesting to do."

Mildred pushed herself up from her lying down and crossed her legs underneath herself.

"I can't tomorrow, Cons….Miss Hardbroom" Mildred said catching herself before she said her mother's name. She may have had her permission to call her that when they were alone together, but to use it with her friends was a different thing entirely. "She's invited me to Cosies Café to celebrate my birthday, and I've already accepted her invitation."

Enid looked disgusted at what Mildred had just said that she was going to spend the day with their teacher and not her friends, it was her thirteenth birthday and that would only happen once.

"You'd rather spend the day with HB than with us! Mildred, she may be your mother but she still's the teacher who made yours and out life's hell for the last year."

"You just don't understand Enid, I know exactly what she was like, but I've have seen a different side of her and she is my birth mother, I wanted to get to know her regardless if she is most fearsome teacher in school or not.

"But Millie, it's HB" Enid protested again which caused Mildred to storm out of her bedroom, she couldn't cope with the school making so much out the situation with Miss Hardbroom, let alone her friends.

Maud hissed at Enid just a second after Mildred left.

"You need to be more carefully"

Mildred moved through the castle before she run slap into Miss Drill.

"I'm sorry Miss Drill" Mildred said tears almost coming out of her eyes

Normally Miss Drill would have scold her for her behaviour, but she could see how much distress that she was in at that time, so she pulled her to the bench that was next to them, and was thankful it was there.

"What's the problem Mildred?" She asked her arm around Mildred

"It's just can't cope at the moment, since everyone found out that Miss Hardbroom is my mum, everyone had been looking at me like I have two heads, and now even my friends seem to be turning against me, all because I want to spend some time with Miss Hardbroom to get to know her."

"Millie, over time this will all die down and you will be yesterday news and as for you friends give them time, this is being a bit of a shock for them as much as it has been for you. Just remember you don't have to go through this alone, you can talk to me, Miss Hardbroom or even Miss Cackle, I'm are sure she be glad to listen. Just remember you are not alone"

The rest of that day dragged along, slowly for Mildred, she did get a apology of some sort out of Enid but she knew that was done to Maud pushing her to do so, apart from that Mildred had kept herself to herself, after dinner she excused herself and headed to her room, usually Friday nights meant they had some free time to themselves to do with what they wished, and this was the time in week she looked forward to but not this one, this was the reason she had head to her room, because she knew as soon as the teachers were out of sight, the jokes would of started, she had already had enough of Enid's snide comments behind the staffs back and the blame that she put on Mildred as she had been place in Detention every night including Saturdays for the next month. So she sat in her room and did her homework, something she would have normally left until Sunday night, but not this week, thankfully she was happy for the distraction of it this week,

Meanwhile Constance was in the staff room, about to enjoy what she thought was a well earned cup of tea, she like Mildred had being dealing with people talking behind her back but not to the degree which Mildred had felt that happened to her, many of the pupils were scared of the consequences if she found out what they were saying about her. She had just had to deal with the many rumours going around that were trying to figure out how a woman who had no time for men could of ended up pregnant at so, for some reason the girls were skipping past the most obvious and the only answer too that situation that she had had sex with a man. She knew that all the girls knew about the reproductive system and such alike, she had been the one to explain that topic to them as she had drawn the short straw when the Witches Guild had decided that the girls should be informed of such things while attending school, just in case of their parents failing to mention it, in the 12 years that children had spent with them before they sent them to Cackles Academy, So she had gone through it with 4 year groups, explaining information that must of them had known already especially the older girls who had gone through puberty already. But from some reason all the information that she imparted to them had been forgotten and wild stories where been passed around which she hoped would not be heard by Mildred at any point.

Heaping into cup a lot of sugar, one of her few weaknesses which no-one her ever figured out was her need for extremely sweetened tea and today more than ever, filling her cup up with hot water and avoiding the drips which always came from the tap on the tea urn she headed over to her chair next to the fire, gratefully that the rest of the staff were elsewhere so she could have her tea in peace, which only happened for a few minutes before Imogen Drill came into the staff room.

"Constance, I need to speak to you about Mildred." She said walking around to where Constance was sitting

"What about Mildred Imogen?"

"She ran into me almost crying, she's not coping very well at all with what has just happened I've been trying to get hold of you but with supervising the first years I haven't had the chance"

"Do you know where she is at the moment?" Constance said standing up and placing her tea onto the nearby table.

"I think she's in her room at the moment" Imogen said causing Constance to quickly disappear, and caused Imogen to mutter something to her.

"But it is probably not best that you appear in her room like that."

But Constance had already thought it through and appeared just outside Mildred's room, knowing that just appearing in her room was not the best thing to help grow their slowly budding relationship. She reached across and tapped the door lightly and spoke softly through it.

"Mildred, may I come in."

She heard a quiet approval come through the door, and she pushed it open slowly to find Mildred at her desk, her potions book in front of her, something which under normal circumstances would have shocked her completely. But this wasn't normal circumstances.

"Mildred, Miss Drill came and saw me, she told me that she you almost in tears in the corridor. What is the matter?" She said walking over to the desk.

"Everything, some of the girls have been making comments behind my back, and as for my friends even they seem to being turning their backs onto me."

Constance crouched down at Mildred's side and spoke to her, her left hand resting lightly on Mildred shoulder.

"I am probably repeating what Miss Drill told you already. This situation that has arose now is also a shock for them as well, and them being your friends they are worried for you being as to them I am still the big bad wolf in their eyes. But give them time and they will be the same friends as they were before. And as for the other girls I could always talk to them about it..."

"No, please don't. If you do it will only make things worse, as they will start incusing me of been a teachers pet."

"Okay won't talk to them Mildred. But forget about this situation for the moment, just looked forward to you birthday tomorrow instead"

The night went quickly for Mildred, as soon as her head had hit the pillow she was asleep, the need to sleep strong as the last affects from the potion that morning faded away to nothing. But that same couldn't be said for Constance, sleep that night was elusive, more elusive that it usually was. She had trouble with insomnia ever since she was at college, w fact that Amelia knew, and the reason that she always volunteered to watch over the girls at night, to break it up at least. Because of this fact she lived on wide awake potion, when her insomnia was at its worse, like it was at this time, she couldn't relax until everything was sorted. So this evening she sat in her room and listened to the sounds all around her, the girls snoring away, the movement of the girls cats in the rooms. Waiting for the day to begin, just when the sun was about to rise, she swallowed a bottle of potion and wrote a quick note, sneaking into Mildred's room she dared to wipe away from her face a clump of hair which had landed on it, and almost leaned over to kiss her when Mildred suddenly moved, leaving quickly she dropped the note on Mildred's bedside table where she knew she would see it as soon as she awoke and headed down to the kitchen to eat her breakfast alone as she normally did.

Mildred awoke about an hour later, the bell signifying it was time for her breakfast jarring her from her dreams. Stretching she notice the piece of paper on her bedside table and picked it up.

Happy Birthday Mildred.

I have spoken to Miss Cackle and for just today for your special birthday lunch, you can wear your own clothes whilst we are out of the school grounds.

Come to my room as soon as you finished your breakfast as I have the first of two surprises for you.

Constance

What Mildred didn't know was how much that that her mother had wanted to have written Mum instead of Constance, but she didn't in case it would over step a mark

The surprise letter, buoyed Mildred and she quickly got dressed and for what must have been the first time since she had started at the school she was like forward to her breakfast. Not the breakfast part itself but the part which would come after it and also the rest of the day.

It was Imogen's turn to supervise Breakfast something which she hated to do, especially on a Saturday, none of the students and her including didn't want to get up at this time on a Saturday but Miss Hardbroom always insisted they did. She was standing by the door when she saw the first lot of students came in and bringing someone who was not usually coming in there so early.

"My Mildred, this earliest I have seen you turn up to breakfast. May I ask what the occasion is?"
"It's my birthday Miss, and Miss Hardbroom wants to see me as soon as I have eaten so I thought I would get it out of the way."

"Well, Happy Birthday to you Mildred.

Mildred quickly eat her breakfast, pretty much not noticing what she was putting into her mouth, her friends wandered in not so long after she finished, and she spent a few minutes with them as they gave her the cards that they had made for her. But they didn't keep her long they knew that she had a lot on her mind, so they let her go without a word at all.

She took the trip across to the part of the castle which had the teachers rooms, and while she was walking up the stairs she had this thought, a though that almost made her laugh out loud, the thought that she would be caught by HB at anytime and thrown in detention. Something which shouldn't have appeared in her mind, she had permission to be here and her mother had requested that she came.

She quickly reached the door which she knew was the entrance to her room, all the girls in the academy knew that it was hers, the label door was not needed, and the room always had felt like it had a flashing NO ENTRY sign above it. But not to her know.

She knocked the door.

"You can come in Mildred"

She pushed the door open and stepped into the room, getting the second look at the place that Miss Hardbroom called home for the second time in many time.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yes Mildred and you can come into the room without my permission, now come and sit over here with me."

Mildred walked across the room quickly and sat down, on what she was shocked to find out a comfortable chair something which she never expected to find in Miss Hardbroom's room.

Constance pulled out of her pocket and placed on the table in front of her a letter.

"Mildred, this is part of the surprise. I'm want you to read this first and then I will explain it afterwards"

Mildred picked up the letter, and instantly recognized the writing on the front as being he adoptive mothers.

Happy Birthday Mildred.

I know by the time you read this letter you will know that your Deputy Headmistress is actually your birth mother, something which will come as a surprise to you especially as you believe that you come from a non-witch background. But I and your father have known since the day we adopted you that you had witch blood in you veins, which is why we pushed so hard to get you into Cackles.

One thing that we must tell you is that we didn't know until she contacted us a few days ago that your birth mother was actually your teacher.

Me and your father have discussed and know you as much as we do, we know you will be apprehensive to make a relationship, but go ahead as you deserve to get to know her well.

This is why we have come to an agreement with her, which will be explained to you by her now.

Happy Birthday again my darling daughter

Love Mum and Dad.

"Mildred, the reason I got you to read this letter first was a lead up to ask you a question. I asked your parents for the possibility that I could spend some time with away from school during the holidays times, not by me visiting you when you were at home but staying with me but this will only happen if you happy to do so, If you feel uncomfortable in anyway you do not need to agree to it all."

Before she could even finish her sentence Mildred had already spoken.

"I would love to spend time alone with you I think that is what we need, but we can't spend it her at the academy, it would just be to strange."

"Don't worry Mildred; I have somewhere where we can go where we will not be disturbed by anyone."