Hello everyone!

I finally managed to finish this chapter and I hope you'll all like it. At the moment I am planning on two more chapters, maybe three. I hope writing them won't take too long but I there is another short story I am working on right now and that I'd like to get off my mind first.

For now, I hope you will enjoy this chapter!

At first, there was nothing.

Then she could hear noises which eventually turned into faint voices. It took a while but they got clearer any passing second and finally she recognised them as Mildred Hubble and Ada Cackle.

Then her other senses slowly returned. She was lying on something unfamiliar but soft, maybe a bed?

It smelled of soothing lavender and mint, someone had made tea.

Finally, she managed to open her eyes and she blinked a few times before she realised that she was in Julie Hubble's sitting room.

And that broke the dam and the memories came rushing back, everything that happened in Julie's mind, how they worked towards that last knot and – with a start, Pippa sat up.

The sun was barely visible behind the mountains on the horizon and Hecate was asleep on a cot next to her. Considering who was in the kitchen, they were probably a courtesy of Miss Cackle.

'Hiccup? Hecate, wake up,' she whispered and softly started shaking her friend. It took a moment but then the dark haired witch stirred.

'What's wrong, pipsqueak?' she mumbled sleepily without even opening her eyes.

'We have to check on Julie.'

'Julie? JULIE!' she sat up so abruptly that she almost crashed into Pippa but she didn't seem to notice. At least she was awake now.

'Heavens, Pippa, what happened?'

'I don't know. But we should check on her.'

'We should indeed,' was Hecate's answer but Pippa caught her arm before she could get up.

'Ada and Mildred are in the kitchen.'

'WHAT?' she hissed but Pippa just shrugged and pointed to the door that led into the hallway.

'That way.'

They managed to sneak into the hall and past the kitchen without any noise that would rouse the suspicion of the two other witches but both of them felt like they went back in time, to their own schooldays at Amulet's. Back then, Pippa had regularly convinced Hecate to join her on midnight trips to the kitchen for hot chocolate and cake or the rooftops to look at the stars. And somehow they had managed not to get caught a once during their five years there. Not that it was something they ever told anyone about – their students would run riot if they ever found out!

The point, though, was that Pippa and Hecate made it to Julie's room – or what they thought to be Julie's room – undetected. They had indeed picked the right room because in the middle stood a big bed with a fast asleep Julie on it.

'Do you think she's alright?' asked Pippa and carefully sat down next to her blonde friend. Suddenly, she was scared that maybe she wasn't alright, that something had gone terribly wrong. She looked up at Hecate.

'Do you remember what happened?'

The other woman frowned as she tried to recall the last moments in Julie Hubble's mind.

'I think,' she began slowly, 'that we managed to undo that last knot but I am not entirely sure.'

Pippa nodded.

'Maybe Julie knows some more,' she answered and gently placed a hand on Julie's forehead. 'I'll see if she is really alright, maybe help her get some order into her memories.'

'Are you sure you are up for that?' Hecate asked, somewhat concerned about her old friend – but also about Julie – but Pippa just nodded.

'I feel surprisingly good – don't you?' She didn't wait for an answer and instead closed her eyes. Her lips moved silently and then her shoulders slightly slumped down, a sure sign for Hecate that she had disconnected her mind once again.

Julie's mind was a mess. If someone had a traumatic experience, one could find several drawers of their memory-chest pulled out and memories piled up near the door, but this…Pippa had never seen anything like it. There wasn't a drawer in place as far as Pippa could see and most of the memories were flying around. FLYING. And there was no sign of Julie, which was probably the most concerning thing about the situation. Still, Pippa wasn't one to give up easily so instead of retreating, she set out to find her friend.

It didn't take her anyway near as long as she had expected. She found Julie about halfway down the shelf, sitting cross-legged on the floor with her eyes fixed on what looked like an enormous film-screen in the space across. The woman's focus was on the 'film' that played there, which was obviously a memory. On the other side, Julie had already closed many of the drawers again and Pippa realised that those were the memories Julie had already 'watched'.

The process was quite simple. If a witch or a talented wizard wanted to recall a specific memory, they would go to their own cabinet, pull out the drawer and watch the memory like a film. Only that instead of being an outsider, one was instead put back into your younger self's body so you could relive the memory.

Knowing all that, Pippa waited quietly until the memory finished and Julie came back to 'reality'. It didn't actually take too long – memories tended to be over faster than the real event.

When Julie opened her eyes again, she was silent for a long moment before turning to look at Pippa.

'I am looking at all these memories,' she whispered, 'and all I can think is 'how could I ever forget?' And I keep telling me it wasn't my fault, that I didn't choose to forget but still…and then I think of all the things that were put into their place and I wonder how I wouldn't realise that something was missing…' She stopped and for a moment, Pippa was speechless. Not because she didn't know what to say but because she didn't know how.

'You couldn't have realised it,' she eventually began, 'because in all you remembered, there was the underlying feeling of something being missing.'

'You're right…of course you're right.' Julie looked up. 'Are you and Hecate okay?'

Pippa nodded.

'We are perfectly fine. I think we've scared your daughter though because when we went to check on you, she was in the kitchen with Miss Cackle.'

'Oh – but she's alright?'

'I think so – really Julie, I was more worried about you than about Mildred!'

At that, Julie couldn't help but laugh. Who would have ever thought that anyone would say such a thing and mean it? Probably no one who knew Mildred. Still, it was nice to know that she suddenly had friends who cared for her, she thought. Then Julie looked up to Pippa again.

'I'm fine. I'm just…well, sorting through things. Looking at everything – it takes a while, you know?'

'Of course. You just keep sorting and I'll go back and tell everyone that you are perfectly fine. I just wanted to make sure.'

She beamed and Julie couldn't help but smile back. Just as the witch was about to turn around and leave, Julie grabbed her hand. Pippa frowned slightly.

'I just wanted to say thank you, Pippa. Really, thank you for helping me with all ... this,' she gestured to the memories around her and Pippa beamed at her.

'You're very welcome – but no I must go, so you can keep remembering! And later you can tell us all about the things you know again!'

She gave Julie a last bright smile and then her image burst into a million of pink sparks that slowly sank to the ground and disappeared.

'Good evening, Miss Pentangle.'

It was Ada Cackles calm voice who greeted her back into the physical world and Pippa whirled around. The elder witch was standing in the door and there was no sign of Hecate.

'Good evening, Miss Cackle,' she answered, maybe a little belated but she had needed a moment to collect herself again.

Taking her answer as a good sign, Miss Cackle nodded towards the hallway with her gently smile.

'Hecate is in the kitchen with Mildred – I believe it would be better if we redeem them for now.'

Pippa nodded frantically, she was well aware that while Hecate might have become Julie's friend by now, she was still Mildred's teacher and they didn't see eye-to-eye in most matters.

So imagine the headmistresses surprise when they came into the kitchen and found Hecate reading Mildred's essay over the girl's shoulder, occasionally remarking on a phrase or pointing out a mistake.

'Well, look at that,' Pippa giggled, 'The two of you can actually get along!'

Hecate looked up and glared at her but Mildred burst into giggles as well and Ada looked like she had to bite back a smile of her own. Still, it was the girl who sobered up again first to give Pippa a piercing look.

'Is my mum alright, Miss Pentangle?' she asked and if you listened closely, you could detect a hint of fear in her voice. Pippa gave her a soothing smile as she sat down next to her and took her hands.

'Your mother is perfectly well, Mildred, there is absolutely no need for you to worry. I was just talking to her – in her mind – and she is sorting through all the memories that have been locked away for the past 24 years. It will take a while but I believe she is up and about again in the morning.'

Mildred beamed when she heard this.

'Thank you so much, Miss Pentangle – and you too, Miss Hardbroom! Now I'm not the only witch in the family anymore and – 'She stopped suddenly and frowned as if she had realised something.

'If my mums actually a witch and I am a witch, doesn't that mean that my grandma and auntie Mo are witches as well?' she asked.

The three adults looked at each other and sighed simultaneously. There was so much Mildred didn't know – couldn't know – because of Mistress Broomheads' cruelty.

'Well -,' Hecate started but Pippa interrupted her.

'I don't know about the three of you, but I am rather hungry – we did use a lot of our energy, Hecate. I've got a menu from the 'witch penny delivery' somewhere, unless anyone is up to cooking right now? I'm certainly not –well then, is there anything special you want? Mildred? Ada?'

'There is magical take out?' Mildred asked incredulously before either of the two women even had the chance to say anything.

'Of course there is!' Pippa exclaimed and with a wave of her fingers, she handed her a glossy purple menu. The girl stared at it for a moment before shaking her head and flicking through it, occasionally raising her eyebrows when she came across an odd dish.

A few minutes later, Pippa went into the hallway to mirror-order their delivery while Ada and Hecate stared explaining to Mildred why her aunt and grandmother didn't necessarily have to be witches as well.

'Perhaps they didn't even know that your mother was one,' Hecate explained later, 'you didn't know you had magic until Maud crashed onto your balcony, so it might be that her magic didn't show until she was older as well. You said that she told you about attending a boarding school as well, it is possible that it was a school for witches and she never told her mother.'

'But perhaps we shouldn't speculate right now,' interrupted Miss Cackle and both Pippa and Hecate agreed with a nod. 'I'm sure your mother will be able to answer all your questions in the morning.'

'I hope so,' was Mildred's answer. She yawned. It was late, long past her usual bedtime and the adults seemed to realise that as well. With another yawn she excused herself and when she came back from brushing her teeth to turn of the light in the kitchen, she found that it wasn't empty.

'I sent Ada and Hecate home but they'll be back in the morning, dear. You should go to bed now it's really late,' Miss Pentangle smiled. Mildred felt herself nod but then she frowned.

'What about you?' she asked and the woman chuckled.

'Well, I'm staying – I hope you don't mind but we can't really leave you here on your own now, can we?'

'My mum is right in there,' Mildred pointed out and vaguely gestured towards Julies bedroom. But once again the blonde witch just smiled.

'That may be but she is still not back to normal yet and I don't think that she would be too happy if I just left you alone. Besides, I'd like to be here – just to make sure she's really okay.'

Well, that made sense to Mildred, so she simply nodded. She was way too tired to fight about it and with a 'Goodnight, Miss Pentangle' she left the kitchen and went to bed.

And while everyone was asleep – Mildred and Julie in the flat and Ada and Hecate up in the caste – Pippa sat silently with a cup of hot chocolate and watched the hours pass until morning.