Thank you everyone for the reviews! More are always, of course, welcome and appreciated but they do mean a lot :)

Enjoy this chapter and I am working on another, possibly for later tonight or at least by morning!

HB rules xxx

Chapter 10 – Everything is fine...

Miss Cackle left her office having taken a potion to calm her nerves. She saw in the corner of her eye William Johnson leaving the castle, obviously distressed; and, she could see, crying. Constance had surprised her before, but this was something else. Felicity Fairweather, her close friend and the one who had informed her of Miss Hardbroom's secret meetings, had been very adamant that she believed them to be in love. They had held hands, even kissed in the view of others and this was not something Constance Hardbroom did lightly. Why had she thrown it away? She knew she would have to talk to her, to try and make her see what she was doing to herself, but feared that it would not work. Remembering Mildred, Miss Cackle made her way to the staffroom. She wanted nothing more than a spoonful of sleeping potion and to meet once more with her bed, but looking at the clock she could see that was a long way into the future.

Maud had made Mildred a cup of tea in the staffroom and sat with her, watching her friend battle the haunting images of their form tutor and potions teacher collapsing before them. Mildred simply stared into space, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and Maud did not know quite what to say. She was thankful when Miss Cackle walked in, as the headmistress always seemed to know how to act, but she saw distraction in her eyes.

'Mildred, are you alright?' she asked gently.

'I'm fine, how is Miss Hardbroom?' The question was the only one she had thought of for the last half an hour and she came straight to the point.

'She is...coping,' Miss Cackle replied half honestly.

'What does that mean exactly? I mean, when I saw her she...' Mildred couldn't finish the sentence as tears washed over her face once more. Miss Cackle pulled up a chair next to Mildred and put an arm around her shoulder.

'Miss Hardbroom is a very strong and capable woman and I am sure that she will be fine with some rest and a strong healing potion.' Miss Cackle was waiting for the one question to which she would have to reply dishonestly.

'What happened, Miss?' The innocence in her voice deserved the truth, but no child deserved to hear about the horrors that had befallen Constance that night; so Miss Cackle tried her best to be forthright.

'Do not let Miss Hardbroom know that I told you this, and don't even tell the others; I have sworn on the Witches Code, but I think you deserve the truth, Mildred, after you tried to help her. Miss Hardbroom was...attacked in the woods. You know what she is like, she hasn't been forthcoming with detail but I understand he blocked her ability to perform magic and acted quite violently towards her. The doctor is sorting her out and I have seen her looking a lot better after a bit of time to get her energy back. There is no need to worry,' she assured the pupil. The last part had been a blatant lie, she knew, but there was no need to alarm the poor girl after the day she had experienced.

'Now girls, I suggest you go back to your rooms and relax for a while. There will be an assembly after lunch and lessons will commence as usual this afternoon.' Maud smiled weakly at Miss Cackle and led her friend silently from the staffroom.

After the girls had left, the smile faded from the headmistress' face and she let her head sink into her hands. Miss Bat emerged from the cupboard and made a cup of her infamous leaf tea, sitting next to her.

'I know you won't want to have to answer again, but how is she?' asked Miss Bat politely.

'Not the best, Davina. Someone used a lot of magic to make sure that she suffered, never mind the physical force involved and I don't know quite how she managed to survive last night if I am honest.' A flicker of a false smile was all she could manage. Miss Drill, who had been sitting in the corner, rose to her feet ready to take action.

'What can we do? Is there some kind of police we can call?'

'I have notified the guild and they are sending a member tonight. I am going to request that they do not concentrate their inquiries at the school, as it will no doubt frighten the girls,' Miss Cackle explained.

'Who could do that to someone? It doesn't even bear thinking about,' said Miss Drill, pacing the length of the staffroom as her anger grew.

The doctor was a tall wizard, dressed in a black suit carrying a briefcase as he strode into the room. He looked as though he had suffered a rather challenging ordeal with a patient, which Miss Cackle guessed had been Constance.

'How is she?' Miss Cackle was the first to ask, but only beat the others by a fraction of a second. She could sense whether he was going to try and put a positive spin on what he had seen or say it frankly.

'I won't lie to you, I haven't seen damage like that for a long while; I am surprised that she survived at all. It appears as if someone used electrical energy conjured by magic on her, which has had a considerable effect on her heart. There is some bad head trauma from where she hit her head but I think that is under control. I've had to give her a blood-replenishing potion and about four other concoctions which she was not pleased about and I've tried to do what I can. Her arm is quite badly broken and if it hadn't been for her instinct to take a soothing draught it may have been worse. Her abdomen was severed by a bolt which was where she lost most blood from but I think I have stemmed the bleeding.'

'Was it really that bad?' Miss Bat asked, astonished at what she had just heard.

'Worse I should expect; I do tend to sugar coat things. She can hardly stand as it is and that's after a strengthening potion and normally I would say that she should take two weeks off at the very least,' he said guiltily.

'But she wasn't having that, was she?' said Imogen with a smile.

'She threatened to turn me into a frog or worse and nearly did, mind you. Oh, yes, that's the other thing; her magic has been affected by the trauma. Only slightly and it should be normal in a few days, but the stress has meant that it will be unpredictable for a while and she shouldn't materialise everywhere, she isn't strong enough though she won't admit it. I would come back in a few days but she has banished me from the castle, which was an interesting experience. Just keep an eye on her and let me know,' he said finally and made for the door. Miss Cackle rose instinctively and showed him out of the castle doors.

Returning to the staffroom, her eyes swam with tears.

'What do we tell the girls?' Miss Bat asked.

'I am under instructions from Constance to tell them she fell, but not to deny the guild investigation is ongoing,' replied Miss Cackle.

'Did she tell you what happened?' Miss Drill enquired curiously.

'Yes,' the headmistress replied honestly, 'but I swore on the code not to divulge any information. And trust me, you wouldn't want to know.' At that moment, Miss Hardbroom materialised beside the urn and began to make herself a cup of tea. At first, she was shaky but regained her stance and poured the hot water into a cup. Miss Bat squeaked and ran straight for the cupboard, knocking books from the table as she fled.

'Miss Hardbroom! What are you doing here?' Miss Drill could not contain the note of surprise.

'I am making myself a cup of tea if that's alright with you,' replied Miss Hardbroom, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She had changed into a different dress, one which did not completely hide the cast on her arm or the bandages wrapped around her middle, but she looked almost as gaunt as she had when the headmistress had left her. She had made the effort to look as though nothing was troubling her, with her hair scraped back into perfect shape and a spell of disguise cast on her face to attempt to hide the marks that were still fresh on her cheek.

'Constance, the doctor not only said that you should be resting but that you were not to materialise like that,' said Amelia, the concern in her voice as blatant as ever.

'I am not about to be instructed as to what I can or cannot do by others, Amelia. I am not a child!' She turned and shot a warning glance at Miss Drill, who had been preparing to back the headmistress up.

'Yes but-'

'No buts. I am returning to my chambers as instructed, if that makes you feel any better. Good day.' She disappeared into nothingness again, leaving the teachers aghast.

Materialising back beside her bed, Constance crumbled. The pain had been almost unbearable; she had refused medication to prevent it as it would make her drowsy. Her good arm grappled at the bed post, catching her body before it fell to the ground and she manoeuvred herself back onto the bed. It had been a front, of course, to show the others how she was coping perfectly when she was in fact not coping at all. The ring box stared at her from the desk and she sighed, sitting back on the bed. She had been told not to use magic too often, but she despised this prospect, clicking her fingers to change her clothes to her purple silk pajamas. She undid the bottom few buttons, lifting her top to reveal the bandages wound tightly around her middle. Already, patches of red were beginning to appear and they reminded her to take the line of potions at the end of her bed.

After several minutes of trying to find a comfortable position, Constance raised her right arm and a pen and paper floated gracefully to where she was sitting, as well as a book to rest on. The test for tomorrow was something not only necessary for the girls, but something for her to keep her mind on that wasn't based around pain or flashbacks. She began writing out a very difficult set of questions about healing potions, knowing which pupils would get each question right as she wrote them. A drop of water fell onto the page, blurring the ink. Clicking her fingers, she removed the stain but another drop fell. She realised then that they were her own tears, but she didn't know why she was crying. Yes, she had reason, but she felt nothing. Perhaps that was why. She had been subjected to a vicious attack, been forced to amble back to the castle, collapsed in front of the whole school and lost the only man she had ever truly loved, and yet she felt nothing. It was the barrier method that had been taught to her during her days under Mistress Broomhead at witch training college. The name still made her shudder, her long wavy hair rippling down her back.

Her days with Mistress Broomhead as her tutor had been by far the worst of her life. It was there that she had become the person she was today, but she could have been so much more. There had been a time where she had been forced to make a terrible decision, whether to stand up to her tutor or to let her shape her life and she knew the next moment the decision she made had been wrong. She ran her long, bony fingers across the thick white scars which still ran up her arms; not self-inflicted, she could never do that, but memories from her college days. She could remember each one to the point where she could recall the pain, the method, the tears late at night. And here she was again, sat alone crying like a child. She brushed away the tears with too much ease and returned to her writing.

You all know you want to review :)