Hecate's hands were trembling so intensely that the book she held looked poised to fall. Ada bent, her hands gently easing the book from Hecate's grasp.
"Hecate?" Ada asked, concern mounting the longer Hecate remained silent.
Hecate's head snapped up, her eyes searching Ada's. "Really?" The word came unbidden, before Hecate could stop herself.
Ada smiled. Hecate need for reassurance was so earnest, so instinctive. So very her. And now that the subject was had been cracked wide open, words of reassurance came easily to Ada.
"Really," Ada said, softly. "I love you, Hecate Hardbroom. I don't know about True Loves or Soulmates or if any of this-" Ada waved a hand vaguely at the fortress of books around Hecate. "-if any of it has basis in magical science, but…I do know that I love you. Of that, at least, I'm very sure."
"Oh," Hecate breathed. She looked to be on the verge of tears. "You…never said."
A flicker of something crossed Ada's face – regret perhaps? Something Hecate couldn't place.
"I…I did believe it to be a rather one-sided sentiment," Ada admitted.
"No," said Hecate, standing now, fixing Ada with a serious look. "No, not one-sided."
It was Ada's turn to be speechless for a spell as Hecate reached out to her, hands gently gripping Ada's shoulders. How something so simple could be so intimate was beyond Ada. Every barrier she'd built over the years where Hecate was concerned came crashing, beautifully, down.
Hecate could feel it. It was evident in the way Ada looked at her, lower lip quivering and blue eyes misty. Hecate pressed a gentle kiss to Ada's cheek as if to seal her own declaration.
Joy bubbled up in Ada's chest and she found herself half laughing and half crying simultaneously. "I am sorry," she said, pressing a hand to her mouth, trying to regain some sort of composure. No one person was supposed to feel this much happiness and relief all at once, she was sure.
"Please don't be." Hecate wrapped her arms around Ada properly, pulling her into a tight hug. Hecate's legs were cramped from hours and hours of sitting, but she didn't care, and she clung to Ada as if her life depended on it. Overwhelmed and overtired, Hecate pressed her cheek to the top of Ada's head, crying her tears she didn't know she had in her.
"My dear," said Ada, rubbing soothing circles across Hecate's back. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," said Hecate, lifting her head. "I'm am. I'm just...I'm so…" In her exhaustion, the right words eluded her.
"…happy," Hecate finished quietly. She looked around at the library at the disaster of books and papers she'd made in her fervent search for answers about why Ada's magic had affected her so. They were nothing compared to the evidence in front of her now.
"As am I," said Ada. "Hecate, you cannot know how much."
"I think I do." Hecate cleared her throat. "I… very much hope I do."
Ada smiled tenderly at her. Yes, perhaps Hecate did, which was the best feeling of all.
Hecate bit back a yawn, unable to quite hide it. "I wasn't quite finished with my research," she said, trying to distract Ada and failing miserably.
"I think you've done quite enough for now," Ada smiled, her eyes twinkling. "Why, some very valuable conclusions were reached."
Hecate gave a sharp laugh. "You might say that," she said, smiling. Hecate stifled another yawn and Ada tutted.
"I think it's time we got you to bed."
Hecate quirked an eyebrow at Ada, saying nothing and Ada blushed, realizing how risqué it had sounded. "I meant it's time you had some rest. You may continue your research if you like, after some sleep and some food."
Hecate felt a glimmer of excitement. There was something so thrilling about the way Ada colored at Hecate's expression, something that had never been there before.
"Very well," she acquiesced. She was very weary and as much as she would have liked to explore their playful new flirtation, exhaustion won out in the end. She bent down to collect a few books to take with her and Ada magicked the others back into something resembling order.
"Breakfast or sleep first?" Ada asked, as the breakfast tray she'd brought with her hovered in mid-air beside her.
"Sleep," said Hecate, struggling to keep her eyes open.
"Very well," Ada smiled, and she reached for Hecate's shoulder to transfer them away.
"I can't believe it didn't work," Mildred complained, as she fast-forwarded through the footage on Enid's maglet for the fourth time that morning.
Maud sighed and pulled her spell science homework out of her bag, spreading it out on Mildred's desk. "I told you Millie, there's no point in watching it again. There's no evil witch in it."
"But I was so sure she'd come back," Mildred insisted, her eyes still glued to the tablet.
"Why?" asked Enid, flopping down next to Mildred on the bed.
"Because the perpetrator always returns to the scene of the crime," explained Mildred.
Enid giggled. "I think you watched to many of those CSI shows over the holidays, mate."
Mildred frowned. "…or…"
"Mildred Hubble." Enid's tone was equal parts teasing and concern.
"Or…I didn't watch enough!" Mildred said, looking up in excitement. "The idea was right, but maybe the timeline was wrong!"
Enid looked confused. "The timeline?"
"Yes," Mildred shot off the bed and began digging through her bookcase, sending several pages of Maud's homework assignment flying.
"Hey!"
"Sorry Maud. Have you seen my astronomy book?"
"We're supposed to finish this assignment by this afternoon," Maud pointed out. "We don't have an astronomy test for two weeks."
"I'm not talking about studying," said Mildred, flinging books about. "I'm talking about helping HB."
Maud sighed. "You lent it to me, remember?" she admitted, pulling it out of her bag.
"Oh yeah!" Mildred said. "Thanks!"
Enid crowded around Mildred as she flipped through the textbook, her curiosity about Mildred's timeline theory more interesting than Maud's insistence that they study spell science. Maud sighed and tidied her papers away so that she might have a proper look too.
"There, that's the comet that's important," said Mildred, pointing to the page. Her finger ran down the list of dates the comet would be visible this year.
"When's the next full moon?" asked Mildred.
"Tonight," said Enid and Maud in unison. Maud was about to chastise Mildred for not keeping track as they were supposed to, but Mildred leapt into the air before she could.
"I knew it!" said Mildred, practically dancing now "The comet is visible tonight and it's a full moon. She'll have to come today. She will."
"You're sure?" asked Enid.
"In the daylight?" added Maud.
"Yes!" Mildred's excitement turned to alarm. "Oh no! She could be here already! Enid, can you turn the camera back on?"
Enid picked up the maglet. "Should be able to…" she said, fiddling with it. The maglet screen showed static and then a very muddy image of the forest. Or at least, they assumed it was the forest.
"Why's it so blurry?" asked Mildred, crestfallen.
"Because the camera is in night mode," explained Enid. "It won't work in the daylight."
"Then we'll have to go back and change it," declared Mildred. "We've got to catch her before tonight's full moon."
"Are you mad!?" Maud demanded. "You want to sneak out of the castle in the middle of the day, to go out into a forest where you might very well run into an evil sorceress. Besides we've got chanting in twenty-five minutes."
"You'll just have to cover for me then," said Mildred, her mind made up. "We can't let HB take the blame for something that isn't her fault."
"But Mildred..." Maud floundered. "What if you do run into Miss Broomhead. What then?"
"Maud's got a point," Enid said. "It's too dangerous, Mil."
Mildred thought hard. There had to be some way to do it without being caught. Then, Mildred had a wonderful, marvelous idea.
"I'll be invisible!" she exclaimed. "The third years were making invisibility potions this morning, remember? At least the ingredients will still be in the potions lab." Mildred looked at her watch. "Twenty-four minutes until chanting, that's got to be enough time to brew one."
It was a better plan than just marching into the wood without anything, but Enid and Maud still looked anxious.
"I'll take my maglet," said Mildred, desperate to convince her friends. "I'll message you if I'm in any trouble. Please, HB needs our help."
Enid and Maud looked at each other helplessly.
"Fine."
It only took the three girls fifteen minutes to brew the invisibility potion – thank you to the Year Three for never putting away their ingredients properly. HB would have been appalled, but since she wasn't around certain liberties were being taken under the lax instruction of Miss Grundy.
"The spell should wear off in four hours," said Maud, as Mildred's torso began to disappear. "You have to be back by then."
Mildred grinned as more and more of her disappeared. Magic was so cool. "I will be," she said, beaming. "You'll tell Miss Bat I'm not feeling well?"
"You got it, Millie," said Enid.
"Be careful" implored Maud. Enid nodded seriously.
"I'll be careful," said Mildred earnestly. "I promise."
Ada and Hecate materialized in Hecate's bedroom and Hecate deposited her books on the nightstand before flopping down dramatically onto the bed. When it became apparent that she intended to sleep like that, Ada tutted.
"Surely, you'd be more comfortable in your bed, Hecate? Or at the very least take off your shoes."
Hecate made a noise of protest that was muffled by her pillow.
"Come on, my dear. Where's your nightgown, I'll help."
Hecate grumbled, but she raised a hand to summon her nightgown, so tired she didn't think that perhaps magic was not the best idea. The garment shot out from under her pillow at breakneck speed and smacked Ada squarely in the chest.
"Sorry," Hecate mumbled, as Ada suppressed a chuckle.
"Never mind, no harm done." Now that Ada had the nightgown it was no trouble to snap her fingers and swap it for Hecate's regular clothes.
Hecate murmured a thank you into her pillow. Ada smiled at her and shook out the blanket that had been folded at the end of the bed. With a great degree of care, she tucked it around Hecate, hoping it would be enough to keep her comfortable.
"Sweet dreams, Hecate." Ada whispered, though Hecate might very well have already been asleep. Unable to resist, Ada pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before straightening up.
She scanned the stack of books Hecate had left on the nightstand and grabbed a copy of True Love's Kiss and Other Unconventional Healing Magic that was second from the top. While Hecate slept, perhaps Ada would do a little reading of her own.