Mildred had had one final thought and rushed back to Cackle's. The girl just could not leave anything unsaid.

Mildred appeared in front of Miss Hardbroom.

"Ah! Mildred I thought you had left!" her tutor blurted out with surprise, she was not getting used to this appearing out of thin air act Mildred had now got down to a fine art. Mildred concealed a snigger. If that was her final act at Cackle's she knew plenty of pupils and teachers that would be overjoyed with it.

"I want to say one more thing…" Mildred said cautiously. She bit her lip still torn over whether to say anything at all. But she had flown all the way back for it!

"I'm waiting," Constance replied curtly.

"Ok, please don't turn me into a frog," Mildred said, "I think you need to tell Miss Drill how you feel…" Mildred spat out and felt a knot in her stomach as she finally got the words out. "I think you care about her and I don't think she will ever act on it unless you say something."

"Oh you do, do you," Miss Hardbroom said as she glared at the girl.

"Yes, I do," Mildred said, holding her own but she felt as though she was withering under the fixed stare of the scariest and most socially awkward woman she knew.

"Well I will be sure to keep your advice in mind," Miss Hardbroom said with precise annunciation, managing to keep her temper at bay.

Mildred stared at her. She had hoped for more. She really wanted to make sure that her formidable tutor had the ability to let someone else in.

"Miss?" Mildred said hesitantly.

"Oh for heaven sake Mildred, what?" Miss Hardbroom asked impatiently.

"You...you do love her, don't you?" she asked softly.

Miss Hardbroom glared at her and breathed in a long, ragged breath as though she were trying to fight her instinctive response to a personal question which was to run or vanish Mildred from her sight.

"It's just that...well...I want you to be happy," Mildred said awkwardly as she stared at her feet. Never had she ventured into such personal territory.

Miss Hardbroom considered the girl and her expression calmed. She no longer had to see Mildred everyday and though she would still tutor her they were certainly going to have to find a new relationship moving forwards. She was an adult witch now and more importantly Miss Hardbroom knew that she was her friend, perhaps even one day she would be her equal in terms of magical prowess.

The potion teacher breathed in steadily, locked eyes with the girl and said, "yes, Mildred, is the answer to your question. And I will try and follow your advice, as I always have," she said with warmth and a delicate smile. "Now leave while you are ahead, before you see the centre of the lake without a protective spell around you," she warned playfully.

Mildred beamed at her tutor and nodded her head, finally satisfied that she had said and done all that she could.

"Good luck," Mildred said with a grin and then vanished once more as she left Cackle's for the final time, at least as a student.

Miss Hardbroom considered Mildred's words and felt an urgency build inside of her. If she was going to say something it had to be now. Each day she weighed up the pros and cons but love wasn't about that...it was messy and raw and well she couldn't control it. But, wasn't that what she was aiming for, less control in her life, more spontaneity...more fun!

She apparated around the school looking for Imogen and finally found her sat at the kitchen table drinking one of her gross smoothies.

"Well you are a hard person to find," Constance said with an edge of frustration.

"Sorry, I felt a little sad after saying goodbye to Mildred so opted for quiet," Imogen said, slightly irritated by Constance's sudden appearance at a vulnerable moment.

"I'm sorry for intruding, I just need to say something, and well it can't wait," Constance said with an anxious expression.

"Oh alright, what's wrong?" Imogen asked, her tone changing from one of irritation to worry.

"Imogen, you always refer to me as fearless and formidable and...lots of other words that ultimately make me quite unapproachable to most. But hopefully not to you" Constance began.

"Well, it wasn't easy but I found the real you, just about" Imogen said with a smile.

"The thing is Imogen. There is one area that fills me with dread, which is why I have never said or done anything" Constance said and sat on one of the kitchen chairs. Imogen looked at her with a puzzled look on her face.

"What is it?" her friend asked gently.

"Imogen...I think I have fallen in love with you" Constance said incredibly awkwardly before straightening up with greater conviction and said, "and I think you might love me too."

Constance held Imogen's eyes that were both surprised and immediately questioning. Was she really saying this?

Constance got up to pace, the moment was eating at her insides. She had never felt so vulnerable and so exposed.

"I prefer your company even to my own these days. I lift when you enter a room and I cannot imagine my life without you in it" Constance explained because the silence was starting to worry her. "You don't have to say anything now, perhaps I am just not used to close friends," the potion's teacher went on and stood on the verge of apparating out of the room.

"Constance, wait" Imogen said as she grabbed her hand. "Of course I love you, I always have" Imogen said in an emotional tone of voice, "I just never thought you felt the same or would…"

"Admit it if I did", Constance said quietly.

Constance felt relief wash over her as she looked into Imogen's eyes. "I don't do relationships well," she began.

"You do them just fine, Constance," Imogen interrupted. "I didn't want to risk our friendship by telling you how I felt...if I had known..."

"I probably wouldn't have been ready" Constance said simply. "I am a selfish lover Imogen...I can be quite protective and controlling" she warned. There was fear in her eyes. She needed Imogen. She wanted a deeper connection but she couldn't lose her, not ever.

"I think I know you well enough Constance Hardbroom," Imogen said squaring up to her, "and you do not scare me," she said with a glint in her eye. Seeing her so vulnerable and worried about expressing her feelings just made her so much more loveable.

"Oh really!" Constance said mischievously. "I am quite powerful...or so I am told" she toyed.

"I imagine you are but I tend to get what I want from you...maybe you are not as powerful as you think" Imogen jousted back.

"And maybe you should know when to be quiet" Constance said as she grabbed Imogen around the waist and pulled her towards her until their lips met and she was wrapped in a tight embrace.

They held the kiss for what felt like minutes. Finally, their feelings had connected.

"Constance are we really going to...are you certain?" Imogen breathed as her emotions flooded her body and she finally dared to consider what she had imagined for years.

"I love you…" Constance said but she saw the worry in Imogen's eyes and knew she would need more. "Sit," she commanded.

Imogen raised an eyebrow at the order.

Constance laughed lightly, "please," she added.

Imogen sat down staring at the woman she had admired and cared about for all these years from a distance to protect them both. She felt suddenly quite vulnerable herself. What if Constance pushed her away or changed her mind?

"Do you remember when we played that ridiculous game, truth or dare, in this very kitchen?" Constance asked.

"Of course I do," Imogen admitted. She had replayed that night so many times in her head.

"Well I knew then...at least part of me did," Constance confessed. "I just didn't know how to accept it or what to do with the feelings. I always put my position here above my personal life."

Imogen had always cared for Constance but if she was honest she hadn't really understood the extent of those feelings until her colleague had been put in danger.

"When you were hurt after the first battle in the Great Hall. I was so worried and so scared of losing you. I thought it was because I admired you...cared about you. But when you told me about Mistress Broomhead I felt a deep understanding for what you had gone through and I wanted to protect you. I knew I loved you more than I had ever loved anyone else," Imogen said visibly moved by her words and the relief of being able to say them aloud.

"You have protected me, in so many ways," Constance admitted. Imogen had always managed to reach her and make her feel human.

"I think we are pretty even in that regard," Imogen stated with a half smile as she considered what they had both gone through.

"Well you have seen every inch of my body already, apparently," Constance said as a predatory look flashed across her face. "I think it is time we evened those odds," she added with a smirk.

"Well this is a side I haven't seen before," Imogen said intrigued by what looked like a confident and calm Constance Hardbroom.

"It may take me a while to admit my feelings and face them. But, I am not shy Imogen. You will be surprised...I like to overachieve in all that I do," Constance added coyly.

"Surprise me then," Imogen said as she stood up and took Constance's hand with an excited apprehension and desire of what would follow.

The potion teacher acted instinctively and transported them both to her room.

They had a week left to discover exactly who was capable of surprising who. A competitive Imogen Drill verses a magical Constance Hardbroom. One thing was for sure, losing could be just as pleasurable as winning.

As Mildred flew away from Cackle's on her broom she couldn't help but feel sad. There were so many happy memories, so many sad memories and a few scary ones. She felt like she had already lived a lifetime of pain, adversity, joy, and triumph.

From her very first accident at Cackle's when she landed her broom in the bins after narrowly missing Miss Hardbroom's head she had always received unwanted attention. She fell often, made mistakes frequently and always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But, the person who had criticised her the most had also supported her the most when it mattered. She had smoothed her rough edges, softened enough to teach Mildred in a way that she would respond to, and cared about her in a way she didn't think the woman had in her.

Cackle's Academy would not be what it was without Constance Hardbroom and Mildred wouldn't be who she was now without her ice cold touch. Mildred figured she had thawed that touch a little and hopefully protected the next worst witch to pass through Cackle's from the worst of her. As she looked back one last time she hoped everyone saw more of the best of her because Mildred was sad to leave that woman behind most of all.

"Come on Tabby it's time we got ready for our next adventure...let's not leave it too long before we visit though hey," she said out loud because it gave her comfort. She left Cackle's a witch who could draw things that came to life, had a magical palette, and could apparate! She thought back to that first day again and laughed to herself. Nobody ever expected the worst witch to fly out of that school with such a list of accomplishments...least of all her.

"I did it!" she shouted to the air around her suddenly overcome with what this journey meant. "I did it, Tabs," she said again.

She certainly had. She had achieved what no witch her age had ever achieved. And she was just getting started!

The End.