Thank you to everyone reading this. I hope you're enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it. I'd love to know what you think.
Alone again, Hecate smiled inwardly to herself. Had everything in the clearing really just happened? She hoped she hadn't been too forward, inviting Pippa Pentangle to stay the night.
The more she replayed the evening in her head, Hecate found herself suddenly feeling horrified at her own actions. The witch didn't know what had come over herself. She was usually so in control of her words and emotions, not a witch to casually invite someone to spend the night on a whim. She shuddered, feeling embarrassed. Pippa must think her such a fool, no wonder she'd been so desperate to get back to Pentangle's. How could she be so stupid?
Hecate turned the evenings events over in her mind as she tried unsuccessfully to fall asleep.
Hecate awoke with a jolt, still stunned by the previous night's events. She must have fallen asleep eventually. She had been tossing and turning all night, worried she had pushed Pippa away after only just getting her back. She felt a mixture of elation at the kiss, and unease at how the night had ended. Her chest hurt at the thought. She could have ruined everything by being so forward. Replaying the evening once more in her head, she recalled that the beautiful blonde witch had said to mirror her soon. She relaxed a little. Surely the witch would not have asked her to mirror soon if she hadn't wanted to speak to her again. Still, she thought, she would have to control herself more in the future.
Glancing at the clock on her oak bedside table, Hecate's eyes widened in shock. She had overslept. Hecate never overslept. Last night's events had quite clearly affected her sleep. Mentally chastising herself for her sloppiness, she quickly dressed, and with a spell, put her dark hair into a tight bun. She smoothed her already wrinkle-less dress and quickly, but precisely put on some red lipstick and black eyeliner. She frowned at her face in the mirror, the dark under eye circles did not suit her. She must get a better night's sleep tonight. Remembering how late she was, she gave a sharp click of her fingers, and left her chambers for the day.
As she materialised in the dining hall, the loud hustle and bustle of the students reminded her of the early morning detentions she had set for Mildred Hubble. Huffing at her own uncharacteristic disorganisation, she transferred to her classroom without getting any breakfast.
Hecate was surprised to see Mildred already waiting outside, ready to begin her early morning detention. "Come in, Mildred Hubble," she said slowly, drawing out every syllable. Mildred jumped. She always disliked how her teacher would appear without warning.
Hecate quickly set Mildred to work chopping mandrake roots into useable cubes for the good fortune potions the fourth years would be brewing that afternoon. "Very good," she commented as she noticed the care Mildred was putting in to make each cube the same size. Mildred smiled proudly.
Encouraged by her teacher's approval, Mildred asked cheerily "Did you have a nice tea with Miss Pentangle?" Hecate scowled. This girl was pushing her luck. "It was perfectly… Adequate, thank you Mildred." Hecate said quickly. She didn't want to divulge anything about her personal life to her students. Even the fact Mildred knew she had met with Pippa for tea was bad enough. "That reminds me," she carried on quickly, to avoid further questions. "We still have the matter of your punishment for your little flying display yesterday to discuss."
Mildred's face fell. "But Miss Hardbroooooom," she whined, "It really wasn't my fault. Someone must have jinxed my broom."
"Do you have any proof?" Hecate asked, her right eyebrow cocked skeptically.
"Well not exactly, but even I'm not that bad at flying…" Mildred began.
"Well Mildred, if you don't have any evidence, how am I expected to believe your little excuse?" Hecate said. "As you are already in detention with me for the next two weeks, I don't expect it would do either of us any favours for me to extend that." Mildred breathed a sigh of relief "Instead," Hecate continued, "I will be setting you extra potions work to do in your free time. We will use your morning detentions to go through your work."
Mildred opened her mouth in indignation, extra potions homework? On top of her normal schoolwork too? This wasn't fair! Before Mildred could say anything, her teacher continued. "Judging by your most recent grades, you could benefit from the extra revision, Mildred. I expect your work to be completed to the highest standard." Mildred's shoulders slumped, this was beyond unfair. "You shall finish preparing the mandrake root this morning, and I will create your first assignment."
The detention continued in silence, with Mildred sullenly chopping the mandrake root, and Hecate flicking through potions textbooks to find a suitable assignment for Mildred. With some annoyance, Hecate noticed the girl had begun to haphazardly chop the mandrake root into irregular shapes of different sizes. She snapped her fingers and vanished the mess her student had made. "You will start again with a fresh root," she said "and this time you will chop them into perfectly matching cubes." Mildred's face was a thunderstorm. "Miss Hubble, you must learn to keep your emotions under control. Just because something does not go your way, does not mean you can spoil your work." Hecate chided.
By the end of the detention, Mildred was glad to be given her homework and be out of the scrutiny of her strict teacher. She quickly scurried away to her first lesson of the day, chanting.
Hecate sat at her desk. Glad to be alone once more. She was very proud of the punishment she had just dished out to Mildred. She knew that if the girl actually tried with these additional assignments, she would be more than capable of passing her end of term exams. If only the girl would actually try.
The first assignment she had set Mildred was to identify and draw all of the ingredients used in a classic sleeping draught. She had seen the girl draw before, and knew it was something she enjoyed. Hopefully it would help the revision stick in her mind.
The potions teacher had a free period first thing, and was looking forward to catching up on her marking from yesterday. First, however, there was something more important for her to do. With a flick of her wrist, she conjured up a small ornate gold mirror, and balanced it precariously against a pile of textbooks. She frowned as she saw how tight her face looked. She tried to relax her muscles, but remained clenching her jaw in anxious anticipation. She couldn't wait any longer to call Pippa. She needed the certainty of knowing how she was feeling about the previous night's happenings.
As she waited for Pippa to pick up, she could hear her heart pounding. The longer she waited for her call to be answered, the louder it seemed to get.
Suddenly Pippa's face appeared in the mirror, smiling happily. "Hiccup! I'm so pleased to see you!" she exclaimed. "I did worry that I might have offended you by returning to my school. You didn't mirror after you transferred me." She pouted, a little crestfallen.
Hecate was taken aback, she hadn't imagined that confident Pippa would have worried about upsetting her. "I was concerned that I may have been too forward," she offered up by way of an explanation. "I do not want you to think that you are just some witch that I would cast aside after…" Hecate trailed off, embarrassed. "Pipsqueak, I value the time we are spending together. I do not want things to feel rushed or forced."
Pippa stifled a giggle. She couldn't imagine Hecate picking her up and dropping her like some kind of one night stand. "My darling Hiccup, of course you weren't too forward. I would have stayed forever if I didn't have the responsibility of my school to look after." She smiled, pleased that Hecate now looked much more relaxed.
Several moments passed in mutual quietness, with the two witches staring longingly at one another through the mirror. Somehow they didn't need words to convey the things they were feeling for one another.
"I've got to dash, Hecate darling." Pippa said sadly, noticing the time. "I have a meeting with the governors about building a new witchball stadium."
Hecate rolled her eyes, of course the blonde witch's school would have the investment for expensive new facilities. "Let's mirror again this evening," Pippa added the last sentence, hoping to confirm to the pale witch in the mirror that she did indeed want to see her again.
Once the mirror has returned to reflecting the room, Hecate smiled. She felt like a large weight had been magically vanished from her shoulders.
Before she had a chance to look at the rather large stack of papers that still needed marking, Hecate was made to jump by the appearance of the school's headmistress at her classroom door. Immediately the warm feeling from her mirror call with Pippa cooled. "Ada!" Said Hecate briskly. Not in the slightest impressed by her colleague's unannounced arrival. She hoped desperately that her older friend had not overheard her conversation with Pippa.
Ada smiled, not noticing her friend's brusque welcome. "Hecate, how was your tea with Miss Pentangle last night?" She asked. She had always been hopeful of a closer relationship between the two schools. It didn't do her girls any favours to not have any interaction with boys. Ethel Hallow's reaction to her male opposition at the spelling bee had been enough evidence of that.
Hecate felt annoyed. Why did everyone feel the need to poke their noses into her business today. "Adequate, I suppose." She replied dryly.
Ada grasped her hands together in jubilation. "Excellent!" She exclaimed. "I have hoped for quite some time to improve the relationship between Cackle's and Pentangle's Academies." She divulged to her deputy. "It would do our girls the world of good to interact with students from a more diverse background."
Hecate froze. Her lips pursed together in a tight horizontal line across her face. Allowing the girls from Cackle's to mix with the students from Pentangle's was a recipe for disaster. The girls had such little respect for traditional witching as it was. However, this would offer her an excuse to see Pippa in person a lot more frequently. She nodded curtly. "Quite." She said.
Hecate could hardly wait for the final lesson of the day to end. She even eschewed the opportunity to reprimand her fourth years when their potions were less than satisfactory.
At dinner, the usually uncompromising teacher didn't notice the raucous behaviour of some rowdy second years as a food fight broke out. This happened much to the intrigue of Miss Drill and Mr Rowan-Webb. They exchanged amused glances and chuckles as Hecate absentmindedly pushed her food around her plate.
Hecate startled, feeling the eyes of the two teachers burning into her neck She turned to face them. "I suppose you have nothing better to do than stare?" She accused. "Am I the only teacher to care about discipline in this school?" The teachers turned back to their plates, with feigned seriousness on their faces.
Rising from her seat, Hecate addressed the group of loud students as they continued flinging food between themselves. "Silence!" she bellowed. The dining hall all turned to face the angry teacher. "What is the meaning of this behaviour?" She exclaimed at the now sheepish second years. "You will be spending the rest of your evening scrubbing the floors clean of the mess you have made, and you will do it without magic." She said vindictively. Satisfied the poor behaviour had been stopped, she sat back down and attacked the food on her plate with her fork.
Relief waved over Hecate when the last students finally put their plates on the trolley to be taken to the kitchen. She set the second years to work with their punishment with the promise she would be back in two hours to check on their progress. The formidable mistress raised her hand and disappeared.
In her chambers, Hecate readied herself for her impending call with Pippa. She studied her face in the mirror, frowning. When had she become so old? All of a sudden, her tight bun started to give her a headache. She cast a complicated spell to create a more casual hairstyle. She settled for a half-up, half down style. Her long black waves cascaded down her back, with the top pieces of her hair twisted intricately into a plait at the back of her head. She hummed the school song as she made herself a cup of earl grey, and placed a bowl of pilchards on the floor for Morgana. Morgana purred and tucked in happily.
Satisfied that she was ready to see Pippa again, she sat down in front of her mirror.
"Pipsqueak," she breathed as her friend's face appeared in the mirror for the second time that day. "How did your meeting with the governors go?" She asked.
Pippa laughed, "Surely we have more exciting things to talk about than school business, Hiccup." She said. "But if you must know, it went really well. Perhaps once the stadium is built, we can host a joint Pentangles and Cackle's witchball tournament to commemorate its opening?" Pippa smiled hopefully, knowing Hecate's distaste for the students from the two schools mixing.
To Pippa's surprise, Hecate nodded. "Perhaps. Ada expressed similar wishes earlier today. She thinks that our students spending more time together would benefit them." Hecate continued, "She was very interested in how our little picnic went yesterday."
Pippa's mouth formed a circle. "Does Ada know, Hiccup?" She asked. She didn't imagine Hecate to be one to kiss and tell so soon.
Noting Pippa's shock, Hecate quirked an eyebrow. "Ada knows as much as she needs to know. She is aware we had tea together last night, and she knows that it was… adequate." Hecate said, wincing at the last word as she said it. Pippa giggled at this, she was used to Hecate struggling to share her emotions. "I thought that perhaps we might use the bringing together of the schools to spend some more time together." Hecate added quickly. "It would be less likely to raise suspicions if we were to be seen together."
"Of course, Hiccup," Pippa smiled. She was pleased to hear that Hecate wanted to spend more time with her. "You do realise that one day we will have to tell people about us." She added. From the pained look on Hecate's face, she wished she hadn't. "Of course, not right away. Let us work out what this is between us first. It's quite nice to have something just between the two of us. Just like the old days." She said, scrambling to get something that wasn't a frown out of Hecate.
Hecate nodded. "Yes, that does sound sensible." She desperately wanted to ask the other witch what she thought the current status of their relationship was, but didn't dare ask. Instead, she moved the subject to something she knew very well. Detention. Hecate could talk about detention for hours on end. "This morning, I gave Mildred Hubble her punishment for her poor attempt at flying," she began. "Don't worry, I think it might actually benefit the girl." She added as Pippa opened her mouth to defend Mildred. "I am setting her extra work with her potions. We will use her detention time to go through the material in great detail. I have noticed that the girl learns much better in a one to one learning situation."
"Oh Hecate," Pippa smiled, "I knew you really wanted to help the girl. Although, setting extra potions homework so close to end of term exams is slightly cruel."
"Exams she may not pass without extra tuition." Hecate countered. Pippa smiled, she loved that Hecate wanted the best out of all of her students. If only she wanted the best from herself too.
"I think it's wonderful that you want her to succeed, Hiccup." Pippa praised. "I so wish I was with you right now to give you a big hug." She said wistfully.
Hecate felt a pang of longing upon hearing the other witch's expression of want. "The summer holidays are coming up soon, Pips," she said, an idea forming in her head. "Does Pentangle's still break up for the end of term a week earlier than Cackle's?"
"I-I think so," said Pippa, unsure where her old friend was going with this.
"Would you like to come and stay at Cackle's for that week?" Hecate asked. "Of course, we can arrange separate chambers for you if you would prefer." She added quickly, conscious that she still did not want to appear forward. "It might be nice for the girls to see another teacher too…" She added, trying to take the pressure off her suggestion.
"Hecate, darling, that would be wonderful." Pippa beamed. "I would gladly give a few lessons on more modern witching too if you think that would give us some cover. Perhaps separate chambers may be a good idea to banish any suspicions, although I doubt I will be seeing much of them." Pippa winked, and started to giggle.
Warmth welled up inside Hecate. She had never expected this conversation to go so well with Pippa. Suddenly, the abrupt realisation that she had left the second years cleaning the dining hall unsupervised brought her back to her surroundings. "I'm sorry Pipsqueak, I left some second years in detention, and I really must check on their work." She said regretfully.
"Oh Hiccup, half the school must be in detention with you." Pippa joked. "Let's make these calls a nightly occurrence. I really have enjoyed speaking to you my darling. Goodnight Hiccup." The blonde witch blew her dark haired companion a kiss.
"Goodnight Pipsqueak." Sighed Hecate as the mirror returned to normal.