"Mildred Hubble." Lingering over the small pupil, Hecate practically spits out her name. "What do you think you are doing out here?" It's a minute past nine and so a minute past curfew.
"I'm sorry Miss Hardbroom," Mildred's big, brown eyes look up to her, eyebrows drawn together.
"That does not make it better, detention. All. Of. You." The group collectively groans. Hecate transfers into her Potions lab, starting to work on the few potions she has to prepare for tomorrow's classes.
"You know that was unfair, Hecate." Ada has appeared behind her, leaning against the doorframe.
"I'm just protecting her, I worry about them too." Hecate sighs deeply, turning to the nearby window.
"I know, Hecate, I know.", Ada places a firm hand on her slender shoulder.
Back in her quarters she strokes her finger along the books she had gathered in the dark wooden bookcase. She pulls out a dark blue book. Redrawing the silver lines with her finger and pressing it to herself. She smells the pages again and again. She won't cry tonight. Clenching her jaw she puts the book back on the shelf. It's always been like this around winter. The darkness weighs her down, the smiling faces of her students glowing in the candles Ada still decorates the dining hall with.
She sees her so clear before her eyes every time she closes them. She sees her smile and her blonde hair flowing. She even hears the music. It's as clear as if it had happened yesterday. It's been so long. Leaning against the bookcase, the hardwood cutting into her nose bridge, she cries. Silent tears stream down her face, even after all this time. Those who first spoke and continue to speak the phrase are wrong, time doesn't heal all wounds, at least, not in her case. It only gets worse after seeing her, after talking to her at the spelling bee and hugging her. Smelling the sweet perfume.
The next morning she wakes up with a headache. A raven sits outside her window tapping a tiny foot against the glass. Getting out of bed she pulls a black woolen scarf around her opening the frame slowly. The raven jumps in dropping a letter, then leaves the room. It surrounds the castle once before vanishing into the winter clouds that promise snow. Slowly Hecate bends down, grabbing the white envelope and breaking the pink seal.
"It's, but..." She knows who sent the letter and her heart is racing so fast. It's nearly breaking through her chest, ringing in her ears so loud. She can only hear the blood rushing through her, nothing else.
*Hecate.
It's me. Pippa. I don't even know how to tell you how much I've missed you. I just wanted to wish you a merry Christmas! *
The blood leaves Hecate's face. Pippa sends her a letter every year, every single year since they've parted. She never answered a single one of them, never dared to. But she kept every single one of them in a shoebox under her bed. The paper smells of Pippa. Bringing her nose close to the letter she inhales deeply. The smell will leave in a few hours, but it lingers in her memory, like every year.
When she finally collapses in her chair at the end of the day she pulls out a bottle of wine. Hecate doesn't drink, ever, but on this particular day of the year she always does. She'd been horrible the whole day giving extra work for the break, detention for more students than she could count and a snapped comment on Ada's choice of outfit. Ada only shrugged her shoulders, but Mildred Hubble's eyes had welled up at the harsh words, that made her slap herself mentally. It had officially become the worst day of the year.
After a few drinks her eyes wander around the room, spotting the letter. "Oh sweet, sweet Pippa.", she slurs. Taking a pen a paper she writes her answer, like every year.
*Pipsqueak!
You have no idea how much I miss you. Merry Christmas. *
And like every year she closes a black envelope and sends the letter. Wait. Sends the letter? She's to drunk to realize what has happened until after she has sent the letter. Lying down she feels the world spin around her.
The next morning Hecate wakes up with a headache. Thankfully all the students have left already. She drinks a glass of water and goes looking for the envelope. Like every year, she wants to put it in a separate box. But it's not there.
"Oh clever drunk me." Pulling out the box, she smiles about how clever she is, putting it in there already. But it's not. "Oh shit." A small bit of last night comes back to her; an open window, a black raven, and her own hand waving after the bird. "Oh no.