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Chapter Four
Ethel Has A Secret
Miss Cackle transferred into her office where there other staff members were already waiting, they were having their monthly staff meeting. This was the time where they could discuss any issues that they were having either with the school itself or the students.
"We need to do something about the Hallows" Hecate said as soon as Ada arrived "Ethel is acting strangely still and she is still sick" the woman went on.
"And Esmerelda keeps walking out of lessons, I know it is to tend to her sister as she is sick but this is her final year, it is important" Miss Drill replied worried about the girl. Her grades were already starting to slip, not by much but there was definitely a difference.
"Well there is not much we can do unless we find out what is wrong with Ethel, I will give it till tomorrow and if she is still sick I will take her to the hospital" Ada told the members of staff who nodded in agreement.
"Just everyone keep an eye on them, Sybil as well" Ada told the staff who promised to do just that.
"Ada, what do you propose I do, Ethel still won't let me near her" Algernon explained and Ada sighed.
"Just keep your distance Algernon, I am sure it will pass she is probably just upset about the attack she endured during the summer" Ada told him and he looked back at her, not convinced by that.
"Esmie…...Esmie!" Sybil said as she shook her sister by the shoulders. Esmerelda opened her eyes and lifted her head. She had fallen asleep on top of the book she was reading. Ethel was still ill and she had not being sleeping properly for this reason. She covered her mouth as she yawned and smiled at Sybil.
"Are you alright Sybie?" the older blonde asked her.
"Yes, but you best hurry up, class starts in five minutes" Sybil told her sister. Neither of her sisters had come down to breakfast and she had found both of them asleep. Esmie moaned but smiled at Sybil giving her thanks. She had potions she wasn't stupid enough to skip.
Esmerelda had taken every book out of the library about transferring trying to find a course for Ethel's illness. She had only found travel sickness and pregnancy, both of which she knew were not what Ethel had so she was going through every book hoping to find something. She was reading the books during her spare time which wasn't much as she had Ethel to look after who was still throwing up all the time, her head girl duties, studying for her exams and when she did have free time she was so tired it was hard for her to read as reading made her more tired.
Esmerelda was exhausted as she sat down for potions that day. She had not slept properly in four days now and staying awake was hard. She added snail slime to her cauldron and then dozed off as Miss Hardbroom turned around. It was not to bad when Miss Bat was teaching as she always fell asleep so Esmie could catch up on sleep then and not get in trouble for it but she was always careful not to fall asleep in potions but today she couldn't help it.
HB got up and walked around the desks, checking on her fifth years and telling them what they needed to improve on if they wanted to do well in their exams. She got to Esmerelda and saw the girl was sound asleep with her head on the desk. Other pupils had noticed now too and were looking at HB worried, knowing she was about to yell.
Hecate though was more worried than angry. Esmerelda never fell asleep in classes but she had been doing it more and more. She knew Ethel was ill most nights and it was taking her toll on the girl. She knew yelling right now would not help so she left the girl and turned to her class.
"Get on with your work, all of you" Hecate told them telling herself she will have a word with the blonde later.
Unlike her older sister though Ethel was not in her lesson. She hated to skip class but she had something much more important she had to do today. The younger blonde was currently stood in an old storeroom that no-one ever went in, hoping she would get privacy here. For precaution though she did lock the door and then just read over the same paragraph in the book she had brought with her, making sure she knew the spell properly. When she was sure she had memorised it she put the book down and then spent a few few minutes taking deep breaths and plucking up her courage.
"Come on Ethel just do it" Ethel said to herself knowing she should just get it over with. She took one last breath before casting a spell at herself. For a moment her body glowed white before it slowly turned green. Ethel picked up the book with shaking hands, wanting to see how accurate the spell was. When she saw the answer to that the book slipped out of her fingers as she unlocked the door of the storeroom she was in and started to run, trying to hold back her tears.
It was breaktime now, the bell had just gone and students piled out of their classrooms so the corridors were packed with pupils. Ethel ran so fast she walked into Enid.
"Watch it!" Enid complained but she suddenly fell silent, as did Mildred and Maud as they took in the look on Ethel's face but before any girl could ask anything Ethel carried on her way.
"Do you think we should tell someone? Ethel looked…...bad" Maud commented.
"It is not our business though" Mildred replied with a sigh as they carried on walking.
Ethel was sobbing now. She hated when people saw her cry but she couldn't hold it in this time. Ethel just wanted to be alone in her room so she could cry in peace. Her vision blurred by her tears she didn't realise she had walked straight into Sybil. Sybil turned around and saw Ethel and her face dropped into a look of worry. Ethel was in tears and looked fearful and traumatised and the three friends looked at each other concerned about the older blonde.
"I will catch you up later" Sybil told her friends chasing after Ethel. Ethel ran down her corridor and into her bedroom slamming the door. By the time Sybil walked into the bedroom her sister was already lying on her side on her bed, just sobbing. Sybil slowly walked in not exactly knowing what to do. She was not the sister who was good at comforting.
"Ethel" Sybil said quietly looking at her back as she spoke.
"Get out" Ethel said not wanting to be with her sisters right now. She didn't even want Esmerelda in that moment even if she had been clinging to her like a toddler for the last few weeks.
"But Ethel..." Sybil said concerned.
"OUT, JUST GET OUT" Ethel said jumping up and pushing Sybil out her room, she closed the door on the blonde before she could even respond. Sybil banged on the door but her sister had locked it.
"Ethel come on let me in….Ethel" Sybil said as she hit her door but her sister didn't open it. Sybil sighed and gave up and started to walk down the corridors looking for Esmerelda. She is much better when it comes to comforting. She will be able to get through to Ethel a lot easier.
"Have you seen Esmerelda?" Sybil asked Mildred as she saw the three girls approaching down the corridor.
"I think I saw her guarding the first year corrid.." Mildred said and the girl ran of before she finished speaking.
"They are all so weird" Maud commented as they walked down the corridor and Mildred and Enid nodded in agreement. The Hallow Sisters were strange ones to say the least.
Esmerelda was guarding the first year corridor, making sure the first years were not doing anything they shouldn't be doing. She was still fairly tired but she had managed to sleep in potions, surprisingly HB had not woken her but had spoken to her afterwards about how important this year was and all that stuff. She had told the girl she was concerned about her and that if it came to it she might have to stop her seeing Ethel at night for a while just so she could sleep, but Esmie was not going to let that happen. She had also got to sleep in Witch History and Spell Science so she was not as tired now. Esmerelda was watching the first years when all of a sudden Sybil appeared, out of breath next to her.
"Esmie…." Sybil said trying to catch her breath. Esmerelda looked at her sister worried, wondering what was going on.
"Sybie are you okay?" Esmie asked her concerned.
"You have to come ...it is Ethel" Sybil told her sister.
"Is she sick again?" Esmie asked Sybil but the younger girl shook her head.
"No, she is really upset, I don't know why, I have never seen her so upset, she is distraught" Sybil told Esmerelda and the older girl gasped. Sybil was right, even Esmie had never seen Ethel distraught because Ethel always cried in private.
"Did she say anything at all?" Esmie asked Sybil worried about Ethie.
"No, she told me to get out before I could ask her anything and then she pushed me out, she is a mess Esmie, maybe she found out what illness she has?" Sybil commented giving her sister a suggestion.
Esmie looked at Sybil in shock thinking the girl might be right, it would explain why Ethel was so upset after all.
"Right I need to go and see her...erm...guard the corridor" Esmie told Sybil before running off.
"Wait no Esmie I can't…." Sybil said with a sigh as she was not good at telling people what to do but Sybil was happy Esmerelda was going to see Ethel, she only hoped she could get the truth out of her.