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Chapter Six

'Illness'

Esmerelda rushed to her sisters room and knocked on it with a sigh releasing her sister had locked it, she cast a quick spell hearing the lock unclick but when she tried to push the door open she realised it still would not budge as her sister must have barricaded the door.

"Ethie, let me in" Esmerelda said knowing she wasn't strong enough to push whatever was blocking the door out of the way. She pushed with her all might even so trying to make even a small gap she could squeeze through.

"Ethie let me in, I am not leaving so you must as well give it up" Esmerelda told her sister as she sat down on the floor in front of her sister's door preparing to wait. Ethel though was being stubborn.

"If you don't let me in I will sing" Esmerelda threatened hoping that will get her to open the door, just then she heard movement behind her and she stood up finding a small gap she could squeeze through, she squeezed into the room and realised Ethel had her desk blocking the door. Esmie closed the door and looked over at Ethel who had ran back to her bed and was sobbing.

"Ethie" Esmerelda said sadly hating to see her sister in such a state, she grabbed the chair that was normally behind her sister's desk and sat on it, next to Ethel's bed.

"No I don't want to talk about it….can you just leave me please?" Ethel begged knowing Esmerelda was going to try and get her secret out of her.

Ethel looked at her bedroom wall and just cried and cried, her back to her sister. Esmerelda physically couldn't leave Ethel like this, she was not the type who could just walk off.

"Ethie" Esmerelda said rubbing her back gently "What has happened?" Esmerelda asked in a concerned way.

"Mildred Hubble is a student here, that is enough to cry about" Ethel told Esmerelda who suppressed a smirk at her sister's cheek even when she was bawling her eyes out.

"Yes well she has being since your first day, I am not falling for that Ethie, I know something is wrong, you have been acting strangely the last few weeks" Esmerelda explained to Ethel. "Have you found out why you keep being sick?" Esmie asked thinking that was probably it.

Ethel shrugged in response and Esmie took that to mean she was not denying it which meant she was on the right track.

"What is wrong with you then?" Esmerelda asked Ethel really wanting her to tell her but Ethel was not going to break that easily.

"Nothing Esmie I just don't feel very well that is all, I have no idea why I am sick" Ethel said talking to the wall as she did so, knowing she would crack if she looked at Esmerelda. She had a way of making her spill secrets.

"Is it anything to do with the attack?" Esmerelda asked. Ethel shook her head but to fast and to aggressively.

"It is nothing honest" Ethel told Esmerelda just hoping she would get the hint she didn't want to talk and leave. No such luck.

"Alright" Esmerelda said making a book appear and picking it up one handed as she kept her other hand on her sisters back. "I can wait until you are ready to talk" Ethel turned her head slightly and saw her sister was just reading and waiting and if there was one thing Ethel knew about Esmie it is that she could read for hours and hours without a break, which meant she wasn't planning on going anywhere. She only hoped as she was tired from a lack of sleep she would soon fall asleep so Ethel turned back around still crying.

After nearly an hour though when her sister was still reading and was wide awake Ethel knew it was pointless. Ethel spoke so quietly in that moment it took Esmerelda a while to realise she had spoken as she came out of the trance she often went into when she was reading. Esmie lowered her book and replied once she was back to reality.

"Sorry what was that Ethie, I didn't catch it" Esmerelda told Ethel. The younger blondes sobs had started to subside, now that Esmerelda was aware of what she was saying though Ethel became very afraid and she chickened out of telling her.

"….Good book?, I haven't read that one, do you recommend it?" Ethel asked her sister trying to distract her.

"Yes it is great, I will lend it to you after I have finished it, but don't change the subject, you didn't ask me about my book" Esmerelda told Ethel knowing her to well.

Ethel turned around now so she was facing her sister and not the wall and Esmie smiled thinking that was a step forward, Ethel didn't make eye contact though she was looking at the floor.

"..Esmie...you are my sister and I know you care and I love you but…..I don't have to tell you everything" Ethel told her sister trying to clutch on to her secret.

"No of course you don't" Esmerelda admitted as she did not expect Ethel to tell her every single thing about her life, sometimes she had to keep things to herself after all. "But you do have to tell me if it concerns your health and has made you so upset" Esmerelda commented logically. The thought of Ethel suffering through whatever the problem was by herself hurting her.

"Esmie….I…...I...I really can't tell you" Ethel replied wishing she knew the transfer spell so she could leave and get out of this situation, though she told herself it would make her sick anyway so it probably would be useless for her to know.

"Why not?" Esmerelda asked more concerned now her sister had told her that. Whatever could be so bad Ethel couldn't tell her?. "Of course you can tell me, how many times do I need to tell you that you can tell me anything?" Esmerelda replied.

"But…." Ethel said still keeping her eyes on the ground.

"But what?" Esmerelda asked wishing Ethel would just tell her what the problem was. She was making her nervous with how she was acting.

"You…..you will be angry at me…." Ethel told Esmerelda letting tears fall out of her eyes again as she said that, she didn't want her sister to yell at her and tell her she was a disappointment and a disgrace to the name of Hallow but she knew that was an expected reaction. When Ethel said that though Esmerelda could not help but laugh.

"What is so funny?" Ethel asked her wondering how what she had said that was funny.

"Sorry Ethel it is just you saying I will get angry at you, I think we both know I have the problem of never getting angry at you" Esmerelda told Ethel logically. Even when Esmie was truly angry at Ethel she never shouted at her, she might raise her voice by a tiny bit but she never truly shouted at her. If Esmie had not gotten angry at Ethel when she found out the girl had being part of the ploy that made her lose her powers how could she think she would be angry at her for anything else?

"This is different….you will flip" Ethel told Esmerelda clearly really worried about Esmerelda's reaction to her secret, Esmie gulped at that, Ethel was terrified of telling her because she was afraid she would yell at her which told her it was really really bad.

"Ethie….I promise I won't yell at you, just tell me please you are really worrying me" Esmerelda told her and Ethel sighed and turned to face the wall again. She knew it was time. She couldn't hide it forever and her sister would realise soon, as would everyone else. Maybe it was best like this in the privacy of her bedroom. She only hoped there was not to many questions.

"Alright fine….I will tell you" Ethel told Esmerelda taking deep breathes still looking at the wall as the tears started to stream down her face again.

"Well go on then" Esmerelda replied growing impatient.

Ethel stayed silent a while longer and took more breathes, she opened her mouth twice before she finally told herself just to say it. She made sure she was lying so she could not see her sister, she knew if she saw her reaction to her secret she would never stop crying.

"I ….I….I...I'm …...pregnant" Ethel admitted quietly as she squeezed her eyes shut.

As the words her baby sister said hit her Esmerelda was nearly floored and had to grab onto her sister's bed to stop herself falling of the chair she was on. Ethel pregnant? No she was only thirteen and it just made no sense.

Esmerelda knew Ethel was not sleeping around, she was way to conserved for it, Ethel had trust issues and not just that she had self esteem and confident issues, Esmerelda was not sure how Ethel would of allowed some boy to see her naked, it just didn't fit and something didn't feel right.

Esmerelda started to think deeply into it now, had she missed something? Was her sister dating someone, but who? It would have had to have happened during the summer but Ethel had spent a lot of time at home studying or out at the library, Esmerelda knew there was a chance she could have sneaked of to meet someone but something told her that was false.

It was only as her smart brain thought it through she came to a realisation. Ethel was pregnant just one month after the attack on her, she had being clingy, afraid of men, crying all the time, traumatised and had obviously being holding something back. Esmerelda did not want to believe it but it was the only thing that made sense.

As the realisation her sister had probably being raped hit her this time she couldn't stop herself falling in shock and she sat on the floor in shock just hoping against anything she was wrong, she would give her magic up again if someone could tell her she was wrong and Ethel had just made a mistake and gotten pregnant.. She had to be wrong or she would not know how she would live with the reality.