Constance hadn't even bothered with trying to go back to sleep. Despite having been awake all night and suffering an emotionally exhausting ordeal, she was too upset and too worried to do so. She was currently stood outside the entrance to her own bedroom, one palm spread out on the door in front of her, the other clasped tightly around the metal handle as she worriedly stared at Mildred through the crack that the ajar door had left. She had slammed the door shut on her last night, but the second that Mildred's sobs had quietened, she had immediately raced back into the room to check that she was still alive and breathing, cursing herself for how she had handled it.

A similar process had been repeated all morning as she stood by the door helplessly, too stubborn to sit next to her on the bed, but also unable to leave her alone for how worried she was about her. Mildred lay still, her face pale and her breathing steady but shallow, but Constance could see that she was hurting for her expression looked pained - almost desperate.

Constance hated that she'd grown to care so much as her heart ached with a mixture of guilt and anxiety. She blamed herself for everything. She should have been there to protect her, to prevent this from happening, as she realised how disappointed her past self from earlier this year would have been. It was true what Mildred had said, and that's why Constance hated her so much for saying it, for the older witch had become cowardly. She was hiding away from things that she would have delved head first into previously, as she now found herself wiping furiously at her tired eyes as the tears wouldn't stop flowing, betraying her belief that she didn't care.

'S-stupid girl' she choked as her face crumbled, trying to release her pain to stop her from completely breaking down. However, once the school bell chimed, she had no other choice but to pull herself together, remove herself from her spot of inner turmoil and turn herself into Miss Cackle, before it was too late to explain everything.

That was now why Constance Hardbroom found herself stood, straight-backed, in front of half the student body, her own anger and emotion fuelling this gruelling conversation as she tried to focus her mind on anything that wasn't Mildred.

The morning sun had filtered through the tall windows of the assembly hall at Cackle's Academy, casting long shadows across the fifty students that were stood solemnly in front of Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom. The night had long subsided as misty fog had lifted, giving way to condensation and early morning sunshine which decorated the glass panes. The usual chatter was absent; instead, a tense silence filled the room - a silence that was somehow so loud that it was almost deafening. Every girl present knew that this assembly was unlike any other. Miss Hardbroom stood at the front, her expression a mask of controlled fury. The events of the previous night - an unsanctioned party that had spiraled out of control - had led to this moment, and the two senior members of staff looked unforgiving.

Miss Hardbroom's thunderous gaze swept over the students, each one wilting slightly under her intense scrutiny as she felt her own anger fuel this tiresome conversation. She took a deep breath before speaking, her voice cold and dangerously low as she was still filled with silent, inner turmoil as a result of her argument with Mildred.

"Last night," she began, "everyone here decided to attend an illicit party."

Several of the girls exchanged nervous glances, some even glared accusingly at each other as if desperate to blame someone else for their involvement. The entire fourth year was stood here - all twenty five of them - as well as the ten Camelot boys and the six fifth years - Mildred's clique, Ethel and Drusilla. In fact, the only girl involved who was not present, and the one who Miss Hardbroom was most angry with, was still tucked up in bed. The spiking of Mildred Hubble had wiped her out as Constance found it impossible to wake her this morning. Despite how much she tried, the child would not stir, so she had no other option than to go without her, on Miss Cackle's orders.

"It was a party which involved underage drinking, the use of prohibited substances, and extreme behaviour unbecoming of Cackle's and Camelot's students. This is a gross violation of our rules and the code, and it will not be tolerated." She continued, glaring at each student as she did so.

Suddenly, Constance paused, allowing the gravity of her words to settle over the assembly. Turning to the girls, she continued.

"Each and every one of you who attended this party will face consequences. Effective immediately, you will be confined to your dormitories for one week, only to surface during lessons. Food will be sent to your room, and you shall not interact with anyone for you are clearly too irresponsible to be granted this privilege. If anyone breaks the contract of this punishment, Miss Cackle will throw you out of the school.'

Looking at Amelia for reassurance, the headmistress nodded in support. Constance had forced her to deploy the most severe punishments, claiming that she had gone too soft. Amelia had already convinced her to give Clarice a second chance, as the girl had been fairly well-behaved over the last three years, but it didn't stop Constance from reiterating the fact that by removing her from her post as head of the fifth year, chaos had ensued. Amelia agreed immediately, terrified to double-cross a livid Constance as she saw how much anger she was holding on to, worrying that their was a deeper issue going on inside her mind.

'During this time, you will write a comprehensive essay on the importance of discipline and the consequences of reckless behavior. This essay will be no less than five thousand words and must be submitted by the end of the week."

A collective groan rose from the students, but one look from Miss Hardbroom silenced them. "Furthermore, you will all be required to perform additional duties around the school. This includes cleaning the classrooms, assisting with the upkeep of the grounds, and any other tasks assigned by the staff. You will do this in the mornings and the evenings, going to bed later and waking up earlier without complaint or resistance, or the duration of your punishment will be extended."

She then turned her piercing gaze towards Aldric and his group of friends, who had been standing at the back, trying to blend into the background. Despite the awful words that Mildred had said to her last night, Constance couldn't prevent the familiar, protective feeling that rose in her chest as she remembered how these boys had tried to hurt Mildred, deliberately placing her in a vulnerable position so they could take advantage of her.

"As for those who were directly responsible for the more dangerous aspects of the evening," her voice dropped to a chilling whisper as she paced around the room "your punishment will be much more severe."

Aldric shifted uncomfortably, his cocky confidence from the previous night completely vanished. Miss Hardbroom stepped closer to him, her eyes narrowing. "Aldric, you and your friends endangered the lives of a young girl with your reckless and irresponsible actions. Your behavior was not only foolish but criminally negligent, so myself and Chief Wizard Hellebore have had no other choice but to report it to the Wizard's Council as well as the newly re-established Witches Guild."

Aldric tried to stammer an apology, but Miss Hardbroom silenced him with a sharp gesture. "You will spend the next month in detention every evening with your headmaster, during which time you will assist the groundskeeper with the most arduous and unpleasant tasks. You will clean the sheds, scrub the floors of the entire school, and any other duties that are deemed necessary, alongside your punishment which will be legally enforced by the councils. There is still the remaining possibility that you will be expelled and no longer allowed to practice magic lawfully, so I would consider yourself very lucky indeed until that decision is made."

Aldric's face paled, fighting back tears as he nodded miserably. Miss Hardbroom straightened, addressing the assembly once more. "Let this be a lesson to all of you. Cackle's Academy is a place of learning, discipline, and respect. Any behavior that undermines these principles will be dealt with swiftly and severely, and if anything of this nature ever happens again, you will be expelled immediately, even if that means we shall be an entire year group short. Dismissed."

The students filed out of the hall, the weight of their punishments heavy on their shoulders. Aldric lingered behind, glancing nervously at Miss Hardbroom as he did so. She met his gaze, her expression stern but not without a trace of understanding, as she marched from the room and back up the her quarters to make sure Mildred Hubble was okay, but also to give her a piece of her mind.

-x-

Constance had returned to her bedroom to find Mildred already awake as her heart skipped a beat at the unexpected sight of her, before she hid behind the door for a while longer, suddenly feeling rathe nervous. She was still expecting her to be bedridden, but the girl had removed herself from the bed, still wearing her torn, muddied dress from yesterday as her hair looked a wild mess. She was stood by the nearest window, condensation dripping from it as she stared out of the glass aimlessly. Her eyes seemed heavy as she looked in front of her, almost glazed over as they lacked any sort of emotion, showing only emptiness and rigidity, rather like Miss Hardbroom's.

Constance watched as a small sigh escaped Mildred's lips, and she leaned her forehead against the cool glass. To Mildred, the windowpane felt solid and reassuring, a stark contrast to the uncertainties swirling within her as the coolness of it grounded her once more. She wished she could draw strength from the tranquility of the landscape, absorb some of its peace into her troubled heart, but it was no good.

Despite her alleged spiking, Mildred unfortunately remembered everything from last night. The details during the party were incredibly hazy, but the second she had woken up on that couch, finding that Maud had gone to get Miss Hardbroom, her consciousness remained intact, snapping her from her intoxicated state in a desperate act of self-defence. Although her heart sank this morning as she remembered the awful words she had said to Miss Hardbroom, she felt more embarrassed than ashamed. Miss Hardbroom would expect an apology, but Mildred wasn't sure she could offer this as she couldn't shake the anger that she had felt last night. It lingered within her this morning, leeching onto every part of her soul like some sort of tedious parasite. She wondered if all the substances she had practically inhaled would have changed her personality, as she still felt a little drunk, but she couldn't help but feel as if she had a point. She still felt very strongly, and very much the same about everything that she had yelled at Miss Hardbroom for, and Mildred wasn't sure that she could stand the sight of her this morning, so before she could stop herself, she muttered something that caught a spying Constance completely off guard.

'Heartless…completele lying bitch...'

Before she could stop herself,

Constance slammed the door open, rebounding so hard that it almost fell from its hinges in response to this. She didn't know if Mildred was saying those words about her or herself, but immediately thought the first option as she found herself standing on thin ice. The crash of the door and the shaking silhouette of Miss Hardbroom made Mildred jump out of her skin, before the two woman merely stood there, furiously glaring at each other, awaiting the first move, but nothing came.

Seconds passed, which soon turned into minutes, before Mildred rolled her eyes and walked forwards. For a split second, Constance's brain seemed to restart again as she thought that Mildred was going to engulf her in one of her spontaneous hugs, but to her own disappointment, or maybe even relief, the girl pushed straight past her and made for the stairs. It was then that Constance snapped, unable to stand this blatant disrespect anymore as she remembered the punishments she had just doused out to the rest of the school, refusing to play favourites any longer as she left the room, following closely behind her.

'Mildred Hubble.'

Mildred stopped before turned around slowly, sighing loudly to make a point as she did so, but remained silent.

"You will go to your room and remain there in solitary confinement for the rest of the week, aside from lessons. You also owe me a five thousand word essay about discipline and the consequences of reckless behaviour - this is the punishment for everyone who attended the party.' Constance began coldly, before slowly stepping closer. "For you especially though, I would like an extra two thousand words on why 'I must show more compassion and understanding towards those who have given up their lives for the burden of looking after me, instead of displaying spoilt, brattish behaviour'"

'BURDEN?' Mildred yelled in outrage, unable to believe the sudden audacity of the woman who was supposed to support her. She had expected Constance to remain stubborn, but she hadn't expected her to say such an unkind thing, especially after the worries surrounding abandonment that Mildred had voiced the night before. She had planned on going back to her room quietly, but this specific word choice had changed everything - ruined everything.

'YES!' Constance yelled back, feeling as if this conversation was merely a continuation of their argument last night, because in a sense, it was, despite the five hours which had passed. She felt just as hurt, just as angry and just as confused as she had done then, so found that she was spitting out anything she could in order to protect herself - to hurt those who had hurt her.

Mildred scoffed, before elaborating on the original point she had tried to make last night. "HOW CAN I BE A BURDEN? You're not even around to be burdened by me! You live in your own little word and we've been living two separate lives since last term, so how on earth you have the audacity to even say that is beyond me!'

'I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING!' Constance shouted, visibly shaking as she denied everything that Mildred had accused her of. She couldn't bear to be honest with her, and if that meant pushing her away, then so be it. Constance wasn't cut out for this anymore and she couldn't stand the pain she was in, so despite how much it would hurt her, she felt like she had a responsibility over Mildred and would be doing her justice by pushing her away into the hands of another person who was better equipped to support her.

'EXACTLY!'

"NO! I mean, I haven't done anything wrong, and I meant what I said last night. You could always have left if you felt that way, so in fact, I think it's all YOUR fault that your feeling so hard done by, because you could have easily done something about it yourself."

"DO YOU NOT THINK I TRIED? I tried over summer and you ignored me. I tried on Friday and you shut me down. I've tried and I've tried and I shouldn't have to because I'm the sixteen year old and you're my protector! Damn it, HB - when a person tells you that you have hurt them, you don't get to decide you haven't" Mildred responded, her voice trembling as she did so, but meaning every word.

Miss Hardbroom's face paled, and her fists tightened anxiously, scrambling at anything she could for she knew this was a loosing argument. "I am doing what I believe is best for you, Mildred. I can't tell you why, but I am."

'LIAR! You're emotionless, and I'm the one picking up the pieces, trying to get this to work!' Mildred screamed, the sounds of this accusation echoing down the corridor, mocking Constance as it did so.

'I'M NOT LYING' the older witch spat, before softening her look of anger and replacing it with one of sadness for a split second. 'Mildred, I... I am trying. But I don't know how to be what you need. This is new for me too."

Tears streamed down Mildred's cheeks. "Then why don't you try showing it? Why don't you try being there for me instead of whatever this is? I don't expect you to be perfect but you've ruined this..."

'Because...I-I dont know how to! Mistress Broomhead ruined this, not me...she ruined love for me...' Constance stuttered, hating this display of weakness as she was so ashamed about her biggest fear.

'YOU CAN'T KEEP BLAMING HER FOR EVERYTHING! You need to take some responsibility yourself. You can't keep blaming her while doing nothing to try and fix it.

'SHE TRAUMATISED ME-'

'AND SHE TRAUMATISED ME TOO! And I've put in so much work to heal from it! Do you think I don't know how it feels?'

'NO, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT FEELS! At least you can show your love for people, I CAN'T!'

'So you don't love me then?' Mildred laughed cruelly, unable to comprehend Constance's logic. Mildred had found love everywhere after Mistress Broomhead had abused her, wanting to show her affection for those she cared about even more now she had been through such an awful ordeal. She didn't understand how any decent human being could avoid it like it was poison as she realised that her and Constance had dealt with things in very different ways. She once thought they were so similar and she was proud of that, but now she rarely thought that at all.

'OF COURSE I LOVE YOU, YOU DAMN GIRL! You're like my daughter-'

BUT YOU'RE NOT LIKE MY MOTHER!' Mildred screamed, feeling so many painful emotions and not knowing how to handle them. She didn't know what a mother was supposed to look like anymore as so many women had hurt her in the last year, and her greif was still breaking her heart, every single day.

'I'M AS GOOD AS!' Constance yelled back, clutching onto every straw she could.

'NO, MY MOTHER IS DEAD! SHE DIED FOR ME, AND YOU CAN'T EVEN SAY SORRY TO ME. YOU AND HER ARE NOT THE SAME!'

The words hung in the air, heavy and accusing. Miss Hardbroom recoiled as if she had been physically struck, her resolve crumbling as she let out a strangled sob, covering her eyes with a hand as she had to physically turn away from Mildred to stop herself from breaking into a panic attack. She tried to ignore all the thoughts that were bubbling to the surface, all the hateful things that she could say about Mildred and how she could easily have let her die last year, but she stopped herself. For a moment, there was silence, broken only by the sound of Mildred's ragged breathing and Constance's emotional outburst, before Constance ended the argument once and for all.

'GET OUT! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN.'

"CONSTANCE HARDBROOM, MILDRED HUBBLE!" came the stern, bellowing voice of a third woman, very familiar to the arguing, traumatised pair within this small staircase.

Sure enough, Miss Cackle, alerted by the commotion as she was passing through the staff corridor, had hurried towards the source of the disturbance. As she turned the corner, she saw Miss Hardbroom, her face flushed with anger, standing toe-to-toe with Mildred, who looked equally incensed and defiant. The headmistress quickly stepped between them before either of them tried to shove each other backwards, her presence immediately commanding attention.

"That's enough, both of you!" she said firmly, her tone angry but her eyes sad as she left no room for argument. "This is not the way to resolve our differences within this school. I don't care who you are or what you have been through - staff or student, friend or foe - you are both better than this."

Mildred tried to storm out, finally satisfied that she could do something right for Miss Hardbroom, before Miss Cackle put out an arm to stop her in her tracks.

'I don't know what has happened over the summer holidays, but neither of you are okay and I cannot stand by and watch two of my girls, who I love dearly, suffer so horribly before my very eyes.' Amelia began, before sharply glancing at Constance in sympathy for what she was about to say next. 'That is why I would like you to meet someone properly...'

Before Mildred or Constance could think of another retort, all their thoughts were stopped dead in their tracks as an outburst of emerald green robes that shimmered in the dim light, paired with ginger ringlets, entered the room. Miss Ravenscroft smiled sickeningly sweet at the pair, before making a rather bold, ambitious statement

'Let's sort this out girlies…'

A/N - Thought time!!

1) Remember in my last story, where it was revealed that Constance's biggest fear was being a terrible mother? Argh, Mildred...crying, screaming, throwing up.

2) Despite writing this, I have no idea who's side I'm on. It's true that Miss Hardbroom should have worked on healing herself before taking Mildred in, but at the same time, she is trying which Mildred cannot seem to understand. They're both so stubborn and have given up a lot for each other, so despite what Mildred thinks, they are indeed, very similar.

3) Anyway, enter Miss Elena Ravenscroft, 'counsellor and guild approved well-being officer', to sort this mess out...mhm