Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hecate's father was dead. He was dead and ever since she had gotten the news, had left Cackle's for her family's estate, she had been moving by rote and rite from one day to the next. Each day had its tasks and she accomplished them without real thought.

She could not say that she had gotten along with her father, but that didn't matter now. The passion that had fueled their arguments when she was a teenager had cooled considerably sometime after her mother's death, left suddenly alone with each other as they were. She could barely remember the feeling of those fights now, their relationship replaced with a facade of indifference.

She looked at his body with unseeing eyes, caught up in her own thoughts. She and her father had certainly cared for each other but neither of them felt much need to show it. Their mirror calls were always brief, perfunctory things centered around birthdays and holidays. Even toward the end they never increased in frequency. Still, she was glad she took the effort to return home for the recently passed Yuletide. Ada had said she was welcome to stay at Cackle's over the break, a regular offer that Hecate normally would have taken her up on, but she had demurred that year.

She remembered placing a kiss on his brow, though she didn't know what specifically occasioned the touch. She knew he had been feeling all of his years that day. He shifted around constantly, the moisture in the air making his knees and hips ache, and no amount of cajoling, something she wasn't skilled at anyway, would improve his mood. She had quickly given up.

She placed another kiss on his brow now, body laid out for the viewing before they moved him outside. The feasting was over. Somehow he seemed to have more friends in death than in life, the assembled group not large by any means, but definitely more than she would have expected. Her father had always been a solitary man. She feared she took after him that way.

It was her mother that had the social circle. As much as she might want to, Hecate couldn't stop herself from remembering a similar day years earlier when they had held the same ceremonies for her mother. Most of those days were fuzzy, but there were parts, some understandable, others entirely mundane, that stood out in sharp relief: seeing her mother's body in hospital, her face too still; the fish they'd had for supper that night which she still couldn't eat; the pattern embossed on the ring on the Druid Priestess' hand while she blessed her mother's body. Hecate had still been at university then. So young and feeling her inexperience in a way she never had before. She had been lost. She was not lost now. She knew with intimacy how things would go this time.

They would be burning him soon, she and his friends who had gathered for the occasion. They would light his pyre and chant the spells to ensure he made it to the afterlife; an afterlife Hecate wasn't sure she believed in. But he did, and she would be a dutiful daughter once more. She would chant and she would pray, and hopefully, she would not disappoint him.

Unlike her usual clothing, the black she was wearing that day was unadorned. No cinched waist, no high collar, no lace, just a simple dress befitting the occasion. She would put on her robes, the family robes, literally taking on the family mantle, when she went outside. They were heavy and dark, the hood lined with soft brown fur and at least two centuries of magic. The family crest was worked into the clasp, but Hecate had never felt much connection with it. She preferred Cackle's emblem. For now, there was still time to avoid that responsibility, though her father had trained her better than that, better than to shirk anything. She sighed deeply. It seemed all of his lessons weren't quite as ingrained as either of them thought.

She saw a bit of movement by the front door and turned to see Pippa looking around slightly lost. Hecate was surprised to see the other woman. She wore the same black as the other mourners, as elegant as ever, but it looked unnatural on her.

She and Pippa were back on tentatively friendly terms again, but Hecate hadn't mentioned her father's death. Still, there she was. Their eyes met and Pippa's shoulders relaxed. She approached Hecate cautiously.

"Hecate," Pippa said as she clasped her hands in front of herself. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." Hecate could repeat the words in her sleep at this point, so often had she heard them over the past week. They were what everyone fell back on, polite and sympathetic but not overly intrusive. And it had been comforting to have a script. Pippa, however, could never be content sticking to a script.

"Oh, Hecate." Pippa wrapped her arms around Hecate, the first person to try to offer her physical comfort beyond the occasional pat of her hand. Hecate found herself wanting to sink into Pippa's arms, to accept that comfort, but it was impossible now. She had guests to attend to and no time to wallow in her grief. Still, she returned Pippa's hug, long enough to let the other woman know that it was appreciated, before she stepped away.

"Forgive me, I didn't expect…" Hecate trailed off, uncertain of how to go on.

"I hope I'm not intruding. I just… When my own father died, I would have welcomed a friend." There was a tight smile on Pippa's face and Hecate couldn't help but think of her inability to be that friend when Pippa's father passed away. She should have been at Pippa's side that day, should have provided a steadying presence that Pippa obviously had lacked.

She knew: had she shown up at Pippa's father's funeral, she wouldn't have been welcome, she wouldn't have been able to attend as Pippa's friend. Still, there was a sharp feeling of regret in her stomach that tasted like acid and brought moisture to her eyes. Her grief at losing Pippa was somehow stronger than her grief at losing her father, or maybe feeling one was a catalyst for the other because suddenly she wanted very much to be alone with her tears.

"It's no intrusion." Hecate swallowed against the lump in her throat.

"Good." Pippa wrung her hands together as if stopping herself from reaching out to Hecate again. Hecate found she wanted that comfort, but she didn't know of any way to ask for it. "Good." Pippa looked away from her then, down and to the side as if searching for the right words. Hecate didn't know how to help her find them. She finally looked back up. "Would you– That is to say… I know we aren't that close anymore, but it is traditional and if you have no one else," Pippa laughed at her own inarticulateness, "would you like me to stay the night with you?"

"I…" Hecate swallowed, uncertain of how she should answer. She had thought to sit the vigil alone, but Pippa was right. It was traditional to have the support of close friends and family over the long night as the funeral pyre burned down. She had no close family and she knew none of her father's friends would offer. She simply didn't have that sort of relationship with any of them and none were close enough to him to insist on staying for what was supposed to be a private affair. Still, as she looked for an answer, she found she didn't want to be alone. "If you're certain. You're under no obligation to offer."

Pippa reached out for Hecate's hand and took it. "We were so close once. Let me do this for you."

Hecate nodded. "Your company would be welcome." And just like that, she had committed herself to spending all of the time between dusk and dawn with Pippa.

Her mother had died in summer and the vigil had been shorter then because of it. Most of that night had passed in a blur outside of time, five minutes taking an hour, five hours taking a minute. Her father had been stony-faced throughout it all, barely saying a word; Hecate had cried silent tears until she couldn't anymore, wiped her eyes and then started crying again. She wondered if she would succumb to tears that night. It seemed unlikely.

Pippa was smiling brightly at her, a reward for allowing someone to help bear her burden. Hecate could only withstand that smile for short moments before she had to look away. She saw the priestess approach her and angled her body away from Pippa and toward the other woman. "I believe it's time for us to proceed," Hecate murmured to Pippa. Pippa's smile instantly became more somber and she released Hecate's hand.

"Miss Hardbroom," the Priestess began, "with your permission?" She was a severe-looking woman, even more so than Hecate herself, though she had been unfailingly solicitous of Hecate's feelings throughout the affair. There was nothing in her behavior Hecate could find fault with but still, she set Hecate's teeth on edge. Maybe it was simply her piety in the face of Hecate's own questions. She wore her white robes with dignity and held the Hardbroom family cloak over her arm.

"Of course." Hecate nodded and allowed the Priestess to settle the cloak on her shoulders. It was even heavier than it looked, thick wool and fur making it instantly too warm within the heat of the hall. She could feel the magic that now surrounded her. It made it hard to feel her own, and the sensation was disconcerting. She was glad she need only wear the cloak on specific occasions, happy to let it hang in her closet for the rest of the year.

On the direction of the Priestess, three of her father's friends, true friends if he had any, stepped forward, recited a spell and levitated the body between them. Ushers opened the doorways from the hall to the courtyard and the party processed through; first the Priestess, then the body, then Hecate. The other mourners would file out behind her in whatever haphazard way suited them, but Hecate had a feeling Pippa would be near the front. She couldn't look back though and marched steadily forward until they reached the funeral pyre, her father's body set down gently atop it.

The mourners circled the pyre. With another glance at Hecate, the priestess began her chant. It was short, only two stanzas long, not a lament as such, but an entreaty for the Goddess to watch over her father and guide him into the afterlife. The Priestess' hands started to glow with light as she reached the end of her repetition. Knowing her role, Hecate joined the Priestess in the chant, lifting her hands as they started to glow as well, being enveloped by a warmth that would eventually turn to heat once it was released into the twilight air.

On the next repetition, the rest of the female mourners chanted with them and lights flared around the circle. Hecate was certain she could hear Pippa's voice just off to her left. Though they wouldn't add anything to the spell, the men provided a grounding bass line. As they came to the end of the fourth repetition, the Priestess let the light she had been cupping in her hands float freely. Everyone else followed her lead and each shard of light sank into the wood of the pyre.

After a moment the faint smell of burning wood wafted toward Hecate. The spell had worked. The fire was lit.

They would all stay until the kindling turned into a conflagration, then each mourner would leave in their own time until only Hecate and the Priestess were left. They would say another prayer and then the Priestess would leave Hecate to her vigil, watching the fire burn through the night to make sure her father's body lay undisturbed as it turned to ash. The pyre would burn out around dawn and when that was finished Hecate would be free of her duties.

She would not have to sit her vigil alone though, she reminded herself. Pippa would be there at her side. She had no doubt Pippa would remain true throughout the long night.

A snap and a crack brought Hecate out of her thoughts and back to the present where the fire was well and truly burning. She could see the outline of her father's face through the flame, the arch of his nose, the slope of his brow, so familiar from her own mirror. She focused her attention there. In her peripheral vision, she noticed a few people slip back to the house to gather their things before taking their leave.

A chill ran through Hecate's body. January was not the time to be lingering outside, but there was nothing to be done for it. Hecate knew that the pyre would be putting out a great deal of heat soon; until then, she pulled the cloak tighter around her shoulders.

She kept regarding her father. More people faded away as the sun fully set and the wind picked up. She could hear the crunch of feet in the snow underneath the sound of the fire. It was an hour past dark before the last of the mourners left. She and Pippa and the Priestess were the only ones who remained. With a nod, Pippa headed inside to give Hecate time alone with the Priestess and her father. Pippa would come back out when the Priestess left.

Hecate finally looked away from the pyre to her own hands. They were her mother's hands. At that moment she felt hollow as if she were just an amalgamation of her parents' parts.

"Is there anything you'd like to say?" the Priestess asked.

"No," Hecate's voice was rougher than she thought it would be. She hadn't been able to speak at her mother's funeral either, though for very different reasons. The Priestess nodded and raised her hands. They chanted again, just the two of them this time, and a spell settled over the pyre making sure it would burn hot enough, burn long enough, to accomplish its task. If it was ever there, Hecate's father's soul was gone now, sent off to whatever the afterlife might bring.

As the spell ended, the Priestess stepped back, breaking the last remnants of the circle that had been formed earlier.

"Rest easy, Hecate," the Priestess said as she turned away, the syllables of Hecate's name clacking against her teeth. Hecate watched her walk away, mount her broom and fly off into the night sky, another white dot against the blackness.

Pippa must have been watching from one of the windows because as soon as the Priestess was gone, she transferred to Hecate's side bringing two chairs and several blankets with her. Hecate recognized one of them as being from her bed. There was not a shred of pink in the bunch and for some reason, that's what did it. That was what set off the tears in her eyes. Pippa dropped everything in a heap to catch Hecate in her arms and pull her head down to her shoulder.

"Oh, Hecate, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She rubbed Hecate's back and let her cry, her own cloak catching Hecate's tears. Hecate clung to Pippa as the tears came. She thought she might be crying less for her father specifically and more for the loss of her only remaining family. She had some cousins she barely knew, but she was an only child, and now that both of her parents were dead, she had no one. Distantly, she knew that wasn't true, but at that moment all she felt was lonely and empty.

Hecate stopped crying with Pippa's hands still on her back, arms still holding her close, and she sniffed once before starting to pull away. Pippa let her go, producing a handkerchief to pass over to Hecate. Hecate wordlessly took it, wiping her eyes and her nose and tucking the handkerchief into her pocket. She would return it to Pippa later.

"Thank you," Hecate said, her throat still full of emotion. She averted her eyes to the chairs, unable to keep looking at Pippa. She waved a hand and one of them moved over to where she was standing. With another wave, the blankets floated up and shook the dirt and snow from themselves. "I… I just… I want to reiterate that you're under no obligation to stay. You can leave whenever you like."

"I know that." Pippa reached for Hecate's hand and squeezed it. Hecate squeezed back. "Still, I'd like to stay."

Hecate nodded and let go of Pippa's hand in favor of arranging her cloak where she could sit. Once, tradition would have dictated that she stay standing or kneeling for the night. Only the most serious of traditionalists still held to that and while Hecate did appreciate tradition, she wasn't so wedded to it as to deny herself a chair for the next twelve hours.

She caught a chill and pulled her cloak more tightly around her shoulders. The magic didn't feel quite so foreign anymore and the suffocating heat captured within its folds was now barely warm enough to ward off the cold. The fire in front of her was melting the snow in a great circle around its base, but Hecate felt only a fraction of its heat. She would have to move closer to feel more, but she wasn't ready for that yet. The cold felt cleansing.

Next to her, she heard Pippa pull up her own chair and settle in. She looked over and saw Pippa covering herself in multiple layers of blankets and she marveled that Pippa would choose to spend her night in this way, with someone she could barely call a friend. They had been tentatively reconnecting, but Pippa's attempt to take over Cackle's had set them back, no matter that Pippa (and Mildred) had saved the day in the end. The trust they had been building up suffered for it and their occasional mirror calls had dwindled. But now Pippa was here, sitting next to Hecate outside in the dead of winter, when she really had no reason to be.

"Don't misunderstand me," Hecate broke the silence that had descended upon them. "I appreciate your presence, but I don't understand why you've chosen to stay."

Pippa sat with her thoughts for several minutes before she spoke. "Losing a parent..." she trailed off as she looked down at her hands. "There's something about it, isn't there? It makes you feel particularly vulnerable. I had my mother and my brother and sister to share the burden with and it still wasn't enough. When I heard, I couldn't stand the thought that you'd be alone all night." Pippa looked over to Hecate and Hecate met her eyes. Hecate hadn't thought twice about her solitary state but she was glad Pippa had.

"Thank you." Hecate looked down at the line of melting snow created by the fire. She saw Pippa reach out for her hand in her peripheral vision. Hecate regarded Pippa's pale skin chapped red from the cold. She reached out from under her cloak and linked their fingers.

They lapsed into silence as the hours passed. The stars moved across the sky as the fire continued to burn. Hecate kept her own counsel and Pippa allowed her the quiet.

It was hours before Hecate took her eyes off of the fire. She blinked until the afterimage faded from her eyesight, then looked over at Pippa. The other woman was dozing lightly, and Hecate knew if she were to move too much, Pippa would be awake in an instant. Hecate didn't blame her for falling asleep.

She stood from the chair as carefully as she could and stretched out her back — she wasn't used to staying in one position for so long. She walked to the fire until she was close enough to risk her own safety, and swept the edges of her cloak back lest they catch fire. There wasn't much recognizable of her father left at this point. He was well and truly gone.

She felt guilty at how relieved that left her: the night would be over soon. She could return to Cackle's and her regular life.

"Hecate." Pippa's voice was raspy with disuse and closer than Hecate anticipated. She looked over and found that Pippa had somehow snuck up on her. She was just off of Hecate's shoulder now. "You shouldn't have let me fall asleep." She reached for Hecate's arm and shivered as she pressed in close. Her pile of blankets had been left on her chair and now she had nothing to protect her except her own cloak. It was warm, but not warm enough for January at four a.m. Hecate shook her arm free only to open her cloak and wrap it around Pippa's shoulders. Pippa snaked her arms around Hecate's waist. For once in her life, Hecate accepted the hug without protest.

"I was fine by myself for a few hours," Hecate replied.

"Still." Pippa squeezed Hecate a little tighter. "I was supposed to be keeping you company."

"You have." Hecate shifted a bit in discomfort at the extended contact and Pippa seemed to get her meaning and stepped away. She waved a hand and one of the blankets settled around her shoulders.

"The sun should be up in a soon." Hecate looked down at her hands in the firelight. From this distance, it was throwing off such heat that Hecate was starting to sweat. "You're welcome to stay here and get a few hours of sleep."

"Thank you, I will," Pippa said. "After the sun has risen."

Hecate didn't protest. She stepped away from the fire and returned to her chair. Pippa was slow to follow and Hecate looked at her heavily shadowed face. She couldn't see anything there. She took a deep breath and exhaled it as Pippa finally sat.

They fell silent again. Before Hecate knew it, the sky was turning a lighter shade of blue. The fire burned down to embers as the sun came up. There was a light flare of magic as the spell over the pyre extinguished itself.

Hecate didn't move right away. She looked from the house to the embers then back to the house. It would be the first time she returned home without her father's presence looming over everything. She wondered if it would feel differently when she went back inside.

Finally, she stood. She let Pippa precede her inside. As she crossed the threshold, everything felt the same. A wave of a tired hand cleared the hall of the reminders of the funeral.

"There's a guest room just this way." Hecate guided Pippa up a flight of stairs and toward a set of closed doors. "Let me know when you wake up."

"I will," Pippa said as she nodded. She stepped into the bedroom, and looking back at Hecate, gently closed the door.

Hecate turned away and headed to her own room. She doubted she would sleep for long, she had tossed and turned the night before, but she would lie down anyway. She finally took off her family's cloak and draped it across the foot of the bed. She would deal with storing it properly later. A bit of magic and her hair was down and she was clothed in a nightdress. She climbed into bed and closed her eyes. Sleep came quickly.

It was late morning when Hecate's eyes slowly drifted open. She was disoriented, confused. There was a queer feeling layer of sweat on her body and she was still exhausted. She rubbed at her eyes and simply lied in bed trying to get her bearings. Morgana was curled up on the other pillow and purring gently.

It took her a minute but eventually, Hecate remembered why she was in bed in the middle of the day. The funeral was last night. She could still smell the smoke from the fire, probably coming from her hair, which she needed to wash, and the cloak still lying at the end of her bed. Despite the way her skin crawled, she was tempted to fall back asleep, to put off this day a bit longer, but she couldn't. She was too awake now to manage it.

Hecate pushed the duvet back and sat up, swung her legs out of the bed and slowly stood up. Her entire body ached. She had always thought all-nighters ill-advised, and despite the necessity, she felt the same way about the most recent incidence. Her stomach felt unsettled as she made her way to the door. There, on the floor, right beside it was a folded piece of paper. She groaned as she stooped over to pick it up. She opened it and found Pippa's handwriting.

Hecate,

It's just after 10:30. I thought it best not to wake you. Thank you for your hospitality and thank you for allowing me to spend the night with you. I'm still so, so sorry for your loss.

I'm returning straight to Pentangle's and if I know you at all, I assume you'll want to return to Cackle's as soon as you can. Please mirror me when you get back where I know you've made it safely.

All my best,
Pippa

Hecate reached for the watch around her neck only to come up empty. Of course. She was still in her night things. It wouldn't be there. She shook her head at her own foolishness. She walked back to the bed and lifted it from her nightstand. 11:08. She had only missed Pippa by half an hour. She found she regretted it, but there was nothing to be done. She would mirror Pippa when she got back to Cackle's. For now, she wanted a shower and a fresh change of clothing. She did, in fact, want to return to Cackle's straight away. There was no telling how the girls were running amok without her there and she could only imagine the rumors her absence had sparked.

Hecate made her way into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and shucked off her nightdress before stepping into the spray. The water was a bit too warm but felt good on her clammy skin. It reminded her of standing too close to the fire the night before, the heat starting to burn her skin as it had burned her father's. She wondered, distantly, what it felt like to be burned as her parents had been, though she shook off the thought as being both ridiculous and morbid. She bathed without thinking about it, rinsing the smell of wood smoke from her hair. It was better than using a spell. A spell took only seconds; here she could linger with her face in the water for as long as she liked.

Hecate let the water sluice over her as she tried to piece herself back together, to rearrange the parts that had been broken the night before into something that resembled the Hecate Hardbroom everyone knew. She turned the water off and used a drying spell before she even stepped out of the shower. She hated the cold that came with towel drying and had used the spell from the moment she had first learned it. She walked nude back into her room and found her clothing. Still black, still austere, but with more style than what she had worn the day before. She cinched her belt around her waist and felt herself settle a bit. A twist of the hand and her make-up appeared perfectly on her face.

"One last task," she murmured to herself. She walked to the bed and regarded the cloak. She said a spell and waved her hand over it. She felt a frisson when her magic met the magic of the cloak, but the smell disappeared nonetheless. She folded it up and placed it reverently in her satchel for the trip back to Cackle's. It was the only thing she was taking back with her. She slung her bag over her shoulder, collected Morgana, and went downstairs to find her broomstick. It was time to leave.

Once she was back, Hecate tried to settle into her life at Cackle's. She was as formidable as ever, transferring from place to place as dramatically as she could, trying to catch the girls in the middle of whatever indiscretions possible and doling out punishments as she saw fit. She was right, the rumors about her absence were varied and multifarious. They ranged from the mundane, she was at a teacher's conference, to the absurd, she was off worshiping Satan. She was almost certain the latter was a bad attempt at a joke by Miss Nightshade, but she had given the girl detention anyway. With her presence looming over everything once again, the rumors died down within a day.

Two more days passed and calm had returned when Hecate got summoned to Ada's office. She knocked on the door and after a "come in," entered without thinking twice about it. She was surprised, however, to see her father's solicitor sitting across from Ada in a chair by the fireplace, drinking a cup of tea.

"Ah, Hecate," Ada said as she saw Hecate come in.

"Miss Hardbroom." Charles Greaves stood to greet her. He was wearing tweed and looked every bit the country solicitor. He had been in her father's employ for what felt like forever. Hecate remembered his visits from when she was in university and home for the summer. He had been a young man then. She remembered now her father's efforts to pair her off with Charles, though her father had still referred to him as Charlie then. She shuddered to think of what her life might be like now if she had allowed the matchmaking and married Charlie Greaves. A life of mundanity, dinner parties, and cocktail hours and children she never wanted but would have had anyway.

Still, Charles had been one of the spellcasters at her father's funeral and a good friend to him in life. He didn't deserve her ill thoughts now. He had mentioned at the funeral that they needed to meet. In an unlikely turn, she had forgotten all about it. "Well met." He touched his hand to his forehead.

Hecate did the same. "Well met, Mr. Greaves. Might I ask what brings you to Cackle's?"

"Yes, well," he said as he pulled his waistcoat down. "We have some rather urgent business to attend to and I have tried contacting you…"

Hecate pursed her lips at that. Not at him, at herself. She knew there were messages waiting for her on her maglet but she had thought them more condolence messages, messages she did not want to deal with, though she would have to look at them over the weekend.

"Forgive me." Hecate stood up straighter. "I wasn't aware." She hated having to admit to the slip-up, but a witch takes responsibility after all. It wasn't something she merely said to the girls.

"That's quite alright, but I was hoping we could speak today. It's about your father's wishes."

"You're welcome to use my office," Ada offered and Mr. Greaves looked serious enough that Hecate couldn't turn him away.

"Very well," Hecate said. She stepped fully into the office as Ada vanished her teacup and stood.

"I need to go greet Miss Pentangle anyway."

"Pippa?" Hecate's question came a bit too quickly on the heels of Ada's pronouncement for Hecate to pass it off as simple curiosity. She and Pippa shared something intimate the night of her father's funeral and Hecate hadn't quite managed to compartmentalize it yet. She didn't expect to have to see Pippa again so soon. Between the impending reunion and whatever urgent news Mr. Greaves has brought, Hecate felt completely off balance.

"Yes, since the Magic Council decided to add a few questions on modern magic to the exit exam, she's here for the day to teach the 6th years some of the underlying theory. Didn't I tell you? It's something we decided while you were on your bereavement leave." Ada looked concerned that she might have forgotten to tell Hecate.

"I'm sure I simply forgot." Better to spare Ada's feelings after all. And it was good to know just how Pippa had found out about her father's death. She was sure Ada would have mentioned it to Pippa when Pippa had inevitably enquired about her. "I'm sure this meeting won't be overly long. I'll be there to supervise as soon as it's over."

"Oh, I don't think that will be necessary." Ada squeezed Hecate's forearm.

"Nevertheless." Hecate still remembered the last time Pippa had come to teach modern magic at Cackle's and she hadn't forgotten that debacle even if Ada thought her paranoid now.

"If you insist. Now, I'll leave you to your meeting." Ada smiled. "It was lovely to meet you, Mr. Greaves." She bustled through the office door, closing it softly behind herself. Hecate turned toward Charles. She could already feel a headache building behind her eyes and even though it was only a phantom, she could smell Pippa's perfume, it's light floral notes mixed with the smell of wood smoke in her memory now. Her skin suddenly felt too tight. She regarded Charles as she moved to take Ada's former seat. She smoothed her skirt under herself as she perched on the edge of the armchair.

"Mr. Greaves, what did you come all this way to speak with me about?"

Charles took his seat again and reached for a satchel. He pulled out a thin document and passed it to Hecate. "Your father's will."

Hecate skimmed the first page and flipped to the second and then third. "None of this looks unusual or urgent." Most of the estate had been placed into trust. The house and lands now belonged to her. It was entirely what she expected and probate could wait a few weeks until everything had settled a bit.

Charles frowned at her and she regarded him seriously. "What aren't you telling me?" she said.

"You know your father and I were close…" He shifted in his chair. Hecate nodded at him to go on. "His last wishes, he wanted you to observe the funerary rites."

"I have." She might not have been close to her father, but she knew that much about him. The funeral had been textbook.

"Not just the funeral." Charles looked at her significantly.

"All of them? The whole cycle?" Hecate looked at him incredulously. The full rites took a year. She might be a traditionalist, but she was pragmatic as well. Now she would be preoccupied with this for the next twelve months. She had hoped that everything would return to normal within the month. That wasn't to be the case. She gave no thought to not doing it though.

"That was his request, yes. Of course, you're under no obligation…"

"No. If that's what he wanted." Hecate swallowed against the dread in her throat. She could see her future laid out in front of her. "If that's what he wanted then, of course, I'll do it."

"If I might inquire as to his ashes?" Charles asked.

"I had thought to employ a service, but I suppose I shall have to go collect them myself now." Hecate should have known, really, that her father would want all of the rites. He had observed them, and made her observe them, for her mother. He would want nothing less for himself. She would need to gather his ashes within five days of his burning. That Saturday would be the last day she could do it and still keep to the traditions. She understood now why Charles had said his message was urgent. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention." Hecate shifted to get up but stopped herself. "Was there anything else?"

"No, that's all." Charles seemed to know when his presence was no longer needed. He stood before Hecate but waited for to take her feet before offering her his hand. She took it and he enveloped it in both of his. "Your father was a good man. Let me say again how sorry I am for your loss."

Hecate responded with a thin smile as she retrieved her hand. "Thank you." She didn't want to have to endure those words ever again but she knew it was too much to hope for. "Let me show you out."

Charles nodded as he collected his bag. He allowed Hecate to precede him through the door. She knew she should inquire as to his wife and children but she didn't care to. She simply wanted him, and the disruption he had now brought to her life, gone. She opened the main doors to Cackle's for him.

"I'll see you at Samhain, if not before then," Charles said as he mounted his broom.

"Of course." Hecate's stomach churned at the thought of celebrating Samhain that year. She almost wished she could forgo it in favor of the revelry preferred by the girls at Halloween but that wouldn't be fair to her father or respectful of his wishes. She barely watched Charles fly away before she closed the door to the cold.

Now, she needed to see to Pippa. She rubbed her forehead before she headed toward the witching history classroom. She opened the door slowly, suspicious but not interested in actually disturbing the lesson. After all, it had Ada's blessing this time.

"And that's why, in modern magic, chants don't always have to follow the traditional chord progression." Pippa stood at the front of the classroom, the older girls sitting in their desks, focused in a way only the upcoming exit exams could inspire. "Miss Hardbroom, is there something I can do for you?"

For some reason becoming Miss Hardbroom again rather than just Hecate set Hecate's teeth on edge. She had to remind herself that it was entirely appropriate that Pippa use her last name in this context.

"I'm merely here to observe," Hecate said as she took up a position at the back of the classroom and crossed her arms. She didn't miss the flash of irritation on Pippa's face and she squared her shoulders in response. This was her school and she was the deputy headmistress. While she might have been doing them a favor, Pippa was merely guest lecturing at Cackle's and Hecate had the right to be anywhere she pleased within the school.

"Very well." Pippa returned to her lesson moving on to the use of the tritone in levitation chants while Hecate lurked in the back of the classroom. Pippa always had been more skilled in chants than her. It had been yet one more area where they completed in school but Pippa had rightfully beaten her time and time again. Pippa was always, infallibly on pitch and her chants always produced the desired effects. It had been infuriating when it hadn't been absolutely breathtaking. Hecate would tear her hair out trying to match up to Pippa only to turn and beam as Pippa hit yet another high note. It always left her feeling confused and muddy headed. She felt much the same way now. It didn't help that after her brief stint outside, the room felt much too hot.

Pippa brought the lesson to a close and dismissed the girls to lunch before she approached Hecate.

"You know you don't have to check up on me. I'm more than capable of handling a classroom on my own," Pippa said with good humor, her eyes sparkling.

"Be that as it may, I have the girls' education to think about and I wanted to make sure there were no incidents like the last time." Hecate did not share Pippa's good humor. She could still remember seeing Sybil unconscious and she would not have any of her students over-taxed again.

Pippa pursed her lips, the mirth leaving her eyes. "Miss Cackle and I discussed that already and I've taken extra precautions. No harm is going to come to your pupils. Besides, I've done nothing but discuss theory all morning. We won't get to the practical aspects until after lunch."

"Then I suppose I shall be returning after lunch as well." Hecate didn't understand why Ada had asked Pippa of all people to teach at Cackle's when there were any number of other modern magic practitioners who could have done just as good a job.

"Don't you have your own classes to teach?" Pippa balled her hands into fists at her side.

"I'm sure Miss Drill is covering them quite adequately." Hecate was sure of no such thing, but it was her only option. She would not be leaving Pippa alone with her students. There was no telling what could go wrong.

"You still don't trust me, do you?" Pippa looked hurt as she said it and Hecate nearly regretted barging into Pippa's lessons. "I'm not here to usurp anything."

"Not this time." Hecate knew it was unfair the moment she said it but she had trusted Pippa before, thought she had known Pippa before, and where had that gotten her? She didn't actually think Pippa would try to take over again, but there was no telling the trouble she could get the girls into when she had an entire day to influence them.

"You still haven't forgiven me, have you?" Pippa asked. "You abandoned me 30 years ago and when we saw each other again, I forgave you. Why can't you do the same for me? You know why I did it. I've apologized, something you haven't done, I might point out, and still, you're holding this grudge?" Pippa furrowed her brow as heat entered her voice.

"I simply prefer to be cautious," Hecate replied sharply and narrowed her eyes.

"And you can't give me the benefit of the doubt, can you?" Pippa shook her head in disbelief. "Even after everything we've been through together, you can't admit that I might have the best interest of these girls at heart too." She gestured emphatically with her hand.

"I've no doubt you think you know best." Hecate's voice had turned icy.

"But I'm wrong. Is that it?" Pippa shook her head. "Or is it that you always have to be right?"

"I will not argue with you anymore. I shall be observing your afternoon lessons and that's final." Hecate hadn't intended to fight with Pippa but that's what happened and she needed it to end. How had everything spun so far out of control?

"Whatever you want, Hecate." Pippa set her jaw. She walked out of the room without looking back.

Chapter Text

It was early morning when Hecate touched down just at the edge of the burnt part of the lawn, family cloak billowing out behind her. She sat her broom down on the ground beside herself. There was no point in going up to the house. She didn't need anything from it and she wasn't going to be around long enough to visit. She was here to collect her father's ashes and that was it. If she didn't linger, she could be back at Cackle's before nightfall and that was precisely her plan.

She pulled the urn from her satchel and held it in her hand. She had made it herself, snuck into the shuttered art classroom and taken a bit of clay. She had used magic, of course. Had she tried doing it by hand, the results would have been far too amateurish and not worthy of her father's dignity. Instead, she had found an ancient spell in a book on funerary rites and used that to craft it. Her first attempt had been heavier than she had liked, so the one in her hand now was her second attempt. She wasn't used to her spellcasting being anything less than perfect and the slip was vexatious.

On one side, her father's name, Sigemund, was impressed into the clay in runes, on the other, a sigil for protection and a peaceful rest. Those hadn't required research. Miss Broomhead's lessons on runes, like her lessons on all things, were embedded deeply in Hecate's mind, though she had made sure to check her work. The sigil was one used by her family for generations. She wouldn't be surprised if she could draw it in her sleep, though her hand had shaken just a bit as she drew the lines and curves. Her father's final resting place. It would stay in her chambers at Cackle's for the next year until it was interred in the family vault next to her mother's.

She remembered going into the vault when they had laid her mother's ashes inside. The day had been swelteringly hot, but buried in the side of a hill, the inside of the vault had been cool. They had used magic to move the stone that protected the entrance and stepped into a twilight world haunted by centuries of Hardbroom ancestors. The family had been on the land for so many generations it was pointless to count them, from the Britons to the Romans, the Danes, the Mercians, the Normans and down to today. Most of it was family lore, impossible to corroborate, but the remains of at least 500 years of Hardbrooms were discernible within the vault. Once upon a time, it had inspired a sense of awe in Hecate, this deep connection to the past. She could imagine timeless ancestors watching over her. Then her mother had died. Now, she saw death for what it really was: the end.

Nothing of her mother was really in that vault, just some ashes and the desiccated remains of a bouquet of flowers Hecate had left there on the day they had interred her. They were certain to be nothing more than dust by now. Everything eventually became dust.

Hecate turned her thoughts away from her mother and back to the burnt out pyre in front of her. She was raising her hand to begin the chant that would sort her father's ashes from the rest of the char when a movement off to her right stopped her. Someone had come to join her, or maybe one of the villagers had gotten curious about whoever was lurking about the house and decided to investigate. As the person got closer, the latter became less and less likely. She wasn't wearing bright pink but the deep maroon still gave Pippa away. Hecate shaded her face with her hand as she watched Pippa come in for a landing.

"Pippa." Hecate regarded the other woman. "I wasn't expecting you." Hecate stood stiffly not sure why the other woman had decided to show up.

"Yet, it's expected that I be here and thus, here I am." Pippa certainly didn't sound happy about that fact though. And though it might be traditional for those present for the Ligbyrn come to the Sinder Gaderiaþgaderiġaþ, Hecate hadn't expected Pippa to hold to the old ways, particularly not when Hecate hadn't wanted to observe them herself.

"Most people don't observe anything past the Ligbyrn. How did you know I would be here?" Hecate narrowed her eyes. She hadn't told anyone where she would be or what she would be doing, not even Ada though she suspected Ada could guess. Still, how had Pippa known?

"It hadn't occurred to me that you might be anywhere else. I know how important you find the old traditions. And if I had been wrong, it's not too much of a flight back to Pentangle's." Pippa said it like it was all so simple, so predictable. It wasn't just a short flight between the estate and Pentangle's. Would Hecate have found herself back here even if Charles hadn't told her of her father's wishes? It seemed more likely now that she was standing next to where the pyre had been. Would her father have been enough to bring her back? Or was it her mother's memory that truly compelled her? She didn't have answers, but she didn't need them. She was there no matter what those answers might be.

"Yes well." Hecate shifted around uncomfortable with her predictability. "Do you plan on coming to all of the rituals, then?" It wasn't necessary but it wouldn't be out of place either.

"I hadn't thought about it but yes, I suppose I am." Pippa looked resolved in her answer and Hecate couldn't fathom it. Their last interaction had been such a disaster. Why would Pippa voluntarily spend time with her?

"Why are you so invested in something so traditional. I thought you eschewed that in favor of the modern." Despite the fact that Pippa was doing her a favor, Hecate couldn't keep the snark from her voice.

"Because it matters to you." Pippa looked at Hecate sympathetically, like she knew something Hecate didn't. "And just because you're infuriating and I'm still cross with you doesn't mean I don't care."

"It doesn't matter to me." Hecate bit out emphatically. "It mattered to my father. That's the only reason I'm going through all of this." Hecate gestured around at the pile of ashes. Pippa didn't need to know about her own mixed feelings.

"Believe that if you want, but I know it isn't true. You do care. And if it matters to you, I'll be here, going through the rites with you." Pippa turned her back on Hecate and walked to the edge of the lawn, her arms crossed in front of her. It seemed they were destined to fight again and Hecate didn't want to fight. Being here was emotionally fraught enough without adding her feelings about Pippa to everything else.

"Pippa," Hecate sighed trying to de-escalate the encounter. "I didn't…. That is to say… I'm trying…" But Hecate didn't know what exactly she was trying to do. She was getting a headache.

"Let's just cast the spell, Hecate." Pippa sounded weary as she turned back around. Hecate thought then about just how early Pippa would have had to leave Pentangle's to reach the estate when Hecate, herself, had left Cackle's before dawn.

Hecate nodded and returned to her spot to the north of the pyre while Pippa circled around the south to stand opposite her. Hecate opened the urn and placed it at her feet. Once she did this, she was committed to doing all of the rites. She wasn't ready. There was nothing to be done for it but begin though. She met Pippa's eyes across the circle, nodded, and started to chant. Suddenly she was fourteen years old and she and Pippa were sitting cross-legged in her room practicing for their chanting final.

She had wondered, then, why Pippa was wasting her time with the likes of her when Pippa was so popular and so beautiful. Her tongue kept twisting the words into the wrong order on the wrong pitches. Hecate recognized now what she hadn't then, that she’d had a crush on Pippa and that was what had made her tongue so clumsy. A smile from Pippa and all of their studying was for naught. The way Pippa had laughed at her, unrestrained and joyful had made the mistakes worth it and when it came to the test, all of the practice had, indeed, served her well.

Her words stayed steady this time, Pippa's voice providing a counterpoint that would have been missing had Pippa not decided to join her. In front of Hecate, the ashes started to rise from the char. They swirled around and if she were more fanciful, Hecate would swear she saw her father's profile within the whirlwind, but she was not. Humans sought patterns in chaos. That didn't mean that anything was actually there.

The chant repeated and the ashes started to stream toward the urn. The stream stopped as they got to the end of the second verse and Hecate met Pippa's eyes again. It was only when she blinked that she realized there were tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. She swallowed hard to suppress them. With a breath, the tightness in her throat loosened. She took a step back, balled her hands into fists then shook them out. But she couldn't just run away. She wouldn't let herself. She stepped forward again and knelt to collect the urn. She said the words to a quick prayer without thought as she placed the lid on it and picked it up.

She stood, relieved to have the ceremony over. It was then that her eyes fell back on Pippa. Suddenly she wasn't nearly as irritated as she had been twenty minutes earlier. She walked around the pyre to join Pippa. She cleared her throat.

"Thank you for coming." Hecate wanted to wring her hands together but the urn prevented it.

"Of course," Pippa said. It seemed like they were going to fall back on formalities. Hecate supposed that was better than fighting. Pippa picked up her broom. "I'll see you at Imbolc."

Hecate nodded and watched as Pippa flew away.

Hecate mounted her own broom as soon as Pippa disappeared over the horizon. The urn was tucked safely in her satchel, a spell making sure it stayed closed. Pentangle's was in a different direction than Cackle's so it was unlikely she and Pippa would meet again in the air and that left Hecate feeling relieved. She looked down at the house as she flew up higher and higher. She would need to do something about the house sooner rather than later. Set up a cleaning service at least as she had no plans to sell it. She had no idea what would happen to the house when she passed. It would likely go to a cousin. That was something else she needed to deal with. Perhaps she would contact Charles when she got back to Cackle's. If he was a good enough solicitor for her father, he would serve her perfectly well.

The atmosphere around her grew colder and colder and she had to stop her ascent lest she freeze to death in the January air. She thought, perhaps, of pushing it, seeing just how far up she could go, but there was no point. There were no clouds to try to circumvent, no storms to put her off track, just endless blue sky between the house and Cackle's. Smooth sailing meant nothing to pull her away from her thoughts.

It was time for the first years to learn levitation potions. She would need to make sure she had all of the proper supplies. The fourth years had an exam on the properties of various bird feathers coming up and she still needed to write it. Dimity had tried to keep the girls on schedule in her absence, but they had fallen behind nonetheless. Now they had to play catch up.

Hecate's father had never approved of her career as a teacher. There was nothing wrong with teaching, per se, but if she was going to do it, why waste her talents on children? She could easily have become a professor, taught the brightest of young minds and had ample time for research, done something noteworthy. Professors were respected, remembered. Teachers were forgotten. They had politely fought about it when she had first started as if a cutting comment would be enough to change her mind. The Hardbrooms were known to be stubborn and she was as much a Hardbroom as her father. Even as she had come into the prime of her career, he still managed to say something passive-aggressive about it whenever they met. It was part of the reason she avoided trips home.

Unlike her career, they had never discussed her preference for women rather than men, but it was an open secret between them, just as it was at Cackle's. Not because she wasn't willing to talk about it, but because no one had ever inquired. It had no bearing on her current life anyway. She had longed for love once, had a series of lovers hidden behind the thin veil of "roommates" while she was in university. Eventually, sometime after she had moved to Cackle's, she had stopped looking, the effort not worth the inevitable disappointment and heartache when her lovers realized she was more dedicated to her girls than any romantic relationship.

More than anything, though, her father had wanted grandchildren. Her lesbianism would have been overlooked just like her teaching career with the right motivation but Hecate was never, ever going to give her father the grandchildren he craved. It wasn't to be. She had raised hundreds of children in her years as a teacher. She had put girls to bed and patched up skinned knees and even, occasionally, been a shoulder to cry on. It didn't matter that none of them were flesh of her flesh. Her father did not see it the same way and he despaired of her future. Who, after all, would care for her in her old age? She was quite certain she would be able to care for herself when it came down to it.

In the end, he had died disappointed in her.

It was no matter. Cackle's loomed in front of her and the moisture in her eyes was easily attributable to the cold air and the speed at which she was flying. Hecate landed solidly, stood, and collected her broom. It was only late afternoon, earlier than she thought she'd be back, and she had plenty of work to keep herself occupied with for the rest of the night.

Hecate buried herself in her work and made it a week before Ada invited her to her office. She knew why she was there as soon as the door closed behind her. She sighed. At least Ada meant well. She sat in her regular seat beside the fire and waited for Ada to pour the tea.

"Hecate, I'm so glad you could join me." Ada passed Hecate a cup of tea. A sip confirmed that it was perfect as always.

"You know I wouldn't ignore your request unless there was a good reason." And there had been no reason to say no to Ada's invitation. So she sat by the fire and waited for the inquisition to start.

"I just wanted to check in with you," Ada said with her most understanding look on her face, the one she used with the girls when something truly distressing had happened. Normally it was directed at Mildred. Hecate appreciated the sentiment but she hated having that look directed at herself. She couldn't stop from shifting around in her seat, uncomfortable with the attention.

"I appreciate the concern but believe me, it is unnecessary." Hecate tried to allay Ada's worries but she had a feeling such simple words wouldn't do it. "I am fine."

"Still," Ada somehow looked even more sympathetic and it pressed down on Hecate, crushing her under the weight of Ada's assumptions about how she would choose to grieve. That she wasn't spending her nights in tears, rending her garments, defied Ada's expectations. She would have thought, with Ada's own complicated relationship with her mother, that she might understand Hecate's reaction to her father's death, but apparently not. "You know if there's anything I can do..."

Ada reached out for her then and Hecate felt compelled to reach back. She smiled slightly as Ada took her hand and squeezed her fingers. "If there's anything I can do. Anything you need, you have only to ask."

Hecate shifted around in her seat again. She cleared her throat and retrieved her hand. "I do have a request."

"Anything, you know that." Ada smiled gently.

"As I'm sure you suspect, my father has requested that I observe the full circle of funerary rites for him. As such, I will be needing some time off. I'm sure my normal schedule can accommodate most of the rites, but I'll need three or four days in the fall for the pilgrimage." Hecate hated to have to ask, but there was nothing to be done for it.

"You'll do it the old way then?" Ada asked.

"It does seem in keeping with my father's wishes." Taking a car rather than enduring the three-day flight rather defeated the purpose of a pilgrimage. It was how they had done it for her mother after all. She had spent two nearly silent nights camping in the woods with little to distract her from the ever-present weight of her grief for her mother. She and her father hadn't discussed Hecate accompanying him on the trek, but she had shown up ready to depart nonetheless. Now, she would be taking the journey alone. There was no way she could expect Pippa to accompany her. That was nearly nine months away though and there was so much to do between now and then. There was no use worrying about it until September.

"Well, you can certainly have all the time you need. We can find someone to cover your classes for a few days. Algernon has a deft enough hand at potion making."

That pulled a brief laugh from Hecate. Algernon was not completely hopeless but Hecate would never describe him as deft at anything.

"You know, Imbolc will be here soon. Dimity was talking about doing a proper celebration this year, something to cheer the girls up at the end of winter when everything seems so cold and dreary. We might be able to swing a few more of the holidays if you'd like. It really is a part of witching tradition we don't pay enough attention to," Ada said.

Had it been for any other reason, Hecate probably would have jumped at the chance to instill some respect for witching traditions in the girls. But the girls would quickly figure out why they were celebrating holidays they'd never celebrated at school before. Hecate liked being the center of attention in her classroom. She hated the thought of being the center of attention because of her father. There would only be more people to judge her grief, to think she wasn't being demonstrative enough, that she wasn't sad enough.

But Ada looked so pleased with the idea of it all. Hecate sighed. She couldn't bring herself to say no. "That's a very… kind… offer." Hecate was wincing internally but she tried to keep it off of her face. It seemed she was about to become an object lesson for the entire school. Hecate couldn't deal with being in Ada's presence any longer. She needed to be alone to process this new development.

Hecate put down her teacup. "If you'll excuse me, I left a potion brewing that I really must go attend to."

"Of course," Ada's eyes twinkled as watched Hecate stand and take her leave.

Chapter Text

"So, Ada told me you're on my Imbolc planning committee now. You know, I knew there would be something we'd agree on one day." Dimity smiled brightly as she walked into Hecate's classroom, binders, pens, and markers in her arms. She put the whole load down on Hecate's desk as Hecate looked on in horror. She detested that word: committee. It was so much easier to carry on alone. In her early teaching career, she had been on enough committees to put her off of them forever. The in-fighting, the power grabs, shear inanity of most of the meetings. The few she had to participate in now, like the Inter-School Committee on Potions Education, met only rarely and were too important for her to shirk her duties.

"As there are only two of us, I hardly think we rate the word 'committee,'" Hecate drawled with contempt in her voice. Dimity, unphased, rolled her eyes and sat down across from Hecate.

"You can complain all you like, but you haven't gotten up and left yet, so I'm counting that as a win." Dimity opened her binder. Hecate pursed her lips. Really, the woman was far too cheerful.

"I'm here only insofar as my presence is necessary to assure a smooth incorporation of my father's funerary rites into the ceremony, nothing more." Hecate drummed her fingers on the table, nails clacking against the wooden top.

"Right. How do we do that, exactly? I've never…" Dimity shook her head.

Hecate suspected that she would often encounter such a sentiment and it already made her weary. "No, I'd find it highly surprising if you had." She looked down at the desktop before she sighed and looked back up at Dimity. "Apparently it will be a learning process for everyone," she said dryly, clearly not including herself in that group.

"You may want to take notes." Hecate nodded down at the pile of things on her desk. Why Dimity couldn't be more neat she didn't know.

"Right." Dimity opened her binder and picked up a pen ready to write down whatever Hecate said.

"It's really quite short. After whomever you've chosen to play Brigid enters the castle, I ask her to bid my father welcome into the afterlife. The next morning, after the ashes of the fire have been read for portents," Hecate sneered at the idea that the future could be read in a pile of ashes. She highly doubted the future could be predicted at all. "After the ashes have been read, I gather some of them."

Dimity scribbled it down but Hecate couldn't stop herself from peering over the edge of the binder to make sure she was writing it correctly.

"That seems easy enough. I was thinking of asking Esmeralda to be Brigid if that's alright with you." Dimity flipped to a different page in her binder that looked as though it contained plans for the festival and a layout of the great hall. Maybe she was some version of organized after all.

"That would be acceptable. I trust you'll ask her? And inform the girls of their roles?" Her purpose fulfilled, Hecate was already getting ready to dismiss Dimity.

"I can do that, yeah." Dimity gathered up her things. As she was getting ready to stand, Hecate winced. Pippa. She needed to tell Dimity about Pippa. She cleared her throat and Dimity stopped moving.

"I should add, Miss Pentangle will likely be joining us for the night."

"Alright." If Dimity thought it strange, she kept her thoughts to herself. "Did you want me to have a room made up for her?"

"That would be for the best, yes." Hecate drummed her fingers against the desktop again.

"Alright," Dimity repeated. "I'll start on everything. If you wanted, I could use some help with the decorations. If not, I'll ask Miss Bat. I'm sure she won't have anything better to do."

"Indeed." Hecate was already starting to feel dread at the thought of mirroring Pippa. Perhaps she could merely send her a message via maglet. No, she deserved a call. As soon as Dimity left the room, Hecate rubbed her temples. Maybe Pippa would be too busy to get away from Pentangle's. Hecate could hope. But she knew that if she didn't mirror Pippa and let her know what was going on, Pippa was liable to simply show up in the middle of things. Then she would be hurt that Hecate hadn't told her. Hecate wanted to avoid hurting Pippa unnecessarily. She was doing Hecate a favor, after all. Hecate sighed. Best to get it over with. She would mirror Pippa that night.

Hecate waited impatiently in front of her mirror tapping one finger up and down on her vanity table as she waited for Pippa to answer her call. She already wasn't in the best of moods. Enid and Ethel had gotten into a war of words in the middle of their potions lesson. The argument had started up again during their detention and they had nearly come to blows. Hecate didn't care what the problem was but she would not have fisticuffs in her classroom. She had assigned more detentions and lines on top of that, hoping the lines would keep them busy and away from each other. If it hadn't blown over by the next day, she would have to send them to see Miss Cackle and maybe she would care to sort out the underlying problem. Hecate did not. The ridiculousness of it all left Hecate short-tempered and irritable and she simply wanted to get this call with Pippa over with.

If Pippa didn't pick up soon, Hecate was going to give up and message her via maglet anyway, no matter how rude it might seem. Just as she was about to give up, Pippa appeared in front of her.

"Hecate." Pippa sounded surprised to hear from her and not in a pleasant way.

"Pippa," she replied. She supposed they were beyond 'well met's at this point but she wished she had the formality to fall back on.

"Was there some reason for your call?" Pippa said after it seemed like Hecate wasn't going to speak.

"Yes." Hecate tapped her finger. Pippa narrowed her eyes at the repetitive sound. Silence built between them for a moment before Hecate stopped tapping and started to speak again. "I wanted to let you know that Cackle's will be celebrating Imbolc this coming Friday. You're under no obligation to come, of course. I can manage quite well–"

"Enough of that," Pippa interrupted. "I'll have to check with my deputy to make sure he can handle things for the night, but I see no reason as to why I wouldn't be able to attend." Her eyes didn't look quite as hard as they had when the Pippa had first appeared in the mirror.

"We'll be starting around eight with the hope of getting the girls to bed by ten." Ten was ambitious but they could hardly let the girls stay up all night.

"I'll be there." Pippa looked like she was going to say something else but in the end, she kept her own counsel.

"I… thank you." It was all Hecate could think to say. She looked down at the top of her vanity while she looked for more words. Before she could come up with anything, she heard Pippa inhale and she looked back up.

"You're welcome," Pippa said. "If that's all…?"

"Yes. Quite." Hecate looked away again. "I'll see you in a few days."

Hecate stopped at the end of the corridor knowing that voices would echo down it. If the girls were saying anything untoward, she would hear it and be able to put a stop to it. The festival was that night and a fission of excitement ran through the entire school. The perfect atmosphere for mischief. Miss Drill had let it slip that Pippa would be coming as well, so the excitement was doubled. Felicity, in particular, seemed to be unable to function. It was ridiculous. Pippa was simply Pippa and not worth all of the fuss she seemed to carry with her wherever she went.

"It's because Miss Hardboom's dad died, duh," Ethel said.

Hearing her name caught Hecate’s attention. It wouldn’t do for the girls to be gossiping, particularly about her.

"And where, precisely, did you hear that?" Hecate materialized behind Ethel and made the girl flinch.

"I'm sorry, Miss Hardbroom," Ethel immediately apologized. "Some of the older girls were talking about it." She would say anything to deflect blame from herself.

"Mmm. I suppose it is too much to hope that anyone at this school employ some discretion." Hecate stared down at them. Truly, looming was something she took immense, silent pleasure in.

"So does that mean it's true then?" Mildred asked, her face turning serious. Hecate could do without the sympathy of a precocious thirteen-year-old but it seemed she was going to get it anyway. She did her best not to bite Mildred's head off.

"Yes, it is true that my father has passed. But it is entirely Miss Drill's doing that we are celebrating Imbolc tonight." The girls would enjoy the celebration. It seemed only fair that Dimity be the one to get the credit. It was Dimity, and Ada's, fault that she had to do this in front of everyone, but the girls didn't need to know that she blamed them for something unpleasant. If she had her way, she would be celebrating privately in her rooms. She had learned not to challenge that particular twinkle in Ada's eye though. She would lose every time.

"What does that have to do with Imbolc? Aren't we supposed to be celebrating the end of winter?" Mildred asked. It seemed Mildred had paid attention to at least one of Miss Bat's history lessons. Would wonders never cease?

Hecate sighed deeply. "When a witch or wizard dies, there are traditionally twelve rites that must be observed by the family and very close friends over the course of the next year."

"Nobody actually does them anymore," Maud said, then realizing what she'd done, her eyes went wide. "Well, not nobody, but, uh…"

"That is quite enough, Miss Spellbody." Hecate used her least intense glare and Maud quailed.

"You are, however, correct. Very few perform all of the rites anymore."

"But you do." Mildred looked up at Hecate curiously and never let it be said that Hecate Hardbroom passed up an opportunity to teach.

"In this instance, yes." Hecate crossed her arms. "We do this to ensure that the deceased's spirit makes it to the afterlife. Since it is unlikely you will learn about this any other way, I will explain this once. I will not repeat myself." She looked at each of the four girls in turn.

"There are twelve rites. It starts with the Burning of the Body, or Ligbyrn and then a few days later, the Gathering of Ashes, or Sinder Gaderiaþgaderiġaþ. Each of the sabbats has a rite. I assume Miss Bat has presented some sort of lesson on important magical holidays?" She waited for the girls to nod in affirmative.

"But that's only ten," Enid piped up after silently going through all of the holidays on her fingers.

"Yes. Between Lughnasadh and the solstice festival of Haligmonað comes the Elþéodignes. We make a pilgrimage to Lindisfarne. It is a solemn occasion where we reflect on the life of the deceased. Finally, there is the internment of the ashes, Séo Bebyrgednes."

"That sounds like a lot." Mildred looked surprisingly thoughtful though what she might be thinking of Hecate would not speculate. There was no telling what might be going on in the mind of that child.

"It is. Most will observe only the Ligbyrn and perhaps do something at Samhain," Hecate said as she brought the lesson to a close. Maybe the girls would retain some of it, though she doubted it. What use had innocent girls for the worries of adults? Hopefully, none of them would need the information anytime soon.

"But you're doing all of them?" Mildred asked.

"I am," Hecate replied.

"You must have loved your dad a lot, to go through all of that." Mildred still looked very serious even as her friends looked like they were ready to go back to the festivities.

"I… suppose so." But the answer was so much more complicated, wasn't it? Far too complicated for school children to comprehend even if she felt like sharing, and she emphatically did not feel like sharing. Maybe Pippa would… No, she was sure she had finally alienated Pippa entirely. No matter what her original motivation had been, Pippa was only attending the rites out of a sense of obligation now. Pippa was kind like that. Much kinder than Hecate had ever been. "Now, I suggest you get to chanting before you're late."

"Yes, Miss Hardbroom," Mildred said for all of them. She grabbed Enid's arm and dragged her away. Maud and Ethel followed them. It was only after they turned the corner that Hecate realized she hadn't given any of them detention.

Hecate stood in the middle of the back courtyard as Pippa landed. She had managed to keep the girls away so there were no crowds of adoring fans to greet Pippa this time. The girls were all too occupied with getting into place for the festival anyway. Hecate had her own, regular cloak around her shoulders to ward off the lightly falling snow. It was good Pippa was planning on staying the night as the air would only get colder and the snow thicker as the night progressed. There was no sense in using an energy consuming weather spell to get home if it wasn't necessary. Despite their current fight, she did still care for Pippa's safety.

"Pippa," Hecate said as Pippa dismounted her broom.

"Hecate." Pippa looked calm but Hecate could imagine what she was thinking, questioning why she was at Cackle's at all, most likely. They stared at each other as they slowly got covered in snow.

"You don't have to…" Hecate knew it was too late now for Pippa to take back her decision to be there for the rite, but Hecate needed to offer her a way out anyway. Her father was already being a burden to her. There was no sense in inflicting that burden on anyone else.

Pippa sighed. "I didn't come all this way to simply turn around and go back to Pentangle's as soon as I got here."

"No. Of course not." Pippa sounded irritated now and Hecate couldn't blame her. "We should go in. I'm sure the girls are anxious to begin and they won't start without us."

Hecate held out her hand to guide Pippa inside though she doubted Pippa needed directions at this point, so often she seemed to be a Cackle's lately. Hecate couldn't help but think about the last time Pippa had been there and their fight. She regretted how everything had ended but she couldn't think of anything she would have done differently. She still thought modern magic dangerous to those not accustomed to practicing it and she was charged with the safety of the girls at Cackle's. She took that responsibility seriously.

As she stepped inside she removed her cloak and held out a hand for Pippa's. As soon as it was in her hand she vanished both of them to their respective rooms.

"Hecate." Pippa placed a hand on Hecate's arm and stopped walking. Hecate stopped too. "I didn't mean to be short with you. I know this must be uncomfortable, having to do this in front of everyone. I just… I want you to know that I'm here for you."

Hecate nodded. "I… appreciate it." She swallowed against the tightness in her throat. "Shall we?" she asked as she ushered Pippa down the corridor that would take them to the entryway.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

The girls shifted around as they stood on either side of the entry hall. Everyone, even Hecate, could feel the excitement in the air as Esmeralda-as-Brigid asked for entry.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Another wave of whispers rippled through the girls. Hecate was down at the far end of the entry hall, the last person Esmeralda would encounter before reaching the great hall and beginning the feast. Pippa stood solidly at her side, keeping her own mirth in check, but Hecate could tell she wanted to partake in the celebration with the students and other staff members. She could see Ada and Dimity looking at each other, the same twinkle in each of their eyes as they waited to open the door.

Gwen hovered in the crowd to keep the girls in some sort of order. She was surprisingly alert, probably goaded into it by Ada in an attempt to relieve Hecate's worries about being distracted by the rite. And she knew that Pippa would step in if another adult was needed.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

The final set of knocks came before Hecate was ready for them and she flinched. She felt a steadying hand at her back for a moment before Pippa subtly removed it. Hecate had to remind herself that no one was watching them, no one would have seen her slip or Pippa's reassurance. Everyone was focused on the door now being pulled open by Ada. Ada stood to the side to let Esmeralda-as-Brigid into the castle. Her white dress was trimmed in pink, a red cloak wrapped around her shoulders. She carried a bundle of rushes in one hand as she crossed the threshold. Prior to knocking, she had circled the castle three times, Algernon at her side just in case something happened, and her cloak was covered in snow. Still, other than rosy cheeks, she didn't seem overly chilled. There was a cheer of approval from the girls as Esmeralda walked through the crowd.

It took long minutes for Esmeralda to reach Hecate, the girls scrambling after her. Once she did, she paused and looked up at her teacher.

Hecate took a deep breath. A picture of her mother's eyes came to her unbidden and suddenly she forgot her words. She remembered standing beside her father as he asked Brigid to guide her mother to the afterlife. They had attended the village's celebration that year, a more raucous affair than the ceremony occurring at Cackle's. Hecate remembered wanting to run from the festivities, too loud and too bright for her still aching heart, but she hadn't. She'd emulated her father's stoic demeanor wishing to just get through the night and the next morning where she could go back to university and try to find some normalcy again.

She took another deep breath and found the words. "Brigid," she said as she looked into Esmeralda's eyes. "I ask that when you leave this place, you guide my father's spirit back home with you, lest he wander the Earth evermore."

Silence stretched between them as Esmeralda held her gaze. It was an intimate look and it left Hecate feeling uncomfortably vulnerable, but she did not look away. The rest of the students, seeming to feel the solemnity of the moment, fell silent as they watched. But Hecate no longer felt the eyes of the school on her. She saw Esmeralda swallow.

"I will," Esme said with such conviction that Hecate believed for a moment she was Brigid and she had responded to Hecate's entreaty.

After another long moment, Esmeralda finally looked away. The sound in hall picked back up as the moment was broken. As Esmeralda stepped into the great hall the girls flowed past Hecate after her. Pippa's hand found her back again and this time Hecate leaned into it. A duel could start and Hecate doubted she would notice it.

She closed her eyes and saw her father this time, saw him as she had seen him as a little girl. He loomed over her, a frown on his face as he regarded her. She didn't remember what she had done to earn his displeasure but she did remember vowing not to do it again. And wasn't that why she was observing the rites now? Afraid to see that look once again though she was an adult and he was dead.

Only a brief moment had passed before Hecate opened her eyes again but it was enough for all of the girls to make their way into the great hall.

As if sensing her recovery, Pippa discreetly withdrew her hand again. "Shall we go in?"

"I suppose we must." Hecate nodded. As they walked into the hall the girls had just finished making a bed of rushes for Brigid by the fire. Luckily for Esmeralda, only the metaphorical Brigid would have to sleep by the fire that night. Beatrice laid a white wand beside the bed. Tradition said Brigid would use it to bring green back to the earth. That was the end of the ceremonial part of the celebration and the girls cheered again. As Hecate predicted, they were enjoying themselves. Yes, best Dimity get all of the credit for that night. It would be easier for them to forget her part in it entirely. She didn't know what she would do if she had to endure looks of sympathy from all of the girls. Receiving one from Mildred was bad enough. She couldn't bear to consider it anymore.

She watched as Beatrice made it back to her table. As soon as she sat down, the feasting began.

The girls were gathered in the great hall once more, circled around the fireplace, though Hecate doubted most of them could see what was going on. Ada would be reading the ashes for signs about the future. If she found any, Hecate was sure she would be making them up to appease the girls, to add a bit more wonder to their lives. Hecate stood in the back with her arms crossed.

"You know, you needn't look quite so sour," Pippa said from beside her. She, of course, was as cheerful as ever, bouncing forward on her toes to see over the heads of the children. How she could bounce in such heels Hecate wasn't sure. She was convinced Pippa would fall over at any moment.

"I don't look 'sour.' I look precisely how I look every other day." Hecate had gone to great pains to make sure it appeared like the ceremony the night before had left her unphased. Her collar was perfectly starched, her watch hanging just so, and her make-up as dramatic as ever.

"Believe that if you want, but I know better." Pippa smiled up at her. She was obviously in much better spirits than when she had arrived the night before. Perhaps that was because Hecate hadn't had the chance to irritate her yet. She would do what she could to keep things that way, but it seemed inevitable that she would fail eventually. She would say or do something that would make Pippa purse her lips or frown at her and that would be that.

"I haven't any idea what you're talking about." While she was focused on Pippa, Ada had finished reading the ashes and the girls were dispersing, off to their classes for the day, hopefully calmer than they had been the night before.

Hecate stepped forward as the last of the girls and their teachers disappeared. Ada hovered for a moment but seemed to understand that Hecate would not appreciate an audience and followed them out. Only Pippa remained in the great hall with her. Hecate pulled out a container to hold the ashes.

"A potions vial? Really, Hecate?"

Hecate tensed. "It was closest to hand." She shrugged and waited for the opprobrium.

"I suppose it is appropriate for you," Pippa said but there was no judgment in her voice, just continued good cheer and a bit of teasing.

"If I may continue?" Hecate asked dryly. She just wanted to get on with it, to get the entire process over with.

"Right. Sorry." Pippa took a small step away and allowed Hecate to approach the fireplace without further comment.

Hecate took the few steps forward and knelt at the hearth, Pippa hovering at her side. She cast a spell, a variation of the one they had used to gather her father's ashes, and some of the ash flowed into the vial. As soon as it was done, she stoppered the vial and stood up again. She magicked on a label then vanished it off to her room as soon as she was finished.

"Well, that's that," Pippa said.

"Indeed." Hecate shifted uncomfortably now that she didn't have the excuse of the ceremony for being in Pippa's presence. "I suppose you'll be going now?"

"I can't think of a reason I'd have to stay." It sounded like Pippa might want a reason but Hecate couldn't think of why or what.

"Let me walk you out."

"Of course." Pippa seemed a bit crestfallen but there was nothing Hecate could do about it. They walked in silence back to the courtyard retrieving Pippa's broom as they did. Soon they were back in the open air. Pippa mounted her broom but hovered close to the ground.

"I don't know what I'm doing for Ēostre yet, but I'll contact you with the details when I know them. Hopefully something with less of an audience." Hecate wrung her hands together as she had to look up to Pippa this time. It felt odd, this change in position.

"Whatever you decide on, you know I'll be there." Pippa looked like she might reach out for Hecate then but she didn't. "Goodbye, Hecate." Her lips twitched into a small smile.

"Goodbye, Pippa," Hecate murmured back. Then Pippa ascended into the sky. Hecate watched her go, only turning away when she couldn't see Pippa anymore.

Chapter Text

For the first time in months, Hecate woke up to the sound of birds at her window. It was not a pleasant experience as it was at least an hour earlier than she had intended to rise. She pulled a pillow over her head only to quickly give up on falling back asleep. She swung her legs out from beneath the covers and got up. A quick spell made her bed. She rubbed her eyes then pulled on her dressing gown, the leather warding her against the early morning chill. It was only a few steps to her vanity.

Ēostre would be there soon. Dimity was organizing an egg hunt for the girls. If it hadn't fallen on a weekend, Hecate would have complained about the lost instruction time, but even she couldn't begrudge the girls a small bit of fun on a holiday dedicated to the bringing forth of new life. Her own celebration would be more subdued, but at least this time Ada wasn't going to invite the entire school to watch. She would go alone to the woods and meditate as the sun rose. Surely Pippa wouldn't want to join her in the cold dawn air, but she would need to do something that afternoon to appease Pippa's need to join her during the rites. She wasn't sure yet what it might be.

Still, at least the girls would be occupied. Beyond that, she was certain she could find something to do with her time.

Hecate startled at the knock on her office door. It was only a brave girl that came to her office hours, and on a Friday afternoon it was unheard of. She looked up curiously. "Come in," she called out. It was too much to hope that one of the girls wanted to get a head start on their homework so it was likely someone come to disrupt her day.

The door opened and Hecate smelled Pippa's perfume before she saw her. Pippa bustled in, back in her signature pink, with a bouquet of flowers in her arm. Hecate blinked several times to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Pippa wasn't supposed to be there until the next day.

"Hecate, how did I know I would find you working." Pippa softened the criticism with a smile that reached to the corners of her eyes.

"What else would one be doing on a weekday afternoon when one isn't in class?" Hecate raised an eyebrow. "Did you forget that we aren't meeting until tomorrow? Or is there some other reason for your visit today?" She didn't necessarily mean to be off-putting. It was simply her nature. Pippa's smile seemed impervious though.

"Well first, I brought these for you." Pippa held out the bouquet of spring flowers, pressing them into Hecate's arms until Hecate had no choice but to take them. "Happy spring."

"Thank you?" Hecate said slowly. She placed the flowers down on one side of her desk. It was a completely unexpected gesture though the flowers were certainly beautiful. Hecate almost wanted to smile at them.

"I thought they might bring some positive energy to your rooms." Pippa sat in one of the chairs at Hecate's desk and crossed her legs. "And I'm here because I didn't feel like leaving Pentangle's in the middle of the night to catch you sneaking off to meditate tomorrow morning." There was a knowing look in Pippa's eye and Hecate found she couldn't deny her plan. Hecate wondered if Pippa had learnt that look by practicing on her students. She had to admit it was effective.

"I had thought to go alone." She wrapped one hand around the watch at her sternum. She hadn't wanted to bother Pippa when there were other, less arduous ways they could celebrate the holiday even if the rite would be over by then.

Pippa looked at her sympathetically. "If you really want to go alone, of course, I'll let you. I don't want to intrude where I'm not welcome. We can spend the day in the garden like we've planned. But if you've convinced yourself that you'll be an inconvenience or a burden if you invite me, then I want you to know it isn't true. I'm already here and I'm more than capable of getting up a little early."

"It's more than just getting up 'a little early.'" Hecate looked at Pippa pointedly. Pippa turned nearly as pink as her dress.

"Yes, well, I can do that too." Pippa tilted her chin up defiantly and Hecate believed her.

"If you're certain." It seemed Pippa would be coming with her after all.

"I am." Pippa uncrossed her legs and stood up. "Now, Felicity has finally backed me into a corner about giving her an interview and then I'm due to have a conversation with Ada about next year's spelling bee. I'll see you at dinner." With that, Pippa transferred away leaving only the scent of her perfume in her wake.

Hecate tapped softly on the door to Pippa's room. If Pippa were somehow still asleep Hecate didn't want to wake her, but after their talk the day before, she wouldn't leave without Pippa if she was ready. A sliver of light appeared under the edge of the door just before it swung open. Then Pippa, fresh-faced but clearly still a bit sleepy, appeared in front of her. Like Hecate, she was dressed in an undyed linen shift with a cloak wrapped around her shoulders against the early morning air. Her hair, like Hecate's, was down around her shoulders. It was just before five and it would take at least half an hour to get to the spot Hecate had chosen for her meditation. Still, it was enough time to get there and get settled before the sun rose.

"Good morning," Pippa said in a voice still thick with sleep.

"Good morning." Hecate inclined her head and stepped back where Pippa could exit her room. Pippa joined her in the corridor, closing the door behind herself and magicking up a small ball of light where they could both see. "You're certain you want to come?"

"I'm certain." Pippa nodded.

"Then let's get our brooms and be on our way." Hecate shifted the satchel that rested across her body. This wasn't going to pleasant. Best to get it over with.

Hecate landed in a clearing in the woods not too far from Cackle's but far enough that the distance and the early hour would ensure their solitude. The sky was starting to lighten though sunrise was still a while off.

"There's a meadow just down that path," Hecate indicated off to the right. "I… thought we might walk the last distance." There was something about approaching on foot that seemed appropriate. There were no specific strictures for this part of the rite. It was left up to each witch or wizard to do as they saw fit. She had been severely ill the spring of her mother's death and hadn't been able to participate so she didn't have her father's interpretations to guide her.

"Whatever you like," Pippa said softly. She looked like she wanted to reach out for Hecate but they were too far away from each other to make it practical. Hecate nodded and started down the path, the light from their magic the only thing illuminating their way. It meandered a bit as animal-made trails were wont to do, but it carried them to their destination nonetheless. As their small procession made it to the edge of the woods, Hecate stopped.

Pippa came up beside her. She placed a hand on Hecate's forearm and Hecate looked over at the contact. Their eyes caught and held. Hecate took reassurance from the look, unaware until then that she needed it. She nodded and Pippa removed her hand.

Hecate took a deep breath, the cool air bracing for the next part. She reached down and took her shoes off, placing them in her satchel as she pulled out several blankets. Barefoot, she walked forward a few meters, and facing in the direction of the sunrise, laid out first a small blanket then a much larger one behind it. On the smaller blanket, she sat a candle, which she lit, and a few flowers.

"Are those…?" Pippa started to ask.

"Crocuses from the bouquet you brought yesterday. It seemed… appropriate... since you would be here with me." Hecate looked at Pippa significantly and Pippa's breath caught as the acknowledgment of the importance Hecate placed on the gift. The flowers were to celebrate spring after all and what better way than to be an offering to Ēastre herself. The rest of the flowers were on her dresser in her bedroom and had, in fact, lent a bit of their energy to the room. At least Hecate had been slightly less grumpy that morning than she had anticipated being.

Finally, Hecate took her satchel off and placed it to the side. She looked at Pippa again.

"You needn't join me in this part. I won't think less of you." Hecate waited though she already knew what Pippa would say.

"It's just a little cold air, Hecate. I'll be fine." It wasn't clear if Pippa was reassuring Hecate or herself though.

"Alright." Hecate turned east and started to shrug off her family's cloak. She folded it and placed it to the side. She looked at the horizon, took a deep breath, and started to remove her shift. It only took seconds for her to be standing nude in the meadow. Goosebumps covered her skin as she sat cross-legged to one side of the larger blanket. She looked over as Pippa, equally naked, equally as cold, settled next to her. They would sit in meditation until some time after the sun rose and their metaphorical sacrifice to Ēastre ended. Hecate looked back to the horizon.

There was nothing left to do but sit. Hecate closed her eyes.

She was supposed to thinking of her father but instead, she thought back to the summer her mother had died. It had been just after Beltane, the atmosphere heavy with humidity on an otherwise unassuming day. It had started as a headache in the mid-afternoon and ended after midnight the next morning, the hours in between spent mainly at the hospital silently worried as she watched over her mother who got weaker by the moment. Her father paced and chewed at the skin around the edges of his fingernails. It was the only time she could remember him being anything other than perfectly composed.

She would have assumed her parent's marriage bloodless if not for the way her mother's illness had seemed to break down her father. She had discovered that day just how deeply his feelings for her mother ran. He had sobbed when the doctor told him the news, a deep wracking thing that seemed to come from the depths of his very being. Hecate hadn't known what to do. All she remembered from the rest of that night was feeling so, so lost. She didn't remember how they made it back to the house. She was saying goodbye to her mother's body one minute and then the next it was late the next morning and she was waking up in her bed, throat sore and eyes scratchy.

She had wondered, for a moment, why she had been left to sleep in for so long before she remembered, before everything came back and the tears started again. It had taken another hour for her to get out of bed, to shower, to make her way downstairs to the kitchen to eat a late breakfast that she hadn't wanted. Once she was marginally more clear-headed she had gone in search of her father. She found him in his study with her uncle, her mother's brother. Uncle Fitz had been crying but her father looked completely recovered, somber but not overly moved. She couldn't quite square it with what she had witnessed the night before and it made her father seem even more alien.

"Hecate, there you are," he had said. "Your Uncle has come to help with the preparations. Make sure there's a room made up for him."

She had exchanged a look with Uncle Fitz, opened her mouth to say something different, but in the end had just said, "yes sir," and done as she was told. She had thought she heard Uncle Fitz mention her name as she walked away from the study but she hadn't stopped to eavesdrop.

Something in her DNA had changed between the moment her mother had died and the next morning. She would never be the same and she couldn't go back as much as she wanted to. She had moved in a daze through those first few days, doing as her father instructed and little more. She ate when food was placed in front of her and she slept when it got dark and she watched as the house was made ready for the feast they would have the day before they burned her mother.

The feast had been long and torturous. All of her mother's friends, and she had had so many of them, had been there. Her aunts and uncles from both sides and cousins she rarely saw anymore now that they weren't children. Hecate would never again feel like a child. Even a few of Hecate's friends from university attended, though she couldn't seem to allow them to comfort her in any way. She had smiled when it seemed appropriate and laughed when everyone else did and tried not to shrink away whenever someone touched her arm or offered her a hug. Yet, occasionally she would swear that she saw her mother from the corner of her eye.

That night, the night before the burning, Hecate dreamed about her mother. It wasn't much of a dream, just an impression of her mother's perfume and the feeling Hecate had when her mother held her in her arms. She had awoken the next day with more tears in her eyes, inconsolable even as Uncle Fitz and his wife had tried to calm her. She had spent the day in her room refusing to see anyone, coming down only after her father had finally knocked on her door and told her it was time. Then she had dried her eyes, straightened her dress, and locked all of her pain and grief away for the time being. It wouldn't last. She would be in tears again by the time the vigil started, but they wouldn't be the great, sobbing things she had cried up until that point. Instead, she cried quietly while her mother's body turned to ash.

Hecate knew, distantly, that she was crying in that moment too, as she sat and waited for the sun to rise.

From the day of her mother's death, her father's death had seemed inevitable. She knew now what it was like to lose a parent and she knew it would happen again. A small part of her was merely biding its time until that next great tragedy occurred. She knew to many it wouldn't look like it, but she did love her father and she did not want to disappoint him. She would keep to the rites and she would lay him to rest in a way that would make him proud.

Hecate could feel the light of the sunrise on her face and she opened her eyes. Her eyelashes were wet and she no longer felt the cold. Pippa shifted next to her and Hecate watched as she opened her eyes then flinched against the light.

Hecate cleared her throat and looked toward the horizon. She could hear the tears in her voice as she started to speak. "Ēastre, I ask you, with my father's life, make new life."

She waited a few beats before she leaned forward and blew out the candle. She said a spell and some of the earth from beneath the altar flowed into a potions vial. Tears fell from her eyes as she sat back. She pulled her knees up to her chest, still too caught up in her memories to think of getting up yet. She startled when she felt her cloak being draped over her shoulders. She looked up to see Pippa, already dressed, standing next to her.

"We can stay as long as you want, but there's no sense in being cold." Pippa rubbed a hand over Hecate's back as she sat next to her again.

Hecate cleared her throat. "Thank you." She looked down at the altar then at her feet where they stuck out from under the cloak, and finally back at the horizon. "I still miss her," she said so quietly she wasn't sure Pippa could even hear her.

"Oh darling," Pippa whispered as she wrapped her arms around Hecate. "I'm sure you must."

Hecate didn't flinch away from the hug. She didn't want to. It felt good to be held for once. She leaned into Pippa's arms. She stayed there for a long time before she finally straightened up. She wiped her eyes and cleared her throat again as Pippa let her go. This was twice now she had broken down into tears in Pippa's arms and she had been glad of Pippa's presence both times. That was something to think about.

A second later Hecate was standing up. A flash of magic and she was wearing her dress again. Another flash and the blankets were back in her satchel. She returned the candle to her bag by hand but left the flowers on the ground. They would stay there until some animal decided to make a snack of them. Finally, she pulled on her shoes.

"Ready to go back?" Pippa asked as she held out Hecate's broom.

Hecate took it. She looked back at the flowers on the ground then up at Pippa. "Yes." They would be back in time for breakfast.

"There are no eggs over here," Hecate said as Sybil Hallow wandered into her field of vision. The girl had a basket with a fair number of eggs in it in her arms as she wandered closer to where Hecate was kneeling in the soil. After breakfast and a change of clothing, she and Pippa had spent most of the morning out in Cackle's gardens tending the soil and preparing it for planting. Now she was taking a break while Pippa was off on a quest. Just what Pippa had decided to go looking for, Hecate wasn't quite sure but she assumed she would know when Pippa returned.

"Oh." Sybil deflated. "I'm sorry, Miss Hardbroom. I didn't mean to disturb you." But Sybil didn't turn to leave like Hecate expected.

"Was there something you needed?" Hecate asked frankly, not in the mood to play games with a twelve-year-old.

"I just… Is there a reason you're gardening over here alone?" Sybil looked at Hecate in confusion. Hecate didn't see what was so confusing about it.

"As opposed to hunting for eggs?" Hecate raised an eyebrow. Honestly, did Sybil think she would enjoy participating in something so juvenile? Still, she was impressed with Sybil's fortitude in carrying on a conversation with her. It was an improvement.

"No, I guess not." Sybil smiled as if picturing Hecate hunting for brightly colored eggs. It wasn't an image Hecate wanted to encourage. "Can I ask what you're planting?"

Hecate sighed but stopped herself from biting Sybil's head off. The girl was just curious and had been perfectly respectful thus far. There was no need to reprimand her for that.

"I'm looking for hyacinth bulbs, at the moment." Hecate looked down at the soil beneath her hands. "Do you know what we use hyacinth in?" She supposed it wasn't fair to quiz Sybil on a Saturday but she didn't retract the question. She simply wouldn't assign extra lessons if Sybil didn't manage to answer the question correctly, though really it was something the girl should have learned in her first year.

"Uhm… sleeping draughts?" Though she didn't sound confident, the look in her eye told Hecate that Sybil knew she was right.

"And calming potions. Very good." Hecate nodded her pleasure. At least one of her students was retaining something she taught.

Sybil smiled brightly at the praise.

Movement pulled Hecate's attention upward and where Hecate's attention went, so did Sybil's. Sybil spun around.

"Well met, Miss Pentangle." She gestured and bowed appropriately though she looked a bit worried in a way she hadn't before. Hecate was forced to remember the day Sybil fainted after one of Pippa's lessons. It wasn't a pleasant memory. Hecate tried not to dwell on it though. Surely Pippa had learned something from it as well.

"Well met, Miss Hallow." Pippa's eyes twinkled as she returned the gesture. "What are you and Miss Hardbroom doing over here?"

"We were–" Hecate started only to be cut off by Pippa.

"I didn't ask you, now did I?" It was only the way Pippa was fighting back a smile that prevented Hecate from being cross with her for the interruption.

"Well, Sybil?" Pippa asked.

Sybil looked back and forth between them and slowly answered as if saying the wrong thing would bring about the end of the world. "I was just looking for eggs over here, but Miss Hardbroom said there weren't any. Then we were talking about hyacinths and calming potions."

"Well, that sounds fun, but are you sure there aren't any eggs over here?" Pippa asked. She circled her hand and a brightly colored egg appeared in it. Sybil's eyes grew large as her mouth formed an 'o.'

"Really?" Sybil looked up at Pippa hopefully. Hecate fought not to roll her eyes. She couldn't believe her students would be taken in by such a trick but Sybil seemed enamored of Pippa once again.

"Really," Pippa said as she held the egg out to Sybil. Sybil took it and placed it in her basket.

"Thanks, Miss Pentangle."

"Sybil, you should go back to the other side of the castle now." Hecate gave her a stern look. It wouldn't do to have Sybil think she had gone soft after all.

"Yes, Miss Hardbroom." Sybil scampered off.

"The girls aren't supposed to use magic to find the eggs." Hecate looked up at Pippa.

"It's a good thing I'm not one of the girls, isn't it?" Mirth played over Pippa's lips and Hecate couldn't stop the small smile at appeared on her own. Pippa sat on the ground next to Hecate and tucked her legs up under herself.

"And was your errand successful?"

"Indeed it was." Pippa waved her hand and a tray with two sandwiches and drinks appeared on the ground next to her.

"So your 'grand quest,' as you said, was for lunch?" Hecate smirked. "Not really worthy of the title when you know exactly where the larder is."

"Oh, hush or I won't share my sandwiches with you." Pippa lounged back on her hands as Hecate rolled from her knees to her hip. All of this sitting on the ground was going to leave her in need of a hot bath at the end of the day. Yet, the possibility of those aches didn't leave her in a bad mood. She felt a lightness that she hadn't felt in a long time. She wasn't sure exactly what to attribute that to, but it didn't matter. She was going to take advantage of it.

"You will absolutely be sharing one of those sandwiches with me or I shan't invite you back again." Hecate performed a small spell to remove the dirt from her hands and reached for one of the glasses.

"Well, that's not very nice." Pippa reached out and swatted Hecate's hand.

"I never was accused of being a nice person." Hecate smiled delightedly. She ignored Pippa's pout and grabbed a glass.

"You were always very nice to me," Pippa said softly. She looked serious all of a sudden and it brought Hecate up short.

"Yes well…" She looked away. What could she say to that? She hadn't always been nice to Pippa, had she? She put down her drink. "I…"

"Hecate, I didn't mean to…" Pippa said as she reached for Hecate's hand.

"No… I should… That is to say–"

"Miss Hardbroom! Miss Hardbroom!" Sybil came running back around the side of the castle, her basket of eggs abandoned somewhere during her flight. "Come quick. Millie's gotten herself stuck to a tree and Miss Drill can't get her unstuck." Sybil stood panting as she waited for Hecate to respond.

Hecate looked over at Sybil and then back to Pippa. "I'm sorry. I need to go see to Mildred." It wasn't what she really needed to apologize for, but that moment seemed to have passed now.

"I'll come with you," Pippa said as they both stood. It was a conversation that would have to wait for another day.

Getting Mildred unstuck from the tree took a surprising amount of time and the efforts of Dimity, Pippa, and Hecate. They had almost called in Ada, who was off running errands, when the spell had finally broken. If she had done it on purpose, Hecate would have called it a clever bit of spellcasting. As she had not done it on purpose, it was instead a reason for detention. Pippa had frowned when Hecate had assigned it. She supposed they didn't give detentions for such things at Pentangle's, but Cackle's was not Pentangle's and she would discipline her students as she saw fit.

By the time all of that was dealt with, however, it was time for Pippa to leave. Hecate found herself disappointed at Pippa’s impending departure as she walked Pippa to the courtyard Pippa had taken to coming and going from. She slowed as they reached the center and put a hand on Pippa's forearm. Pippa turned, a look of question on her face.

"I just…" Hecate knew thank you wasn't enough but it was all she could think to say. "Thank you. For insisting on coming with me."

Pippa smiled gently. "It like I said, if it's important to you, then it's important to me. Even if it was a bit chilly."

Hecate returned Pippa's smile. "It was rather cold." She fidgeted with her hands. "I had thought to spend Beltane with my coven," Hecate broached the topic carefully. It was entirely possible that Pippa had plans to spend it with her coven as well and Hecate wouldn't expect an invitation to join them. Coven gatherings could be very private affairs. "Just, if you've plans, you needn't change them on my account."

"Oh. Well then." Pippa's smile fell but Hecate wasn't exactly sure why. Then with false cheer, Pippa said, "Anyway, I should be off." Pippa leaned in and pressed her lips to Hecate's cheek. Hecate startled but not in a bad way. She simply hadn't expected the touch.

Before she could recover, Pippa was on her broom. "Goodbye, Hecate." She didn't wait for a response before she flew off. Hecate watched her go.

As Pippa passed over the walls of the castle and Hecate lost sight of her, Hecate transferred to the top of the tower to better watch Pippa fly away. She jumped in surprise when she found Miss Bat already there.

"Oh, Hecate, I didn't mean to give you such a fright." She ran her finger down the back of bat that was clinging to her hand.

"No. I simply didn't realize anyone would be up here." Hecate's heart rate was slowly returning to normal.

"Oh yes, I come to check on the bats every day, though normally I come after sunset where I don't disturb them." Gwen carefully transferred the bat back to its perch where it went back to sleep. "Were you here to see Miss Pentangle off?"

"I…" Truthfully, Hecate had acted without thinking. She never did that.

"That's alright, dear, no need to talk to me about it." Gwen started to walk off, but she turned just before she got to the stairs. "But Hecate, do be careful. You've already broken that woman's heart once. I don't know that she'll be so forgiving if you do it again." Gwen looked at Hecate over the top of her glasses as if daring Hecate to contradict her. Before Hecate could think of a response, Gwen turned and walked away.

Chapter Text

Hecate tapped a finger nervously as she waited for the mirror to connect, but she didn't have long to work herself up. At exactly seven thirty pm, just when they had scheduled it, Augusta appeared on the other side of the mirror. She was only slightly older than Hecate, though her once blonde hair had gone entirely a light grey.

"Well met, Hecate," Augusta said as she raised her hand to her forehead.

"Well met, sister," Hecate replied. She reminded herself that there was nothing overly unusual about her request and there was no reason for Augusta to turn her down. Outsiders often came to the coven's Beltane festival.

"What can I do for you, Hecate? You were very vague in your message when you asked to speak with me." Augusta sipped what was likely coffee from a mug. Ever since university she had been positively addicted to the stuff. At least that's how Hecate remembered it.

"Yes. Well." Hecate shifted a bit in her seat. "It's about Beltane."

"Don't tell me you're begging off again." Augusta looked sad but resigned and Hecate felt a twinge of guilt. She really needed to try to find more time to spend with her coven.

"Actually, quite the opposite," Hecate said. That got Augusta attention.

"Really? Hecate, that's lovely. It'll be so good to see you again." A smile lit her face. "So what's the reason for the call? You know it'll be at my farm just like it is every year."

"I called because I have a request. It's a bit unorthodox but you know with my father's passing… I've been observing the circle of rites. I have a friend who's been going through them with me. If it's alright, I'd like to bring her." Hecate kept her back straight as she asked already braced for the answer to be no.

Augusta's eyes turned sympathetic. "Of course you can bring her with you. You know we allow anyone with a connection to the coven to come be with us at Beltane. And I'm so sorry about your father. I would have been at the funeral but, well…" Hecate had specifically asked the members of her coven not to attend and they had respected her wishes. "In any event, I'm glad you have someone to observe the rites with you. "

"Thank you." Hecate inclined her head.

"Now, tell me who it is and I'll happily invite her." Augusta pulled over a piece of paper and a pen ready to take down a name.

"It's Pippa Pentangle."

Upon hearing the name, Augusta nearly choked. "Pippa Pentangle?" She shook her head but wrote down the name anyway. Unsurprisingly, Pippa's reputation preceded her. Augusta recovered herself enough to ask, "She does know we're a rather traditional sort of coven, doesn't she?"

Hecate pursed her lips. "I'll make sure she does. Anyway, she likely already has plans so you can expect her to politely decline." Why would Pippa want to spend such a festive holiday with her? She would have so many better offers.

Augusta nodded. "Well, if she doesn't, we'll be happy to have her." There was a steely glint in Augusta's eyes and Hecate knew that Augusta had just resolved to be as welcoming as she possibly could be to someone who might not understand their traditions. "I'll give her a call as soon as we hang up."

Hecate nodded. "Thank you."

"You're quite welcome. Was there anything else?" Augusta asked.

"No. Have a good night, Augusta." Hecate got ready to sign off.

"You as well, Hecate." The mirror went dark and Hecate pushed her chair back. That conversation had gone as well as she could have expected, though she hoped that not everyone in her coven would have such a visceral reaction to Pippa's presence. It probably wouldn't matter though. It was highly unlikely that Pippa didn't have other, more exciting plans for the holiday.

Hecate looked up as she saw the message notification on her maglet. She pulled the thing over where she could read it.

Calling in 5.

–P

Hecate looked at the watch around her neck. It was nearly nine pm. Either Pippa's conversation with Augusta lasted longer than she thought it would or Pippa had gotten distracted by something more important than telling Hecate she couldn't come to her coven's celebration of Beltane. Still, she wrapped her dressing gown tighter around her shoulders and slid into the seat in front of her mirror. It was a short wait before Pippa's face appeared. She smirked at Hecate through the glass.

"Hecate, I just spent the last forty-five minutes having the most fascinating conversation with Augusta Mayweather, which is interesting in and of itself as the conductor of the Witching Philharmonic is notoriously reclusive. We had a lovely talk about the clarinet solo in Chambers' Second Symphony during which I'm sure I sounded like the dilettante that I am, then we talked about donor relations, which I actually do know something about, so that's redeeming, and then she invited me to her coven's Beltane celebration. When I expressed surprise, she told me that she thought you would have given me a heads up about the invitation, which you and I both know you didn't do, but I recovered from my shock long enough to tell her I would be thrilled to attend, but that clearly I needed to talk to my friend before I could make any definite plans." Pippa's ramble finally seemed to come to an end. Hecate's cheeks turned pink. She waited a beat before she attempted to say anything just in case Pippa wasn't finished.

"I…" Hecate looked for a way to excuse her behavior. Pippa narrowed her eyes playfully.

"You're almost as bad as some of my students trying to ask each other out on dates without seeming to ask anyone anything." Pippa laughed in mirth.

"I am not a teen–" Hecate sputtered.

"Oh, do calm down, darling. Of course I'll come to your coven's Beltane festival." Pippa rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "I would have appreciated a heads up though."

The pinkness was finally fading from Hecate's skin. "I did tell you I wanted to spend Beltane with them," she pointed out.

"Yes, but you didn't even hint that it might include me as well. I thought you were trying to tell me that you didn't want me there without saying it." Pippa looked a bit hurt at that thought even though she knew now it wasn't true.

"When have you ever known me not to say something?" Hecate said now fully recovered. Still, she hadn't wanted to put Pippa in an awkward spot of having to turn her down.

"Well, you do have a point there." Pippa's good cheer easily came back. "Now, tell me how you wound up in a coven with Augusta Mayweather."

"Well," Hecate started, not sure of her footing anymore, "she was the TA in my first year chanting theory class. After the class ended we… dated… for a brief period."

"Really?" Pippa's eyes sparkled as if she had heard the most interesting piece of gossip.

"It was a short relationship. We decided it was to everyone's advantage if we merely remained friends. When she decided to start a coven…" Hecate trailed off. The rest was rather obvious.

"So who else is in your coven? Tell me everything." Pippa settled back in her chair like she anticipated being there for awhile. Hecate resigned herself to it being a long night.

"I don't think I've ever seen you quite so nervous," Augusta said as she walked up to Hecate. She put her hand to her forehead and bowed slightly.

"I haven't any idea what you're talking about," Hecate said as she returned the gesture.

"You forget just how long I've known you. You haven't taken your eyes off the sky since you got here. I'm sure Pippa will be along shortly." Augusta smiled at Hecate. "You didn't tell me how you two know one another."

"We were friends at Amulet's." Hecate clasped her watch and did her best not to look upward as she did so.

"Mmm, well, I must say, she doesn't seem like your type." Augusta didn't feel Hecate's compunction about looking upward and she took a long look around.

"My type?" What did Augusta mean by that?

"Mmm. They do say opposites attract though," Augusta teased.

"Opposites… Augusta, what on Earth are you going on about?" Hecate was sure Augusta couldn't be implying what she was. Pippa was her friend and nothing more.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Are you not…? I just assumed... since it's Beltane…"

"You assumed incorrectly. Pippa is a friend and that's all."

"Well, I do believe your friend is here." Augusta looked up over Hecate shoulder. Hecate turned to follow her gaze and found Pippa slowly lowering her broom. "And on that note, I'll leave you two to say hello. Make sure to introduce me later though." Augusta waved briefly at Pippa before she turned and walked back toward where the celebration had already begun.

Pippa stored her broom on one of the racks set out for the occasion and walked over to Hecate.

"Didn't Augusta want to say hello?" Pippa asked as she reached Hecate's side.

"She said she needed to see to some of the preparations but insisted that I introduce you to her later." Hecate was happy to see Pippa and she couldn't keep a small smile off of her face. Her insecurities faded. "I believe they're about to light the bonfires." Hecate gestured toward the field that had been given over to the celebration. It was full of an array of people, witches and wizards both, lounging on lawn chairs and standing around chatting with old friends. Glasses of spring wine were everywhere and at least a few of the celebrants were already tipsy. Great stacks of wood lay ready to be lit and tables for the feast stretched across one side of the field. A couple of cows were in a pen off to the side.

"Oh good. I was worried I would miss it." Pippa smiled.

"Shall we go over?" Hecate asked.

"I'd love to." Pippa looped her arm through Hecate's as they walked toward the center of the field where everyone else was gathering. Hecate nearly tripped at the sudden contact but managed to recover before Pippa noticed. Pippa, who was happy to give out hugs, had always been so careful of Hecate's personal space that the casual touch came as a shock. But Hecate was probably overthinking it. It was Pippa doing what she was naturally inclined to do.

They reached the ring of people around the bonfire and found a good place to watch as Augusta knelt by one of the piles of wood with a flint. The fire might be magical but the tradition was to light it via friction so that was how they did it. Augusta was an old hand at it by now so it only took a few strikes before the kindling was lit. From there it was only a matter of time before the entire thing started burning. Augusta took one of the burning branches and carried it over to the second fire, using that to light it. A cheer went up as both stacks of wood went up in flame.

"You have two fires instead of one?" Pippa leaned in and asked Hecate.

"It's easier to drive the cows between two fires than to try to prod them to jump over a single fire. We tried that at one of our first Beltanes together."

"I take it that it didn't go well?" Pippa was already trying to hold back a laugh.

"Have you ever tried to convince a cow to jump over anything when it didn't want to?" Hecate allowed just a bit of humor into her voice.

"No," Pippa laughed, "but clearly you have."

As they were talking, a few of the coven members had retrieved the two cows from the pen and were driving them toward the flames. "Augusta has a small herd but we decided watching all of them go through the fire was tedious, so we've cut back to two as a symbolic gesture."

The coven members clearly had some experience as they smoothly guided the cows between the two fires, the bells around their necks providing a counterpoint to the crackle of the fire and noise of the crowd. As soon as the cows were through, the crowd cheered again.

"I'm surprised that you've strayed so far away from tradition." Pippa's eyes smiled.

"There was a heated debate. Augusta ended it when she said we would have to get someone else's cattle if we wanted to do it with an entire herd. It didn't seem worth the trouble then. I'm sure all of this seems quite ridiculous to you." Hecate ducked her head.

"No," Pippa laughed. "It's charming." She leaned into Hecate's arm. "What's next?"

Hecate looked down at Pippa, delighted at the fact that Pippa seemed to be enjoying herself. "Now we feast. Later some people will dance around the fires. Some couples will go off to be on their own. There are beds up at the house to sleep in but most people stay outside. Then tomorrow at dawn we'll go off to one of the wells on the property to perform the rite."

"So we have a giant party and then sleep under the stars. I think this is a tradition I can get behind." Pippa looked happy and Hecate had to admit she was already having a good time. "So, you mentioned a feast?"

"Which should be starting in a few minutes. We should go find seats." Hecate guided Pippa toward the tables and it was only once they got there that Pippa relinquished her hold on Hecate's arm. The tables were laden with food and runners of yellow flowers ran down the center. The scents had Hecate's stomach rumbling. Looking around at her coven members, Hecate met Augusta eyes from down the table but she couldn't read the look in them. She didn't have time to ponder it before Augusta was standing and raising her glass. The assemblage quieted as she started to speak.

"Bless, O Threefold true and bountiful,
Myself, my spouse, and my children,
My tender children and their beloved mother at their head.
On the fragrant plain, on the gay mountain sheiling,
On the fragrant plain, on the gay mountain sheiling.

"Everything within my dwelling or in my possession,
All kine and crops, all flocks and corn,
From Hallow Eve to Beltane Eve,
With goodly progress and gentle blessing,
From sea to sea, and every river mouth,
From wave to wave, and base of waterfall."

Someone at the table shouted, "here, here," as they all raised their glasses.

"Now, new and old alike, I bid everyone welcome," Augusta said. "I hope you all have a wonderful night and a blessed Beltane. Enjoy."

"That was lovely," Pippa said as she bumped her shoulder against Hecate's.

"It always is," Hecate replied. She vowed once again to spend more time with her coven. She hadn't realized how much she missed them. Surely she could spare some time every month or two to attend their regular get-togethers and it wouldn't be an arduous task to go to the symphony on occasion.

Hecate started serving herself from the food on the table and looked over to Pippa to make sure she was doing the same. Once she saw that she was, Hecate finally relaxed into the evening.

It was amazing what a few glasses of spring wine would do to Hecate's disposition. She felt loose-limbed and content as she leaned back on a blanket and watched several of her coven members and their families dance around the bonfires. The sun had set and the atmosphere was even gayer than it had been during the feast. Pippa was out there too, laughing and talking with everyone within earshot. Hecate waved a hand and suddenly her hair was down around her shoulders, though the top was braided back to keep it from her eyes. She let her eyes drift closed until she heard someone approach.

She opened her eyes expecting Pippa but it was Augusta instead. Augusta didn't wait for an invitation before she sat next to Hecate. "I'll admit I was skeptical but she's taken to our traditions quite well."

"Out tradition is to throw a giant party. You needn't have worried." Hecate brushed her hair back over her shoulder.

"Still, she isn't exactly known for holding to the old ways. I'm surprised she agreed to do the rites with you. I'm surprised you're doing them at all."

"It was my father's last wish." She wouldn't disappoint him. Hecate found Pippa again in the group of dancers. "And Pippa is…" Hecate searched for a way to explain her relationship with Pippa to an outsider. "Pippa is my oldest friend. She's always been there for me when no one else would be." And Hecate had ruined that, but perhaps things were changing now. She and Pippa had spoken several more times since Hecate had invited her to the Beltane festival, never discussing anything serious but talking nonetheless.

Now, Pippa was approaching them. Her skin was flushed and she was trying to catch her breath. "Remind me not to try to keep up with twenty-year-olds the next time I go dancing," Pippa said as she reached the foot of the blanket. "You must be Augusta. Well met and it's lovely to finally see you face to face."

"You as well." Augusta chuckled. "And you seemed to be doing a fine job keeping up with those twenty-year-olds. Now, I'd love to stay and chat, but it looks like I'm needed elsewhere." She nodded toward the other side of the fire where someone was trying to catch her attention. She stood and relinquished her spot to Pippa. "If I don't see you again, have a good night."

Augusta bustled off and Pippa sat down. "I don't know what I expected when you invited me here, but it was certainly a more serious affair than it's turned out to be." Pippa reached for her glass of wine and took a sip. "They've even managed to get you to let your hair down." Pippa reached out and ran her fingers through a bit of Hecate's hair down at the bottom.

"Yes, well, not every tradition has to be dry and boring." Hecate hoped she didn't sound too defensive but if she did, Pippa laughed it off.

"You should let me braid some of the flowers into your hair." Pippa was already moving to get a bunch off of the nearby table, where several other people had clearly had the same idea. She came back and let the flowers tumble out of her arms.

"I…" Hecate looked at Pippa skeptically. No one had ever asked to braid flowers into her hair, not even Pippa when they were younger. It didn't seem proper.

"Oh, just sit up. I promise it won't be painful. I'll just do something simple." Pippa looked at Hecate entreatingly, and Hecate found herself doing as she was told and sitting up. She startled when she felt Pippa's fingers comb through her hair but she quickly relaxed. There was something enjoyable about the way Pippa was gently tugging at her hair.

Just then, a young woman came sprinting past them and toward the fire. A young man followed her a moment later. A chase ensued as she weaved her way through the dancers and the fires.

"What…?" Pippa asked as she paused in her ministrations.

"Just watch," Hecate advised her and Pippa began braiding again as she did.

The man chased the woman around and around the fires getting closer and closer to catching her as the dancers tried to move out of their way. With one last step, he caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, swinging her up into his arms. The young woman laughed mirthfully as the young man kissed her soundly and carried her away from the fire and into the shadows. The dancer laughed and clapped as the pair disappeared.

"Just where are they going?" Pippa watched the pair go with curiosity.

"They're going off to do what young people in love do when there isn't anyone about." Hecate watched the pair as well then turned back to watching the dancers. "They won't be the only couple sneaking off to the bushes tonight."

"Really?" Pippa almost sounded shocked.

"Mmm, it's a tradition," Hecate smirked. It was good to know she wasn't too predictable after all. "And we started the coven when most of us were still in university, so…" Hecate shrugged in a way that said young people would be young.

Pippa laughed and pushed Hecate's shoulder. "Hecate Hardboom, are you telling me you've gone off and had sex in the bushes at Beltane?"

"I am saying no such thing." Hecate's blush belied her words though.

"I don't think I believe you." Pippa manhandled Hecate back into position and went back to her braiding. "Have some more wine and maybe I'll get the story out of you."

"I assure you, no matter how much I drink, you will not be hearing that story." She had been so much younger then, so much more carefree. It seemed like those days were centuries in the past.

"So you admit there is a story!" Pippa crowed. "I knew it!"

Hecate had no choice but to laugh as well.

The sky was turning pink as Hecate opened her eyes. She looked over and saw Pippa asleep next to her. They had finally passed out sometime around two am and Hecate was amazed that she wasn't feeling all of the wine she had drunk. She chalked it up to Beltane magic and moved on. She needed to wake Pippa where they could go to the well and complete the rite.

She took a deep breath as she looked at Pippa, her features still soft with the peacefulness of sleep. What was Pippa doing there with her? She was reluctant to disturb Pippa's sleep, but they needed to get going. She reached over and shook Pippa's shoulder as she called her name. Pippa slowly opened her eyes.

"Is it time?" she asked as she wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"It is." Hecate rolled to her feet then helped Pippa to hers.

Pippa nodded as she yawned. "Let's go then." She took Hecate's arm. They walked toward the edge of the field and Hecate preceded Pippa through the gate. "Oh dear, I'm afraid the flowers didn't survive the night." She waved her hand and the flowers in Hecate's hair disappeared though the braid remained.

Hecate blinked at the feeling of Pippa's magic washing over her. Before she could recover, Pippa was at her side and taking her arm again.

They walked for another fifteen minutes before they reached the well. Hecate stopped a few feet away. She regarded it seriously. Beltane might have been about revelry but the rite still demanded reverence. With a deep breath, and with Pippa's hand still tucked in the crook of her arm, she started to circle the well. They proceeded around it three times before Hecate stopped in front of it. Pippa let her go and Hecate knelt.

"Spirits of Beltane, I ask that you protect my father on his trip to the afterlife." Hecate stood and drew forth water from the well. Once the bucket was sitting in front of her, she used a bit of magic to move the water into a potions vial that had been sitting in her pocket. When she finished, she placed the vial back in her pocket and stepped away.

"That's it?" Pippa asked.

"Beltane is supposed to be a celebration of life. It wouldn't do to dwell on death." Hecate turned toward Pippa. "Did you want to wash your face in the water?" Hecate nodded toward the bucket.

"Another tradition?"

"It's said to preserve beauty in maidens." Hecate's smile reached her eyes.

"I think I'll leave it for the actual maidens then." Pippa took Hecate's arm as they turned away from the well and started to walk back to the gathering. It didn't seem to take as long to get back as it had to get to the well and soon they were standing with their brooms in their hands.

"Thank you for inviting me to spend the holiday with you." Pippa took Hecate's hand and squeezed it. "I had a wonderful time."

"Thank you for coming." Hecate found she was sad to see the weekend come to an end. "I'll see you at Litha?"

"You couldn't keep me away. But you'll hear from me before then." Pippa leaned in and kissed Hecate on the cheek before she turned, mounted her broom and flew away. Hecate was left confused.

Chapter Text

"Slow down!" Hecate called after two students as they raced past her. She heard a laugh coming from over her left shoulder and she turned around prepared to glare at anyone who might have the gall to laugh at her. She caught sight of Pippa before she could bring that glare to bear though. "Do you have a problem with how I handle my students?"

Exams were coming up soon and Ada had decided the girls deserved one last break before the stress really started. Pippa had thought it a wonderful idea and brought along the students from Pentangle's. Hecate thought the whole thing preposterous but as she had to take the day to perform the rite for Litha, there wasn't much she could say against it. They would camp on the lakeshore that night and hopefully be entirely stress-free when they went back to school the next day.

Pippa continued to laugh. "Not at all. But they're children and they're outside going camping. It seems like if ever there were a time to bend the rules just a bit, it would be now." Pippa strolled over to join Hecate beside the lake.

"The rules are the rules for a reason. They keep the children safe." Hecate crossed her arms and stood up straighter.

"I'm not saying that rules aren't valuable, merely that some of them can be relaxed from time to time." Pippa reached out and rubbed Hecate's upper arm. Hecate relaxed just a bit. "Anyway, we didn't come here to discuss pedagogical differences, did we?" Pippa smiled her most winning smile and Hecate felt her resolve crumbling.

"No, I suppose we didn't." Hecate looked back at the boat. "If you're ready to depart?"

"Whenever you are." Pippa picked up a picnic basket and stowed it away.

Hecate watched Pippa slowly open her eyes. They were magically anchored in the middle of a lake not too far from Cackle's. Right now all of the students were on the beach splashing about and generally making merry. Hecate could hear them, the sounds of laughter echoing off the surface of the water. She heard a squeal, but looking back to the shore, she didn't see anything amiss that would require her intervention.

"You should relax," Pippa said from where she was lounging. "We've nothing to do until sunset and the weather is beautiful." The boat bobbed in place. "Aren't you supposed to be observing a day of quietude? I know you brought a book with you."

"I am perfectly relaxed," Hecate said as she shifted around in her seat. The shifting made the boat rock back and forth. Hecate pursed her lips. She startled when she felt Pippa's hand on her ankle.

"Seriously, Hecate, you look like the least relaxed person on the planet right now." Pippa sat up and shaded her eyes with one hand. "We've got a pile of blankets that I can assure you are quite comfortable, and you've got that new biography you've been going on about wanting to read for weeks tucked in your bag. Lie down and enjoy yourself. I'll keep watch for a while if you insist."

Hecate considered Pippa's offer. She did want to read her book about Margaret Heen, one of the first witches to be inducted into the Potions Master's society, and with exams coming up she wouldn't have a chance again until the summer break. She looked back at the shore once more. Everything there seemed to be in hand. She took a deep breath.

"If you insist." Hecate looked down at the blankets and pulled out her book.

"I do. Now come rest your head in my lap where I can play with your hair while I keep watch for any sudden squalls." Pippa rubbed her own thigh. Hecate rolled her eyes but found the suggestion appealing. She didn't question why; she simply did has Pippa requested, lying down with her head pillowed in Pippa’s lap. She shifted a bit to get comfortable then opened her book.

It was hard to concentrate on the words in front of her as Pippa unwound her bun and started to unbraid her hair. Still, she would have to take it down for the rite. There was no harm in letting Pippa do it a bit early. She hummed in pleasure as Pippa raked her nails over her scalp as she sunk into the world of late 19th century magical Britain.

Hecate slowly came back awake to the gentle rocking of the boat.

"Hello, sleepyhead," Pippa teased lightly. Her fingers were still in Hecate's hair but she had Hecate's book propped open with her other hand. She had obviously been reading it while Hecate slept. "Did you have a nice nap?"

Hecate blinked owlishly as she took stock of herself. "I believe so, yes." She propped herself up on one elbow and looked toward the shore. When had she fallen asleep? How could she have let herself have such a lapse? What if one of the girls had needed her? The girls were all sitting around fires and eating. Hecate reached for her watch.

"It's just after seven." Pippa squeezed Hecate's shoulder. "I thought we might head toward shore soon and have our picnic."

"That sounds like a good idea." Hecate finished sitting up. She twirled a hand and the boat started to move toward the beach opposite the one where the students were eating. In little time, the bottom of the boat was scraping against the sand. Hecate pulled her skirts up and stepped out into the shallows with Pippa right behind her. The boat beached itself and Pippa turned to pull the picnic basket out of it.

"Food first or fire?" Pippa asked.

"Fire, I think. Then we won't have to worry with it as it starts to get dark."

"An excellent plan." Pippa put the basket down and started to look for wood for a fire. Between the two of them, it didn't take long to find enough firewood to last for at least a few hours. Hecate used her magic to light it as Pippa spread out the blankets next to it. "This is lovely. Don't you think, Hiccup?"

Pippa's smile was luminous and Hecate felt she had no choice but to return it, though much more shyly. It had been a long time since Hecate had felt quite this happy. At Beltane perhaps, but there had been so many other people about then. She wondered just how much of it was the sun and how much of it was the company. She had found herself unconsciously counting down the days between Beltane and Litha, but hadn't yet deciphered what it meant. Perhaps it was merely that she wanted to get the rites over with, but perhaps it was something else. She looked up at Pippa in the waning light. It was good to have her friendship again even if she didn't quite understand why she had it. She wasn't good enough for Pippa.

While she was lost in her own thoughts, Pippa had unpacked the picnic basket. "Did you think we would be out here for a week?" Hecate asked when she saw the abundance of food in front of them.

Pippa shrugged. "I couldn't decide what to bring so I brought everything." Amongst the food were several bottles of mead and at least one bottle of elderflower wine.

Hecate picked up one of the bottles of mead. "Did you expect to get us drunk?"

"Well, certainly not until after the rite." Pippa took the bottle from Hecate and placed it down in the sand beside her. "And mead is traditional at Litha, isn't it?" Pippa smirked knowing full well that it was. Clearly, she had done her research.

"I suppose so," Hecate said as she picked out a sandwich and started eating.

It was just after nine pm as Hecate and Pippa finished their meal and the sun was about to set. Hecate looked toward the horizon as she started to clean up, placing things back into the basket and the basket back into the boat. To Pippa’s amusement, she left out the bottles of mead and wine. While she was at the boat, she pulled out another pack and from the pack, she pulled out a deep red shift. With a snap of her fingers, the shift materialized on her body and with another, ribbons of all colors adorned her hair. It was far brighter than anything Hecate would normally choose to wear, but it was necessary for the rite.

She looked down at her hands then, ribbons again at her wrists. She thought of her father and her mother and about celebrating Litha with them both once upon a time. She couldn't have been more than four or five but she remembered them going to the beach. She had been enamored of a colorful kite that someone had been flying. It was a happy memory and she clung to it as she prepared to enter the water.

"I'll be here when you're finished," Pippa said as she took Hecate's hand and squeezed it. Hecate looked back at her and nodded before she turned toward the water.

As she walked forward, her bare feet sank into the sand. She could feel it between her toes as the water lapped at them. A few more steps and the hem of her dress was wet, a few more and the water was up to her knees. She stopped and spoke.

"Oak King," she said. "I ask that you make the wind and waves gentle on my father's journey to the afterlife." Then she kept walking forward as the water got higher and higher until it reached her shoulders. She floated upright, feet barely touching the bottom. The water was refreshingly cool against skin that had baked in the sun all day.

With a breath, Hecate ducked underneath the surface. She stayed there as long as she could, lungs burning for oxygen, as her parents came to mind again, her mother smiling, her father as dour as ever. When she couldn't stand it anymore, Hecate surfaced, taking a great, gasping breath. She pushed her hair back from her face and watched the last of the sunset from her place in the water.

Once it was down, Hecate started to wade back to the shore. She repeated the process in reverse until, dress clinging to her skin, she was standing next to Pippa once again. Pippa threw a blanket over Hecate's shoulders, some sort of indecipherable look in her eyes as she did so. Hecate shook her head and quickly performed a drying spell. She shrugged off the blanket and walked back to the edge of the water. Once she was there, she unstoppered a potions vial, said a spell to fill it with lake water and closed it again before placing it with their things in the boat.

"And that's how I got Mathias Dearborn out of the girls' dormitory at one in the morning without getting caught." Pippa laughed as she told the story. One of the bottles of mead was empty and they had already opened a second. It was a good thing they were planning on spending the night where they were and returning to the opposite shore early the next morning. "Alice still owes me for that. I'm going to have to remind her the next time I see her."

At some point over the last hour, Pippa had encroached into Hecate's personal space and they now sat quite close together as they picked over the remains of their dinner. It had been pulled out of the boat shortly after they had started drinking and now made for an excellent snack. Hecate smiled softly over at Pippa. She slid down onto the blanket and laid on her back, eyes firmly on the stars above her. Something was happening between her and Pippa, and she wasn't ready to put a name to it yet, but it felt good. It felt right. She wondered if Pippa felt it too.

"Hecate, are you listening to me?" Pippa said. It pulled Hecate focus out of her own head and back to Pippa's story.

"Alice Theobald owes you for not getting her husband expelled. Yes, I was paying attention." But she wasn't, not really. She was looking at Pippa and she was looking at the sky and she was content.

Chapter Text

"I know I never met him, but from what you've told me, I have a hard time picturing you and your father baking bread together," Pippa said as she kneaded the ball of dough in front of her.

"That would have been… highly unlikely." Hecate sipped her tea as she watched. She and Pippa had been ensconced in Cackle's kitchen for the past several hours mixing yeast, flour, and water into multiple balls of dough. The ball in Pippa's hands now was the first of several that had made it through the first rise. Hecate supposed she should get one of the other balls and start kneading but there was something soothing about the rhythmic movement of Pippa's hand that had her mesmerized. "My father simply acquired a sheaf of wheat and we used that as an offering."

"Ah." Pippa shaped her ball of dough and placed it to the side as she pulled the second one in front of herself. She started kneading again only to look up and frown. "Is there some reason I'm doing all of the work right now while you sit there with your cup of tea?"

Hecate shrugged. "You seemed to be enjoying yourself. I wouldn't want to deprive you." As Pippa rolled her eyes, Hecate put down her cup, floured her hands and pulled the third and final ball toward herself. The dough felt good under her fingers as she kneaded it. Push, push, push. Turn. Push, push, push. Turn. If she thought about it, she could break down the science behind making bread but she didn't care to. This day was about process, not perfection.

Pippa finished with her second ball and sat it to the side as well. She washed her hands and then picked up her own cup of tea. Though the August sun was shaded by clouds, the kitchen was starting to get warm. It might be good for the bread but Hecate knew that as soon as they fired up the ovens, it would become unpleasant. She thought about baking the bread magically but quickly rejected the idea. It simply felt too much like cheating.

She finished shaping her ball and left it to sit with Pippa's two. They needed to rise again before they could be baked. She cleaned her hands and forearms and then sat.

"So, where will we be flying to this afternoon? I assume you've picked a mountain nearby?" Pippa leaned a hip against the counter where they had been working uncaring about the flour that now dusted the side of her pants.

"I thought we might simply climb the one Cackle's sits atop. It's a long enough hike when on foot and we can simply transfer to the bottom from here. And…" Hecate shifted a bit, "I suppose you could say this mountain has some personal significance."

"That's a lovely thought." Pippa beamed at her as if was proud that Hecate would freely admit to having an emotional connection to Cackle's. Hecate supposed she might have a point. She couldn't think of anyone else to whom she would have admitted it. Ada already knew how she felt about the school. No one else was worth the trouble.

Pippa pushed off of the counter and walked over to the bench where Hecate was sitting. She perched on the edge of it, her body angled toward Hecate. She reached for Hecate's hand and enveloped it in both of hers. Hecate shivered lightly at the contrast between her cool fingers and Pippa's warm palms. She curled her fingers where she was gripping Pippa's hand as well. Pippa looked down at their joined hands then back up at Hecate. "Thank you for allowing me to go through these rites with you. I'm sure it hasn't been easy."

"It has been… less difficult than I thought it would be." Hecate had a small smile on her face, barely a quirk of her lips, but she was certain Pippa could see it. "I've appreciated the companionship," she admitted. Pippa had proved to be a greater comfort than she could have realized when Pippa stood next to her while her father's body burned. Hecate had assumed then that Pippa would be there for the night and then she would disappear back to Pentangle's. After their fight, Hecate had expected that outside of official events, she wouldn't see Pippa again. But Pippa was more stubborn than that and for that Hecate was grateful.

She had just gotten so overwhelmed. It had been too much, too much with Charles delivering her father's request, too much with the possibility of Pippa undermining the discipline she had carefully instilled in her girls. She had acted unfairly though. It wasn't Pippa's fault that Charles had picked that day to show up and remind her of her father's death. She shouldn't have taken it out on Pippa.

Hecate looked down at their joined hands, neither seeming to want to let the other go. She tightened her grip as she took a deep breath. A witch takes responsibility. Her father had taught her that. She looked back up. "Pippa, I owe you an apology."

"Hecate?" Pippa looked at her in question.

"I should never have implied that you didn't care about the safety of the students at Cackle's. I know you're more conscientious than that." After all, Pippa had been so concerned with Hecate's own feelings over the last eight months, how could she possibly not employ that same care when it came to the children under her charge?

Pippa blinked at Hecate for a long moment. "I… I didn't expect that. Thank you."

Hecate looked away. She couldn't deal with the look of surprise and disbelief in Pippa's eyes. Had Pippa thought she hadn't noticed all she had done for her? An apology seemed like such a small thing in the wake of all that. "Yes, well, the past few months have shown me how much I've missed your friendship. I'd like to be your friend again."

"Oh, darling, we never stopped being friends." Pippa released Hecate's hands and much to Hecate' surprise, hugged her. Hecate went stiff for a moment before she relaxed enough to return Pippa's hug. After a minute she started to extract herself. Pippa let her go.

Hecate looked toward the other side of the kitchen, spine straight again. "I believe it's time to put the bread in the oven." She got up and put some distance between herself and Pippa. As if sensing her need to retreat after everything, Pippa stayed where she was.

"You look like you've got that covered," Pippa said. It really wasn't a two-person job and Hecate was grateful of the space. As soon as the bread was finished baking they could start on their hike.

By the time they made it outside a light rain had started to fall. It gently misted the air and left drops of condensation on all of the leaves. The hike was long enough that they would be soaked by the time they reached Cackle's so Hecate cast a rain-repelling charm around the two of them. The rain had, however, cooled the hot air back to a reasonable temperature.

"This is nice." Pippa reached out and tangled her fingers with Hecate's as they progressed up the mountain. Hecate was pulled out of her thoughts by the contact and she found she didn't want to stop the smile that ghosted her lips.

"It is," Hecate replied. She pulled Pippa marginally closer letting their forearms brush together. Yet, thoughts of her father intruded and her smile turned into a frown.

"What are you thinking about?" Pippa asked. She looked at Hecate in concern.

"Doing this with my father." Hecate squeezed Pippa's fingers. "He took us to Deer Fell."

"That's quite a way from the estate, isn't it? And quite the hike." Pippa looked at Hecate in concern as if she could do something to make events from decades in the past better or more tolerable somehow.

"We left before dawn and didn't get back until well after midnight. It was raining that day too, but he wouldn't use a spell to keep the rain away."

"And if he didn't, you wouldn't either." Pippa looked at Hecate knowingly.

"No." Hecate looked away. Her father had told her she could but she had been stubborn. "I was soaked to the bone by the time we reached the top. We both were. I've never been so happy to use a drying spell when we got home." As much as she lingered in the shower, Hecate hated being unnecessarily wet.

"I think," Hecate paused as weighed her words carefully. "Looking back, I think he was punishing himself." She knew he was. If there was anything he could have done to make the rites less arduous, he had refused it. And Hecate had been by his side for all of it. Perhaps she had been punishing herself as well. Perhaps she was merely looking for something that would make her feel something, anything, other than grief for however long a time as she could manage.

"I'm sorry," Pippa said as she slid even closer to Hecate. She let go of Hecate's hand to take her arm instead.

"You've nothing to be sorry for." Hecate looked down at Pippa as they slowed.

"Still, I'm sorry you had to go through that alone. I can only imagine how painful it must have been." They had stopped walking entirely. Pippa wrapped her arms around Hecate and Hecate returned the hug. Maybe if she ignored the tears in her eyes they would go away. She felt Pippa's lips brush against her cheek and shuddered.

"Thank you," Hecate whispered before she pulled away. She took Pippa's hand again as they started walking once more.

Hecate let out a deep breath as they reached the gates of Cackle's. It was so much more peaceful without the students around. Sometimes she thought it disconcerting but now she was glad of the quiet. Ada was somewhere about but Hecate hadn't seen her that day. That wasn't particularly unusual. Sometimes during the summer, they could go days without seeing one another. Other times they would eat their meals together and discuss everything from Ada's favorite tea cake recipe to Hecate's potions research. Hecate wouldn't have minded if she had appeared, but she had a feeling Ada was making herself scarce on purpose.

She guided Pippa toward a corner of the garden that was in full bloom. Once she was there, she knelt and pulled out the small blanket she had used to create an altar to Ēastre and spread it on the ground. First, she placed a candle in the center, then she took out the best of the three loaves of bread. She ripped off part of the loaf and placed it on the altar.

"Lugh," she started. "I give thanks for the bounty of the land and ask that you nourish my father's spirit on it's trip to the afterlife." She ripped two more pieces off of the loaf and handed one to Pippa. She looked up at Pippa as she placed the bread in her mouth. Pippa was doing the same thing. Their eyes met as they chewed and swallowed. Once they were finished Hecate broke the eye contact and looked back to the altar. She paused for another moment before she blew out the candle and gathered her things. A quick spell collected a bit of earth from where the altar had been. The piece of bread would stay there, a feast for the birds.

Hecate stood and turned to regard Pippa. She wasn't ready for Pippa to leave yet. She racked her brain for a way to make her stay. Finally, she hit upon something.

"I had thought to have a glass of scotch to mark the end of the day if you'd care to join me." She shifted a bit, certain that Pippa would turn her down. Why would she want to spend any more time with Hecate when they had already spent the day together? Surely she would want to get back home.

But Pippa smiled. "I don't remember that being part of the celebration," she teased.

Hecate blushed slightly. "Yes, well, consider it a modern interpretation. Scotch is made with grain after all."

Pippa laughed. "I'd love to have a glass of scotch with you."

Hecate transferred them to her rooms. She hadn't expected company that night but other than an unfolded blanket on a chair and a book sitting on the table next to it, her sitting room was clean and tidy. Hecate waved at the blanket and it folded itself up and moved out of the way. Suddenly, Hecate felt unaccountably nervous.

She managed, "have a seat," without stuttering, motioning to the chair by the fireplace as she walked over to a sideboard which held a decanter of scotch and several glasses. Hecate poured as she tried to get a handle on herself. A bit of magic added a couple of ice cubes to each glass. It was still just Pippa. Nothing had changed since they had been in the garden. She took a deep breath as she turned back to the room. "Here you are," she said as she handed Pippa a glass. She took the other seat in front of the cold fireplace and looked for something to say.

"I had a lovely day," Pippa said, beating Hecate to a comment.

"I did as well." Hecate let a smile reach her eyes as she looked down at her drink. She took a sip. The peatiness served as another connection to the earth and the heat as it slid down her throat warmed her in the rain-chilled air.

"This is very nice scotch." Pippa looked contemplatively down at her glass then raised it slightly. "To Sigemund Hardbroom and his dutiful daughter."

"No." Hecate shook her head. As much as it was appropriate, Hecate didn't want to dedicate the day to her father or to herself. "To friendship."

"To friendship," Pippa echoed, though there was a pang in her voice. Hecate wondered what it might mean.

"Is something wrong?" Hecate asked. She wasn't sure there was anything wrong, but if there was she wanted a chance to fix it.

"Not a thing." Pippa's voice had returned to normal.

Hecate wasn't sure she believed her, but she wouldn't press. "Alright." Hecate couldn't think of anything else to say. Luckily, Pippa's eyes alighted on Hecate's chess set. It was something Hecate had taken up in university but she often lacked an opponent.

"Teach me to play?" Pippa asked. "I've always wanted to learn."

"If you like." Hecate waved a hand and the board floated onto the table between them. "We'll start with the pieces."

Chapter Text

"No. I can't let you come. It's the beginning of the school year, and you have a school to run," Hecate told Pippa through the mirror. They had been talking about the latest article in Witching World Weekly when Pippa had mentioned coming on the pilgrimage with Hecate and now Hecate had to put her foot down. There was no way she was letting Pippa compromise her school's success to keep a promise she really had no reason to make in the first place.

"And I have a thoroughly competent deputy. I told you I would be there for you during the rites and that includes the pilgrimage. I knew what I was getting into when I offered." But had she? Had she really known what all of the rites entailed? Hecate knew Pippa had been doing research as they progressed through the year. She couldn't have anticipated a three-day trek in the middle of the school year.

"Pippa, be reasonable. Lindisfarne is so far away."

"I am being perfectly reasonable. I want to come with you, Hecate. I'll feel like I've let you down if I don't. It's only three days. If you can be gone that long without Cackle's falling apart, I can leave Pentangle's for three days as well. It will continue to function without me for three days." All evidence to the contrary, Hecate wasn't entirely sure Cackle's could survive without her for three days and she was only the deputy head. Pippa had her school to run on top of whatever classes she happened to be teaching. What if something went wrong?

"This isn't some sort of vacation. It's three days of flying and two nights of camping in the woods." Hecate needed to emphasize that. She needed to make sure Pippa knew what she was getting into.

"And I'm telling you, I can manage it. I've been camping before. You know I'm just as good a flyer as you are."

Hecate sighed deeply. She could see now there was no way she was winning this argument. "Fine. I'll be at Pentangle's at six Friday morning. If you're not ready, I'll leave without you."

Hecate landed at Pentangle's at 5:55 am on the dot and found Pippa waiting for her outside. She could smell the coffee wafting from the mug in Pippa's hand, her broom and overnight bag laying on the ground next to her. She hadn't known Pippa drank coffee, but she suspected there were many things like that she didn't know about Pippa.

"Good morning." Pippa sounded cheerful enough though her yawn gave away her current state of wakefulness. "Oh, excuse me." She smiled and shrugged. "You said I needed to be here at six. You didn't say I had to be one hundred percent awake." She took a sip of her coffee.

"No, I suppose I didn't." Hecate smiled. She was suddenly overcome with a feeling of gladness that Pippa had insisted she come along. It would make the entire trip less depressing if not less daunting.

"Are you ready to leave?" They needed to stick to Hecate's schedule if they wanted to get anywhere close to their first campsite for the night.

Pippa made her mug disappear. "Ready when you are."

Heate nodded, mounted her broom and slowly lifted off. She waited for Pippa to join her in the air before she turned toward Lindisfarne and started their journey.

They flew much of the morning in silence. There wasn't much to discuss beyond the occasional course correction and talking while on brooms was difficult enough without yelling. They certainly had the practice flying close enough together to manage it, but it took far too much concentration to be viable for an extended period of time. Plus, Hecate had a feeling Pippa was flying while mostly asleep. Oh, her eyes were open but complex thought was beyond her abilities at the moment. That was fine. Hecate didn't mind the silence and Pippa's presence just over her shoulder was comforting.

Still, Hecate couldn't stop herself from worrying. What if something went wrong at Pentangle's while she was monopolizing Pippa's time? She wasn't worth the risk. She frowned. She would have to ensure that the trip went as smoothly as possible.

The sun was high in the sky when Hecate angled her broom down toward the ground once again. They landed at the edge of a witching village just over halfway to their destination for the night.

"I thought we might stop for lunch." Hecate straightened her spine and stretched. She wasn't used to sitting on a broom for so long and something in her back popped at the movement. Pippa looked to be doing the same thing, wincing as she moved her arms around.

"Neither of us are as young as we used to be, are we?" Pippa's wince turned into a wry smile.

"So it seems." Hecate quickly took stock of her things and after a look at Pippa to make sure she was ready, she walked toward the village. She watched as Pippa looked in some of the shop windows, but if she saw anything of interest, she didn't mention it. They made their way into the town pub and found seats off to the side.

"You two have the look of pilgrims about you," the waitress said as she stood next to their table.

"How could you possibly know that?" Hecate asked, perturbed by the assumption never mind that it was correct. She felt Pippa's hand on her knee squeezing it and somehow it was enough to make her back down a bit.

The waitress shrugged. "We get a fair few through here. All look like you two. Traveling with packs like that," she nodded toward Pippa's overnight bag, "looking a little lost around the edges. She shrugged. "You stay here long enough, you can just tell. Now, what can I get for you?"

Hecate and Pippa ordered and the waitress bustled off. Pippa finally removed her hand from Hecate's leg and Hecate felt the loss deflating a bit. "I don't understand her comment about looking lost. I know precisely where we are and where we're going."

Pippa chuckled. "I don't think that's what she meant by lost, darling." Two glasses of water appeared on the table in front of them and Pippa took a sip from hers. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I'll be right back." Pippa squeezed Hecate's shoulder as she walked behind her on her way to the facilities.

Hecate settled back in her chair and waited for Pippa's return and the arrival of their food, uncertain which would occur first. She had to admit, there had been something nice about knowing Pippa was there beside her, though she still felt bad about pulling Pippa away from her school for the length of the trip. It was then that Hecate realized she hadn't thought about Cackle's all morning. She supposed that was to be expected. Pilgrimages were about less worldly matters. Then, she hadn't thought of her father at all that morning either. She had simply enjoyed the early autumn weather.

The waitress came back with their food. She said, "there you go," as she placed it on the table. Hecate gave her a tight smile in return. "If you don't mind me sayin', you and your girlfriend should find somewhere with a roof to bed down in tomorrow night. The weather's about to change and you don't want to get stuck out in the woods in the rain."

"Thank you," Hecate drawled, unimpressed with the woman's observational skills. Guessing that the two of them were pilgrims was easy enough, but it was very clear that she and Pippa weren't dating, and the weather forecast called for nothing but clear skies for the next three days. She had triple checked before they had left.

"No problem." The waitress shrugged and turned to leave just as Pippa reappeared at Hecate's side.

"What did I miss?" Pippa sat back in her seat and pulled her plate closer. "You have that, 'you're being an idiot but I'm going to be polite about it,' look on your face."

"Just more of our waitress trying to be insightful. Apparently, despite the forecast, it's going to rain tomorrow night." Hecate felt no need to mention the part where the waitress assumed they were dating. She was sure Pippa would scoff at the idea.

"Ah," Pippa said as she started eating. "Let's hope she wrong."

"I'm certain she is." It was the last thing Hecate said before she tucked into her own food.

Hecate looked down at the ground below them. The late afternoon sun fell against her back and kept her pleasantly warm as they progressed northeast. They would soon reach the spot she had chosen to camp at that night and she was pleased. They had made better time than she had thought they would and they would have plenty of time to set up camp before sunset. She motioned for Pippa to follow her as she angled her broom a bit more northward.

Flying via landmarks wasn't an exact science but Hecate generally knew what she was looking for. She would be happier when she could see the stars and know exactly where she was. Still, the forest in front of her looked correct. She flew lower to double check with a closer view. Yes, they were right where she intended for them to be.

She flew back up to where Pippa was waiting for her. With a mere thought, she was right up alongside Pippa, close enough where she wouldn't have to yell to be heard. It had been a long time since she had done such precision flying, but she and Pippa fell back into it as if no time had passed between that day and their last practice before the doubles display that never was. Pippa was close enough to touch and Hecate nearly reached out for her. No. She had no reason to reach out for Pippa now.

"We should be there in about an hour," Hecate said across the gap between them.

Pippa nodded. "Just let me know where to land."

Hecate nodded back. She backed her broom away from Pippa's but still stayed closer than she would have with anyone else. They would be on the ground soon enough.

The clearing was right where Hecate anticipated it being and she landed smoothly before getting out of the way for Pippa to follow her on to the ground. It was a well-used campsite, a rock ring holding the remains of multiple fires with logs set up in a circle around it. Setting up camp was quick when there was magic involved and soon she and Pippa were sitting next to a happily crackling fire. They had stopped for dinner much like they had stopped for lunch so there was nothing pressing on their agenda. They sat in silence, each caught up in their own thoughts, Pippa on the ground with her back against a log and Hecate on top of the log itself.

For some reason, the waitress' comment was stuck in Hecate's head. Not the one about the weather, she knew there was no chance of rain the next day, but the one about Pippa being her girlfriend. It was preposterous. There was no chance Pippa thought of her like that, as a potential romantic partner. She wasn't even sure if she thought of Pippa that way, not seriously, though she was certainly enjoying their time together.

Though she would never admit it to anyone else, she was beginning to feel something more than friendship for Pippa. Lughnasadh had proven that to her. There was no reason for her to be nervous and jittery around Pippa, yet she hadn't been able to relax the entire night. Hecate had taught Pippa to play chess, and then they had played several short games, Pippa taking her inevitable losses in stride. They had shared a second glass of scotch, the alcohol ever so slightly going to her head, but where it would normally leave her relaxed, it had only served to make her more nervous. She hadn't been able to name what was wrong that night, but on reflection now it was becoming obvious. Her attraction to Pippa was back in full force. She looked down at Pippa with wide eyes, glad to see she was still staring into the fire.

The revelation couldn't come at a worse time, when they were stuck in close quarters together and she had no time to be alone and let the idea settle. She took a deep breath. It was fine. It would have to be fine. Just because she realized she was attracted to Pippa didn't mean anything had to change. In fact, nothing had changed. Pippa was still her friend and she was certain Pippa harbored no attraction to her. She would take a moment and then go on as before.

Just then, Pippa turned and looked up at Hecate. "You look like you're having deep thoughts."

Hecate met her eyes and froze for a moment. "I'm just…" She cleared her throat. "Just thinking about our course tomorrow."

"Oh. You're quiet. I thought you might be thinking of your father." Pippa reached up for Hecate's hand and Hecate took it. Pippa squeezed her fingers. "It's okay if you are. I know that's the point of these pilgrimages. You can talk to me about him if you want."

"I…" Hecate opened her mouth but no answer came out. What could she say about him? "He… We didn't talk much." Hecate looked down at where her fingers were tangled with Pippa's.

"We fought. When I was young. A teenager. We fought whenever I was home."

"I remember you telling me about it." Hecate supposed she would have told Pippa, would have told her best friend, about how unfairly she thought her father was treating her. She had been a well-behaved child but she could never seem to make him happy. She thought he existed in a constant state of disappointment. Even looking back on it as an adult she could see very little that she had done wrong. He simply wanted her to better. Always better. Whatever she did was never enough. Good didn't matter; only perfection was sufficient.

"After my mother–" Hecate shook her head. "Everything changed."

Pippa squeezed her fingers again and reached over with her other hand to rub Hecate's thigh in comfort. Hecate flinched at the unexpected contact but relaxed after a minute.

"I… I'm sorry. I can't." Hecate turned her face away and looked at the ground.

"That's alright." Pippa brought Hecate's hand to her lips and kissed the back of her fingers. Hecate slowly took her hand back. "I… I'm here. It's why I came, after all."

"Thank you." Hecate stood. "I think I might retire for the night." The emotions of the previous half hour were too much. She needed to escape.

"I'll make sure the fire burns itself out." Pippa watched Hecate move through the campsite. Hecate could feel her eyes on her as she entered the tent. Putting on her night things and getting into her sleeping bag only took a moment, but she wasn't particularly tired. She stared up at the top of the tent but nothing but nylon stared back. She let her thoughts drift. She was fifteen. She had been out under her favorite tree on the estate reading the type of novel that appealed to teenagers. She had lost track of time. The setting of the sun robbed her of the light necessary to continue and it was only then that she realized she should have been home hours earlier.

She trudged up to the house already knowing the reception she would get.

Her father had castigated her, lecturing for half an hour on responsibility, had threatened to keep her in the house for the rest of the break, had made sure to tell her just how disappointed in her he was. She had run off to her room as soon as he let her go.

Ten minutes later her mother was at her door, letting herself in on Hecate's assent, and rubbing her back, trying to calm her tears. Hecate knew, knew from years of her father's disappointment that she shouldn't let it affect her, but it did anyway. She didn't know how to turn it off, how to feign indifference.

Her mother had interceded on her behalf, her confinement to the house reduced from the entire summer to a day. It still felt unfair. She hadn't been doing anything other than reading. He couldn't have been too worried about her or he would have come looking. He probably had some sort of tracking spell on her, to begin with.

As an adult, Hecate knew it was incredibly unlikely that her father had been tracking her, that he had, in a way, been trying to grant her some freedom by letting her stay out so late, that fear had likely motivated his lecture. Still, confinement for the summer was an overreaction. She knew that as an adult too. Just as she knew her own reactions were sometimes out of proportion to the girls' infractions. She had learned over the years that sometimes it was necessary to be harsh otherwise they would put themselves in danger that could have otherwise been avoided if they had simply listened to her. Rather than let them get hurt, she had made herself into someone who could not be defied.

She wondered now if she had taken too much of her personality from her father. Still, she tried to let her students know when they did something correctly. Some of them even grew up to appreciate how hard she had been on them.

She heard Pippa enter the tent. She didn't feign sleep but neither did she turn to look at her.

Pippa seemed to be respecting her desire to keep her thoughts to herself as she got ready for bed. She kept her magic less flashy than usual then crawled into her own sleeping bag. She fell asleep quickly. Hecate didn't join her in slumber until hours later, too caught up in her own thoughts to sleep.

Hecate was tired as they broke camp the next morning, more so than usual after a sleepless night. She moved zombie-like through the motions. Pippa seemed no worse for wear, a smile with some sort of hidden meaning on her lips. Hecate didn't have the energy to decipher what Pippa might be concealing. She mounted her broom, already wanting the trip to be over even though they had another day and a half of flying in front of them.

It was early evening when the clouds started to build in front of them. Normally they would have a few hours of daylight left but the sky was getting darker by the minute.

"Looks like the waitress from yesterday was right," Pippa said as she flew in close to Hecate. "Do we fly through it?"

Hecate hated to stop early but a flash of lightning in the distance and a crack of thunder that sounded like it was right over their heads answered for Hecate. Continuing would be dangerous and camping would be miserable.

"There's an inn not too far from here." Hecate couldn't keep the disappointment from her voice. She was positive that the forecast had called for clear skies all weekend. How could she have been so wrong? Still, there was nothing she could do to stop the behemoth of a storm that was looming in front of them. She angled further east and started to drop down from their current altitude.

The rain caught them before they got to the inn and despite spells to the keep it at bay they ended up more than damp by the time they reached the inn. Quick drying spells under the eaves kept them from tracking the storm inside. The inn was cozy around them, the light a warm yellow and the leather chairs beside the fireplace inviting.

"Escaping the rain on your way to Lindisfarne?" the woman behind the counter asked.

"How'd you know?" Pippa approached the counter and smiled her most winning smile. "Do you have any free rooms?"

"Just one left. You and your friend'll have to share." The woman was already reaching for a key.

"We shared a tent last night. This is an upgrade." Pippa winked, took the key and got directions to the room. Hecate let her handle the situation. She knew she was in no mood to talk to anyone if it was unnecessary.

They climbed the stairs to the next floor and found their room easily enough. A full-sized bed dominated it, though there was a small sitting area in a corner. A low bookshelf full of books was pressed against the wall. They put their things down and Pippa looked at her.

"Did you want to take a shower?" Hecate nearly choked and she had to remind herself that Pippa hadn't meant it that way. "I know how much you love them, but if you prefer to wait until morning, I'll take one now."

"Go ahead. I can wait until you've finished." There was every chance she would end up staying in the shower for quite a while and she didn't want to keep Pippa from getting clean.

"If you're sure," Pippa said as she gathered up a towel from the end of the bed.

"I am." Hecate watched Pippa disappear into the bathroom. She sat in the chair and dropped her head into her hands. With a deep sigh, she started to remove the pins from her hair, letting the braid fall down to her shoulder. She sat there for a time before she lifted weary arms to unbraid it. Once that was done, she ran her fingers through it trying to get the kinks and snarls out. She would wash it whenever she showered. For now, she tried not to think.

She had spent too much of the last twenty-four hours thinking in circles. Pippa. It all came back to Pippa. Even if Pippa was interested in women, there was no way she would be interested in Hecate. Hecate wasn't good enough, wasn't perfect enough.

She heard the shower shut off. A moment later the door opened and Pippa stepped out wearing nothing but a fluffy towel. Hecate's mouth went dry as she looked up. Their eyes met.

"I forgot my pajamas." Pippa pointed toward her bag.

"Of course." Hecate was too distracted to question why Pippa hadn't used magic to get her clothing. "I should…" She grabbed the other towel and disappeared into the bathroom.

Rather than showering, Hecate drew herself a bath. As she sank into it, she tried to keep her mind blank. There was too much to think about: Her father. Her mother. Pippa. Thinking of Pippa was probably the least fraught of the three and she had just seen more of Pippa's skin than she had ever thought she might. It only served to make her want to see more. If she let herself, she could imagine what lay underneath that towel, breasts and hips and thighs.

She shut down that thought as soon as it came. She wouldn't go down that road. It was destined to leave her nothing but disappointed. Pippa wasn't interested in her. They were friends, a friendship barely restored. No, she couldn't think of Pippa like that, couldn't get her hopes up.

She dunked her head under the water and started washing her hair. It fell in wet ropes down her back as she worked shampoo into it then rinsed it clean with the showerhead. She had thought to linger in the bath but now it seemed like a bad idea. It took no time for her to bathe and before she was ready, she was in her nightgown, dry hair pulled back in a loose braid. She couldn't stay in the bathroom forever.

She left and found Pippa sitting up in the bed with a book in her hands. Hecate took a deep breath before she walked over and pulled the covers back. Pippa looked so appealing lying there, like something out of a fantasy. Pippa noticed her hesitation.

"It isn't as if we've never shared a bed before, Hiccup. Or did you want this side?" Hecate shook herself from her stupor.

"No," she cleared her throat, "this side is fine." She climbed into the bed and laid down on her back. If she looked over, she would see nothing but the curve of Pippa's hip, so she kept her eyes up on the ceiling.

Pippa put down the book and turned on her hip where she was facing Hecate.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Pippa asked.

"About what?"

"Whatever has you thinking so hard." Pippa shrugged. She reached out and tucked a flyaway piece of Hecate's hair behind her ear. Hecate fought to keep her heartbeat steady.

"I'm not… That is… I'm trying not to think." Hecate could admit that much.

"It doesn't look like it's working." Pippa slid down in the bed until they were lying next to each other. "Whatever it is, you can tell me." Pippa found Hecate's hand on top of the covers and took it in her own. "I won't judge you."

"I think I'd like to go to sleep now." Hecate pulled her hand away from Pippa's and turned her light off.

"If that's what you want." Pippa turned off her light as well. "Sweet dreams, Hecate."

Hecate didn't know where she was but she wasn't distressed by it. She looked around but the scenery was entirely generic. Her mother was there. She knew her mother was supposed to be dead but she was there, in front of her. She didn't say anything, merely opened her arms. Hecate fell into them like she was still a child, like they could keep away off of life's ills. Nothing could bother her when she was like this, wrapped in her mother's arms. She felt safe. She felt loved.

Hecate was eleven and about to leave home for the first time. She was too old to be sitting on her mother's lap, but she was anyway. She was scared. She clung there. She would be going to Amulet's in the morning. She had visited it once during her entrance exams but hadn't been back since. It had seemed so big then, so very much bigger than her. How would she ever learn her way around? Hecate tightened her arms around her mother. Her mother ran her fingers through her hair.

"It's going to be alright, love." Her mother had kissed the top of her head then and rubbed her back. "You'll see. It's going to be alright."

Hecate was in her office at Cackle's. It was parent's night. She had so many parents to see, so many girls to give updates on. Her door opened. She looked down at the paper in front of her to see who was next.

H. Hardbroom

That couldn't be correct. She looked up again as her father walked in.

"Well, what's she done this time?" he asked as he took a seat on the opposite side of her desk. "Not working hard enough? Still having accidents with her magic?"

"I…" Hecate could only look at him in bafflement. What could she say?

"Well? Speak up."

Hecate came awake with a jerk and a great breath. She kept breathing hard, trying to calm herself, trying not to disturb Pippa.

"Hecate?" came the sleepy voice next to her. Pippa had woken up anyway. "Is everything alright?"

"Just a bad dream. Go back to sleep." Hecate started to sit up only to have Pippa wrap a hand around her wrist.

"Don't go," Pippa mumbled. "You'll never fall back asleep if you get up now and then you'll be grumpy tomorrow." Pippa rolled onto her side facing Hecate.

"I am surprised you can tell the difference." Some people would say Hecate was perpetually in a bad mood.

"Of course I can tell. Now, come here and at least try to go back to sleep." Her eyes were already closing as she snaked an arm around Hecate's waist.

Hecate startled and looked at Pippa. "Keeping you from running away." Pippa was mumbling again. She pressed her face into Hecate's shoulder, smiled a little, and drifted back off.

Hecate laid there rigidly but eventually, Pippa's rhythmic breathing relaxed her and lulled her back to sleep.

Heate woke up slowly the next morning, her arm wrapped around Pippa's waist and her nose pressed against the side of Pippa's neck. She didn't move.

"You're awake, aren't you?" Pippa whispered. It sounded like there was regret in her voice.

"I…" Hecate pulled back and licked her lips. "I'm sorry." She felt Pippa's hands on her forearm where it was still lying across Pippa's stomach. Why had her body betrayed her in her sleep?

"Don't be." Pippa held Hecate's arm in place as she rolled over. Suddenly, Pippa was hugging her, nuzzling under her chin, their bodies pressed together. "I was trying to let you sleep. I didn't mind waking up in your arms."

Pippa looked up at her and it was too much. Hecate carefully extracted herself and sat on the edge of the bed. She took a deep breath before standing. She picked up her watch and looked at the time. "We should have left an hour ago," Hecate said before she disappeared into the bathroom.

Hecate slowed as they approached Holy Island, Pippa matching her and sliding in closer. The tide was out but they wouldn't be making the walk across the causeway. They flew to the island and landed under the arches of the old priory. There somehow weren't any tourists around for which Hecate was grateful. Lindisfarne had a Christian history from the 6th century, but witches had been making the pilgrimage long before then. It didn't look like anything had changed in decades since she had last been there. Perhaps the moss had progressed a few centimeters on the rocks, but that was it.

There was something beautiful about the ruins, something that forced Hecate to stop. It reminded her of her purpose for being there. Her father. Her mother. She looked for Pippa and smiled slightly when she caught sight of her standing close by. There was nothing to do now that they were there. No ceremony to perform. No prayers to say. The journey had been the ceremony and the prayer. Still, Hecate found a place to sit. She felt more than saw Pippa join her.

Hecate breathed in the salty air and looked down at her hands, at the lines and creases, and for once, since the day her father had died, she felt like herself. Pippa reached over and covered one of Hecate's hands with her own and Hecate welcomed the touch. She flipped her hand over where she could interlace their fingers. She kept staring down at their hands and marveled that Pippa really had been with her through it all. There were three rites left before they interred her father's ashes but it felt as if there were fewer than that. It felt like it was almost over.

A weight lifted from Hecate's shoulders.

A prayer wasn't required but Hecate whispered one anyway. She looked at the time on her watch. They only had a bit longer before the car she had hired arrived to pick them up. She stood and Pippa did the same.

She carefully led Pippa down to the beach where she said a spell and collected a vial of sand. From there they mounted their brooms and flew to the mainland.

"So that's it?" Pippa asked as they landed.

"Yes," Hecate answered.

"Now what?"

"Now we find the car I hired and we go back to Pentangle's." Hecate was already looking around for the driver.

"It'll be late by the time we get back. Would you consider spending the night? You could leave for Cackle's first thing." Pippa looked at Hecate hopefully but there was genuine concern behind the question.

"I… Thank you. I'll consider it." Hecate met Pippa's eyes and she knew already that she would be spending the night at Pentangle's.

It was close to midnight when the car pulled up to the gates of Pentangle's. Pippa had mirrored ahead and a room was waiting for Hecate. Hecate had never been to Pentangle's before and it was unlikely she would see any of it on that visit, it was so late now and she would be leaving so early. She and Pippa were walking through the corridors as Pippa showed her to her room for the night. She stopped outside one of the many doors and Hecate stopped too.

"Here we are." Pippa turned the knob and cracked the door. "I assume you'll be leaving ridiculously early?"

"I wouldn't call it ridiculous, but that's my intention, yes." Hecate smiled slightly. She was bone tired but she wasn't ready to say goodnight yet. She reached out for Pippa's hand and squeezed it. Pippa's smile was enough to light up the corridor. Still, it was late. "I should–"

"Hecate," Pippa interrupted her and Hecate went silent. "Not tonight, not after this weekend when we're so tired and it's so late, but sometime soon…" Pippa stopped. She took a deep breath and Hecate waited in anticipation. "I'd like it very much if you would let me kiss you."

Hecate blinked in shock. She opened her mouth but she found she didn't know what to say. Kiss her? That was… Pippa couldn't be saying what Hecate thought she just said. She opened her mouth to say something, anything when Pippa spoke again.

"Not tonight," Pippa said again. "Just… think about it."

Hecate was still in shock when Pippa pressed a kiss to her cheek. Hecate leaned into the contact. She knew what she would say if Pippa had asked her for an answer right then. But Pippa was right. The weekend had been exhausting both mentally and physically. She was in no state to be making any sort of decisions that involved Pippa or their relationship.

"Sleep well," Pippa said before she turned and left Hecate standing in the corridor.

Chapter Text

It had been almost two weeks since the Elþéodignes and Hecate was no closer to a decision about Pippa than she had been that night. She was still confused, still in shock, still in disbelief. She felt like she had missed something. When had Pippa started to feel that way about her? Hecate thought perhaps it was at Beltane or maybe Litha, that's when things had started to feel different for her, but she had no way of knowing. Maybe it had been a whim Pippa had thought of on the ride back to Pentangle's that night. Maybe that whim had passed.

It hadn't helped that she and Pippa had barely had time to talk, a few quick maglet messages here and there and one conversation via mirror where they each pretended that night hadn't happened. Now, the main festival of Haligmonað was quickly approaching and they would have to see each other in person again.

She and Pippa had been trying to find a time to talk about it but boisterous students at both Cackle's and Pentangle's kept disrupting their plans. Finally, Hecate had just given up and sent the details via maglet. They would be having a harvest feast at Cackle's, something joyous and dedicated to thanksgiving while Hecate, herself, would be performing her rite at sundown as day and night balanced themselves once again.

As for the conversation that she and Pippa obviously needed to have, it would have to wait until the festival at least. Hecate had a few more days to figure out what she wanted to say.

Hecate waited anxiously in the courtyard for Pippa to land. She hated the way her stomach fizzed but at least now she knew why it was happening. She tried to take a calming breath but halfway through it, Pippa appeared. She settled down on the ground slowly, hopping off of her broom just before her feet touched the ground. It was horrible technique, you were supposed to wait until your feet were firmly planted before you stood, but Hecate wasn't going to be the one to lecture Pippa about it and there were no students around for her to unduly influence.

Pippa walked over a bright smile on her face and a bounce in her step. "Don't you just love the fall weather?" Pippa brushed her lips over Hecate's cheek and took her arm. "It feels like I haven't seen you in ages."

"Don't be ridiculous. We spoke just last week."

"That hardly counts. It was for less than five minutes and then Cornelius released that stink bomb which I had to go clean up." Pippa's eyes danced as she looked over at Hecate. "We talked at least twice a week, every week over the summer. I know that isn't sustainable now that classes are in session, but I've missed you."

For some reason that made Hecate blush. "I've missed you too." She smiled slightly. It felt good to have Pippa on her arm, and if Pippa had missed her that much, maybe this wasn't a whim.

"So, we've an oak tree find before sunset, if I'm not mistaken." Pippa's joviality was catching and Hecate's smile grew.

"Indeed." Hecate dropped Pippa off at the room she had used on Ēostre where she could change and Hecate returned to her own rooms to do the same.

The light barely penetrated this deeply into Hollow Wood, but that didn't matter. Hecate and Pippa, back in their white shifts from Ēostre, trekked through the underbrush following animal trails to their destination: the oldest oak tree in the forest. They had their brooms with them to get back to Cackle's but for now, they approached on foot. Hecate held out a hand to stop them as they reached the edge of a clearing with a massive oak tree at its center.

Hecate took a deep breath as she looked at the tree. Motes floated through the beams of light that managed to pierce the canopy. A bird whistled nearby. Hecate could feel the magic in the air and it made her pause. She offered up a prayer and heard Pippa do the same thing beside her. It was the first time she had heard anything of the sort from Pippa.

She took a reverent step forward. Leaves crunched under her feet. She took another step, then another, and another, until she was standing at the base of the tree. She could feel Pippa next to her. She slowly knelt and didn't have to look to know Pippa was doing the same thing.

Hecate simply sat there for a long moment. The grove of trees they had found when they had done this for her mother hadn't felt this way, hadn't vibrated at this frequency. This was special and Hecate wanted to take it in. Those had just been trees. This was something else.

"Green Man," she finally broke her silence, "I ask that you walk with my father as he makes his journey to the afterlife." Hecate didn't have to look at her watch or check the sky to know that the sun had slipped past the horizon. She could feel it. She looked at the ground and picked up a nearby acorn before slowly standing and backing away from the tree. She was halfway across the clearing before she turned her back on it and walked into the dark woods. A quick word lit a light in her palm. She turned to see Pippa still standing at the base of the tree. She didn't say anything. She merely waited for Pippa to finish.

Pippa finally turned around and joined Hecate at the edge of the clearing. They didn't say anything to each other and Hecate pretended she didn't see anything as Pippa wiped tears from the corners of her eyes.

They mounted their brooms and headed back to Cackle's.

The feast was in full swing by the time Hecate and Pippa made it back and changed into their normal clothing. With Pippa holding her hand, they slipped into the great hall with little fanfare and made their way over to the teacher's table.

"Ah, Miss Hardbroom, Miss Pentangle," Algernon said as he slid over closer to Gwen to make room for them. "Lovely to see you, Miss Pentangle. Coming back to teach more modern magic anytime soon?"

"Errr… I've no plans at the moment, Mr. Rowan-Webb." Pippa looked uncomfortably at Hecate as she said it. Hecate was forced to remember their fight from the last time Pippa was at Cackle's to teach and it made her uncomfortable as well. But things were better now. Hecate had apologized and Pippa had forgiven her and it was all in the past.

Hecate softened the way she looked at Pippa and that seemed to allay Pippa's concerns. One of the serving witches appeared with more food, bread and onions and carrots, apple pie and pomegranate seeds. Hecate and Pippa both served themselves and got lost in the festivities.

It was going on midnight as everything finally wound down. The girls had all been sent off to bed hours earlier but the adults had stayed up drinking cider and generally enjoying each other's company. If Pippa sat a bit too close to Hecate in the staff room, no one commented on it. If her hand found Hecate's thigh one too many times, no one commented on that either.

Pippa rested her head on Hecate’s shoulder. Hecate felt more and more on edge with each touch. She flinched as Pippa trailed her fingers over the spot beside Hecate's knee, drawing little patterns there. Little patterns that shot heat up Hecate's spine. It wasn't a whim. Pippa was interested.

Gwen and Algernon had retired for the night an hour earlier and now only Ada, Dimity, Hecate and Pippa remained to finish off the last of the cider.

Finally, Pipa yawned too many times to ignore. "I should really be getting back to Pentangle's," she said and Hecate tried not to appear crestfallen. She hadn't wanted the night to end. She simply liked Pippa's company and was loathed to lose it. She didn't know what she would do when Pippa finally left.

"You're always welcome to stay the night," Ada replied. "There's no use in you flying that distance so late and I do believe you've probably had a bit more cider than is advisable before a long distance broom flight."

Pippa looked to Hecate. Hecate tried to keep her face neutral but a brief look of panic crossed her eyes. If Pippa stayed, she was going to need an answer to her question and she was going to need it soon. She couldn't say yes. There was no way she could say yes. She wanted to say yes.

Pippa paused then answered slowly, giving Hecate plenty of time to interject. "I appreciate that, Ada. A room for the night would be wonderful."

"Fantastic. I'm sure Hecate can show you there. Can't you?" Not that Hecate thought Pippa needed a guide at that point, she had been at Cackle's so often over the past year. Still, it was only polite and it would give them an opportunity to talk.

"Of course," Hecate murmured. She stood up and offered Pippa her hand. Pippa took it and let Hecate help her up. They exited the staff room together. Hecate ushered her toward the residential area of the castle. They walked in silence, a careful distance between them, and Hecate finally came to her answer. Instead of showing Pippa to a guest room, she stopped at the door to her own rooms. Pippa looked at her in question.

"I hoped we might talk." Hecate paused by the door as she waited for Pippa to answer.

"I'd like that." Pippa smiled softly as Hecate opened the door and waited for Pippa to precede her inside. Pippa walked in slowly, stopping in the middle of Hecate's sitting room, then turned to face Hecate. Hecate closed the door behind herself, then met Pippa's eyes and stepped closer. Pippa stood her ground. "Does this mean you've thought about my offer?"

"I have." Hecate stepped forward again and once again Pippa held her ground. She needed to say no.

"Well?" They were close enough to touch now. Pippa reached up and reverently brushed her fingers over Hecate's right cheekbone.

"I think…" Hecate swallowed. "I think I would like it very much if you were to kiss me." Hecate tilted her face down only to have Pippa cup it with her hand.

Pippa leaned in slowly, giving Hecate ample time to back away before she finally, finally brought their lips together. Hecate moaned lightly as soon as they touched and it was all she could do to keep the kiss light. Hecate could barely breathe while they delicately explored each other's lips. Pippa's lips were addicting. Her head swam. She already wanted more.

Pippa made a noise of frustration and Hecate took it to mean she could deepen the kiss. She pressed her lips harder against Pippa's, used her tongue to lick against Pippa's top lip, used her teeth to nip at her bottom one. Pippa responded immediately, opening her mouth and brushing her tongue against Hecate's. Hecate felt like she had been set aflame. Her skin felt hot and she couldn't catch her breath. All she could do was keep kissing Pippa.

Her hands came to the flare of Pippa's hips and pulled her closer until their bodies were pressed together. Still, there was too much fabric between them. Hecate knew she needed to slow down, that she shouldn't be moving quite so fast, but she didn't care. She had Pippa in her rooms, the students were already in bed, and Pippa was responding enthusiastically. They were two adults. Two adults who had danced around this for so long. There was nothing stopping them.

Pippa pulled away, only going a few centimeters. They both tried to catch their breath.

"Oh, Hecate," Pippa whispered against Hecate's lips. "Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to do that?"

"Since Beltane?" Hecate ventured a guess.

Pippa laughed joyfully. "Try since we were fifteen." Pippa pulled Hecate into another kiss, then another and another. Hecate returned each one. She wanted nothing more than to just keep kissing Pippa so she did. She ignored every voice in her head telling her this was a bad idea.

She pulled Pippa close again and melded their lips together. The kisses turned deep and heated. Hecate lost her mind at the feeling of Pippa's hands against the small amount of skin that peeked out from beneath Hecate's clothing, cupping her face, tracing over her neck. She wanted not to be wearing clothing at all, wanted Pippa's hands everywhere on her skin.

"You know, the ancient Greeks worshiped your namesake this time of year." Pippa rested her hands on Hecate's chest then slid them up to Hecate's shoulders. She leaned in until their lips were almost brushing. "Let me worship you, Hecate."

Hecate whimpered as something in her stomach flipped. She felt off-balance and dizzy. She closed her eyes. "Ye–"

Bang, bang, bang

Hecate growled in frustration as she pulled away from Pippa and turned toward the door. She strode over and threw it open. Who could possibly be interrupting them? "What?" She ground out as Ethel raised her hand to knock again. Hecate narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing out of bed?" Ethel flinched at Hecate's tone.

"Mildred's gone missing. Again." Apparently, that was important enough to disturb Hecate at, Hecate checked her watch, 12:46 at night. Hecate briefly wondered if there was any evidence of her previous activity on her face. Were her lips swollen? Had Pippa's hands left imprints on her skin. It felt like they had. Hecate's face flamed.

"And what were you doing out of bed to discover she was gone in the first place?" Hecate was not pleased. Ethel opened her mouth to reply when Hecate cut her off. "Detention," Hecate said before she transferred Ethel back to her room.

"These children and their insufferable feud." Hecate closed her door hard and turned back to the room. She marched over to her desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out her master key.

"What will you do now?" Pippa asked. Somehow her voice was utterly calm. Didn't she think a child being out of bed past midnight was worth worrying over? Were things really that lax at Pentangle's?

"Now, I will find Mildred Hubble, and she had better hope she is in her room when I do it." Hecate yanked at her door and pushed out into the hallway headed straight to Mildred's room. Once she got there, she unlocked the door and turned on the light. Mildred wasn't there. Of course, she wasn't. The girl was going to be the death of her. She spun on her heel and walked back out into the corridor. Where could Mildred have gone in the middle of the night? Hecate didn't have a clue but a quick spell would find her.

She cast the spell and followed it through the corridors. What Mildred was doing up in one of the towers, Hecate had no idea, but she would see that the girl get back to her room immediately. She turned the corner and saw a flash of pink. Pippa. What was Pippa doing up here? Hecate turned one last corner only to come face to face with Pippa and Mildred. Mildred's eyes went wide.

"Miss Hardbroom, I can explain," Mildred started.

"I don't care to hear it," Hecate growled.

"Hecate…" Pippa put a hand on Mildred's shoulder. Hecate narrowed her eyes. What was Pippa doing? How dare she try to interject herself into this.

"Not now, Pippa." Hecate stepped closer to the pair. She felt hot. Her dress felt too tight. She had allowed her focus to slip. She had allowed Pippa to distract her, and this had happened. And now Pippa was siding with Mildred?

Pippa pursed her lips and with a wave of her hand, sent Mildred away.

"Where did you send her?" Hecate's voice was low and dangerous.

"Back to bed." For some reason, Pippa sounded as irritated as Hecate. "I told her before that you would deal with her in the morning."

"I will deal with her now and I will thank you not to interfere with the way I run my school." How dare Pippa? How dare she? Didn't she think Hecate was capable of disciplining her own students?

"I was only trying–"

"I don't care what you were trying to do. You put yourself where you weren't needed or wanted." Hecate didn't wait for Pippa to respond. She motioned with her hand and disappeared.

Hecate finished with Mildred, who would be spending a week in detention, and stalked back to her room. She wasn't sure what she expected but Pippa sitting next to her cold fireplace wasn't it.

"You're still here," Hecate said flatly.

"Of course I'm still here," Pippa rolled her eyes. Hecate didn't appreciate it. She pursed her lips and the skin around her eyes tightened as she glared. Did Pippa think this was some sort of joke?

"I thought I made myself clear." Hecate wouldn't be undermined in her own school. Not by Pippa. Not by anyone.

"I didn't think you meant–" Pippa stood and started to approach Hecate.

"Well, I did. This was a bad idea." Hecate drew herself up to her full height and looked imperiously down at Pippa. Pippa had distracted her and things had fallen apart.

"So one minute we're– And then that's it? You're sending me home?" Pippa looked at Hecate incredulously. "You don't want to talk about this?"

"That is precisely what I'm doing. There's nothing for us to discuss. I will not have you interfering with how I run this school." Hecate was nearly vicious in her castigation. "You never learn, do you?"

"Learn? What am I supposed to learn from you? How to terrorize students?" Pippa stood up. "I was trying to give you time to calm down. I did what I thought was best. If you have a problem with that then you have a problem with me."

"Go home, Pippa."

"Fine." Pippa stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

Chapter Text

"Detention." Hecate glared down at Mildred. Mildred mumbled something that Hecate couldn't hear. "What was that?"

Mildred sighed as if she knew she was about to get into even more trouble. "I just said, it's only Tuesday. That's my fourth detention this week and it's only Tuesday."

Hecate narrowed her eyes. "Would you like a fifth?" She couldn't stand it when the girls back talked her, and she wasn't about to let Mildred Hubble get away with it.

"No, Miss Hardbroom." Mildred already sounded resigned to it, but Hecate was in no mood to deal with her antics any further. Why couldn't the girl just behave? What was so hard about that?

"Then get out of my sight," Hecate growled.

"Yes, Miss Hardbroom." Mildred practically ran from the room only stopping herself from actually running and getting in even more trouble at the last second. Hecate continued to glare after her. Ada had said she wanted to see her at her earliest convenience and that might as well be now. She transferred to just outside of Ada's open door. The voices she heard stopped her in her tracks.

"Me, Miss Cackle. She's given me two detentions this week." Ethel's voice held a note of whine that made Hecate want to give her another detention. How dare she go over her head and complain to Ada.

"I know dear. I can't get you out of detention, but here, have a lemon drop." Ada's voice sounded far too conciliatory. Hecate stopped eavesdropping and knocked on Ada's door.

"You wanted to see me, Headmistress?" Hecate stood in Ada's doorway and glared at a guilty looking Ethel.

"Ah, Miss Hardbroom. There you are." Ada waved her hand and Ethel disappeared. "Hecate, why don't you close the door?"

Hecate motioned and the door closed behind her.

"Come have a seat." Ada waved Hecate over to the chair beside the fire. Hecate pursed her lips but did as she was bid. She sat on the edge of the seat and waited for Ada to join her as she drummed her fingers against her thigh. It seemed like it was taking Ada forever to walk across the room. Finally, she sank into the seat opposite Hecate.

Hecate pursed her lips. "If this is about Ethel Hallow…"

"No, no." Ada waved her off. "I'm sure whatever Ethel's done justified the punishment. I do, however, wonder if everything it alright with you?" Ada had her hands folded in her lap as she did whenever she wanted to look her least confrontational. Hecate knew better than to think her soft though. There was steel under her pink sweater.

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about." Hecate sat up straighter, pushed her shoulders down and back just as her father would have wanted. Her posture was perfect. Everything she had done over the past few weeks had been justifiable.

"It's just… You've been rather short-tempered lately. I was wondering if something had happened recently. Perhaps something to do with your father? I know Samhain is coming up soon and it can be a difficult holiday."

"I am perfectly fine," Hecate insisted. And she was. She was fine and she wished Ada would stay out of it.

"Well, if you're sure." Ada reached out and rubbed the back of Hecate's hand. "You know if you want me to come to the Samhain feast, you need only ask."

"I know, but it won't be necessary." Hecate wiped her palms on her thighs. "If there's nothing else?" Hecate had classes to attend to and the girls were disturbingly far behind. They needed to do better. She needed to do better.

"No, no." Ada watched Hecate stand. "Just… if you could see your way to being a bit more lenient with the girls…" She smiled at Hecate.

Hecate ground her teeth together. She wanted to tell Ada that it would do the girls no favors to be lenient with them, but that would have been out of turn. "I will… try." With that, Hecate gestured with her hand and transferred away.

Hecate returned to her rooms that night still irritated. Her skin felt itchy and too tight. She paced from one end of the sitting room to the other trying to work off the excess energy that had built up in her veins all day. It was dark out and the wind had a chill to it, but she wanted to go for a walk. She needed to be outside. She needed to not be in this room where Pippa had… Where she had…

She reached into her closet and pulled out cloak not paying attention to it until it was already wrapped around her shoulders. It was her family's cloak and not her own. She huffed in frustration but didn't bother to change, transferring directly out to the grounds.

Hecate walked past the garden toward the front gate and then through it. The road down the mountain stretched out in front of her. She wrapped her cloak more tightly around her shoulders and set off. Even in her current state, she knew better than to go into the woods alone at night, so she stayed to the road, her long legs eating up the distance.

Samhain would be there soon and Hecate needed to make plans for the feast. Everyone who was at the funeral feast could be expected to attend, and after attending a few meetings, Hecate knew that she wouldn't be able to keep at least some of the members of her coven from joining her as well. She would welcome them all just as she would welcome the ghosts of her parents, of any of the Hardbroom ancestors who might choose to attend the feast that night. She wondered if Pippa would come.

Pippa. She shied away from even thinking of her. She had been trying not to think of her for days. Ever since she had thrown Pippa out of her rooms, out of Cackle's, everything had felt wrong. How had things fallen apart so quickly? She knew part of the blame lay on her, but Pippa shouldn't have… Hecate exhaled. There was no point in thinking of it now. It was done. Pippa was gone and this time there was nothing to pull her back. Hecate did her best to banish Pippa from her thoughts.

She reached the end of the driveway more quickly than she thought she would and turned to walk back up it. Maybe the climb would finally take care of her excess energy and she would be able to sleep.

The house was dark. One solitary candle burned in the front window to greet all of the guests, both real and spiritual, who were coming that night. She didn't actually believe that the ghosts of her parents would be in attendance, but she kept the tradition anyway. The banquet hall was lit with several hundred more candles, warming the air by several degrees, but they couldn't be seen from the outside of the house. Hecate stood behind the flickering candle in the window and waited for her guests to arrive. Who would be first? Would she still be standing there when Pippa showed up, assuming Pippa came at all? How would she greet her? Like a coward, she hoped that her attention would be taken up by other guests if that unlikely event did occur. For now, she watched and waited.

Someone on a broom landed near the end of the walk and started toward the house. It wasn't someone Hecate knew well. She thought, perhaps, he was a friend of her father's from university but she couldn't be sure. She waited for him to knock before she opened the door and let him in.

The sitting room was full of people. They milled about and grouped together in small clusters talking. Some of them hadn't seen each other since the last funeral, such were their lives now. Once they had gotten together at weddings. Now they congregated for more solemn occasions. Hecate let them be. They weren't there to talk to her.

Augusta, however, was there to speak with Hecate and there was no way to put her off. She had arrived with a group and they hadn't had time to talk. Now, she had Hecate trapped beside a bookcase.

"How are you doing?" Hecate could tell that Augusta wanted to reach out to her but was restraining herself. Hecate's appreciated that.

"I am fine." And Hecate was fine. This was a day like any other. No reason to be upset or overly emotional.

"Mmm." Augusta nodded. "If you say so." She sounded skeptical. She lifted her drink to her lips and took a slip. It was something bitter that Hecate didn't much care for, but that obviously Augusta did. Augusta took a look around. "Where's Pippa? We didn't really get to speak at Beltane. I hoped to rectify that."

"Pippa…" Hecate shifted from one foot to the other as she looked down into her own drink. "It is unlikely that Pippa will be joining us tonight."

"Oh, Hecate, what have you done?" Augusta shook her head sadly as she regarded Hecate.

"What makes you think…" Hecate couldn't finish the sentence though. She had done something, after all. She had been the one to send Pippa away.

"You wouldn't look that guilty if you hadn't done something." Augusta reached out and tilted Hecate's chin up. "I know this isn't the time or place, but I expect a full accounting of what happened and I expect it soon. I won't let you put me off." She rubbed Hecate's upper arm. "Right now I think you have bigger problems." She nodded over Hecate's shoulder.

Hecate turned around. Pippa. Pippa was there. For a second Hecate's stomach swooped at the sight before it dropped hard upon remembering the current state of their relationship. Still, she needed to go greet Pippa, no matter how much she didn't want to, no matter how much it hurt.

She didn't say goodbye to Augusta before she walked over to Pippa.

"Hecate." Pippa stood rigidly by the entrance to the sitting room. Hecate met Pippa's eyes but they were devoid of emotion. Hecate hated that she was the reason for that.

"Pippa," Hecate replied. She didn't know what to say, how to start. "I…"

Pippa's eyes flashed with hurt and anger and it forestalled any attempt at conversation Hecate might have made. "Thank you for coming. I didn't expect…"

"I made a promise." Pippa's voice was deceptively calm but Hecate knew what Pippa sounded like most of the time. This wasn't it.

"Of course," Hecate said. The silence stretched out between them. Hecate didn't know what she wanted to say, what was appropriate to say. She settled on, "I should start the feast."

"You should." Pippa nodded but didn't say anything else.

Hecate turned to the room and started ushering people into the dining room.

In contrast to the boisterous activity that marked the funeral feast, the feast at Samhain occurred entirely in silence. There were no speeches, no toasts, not even a quiet, "pass the rolls." The seat to Hecate's right remained empty, left for the spirits of the dead to join them if they so wished.

Hecate looked over to it on occasion. They weren't there. Hecate reminded herself that they weren't there. It was just a symbol. Her mother and father weren't dining with them that night. They were gone. She was doing her duty but they were gone.

The remains of the burned out pyre had long been erased, but Hecate's remembered where it had been anyway. Now, another pile of wood stood there, though much smaller than the last. She would light the bonfire, and like before, people would leave as it burned. Unlike the last time, this didn't require an overnight vigil, merely that she wait until everyone else had gone.

Hecate lit the fire with a bit of magic and it roared to life. She remembered this night decades ago. She remembered a similar night ten months earlier. She didn't want to think about either. She simply wanted this finished.

She was relieved when people finally started to leave. Unlike before, this time they murmured their goodbyes. Charles stopped to tell her how proud her father would have been of her. She barely stopped herself from scoffing. Augusta rubbed her back and promised her a conversation in a few days.

Then suddenly Pippa was the only person left. Hecate wondered why she had stayed. She had attended. She had kept her promise. Why force another confrontation?

Pippa circled the fire and came to stand next to Hecate.

"I've been thinking about what I wanted to say when I saw you. I've been thinking about it for days." Pippa's voice was soft.

"And what conclusion did you come to?" Hecate stared into the fire. She couldn't look at Pippa, not with the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

"I didn't." Hecate could feel Pippa's eyes on her face searching for something. "You really hurt me, Hecate. You really did. I thought we had something, I thought you trusted me, but obviously, I was wrong."

"I'm sorry." Hecate knew it wouldn't help. "I… I'm sorry." Still, she couldn't look at Pippa.

"That isn't enough this time." Pippa turned to go. "I wish it was, but it isn't." Pippa left. She walked back across the lawn, mounted her boom, and flew away.

It was only after Pippa had gone that Hecate finally let her tears fall. She needed to make her supplication to the Green Man, to collect some of the mead from the glass laid out for the spirits, but it would have to wait.

Chapter Text

Hecate settled into her chair in the sitting room at Augusta's farm. They had shared a lovely meal together, talking mainly of the next concert the Philharmonic was about to put on and steered clear of more personal matters, but Hecate had a feeling her reprieve was coming to an end. Augusta handed her a glass of brandy and Hecate knew she was in trouble. Brandy was always a sign that Augusta was going to ask her to do something she didn't want to do or talk about something she didn't want to talk about.

"So... Pippa," Augusta said as she took her own seat. "And do stop looking at me like I'm about to lead you to your execution."

"I'm not…," Hecate sighed and her shoulders slumped. She leaned further back in the seat. What could she say? She shifted her snifter from her right hand to her left hand and then rubbed her forehead. "I don't know what to say."

"You can start by admitting that you were more than just friends." Augusta rested her chin on her fist and looked at Hecate sympathetically. Hecate truly did hate it when people looked at her like that, but at least this time it wasn't in connection with her father's death. Augusta seemed to understand that she didn't need that sort of comfort where he was concerned.

"We weren't. Not at Beltane." Hecate sighed. "I think I wanted to be though."

"I think she did too." Augusta reached out and rubbed Hecate's forearm. "What happened?"

"I…" Hecate swallowed. "We had just… And then one of the girls went missing… and…"

"And you got overwhelmed and you panicked," Augusta said not unkindly. "Terrible luck you have, finally getting her into bed only to be pulled out of it by a twelve-year-old."

Hecate blushed scarlet. She and Augusta had had sex but she was still uncomfortable talking about it with her. She hadn't had that problem with Pippa. Now she knew why. "We didn't get that far. And she was thirteen. More than old enough to know not to go wandering about at one in the morning."

"Oh, Hecate," Augusta shook her head. "Did she at least have a good reason for being out of bed?"

"Her cat went missing," Hecate said drolly. "Mildred Hubble is the bane of my existence."

Augusta chuckled. "That isn't the first student you've said that about and she probably won't be the last. We seem to have strayed from our topic though." Augusta looked at Hecate sternly. Well, Hecate hadn't expected to get out of the conversation that easily anyway. "What happened?"

"I found Pippa and Mildred conspiring with each other. Pippa and I had words. I asked her to leave."

"'Conspiring' is a very strong word. And why do I get the feeling that you're underselling it a bit?"

Hecate huffed. It was annoying to be friends with someone who knew you so well. "I implied that I didn't trust her."

"Ah. Yes, that would make me rather cross with you as well." Augusta pinned Hecate with a look. Hecate couldn't meet her eyes. She looked down at her brandy which she had yet to take a sip of.

"It wasn't the first time." Hecate put down her glass and stood. She walked over to the fireplace, and staring down at the fire, leaned one hand against the mantle. Augusta got up and followed Hecate over. She put a hand on Hecate's back and rubbed it soothingly.

"If you don't trust her, you can't have much of a relationship," Augusta said sympathetically.

"That isn't…" Hecate sighed. "I do trust her. I just…"

"Panic?" Augusta asked though it wasn't really a question. Hecate nodded.

"I don't… It was too much. At that moment, it was too much. I… When we were in school… I abandoned her. I just stopped talking to her without telling her why. Thirty years later she waltzed into my life and forgave me like nothing happened. We were barely talking when she decided she would observe the rites with me. I don't… I don't know why she did it."

"You know, you can be a very hard person to be friends with sometimes." Augusta smiled sadly. "You have no idea why anyone would want to be friends with you, do you? We aren't all your father, Hecate. You don't have to be good enough for us to love you. No one is going to be disappointed if you aren't perfect." Augusta rubbed Hecate's back again. "She's your friend. That's more than enough reason for her to offer. I would have offered if you had needed me to, if you had let me. It sounds like she simply didn't give you a choice in the matter. That you didn't rebuff her… she sounds special."

Hecate looked up and met Augusta's eyes. "She is. "

"Then it sounds like the two of you need to have a serious discussion." Augusta sighed and covered Hecate's hand with her own.

"I don't know that she's willing to talk to me." She didn't know that Pippa would ever be willing to talk to her again.

"Find a way to convince her."

Hecate returned to Cackle's slightly drunk on brandy and emotionally worn out. Her conversation with Augusta had lasted long into the night and if she hadn’t had classes to teach the next day she would have stayed in one of Augusta’s many guest rooms. As it was, she wanted to cancel the next day’s classes and sleep in. She wouldn’t. It wasn’t in her nature, but for once she wished it was.

Her conversation with Augusta had given her a bit of clarity though. She needed to do something to make up for throwing Pippa out that night, for not talking to her. She needed to do something that would get Pippa to speak to her again. And perhaps she had been a bit hard on the girls. Even Mildred didn’t deserve four detentions in one week. As she fell into bed, Hecate vowed to do better.

Hecate didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to convince Pippa to listen to her again. It was pointless. Instead, she went back to teaching her classes. She tried to be more understanding with the girls. She stopped avoiding Ada and resumed their regular teas. She fell back into her routine. The end of the term came and went and then suddenly it was nearly Yuletide.

As in the year before, she wouldn't be staying at Cackle's. She would return home and observe the time there. She packed up her things and took her leave of Ada. The flight was long and cold. Longer, it seemed, than the last time she had flown home. It was snowing. She couldn't stop thinking of Pippa, of how she was supposed to be spending at least part of Yuletide with Pippa, of how that wasn't going to be happening now. Things had gone so badly so quickly.

Was she really as hard to love as Augusta implied? She knew Augusta's point was to let her know she didn't need to be perfect, but how could that be true? As soon as she had relaxed everything had fallen apart.

Her father had been right. She was a disappointment. Pippa… She deserved what had happened. She hoped by not telling Pippa where she would be for Yuletide she would keep her away. Pippa didn't want to hear what Hecate had to say and Hecate had no desire to inflict her company on her. She would pass the holiday alone, exactly how she should have passed all of them.

It was Mōdraniht and Hecate was outside in the snow. It was late, going on eleven. The family altar lay before her. She kindled a small fire off to the side to keep herself warm. She wasn't sure how long she would remain kneeling in front of the stones marked in runes with the names of all of her female ancestors. Most were worn with age, but a few were still legible. Mother's night. The night before Yuletide started. It felt particularly important that she observe it that year.

She had several large pieces of mucgƿyrt with her. She didn't really believe it would give her visions, but it seemed an appropriate sacrifice nonetheless.

She wiped the snow from the altar, used her magic to light one of the sprigs on fire, and laid it across the stone. She stared into the smoke, breathed it in.

She missed her mother. At this moment, she missed her more than she had in years, a wound she thought healed ripped open again by her father's death.

Her mother had been beautiful. In Hecate's memories, Imogen Hardbroom stood tall, dark hair long and loose down her back. She dressed entirely in pastels, offsetting Sigemund's austere blacks. She was fiercely protective of her daughter, holding her close through every hurt, every heartache. Hecate had never doubted her mother's love, never doubted her affection. Her mother… Looking back, Hecate knew her mother wasn't perfect, but she remained that way in her memory anyway. It was her mother who she had grown up wanting to emulate, but somehow it was her father she ended up mimicking, cutting away all of the softness in her personality.

Her father was dead now, the last of the rites almost complete. One left and then she could bury him with a clear conscience.

Her first sprig burned out and Hecate lit a second. She was just setting it down when she heard footsteps behind her. Somehow, without turning around, she knew who it was. Still, she flinched when Pippa knelt in the snow next to her.

She took one of Hecate's sprigs of mugwort, lit it on fire, and placed it next to the one already on the altar.

"I know you," Pippa said as Hecate turned to question her presence. She didn't necessarily sound happy about it. Hecate nodded and dropped her head. Pippa stood and squeezed Hecate's shoulder. "I'll be up at the house when you're finished."

Hecate watched Pippa go before she turned back to the altar. She would wait until the sprigs burned down before she joined Pippa.

It was just after midnight when Hecate made her way back inside. She walked through several rooms before she saw the light bleeding out from under the door of the sitting room. She took a deep breath and opened it. Pippa sat on a couch toward the center of the room, a book in her hand. She put it down as Hecate entered the room.

"I know you made a promise, but I didn't expect to see you." Hecate stood by the door and wrung her hands together. Pippa pinned her with a look over the top rim of her glasses.

"I wasn't going to come." She put the book aside and took her glasses off. "But I found myself on my broom anyway. I thought of going to Cackle's, but somehow I knew you would be here. Where else would you be on Mōdraniht than with your mother?" Pippa shifted in her seat.

"Did you have any visions?" she asked solemnly.

"N–" Hecate cleared her throat. "No. I didn't expect to." She didn't believe in them, just like she didn't believe that her parents had really attended the feast at Samhain, just like she didn't believe the rites were necessary to make sure her father's soul reached the afterlife. She wasn't exactly sure why she had been observing Mōdraniht to begin with. She hadn't done so since she had been a small child and her mother had taken her out to the altar to lay sacrifices upon it in honor of their foremothers.

Pippa nodded. "What will you do for Yuletide? For the rite?" There was no emotion in Pippa's voice now. Still, Hecate had to try.

"Pippa–" Hecate looked at Pippa with pleading eyes.

"I don't want to hear it." Pippa cut her off. She shook her head. "Whatever you're going to say, it can't make up for the fact that you don't trust me."

"I… I do trust you. I trust you more than I trust anyone else." She would trust Pippa with everything. She had trusted Pippa with everything.

"Then why?" Pippa narrowed her eyes, searching Hecate's face for the answer.

"Because… Because you challenged my authority." It was the only thing Hecate could think to say. She knew it sounded weak.

"That's it? That's your excuse? Our entire relationship and you're going to throw it away because I thought taking a few hours to cool off might have been a good idea?" Pippa asked incredulously. She stood up and walked toward Hecate. "I don't believe you," she challenged.

"I'm not…" Hecate shook her head. "I don't deserve you. I can never be good enough for you." All she wanted was to be good enough but it wasn't possible. No matter how hard she tried, she would always come up short. Her father had taught her that. Goddess, how she hated him. Hecate gritted her teeth together. She would not cry.

"It isn't about being 'good enough,'" Pippa replied. "And you deserve to be happy. I don't know if we can be happy together, but you deserve to be happy."

Hecate started at Pippa's feet as she crossed her arms over her waist.

Pippa got closer. She lightly touched under Hecate's chin. "Look at me."

Hecate had no choice but to look up. Their eyes met and Hecate didn't know what to do with what she saw in Pippa's eyes. The care. "What do you want, Hecate? You need to decide what's important to you."

"I want you. Here. With me, while I perform the last two rites." She didn't think she was entitled to ask for anything else.

"Then I'll be here."

Hecate and Pippa walked into the main hall of the Hardbroom estate. A large log sat in the fireplace ready to be lit. It was ringed in greenery, a piece of mistletoe dotting the center of the arrangement. They both walked across the expansive space until they reached the hearth. Hecate knelt down in front of it, and using a piece of the yule log from the year before as kindling, started a new flame.

"Holly King," Hecate said as the log caught fire, "I ask that you take my father with you as you pass into the afterlife." She stood and stared into the fire. She preferred the smaller, more subtle flame of her offerings to her mother to the fire that was now roaring in front of her. Without really looking, she reached up to the mistletoe and pulled off a berry. It would go with the other things she had been collecting throughout the year. Finally, she looked away and found Pippa standing next to her.

"You're welcome to stay," Hecate offered. It was a long flight back to Pentangle's on an already cold night.

"I think it's for the best that I don't." Pippa took a step back. "I'll see you in January."

Chapter Text

Hecate's father was dead. He was dead and ever since she had gotten the news, had left Cackle's for her family's estate, she had been moving by rote and rite from one day to the next. Each day had its tasks and she accomplished them without real thought.

Hecate's mother was dead. She was dead and ever since she had gotten the news, had left hospital for her family's estate, she had been aching from the wound in her soul. She had recovered somewhat, after time been able to move on with her life. It had happened while she hadn't been paying attention. That was how healing often worked.

Her father's death had brought it all back though, and Hecate realized now that the scar still hurt, the healing was incomplete.

She was back at the Hardbroom estate, her estate, once again. Pippa would be there soon. She was ready to perform the last rite, ready to put the year behind her.

She set up a cauldron over a fire not far from the mouth of the tomb. The urn containing her father's ashes sat on the ground next to it. It wasn't her cauldron. Her cauldron was back at Cackle's, but it would do. The fire crackled and popped in the cold air. It melted a ring of snow around its base. Hecate stood near it, gathering as much heat as she could. She wrapped her family's cloak tighter around her shoulders. She still didn't like the way the magic in it made her feel, but she was growing used to it. She wore it because it was necessary. She wore it because it was warm.

She remembered the day they had interred her mother's ashes. Her father had worn it then and she could only imagine how hot it would have been under the thick wool. The wind blew and Hecate pulled the hood up over her head. It blocked her peripheral vision which is why she didn't see Pippa until she was nearly in front of her.

"Pippa." Hecate acknowledged her presence. They hadn't talked since the beginning of Yuletide and seeing her now raised another ache in Hecate's chest.

"Hecate." Pippa looked at Hecate with sad eyes, and Hecate wasn't sure it was because of the day or because of everything else that had transpired between them. There was no way for her to ask.

"We need to move the stone." It would have been difficult to do as a solitary witch. Hecate probably would have had to ask someone to help her if Pippa hadn't been there.

"Alright." Pippa nodded.

They took up positions on either side of the tomb, chanted a short spell, and with a great groan, the stone moved aside. There was a rush of air as that which had been trapped in the tomb came out and the outside air went in. The rock settled.

Hecate walked back over to the cauldron then. The ingredients were already laid out. Everything she had collected during the rites from the past year: the ashes and dirt, the water and sand, the acorn and the mistletoe berry. She put the water in first to give the potion a base, then the dirt and the ashes. The potion glowed a deep purple. She stirred it fifteen times sunwise and three in the opposite direction. She added the acorn and the berry. The potion changed from purple to white. The glow intensified.

This was the last rite, the last thing she had to do before she could put all of this behind her forever. She picked up the urn and dipped it in the potion, a layer of protection against anything that might disturb the grave. She took a brush and dipped that in the potion, then painted the archway that led into the tomb. The potion flared before seemingly sinking into the stone.

"It's ready," Hecate said to Pippa. Pippa nodded. There really wasn't anything else to be said.

Hecate took a deep breath and swallowed. She picked up the urn and entered the tomb, Pippa behind her. The air inside was cold but warmer than the air outside. Other urns lined the walls. They all glowed faintly, the light of the potion filling the room with shadows. Hecate found her mother's urn. It wasn't far from the entrance. She brushed away the dirt from the ledge then placed her father's urn next to it.

There was only one thing left to do.

"Goddess, I commend this soul to you. I ask that you watch over him and bring him peace for all eternity." She touched the top of the urn reverently, then she turned to her mother's. It looked the same as it did the day she and her father had placed it there, though the flowers were gone. She hadn't bothered to bring flowers for her father. She reached out, fingers hovering over the top of the urn, but she didn't touch it. She pulled her hand back.

"Goddess," she murmured, her words barely audible, "I ask that you continue to watch over her. Wherever she is, bring her peace and love." It wasn't traditional, but Hecate had been moved to say it anyway.

She felt Pippa's hand on her shoulder before she turned to go. She stood there for a moment, taking in everything. She likely wouldn't see the inside of the tomb again in her lifetime. Pippa preceded her out of the tomb. Hecate took a deep breath as she stepped back into the cold air. They turned and chanted the spell to move the rock back in place. Hecate stared at it. It was over. All of it was over.

"Hecate?" Pippa asked.

It was then Hecate noticed the tears sliding down her cheeks. She brought a hand up to touch them and marveled at her wet fingers. Then everything broke apart. Everything she had been holding in for the past year came pouring out of her and she sobbed, doubling over with the pain of it all, and with the relief. She felt Pippa's arms around her, cradling her, and she kept crying.

They ended up on the ground, Pippa holding her, rocking her, as her tears continued to fall.

"Miss Pentangle will be here soon," Ada said to Hecate as they sat in Ada's office. "I thought you might want to greet her." Ada sipped her tea and nibbled on a biscuit.

"I think it would be better if you were to do that." Hecate shifted uncomfortably. She had known Pippa would be there that day without Ada's reminder. How could she forget? She could name each of the dates Pippa would be at Cackle's without prompting. She even knew the days Pippa would be presenting at a few local conferences.

"Alright." Ada put down her teacup and stood. She gave Hecate an odd look. "Will you be observing her lecture today?"

"No. She doesn't need my supervision." Hecate was finally willing to admit that. Pippa had never needed her supervision. She was an excellent educator without Hecate's interference. It would be best for her to simply stay out of it, stay out of Pippa's way. She had her own classes to teach, her own responsibilities to attend to.

Ada nodded. "I had best be off then." She brushed down her front to make sure she wasn't covered in crumbs and left her office.

There was a tap on Hecate's office door. Hecate wasn't particularly paying attention as she said, "come in." She hadn't been paying attention all afternoon. Pippa was there and Hecate was big enough to admit that she was hiding in her office. She startled when she saw a flash of pink. She looked up, a question already on her lips.

Pippa held up a hand to forestall her. Hecate could do nothing but stare back at her.

"This was your idea, wasn't it?" Pippa stood in Hecate's doorway. She didn't look displeased, but Hecate still couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"I haven't–" Hecate swallowed, the lie on her lips ready to be spoken.

"Don't." Pippa shook her head. "Don't lie to me, Hecate"

Hecate looked down at the top of her desk then back up at Pippa. She hadn't wanted Pippa to know, had wanted her to think it was entirely Ada's idea. "Yes."

"I have to admit, I was surprised to receive an invitation to do a series of guest lectures at Cackle's. I was even more surprised when I made it through the morning without your looming presence in the back of the classroom."

Hecate flinched at Pippa's words. It was a valid criticism though. Hecate deserved it. "You didn't need me there." Pippa was more than capable of teaching the girls without Hecate's oversight.

"I appreciate that you realize that. What I don't understand is why you did it. Why did you invite me here, Hecate, only to ignore me once I arrived?" Pippa cocked her head to the side as she looked down at Hecate. Hecate couldn't meet her eyes. She looked back down at the desktop, rubbing the edge of it in front of her with her fingers.

"I didn't think you would want to see me."

Pippa pursed her lips. She walked around Hecate's desk and leaned against it at Hecate's side. "I asked you two months ago what you wanted. Has your answer changed?" Pippa trailed her fingers over the edge of Hecate's face. Hecate looked up at her. She couldn't decipher what she saw on Pippa's face.

"I don't deserve you. I hurt you. I hurt you so badly. I questioned your judgment. I made it seem like I didn't trust you." Hecate ran through the litany of her sins. She truly didn't deserve Pippa. Didn't deserve her attention or her time.

"I know." Pippa dropped her hand as she regarded Hecate. She looked to be deep in thought.

"I don't know how to make that up to you." There was no way to do it. Hecate had racked her brain trying to think of one, of anything to set their relationship right again.

"You've made a start of it." Pippa reached for Hecate's hand and held it between both of hers.

"My father… I disappointed him. What's to say I won't disappoint you too?" The worry consumed her. There were so many things that could go wrong, that already had gone wrong.

"You can't live your life wondering that. And what if you don't? What if you don't disappointment me?"

"I already have. Repeatedly. I abandoned you. Why would you forgive me for that? Why do you keep forgiving me?" Hecate asked. She was utterly perplexed by Pippa's actions. No one deserved as many chances as Pippa had given her.

Pippa laughed. "Because I love you. Despite everything, I never stopped loving you." Pippa squeezed Hecate's hand and interlaced their fingers. "I wanted to forgive you, I wanted the opportunity. So I didn't take much convincing. I won't take much now."

Hecate nodded. "I am sorry. I'm sorry I left you. I'm sorry that I made it seem like I didn't trust you. I do trust you," Hecate emphasized. "And I regret cutting you out of my life when we were in school."

"Thank you." Pippa nodded. "I should apologize as well. I never should have interfered in your disciplining of Mildred. It was out of line."

"You don't..." Hecate started only to have Pippa interrupt her.

"I do. I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

Hecate nodded. It was nothing to accept Pippa's apology when it seemed Pippa had forgiven her for so much.

Pippa paused as if carefully considering her next words. "I'm going to ask you a question, and I'm not going to ask it again, so think hard about your answer." Pippa waited until she knew she had Hecate's full attention. "What do you want, Hecate?"

"You," Hecate said without hesitation.

"Good answer." Pippa leaned down and captured Hecate's lips with her own. It was nothing like their first kiss. It was firm and sure. It was a promise. It was a promise Hecate was finally willing to make.