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Chapter Text

Agatha grumbled as she stomped down away from the castle. Stupid Beatrix and her stupid remarks about her. You’d think for an ever at the top of her class, she’d be a lot nicer. Or, at least not mean. Like, neutral or something.

She spat on the floor. And to think she used to believe every princess was like Snowwhite. Yes, a bit bland an boring maybe, but definitely not this. But apparently being good is just another synonym for being self-centred and shallow. Not that she was the perfect princess, she was grumpy and clumsy.

No, Agatha decided. She wasn't a good princess either, but at least she didn't go around parading and bragging about all her riches like Beatrix.

When first she got here, Agatha knew she wouldn’t fit in. But she had thought, or maybe hoped, that there would be at least someone she could talk to outside of Sophie. Someone she could trust with her problems like she had with Reaper.

She felt a pang of homesickness in her stomach. Oh, how she wished for Reaper to be here and that she could confide in him like old times. Maybe then this place wouldn’t be as awful if she could just have taken something with her from home. Stupid reader rule.

As she was making her way down to the lake, she saw that professor Dovey was already sitting in front of the lake. Maybe she could ask her dean if she could get her cat here somehow? Surely she would help, being good and all. Maybe she could go get her cat herself?

But the girl knew that was impossible, otherwise she and Sophie would be back in Gavaldon already. And, besides, her mother needed Reaper to catch rats and other rodents for her. It would be selfish of her to ask for him.

She sighed and stood still a few metres away from her teacher, who looked completely focused on the water. Or, Agatha saw looking closer, fish. Hundreds of shiny, silver fish.

The dean of Good reached for them with a hesitant finger. As she touched them, the water around her finger began to swirl and the fish started changing colours. Agatha looked at the dean in awe as the fish reassembled and formed a picture. She had never seen something like this ever in her life before.

Intrigued, she stood on her toes to get a better look and saw that where the fish had once been, there now was a portrait of someone with a halo around their face, staring up from the water. The woman, whose face had been a bit vague at first, now showed piercing lilac eyes and sharp cheekbones. And as she took a closer look, Agatha saw that the red she had first mistaken as a halo, was actually the woman’s hair, untamed curls giving her an imposing look.

It was Lady Lesso.

Why would her professor want to make a picture of her fellow dean in the water? Was this some sort of communication spell? Then why weren’t they talking?

Her dean sighed almost defeated and looked frustrated at her picture. As if she had not wanted Lady Lesso’s face to appear in the water. This made even less sense to Agatha. Dovey was one of the most powerful Evers in the world, surely her spells didn’t go wrong.

As her professor reached for the face again, this time with a sad smile on her face. She stroked the face lovingly. Agatha suddenly felt like she was looking down on something strangely intimate. Something she wasn’t supposed to see.

She needed to get away as soon as possible before the dean saw her and come back with the other princesses. She would have to endure Beatrix’s fawning over Tedros again, but something in her gut told her that that was better than getting caught here.

Agatha turned to tiptoe away from the lake. But as soon as she lifted her foot to make the first step, she heard a voice behind her.

“Agatha?” Her professors soft voice called surprised.

Agathe groaned and turned to see her teacher had gotten up and was now standing next to the lake instead of sitting, as if nothing happened. She did look a little flushed, Agatha noted, and when she looked to the lake, the picture had vanished.

“How long have you been standing there?” Professor Dovey asked her, appearing a little anxious as she tried to brush the dirt off her dress. There was a weird sort of awkwardness to her hand movements Agatha had never seen with her dean before. She looked.. well.. almost caught?

Agatha’s stomach twinged with guilt. “Look, professor, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’ll go now” She apologized hastily and turned again to run back to the castle.

“No need, Agatha, class is starting in a few minutes.” The dean said, smiling at her. She stepped towards Agatha and lay a hand on her arm, looking worriedly at her, “Why are you so early? Did something happen?”

“No! No, it’s just… Well, Beatrix was being Beatrix again and I just couldn’t stand it anymore. So I went outside and thought, might as well go to class.” Agatha mumbled.

“What did she do?”

“You know, implying I wasn’t a princess, that I didn’t belong here. Making remarks about how I walk and stuff.”

“Ah.” Dovey shot her a sympathetic look, patting Agatha's head soflty “Well, you should know Agatha, she doesn’t mean harm. Even Beatrix is in the school for good for a reason. Even if it doesn’t always seem that way. The good, like yourself, always look past mistakes and see the person inside.”

Suddenly Agatha felt anger boiling up in her. Flashbacks of Gregor failing for the third time. The screaming, the crude way he was taken away. Why hadn’t she stopped it? Why hadn’t she protected her students from these evil punishments? DIdn't she claim she was good?

“Yeah, just like you did with Gregor? When we fail three times we disappear screaming! Doesn’t seem like looking past mistakes” Agatha shot back furiously.

Dovey stared at her student, shocked at how quick this conversation had turned and the way Agatha was speaking to her now; “Tone, Agatha" She scolded her, "And I’m sorry you had to see that, but those are the rules” she stated firmly, not tolerating any backtalk.

“You’re not even sorry for him? What kind of teacher are you?” Agatha spat before stomping away from her teacher and threw herself in her seat, leaving the fairy godmother stunned at the edge of the lake.

Chapter Text

“Ugh, I don’t know why they make such a big deal out of this ball and those princes,” Agatha whined, “They’re stupid and arrogant. Why would anyone want to go to a ball with them?”

Since all her classes were cancelled after the wishfish incident, she decided to go pay a visit to Sophie. The girls were sitting by the windowsill and looking outside into the big gardens surrounding the good castle, where Beatrix stood fawning over Tedros, Reena was pretending to faint in front of Chaddick and Kiko was not-so-subtly goggling Tristan from behind a rosebush.

While Agatha loathed the way they acted, Sophie couldn’t get enough from the princesses and princes from the good castle. She watched them trough the spyglass Agatha had brought her, making remarks about all the “exquisite” dresses the princesses were wearing and how handsome and sturdy the princes looked. Hester, sitting on her bed with Anadil making homework, had already shot multiple annoyed glances at Agatha, as if she was to blame for all this.

“Then just don’t go. You shouldn’t do things you’re not comfortable with. Besides, it’s just a party” Dot petted her arm, consoling her.

“Then I’ll fail! I’ll fail because none of those stupid boys like me. Not that I want to, they all have the same amount of braincells as Tedros, which close to none.” Agatha grumbled. Sophie slapped her arm offended. Agatha glared at her. “Besides, I don’t know what the deal is with those princes. Professor Dovey doesn’t even have a prince herself! And she’s one of the most powerful fairy godmothers! If she doesn’t bother, why should I?”

“Because, Aggie, princes are handsome and dreamy and have big castles and… Wait. Dovey doesn’t have a prince??” Sophie looked at her friend in shock. Wasn’t the whole point of being good getting a prince, have a big, beautiful wedding and live happily ever after? And wasn’t Dovey like, the pinnacle of good?

“I don’t think she is, my dad would have told me about it. I asked him all about the teachers before I got here” Dot said, nibbling on a cockroach she just had found under her bed and had turned to chocolate. Agatha shuddered, looking at the now half eaten insect that could have been her had she come a few minutes later. The witch looked at her confused and then back to the cockroach and turned red “Sorry” she mumbled “I swear I make sure it isn’t you before I eat it.”

Suddenly Sophie pointed at the gardens, handing Agatha her spyglass: “Look! It’s professor Dovey and Lady Lesso! What is our dean doing taking a walk in the gardens of the good castle? I thought evil didn’t room with good” she said sourly with an overdone imitation of her professors voice.

Agatha peered through the window to see the two deans walking past her classmates, her fairy godmother laughing heartedly at something Lesso had said.

“Maybe, Sophie, it’s because they are deans and need to discuss running a school together” Hester said, rolling her eyes and turning back to her homework.

“You know what was weird?” Agatha said, remembering her class this morning. “When I came to class this morning, professor Dovey was still preparing her lesson and she when she touched the water her wishfish turned into a picture of Lesso.”

“Why would the dean of good wish for the dean of evil?” Sophie laughed, “That’s ridiculous, you just told me most princesses wish for a prince. Lesso isn’t a prince”

“Maybe Lesso’s sick or something and did she wish for her to get better?” Dot asked just as her Curses and Deathtraps professor plucked a rose from a rosebush and dramatically gave it to Dovey, clearly making fun of all the good boys. Dovey swatted the rose at her colleague as if to reprimand her for plucking it from her garden, but even from this distance she could see the blush creeping up the deans face as she smelled the flower.

“Did she just blush?” Agatha muttered flabbergasted, trying to get a closer look at the scene in the gardens, but Sophie had already snatched the glass back.

“What? What happened?” Dot, having sprung up from her seat on the ground, looked eagerly out the window, but the deans were too far away to see without the binoculars. She sagged back against the wall.

“Lesso just gave Dovey a rose” Sophie stammered surprised, “Why would she give Dovey a rose?” The other witched had scurried to the window to get a look themselves, the binoculars now being passed over so everyone could get a look.

Suddenly everything clicked in Agatha’s brain. Dovey’s wishfish, the blushing, her teacher looking like she got caught. Her fairy godmother had wished for Lesso just like all the other princesses had wished for a prince! Clarissa Dovey was in love with Lady lesso!

She groaned silently, she wished she hadn’t told her friend any of this. She loved Sophie, but she wasn’t known for her subtlety and it was clear her professor hadn’t wanted Agatha to know, let alone the whole school! She could only hope Sophie hadn’t picked up on it yet. But when she turned to look at her friend, she knew that was only wishful thinking.

“OMG!” Sophie squealed “Lesso and Dovey? That is so romantic! Do you think they’re a thing?”

Hester looked horrified at her classmate. Her teacher, her dean, the person she looked up to, in love with an Ever? The dean of the Evers, no less? She grabbed the glasses roughly from Dots hands to take a look for herself and make sure this wasn’t some sad ever prank.

Sophie, however, was already picturing everything and gasped dramatically, “No, Do you think they’re married? I love marriages! Oh, imagine the dresses! I bet they would be the prettiest ever, they’re both so stylish!” she sighed dreamily, picturing the beautiful and extravagant wedding dresses she thought her teachers would wear.

Hester, a still a bit shocked, handed the glasses to Anadil and snickered “Lesso in a dress? Have you ever seen Lesso in a dress? I think she’d rather die”

“Well, she could maybe have worn a suit?” Dot suggested dreamily, wanting her teachers to be together almost as much as Sophie.

Sophie scrunched her nose at her, as if anything other than a big, puffy princess dress was unacceptable at a wedding. Even for two girls.

“I don’t think they’re together? Otherwise people would have talked. You know how fast rumours go round, especially with Beatrix and her friends in the castle. Also, why would they have been so against you and Tedros? Wouldn’t they ” Agatha said, crushing her friends dreams of a wedding between good and evil.

Sophie looked down defeated, but almost immediately perked up again. She had an amazing idea: “Oh! Have you all read the story about two twin princesses who lived in different kingdoms? Those who tricked their parents into falling in love again by setting them up?”

Hester, Anadil and Dot looked at her perplexed, confused by the sudden change of subject. But Agatha, who had had to endure all of Sophies rants about the fairytales she had read back in Gavaldon, looked at her friend, knowing exactly where this was going.

“Sophie, No”

“But Agatha, It’s the perfect plan! Just think of the good we’ll do! We just have to set them up! They’ll be married in no time and we all will get to be bridesmaids!”

“And risk Lesso taking it out on us when this goes wrong? Thank you, We’ll pass” Hester grumbled, Anadil nodded, agreeing.

Dot, however, opened her mouth to go against it, wanting to help her favourite teachers. But after a sharp look from Hester she hung her head and shot Sophie an apologetic look. “Sorry…”

“But we have to! Than they’ll have to admit that I’m good! Please you have to help me. I can’t live in that place” Sophie begged Agatha, pulling her armed desperately.

Agatha winced. “Ouch, Sophie! Stop! You’re pulling my arm off!” Sophie let go of her best friend and looked at her with the puppy eyes she reserved for special occasions like these. Agatha glared at her “Those don’t work on me Sophie. I won’t do it! They’re our teachers, it’s wrong!”

“Don’t you want to save me? I don’t belong there and everyone knows it! I’m a princess, Aggie, this is my chance to prove it. You’ll help me, right? You have to, were best friends! Best friends help each other!”

“Ugh. Fine.”

“Thank you! Thank you, Aggie! Oh, this will be my best good deed yet! People will sing of me, of us.” She then turned to the three other witches, “Too bad you’ll go down as villains, miserable and depressed. The only songs they’ll sing about you will be about us and how we were better than you in every way. Oh, I can almost feel the love well get! We’ll be heroes, and I’ll be a princess!” She sang. Hester hissed at her.

The blonde then grabbed her best friends hand and pulled her up, dragging her outside , “Let’s make a plan in the groom room Aggie, we have to look successful in order to be successful! Oh! Maybe we could give Dovey on of the dresses and say it’s from Lesso! That be so romantic! I always say, clothes are the way the a persons heart!”

Sophie brabbled on as Agatha looked back at the coven still sitting on the ground in Sophie’s room. Oh, why had she agreed on this? Why couldn’t she just say no to Sophie, like the others? Why did Sophie always drag her into trouble like this?

Chapter Text

“I have never seen anything like it..” Clarissa had sought out her fellow dean and best friend after the whole wishfish debacle and was now sitting on a uncomfortable wooden chair in the empty Curses and Death-traps classroom. In front of her stood Lady Lesso, who was looking through her liquor cabinet.

“Suddenly the water just starts swirling and turning dark grey! I thought she would be pulled into the lake by those fish, but then she pulls that girl from the lake and… and…” She looks at her friend distraught, “Did you know they make students into animals for that long? The girl said she had been there for over a hundred years before she passed...”

Lesso looked back, whiskey bottle and two glasses in hand, eyebrow quirked; “What did you think would happen to them? Surely you didn’t think they’d just be send home or something? That isn’t a punishment, even for an Ever”

“Well.. I don’t know. I knew they would be sidekicks for a while. But I thought, maybe, after that sent back to their parents or something? Or to nonmagical town?” Clarissa looked down defeated and sighed. “I just never questioned it. She looked so young, must have only been around 11. Her whole life before her. And now she is dead.”

Leonora handed her a glass filled to the brim with liquor, “Yeah, well. Those are the rules. It’s not like you could have gone against the schoolmaster.” Clarissa took an immensely small sip from her glass and grimaced; “Whoa, careful there, princess, we all know what happens when you drink too much” Lesso smirked at her friend, downing hers in one go.

“That was one time! When will you let that go?” the Ever whined, “Besides, that you are able to drink so much is not something to be proud of. We’re teachers, we need to give out students the right example.”

“Like what?”

“Well, for starters, that you don’t drink away your problems, but instead face them” Dovey said as she grasped the bottle away from Lesso, who had wanted to fill her glass again, face suddenly brightening, “Or take a walk or something. Come, let's go”

Lesso looked at her agitated: “You want to go take a walk?”

“Yes! You should really learn about better coping mechanisms, Lesso” Clarissa said, grabbing Lesso’s arm and dragging her from her chair, “Besides, I asked Yuba to plant rosebushes last year and they’re finally blooming! You have to come see.”

What else could Leonora Lesso do, than follow her best friend into the gardens of Good, when the grip on her arm was almost as strong as the grip this woman had on her heart.

----

Clarissa had always loved flowers. So much even, that she had read all the books in her mothers library on them and knew every flower and their meaning by heart. She especially loved roses and all their various meanings. Yellow for friendship, white for loyalty, red for I love you.

That is why she had persisted Yuba would plant all kinds of them around the good gardens. And now, she noted looking around with a pleased smile on her face, it all was worth wile waiting for the bushes to bloom. The flowers gave a majestic and inviting look to the gardens.

When she looked around she saw that her students agreed with her. All the Evers were scattered around the garden, enjoying the sun and taking advantage of the romantic atmosphere the roses created to flirt with each other to guarantee themselves a date at the ball. It was exactly how she had imagined it.

She looked to her side delighted to see what her friend thought of her luscious garden.

Lesso looked disgusted as Reena pretended to faint in front of Chaddick and he caught her in his arms, “I can’t believe Emma teaches your students to faint in order to get attention from a prince instead of fighting. That’s an even worse skill than batting your eyes.”

“Oh, stop it. I think it’s quite romantic that they fight so hard for their love.” Dovey smiled at Kiko, who was standing behind a rosebush, goggling Tristan from afar. She knew the feeling of only being able too look at a person from far away all to well.

“Romantic?” Lesso scoffed, “They need to have a boy to ask them, or they’ll fail. And the boys just pick the princess who they can safe from fainting the most. Very romantic indeed.” She spat on the ground. At least at her school boys and girls were treated the same and everybody could choose who to love.

“You take the romance out of everything. Balls and love are of significant value to an Ever, that’s how we win every year..”

“Yeah, right. You win because the schoolmaster is on your side”

Clarissa ignored the sneer and continued, “..But I agree with you. Princes used to participate in this a lot more. They used get on one knee and give roses to the girl they liked when they asked them to the ball, So romantic”

Clarissa sighed and imagined Leonora going down on one knee in front of her and ask her to a ball. Presenting her a red rose. She knew it would never happen, of course. They were friends and friends only and…

Lesso ripped a red rose from the bush next to her and present it dramatically on one knee to Clarissa, “Oh princess, please do me the honour accompanying me this ball, for you have the most beautiful eyes and your smile could light up the night like a star” Leonora smirked while giving the rose to Clarissa, meeting her big brown eyes, “like that?”

Their fingers brushed as the fairy godmother took the rose. A shiver went trough her spine, even though Clarissa knew her colleague was only making fun of good and not… Well.. You know.

“Do princesses always just stare at their prince like that? Or do they actually say something back?”

Clarissa straightened her back, and swatted the rose at the woman before her; “Don’t pick roses from my garden, they’ll die”. But she couldn’t keep the blush from creeping up her face as she smelled the rose, “But thank you very much, prince Lesso, for this most kind offer. And the beautiful rose. It’s my favourite. I shall think about it”

She strode on, determined not to show her friend her reddened cheeks, passing a big weeping willow. But in her eagerness to get away, she didn’t notice one of the roots the a weeping willow she was passing had magically grown over the white pebbled path.

As she tripped and saw the pebbles getting closer and closer, she also felt something sneak around her waist, catching her, “Well, would you look at that, I’ve also masted the fine art of catching fainting princesses” Lesso smirked as she spun her friend around, dipping her as if in a dance.

Clarissa felt her cheeks reddening at their proximity. They were so close she could count the lashes grazing Leonora’s eyes. She looked away, cursing herself for letting this woman have this effect on her. Letting herself feel things these things when they would never be reciprocated. Why was she so hellbent on getting her heart broken?

She took a deep breath in, trying to calm herself and these ridiculous emotions down. She could do this. But when she looked up and saw how the Nevers eyes flicker to her lips all she could do is blush even harder, her heart thumping so hard against her chest she was sure Leonora would feel it.

Lesso smirked before pulling away and almost immediately started walking down the path again, as if nothing happened, “Is that how they do it?”

Dovey stared at her, heart still hammering, "I... what?"

"Your princes, is that how they catch their fainting princesses?"

“Oh... Yes, well… erm… sort of” the fairy godmother stammered, knowing full well a prince could never make her feel this way.

Chapter Text

“Maybe we could try to brew a love potion? I could put it in Lesso’s tea or something?”

Sophie and Agatha had been sitting in the groom room for what felt like hours. And they probably had, cause when Agatha looked out the window, she saw it had gotten dark outside. Since they had gotten here, Sophie had tried on every single dress that the room could provide her while she had proposed idea after idea, each last one more ridiculous than the one before. 

Agatha, who had gotten a headache around two hours ago and wanted to go to sleep, looked at her friend irritated, “Love potions are illegal, Sophie.”

“Only.." Sophie applied some lipstick that matched her dress and blew a kiss at herself in the mirror before spinning around, mischievous glint in her eyes, ".. if you get caught”

“Sophie!”

“What? You think I can’t get away with it?”

“And what if you do get caught? Do you want to end up like Gregor? No way they’ll just let that slip, they’ll fail you” Agatha cried, trying to talk some sense into her delusional friend. Sophie was being reckless, and she couldn’t lose her best friend to something as fickle as this obsession of hers.

Which she would be over in a week or so, Agatha told herself. Her friend would lose interest soon enough. She would just have to help her until it was over and make sure she didn’t get into trouble until then.

“I don’t care if I fail! I’d rather be a fish than a witch” Sophie spat, tears in her eyes, “I am a princess. I belong in the School for Good”

 “You want to be a princess? Act like one! Princesses keep to the rules.” Agatha shot back, frustrated with how her friend seemed so hellbent on putting herself in danger.

Sophie threw herself on one of the velvet chairs, exasperated, “Why do you keep disregarding my plans? They’re not that bad”

Agatha rolled her eyes, “They’re not! they’re just… You know..”

“What? They’re what?”

“Well… They’re a bit extreme…”

“At least I’m coming up with ideas! You’re just sitting there…” Sophie said agitated with her friend.

It was true. In the hours they had now spend in the groom room, Agatha hadn’t come up with a single idea. Her stomach filled with guilt as she looked at her disappointed friend.

“Look, I’m sorry, Sophie. I know I am not being a good friend, I’m just really tired.” She said ashamed. Sophie was her only friend in the whole world, why couldn’t she just support her in this?

“Then help me come up with a good plan! Then we can go and sleep. I promise.”

Agatha tried to come up with something clever, going through all the plans Sophie had proposed in the past hours in her head.

“You know, maybe that locking them in the room idea wasn’t that bad? We could try that?” She hesitantly proposed. She knew full well it wasn’t a great idea, but it was the only one of Sophie’s ideas that didn’t involve them breaking rules.

Her friend shot up victoriously “See! I knew you liked it! It’s a great idea!”

“There is just one thing..” Agatha said cautiously, not wanting to ruin her friends euphoria.

Sophie looked at her offended, as if a plan of hers couldn’t be anything but perfect. And for her friend to suggest there was something wrong with it, was just ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.

“.. We need to find a way to lock the door in a way that Lesso or Dovey can’t just open it. I don’t think either of us can cast a spell they can’t undo…”

Sophie sat down and frowned. She hadn’t thought of that yet. Every spell she knew she had learned from Lesso or Agatha. And Agatha had learned hers from Dovey.

“Maybe we could cast a curse on it so that they have to kiss for it in order to open?” She proposed after a long silence, unconvinced there even was such a spell.

Her friend shot her a sarcastic look, confirming her suspicion. Sophie slumped back against her chair, this was never going to work. Why was parent trapping people so hard? The princesses from the story had made it all seem so easy.

Just as she was about to give up, saying goodbye to pink dresses, pretty princesses and handsome princes, Agatha sat up straight suddenly.

“Maybe we could..” the princess’ voice trailed off, and she let herself slack back again; “No, never mind, that won’t work.”

“What? What was your plan?” Sophie asked eagerly, desperate for an answer.

“Well, you know how good always wins? Dovey says it’s because we work together for a common goal. I thought maybe, if we could get people to come with us, we could cast a more powerful spell together.” Agatha said hesitantly.

“Aggie, You’re a genius! That way I’ll do double good! They’ll just have to admit me here”

“Yes, well it won’t work.”

Sophie looked at her friend disbelievingly “Why not? It’s a great plan.. We just need to find a few people to come with us”

“Yes, Exactly” Agatha said dismayed, “We don’t have friends Sophie, except for maybe Hester, Anadil and Dot. But they made their thoughts on this very clear.”

“Oh, please. That won’t be a problem. I am great at convincing people. If you look for the spells, I’ll take care of the rest”

----

Agatha stood waiting in front of Lesso’s office, where she and Sophie had agreed to meet at eight to execute Sophie’s plan. A plan which looked less and less attractive by the minute.

She looked at the clock hung over the door. A quarter past eight. Maybe Sophie hadn’t been able to convince enough people to execute the spell?

Or maybe, just maybe, she had forgotten about it altogether? She knew it was wishful thinking and indeed. Her dreams were crushed as she heard a familiar clicking of glass heels coming from the other end of the hall.

The girl still expected to find a disappointed Sophie standing all alone, as she was late. But when she turned around she stood face to face with a black-haired girl with an aggravated look on her face.

Hester glared agitatedly at her.

“Hester?” Agatha gaped at her and the two witches behind her and Sophie. She had expected Dot would help, but Hester? And Anadil? How had she managed that?

“Turns out Hester was actually quite happy to help us” Sophie chirped with a smug smile, patting the witch on her arm.

Hester looked at her disgusted. “Don’t touch me” she hissed, pulling her arm away as quick as she could.

Dot wrung herself between Hester and Sophie and looked at Agatha excited: “So, what’s the plan?”

Agatha looked at Sophie unimpressed. No wonder Hester had been willing to come, she didn’t even know what the plan was!

She quirked an eyebrow at her, “You haven’t told them?”

“I just thought it would be better if you told them! You’re so much better at explaining” The blonde replied, batting her eyes innocently.

Agatha glared at her. Gods, sometimes she wondered if Sophie was worth the trouble.

“Fine” She grumbled, “We want to lock Dovey and Lesso in a room together… Sophie thinks they will confess their love for each other or something if they are trapped long enough”

“Yes! We first wanted to lock them in a broom closet, but we had no idea how to get them in there. So we just settled on Lesso’s office. They always meet there to discuss the school at half past 7..” Sophie brabbled excitedly.

“That is your plan? That will never work. Forget it” Hester sneered interrupting her. She grabbed Anadils arm and turned around to walk away.

“Uh, uh, uh. Remember our deal Hessie? If you help and I win, you will be on top of the class again.” Sophie tutted, Pulling Hester back by her hair, “Besides, don’t you want to do this, for true love?”

Hester shot her a look that would surely have been lethal, if looks could kill. She spat at Sophie, who blew her a kiss.

“It will work. It’s an Ever spell, called the rule of multiples. It will combines our powers, multiplying it.  We just have to cast it on the lock together. It will be more powerful that way” Agatha explained while she pulled Sophie back, making sure the witches wouldn’t get in a real fight.

Dot squealed, eyes twinkling with excitement, “That’s so cool! I’ve always wanted to use an ever spell!”

Hester looked at her as if she had never seen her. She had always Dot was a tad soft to be a witch, but she had never thought she would actually like that sickening ever stuff. It was disgusting.

“Thank you, Dot! Finally a witch with sense!” Sophie turned to her best friend “Okay. So, Aggie, how do we cast this spell?”

------

“How long do you think it will take before they notice?” Dot whispered, shifting her legs to try and get some feeling back them.

Sophie, Dot and Agatha were sitting behind a pillar close to Lesso’s office. Or, close enough to have a good view of the door and far away enough to escape, in case the dean of Evil did find a way to break out and would undoubtedly try to tear them all in half.

Agatha looked at Sophie uncomfortably, “Maybe we should go, too. We’re already interfering in something we shouldn’t, I don’t want to also spy on them on top of that..”

Hester and Anadil had retreated almost immediately after they had cast the spell on Lesso’s lock, afraid to be caught by their dean and be sent tot the doom room, or even worse. That had been over an hour ago.

Dot had stayed, however, claiming to Hester that she wanted to look around the library before going to bed. But, secretly, she had really gotten invested in this love story and was eager to see how it would end.

“Don’t be ridiculous Aggie. We have to see if it worked! Or else we don’t know to go on with this or not!” Sophie whispered, gaze fully focussed on the door.

Agatha looked at her. She should have known it wouldn’t stop at this. Sophie wouldn’t quit her stupid mission until she was either planning their wedding in her own princess dress or dead. There was not life in between for her.

“And what if we get caught? We can’t fail Sophie, then we’ll never get home”

Dot looked at her, eyes widened; “I thought you said the spell was powerful enough because we cast it with more than one person!”

“It will! But we’re talking about one of the most powerful women, they have done way more spells than we have. Maybe Lesso makes another door, or they go through a window or..” Agatha said panicked.

The door blast open, pieces of wood flying around. Lesso stood behind the door, finger glowing purple, looking around furiously, ready to skin the person responsible for locking her alive.

Dovey stood behind her, looking startled by the blast, “You didn’t have to blow up the door, now we have to get Gepetto to make a new one for you” she sighed.

“I am going to kill Emma” The redhead growled.

“Maybe it wasn't her, maybe your lock was probably just rusty or something? Let’s think this through” The dean of Good said, putting a hand on her arm, trying to calm her down.

Lesso glanced at the hand before she shot her a sarcastic look and stomped down the hall, still bristeling. 

The trio quickly shot in the nearest classroom, desperate not to get in the way of their dean and risk her fury. Not now she thought Emma Anemone had done it.

Professor Dovey hurried after her friend, walking as fast as she could in her heels and heavy golden dress, "Leonora, wait!"

When she had checked if the deans were gone, Sophie looked at Agatha perplexed. She had been one hundred percent convinced their spell would work. “How did they… I thought… They shouldn’t…”

Agatha looked just as baffled at her. They shouldn’t have been able to open it. Their spell should have been stronger than them, even if they had combined their magic! They were only with too, the lock should have been..

They suddenly heard a female voice behind them, sighing disappointedly “And I had such high hopes for you. Did you really not think about putting a spell on the door as well? Surely you know that a lock doesn’t keep anyone in of a room, as Lesso demonstrated just now.”

Dot shrieked as Agatha turned around slowly, coming to stand eye to eye to a woman in a extravagant hot pink dress, smiling amused at them.

“Besides, locking them up doesn’t work, believe me, I tried multiple times. With a spell on the door. Even tried it with one on the windows and the walls. They just don’t seem to get the hint” 

Chapter Text

“You got me flowers?”

Dovey and Lesso were standing in the Evil deans office, where they had met just like every other night.  to discuss their school and gossip a little about their students and other teachers, also just like every other night. But Leonora had just presented her a bouquet of red flowers. Not like every other night.

“Gotta keep my princely skills up, don’t I? If I ever need to save you from fainting again.” Lesso smirked, stepping closer to the Ever and handing her the roses with a little bow.

Clarissa blushed a little as she took the flowers from Leonora’s hands, eyes still wide as if in shock.

“What, never had flowers before princess?” the latter teased.

“I have, it’s just.. Well.. You know..” Dovey said, turning away from her.

She had gotten roses, tons of them even. When she was in school, a lot of princes had tried to court her. The problem was that she never felt anything for them, not even a tiny bit of a affection, no matter how hard she had tried.

And she had tried. For years and years Clarissa had let the princes from her school flirt with her and date her, trying to convince herself that maybe the love would come later. That once she had gotten to know them better, the affection would come. That maybe love at first sight in the storybooks was a just an exaggeration or metaphor or something and that it just didn’t happen like that.

But she had known she had been lying to herself when the school had appointed a new dean some years ago. Her heart had started beating a weird rhythm as soon as she saw the redheaded woman walk into the school.

And when her eyes had found those stunning grey ones, her stomach had started fluttering in a way that told her that love at first sight was, in fact, not an exaggeration or metaphor.

It was quite real.

Yes, Clarissa Dovey had gotten roses. Tons of them. But this was the first time she had gotten them from someone she actually liked. From someone she had dreamed would give them to her.  From someone she wanted so badly too feel about her the way she did, to love her the way she did.

Tears welled up in her eyes. It of course hadn’t been out of love, as she had wished so many times would happen. There was no way Leonora Lesso, dean of Evil, would give her roses in a romantic way. She was Evil. And Evil did not love, no matter how much Clarissa wished for it to be different.

She took a deep breath in and smelled the roses. It was still a sweet for Lesso to give her roses. Even if it was just out of friendship and not out of love like the red of the flowers suggested.

She gave her colleague watery smile; “Thank you. It’s very kind of you to think of me.”

“Oh don’t go all teary eyed on me. It’s just flowers” Leonora teased, “Now, what did you want to talk about?”

-------

“Lesso, hello? Are you listening to me?”

Lesso looked up to the eyes of her friend. She had been staring again, she realised. She had been staring at her eyes, her lips and from there her eyes had just started wandering all over the Evers body. And the things she wanted to do to that body.

She shook her head, trying to get the images out of her head. Flirting with her friend, teasing her and trying to get her to blush was (maybe) acceptable, but to think of her like that? That was.. well.. Less acceptable. Quite forbidden in fact.

She had to get a grip. This wasn’t how Nevers thought about Evers. Especially not if they were the dean of Evil, for the Devils sake.

“Sorry, princess. You’ve just got a very nice dress on, you fill it out nicely” Lesso smirked, looked the Ever directly in the eye, eyes gleaming mischievously.

Clarissa turned as red as the roses she was still holding.

She knew this dress accentuated her best parts. In fact, it was why she had decided to wear it to this meeting. (Not that she would ever admit that. She didn’t care about if Leonora thought she looked pretty or not. She didn’t). But she hadn’t actually thought the Never would notice.

She turned around quickly, desperate not to let Lesso see her blushing again. “Oh, would you look at the time. It’s time for me to head back.” She walked to the door.

“Well, let me practice my princely skills and escort you to your room. I don’t trust my Nevers to leave you alone.”

“Oh that really won’t be necessary, It’s just this corridor and then I’m out of the castle already” Dovey retorted quickly. She really didn’t want to endure any more flirtations from her friend all the way back, her heart was racing enough as it was.  

“Oh, I insist princess. It’s my job as your prince to make sure you get home safely” Lesso said, grinning at Clarissa as she walked past her. She put her hand on the doorknob, ready to chivalrously open the door for her Ever.

But it didn’t budge. Lesso frowned, the door had worked just fine when she had opened it an hour ago. And she didn’t remember locking it.

When she let go of the doorknob, she noticed something under it.

A faint pink glow was emerging from the lock. It had been enchanted. It had been enchanted to keep them locked inside. And there was no questioning who had done it.

“Emma” Lesso grumbled. Of course. She had had a suspiciously calm week, it had only been a matter of time before the beautification teacher did something again, “Why does she insist on making my life a living hell?”

“Hm. She usually isn’t so careless with her spells.” Dovey muttered, looking at the lock, “She usually at least tries to disguise her trails.”

The redhead kicked the door with her stiletto heel, leaving a hole in the door. Her friend shot her a glare: “Leonora!”

“Didn’t enchant the door either.” Lesso scoffed, unimpressed, “It’s like she doesn’t even try anymore.”

“Well, then it’s easy. We’ll just use a spell to undo hers.”

Clarissa confidently pointed her finger, which was glowing bright gold, at the door. After a second or two she frowned, confused. Nothing had happened. The pink glow was still there.

“What, can’t undo a spell of Anemone’s?” Leonora teased, earning her a glare from the fairy godmother.

“You try it, then. It’s way stronger than usual.”

“You Evers, always needing a prince to do the job for you. Weak.”

But Lesso’s deep purple glow didn’t do anything either.

Dovey gave her a smug look: “See?”

“Do you think she used dark magic to do this? Wouldn’t think it beneath her”

“Of course it is! She is an ever, she would never use dark magic!”

“If you say so.” Lesso looked unconvinced, “Then what did she use?”

Dovey took a closer look at the lock. Now that she looked closer, she saw that there were also of different colours in the pink. Little rays of red, orange, blue and green also shone from it. Suddenly she understood why it was so much stronger than usual.

“The rule of multiples” She muttered. Of course. Emma had had help from someone. But who? Yuba maybe? But who were the other 3? They had to be students. Maybe she had promised them better rankings or something?

“The what?”

“The rule of multiples. If you cast a spell with multiple people, the spell will be stronger. It basically multiplies the power. She probably had help from students or something.”

“So, like, the power of friendship?” Lesso scoffed disbelievingly. Of course Evers could make their magic stronger by love. Typical.

“Maybe we can undo it together? We are probably stronger than them, as they are mostly students, we could…”

The door exploded.

Dovey looked around her shocked. Did Leonora really just blast it? Those Nevers and their ‘solutions’.

“You didn’t have to blow up the door, now we have to get Gepetto to make a new one for you”

“I am going to kill Emma” The redhead growled as she stamped down the hall.

Oh, this wasn’t good. Judging by the look on her face, there was a fair chance she would actually kill the beautification teacher. And even though this trapping thing was getting exhausting and even though she was annoying sometimes, she was Clarissa’s friend.

“Leonora! Wait! It probably wasn’t her, your lock was probably just rusty or something. Let’s think this through”

Leonora shot her a sarcastic look before storming off.

Clarissa hurried after her friend, walking as fast as she could in her heels and heavy golden dress.

----

“I swear to the devil I will hang you if this happens again!”

The dean of Evil had stormed in in Emma’s office about a minute ago, demanding an explanation for her locked door. The Ever had kindly asked her if she had maybe locked it herself, or had forgotten to oil it. It happened to the best of them, after all.

Lesso, of course, hadn’t accepted that as an answer and had started throwing all kinds of vile insults and threats at her colleague.

“Yes, yes. You told me that last time. And the time before that. And yet, here I am, still sitting here, quite alive.” Emma shrugged, twirling a finger around her beautiful black hair as if bored, “All empty promises, Red. No wonder you Nevers always lose.”

“How dare you” Lesso bristeled, slamming her hand on Anemone’s bureau. The beautification teacher didn’t flinch.

“Besides, “Emma gave Lesso an angels smile, “Do you have proof to go along with any of those petty accusations of yours, Lesso?”

Clarissa, having gotten bored with the endless bickering she had to endure every time this happened, had started looking around Emma’s office. It was generously decorated with all shades of pink, but quite neat, unlike Clarissa’s own candy office.

There was no use in meddling in their conversation, she would only be talked over and besides, there was no real threat of them killing each other. The teachers were, just like their students, forbidden to kill each other.

Anemone had a row of bookcases full of history and fashion books. She had always loved both, as they were all a matter of perspective. Clothes and history told stories. Both in their own way, yes, but both equally enchanting.

Dovey started walking past the bookcases, eyes quickly scanning the titles. A history of sidekicks. A history of make-up. Princesses of the 9^th century. The row of books was endless and only interrupted by the occasional closet, full of dresses, shoes and outfits in all shades of pink and the occasional purple.

Anemone always had amazing dresses. Maybe she could talk Emma into lending her one sometime. Clarissa looked inside one with the door still open, her fingers brushing the fabrics.

That’s when she saw a piece of white sticking out. That was odd. She had never seen Emma were a white dress. She always claimed it was a way too serious colour for her.

When she looked closer, she saw that the fabric was decorated with lilac and light blue flowers. A fabric that was awfully similar to a dress she had seen on one of her students today. Interesting.

The dean pushed away the other dresses a little, revealing a set of scared brown eyes. She quirked an eyebrow at her favourite student.

What was Agatha doing here?

But before she could ask the girl herself, Emma called from the other side of the room; “Clarissa? If we’re quite done here, I’d like to go to bed. So I’d appreciate it if you and Lady Lesso would leave now.”

Dovey shot Agatha one last look, telling her with her eyes ‘we will talk about this’, before turning around.

------

Later that night, when Leonora sat in her office again, she couldn’t concentrate on the papers was supposed to be grading. The only thing she could think of was Clarissa.

She sighed, putting down her pen.

Why did she think like this? She was a never! Nevers didn’t care about Evers. Not even those with beautiful, warm brown eyes and wonderful smiles that made you want to take over the world for them if they should desire it. They go on walks with them through romantic gardens and meet with them every night, even if there was nothing to discuss.

And they didn’t gift flowers meaning love at the woman who kept them awake at night, haunting each dream they had if they ever dared going to sleep. Well, at least, not because the blush on their face made them feel things.

They didn’t secretly wish that Nevers could love and that they could be deserving of an Ever with blonde curls and a pretty face.

And yet, when she had finally gotten to sleep, it was exactly that Ever dancing around in her dreams.