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It was snowing for the first time since the freeze. The temperature outside had became colder day after day, and this evening, just as they were all eating dinner, the first snowflakes had started to fall.
It had quickly accelerated, and soon a thick layer of snow was covering everything outside.
Most of the girls were delighted, and Miss Drill had initiated a snowball fight during their free time before they had to go to bed. Mildred, Enid and Maud had followed everyone, but had quickly retracted, feeling unsettled by the coldness and the ice that was starting to form everywhere. It was too soon, and though they would usually have loved to play in the snow, now it just made them uneasy. Their fingertips were numb, and the last time they had felt that was when they became ice statues.
It was true the snow was beautiful, and Mildred remembered how much she had loved to see the castle covered in white last year, how she had draw it multiple times before everything melted. But when you had seen the castle covered with black ice so recently, when you had became black ice, it wasn’t a comforting sight at all anymore.
They went to bed early, thinking they would find comfort under the warmth of their covers. However, none of them had been able to fall asleep.
Which was why, later in the night, Mildred had joined Enid and Maud in Maud’s room, the three of them trembling. From the cold or from fear, maybe from both. The memory of the freezing was still too vivid in their minds, and for the first time in their life, they found the snow terrifying.
They were all cuddled under a thick blanket, but it wasn’t enough to stop their teeth from clattering. Mildred remembered all too well what it had felt like to be frozen, to feel the ice spreading in her blood. She remembered how she thought she was going to loose her magic, how terrified and heartbroken she had been.
Maud and Enid remembered what it had felt like to be prisoner of a room that was freezing slowly, knowing nothing could be done. How it had felt to watch Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom loose hope and become anxious, how unnerving it had been to see their teachers, the one that were supposed to be strong, to protect them, slowly becoming just as frightened as them.
“I really really wish we could make a fire appear. How nice it would be, to sit in front of a warm fire right now.” Mildred whispered, tightening the blanket around her.
“That would be really really nice.” Maud agreed.
They knew rationally that it wasn’t this cold, they had survived harsher temperature just fine the past years with just warm pajamas and their blankets, but the memory of the ice spreading inside of them was making it so much worse. It felt like they would never be warm again, and they had trouble actually remembering what it was like to be warm.
Suddenly Enid’s eyes widened, and a big smile spreading on her lips.
“But we can ! The fireplace in the great hall, it stays lit all night at this time of the year ! We can just go sit in front of it. Miss Hardbroom already did her rounds, nobody will see us.” She exclaimed.
They all agreed that it was a great idea, so much better than to stay curled up here all night, and quickly gathered some pillows and their blanket before leaving the room. They tiptoed in the corridors, careful not to be heard by anyone, and soon arrived in the hall. The sight mesmerized them for a few seconds, the room dark if only for the fire, the flames crackling nicely in the fireplace.
They rushed in front of it, and sat on their pillows, the three of them pressed against each other. They covered themselves with the blanket again, and sighed delightfully as they finally felt the warmth spreading around them, slowly heating their cheeks.
They sat there for awhile, mostly silent, until they heard footsteps coming toward them. When they raised their head, they saw Ethel and Sybil, who stopped at the door once they noticed the girls. Ethel was holding Sybil’s hand, and the youngest had tears tracks on her face. She had brought a blanket too, and it was obvious the two sisters had the same idea Mildred and her friends had. No one moved for a second, until Mildred gave a tiny smile to Ethel and the girl responded with a slight nod, before resuming walking to the fireplace. She and her sister sat to the right of their classmates, covering themselves with their blanket too.
The room became quiet again, until a little while later it was Felicity’s turn to appear, looking a bit anxious.
“Oh. You are all there.” She said, stopping a few steps from them.
“You can sit with us. Come on, we can share the blanket.” Enid told her, noticing Felicity didn’t bring one. She pulled a little bit on her side of the blanket, holding it out for the girl. Felicity came next to Enid, sitting between her and Ethel. She took the end of the blanket and put it on her laps, but it wasn’t enough to cover her entirely.
Ethel, who had been watching, silently moved so she and her sister would be closer, and hold out the end of her blanket too. Felicity happily took it and thanked her with a smile. No one talked again, and they all stared at the fire, allowing its warmth to recomfort them.
Much later, a soft noise could be heard along the corridor. They looked up worriedly, and saw Miss Cackle coming toward them. They all froze, thinking they were about to be told to go to bed. They knew they weren’t supposed to be here at this hour, but they dreaded going back to their rooms.
“It seems like we all had the same idea.” Miss Cackle said softly. She had her own blanket in her hand and was in pajamas too, a woolen raspberry pink pant and sleeved shirt, and Mildred realized it was the first time she saw her dressed like that.
“Mind if I join you ?” The headmistress asked. They all shook their heads, and Miss Cackle sat to their left side with her blanket.
After a few minutes, she talked again.
“Anyone cares for a hot chocolate?”
Of course all the girls accepted, even Ethel, and Miss Cackle disappeared momentarily, before returning with a tray full of cups filled to the brim with hot chocolate. She gave one to each girl, then sat again, slowly sipping on her own drink.
It felt like it was warming them from the inside, and Mildred thought it was the nicest feeling ever.
Later, maybe a few minutes only or maybe hours, for time felt different tonight, they heard heels clacking against the floor. Mildred didn’t bother looking away from the fire, knowing there was only one person it could be. The noise stopped, and the silence in the room seemed to become thicker.
“Come sit with us, Hecate.” She heard Miss Cackle gently say. Nothing else was heard, and after a few seconds Mildred finally turned her head, curious.
Miss Hardbroom was standing rigidly at the door frame, a cup of tea in her hands. Her hair was down, and Mildred thought it was really pretty, especially with the light of the fire reflecting on it. She wore her leather dressing gown, which didn’t seem warm at all, and her face was unreadable. She seemed to be hesitating, and Mildred smiled shyly, hoping it would be encouraging.
Miss Hardbroom finally moved, coming closer to them. She slowly sat down next to Miss Cackle, but not too close.
Mildred stared at her teacher, suddenly finding it more interesting than the fire. The dark haired woman was sitting with her knees to her chest, her arms around them. She was looking straight into the fire, but her eyes were glassy, as if she was deep in her thoughts. She kept shivering. It was not too obvious, and Mildred wouldn’t have noticed it if she wasn’t carefully observing her, but it was definitely there. A regular shiver, slightly shaking her whole body again and again. It was strange to see Miss Hardbroom affected like that by something. Of course Mildred knew she was human and had feeling, and she did see her being frightened before, with Agatha or the day of the freeze, but it was always in the middle of so much chaos that she didn’t have the time to reflect on it, barely had the time to notice it. Now, she had all the time to watch the woman and think about it, and it was a bit distressing to see her teacher that way. She seemed to feel even worse than Mildred, and Mildred was feeling really bad.
Her eyes crossed Miss Cackle’s own, and her worry must have shown on her face because the headmistress smiled reassuringly at her. She felt her cheeks redden a bit at the idea of having been caught staring at Miss Hardbroom, even though it was only out of care. Looking to her right, she saw that Sybil was asleep, her head resting on Ethel’s shoulder. Ethel had an arm around her sister, holding her close under their cover.
“Come nearer Hecate, we can share my blanket. You’re still too cold.” She heard Miss Cackle softly whisper. She looked at them again, this time only from the corner of her eyes, trying to be discreet. She wanted to let Miss Hardbroom have a bit of privacy.
She saw the woman hesitate again, before slowly moving to come closer to the headmistress, who was holding out her blanket. Miss Hardbroom settled under it, bringing her knees to her chest again.
Mildred kept watching, feeling better now that she had finished her hot chocolate. She saw Miss Cackle’s hand slowly move to rest on Miss Hardbroom’s shoulder blade, and the potion teacher tensed. The hand started to move, really really slowly, gently, tracing patterns on the woman’s back, in the careful way one would try to pet a scared and wild animal. She saw the fingers sometimes tangle in the dark hair, softly brushing them, before coming back to caress the leather. She saw Miss Hardbroom shoulder relaxing slightly, untensing more and more with each minutes that passed.
Next to her, Maud and Enid had fallen asleep leaning into each other. Ethel ‘s eyes were starting to close too, and soon Mildred and Felicity were the only ones still awake except for the two teachers. Miss Cackle waved her hand, and all the sleeping girls disappeared, certainly transferred to the safety of their bed, in a much more comfortable position.
Mildred continued to stare, as did Felicity, and they both saw the moment Miss Hardbroom’s eyelids were starting to flutter, her head slowly dropping to rest on her knees. She jerked straight once, only for Miss Cackle to utter soft reassuring words to her.
“It’s alright dear, you can rest. Everything is fine. Let me take care of you.” She whispered, increasing her movements on the woman’s back.
Miss Hardbroom’s eyelids soon dropped again under the headmistress gentle attentions, and Mildred thought it was quite nice to see her in such a relaxed state. A bit worrying too, because she knew her teacher must have truly been exhausted to allow herself to fall asleep in front of her students.
Miss Cackle’s hand softly moved to Miss Hardbroom’s head, gently pushing it against her shoulder so it would rest on it instead of falling on the woman knees again. She continued to caress her hair, and now that Mildred could see her teacher face more clearly, she noticed that she actually didn’t seem relaxed at all. She was frowning, her expression tense even in her half asleep state. Miss Cackle must had seen it too, because her other hand came to trace the woman face with her fingertips, gently massaging the skin until the frown disappeared.
“Sleep now, Hecate. You are not alone, I will not leave you. Allow yourself this comfort, you deserve to be cared for for once.” The headmistress murmured, so low that Mildred had to strain her ears to understand it. There was no way Felicity would have been able to discern what was said.
A little distraught whimper was heard, and Mildred’s eyes widened when she understood it came from Miss Hardbroom.
“Shh, it’s alright. You are safe. I’m here, and I will take care of you. Do not worry about anything.” Miss Cackle softly whispered, holding the woman close to her. Miss Hardbroom turned her head to hide against the headmistress’s shoulder, not opening her eyes. She never moved again.
Once she was sure her teacher was asleep, Mildred dared to ask what she had been wondering for a while now.
“Will she be alright, Miss Cackle ?”
“Of course she will, Mildred. However I’d like to ask both of you not to mention this to anyone. Miss Hardbroom only allowed herself to be uncomposed tonight because she was exhausted, and I’m sure she has spiked her tea with something, probably a very strong relaxing potion. She would hate to know she has been seen in that state, and there’s a lot of chance her memory will be blurry tomorrow.”
“Yes Miss Cackle.” Mildred agreed, nodding.
“And the events of tonight are not something that should be relayed in your blog Felicity, is it clear ?” The headmistress added, her voice firmer.
“Of course not, Miss Cackle. I wouldn’t, I promise.”
They stared at the fire for a while, the only sound heard being Miss Hardbroom regular soft breathing, and the occasional crackling of the flames. At one point Mildred turned her head, and saw that Felicity had fallen asleep, resting her head in her arms, on her knees.
“Miss Cackle ? I think Felicity is asleep.” She softly said, not wanting to wake her up.
Miss Cackle transferred Felicity, and Mildred looked at the fire again.
“”Aren’t you tired, Mildred ?”
“I am. But I don’t want to go back to my room, Miss Cackle. I know it’s colder in it, and I don’t want to feel like that again. I know that if I fall asleep you will transfer me to my room, and then maybe I’ll wake up later and I’ll be cold and alone again.” Mildred explained, shrugging.
“I understand. Stays here as long as you want, but know that it is very late, if you fall asleep I don’t think you will wake up until morning. And if you do, you can come back here. I think I will cancel classes tomorrow, everyone will be glad to enjoy a day of fun in the snow, and you all will be able to rest.”
Mildred nodded, then rested her chin on her knees, her eyes finding the fire again.
“Would you like to listen to a story, perhaps?” The headmistress suggested.
“A story, Miss Cackle ?”
Miss Cackle waved her hand, and a book appeared in front of her.
“It’s a book of tales of the witching world. Every child knows them, but I suppose you don’t yet. I could read one of them aloud if you’d like.”
“It would be nice, I think.” Mildred answered, always eager to know more about the witching world.
Miss Cackle started to read in a soft voice, and Mildred listened attentively. She tried to stay concentrated, really wanting to know the end of the story, but the low voice of the headmistress was rocking her just like a lullaby would, and she found her mind drifting away more and more. The more she tried to stay focused, the more her eyes were becoming heavy. Soon, Miss Cackle’s voice seemed to be far far away.
She woke up in the morning, and was surprised to see she wasn’t alone. There were two other bed in her room, where Enid and Maud were still sleeping. She was really grateful that Miss Cackle transferred them there and that she didn’t have to wake up alone. It was still snowing outside, but she felt a little bit better.