Lovesick Witches

School Days

"So... who won the nature round of the head girl competition?" Mildred asked as we strolled through the surprisingly empty corridors together at the end of lunch break. 

"What?" I said. "How would I know?" 

"Well, I just thought, has Miss Hardbroom not told you? Didn't you go to her potions lab before school this morning? Unless that was just a 'before school study session', which I highly doubt." 

"We were just chatting," I said, timidly. 

"Yeah, I know. So did she tell you who won or not?" 

"Yes," I whispered, making sure no one else was around. "But if I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone, okay?" 

"Of course." 

"Fenella won. Miss Cackle decided Fenella's findings were more creative than Beatrice's." 

"Shit," Mildred said, under her breath. "Do they know yet? Who won?" 

"No, which is why you can't tell anyone. I think they'll get told later today." 

"I hope Beatrice is okay when she finds out. I don't want it to knock her confidence for the rest of the contest." 

"Yeah, me too," I agreed. 

Mildred and I continued walking through the school in silence as we reflected on the disappointment we had with the results of round four. 

"Are you and Miss Hardbroom back together, then?" whispered Mildred, abruptly breaking the silence. 

"Shhh," I said, fearful of anyone hearing. 

"It's okay, no one is here," she assured me. 

"Yes." 

"Yes, you are back together?" 

"Yes, we are. But if anyone else were to find out, I would be expelled and Miss Hardbroom would lose her job." 

"Yeah," Mildred sighed. 

"You must really like her?" she said, after a pause. "I mean, you are willing to put both of your futures at this school at risk." 

"I know," I said. "That's why I've had so many doubts about it. But she needs me just as much as I need her, if not more. I just want her to be happy and I will risk anything for that." 

"Still kind of weird," replied Mildred, "but... if you are both happy, then I'm always going to be happy for you. As long as you don't get caught." 

I laughed at that as we entered the chanting classroom. Mildred and I took our seats in the quiet classroom and we waited for everyone else to arrive. 

The first people to walk into the classroom after us were Ethel and Felicity and they didn't look too happy about us being early for class. 

"Why are you two here?" Ethel snarled as her and Felicity walked over to their seats. 

"We're here for chanting class," Mildred said, her voice quiet, allowing Ethel's screechy tone to overpower her. 

Ethel rolled her eyes at Mildred and then sat down at her work desk on the row behind us. 

"I mean, why are you here early, you idiot." 

"Oh," said Mildred. "We just didn't want to be late." 

"We want to make sure we don't miss anything we need to know, now that final exams are coming up." 

"Like it will make any difference," Ethel laughed. "You're both going to fail."