The Witching Hour

Chapter Seven

Tom received the letter first, and he sent a reply saying he would come.

The triplets also agreed, although they were curious who sent the message.

Luis refused to come. He had put Hallow's behind him.

Trevor didn't reply, but he planned to take the train to get there.

James didn't receive the message.

On January 25th, as the letter suggested, Trevor stepped onto the platform and breathed the familiar air of this little England town.

The others had arrived the day before.

Julia stood on the street corner, shivering in her red sweater. Sage, Tom, Poppy and Austin were the only ones who agreed to come, and so far this wasn't the outcome she'd hoped for.

She saw the triplets round the corner, led by Austin. As soon as they saw it was Julia their paces quickened. A few minutes later, Tom crossed from the other side of the street, followed by Trevor. Julia was surprised and delighted to see Trevor.

"I think this is everyone who's coming," Julia said.

"Glad Luis isn't coming," Sage said. "Why are we here?"

"After Hallow's closed, I haven't seen a single witch. And I haven't exactly come home to cheering, either. So I was thinking...we should reestablish Hallow's." Julia spoke as animatedly as she could, hoping to hook everyone else on her idea. She couldn't let them know how drained she'd felt without magic. How she'd longed for it, stayed up til the night changed.

"Reestablish Hallow's?" Trevor asked doubtfully. "But they closed it for a reason, Julia."

"We wouldn't reestablish Hallow's, exactly," she replied. "Just make a new school for magic. We'd teach ourselves."

"That would not work," Austin said, mind already made up. "We have no resources. We're children. It would only end in disappointment."

Poppy was listening. There were two arguments in her head, one for Julia's idea, the other against it. She was deeply afraid of returning to the building Percy had died in. The building with her name on the wall. But if they learned magic...her life would have so much more joy.

"I think it's a good idea," Sage said. "Magic shouldn't be something we all have to forget about. And it hurts to push it down; the rest of you might've noticed."

"I vote yes," Tom said. "This should be really fun."

"So...It's down to the vote, I guess," Julia said.

"Not having a teacher, this can only end in disaster," Austin said. "Why can't you just start a really tiny school with everyone who likes the idea, and leave the rest of us alone?"

"Because you can't learn magic with so little people," Julia said.

"I'm with Austin," Trevor said hesitantly. "This seems like a bad idea."

"It's down to Poppy," Tom said.

Poppy didn't know what she wanted.

If they started a new magic school...what would they even do? It wasn't like any of them knew anything to teach. It wouldn't be a school, just a free-for-all experiment with a misnomer for a name. It would be chaotic, messy, probably slightly disastrous. And what if Percy's killer found her?

But if they somehow found a way to learn...If they could actually do magic...It might be worth the shot. However, that chance was low.

Poppy pushed all these thoughts out of her head. When Julia first proposed the idea, how had she felt?

Poppy looked up to see Julia watching her. Julia never wore makeup, but her lips were dark and her cheeks were rosy with cold. She wore the same sweater she'd worn almost every day since Poppy knew her–the red turtleneck with sleeves slightly too long.

Suppressing magic hurt, like Sage said, but the biggest thing Poppy had missed about Hallow's was Julia. It was wonderful to be near her again, almost surreal, because she'd imagined this moment so many times and now it was real.

Julia smiled, and Poppy made her choice.