Chapter Text
Mildred heard her mothers voice from around the corner. It sounded strained, like she was upset or almost begging. Mildred moved closer to listen.
"Hecate, please. I'm sorry," Julie's said.
"I don't care, or want, your useless apology," Hecate snapped back. Mildred's back straighted, ready to step in and defend her mother. Maud may have made Mildred realised something's about why her teacher might be acting the way she was, but she couldn't just stand by and let her.
"I know you don't. And you have every right not to accept it, but-"
Mildred couldn't see, but she could hear her teachers voice drop lower. It almost sounded like she was close to tears, but Mildred knew that couldn't be right. That was until she processed what she heard.
"Don't touch me," Hecate got out. "You don't have the right to touch me ever again!"
"Please, can't we just put this behind us? What I did was wrong, I know. I messed up and hurt you. I just-"
"-I don't care what you want! As a matter of fact, it would enlighten my life greatly to never see you again."
"Hecate-!" Julie called out, as Mildred looked around the corner. Miss Hardbroom had vanished, and her mother was reaching out to where Mildred assumed she had been standing. Her mother looked sad, sadder than she had about her lying about magic.
"Mum," Mildred asked, weakly. Julie looked over, tears lining her eyes. "Why was she talking to you like that?"
"It isn't any of your business," Julie said, composing herself quickly. Mildred was shocked but the uncommon tone of Julie's voice.
"Did she say something about you not being a witch again?"
"No."
"Then what?" She asked confused. She hadn't thought that's what it was, as it sounded like a different argument entirely, but knowing it wasn't left her more confused. What could they have been fighting about?
"Mildred, it's nothing. And don't try to do anything about what she's been saying. Just ignore it." Julie reached out for her daughters shoulder, but Mildred pushed her hand away.
"That didn't sound like nothing. And you honesty expect me to just let her talk to you like that."
"Mildred, there's a lot more to all this you don't understand. Just let-"
"Then tell me. You said you messed up. Mum, what did you do?"
Julie sighed with defeated. She looked around the hallway, which was empty. If Mildred overheard her conversation, she didn't want to chance anyone hearing about it. She placed her hand on Mildred shoulder. "Come with me."
Julie led them to Mildred's room, where she instructed them to sit on the bed. There was a long pause, where Mildred watched her mother contimplating what to say.
"Halloween, after I said goodnight to you, I didn't leave right away. I heard someone crying, and I looked into it out of concern," Julie began. Mildred listened with confusion. "It was Miss Hardbroom. She tried to explain it away that she didn't know why she was crying, that sometimes she just did. Might of believed it too, someone that pent up has to have some form of release. But when I touched her hand, she was freezing. And I don't mean, cold to the touch. I mean, she should have been dead."
"Why was she so cold?" Mildred asked.
"I'm getting to that..." Julie paused, shivering at the thought. She decided to lead with a less harsher thought. "Did you know that she was about to give up her magic to the stone?"
"Yea, Esme told me. But then Ethel said she would, and they froze during her tangent."
"But did you know that while Ethel was going on, she was making her way to it. She wouldn't allow one of her girls to give up their magic. Not with their whole lives ahead of them, she said."
"Really?" Julie nodded. "I had no idea. I can't really imagine it. HB without magic. She's got more magic than all of us here combined. It would have destroyed her."
"It would have... And as you just said, she has a lot of magic. Apparently, the more magic you have the more the stone affects you." Mildred looked back to her mother with worry. "Reigniting it wasn't enough for it to completely restore her."
"What do you mean?"
Julie took a deep breath, preparing herself for the heaviness that was coming. When the bell rang, indicating lunch was over, she watched hoping Mildred would leave for her class. Yet she remained by her side. Knowing Julie wasn't getting out of it, she continued.
"I mean, there were parts of her that were still frozen. Every minute it grew in her. She would have been lucky to make it though the night. She told me the only thing keeping her alive was warming spells, but that she could only keep them up for so long."
"But she didn't die?"
"No, she didn't... You know how when I touched you, it sort of..." Julie shrugged, searching for the right wording, "short circuited the magic?"
"Yea?"
"Well, we tried that. And it didn't work. Then I hugged, figuring, why not try? Still didn't work. She pointed out the missing component was love. And I pointed out that..." She bit her lip, still not sure she should be telling Mildred this. "Well, Mildred," she awkwardly clear her throat, "there are certain things people can do that are loving actions in and of themselves, even if the two aren't in love."
"Please, don't tell me what I think you're telling me," Mildred pleaded. Julie grew a look of guilt and admission. "You and HB had sex?!" She said with disgust.
"We did. And, I mean, it worked. She's alive!" She attempted to defend.
"She is," Mildred said, agreeing. "I can't believe it though! I understand you saved her life. But...." she trailed off, with her nose wrinkled. Julie waited, letting Mildred take in the information. "You saved her life? Why is she so mad at you then?"
Julie looked down to her hands, unable to look at her daughter as she explained. She wished it was just because it was uncomfortable to talk to her about this, but it wasn't. "In order for it to work, she had to open herself completely to me. She had to trust me, and let go of all the control and restraint holding her down. She... had to give herself to me mind, body, and soul. Everything bad and ugly." Julie felt her eyes watering. "Everything beautiful." Julie looked back down to where her hands where fidgeting in her lap. "You can't give... You can't do that without developing some form of feelings for the other. Least not when their so much at stake... When I looked at her, she looked back at me with love. This woman I hardly knew." She sniffled, wiping a tear from her cheek. "It terrified me."
"What did you do about it?" Mildred asked.
"I left, after she'd fallen asleep."
"After doing that, making her trust you and open up, you just left her?" Julie nodded. "It's no wonder she's so upset, Mum!"
"Like I said, I messed up."
"That's an understatement. What's worse is, I don't even think you realise how much." Julie looked up to Mildred in confusion. It hurt her to see the disappointed eyes looking back at her. "You don't know HB at all, not really. She's sort of the poster girl for not trusting people."
"She is?" Julie asked, now more devastates about her actions. Mildred nodded. "And I took that trust, and proved to her that she can't trust people." Julie ran her hand through her hair. "Least you know she isn't just coming after me about not being a witch."
"Um," Mildred said, raising Julie's curiosity.
"Um, what?"
"Well, Maud said something last night and it got me thinking a lot about it. I understand better why she said what she said, but I think there's more to it? Or maybe just the reason why she focused on that?"
"Because it was an easy target?"
"It was, but no." Mildred stood, pacing. She tried to collect and organize her thought and how to make the point to her mother. "Hypothetically, if I were 18 and we we're in America, would you let me drink?"
Julie thought for a moment, not understanding how this related. "No."
"Why?"
"Because the legal age is 21 there?"
"Exactly!" Mildred said with a smile. Julie squinted.
"Yea, not following."
"Okay," Mildred said, and began pacing again. After a few seconds she turned back to her mum. "If you were to go to a church for service, would you ignore their customs and practices? Even if you weren't that religion?"
"No, that would be rude," Julie replied confidently. Mildred looked to her with a raised brow.
"Right. So, if you wouldn't do that there, why is it any different you doing it here?" Mildred pointed out. Julie felt dumbstruck for moment.
"I never even thought of it like that."
"Me either. Not till Maud pointed out that the code is like a bible to HB," Mildred said.
Julie sat for a moment, absorbing this. She let out a sad sigh. "God, she probably thinks that I've not rejected her, but her entire culture. Rejected her life, and what it's built on."
"Probably. I mean, the second time you ever saw her you kind of made a mockery of it. And it was to defend me, I know. But you did. Then after everything you did to her, to basically throw what makes her HB, the Code that she lives her life in, in the bin, was probably like a slap to face."
Julie placed her head in her hands and leaned toward the floor. She felt like crying, or begging for forgiveness. She felt Mildred placed a comforting hand on her back. "I've really gone and made a right mess of everything, haven't I?"
"I think that's just the Hubble way," Mildred said, causing Julie to let out a soft laugh. "But making things right is what else us Hubble's do." Julie nodded, and sat up. "Do you have any idea what you're gonna do?"
"Not a single clue."
"How do you feel about her?" Mildred asked, catching Julie off guard. Mildred saw this. "We've been talking about how we think she might be feeling and why. But what about you? Did you figure out why you got so scared that you just left her like that?"
Julie nodded, sadly. She knew exactly why. "Because that night, I felt a love for her as well, and it scared me. I've never had feelings that quickly for anyone, and I didn't quiet grasp what they were at first. I didn't understand what it meant. I didn't think they could be real, just a... I don't know, reaction to what we did."
"Were they? Do you love her?""
"I hardly know her," Julie said, trying to rationalize her mind.
"That isn't what I asked."
When Julie looked back to Mildred, Mildred could see the answer on her mother's face. She had only seen her mother in love once, when she was much younger and it hadn't worked out. But she remembered that expression.
"You should go to class. You're already late, and you have Miss Hardbroom. Don't want her filling your time with detention for skipping class entirely."
"Okay," Mildred said, knowing this conversation was over. "Love you, Mum." She said, hugging Julie who was still on the couch.
"Love you too." Julie replied, placing a quick kiss ontop of Mildred's head.
Mildred exited the room. When she reached the end of the hall she looked back. Julie still hadn't left her room. Mildred knew she was likely thinking over everything they just spoke about. It was Julie's free period, and Mildred decided that her mother just needed to be alone. With one last sad smile, she rushed off to class.