Chapter Text
“Pips, am I hallucinating or is there an older version of Mildred Hubble standing in our neighbour’s front garden?”
Hecate was doing the dishes in their cottage kitchen while peeping through the window that looked out onto the scenic landscape that was the isle they had chosen to retire to. Observing life through a window had become one of her favourite hobbies over the past years – not that she was interested in any form of tittle-tattle. You wouldn’t believe how many wild animals you see roaming the streets when you live in the countryside. No, gossiping was much more Pippa’s specialty, which is why it came as a surprise that she, for once, was the one to be gossiping about what was going on in their neighbourhood.
Pippa joined her into the kitchen and pulled her into a hug from behind, resting her chin on Hecate’s shoulder. The raven-haired witch had always been slightly taller than her, which was the perfect height for her chin-resting moments. She nuzzled her nose into her lover’s neck and inhaled deeply. She smelled home.
“She hasn’t changed much,” observed Pippa as she was staring at the young witch strolling through the garden, plucking weeds here and there. She struggled to realize that the lovely young lady that was standing there with that thick auburn mane that resembled Hecate’s was the same girl who used to wear pigtails and destroy her lover’s potion lab.
Hecate hummed in agreement as a response. The girl was plucking what seemed to be perfectly healthy herbs from her garden, so she hadn’t changed, indeed. It still did not answer her initial question, though.
“I didn’t know someone had moved in across the street. I thought the house had not been inhabited for decades,” commented Hecate who was still working through the dishes.
“Well, I don’t know any more than you do, my dear,” smiled Pippa.
“What is that smile for? Are you responsible for this apparition,” asked Hecate, waving at the window.
“No, but I was getting a bit bored of the lack of neighbours, so I am actually welcoming this new arrival with pleasure,” replied the blond witch as she pecked her wife on the cheek and left the kitchen.
Hecate still had her hands in the sink filled with hot water. Although she could use magic to do these day-to-day chores, she enjoyed doing it in an ordinary way. Odd enough, it put her mind at peace to focus on something that could be qualified as both a simple and meticulous task. While doing so, she kept scrutinizing the Hubble girl, pacing back and forth the house, moving pieces of furniture out. Until a loud noise brought the blond witch back into the kitchen.
“To say that I thought we would retire peacefully and enjoy this newfound time to bathe in the quietness of the countryside,” observed Hecate, rolling her eyes at the window, the way she used to do it at students.
“Oh, come on Hiccup, stop hiding your enthusiasm. I know you are delighted to see her.”
“She is going to scare my little foxes and bunnies off, if she keeps this insufferable noise,” hissed Hecate.
“Aren’t you a little curious of what she has become?” Pippa wondered with a smile.
Hecate was avoiding Pippa’s gaze. She wiped her hands dry with a tea towel and then made her way to the patio. The weather was lovely and she had decided she would enjoy her day, whether Mildred Hubble had moved into the house across hers or not.
“Well, you can pout however much you want, my love. I know you and your comfort zones are a little bit shaken right now, but I am going to bake cookies, and you will bring them to our neighbour.” Pippa could sound both chirpy and bossy when she had her mind set on something. And Right now, she wanted Hecate to welcome the new addition to the neighbourhood the way she should be.
“I’m not going to bring cookies to my student,” argued Hecate, focusing intently on the book she was holding.
“Former student,” corrected Pippa with a smirk.
“Well, I was her teacher!”
“Well, you’re not a teacher anymore,” Pippa argued back.
“I will always be a teacher at heart. But thank you for reminding me that I’m old and decrepit, it makes me feel much better.”
Pippa took a hold of the book Hecate was reading and sat on her lap. One Thousand Uses of Lavender: from Garden to Potion.
“You are not old and decrepit, Hiccup.”
The raven-haired witch’s gaze was focused on everything but Pippa at that particular moment.
“Look at me.” Bossy Pippa was back.
“I’m trying to read, Pippa. Please find yourself a new occupation – one that does not involve your new neighbour, preferably.”
The blond witch handed over the book.
“Are you really that upset?” Pippa started wondering if maybe she was forcing her own feelings onto Hecate. On the few occasions she had met the young witch, she had been struck by her generous heart and her heartfelt kindness.
Hecate closed the book she had barely opened with a thump. She pursed her lips.
“I am not upset. I just… I guess I did not expect to see her and I was not prepared, so I preferred to put my shell back up,” acknowledged the former potions mistress. Opening up about her feelings had always been hard. But Pippa was always patient with Hecate, prompting her when it was needed so that she would stop bottling up those feelings.
“I know she meant a lot to you, whether you care to admit it or not. And I’m sure you meant a lot to her.”
“You know, I wish I had stayed in touch with some of them, over the years,” admitted Hecate. But she knew that most girls respected the potions mistress too dearly to attempt to get her maglet username. Everyone but Mildred Hubble, of course. She had reached out to her on several occasions for academic purposes. Hecate remembered vividly one night of intensive exchanges between the two of them about dandelion root – until it crossed her mind that it was the end of June, which in most witching colleges was the moment when final exams took place. She remembered enquiring in a very miss-Hardbroom-like manner, “Mildred, please tell me that you are not using this discussion as materials for your potions essay?”. She had raised her eyebrow suspiciously at the maglet. The drawing of an angel with a halo on top of her head had appeared on the screen. She had then ordered the girl to bed to get a good night’s rest before her exam.
Hecate had always replied to Mildred’s messages with pleasure. She had, however, never been the one to initiate the conversation – not that she never felt the urge too. She was curious about the girl’s career path. Although she had never explicitly asked the question, she had gathered that Mildred had kept studying potions, maybe a little bit of botany too. She remembered Mildred mentioning an optional art class too. But she was also curious about some of Mildred’s classmates. Cheeky Enid Nightshade and hard-working Maud Spellbody. But she was not going to ask all of these private questions to a former student, was she?
Hecate was lost in thought, pondering on the meaning of life. Pippa gave her a quick peck on the lips and left her lover’s lap.
“Well, Mildred moving into the neighbourhood is clearly a sign of fate. I am going to cook a batch of cakes. Do you think Mildred is more of a chocolate-chip cooky kind of girl or rather a lemon cupcake one?” asked the blond witch as she made her way back to the kitchen.
Focusing back on her book, Hecate did not even raise her head as she answered. “Well, from the several midnight feasts of hers that I had to interrupt over the years, I would definitely say she is a chocolate chip cooky kind of witch. The more sugar the better, just like another witch I know but won’t name,” she was now smirking at her book.
Pippa, who was already skimming through her recipe book, couldn’t help noticing Hecate was warming up at the idea of having Mildred living across from them. She invoked all the ingredients, which started moving out of the different cupboards towards the baking area. To avoid crouching onto the table, she kept them floating in the air, which was obviously not to Hecate’s taste. Pippa summoned her pair of reading glasses and started checking the expiry dates on each item. Hearing a sigh coming from outside the kitchen, she looked on top of her glasses and faced Hecate’s unhappy face.
“Oh, what have I done now to make you upset?”
Hecate raised an eyebrow and waved at the floating ingredients scattered all around the kitchen. “I thought we were not supposed to use magic in the kitchen. You’re the one who told me we should learn to enjoy doing things the non-magic way. And besides, the window is so big anyone from the outside could see you.”
“Oh, believe me, it’s nothing our new neighbour hasn’t seen,” chimed Pippa, who was in a particularly good mood as she was sassily countering each and every one of Hecate’s arguments.
“What about this poor old lady who walks her slimy white furry dog? She is always out on the street, even more when the weather isn’t clear,” observed Hecate who was trying to make her point. The reason why she was bickering didn’t even really matter. She was just disturbed by the mere presence of Mildred Hubble a couple of yards away from her and she needed to pass her frustration on to her wife. Everything seemed so natural to Pippa. It was so easy for her to get excited and all touchy-feely with people when Hecate had a hard time even making out a smile.
“Do you mean the one who is always wearing her sunglasses even when the weather is terrible?”
“Yes, this is the woman I’m talking about. What would you do if she saw your magical displays in the kitchen?” exclaimed Hecate dramatically. “Would you use forgetting powder on her too?”
It is true that Pippa had once had to use forgetting powder on a nosy villager stopping by their house. But still, Pippa laughed at Hecate, a big hearty laugh.
“Would you please enlighten me, what do you think is so funny?”
“Oh dear, how shall I say that. That poor old lady, as you put it, is as blind as a bat. The dog is her guide dog and she walks him as much as he walks her.”
Pippa went back to her cooking and started mixing up the ingredients. Hecate was now resting on the door frame, feeling slightly at odds with the world she lived in.
“It hadn’t occurred to me… How do you know that?”
The former potions mistress was always amazed at the accuracy of her wife’s knowledge on the ordinary world. Although they had been living in an ordinary neighbourhood for a couple of years, Hecate was still struggling when it came to the habits and customs of the non-witching world.
“Well, I, for one, actually talk to the people that cross my path, especially the ones that live nearby,” retorted Pippa with a smile. She always enjoyed teasing her wife more than necessary. But that was what Hecate loved about her. She was not afraid to nudge her when needed and to guide her out of her comfort zone – maybe a bit too much at times.
Hecate was now pouting. She knew well where this conversation was heading or rather going back to. She decided to go back to her reading in the patio with a cup of tea. However, after a whole hour of silent reading in the patio and constant humming from the kitchen, a warm whiff of sweet treats drifting away from the kitchen up to Hecate’s reading place aroused her curiosity. Hecate would never admit it – not that she was too proud but rather that she wanted to avoid her wife’s head getting bigger than it already was – but Pippa was a great cook.
With a smirk on her face, Hecate put down the book on the tea table standing next to her armchair and headed for the kitchen. She enjoyed observing her wife from the corner of her eyes in this very domestic atmosphere. Wearing a pastel-pink apron, Pippa was moving from the oven to the plate on which she was organizing the cookies in a meticulous and orderly way. Reaching out for the plate, Hecate not-so-subtly nicked a cookie and hummed in delight as she took a mouthful of the sweet treat.
Pippa, who had her back to Hecate up to now, turned around and gave her wife a reproving look after seeing a cookie was missing from the plate.
“Hecate! You just ruined my perfect installation,” whined the pink witch who was re-ordering the batch once again.
“One more or one less, she’s not going to miss that one,” replied the raven-haired witch with a smug look on her face.
“And I’m the one who has a sweet tooth,” a roll of the eye accompanied Pippa’s next remark. She was now smacking the back of Hecate’s hand as she reached for the plate. Her wife answered with a pout worthy of a ten-year-old. She loved how childish Hecate could become when she was in the comfort of her home.
“Well, what can I say, you’ve converted me Pip’s…”
“So, are you coming with me to deliver this to Millie?”
“No, I’m not coming with you to deliver this to Millie,” she replied sharply. She was now standing ramrod straight, a posture she would use to intimidate her students when she was still teaching at Cackle’s.
“As you wish Miss Hardbroom,” deadpanned Pippa. She was a bit disappointed with Hecate’s last statement. She had hoped that leaving her to her books for a while would have helped her alter her decision. She didn’t want to intervene, or worse, intrude in the very private thought process Hecate was going through. But by the sudden shift in her posture, she could see that, although she was trying to take the new addition to the neighbourhood more lightly, Hecate still plunged back into her stern-on-the-outside-but-soft-on-the-inside teacher mode.
With a final pleading look at Pippa, who was putting on a light jacket, Hecate sighed and got back to her reading.
“Pippa,” Hecate called on to her. “Will you… Will you please tell her I say… hello?”
“Of course, I will, love,” she replied, leaving Hecate with a peck on the cheek.
The truth was, Hecate was slightly disappointed with herself. She wished she had accepted Pippa’s offer and come along with her to greet Mildred. She had always had a soft spot for the clumsy witch. But as much as it felt as if Mildred was trespassing her neighbourhood, Hecate also didn’t want to invade her stud- well her former-student’s privacy. The least we could say was that Hecate had a problem with boundaries.
*
* *
Pippa excitedly walked across the few yards separating her door from her new neighbour’s. Clearing her throat, she rearranged a strand of hair that was falling onto her face and tucked it behind her ear. She used the door knocker and hit the wooden door three times, all the while fidgeting like an over-enthused kid.
“I’m coooooooooming,” Mildred’s voice sang across the house.
Peering at the small window next to the entrance, Pippa could see objects flying around, which fell to the ground as Mildred ran across the room in a hurry. The smiley face of Mildred finally appeared.
“Hell- Miss Pentangle?!” Stuttered the young witch, not expecting to see the familiar face of the former headmistress on her threshold.
“No need to invoke purgatory,” joked Pippa.
“I’m sorry, Miss,” apologized Mildred in a very school-kid manner. “I meant ‘hello’. I was just surprised to see you. What brings you here? Not that I’m not happy to see you, I am actually thrilled. I’ve often wanted to reach out to you but didn’t want to intrude. So I’m actually glad to see you.”
Mildred was rambling and Pippa found that cute and amusing. Some habits were actually rather hard to break. But Mildred’s rambling was part of her charms.
“You need sustenance to help you get through the first days when you move into a new place,” the pink witch observed, still wearing a warm smile. “Hecate and I just saw you moving across from us and I thought I would bring you some homemade cookies,” she added finally.
“Miss Hardbroom?” Mildred’s eyebrow raised up her forehead in surprise.
“You know Hecate, she’s a bit shy. But she sends her love,” Pippa squeezed Mildred’s arm. The tactile displays felt so natural to her.
“Miss Hardbroom sends me her love?” Mildred questioned, still not believing this conversation was happening.
“Of course, she does,” She replied in a haste. But seeing Mildred was still looking at her suspiciously, she added, “Well, you know her, she didn’t exactly put it that way but that is what she meant.”
“Oh, so, I guess, she sent her most respectful regards?”
Both Pippa and Mildred laughed at that. Hecate had a particular way of phrasing things, even more when she sent Maglet messages. Pippa had tried more than once to help her wife lighten up her tone when replying to Mildred’s messages – to no avail.
“Anyway, I was just baking and thought you would enjoy these,” Pippa offered the plate filled with cookies. Mildred’s eyes lit up with gratefulness.
“Oh, you didn’t have to. That’s very kind of you. Thank you so much, Miss Pentangle,” Mildred’s eyes almost tear up, but Pippa didn’t want to point that out.
“Please, do not miss-pentangle me, Pippa will be just fine,” laughed the pink witch.
“Then, thank you, Pippa,” Mildred repeated, putting a particular emphasis on the name she was testing for the first time.
“I won’t bother you any longer. I’m sure you have plenty to do. But please consider coming over for tea when you have more time on your hands. We would love to have you home!”
Mildred waved to her new neighbour with a pained smile. Moving in here was her new departure. Her previous flat was home to too many bad memories she wanted to leave behind. Her new job allowed her time away from the city and a larger estate and she had had her heart set on this little cottage for a few weeks.
*
* *
“You told her what?!” Hecate exclaimed as her wife settled next to her on the settee, holding a book in her hand.
“Well, it’s true, Hiccup-dear, you were too shy to greet your former student slash new neighbour.”
“That is not true, Pippa!” Hecate snapped.
“If you say so. Then, you won’t mind bringing Mildred a serving of your famous shepherd’s pie tomorrow.”
Pippa now looked at her wife, a wide grin adorning her face. She realized too late that Hecate had a few tricks up her sleeve, magicking a pillow to be thrown away at her face. Pippa pretended to be offended. She tucked the pillow under her elbow and finally opened her book. The raven-haired witch was still staring intently at her.
“Do you want me to bake a shepherd’s pie tomorrow?” Hecate offered, alway looking for a way to please her wife.
“I would love to, my love,” Pippa replied, seizing Hecate’s hand in her own and planting a kiss on its back. “And I’m sure Mildred would too,” she smirked.