A/N: I want to say thank you to the stargate time traveler for giving me this idea. In their story Ethel's Accident they wrote about how it would be if Ethel stopped caring about her parents treatment and how that will help her be successful which is how this happened. I hope you all enjoy it.
Hallow's Academy
Things were hectic as people rushed around an old building all trying to settle in. People rushed past each other quickly not wanting to be the last to arrive.
A blonde woman stood outside the building and smiled as she looked at everything she had created. The woman was tall and blonde, her hair pulled back into a high ponytail,she was dressed in a purple dress that went down to her ankles. After a few moments of just staring she transferred herself to her office.
It was a homely little room with pretty ornaments and pictures and the woman sat at her desk deciding to get a start on her paperwork when there was a knock on her door.
"Please enter" the woman said glancing up as two people walked in. A older woman who was also blonde and a man with darker hair.
"Well met Ethel" the woman gestured as the man did the same. Ethel did the same in response.
Ethel Hallow was now an adult and had opened her own school, Hallow's Academy, it had taken a lot of work but she had been determined it would happen. The woman had changed a lot from her school days, she was no longer that bratty spoiled bully who tormented people she was jealous of, she was now successful and a much kinder person. Ethel's school however was not just the typical Witches school it was a special witches school because it did not follow the Witches code, which is how the woman had had so much trouble opening it, but after a lot of arguments with the Grand Wizard it had happened and it was also a coed school. Hallow's Academy was also a school that specialised in helping disadvantaged children, children who were struggling, Children who had behaviour problems or mental issues or Children who were just starting out...from non-magical families.
"Ahh Mother, Father, what a pleasure it is" Ethel told her parents trying to sound polite "Sorry but may I ask why you are here? You know how busy I am the first day of term" Ethel told her parents as she filled in paperwork.
"We just wanted to congratulate you on this being the third year of your school" Mrs Hallow replied with a smile at her middle daughter.
"Oh thank you mother that is nice of you" Ethel replied looking up with a grateful smile.
A big part of why Ethel had become successful was she had learned to distance herself from her parents, she did not really have much of a relationship with them and now she was not craving their attention, in fact the woman was not bothered either way whether she saw them or not, she only had to do that a few times a year but Ethel was past fighting with her parents she would always be polite to them.
"Happy three year anniversary" Mr Hallow said beaming at his daughter. It was exactly three years since the school had opened today.
"Thank you very much both of you" Ethel told her parents.
"We should have a dinner to celebrate" Mrs Hallow suggested to her.
"Sure, sounds great just let me know when" Ethel replied going along with it. She knew her parents were only being nice to her as right now as she was successful and in a few weeks they would not care anymore but she wanted to keep the peace so if having to eat a dinner with her parents was the way to do it she would.
"Great well...we will leave you to it" Mrs Hallow said awkwardly.
"Yes thank you for coming, goodbye" Ethel said looking at her papers and not her parents as they left the office.
A few seconds later there was a small wooshing noise and without looking up Ethel spoke.
"Morning Esmie" the girl said to her older sister still looking at her papers.
Esmerelda Hallow, the eldest sister, was also blonde and tall, with brown eyes. She had her hair half-up and was wearing navy blue, the girl worked with her sister as deputy, though she was older and she should really be deputy it was after all Ethel's idea to open a school. Esmerelda taught sometimes and also held counselling sessions which was her main job, something the school provided which most of the magical schools didn't. Esmerelda had got married just before the school opened as well.
"How did you know it was me? It could have been Sybil" Esmerelda replied in amazement.
"Sybs the first one up and ready? When has that ever happened?" Ethel asked as she looked up at her sister raising her eyebrows as there was another small wooshing noise.
"I heard my name" Sybil replied as she appeared with her arms folded.
Sybil also taught at the school and was deputy with Esmerelda. The youngest was as blonde as her sisters with brown eyes. Her hair was bob length so it was down and she was wearing dark green today.
"I was just telling Esmie how you are always late for everything" Ethel replied with a smile.
"Hey I am not" Sybil replied with a small smile because she really normally was.
"So hit me up, how many children am I counselling this year?" Esmerelda asked her sister wanting to know.
"Forty" Ethel replied giving her sister the answer.
"Only one more than last year, I can't wait I love talking to the children" Esmerelda replied happily, not put off by having forty troubled pupils to look after.
"Oh I am glad because you have one first thing this morning" Ethel replied handing her sister some papers with her timetable and list of students on it.
"What year do I have first?" Sybil asked hoping it was someone easy.
"The 3rd years" Ethel replied giving her sister the news.
"What? Ethel why would you torture me with the worst year group as my first lesson?" Sybil replied, knowing the third years were cocky teenagers.
"I am being nice to you letting you get them out the way, I gave you the first years last to make up for it" Ethel replied as she handed her younger sister her timetable too.
"Oh well thanks that was nice of you" Sybil replied with a smile to her sister as the bell rang.
"Right well that means another year is starting, good luck" Ethel told her sisters.
"Thank you Ethel, see you both at lunchtime" Sybil replied with a wave to her sisters before transferring. Esmerelda waved to her then touched her head as if she was in pain.
"Are you alright?" Ethel asked her sister concerned for her health.
"Yes, it will pass" Esmeralda replied not wanting Ethel to panic.
"Are you sure you are pale" Ethel replied worried. She did not want her sister teaching if she was sick.
"Honestly I am fine, must be nerves, and plus I can't let the kiddies down, see you later" Esmerelda replied as she walked out the door not transferring something Ethel thought was odd.
Ethel shook her head trying not to worry, she would question her sister later once she could stop being professional.
Ethel spent the next hour and a half doing paperwork which had piled up over the summer when at breaktime someone knocked on her door.
"Enter" Ethel said to whoever it was.
A young girl with ginger hair styled in a plait down her back and square glasses walked in nervously. Her name was Luna Twilight and she in her last year.
"Sorry to bother you Miss Hallow but there is a girl crying underneath the stairs" the girl told her teacher looking concerned. Ethel immediately felt sad at hearing one of her pupils was crying.
"Thank you for telling me Luna I will go to her now" Ethel reassured the girl "Can you show me where she is please?" Ethel asked standing away from the desk and going to stand by her pupil.
"Yes Miss" Luna replied leading her teacher to some stairs in the second corridor where there was a small girl crying into her knees. The bell rang as she did this.
"Thank you very much Luna, I will deal with this, you can go to lesson now" Ethel told her nicely. The girl smiled and made her way to her lesson.
Ethel walked over to the young girl and kneeled beside her before she started to talk.
"Hello there, I am Miss Hallow your headmistress, what is your name?" Ethel asked not recognising the girl and figuring she was a first year.
The girl lifted her head up her eyes full of tears. She was a pretty child who had brown hair that was tied in a bow and bright brown eyes.
"Gretel Lightray" the girl said quietly into her knees.
"That is a very pretty name now why are we crying?" Ethel asked her student wondering if the girl was just homesick.
"I want my mummy and daddy to love me but they don't! They were busy this morning and didn't bother to see me off" the girl said crying loudly again.
Ethel of course knew exactly how the girl felt. The poor child was obviously suffering from a lack of parental affection just like she was at her age. Her heart went out to the poor girl.
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Ethel asked wanting to get more information about the girls situation.
Gretel nodded sadly before she started to speak. "I have a big brother, Arthur, and a little sister, Bella, I am the middle child and I hate it Miss, no-one cares about the middle child, the oldest is perfect and the youngest is just cute" Gretel told her headteacher sadly, finding it hard being in the middle.
Ethel sat down next to her pupil before she started to talk "I am a middle child too you know, Mrs Evangora, the counsellor is my big sister and Ms Hallow the teacher is my little sister, so I understand how hard it is to be in the middle" Ethel told the girl telling her she understood.
The girl shot her head up looking at her headteacher amazed she was a middle child too "Really? You are really a middle child?" Gretel asked wondering if she was only trying to make her feel better.
"Yes I am and I used to feel like you too, my big sister was perfect, my little sister was sweet and cute, all I thought I was was trouble" Ethel told the girl trying to help her.
"But I bet your mummy and daddy loved you" the little girl replied sadly as she sniffed.
"Actually no, my mummy and daddy did not love me only my sisters" Ethel told the girl, it did not even hurt for her to talk about it anymore. "I was a lot like you when I was your age, it used to hurt my feelings a lot when they ignored me and it used to make me cry at times too" Ethel told the girl wanting her to understand she had been in her boat.
"Then how did it get better?" the girl asked innocently with wide eyes.
"Well I used to live only for my parents attention but one day I realised that I was trying to hard, things would not change because I craved their attention because you can't change your feelings toward someone very easily, I realised that I might never get the attention I craved of them so I stopped trying and instead starting living for myself and what made me happy" Ethel explained to the girl how she had overcome her problems.
"I don't know if I can do that" the little girl replied sadly.
"You will learn to it is hard but you can do it, I stopped focusing on my parents and instead focused on the people who did truly love me, who do you love the most?" Ethel asked the girl curiously.
"My grandpa, I love him lots!" the girl replied without thinking about it.
"Good, if you stick by him you will be absolutely fine, I know your future and I know you will be just fine even without your parents, you can be anything you want, you are an unique amazing person, don't let yourself get upset by your parents, you focus on your life and achieving whatever it is you want to achieve" Ethel told the young girl, advice she had gotten herself from Esmie on occasion but she knew it was different coming from someone whose situation was pretty much the same.
The girl wiped her eyes and smiled, her teacher having really of helped me.
"Thank you miss" the girl replied sweetly.
"Anytime, if you ever need to talk my door is always open okay?" Ethel told her and saw the girl beam at the thought of having someone who actually understood her to talk to.
"Thank you Miss" the girl replied happily.
"Are you signed up for counselling?" Ethel asked the young girl who nodded.
"Good, take the sessions seriously they will help, now shall I take you to lesson?" Ethel asked her.
The girl nodded but not before she hugged her teacher and then pulled away beaming.
"Thank you miss" the girl said again as she skipped with her teacher down the corridor.
Later on Ethel was sat in her office relaxing, the day was finally over and she was only now getting a break.
"Hey Ethie" Esmerelda said entering the room, Ethel noticed she still looked pale.
"Is Sybs on night duty?" Ethel asked her sister.
"Yes, Sybs today me tomorrow" Esmerelda replied as she went and stood by her sister.
"Long day?" Esmerelda asked seeing her sister lying back in her chair.
"Of course it was a long day, what first day isn't?" Ethel asked her sister saracatically joking around with her.
Esmerelda smiled and nodded but then touched her head again swaying a bit, Ethel was worried she was about to faint so she flicked her hand quickly moving a chair underneath her sister so she was sitting down as she jumped up rushing over to her.
"Esmie...what is going on? Spill" Ethel told her knowing something was wrong and wanting to know what.
"In a second, get me a glass of water please" Esmerelda asked. Ethel flicked her fingers making a glass of water appear and handed it to her sister who drank half the glass in two seconds.
"Come on Esmie, tell me or I am getting the nurse" Ethel replied knowing her sister hated being fussed over when she was ill. Esmerelda placed the water down looking slightly better before she broke into a smile.
"Don't worry I know what the problem is and it is a good thing" Esmie told her sister beaming.
"Well come on tell me don't keep me waiting" Ethel told her desperate to know what this good piece of news is.
"Well the thing is... Ethel you are going to be an auntie...I am pregnant" Esmerelda told her sister breaking the news.
For a moment Ethel looked at her sister blankly before she broke into a smile beaming and then leaped on her sister hugging her tightly.
"Oww you are squeezing my ribs" Esmerelda replied with a chuckle as she messed around.
"This is amazing" Ethel told her sister kissing her face "What did Neville say?" Ethel asked her sister.
"Oh nothing he doesn't know yet" Esmerelda replied truthfully.
"Why would you tell me before your husband?" Ethel asked looking at her sister suspiciously.
"Mmm maybe because you are like my favourite person ever" Esmerelda replied seriously.
"I can't believe this, me an auntie, she will be so amazing, smart and beautiful like her mama" Ethel replied happily.
"Erm what makes you think it is a girl?" Esmeralda asked. She didn't even know what she was having yet after all.
"Our family seems to produce girls" Ethel replied causing Esmie to snort at how true it is.
"Maybe I will break tradition" Esmerelda replied.
"You and I are telepathic remember, I can sense it" Ethel replied.
"Yes you can read my mind but I don't know what I am having so our telepathy is not an excuse this time" Esmeralda replied shaking her head.
"I just know it is, and you will call her Martha because you like old fashioned names, or Ethie" Ethel replied with a snort. Her sister of course loved that name.
"No way, there is only one Ethie and only ever will be one" Esmerelda replied.
"Glad to hear it, if it is a girl will she be a Cackles or Hallows girl?" Ethel asked her sister.
"If it is a girl she will be coming to her brilliant aunties school of course and if it is a boy he will be too" Esmerelda replied happily. Ethel beamed.
"But the school is for troubled pupils" Ethel pointed out.
"Yes but how well rounded will the child be without the code there?" Esmerelda also pointed out a fact.
"But Esmie, mum and dad will freak when they find out you are sending the eldest child somewhere that doesn't follow the code" Ethel replied saracatically.
"I don't care, they will try to smother them anyway I am going to try to stop them getting into their head" Esmerelda replied knowing her parents were toxic in their treatments. Ethel smirked liking her sister insulting their parents.
"So that is why you are pale?" Ethel asked her sister putting two and two together.
"Yes morning sickness and stuff, I will be fine don't worry" Esmerelda replied happily.
"I can't believe it, you will be a amazing mummy I mean you were to me" Ethel told her sister happily. Esmie beamed at that statement.
"And you will be an amazing auntie and I can't wait until they come here, this school is amazing" Esmerelda replied seriously.
"You are biased because you are my big sis" Ethel replied shaking her head.
"No I am not, your school Ethel, you, you change lives" Esmerelda told her sister lovingly.
"I don't do anything special" Ethel replied. Things had changed over the years but Ethel still looked down on herself a lot.
"You don't do anything special do you? What about Cody Jenkins?" Esmie asked her sister.
"What about him?" Ethel asked about the boy who had left last year.
"Well remmeber how he was when he first came here, he was wild to say the least, biting, kicking , scratching, punching people, setting things on fire, most people would have kicked him out from his first day but you personally went to talk to him that day where he set the classroom on fire and asked him why he was so angry, that is when he told you about his abuse at home and you sent him to counselling classes but he always chose to go talk to you instead and you spent three hours a week just tutoring that boy who felt like no-one else would listen to him, now look at him, he himself is studying to become a counsellor at college" Esmerelda replied talking about an old pupil her sister had helped.
"Wow one pupil" Ethel replied sarcastically
"No, and there was Jessica Melbrook, she wouldn't talk to anyone except for you for a whole year" Esmerelda replied thinking of another girl. "There was also Mily Candlewax, Jamie Walton, Cassandra Muldruke, the list is endless" Esmerelda told her sister with a smile.
"All I did was include counselling in a school, it is not that big a deal Esmie" Ethel replied not understanding why Esmerelda thought it was.
"Yes it is, you give children who have no-one and just need someone to talk to that opportunity, you have done amazing Ethel, you should be proud of this place" Esmerelda told her sister happily.
"I always dreamed of our school being like this, I just am glad I can stop others suffering like I did" Ethel replied with a beam.
"Well Ethel you have done it" Esmerelda replied looking at her proudly.
Ethel smiled looking around her school proudly, she never thought when she was younger that she would reach this moment where she was successful so she couldn't help but smile. Ethel Hallow had really done it. She had achieved one of her dreams without her parents help and though she was not rich like them she had everything she wanted, her school, her pupils, her sisters, her new niece or nephew and she somehow knew everything was only going to get better.