Disclaimer: I don't own The Worst Witch. There are many variations of the rhyme that inspired this fic, but this is the one we used in our house. :)

A/N: This is set during The Friendship Trap. I'm just pretending that the Founding Stone business never happened.

Two's A Kiss

Hecate Hardbroom cursed as she sneezed for what felt like the millionth time that day.

It had been several hours since she'd had a bucket of ice cold water unceremoniously dumped over her by none other than Mildred Hubble, and though she had been quick to react, casting a drying spell almost immediately, it was becoming quite apparent that maybe she hadn't been quick enough.

Although, it was nice to know that if she were ever on fire, there would be at least one person who wouldn't just let her burn to a crisp.

Two people — if she counted Ada Cackle.

Maybe even three, if she were to include Pippa Pentangle.

The two estranged friends had reconciled some months before and were now slowly trying rebuild the foundations of their once unbreakable bond. Every part of the Hardbroom was so incredibly grateful to have been given a second chance, but there was a gnawing worry in the back of her mind that just wouldn't quit.

She wanted more.

Hecate honestly wasn't sure if she could settle for just being Pippa's friend, but she had resolved to try. After all, if she failed, then the blonde would leave her life again. Only this time, she would never come back.

It was hard to tell whether the chill that immediately ran through her body was brought on by the mere thought of losing her Pipsqueak or from the illness that had been steadily working on her.

Yes, as much as she wanted to blame Mildred Hubble for her current predicament, the deputy knew that the young girl was not entirely at fault.

Reluctant as she was to admit it, she had been feeling under the weather for a few days now. She had retired to bed early last night, still unable to ease the pounding in her head or shake the slight scratch from her throat, and had fallen asleep almost as soon as her head had hit the pillow.

Bed was the only place she wanted to be right now, but she still had far too much to do.

Sighing, she stood, albeit a little unsteady on her feet, preparing to go and tackle the remainder of her duties, when a knock sounded at the door.

"Well met, Hiccup," Pippa Pentangle said kindly, smiling brightly at her best friend. Her day had been truly awful, but somehow that awfulness just seemed to melt away upon seeing her favourite person.

Likewise, Hecate's sour mood lifted ever so slightly upon seeing the blonde beauty who was currently stood in her doorway.

"Well met, Pips-ACHOO!"

"Bless you, darling."

"Thank you," Hecate replied, extending a hand to indicate that the woman had permission to enter her quarters, while the other reached for the handkerchief that was tucked away in a hidden pocket of her dress. She gently closed the door over, before trying the traditional craft greeting once more.

A wave of dizziness washed over her as soon as she bowed her head. She stumbled on her shaky legs, one hand tightly gripping the door handle as she waited for it to pass. Suddenly becoming aware of the way Pippa was watching her, eyes narrowed with concern, Hecate painfully straightened up, striding across the room in her usual fashion as she tried to mask her discomfort. "Tea?"

The blonde witch merely nodded in response, too busy brushing away all evidence of what she not-so-lovingly referred to as 'hat-hair'.

"While I can't deny that it is lovely to see you, Pippa. I don't recall us having anything arranged for tonight?"

There was an unmistakeable note of panic in the Hardbroom's voice as she sought an answer to her question, clearly fearful that forgetting even the one set of plans could cause their friendship to crumble.

"We didn't," the Pentangle said — much to Hecate's relief. "But I was in the area so I thought I would drop in and see how my favourite Hiccup is doing."

It was a white lie at best.

She was in the area … if 'in the area' meant having deliberately taken a detour via Cackle's on the way back to her own academy.

"So, how was your day?" Pippa asked as she carefully poured out two steaming mugs of tea, pretending not to notice the way the other woman was surreptitiously stirring a good spoonful of honey into her cup.

Hecate sniffed, and took a long sip of her tea.

Adding the honey had definitely been one of her better ideas. Ordinarily, she hated sweet things, keeping it in stock only because she knew a certain somebody to be fond of it. Right now though, it was proving to be heaven for her throat.

"Well, you know the kind of chaos that comes with trying to teach teenage witches."

The Pentangle quickly decided that now was not the time to point out all the trouble they had got up to when they had been younger.

"That reminds me," Pippa said, setting her cup down on its saucer. "I stopped by to see Ada on the way to your tower. She told me about erm … Bucketgate."

"Bucketgate?" the deputy repeated blankly, her usually sharp processing skills dulled somewhat by the hurricane that was currently spinning in her mind. "Oh! … Yes, well that's the kind of chaos that comes with trying to teach Mildred Hubble."

"Did you use a drying spell?"

"Of course I did!" Hecate snapped suddenly, feeling rather annoyed that her common sense was being called into question. "Why would you even ask something so ridiculous?"

"I'm sorry, Hiccup. It's just that …"

"What?"

There was a dangerous edge in her voice as she spoke. A tone pointier than the black that usually lined her eyes. A tone Pippa had forgotten what it felt like to be on the receiving end of.

"...You're shivering," the blonde whispered quietly, looking like she was going to burst into tears any moment now.

Hecate opened her mouth to say something else, and then she stopped. Pippa was right. She was shivering … and she hadn't even noticed! Then again, she didn't tend to notice much when she was in this woman's company. It was as though the entire world and everything in it just seemed to fade away to nothing. "I'm sorry, Pipsqueak." The hurt look in her friend's eyes sent a knife directly through the Hardbroom's heart. "It's ... just a bit draughty in here, that's all."

Without saying another word, Pippa tentatively put an arm around her friend's shoulder, and pulled her closer. "Better?"

Rather uncharacteristically, Hecate leaned into the embrace, unable to deny the way feeling of warmth and complete safety she felt in Pippa's arms. She briefly closed her tired eyes, just enjoying a rare and peaceful moment.

That moment was soon shattered though as she sneezed twice in a row.

"I think that maybe-"

The rest of her sentence was cut short as she suddenly felt her friend's lips brush lightly against her own; it was brief, lasting less than a minute, but it was a moment she wished could last forever. A moment quite unlike the one she had always pictured when she had envisaged this unlikely scenario, but a perfect moment nonetheless.

"Two's a kiss," the blonde whispered softly.

There were many ways in which Pippa Isabel Pentangle had pictured the moment she finally told her best friend that she was in love with her.

Quite frankly, this was nothing like any of them.

She scolded herself. Internally cursing her 'act first, think later' attitude that had carried her through most of her life. After all, it wouldn't be the first time where the feet-first approach had landed her in hot water. Even now, she could fondly remember the rolling of the Hardbroom's eyes. Those exasperated sighs and remarks of 'Well, I suppose it could have been worse,' matched only by her own exclamations of 'But didn't we have fun?'

And they did.

(The later addition of rule number 47b to the Witches' Code was evidence enough of that!)

Young Pippa had so much fun with young Hecate that she didn't notice her feelings were changing, and by the time she had realised, it was too little, too late. She had thought then it was over. Her chances lost before she even had a chance to blow them. But somehow, for whatever unknown reason, life had given her a second chance.

The sound of Pippa's voice snapped Hecate clean out of her trance.

"I ... pardon?"

There was no way on this earth — or any other planet for that matter — that Pippa Pentangle had just kissed her! Not blonde, pretty, popular Pippa Pentangle whom she had been in love with since she was sixteen years old!

She couldn't possibly be that lucky ... could she?

"The sneezing rhyme," Pippa said simply, as though it explained everything away just like that.

"The sneezing rhyme?" the dark-haired woman repeated incredulous, choosing to focus more on the riddle she had just been presented with, and not on the way her lips still tingled with the aftershock.

"You must know the one, Hiccup? One's a wish, two's a kiss, three's a disappointment, four's a letter, five's something better, and six-"

"What on earth are you talking about, Pippa?" Hecate asked. The confusion was written all over her face. Intermingled with another emotion that the blonde couldn't quite distinguish.

Pippa wasn't exactly sure what was carrying her through this conversation because it certainly wasn't her confidence. She actually couldn't recall a single time she had been this nervous.

Then again, the stakes had never been so high. And the prize of Hecate Hardbroom's heart was as rare as it was fragile.

She was sure her Hiccup felt the same. Almost positive, in fact.

But she had to know.

Taking a deep breath, steeling every nerve she possessed, she continued on.

It was now or never.

"Anyway, Hic-Hecate," she said, all too aware of how shy and quiet her own voice sounded. "I didn't kiss you because of some stupid rhyme."

Hecate's eyes widened. "Then why-"

Pippa stumbled over words. Her entire future happiness rested on the next few seconds. And that was knowledge that absolutely terrified the life out of her. She closed her eyes, hoping that the other woman wouldn't misinterpret the action.

"I kissed you because I wanted to …. I-I kissed you because I'm in love with you!"

The words were left hanging in the silent air as the minutes ticked on.

She slowly opened her eyes, watching with bated breath as Hecate's face went through a myriad of emotions before settling on the one she hadn't recognised from earlier.

The dark-haired witch smiled shyly, "I-I'm ... in love with ... you too."

Hecate was the first one to break the silence. "Pipsqueak," she began, nervously toying with the timepiece that hung elegantly around her neck. It was something of her 'go to' in moments where feelings of anxiety threatened to overpower her; the blonde suspected she wasn't even aware that she was doing it. "What happens now … With us, I mean?"

Dark eyes widened with panic as soon as the words had left her mouth, fearful that she had somehow overstepped the mark, scared that she had already done something so wrong by even daring to acknowledge what had just happened. Sure, Pippa had kissed her and practically just confessed her undying love, but that didn't automatically mean that she actually wanted to be with her … did it?

"Not that I'm assuming there is an us, of course."

In her head, the words were casual, spoken without the weighed down pressures of her surroundings. In reality though, they were whispered. Each syllable, shaky and uncertain. Her gaze fell to the floor and she could feel her cheeks burning.

"Hiccup," Pippa said gently. "Look at me."

Ever so slowly, Hecate raised her watery gaze.

"I would very much like for there to be an us." Pippa reassuringly gave the pale hand a gentle squeeze, wordlessly conveying that she was not fobbing Hecate off, that she wanted this, wanted them. "But we can talk about that later. Right now, the only place you are going is bed to sleep off this virus we both know you have."

Hecate shook her head. "I appreciate the concern, Pip, but I'm perfectly fine, really."

She knew she wasn't fooling either of them — especially not with the way her voice had just given out halfway through the very sentence proclaiming her supposed perfect health.

"... I'll go and change," the dark-haired witch said meekly, knowing that she was fighting a losing battle.

The Hardbroom was halfway across the room when something suddenly occurred to her and she turned back towards the other woman, her curiosity peaked. "What's six?"

"Hmm …?" Pippa asked dreamily, admittedly only half-listening. She was still far too high on cloud nine to concentrate properly on anything.

"The sneezing rhyme." Hecate tried not to focus on how ridiculous she felt even asking. "One's a wish, two's a kiss, three's a disappointment, four's a letter, five's something better, and six-"

"You've got the cold," the blonde finished off.

Hecate rolled her eyes. "Pipsqueak, you really are the most-ACHOO!"

"One's a wish, Hiccup," Pippa teased lightly as she reapplied her lipstick, not even flinching as the bathroom door slammed shut.

On the other side of that door, Hecate smiled faintly to herself.

'I think it's just come true'.