Disclaimer - I don't own the Worst Witch.

Here we are, the last chapter of this story. I hope you've enjoyed it and I hope you are looking forward to more stories.

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A New Leaf.

Ethel shot off her bed with a heaving gasp and looked around, seeing that she was back in her bedroom at Cackles Academy, and Nightstar was sleeping nearby. Everything in her bedroom was where she'd left it and after getting up, ignoring her cat's scandalised mewl of protest, Ethel examined the books and saw that they were her second year books - some of them were from the Hallow family library, but others were from the Cackles' library, but all of them were books she had drawn out for this year.

"Was it a dream?" Ethel whispered to herself as she looked around the bedroom, looking around her room, looking at her possessions and noting that everything was how she remembered it. All her possessions were where she'd left them, her broomstick was leaning against the wall, and Nightstar looked like nothing had happened.

Ethel's heart filled with such love for her familiar - the cat had been her rock in that alternate world.

Oh, please say what she had experienced was a terrible dream, she thought to herself.

"It was not a dream, Miss Hallow."

Ethel shivered as the voice of the Wish Fairy echoed through her mind, or was it echoing around her bedroom. "Y-you? But… but I thought-?"

"You thought I would just leave you? No; if there's one thing I've learnt over the centuries, its that you witches and wizards, like everyone else believes when they reverse the wish they made and wake up, they were just dreaming. I'll make it simple for you. You were not dreaming. You actually spent some time in an alternate reality, one where Mildred Hubble died while she was still in her mother's womb, and you betrayed your sister in the worst way possible, but when you wished for me to send you back, I did. You may have been in that reality for weeks, but to everyone at Cackles, you have only been asleep for five minutes. Don't you have a job to do, one involving your sister, Esmerelda?"

For a moment, Ethel was still reeling with the shock she was feeling at the news she hadn't been dreaming about that other world where Cackles had been reduced to a pile of rubble, it had actually happened, and she had experienced it for herself, so the Fairy's last question didn't immediately register. But when it did, Ethel's memories of what she wanted to do with Esmerelda came back with the force of broomstick shooting forward at 50 miles per second.

She rushed out of her room and headed straight for Mildred's bedroom in case her big sister was still there.

The Wish Fairy had said she would be sent back to the moment she had made the wish, so hopefully, Esme was still with Mildred after she'd confronted them.

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Esmerelda wasn't in Mildred's bedroom, much to the blonde girl's disappointment and it made her wonder if her sister had left the other girl's room after she'd burst into the room and lashed out at them.

Ethel rushed around the school, asking the others if they had seen her sister. Seeing Maud and Felicity chatting together with Enid…. it was hard for Ethel, especially after seeing and hearing for herself what her counterpart in that other world had done… How her other self-had effectively gotten Enid kicked out of the school, and how she had unintentionally paved the way for Agatha Cackle to destroy the school, killing many of the teachers and the Great Wizard himself.

Swallowing her nerves, Ethel approached the three girls. "Hi, have any of you seen Esme?"

Enid frowned. "Isn't she with Mildred?" she asked. "She said she wanted to chat with her?"

Ethel bit back the sharp retort that made its way up through her throat when she heard that, she was too shaken by what she had just experienced in that other world without her big sister there, and Enid's reply brought out annoyance she shouldn't really have. "I've just seen her there," she replied before she sighed, "I mean, I saw her there before now, but I was so annoyed because Esme was with Mildred."

Enid and Maud shared a concerned look with Felicity. It was no secret how much Ethel loved her big sister, and it was also no secret just how much Ethel disliked Mildred. Put the two together…. Not a good combination.

"Maybe she's with Sybil," Felicity suggested.

That had occurred to Ethel, but she didn't know where her little sister was any more than she did her eldest. "Any idea where she is?"

Maud blew out a breath and shook her head. "No, sorry, we can keep a lookout if you want?" she offered, sure that the blonde would just refuse out of her usual stubbornness, so she was surprised when Ethel smiled at them suddenly. "Yeah, that would be fantastic, thanks. I just don't want Esme to leave again before I can speak with her," she said, walking off without really seeing the three girls look befuddled at how reasonable Ethel seemed to be acting for a change.

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Esmerelda was currently walking with Mildred through the school, mostly because the older girl wanted to find Sybil but also so she could keep talking to Mildred about the non-magical world.

After Ethel had stormed into the bedroom, Esmerelda had politely suggested they leave the bedroom and just walk around. Sybil wasn't likely to blow up into a temper tantrum in the same manner as her sister, but she might still be hurt, and the older girl didn't want to do that. She felt as though she had hurt her sisters enough today.

Fortunately, Mildred seemed to empathise with that idea, and for that Esmerelda was happy that the dark-haired girl's temperament matched hers and Sybil's, and that her younger sister was much more understanding than Ethel. Thinking about Ethel made Esmerelda sigh - she truly regretted not seeing her little sister after she'd come to the castle to see her sisters and just get away from her parents, who were no help to her current predicament.

Nothing new there.

But Esmerelda had another reason to leave Mildred's bedroom - it was to try to find her Ethie, and convince her that Mildred was not evil. Personally, Esmerelda didn't really give a damn about her parent's jobs or their work; what good had it ever done her? Or her sisters? Personally, Esmerelda felt that being kicked off the Magic Council would finally go a long way to making her mother wake up and see there was more to life than being stuck in some council, but she wasn't going to put her faith into it.

Besides, while Ethel had a point about Mildred being responsible for her mother's newfound lack of employment, Esmerelda had to see it from another angle - Mildred had not actually told her mother she was fired from the Council; the Great Wizard had done that.

All Mildred had done was prove to him her mother had planned to fake a petition to get Miss Cackle thrown out of the school, so the blame lay with the Great Wizard, but Esmerelda wasn't going to argue with that or make some pointless debate.

It didn't take long for Esmerelda and Mildred to meet Sybil who was with her friends - Esmerelda had to restrain the urge to shout whenever Clarice made one of her tactless remarks about her lack of magic, it was bad enough her parents continually went out of their way to remind her of what she'd lost. She didn't need this kid reminding her either.

While she was pleased Sybil had made two great friends, Esmerelda didn't want to become a wedge that would destroy that friendship - that had almost happened on her last visit.

Sybil took the news Esme had spent some time with Mildred to help her learn a bit more about the non-magical world, but it was the idea that she would be virtually exiled into a world that was not hers and not be with her sisters that annoyed and upset her, and she cursed her parents for not bothering to find a solution - Esmerelda had reached a solution to her problem very quickly, why her parents were so stupid she didn't know.

Esmerelda was busy chatting to Sybil while the other three girls gave the sisters space and chatted amongst themselves when they turned at the sound of someone calling out, "ESME!"

It was Ethel, and as soon as the middle Hallow sister saw her big sister she broke out into a run and cannonballed into Esmerelda. The teenager gasped in shock at the impact and staggered back a bit but her arms wrapped themselves around Ethel to stop the younger girl from hurting herself.

"Hey, Ethie," Esmerelda gasped, still winded by the impact. "Are you…..? Ethie, what's wrong, you're crying?"

Ethel had looked up and her eyes were full of tears as they stared into her sister's kind and concerned gaze. "I'm so sorry, Esme," the younger blonde said, "I'm sorry I lashed out at you and Mildred."

Esmerelda bit her lip at the way Ethel stressed Mildred's name, but she didn't make a comment on it. Some things would never change.

"That's okay, Ethie," she whispered quietly to soothe the girl and to calm her down.

Ethel smiled shakily, making Esmerelda and Sybil frown; it was rare for Ethel to show this much emotion whenever she was deeply upset about something, and it made them both wonder what had caused this shift of mood.

"Ethel, are you okay?" Sybil asked.

Ethel smiled at the question, unaware or uncaring about how everyone was seeing her at the moment since Clarice and Beatrice were both looking at her strangely like she had gone doolally. "I'm fantastic. I've got you back. I've got something to show you; I was angry because I've spent weeks hoping for you to come to the school so I could show you, but I went mad when I found you with Mildred," she confessed quietly. "Please come with me, Esme, I need to show you something important."

Esmerelda, now truly confused, nodded, "Okay, I have questions."

"I'll do my best to answer them," Ethel promised, "but I need to do something first."

"What's that?" Esme asked, but she like everyone else was surprised when Ethel turned and walked slowly towards Mildred, and threw her arms around Mildred hesitantly but firmly.

"I'm sorry," the blonde said to the dark haired girl before pulling back, leaving a very disturbed and surprised Mildred.

Not paying any attention to the dark haired girl and the others, Ethel grabbed her sisters' hand and rushed them both away.

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Esmerelda sat on her sister's bed, idly stroking Nightstar, her mind racing after the events of the day while she listened to Ethel talk about something that the older girl would have put down to a bad dream, but something in Ethel's tone told her that it wasn't the case. But it was when she got to a certain part that Esme began to wonder if she had indeed been dreaming. She had come to the school hoping to see her sisters and learn a bit more about the non-magical world from Mildred, but the day had spiralled out of the control.

First, she had gotten her powers back after Ethel and Sybil, who'd followed them up to the turret where Ethel had secreted the Founding stone of the school. Ethel had taken the stone and replaced it with a clone, and Esmerelda and Sybil had both been surprised and horrified; they all knew the rules in the code surrounding Founding Stones, and the fact Ethel had taken the one powering and sustaining the magic of the Academy was horrifying since it anything went wrong then Ethel would be shamed for breaking an important rule in the code which had no wriggle room whatsoever.

What made it worse in Esmerelda's mind was the fact Ethel had taken the stone to give Esme her powers back, but the way she had worded her replies to the questions worried Esme because it sounded like Ethel was still doing things for selfish reasons. But the good thing was her sister seemed to have wised up to the fact their mother didn't really care about them.

Second, she had decided to chance it and take a small amount of the magic in the stone and use it as her own, unfortunately, she had gotten it a bit wrong and the stone began to die. After a run around after Mildred and her friends along with Beatrice and Clarice, who had come up curious about what the Hallows were doing, trying to find the person mentioned in an old nursery witch story about a witch who'd reignited a Founding stone.

The Hallows had always taken the credit for that story, but in fact, the truth was the Hallow witch at the time had had nothing to do with the re-ignition of the stone.

It was actually one of Mildred's ancestors.

Mildred was from a witching family. Esmerelda still smiled as she remembered how the dark-haired girl had taken the news, she was so happy, but when she had found out from Mirabelle Hubble how she had re-ignited the Founding stone, she couldn't work out why her ancestors had taken the credit for something so profoundly terrible. Mirabelle was truly a brave woman, she had given away her magic but she had sacrificed the magic of twelve generations to ensure the stone stayed active, making Mildred the thirteenth and the first magical Hubble for centuries. Esmerelda felt sorry for the family, and she cursed her own for being so selfish.

In the end, Ethel had been prepared to sacrifice her own magic, though what that could have done to her sisters, their parents, Esmerelda didn't have clue, Ethel had made a pointless speech before she and everyone else, including Miss Hardbroom, froze in the turret.

In the end, Mildred had been prepared to sacrifice her powers, while her mother watched sadly… only for Miss Mould to take her place. Miss Mould was a member of a coven led by Agatha Cackle, and the woman had come to the school under false pretences. Esmerelda only hoped the decision of Miss Cackle to not really take the time to investigate the woman made an impact on later applications, or else the next Head of Education might take umbrage with Miss Cackle.

The old headmistress knew what Ethel had done to help her sister, but Esme hoped that the headmistress was lenient but time would tell.

But hearing the bizarre and worrying story from Ethel worried her more.

It was one thing for Ethel to wish she had never met Mildred - indeed, Esme had heard that wish a thousand times in the past, but she had never expected a magical creature to actually create a whole different reality out of it by killing Mildred and her mother when Mildred wasn't even born yet.

Hearing that part had Esme upset because her sister knew the power of words. It was something all witches knew about - the wrong word could make your heartbreak, or the right word could make them happy beyond measure. But Ethel had always had an unstable temper, which mostly came from the way she'd been treated as a youngster.

And yet, hearing how just making that wish and seeing that alternative world where Cackles had been reduced to a pile of rubble and everyone had been split up and sent to other witch schools, and Ethel had become the eldest child since Esmerelda herself had been crushed to death while powerless in trophy form (Esme shuddered at the memory of being transformed into a trophy) while Ethel had finally regained her common sense, and tried to rescue her.

The news she had died in that world… it had terrified her.

And yet she had tried to reassure her sister that she was still alive, and what she had experienced was just a terrible dream.

But there was one thing that stood out, something that made Esmerelda Hallow think there might be something to Ethel's 'dream' though she was beginning to think it wasn't a dream.

"Hold on, you met Prince?"

Ethel looked at her. "You know him?" she asked in a tone that said she hoped she never had to speak to him.

Esmerelda nodded and looked at her in amazement. "Ethel, I don't think you were dreaming."

Ethel rolled her eyes. "That's what I was trying to tell you," she said.

Esme smiled at her, hoping she could put aside the pain she was experiencing that her little sister had actually seen a parallel universe after making a wish that was so simple but she didn't like hearing how she had died. "There are plenty more wishes out there," she said at last, "but let's hope the next one you make is one where we live happily ever after."

Ethel smiled.