I think what shemeansto say is that she doesn’t want me any closer to the greenhouses than is strictly necessary. And I’m not taking any classes with her this semester, so she’ll finally be free of me.
“But,” she continues, lowering her hand and letting out a slow breath, “I appreciate the apology. I know it was an accident, Miss Wilder, and I hear you’ve been working hard since then to better control your magic. How is it coming along?”
I allow a small smile to pull on my lips. “It’s... still difficult sometimes. But I feel better. Stronger.” I picture Cairn and his steady patience, imagine roots curlingdown from the bottoms of my feet and into the earth, helping me to ground myself and my emotions. “At the very least, I’m learning the skills I need to control my emotions. And I’ve not burned anything down in...” Tapping my chin, I tip my head dramatically to one side. “Three days?”
Professor Fleur’s eyes widen, and I quickly let out a laugh.
“Kidding. I promise.”
This time, I get her to smile. A little bit. “Well, thank you for coming, Lyra. It means a lot to me.” She shifts her weight, and her gaze flicks toward the raised bed.
I can tell she’s anxious to get back to work.
“I’ll get out of your hair,” I say, taking a step back. “But really, if you ever need anything, you know where to find me.”
“The headmistress’s office?” Professor Fleur asks with an arched eyebrow.
I blink at her, then realize there’s a smirk trying to tug one side of her mouth up.
“I didn’t know you could joke like that, Professor,” I say as I walk backward toward the door. “It suits you.”
She rolls her eyes and gives me a real smile then. “Goodbye, Miss Wilder.”
I step out of the greenhouse and into the cold. As the door closes behind me, Juniper wriggles up to the top of my pocket.
“That went well,” she says.
“Yeah. Better than expected.”
“Since you’re having such good luck, maybe we should stop by the headmistress’s office.”
My gaze cuts down to her. “And why would we want to do that?”
“It’ll show her your initiative. Better than hiding out and waiting for her to call on you.”
Breath steams around my mouth as I blow out a big sigh. “You’ve got a point.” I flick my gaze up to the castle, wishing I could climb the stairs to the north tower and cuddle up in front of the fire for the rest of the day.
But Juniper’s right. And though my feet are reluctant, I force them to carry me into the castle and straight to Headmistress Moonhart’s office.
“COME IN,” THE HEADMISTRESS CALLS.
I have my hand held aloft, knuckles poised and ready, but I’ve not yet knocked.
“Witchcraft,” Juniper whispers from my pocket.
I smirk for a second, then wipe it away before I grab the door handle and enter the office.
Unlike the chilly corridors, the headmistress’s office is warm. It smells like sage and peppermint tea, and apart from the towers of papers sitting on the desk, the room is impeccably clean.
Barron sits on his perch, and he blinks his big yellow eyes as I close the door behind me.
I’ve always found his gaze unsettling. Probably because he’s the headmistress’s eyes and ears around campus.
“Miss Wilder,” Headmistress Moonhart says. She sits back from her desk and removes the spectacles from hernose, letting them dangle from the beaded chain around her neck. “Please, sit. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
I sink into the chair in front of her desk—the very one I sat in last semester when she assigned me community service with Cairn. Everything feels so different now compared to then.
“Well,” I say slowly, trying to get my thoughts in order, “last semester, you let me take a hiatus from my community service. Which Ireallyappreciated, by the way.”
