Cassidy looked up to see Terra climbing through the porthole. As usual, her face held no expression, and she returned to the paper she was working on.
"Hi, Terra," shea siad softly, not looking up from her work. She dotted an "i," and sighed with relief. Her paper for Transfiguration was out of the way. She turned back in Terra's direction. "You look like something is troubleing you. Can I do anything to help?"
***
Andrew, meanwhile, was finishing up his last few bites of food. His mother beamed proudly at him, and they got up from the table. Andrew waved to his friends at the table as they left the Great Hall, spotting Johann in the hallway. Deciding it was best to leave him alone, Andrew walked by without glancing at him. He was not going to start another problem with that kid.
"The Quiddich fields are really great," Andrew told his mother excitedly. They had bundled up to fight off the winter chill. The moon was beginning to rise as they made their way to the field. "Since I switched houses, I'm no longer on the Quiddich team, but Cassidy is. She does well."
"Well, I suppose so," his mother said, her voice a little tight. "I mean, it is quite a bit of a physical sport. Though I am a little suprised she could handle a broom so fast. I designed it to be easy to fly, but you know how Cassidy is."
Andrew winced, and came to a sudden realizaion. Through all the embarassment, scolding, unhappiness Andrew experienced with his father, he realized now that Cassidy felt the same way with their mother. He bit his lower lip, not sure what to do. They had entered the snow covered field, and sat down on a bench.
"You know, Cassidy does really well," Andrew said neutrally, not looking at his mother. Even though he was not looking, he could feel tension start to build. "She picked up Quiddich really quickly, and her grades are really good..."
Andrew decided to leave out the part about the deep chimeara induced scar on her side. His mother frowned.
"She's so bent on doing things the Muggle way," his mother said, tucking a stray, curly strand of hair behind her ear. "Gets that from Dad I suppose. But she's so blank all the time, and so tomboyish. I can't relate to her the way I want to. I never know how she's feeling, and it's all your father's fault!"
Andrew remained quiet. He knew his mother liked to have the last word. He never knew his mother was so unhappy with his father. It just didn't seem right, but he resigned to it quickly.
"Let's go inside," Andrew said softly. "It's getting cold out here."
Together they made their way back to Gryffindor Tower, to find Cassidy hard at work on her holiday homework.