Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
SEPTEMBER TWENTY-SECOND WAS NOT A HAPPY DAY FOR THE COLDWELL FAMILY. For the last seven years, it had become a day of weeping and grief. The day was filled with sorrow and despair as the Coldwell family mourned the death of their mother, Astraea.
She died when Cassiopeia was seven and when Thalia and Zethus were eight. For the last seven years, the family visited her grave on her birthday, which also happened to be the day of her death. Even after the children started attending Hogwarts, they would meet their father and go to visit their mother's remains.
This year was no different.
Cassiopeia waited until the rest of the girls in her dorm awoke and headed off to breakfast before deciding to get up. She miserably dragged herself out from under her warm covers and shivered as her feet hit the cold, wooden floor. It was the end of September which meant October was approaching and fall was ahead of them.
She quickly changed into her clothes, a deep green turtleneck sweater, a black skirt, and white stockings, and fixed her hair. Trudging down to the Common Room, she found Thalia waiting for her on one of the couches with a sullen look on her face.
She frowned at her younger sister and stood, "Zethus went down to breakfast. I can't bear to eat anything."
"Me neither," Cassiopeia agreed in a small voice.
The two sisters stood there for a moment in silence before Thalia spoke again, "Let's go fetch him and meet Father in the Entrance Hall."
Cassiopeia nodded and the two girls exited through the bare stretch of the wall and set off through the dungeons towards the Great Hall. Any students they passed by, cowered out of their way as the two sisters passed out their usual icy glares and scowls.
They walked with their heads held high as they entered the Great Hall. Cassiopeia could feel a few people's eyes fall on them. They were the only ones not wearing their Hogwarts robes and getting ready for their classes. Everyone knew that the Coldwells always left the castle for one day in September but only a select few of their friends knew why.
Once Thalia and Cassiopeia reached Zethus at the Slytherin table, people looked away from them and the loud-talking nature of the Great Hall returned. Thalia leaned down and whispered to Zethus, "It's time to go. Father is waiting."
Zethus barely nodded his head and stood from his seat. The three bid goodbye to Draco, who was one of the only people who knew why they had to make a departure today, and exited the Great Hall. Draco had known the Coldwells since he was born and had seen Astraea as a second mother to him. Her death had affected him but not like how it did the Coldwell siblings.
Losing their mother at such a young age, affected them in such a way that most couldn't possibly imagine. Most children at seven or eight years old can't comprehend death, but the Coldwell children understood. They knew that their mother was dead, that she was never coming back. They had to finish their childhood and grow up without her.
