That week went well, regardless of the rough start on the second day. Her classes went well, she was keeping up with that and the study group was progressing well, studying every subject the most of them had trouble with.

Haytham was surprisingly adept at teaching potions, but considering he was taking mastery classes it shouldn't have surprised her. The week went quickly, and finally, it was Saturday. Atria readied herself that morning, going to the defence classroom. The test was easy for her- she wrote her answers with confidence and ease. After the written exam, she had spells to show Madam Marchbanks, the proctor-she was able to get through them all within the allotted time period. They were cast easily, just the same as her explaining them in the written exam, and then she was free to get lunch before the practical exam, which would be held down at the quidditch pitch.

She didn't expect the whole of the first year Slytherins there to spectate. And the cherry on top of the milkshake was having her grandmother, her mother and brother there to spectate as well. Though, she could have lived without her mother or brother there.

She noticed her grandmother speaking to who must have been Lucius Malfoy and quietly approached.

"Grandmother Clare," She said formally, giving a small bow.

"Atria. Atria is my heir, Lord Malfoy," Her grandmother introduced. "I've heard much about your son, she seems quite taken with him."

"Atria, this is Lord Lucius Malfoy, young Draco's father." The introductions were simple and quick.

Atria bowed, just as she had for her grandmother. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lord Malfoy. I truly enjoy Draco's presence at my study sessions."

"And how is he faring amongst your group?" He asked.

"Draco is very talented in everything he does," she replied diplomatically, "But he's very talented in charms. He would be a great healer."

"Atria," Draco's even voice came from her left, "Father." She heard, rather than saw Draco's smile.

"Heir Stellaris" Lucius spoke, "Has been telling me about your proficiency in charms. I'm quite pleased with your studies."

"Thank you, father!" His smile was wide and his cheeks tinged pink.

Atria's grandmother's head tilted up as someone approached, "Headmaster Dumbledore."

A man wearing a long set of robes and a pointed hat approached. "Ah, Lord Clare."

"It's Yvone to you, dear."

His cheeks tinged pink.

Atria smiled as Draco, Hermione, Harry and Haytham walked over-and it seemed like the apprentice was making their way over to them, too. It seemed like they were popular, Atria thought with amusement.

With everyone making their own conversations, Ezra and Atreus disappeared into the quidditch stands.

"Albus, this is my granddaughter, Atria," Yvone introduced, "Atria, this is Albus Percival Wulfric Bryan Dumbledore."

Atria inclined her head, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Headmaster."

"The pleasure is mine," He smiled, "I've heard much about you from many people."

She heard her grandmother and the Headmaster begin speaking in the background and she turned her attention to watching everyone walk by. Seeing so many people from ministry officials, Ilvermorny staff and school governors-it was apparently a big deal that she was doing this.

Atria waved at Professor Starling as she approached and the Transfigurations Professor smiled at her.

"Good Afternoon. The testing will begin in five minutes, so please make sure you're ready, Atria. Your.. opponent will be Professor Russo."

Oh.

Atria nodded. "Thank you for letting me know, Professor."

"I'm sure you'll do well. You've always received perfect marks."

Atria smiled, "Thank you. Unfortunately, I'm not doubting myself, but I'm doubting my opponent's ability to remain neutral."

"Very true. That's an advantage. Use it."

"Understood."

Atria's eyes traveled to the group. "If you'll excuse me, I have.. An exam to take."

Atria disappeared into the crowd of people.

"Are you sure she's going to need those swords?"

"Potentially," Professor Starling reasoned, "She's taking an exam to jump years in offensive magics and their applications. It'd be detrimental to leave them unused, don't you think?"

"What kind of magic can you do with swords?"

"Quite a bit," the apprentice's input was quiet, but there.

"For Merlin's sake, don't scare me like that-"

Yvone's eyes shone with amusement. "I suppose it's time to take a seat."

Atria made sure everything was in place-her robes, standard for clan heirs, were made to duel in. Her current robe was obviously made to duel in. The collar was high, the fabric was tight to her arms and torso-it really only became a robe where it began flaring out at her hips, but that was as far as it went. It ended mid-calf and didn't have a lot of give to it at all-and most of all, it was a deep, burgundy red, nearly the same color as blood.

It did a good job at concealing her smaller sword, not that she'd gone out of her way to hide it, wearing it on a belt on her waist, over her outer robe.

"Are you ready, Miss Stellaris?" Madam Marchbanks asked.

"Yes."

"Please step out on the field. We'll be having a variety of judges here and you should know your test results by Monday if everything goes well. Your inhaler is not allowed."

"Thank you. I was told beforehand, so I didn't bring it," she explained.

The older woman nodded. "Your opponent will be Professor Russo. Give us a good show, child."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Atria's back straightened as she walked out into the field, her gait slow and steady as she took a few breaths in, steeling herself for what she knew would come.

"Combatants, ready! On the count of 3!"

"1!"

"2!"

"3!"

And then, it was just a shower of sparks, magic and light, as both Atria and Professor Russo threw spells at each other. Some were red, some were blue, some were green, some were purple.

They were all blocked or diverted, without any tiring on anyone's part. Luckily for Atria, she'd been moving the entire time, looking for a better opportunity in regards to getting one over on her most-hated Professor. Professor Russo, on the other hand, was holding her ground, not giving a single inch either way.

It was only when Atria parried, blocked and then sent another volley of spells back at her instructor that things started to get heated. All of a sudden, Professor Russo moved faster-Atria could understand what she was doing, knew the spells she was using, but-

Atria's shield charm cracked under the weight of the other woman's magic. She barely rolled out of the way as another deluge of spells was thrown at her, her whirlwind technique successfully re-routing a few of the more powerful spells, her own thrown into the mix.

They had progressed far past the simple charms, hexes and jinxes that were taught in class. These spells were much harder to cast and much harder to deal with than the others-the blasting curses, some darker curses and even some transfigurations threatened her defenses, but they never fell.

And then suddenly, Professor Russo wasn't casting spells at her anymore-instead, it was balls of red fire. Now it was on to elemental manipulations, huh..?

Atria waved her wand, summoning water from the lake. She felt the spell take hold and the water rush to her. It felt like an ice water on a hot summer's day to her, and she reveled in the feel of the cool magic as opposed to the raw magical power they'd spent in their spellcasting.

The fire was quickly snuffed out by a swirling ring of water-one that was currently curled around Atria.

She could vaguely hear a few people cheering in the stands and the murmuring of excitement, but she lost that quickly when the Professor's hands moved and the water started running in the other direction. Atria forgot that Professor Russo also had a water-type affinity.

But-she wasn't going to allow her most-hated teacher have access to her water, thank-you-very-much, and the two struggled over it for a moment before the Professor brought her own water out of thin air.

Atria could have done the same, but.. She bit her lip-she would have to worry about her fire techniques starting a blaze, or an electric storm, even. And she didn't want to show that off-those techniques were her secret, not even her mother knew she knew how to perform them.

Their water clashed and soon the quidditch pitch was drenched in water, ice and snow. Atria's attacks were laced with power, strong and heavy against Professor Russo's elegance. It was such a contrast, Atria could tell, and it wasn't just because she was unpracticed and Professor Russo had dedicated her life to teaching it. Their styles were just totally different.

She swallowed as she narrowly avoided a swath of ice knives-one caught across her left shoulder, splitting her robe open, even if it didn't damage her.

Her own answering attack was brutal in return-she turned the ice underneath Professor Russo's feet, turning the woman's back to her as ice spikes came into being under her magic. The other woman's eyes widened as she righted herself, fire blazing around her in a protective fashion.

It didn't melt Atria's ice, though, but a shield of ice appeared to the woman's left, giving her enough cover between the steam created from the ice and fire altercation and the fire to give her a chance at advancing towards Atria.

Atria knew something was coming, but not from which direction, so she summoned her water, forcing it wrap around her in a swirling whirlpool. The draw of the wind from the water hung her above the ground and she repositioned herself, closer to where she knew Professor Russo was.

All of a sudden, her whirlpool froze and she found herself tumbling down through the center. Her hand found one of her blades and with a swipe, she shattered the ice holding her underneath the current with it's iron-hot blade. She came up, breathing heavy, wheezing a little. She hadn't swallowed or breathed in any of the water, but she was nearing her body's natural limit. Well, the natural limit shoved onto her by her brother's potion.

She only had a few more minutes of time left before she would have to pull herself out of the fight and she intended to use them well.

Her short-sword was sheathed and her hands wound around the top of her head. The water and ice solidified, some spikes forming as tall as some of the quidditch stands. She stood atop one of them, looking down at Professor Russo, completely exposed due to the complete and total removal of water and ice, even the steam. She looked down at her from, her eyes narrowing as she muttered a small spell. This was the feather-weight charm that she cast on herself-she had plans.

Her other sword unsheathed itself of it's own accord as she leaned off the side of her ice spike, using a small burst of fire to propel her forward. Her downward slash clanged against Russo's much larger blade, her hands held firmly on her short sword-however, her much longer sword swiped at the professor independently, pressing the advantage.

That spell was one that her grandfather had invented and passed down to her, and paired with his sword techniques-well, the Stellaris blade was the more deadly of the ones she was wielding.

However, the professor was able to handle both sets of attacks, albeit barely-and finally managed to throw Atria and her sword off with a well-timed fire sphere. Atria guided it around her and managed to disperse it, but the other woman didn't wait for Atria to finish before she sent a wall of fire at her, from every direction.

It was large-just as tall as her ice spikes even. In her haste, she let her short blade fall to the ground as her feet shifted and her hands moved. There wasn't any way to disperse this-there was far too much of it, so that meant she had to take it head on. She wheezed as smoke filled the air, coughing a bit as it irritated her lungs.

"Fuck."

She felt the weight of her Professor's magic in it-so it wasn't something she was able to do often, Atria reasoned, as Professor Russo wasn't known to have huge magic stores available. However, due to the amount of spells Atria had been casting and as well as the amount of elemental magics she'd been doing, it meant that she didn't have much more to work with. However..

She let her magic lick at the sides of the burn, forcing it higher and higher, forcing the flames hotter and hotter until the red flames were consumed by white. It was uncontrolled and Atria felt her control of it slip-but that was what she wanted.

She dodged her pillars of ice, hearing them shatter, crack and sear as steam rose and eventually boiled away, leaving no humidity. She could feel the atmosphere start to excite itself-if she could just..

She guided the energy from the flames to the sparks, feeling the fire recede until there was nothing but the sound of pure electricity buzzing around her. She'd probably go to the infirmary after this-but at least it was a good show, right?

Her hand never wavered as she directed the lightning at Professor Russo, who looked as if she'd never seen such a technique before, but the woman managed to direct it in the ground just as Atria's vision went black and she collapsed to the ground. The last thing she heard was an enraged shriek.

"GIRL! YOU'RE SO IRRESPONSIBLE-"

"Oh shut up," She muttered.

When she awoke in the hospital wing, the sun was already beginning to set and she could hear people walking in and out-some of them familiar, some of them not. She could hear her mother's voice, her brother's voice, her grandmother's voice- and was that the Headmaster's voice? There was so many people..

As she sat up in the bed, she felt someone startle next to her. It was Haytham.

"Haytham." It was a whisper.

"Atria," he hugged her close to him. "I was so worried. I thought you were dying... "

"No, not really.. Sometimes it happens over the summers with my mom. It's not anything I haven't dealt with before."

"But it's wrong. Your grandmother was furious when she was told about the potion that you're taking. Pulled a Lord move on your mom and ordered her to stop giving it to you and ordered for it to stop being made."

"What?" She whispered, "Really…?"

"Yes, Princess.."

She almost started crying-but Haytham pulled away and was standing by the time the curtain was pulled back. Madame Pomfrey and her mother were standing there.

"Now, now, dearie, you gave us quite a scare." The irish woman's accent was rather thick and she pulled out her wand. "I'm going to run a few diagnostics on you and then let you rest."

"Thank you, Madame," She responded quietly.

Her mother had an unreadable look on her face and Atria knew something was up. Her mother was never able to pull off an expression like that unless she was furious about something. She should have expected it, knowing that Atreus wouldn't be getting any more of her magic..

Atria was dreading when Madame Pomfrey would leave, because she knew that her mother would give her hell and she didn't know if she could take it.

All too soon the healer left, and with a quiet dismissal to Haytham, Ezra cast a silencing charm. Atria felt Haytham's finite break it, and she knew-she knew that he was going to have her grandmother listen in, whether she wanted to or not.

"Atria Stellaris-" The woman started, and then took a breath in, "ATRIA Stellaris!"

"Yes, mom?"

"You've done nothing but break this family apart since you were a child. I was willing to look past what you did to my brothers, but this? NOW TO MY SON-!"

"How dare you-" Atria wheezed out, "How dare you- they raped me-!" Her voice broke.

"I would rather you have been sold," Ezra's voice was cold. "I don't care what they did to you. You've done worse to me, your brother and your grandmother. How you wound up the heir to two Most Ancient and Most Noble families.. I don't know. You don't deserve it."

"Noted, Mom." Atria dealt with her mother's vitriol before, but something snapped and before she could stop herself, she was crying. Silent tears trailed down her cheeks and she stared steadfastly ahead, above Ezra's eyebrows, at her hairline.

"Stop CRYING!" Ezra's scream was sure to be heard by everyone, due to the silencing charm being taken down, "OR I'LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO CRY ABOUT-"

"I-try so hard, you know?" Atria's voice rose, "To not be like you. To be kind-and patient-" She sobbed.

"You're so hateful-"

"Are you saying I'm a bad mom? Is that what this is?"

"Well," Ezra continued, ignoring the fact that the curtain opened again, "You don't have to worry about me being your mother anymore. About having someone so hateful. I'm washing my hands of you. You're no daughter of mine. Good Riddance. I don't care if you live or die, and I don't want to hear about either."

"Ezra Clare. You disgust me-to do this to your own daughter?" It was Yvone's voice this time. She didn't wait for the other woman to respond and continued, "Leave. If I ever see your face again, it will be too soon. I don't want to see you or hear from you again. By my grace and my whim do you remain upon my family tree, child. Get out."

"Mamaw-" Atria's voice was quiet and broken. "Please-"

Ezra held her head high as she exited the curtain and Yvone kept quiet until she heard the woman's heels disappear out the door, and then she cast a silencing charm on the curtains, as Ezra had. But this time, Haytham didn't take it down.

Yvone sat next to the child on the bed and held her as she cried.

"You're good enough, dear. You've always been my favorite, Atria. I love you and I'm proud of you." If anything, those words made Atria cry harder.

"You're still my heir, my chosen. You will lead our family with kindness and dignity," She continued, quietly. "The days where you are abused are over, Atria. You'll live with me from now on, in Clare Manor. I was a fool to trust your mother after what happened.."

The tears started over again. Yvone stayed with her until she cried herself out and fell asleep, which didn't take too long.

As she left, she closed the curtain behind her and cast another silencing charm to keep the noise of the infirmary out. What she didn't expect was to see Atria's friends-the Hyuga children, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Hermione, Harry, Draco, Jasmine and Haytham waiting for her.

"Is she okay?" Hermione asked. She stepped forward and bowed before saying, "Lord Clare, is Atria going to be okay?"

"Please don't bow to me, child.." Yvone's voice was tired. "I.. don't know. Physically, Atria should recover."

"I'll be taking her out of school for a while-"

"No! Please don't make her give this up-" Jasmine pleaded.

"For Atria's mental health. She hasn't had a true rest in many, many years. There's a strength in working hard and accomplishing your goals, but you must know when to rest. She'll be back in school soon, she'll probably be gone for a week."

The last sentence was said reassuringly. "My home will be open to any of you, if you would like to visit her during that time. And.. during yule holiday as well. I'll send you all the specific instructions should you want to visit."

She looked at Haytham. "Young Bonneville. I respect your looking out for Atria, but should you ever eavesdrop on her and my private conversations in the future, your mother and father will be hearing from me."

"Yes, Lord Clare. I just.. Couldn't take knowing that she was suffering like that-"

"It was wrong, and it's partly my fault. I put her back with Ezra after the abduction instead of keeping her with me. I tried.. To be selfless. But it backfired." Yvone's voice was tired, but.. Something caught her attention.

"Girl," She spoke to Hermione, "Tell me, how are you carrying those swords?"

"These? Haytham told me to get them off the pitch after the exam," she explained, "Is something wrong?"

"If the wrong person picked up either of those blades, it would have killed them. It's a failsafe if the owner were to fall on the field-that no one but their heir could retrieve it."

Hermione's eyes widened as she looked at the swords. "I thought they were heavy, but I didn't think-"

"It's a pleasant surprise, child. I'm assuming you're the one she wanted the books for."

"Yes, Lord Clare."

"The unofficial family member she's taken under her wing, then.. I'll look forward to seeing who you become, Hermione Granger. We'll take you in and teach you with dignity and kindness."

"Thank you, Lord Clare."

"Are those the house words..?" She hesitantly asked.

"The Clare House words, yes. The House Stellaris words- well, those are with ambition and perseverance. For now, though, I must discuss a few more things with Albus, Professor Snape, Professor Starling and Atria's teachers." It was a clear dismissal to the students. "Go have dinner and rest up. Today was exhausting for everyone, wasn't it?"

Haytham herded the children away, "Let's get to dinner, then. It'll be over soon and I don't want to visit the kitchens this late."

It was only after the doors were closed and locked did Yvone start speaking to the other adults. "Professor Russo?"

"Yes, Lord Clare?"

"You will no longer be teaching my granddaughter anything. To push a child that far, knowing that they're severely hampered is tantamount to attempted murder."

"But her mother.. Told me that she was evil. That she had killed before-that she was basically a monster-"

"Did you not stop to think that she wasn't? That she was willing and eager to learn from you? That she was a child?"

"I was told she wasn't. I was warned she might snap-"

"Obviously she didn't. Even after two years of your teachings, of your abuse and bullying. I could have your teaching license for this-"

"Lord Clare, please-"

"By my grace, you shall retain your license, but if I hear of you treating any other student like this, I'll bring it up for a vote by MACUSA. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Lord Clare." She looked sufficiently cowed.

"She will have tested into the Apprenticeship Programs," Professor Snape said, "If she has, I would be willing to have two apprentices. She would fit well within my teachings, as not only am I a water-fire aspect, I am licensed in occlumency and legilimency. Please think about my offer and owl me for more information should you require it."

"I will consider you, but ultimately the decision is Atria's. I'll be giving her a list of potential applicants for teacher and allow her to choose amongst them. We won't be having a repeat of this."

"Certainly not," he agreed.

"As for the upcoming week, or weeks," She directed this to Headmaster Dumbledore, "I'll be taking her home for recovery. She needs time to purge that vile potion from her system as well as to rest and recuperate from today's debacle."

"I grant you leave. I'll send her homework and studies along with the students when they visit. They're quite taken with her.. Especially young Harry."

"Atria has always been kind to those around her. No harm will come to them," Yvone assured, "Especially young Lord Potter."

After that statement, Yvone made her way out of the infirmary, taking the stairs slowly-what surprised her, though, was that the Headmaster materialized at her side and offered her his arm.

The next morning, when Atria awoke, she was greeted by her friends. It was Sunday-they were able to do whatever they wanted with their free time, and even though she told them she was okay, they spent the majority of the day in the infirmary with her.

"So, dear," Madame Pomfrey said, "You'll be spending tonight in the infirmary and going home tomorrow morning with your grandmother. As of now, I'm worried if you become too active you'll have another serious episode."

"It makes sense," Atria agreed. "Thank you for telling me, Madam Pomfrey."

"You're Welcome, dear. I still have a few more potions for you to take. Of course there's your usual strengthening solution, but there are also a few restorative potions you're going to need to take. And Professor Snape has created an antidote for the potion you were taking. He's said that it'll take a few months for it to fully leave your system, even with taking the antidote regularly."

"By my estimations your lungs will fully recover by the end of the school year, but until then you'll still be dealing with the lung damage, the tightness and the asthma." She tutted. "However, it should steadily get better with time. In fact, over the next two weeks, you should feel healthier than you have in a while."

Atria nodded and accepted the four potions, drinking each one quickly. They tasted so bad- but.

"You said two weeks? My grandmother is keeping me home for two weeks?"

"That's at my recommendation, yes, with light exercise a week in. Currently, you're not in any state to do anything other than rest. In fact, the Headmaster is going to open the infirmary's floo to international travel tomorrow so you don't exert yourself."

"Is my condition really that.. Fragile?"

"Currently, yes. In two weeks, I'll run another set of diagnostics to make sure everything's healing well. You may have to take more time off school to fully recover. It depends."

"I see."

"You'll get better. It'll take time, but you'll get better."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey."

The day passed quickly- of course, Madam Pomfrey had removed Jasmine and Draco a couple times due to their exuberance, but they were always let back in. Or they snuck back in. It was amusing to Atria. However, a few of the first years treated her with a respect that they didn't before and it rankled her. She just-wanted to be friends with them, not be above them or for them to see her any differently than they did before.

Regardless, her schoolbooks were packed by Draco, as well as few other things he'd manage to slip in. Such as his mother's lavender-honey bread, a get-well card as well as a small bracelet decorated with stars and moons.

It was a thoughtful gift that she didn't think she deserved, but.. She knew it was probably his mother or father's idea, but to have him put the effort in shocked her. She knew that Haytham and the rest probably got her something as well, but they weren't as open with it as Draco was.

The day she was supposed to go home, they appeared at lunch time, with a few of the necessary items she needed and a few she didn't. Haytham, in particular, seemed upset that she was going to Clare Manor, but he saw the necessity of it.

"It just won't be the same without you here."

"What happens when you graduate at the end of this year?" Atria asked, "You won't be able to see me every day, then.."

"I'll still miss you, but I have something I'm making for you, that's a surprise that'll help in that regard." He said, "So it won't be so hard on us."

"You can still visit me on Hogsmeade weekends," Atria pointed out, "We're still going to see each other."

"But you're my best friend-"

"Haytham, it'll be okay," She soothed-and instinctively, she hugged him. He seemed to relax at that and she smiled a little. "You can visit me tonight after dinner and we can study or something-"

"Your grandmother's library sounds like a great place to get essay material," He agreed, "She's been alive for so long, she's bound to have something we can use."

Atria rolled her eyes.

"Atria, are you ready, child? Albus, you're coming as well," Yvone brooked no argument. "I see everything you need has been packed. Wand?"

"Yes, Mamaw."

"Swords?"

"Yes, Mamaw," She drew out the last w for a couple seconds.

"I don't want you leaving anything that you need behind, dear."

"I understand."

"Through the floo, young one!"

The floo nearly made Atria sick-the pull on her magic definitely stressed her body even if she had enough magic to deal with it. Was she really in that bad a shape? Truly?

The questions were constant, from her doubting herself to her hating herself and she knew that was mostly her mother's constant, critical voice. It didn't help her combat it, though, as it was a life-long thing. Hopefully she could overcome it with time and-maybe a mind-healer, if her grandmother thought it was necessary.

Once she arrived with the Headmaster, she was surprised to see her father sitting at the table eating breakfast.

"Er.. good morning, Dad," She greeted a little awkwardly, "Do you mind if I?"

She gestured towards the chairs at the table.

"I don't mind," He said agreeably, and she sat down at the table, a few places away from where he was eating.

It didn't take long for her grandmother to come out of the floo-her grandmother had papers held in her left hand while she rubbed her right hand over her face.

"Mamaw, have you eaten anything today?"

"No, I've had other obligations."

"Go eat, Yvone." Antares' voice brooked no argument.

"Fine." A house elf was summoned and her grandmother ordered for all of them.

Clare Manor had more of an open floor plan, but finding the kitchen would've been hard without a guide. Luckily enough for the elf, everything she needed was on the ground floor. Both she, her grandmother and Albus had pancakes, bacon and orange juice, with a small dish of fruit to share.

After the elf returned, they sat at the table. The papers that Atria's grandmother had were sat at the other end of the table under a purple geode-Atria recognized it as one she found as a child. She didn't realize her grandmother kept it for so many years..

"First off, I've uncovered something about Atria's mother. Atria dear, your mother has been diverting your mail. Your father has been trying to reach you for the past three years and I've finally put it together."

"I.. thank you, Lord Clare," Antares' voice was full of gratitude.

"Headmaster, you've been invited because I want Antares to be given more of a role in Atria's life. I'm asking that you allow him to visit her on Hogsmeade weekends, to teach her of her role in the Stellaris family."

The Headmaster gave a small nod, "That can be arranged."

"Atria, I heard what happened with your mother. I never imagined. I would have-I would have tried to protect you."

Her breath caught in her throat, and she swallowed to force it down. "I know. I'm sorry, Dad-I should have.. Said-"

"You didn't know. It was her job to take care of you and treat you like a child. And she didn't. It's both of our failings because I didn't push her when I needed to."

The rest of breakfast was silent-and Atria pondered to herself what would have happened if she was raised by her father instead.

It made it hard to eat.

Her pancakes were only half-eaten before she excused herself to rest in her room. She couldn't stand to see her grandmother or her father-it hurt too much. However, she did feel a little bit of understanding for both of them. It was a difficult situation but the end result was the same, and knowing that they suffered with it made her feel less alone.

Maybe she would be okay? Only time could tell.