"Cascade?" My mother asked, startled by my sudden and unusual appearance. She and my father were sitting around the fireplace reading the Daily Prophet. I cleared my throat, and walked over.

"I know you both think I'm a disgrace to the family, and I know that I'm a huge disappointment, but I want to change that. I want things to go back to the way they were before I was sorted into Slytherin. I'm still the same person I was, the only people that have changed are you. I'm in Slytherin because I'm cunning, ambitious, and resourceful. Those aren't necessarily bad qualities. I'm not a pure-blood, You-Know-Who-obsessed maniac like the rest of them. I was almost sorted into Gryffindor, but the Sorting Hat saw more Slytherin reflected qualities in me. I'm happy in Slytherin, to be honest. The only thing I'm not happy about is my relationship with my family." I spoke, trying to keep my hands from shaking. If I was honest, I was afraid that I'd be rejected again, that they'd still hate me.

My father turned to face my mother, his eyes clouded with guilt. He took a deep breath, setting down the copy of the Daily Prophet he was holding, and looked me in the eyes.

"Cascade Mireia Elise, I-I'm sorry." He spoke, voice trembling. "We wronged you, we shunned you away in f-fear that you'd turn out like You-Know-Who, in fear that our daughter, the person we loved most, would be the one to turn on us and that we would have to fight you. We were afraid of you. That's not a very Gryffindor thing to do. I-I should've realized that being in Slytherin wasn't just all about being evil and hating muggles, but about being cunning, ambitious, and resourceful, like you. I've put this off too long, and I'm so, so, so sorry, my dear. I don't deserve your forgiveness, and we understand if you hate us, but we could never hate you. We were so wrapped up in our fears that we pushed you away, afraid to be hurt. I-"

I cut him off by rushing forward and collapsing into his arms, tears of relief falling from my face. My mother and father both had tears in their eyes as well, and my dad wrapped his arms around me comfortingly. I hadn't felt his embrace for five years, and it felt wonderful. My mother soon joined in the hug, and I sobbed into her chest as well, pulling her closer.

"I'm so sorry, Cascade." My mother said, holding me to her chest and kissing my forehead. "I've missed you, really."

"Yeah, me too, mum." I whispered, my voice thick with emotion. Everything I'd harbored inside of me over the years was spilling out, and all the anger and resentment I'd felt towards them was gone, replaced by the relief and joy of being a family again.

I had a family again.

The words were unfamiliar in my ears, and soon a wide smile spread across my face. I laughed, and my parents joined in, the first true family laugh we'd shared in years.

Of course things would never be the same between us again, but we were healing, we were making progress.

Lily had been right.

I'd wanted this all along.

---

"Cas!" Lily pounced, tackling me to the soft grass. It was January 1st, and after days upon days of catching up with my parents and cousins, I'd finally worked out a date to meet up with my friends. "I missed you so much! I want to hear all about your family!"

"Hey, Elise." Severus greeted, holding out his hand for me to take, pulling me off the ground. I dusted myself off, and wrapped him in a hug as well, noticing disappointedly that over the course of the first week of winter break, he'd managed to grow taller than me.

"Snape." I nodded my head. "You grew!" His smirk was enough to make me want to punch him in the gut, although I contained my impulses.

"Yes indeed. I have to say, although I'd never truly agree with Black, you are rather itty bitty."

"Take it back!" I seethed, and Lily laughed, grabbing me by the shoulders to prevent me for launching myself at him. "Never, ever, call me anything that Black says! He's such a prat!"

"I was just messing with you, Cas, calm down." Severus cowered, holding up his hands in defense. While I was slightly shorter than my colleagues, I could muster a lot of physical strength when I wanted to, and both Lily and Severus knew it to be true. They'd both been on the receiving end of one of my punches more than a few times.

"I'm warning you, Sev, one more word about my height and..." I drew a line across my throat, and he grinned.

"Point taken. So what are we doing today?"

"I dunno, Red here said she made plans." I said, pointing at Lily. She scowled at the nickname, not very amused by it like Severus and I were.

"Don't call me that, Cas, and yes, I did make plans to go to the cinema. I also want to hear about your family, you never really told me anything in the letters!"

"That's a fat lie, I told you everything in the letters. Let's head to the cinema now, sounds like fun. What muggle movie are we seeing?" I asked.

"I dunno, figured we could pick when we got there. You up for it, Sev?" Lily questioned.

"Course."

---

"Why did we choose that movie again, remind me?" I groaned, rubbing at my eyes to keep myself awake. "It was so bloody boring! All they did was kiss and break up and then kiss and get back together and then kiss and then break up and end up jumping off a cliff or something."

"I agree." Lily said, yawning. "You lot want to head to the Leaky Caldron for lunch?"

"Sure." Severus shrugged. "I'm not that hungry though, we bought so much corn-pop, or whatever it's called."

"Popcorn." Lily corrected. "Good point though. How about some ice cream? Diagon Alley isn't that far, we could take the muggle bus."

"Or..." I began, enjoying the look of terror begin to form on Lily's face as she realized what I was implying. "We could take the Knight Bus."

"NO!" Lily screeched, startling many muggles and causing them to glance in our direction. "No! Absolutely not, I hate that bus, it makes me sick just thin-"

"Oops." I said, dropping my arm holding my wand at just the right angle, and with a loud pop, the familiar purple bus appeared. Severus and I smirked at the fuming redhead, who began to grumble about 'treacherous best friends that you couldn't trust.'

Climbing into the bus, I headed towards the back of the first level, taking a seat next to a guy who looked around my age. I couldn't really tell though, as he was asleep (how anyone could fall asleep on the Knight Bus was beyond me), with long dark hair obscuring his facial features.

"Hang on, that's not Black, is it?" Severus questioned icily as he took a seat next to me. "I swear, if it is, our lu-"

At the sound of a voice, the boy stirred from his sleep, yawning and stretching, turning to face me with the troublesome grin I despised so very much.

"Hellloooo, soap dope."

"UGH! Why do we always run into you!" I cried out, holding my hands up. "That's it, I'n changing seats!" I stood up, only to fall back as the bus lurched forward, Sirius catching me.

"You're welcome, Elise." He said with a sly grin, and I rolled my eyes.

"What are you even doing on the Knight Bus by yourself?" Lily piped up, shocking me, as she usually was unable to form complete sentences while riding the hated bus, her face a pale green.

"Oh, you know, running away from the family that hates me, the usual. Hey, Snivellus." Sirius answered casually, and Severus glared at him coldly.

"Don't call him that." Lily and I snapped at the same time, and Sirius chuckled.

"Okay, okay, well, this is my stop. See you lot on the express." Sirius said as the bus halted with a jerk, getting up and exiting the row of seats.

"Bye soap dope."

"Die painfully, egocentric buffoon."