"Okay," I admitted, as I halted in front of Gabrielle. "I honestly have no idea where the Headmaster's Office is."

Gabrielle laughed, shaking her head. Her dark brown eyes twinkled with amusement, and she jerked her head to the left.

"We've passed it a couple times now, we've been walking in circles. I just wanted to see how long it would take for you to let down your pride and admit you had no idea where to go." She informed me with a teasing smile. I slapped her arm, my mouth hanging open in mock horror.

"How dare you! And I call you my friend!" I shrieked, which only increased her laughter.

"Yeah, yeah." Gabrielle chuckled. "Okay, come on. The only trouble is going to be getting inside, I dunno what the password is."

"That's helpful."

"It is, isn't it?"

"Don't get sassy, Belle."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Cassy." I rolled my eyes at her playful antics, and followed the dark haired girl.

Gabrielle led me over to a fierce looking gargoyle, who eyed us with interest.

"Password?"

"Erm, I don't have the password but we need to speak with someone. The last one I remember was firewiskey." Gabrielle said uncertainly. The gargoyle didn't move.

"Oh come on!" Gabrielle whined. "We just need to get into to talk with the Headmaster! Can't you let us in?"

"What would I be able to help you with, Miss Flint, Miss Elise?"

The calm and collected voice of the one and only Albus Dumbledore reached our ears, and Gabrielle and I spun around to see the graying man approaching us. His eyes twinkled with slight amusement, and a small piece of parchment was clutched in his fist.

"Oh, Headmaster! We were looking for you." Gabrielle breathed. "So sorry to bother you, Sir, is this a good time?"

"Yes, a good time indeed. Let's head up to speak in private. Earwax flavored jelly beans." Dumbledore chuckled, providing the gargoyle with the password. The statue moved to reveal a moving spiral staircase that the three of us hoped onto, carrying us up to Dumbledore's office.

The inside of his office was rather large, with a set of steps leading up to a curtained area where I imagined he slept. Shelves upon shelves of books covered the walls, and in the middle of it all, stood a desk covered in parchment and a candy bowl. To the side of the desk stood a bird perch, where a rather lovely and intimidating Phoenix eyed Gabrielle and I with interest. Portraits of former headmasters littered the walls, and off to the farthest left corner stood a large pensive. Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"I do apologize for the mess, I wasn't expecting any company today." Dumbledore said somewhat sheepishly. "What was it that you need to speak with me about."

"We want to join the resistance." Gabrielle blurted out. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"And what makes you think that I would endanger the lives of two students by allowing you to join the Resistance?" He questioned. A lump formed in my throat, and I shared a worried glance with Gabrielle.

"Sir, we have ideas on how to aid the Resistance. I could become a spy, I could join the Death Eater crowd and gain information to relay back to you." I offered hopefully. Dumbledore seemed to think it over, stroking his beard and rocking back and forth.

"While you suggest very useful services, Miss Elise, I cannot allow you to put your life at risk. Under no circumstances shall you become a part of the Resistance before you graduate. I will not stand for it." Dumbledore finally spoke, his answer almost seemingly apologetic.

"Fine then." I said flatly. "But that's not going to stop me. I want to help, so I will help, even if I'm not relaying back to the Resistance. You can't stop me!"

"Oi, Cas, you're speaking to the Headmaster." Gabrielle reminded me, nudging me with her elbow. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with slight amusement.

"It is fine, Miss Flint, your friend does have a point. While I cannot control your actions, Miss Elise, I do ask that you be careful. Dark times are upon us, and I don't want any of my students getting hurt. Now, I do believe that it's time for the two of you to head down to the Great Hall, that is, if you're done asking questions." Dumbledore spoke.

"We've asked them." Gabrielle said, taking me by the head and leading me out the door. "Thank you, sir."

"My pleasure, Miss Flint, Miss Elise. Do be careful!"

"Aren't we always?" I muttered under my breath, still nursing the area where Andromeda had elbowed me quite painfully.

"That went well." Gabrielle sighed as we walked through the corridors. "You pretty much talked back to the Headmaster and said you were going to put your life on the line."

"Your point being?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow. Gabrielle chuckled.

"You're so stubborn, sometimes I think you'd do well in Gryffindor." She laughed. I shrugged, but pondered it in my head.

"I guess, but I do posses more Slytherin traits, as I've pointed out before." I countered. Gabrielle nodded her head in agreement.

"That I know as well. I think I'm going to sit with Ted today at dinner, if you don't mind."

"I'll manage. Maybe I'll make my move, head over to Severus again. Talk trash about Lily and mention the word mudblood between every sentence." I sighed darkly. "Blimey, I hope I know what I'm doing."

"I hope so too." Gabrielle agreed. "For your sake, and for the rest of ours."

As we entered the Great Hall, we went our separate ways, Gabrielle going to the Ravenclaw table to comfort Bradley, I forcing myself to walk over to where Severus was sitting.

I didn't notice the pair of eyes following me as I cleared my throat, beginning to speak with my old friend.

"Severus." I greeted somewhat coldly. He looked up in surprise, as well as the rest of his new friends, Rosier, Avery, Mulciber, and a few other future supporters of the Dark Lord.

"Cascade? What are you doing here?" Severus said in shock.

"She's probably come to beg for you to come back to her, blood traitor." Rosier sneered, and Severus silenced him with a glare.

"I'm no blood traitor, Rosier." I said haughtily. "And besides, why would I come begging? I've moved on, for Merlin's sake. I came to speak with you lot."

"Oh?" Avery pried, his dark eyes lighting up with curiosity. "What do you have to say, Elise?"

"I wanted to know what you lot were up to. I had a fight with our," I paused and glanced at Severus, who was fidgeting uncomfortably. "Old mudblood friend." At the word, Severus inhaled rather loudly, but his friends didn't seem to notice. "We exchanged a few words. I realized what garbage her kind really is. There is no place for the spawn of muggles at Hogwarts. I was a fool to ever be friends with one. All she did was ruin me, mock me, and humiliate me." I finished with a sneer, hating every single word that came from my mouth.

"Well in that case," Mulciber said devilishly, sliding over to make room. "Have a seat, Cas." The way he drawled my name made disgusted shivers erupt on my spine, and I internally groaned, but sat down beside the boy with a convincing smile.

"I'm so glad you realized what a fool you were." Rosier said, and Severus remained quiet, his eyes searching mine for answers. I provided him with none.

"As am I." I forced myself to speak, and they all began to smile, sickening smiles.

"Well, welcome back to the family, Cascade." Severus forced, and it was painful, if I was honest. I grinned at him, screaming on the inside. Guilt welled in my chest, but I forced it away.

"It's good to be back."

Across the way at the Gryffindor table, a certain group of sixth years watched in horror as Cascade Elise walked up to the Death Eater crowd, exchanging a few words before sitting down with a cold grin that didn't fit on her face. Lily Evans's eyes were wide with shock and hurt, while Sirius Black stared open mouthed.

"What the bloody hell is she doing over there?" He whispered to James, his heart heavy in his chest. "I thought she wasn't friends with that lot."

"She looks mighty comfortable to me." Marlene McKinnon sneered, having never been a fan of the Slytherin girl. Lily silenced her friend with a look, and answered for James.

"I have no idea. She and Severus haven't spoken to each other forever, and now they're suddenly friends. Something isn't right." She muttered. Sirius nodded sadly.

"Yeah. She's up to something."

"She looks right at home..." Marlene spoke again, but was ignored again as well.

"I thought she was friends with my cousin." Sirius asked confusedly. "Did something happen? Maybe I should go ask..."

"Don't, mate." James shook his head. "Don't. If she really is up to something, Elise is smart. She won't want you interfering."

"And if she's not up to something? What if she changed! I don't want her to have changed, James." Sirius moaned, raking a hand down his face. "She was never like the other bloody Slytherin gits."

"I dunno what to tell you, mate." James sighed. "But, whatever it is that's going on there, it doesn't look good."

A/N: Just a quick shoutout to Gryffindor_Fangirl  for making the new beautiful covers. I'm having so much trouble deciding which one(s) I like most!