"Bye mum, bye dad!" I called over my shoulder, feeling slightly giddy. My parents waved at me as I walked away, something they hadn't done since my first year. It felt good to know that they really did love me, and that they'd accepted me for who I was.

Walking until I found an empty compartment, I lifted my trunk into storage and took a seat, tracing my thumb over the tip of my wand. As a fifth year, I was required to take the O.W.L.s, something I wasn't looking forward to. Pushing away the worrisome thoughts of the exams, I settled down into my seat with a sigh, staring out the window as more students filed onto the express.

"Pardon me, but are these seats taken?"

I turned around, startled, to see Lily and Severus. I smiled at my friends, shaking my head in response to Lily's question.

"Not at all, please sit." I said in a regal tone, patting the seats across and beside me. Lily sat down next to me, Severus sitting across from us and filling up the entire row of seats with his lengthening legs.

"So, how was the rest of your guys' break?" I asked, sticking my wand back into my pocket. "I hung out with my cousin Davis, he's actually quite nice when he's not ignoring you because he thinks you're a Slytherin freak. Thank you for helping me realize that I needed to set things right with my family, Lily, by the way." I added, patting Lily on the knee.

"I'm glad I was able to help." She said with a smile. "The rest of my break was fine, I spent some time with Severus down by the pond and tried to talk to Petunia. It didn't work, but there's always the summer, I guess."

"What about you, Sev?"

"I hung out with Lily, read a few potions bo-"

"Willingly?" I cried out, reaching across the compartment and feeling his forehead. "Blimey, you're not burning up, something internal must be going on. I'm taking you straight to the Hospital Wing as soon as we get to Hogwarts, I don't care if we miss dinner-"

"I'm fine, Cas." Severus interrupted, rather harsh. I immediately let my hand drop, slightly intimidated by his cold tone. "No need to skip dinner."

"Good, because although you're my friend, I'd only take you as far as the Hospital Wing before I doubled back to get some crisps." I joked, and he laughed. I felt a wave of relief sweep over me. He had probably just been insulted by my potions comment, as it was his favorite and best subject.

"Glad to know you've got my back."

"We all have each other's backs, right?" Lily broke in. I looked at the faces of my friends, studying Lily's emerald eyes and the fierce compassion and will they held within them, before taking in Severus's blackish brown orbs filled with ambition and pride.

"Of course." I responded, smiling at them. Lily smiled back at me, and we looked to Severus, who had hesitated a little to long for comfort.

"I've got your backs." He said slowly, but it was almost like a question.

I would look back on this moment in time and realize that that was when it all began. That was the beginning of when my life changed forever.

---

"I'm so full!" I groaned, clutching my stomach as we made our way back up to the Slytherin dormitories. "Ugh, I could burst!"

"Not cleaning that up either!" Regulus called from behind me, and I laughed.

"Don't worry, Sev will do it, right?"

"I'm not so sure about that." He said, his long nose wrinkled. "That would be rather upsetting."

"I see your point. Filch will do it!" I proclaimed, and grinned, satisfied with my logic.

"I'm sure he'll be thrilled to know that he's been selected." Severus said, and bid me a goodnight, climbing the stairs to his dorm.

I lingered at the fire for a little while, gazing into the fizzing and popping embers. Finally deciding to go to bed, I silently stalked up the stairs before entering my dorms and changing into my pajamas. Lying back onto the stack of pillows on my bed, I quickly fell into a comfortable sleep.

When I awoke in the morning, the clock read 7:15 AM. Yawning, I stretched and popped my back, tumbling out of bed and gathering my robes and a towel. Smiling at Eliza's sleeping form, I quickly left my room.

Heading to the shared bathrooms, I hummed a light tune, turning on the hot water and quickly showering, before toweling off my hair and changing into the Hogwarts uniform quickly.

"Good morning, Elise." Isabella Parkinson, a slim girl with an upturned nose and a pug-like face, greeted. She was a year below me, and one of the nicer Slytherin girls, which was saying a lot considering the fact that she was about as kind as dementor. I sent a small smile her way, and finished getting ready for classes, pulling my hair up into a tight knot at the top of my head.

Rushing back to my room to grab my bag, I hurried down the stairs and to my usual corner, waiting for Severus to arrive. After ten minutes had passed, I still didn't see him, so I decided to head down to breakfast, thinking that he may have forgotten to wait for me.

When I reached the Great Hall, I saw Lily sitting at the Gryffinfor table, facing away from me. Severus sat with Rosier, Avery and Mulciber, farther down than where we usually sat. Sitting down by myself with a huff, I busied myself with my breakfast, telling myself that I should be happy that Severus was making more friends, I didn't have to always occupy his attention. He didn't always have to sit with me.

As the week progressed, I found myself seeing less and less of Severus. Sure, I saw him in all of my classes and in the halls, but never once did he speak a word to me or acknowledge my presence. I figured that if he was going to ignore me, I could ignore him too.

January passed by quickly, shortly followed by February and then March. The second day of April, Lily cornered me, a look of concern stretched across her features.

"Has Severus been acting weird around you lately?" She asked, leading me to an empty classroom. "He seemed fine last week, but now he's not really speaking to me anymore. And I haven't sat with you two since after break, sorry about that."

"Oh, him?" I scoffed angrily. "Why don't you ask him what's wrong? He started ignoring me the second we got back from break, he's hanging around with Rosier and Mulciber, the pure-blood maniac lot. I haven't spoken to him since I wished him goodnight the day we got back. Don't worry about the whole sitting together thing, by the way. I understand completely if you don't want to sit with the Slytherins."

"What?" Lily gasped. "What? Why would Severus do anything like that? You're his best friend! I'll sit with you today at lunch."

"Not anymore." I said bitterly. "And I also don't think you should sit with me anymore. People have started to talk badly about muggles and muggleborns even more, I don't want you to get hurt." It was to late though, and I saw the flash of hurt on Lily's face. "No, no, it's not your fault, Lily-"

"Well if you don't want me around then, I'll just go." She said thickly, and I shook my head frantically.

"That's not what I said! The other Slytherins won't want a muggleborn sitting at their table, it was okay before, but no-"

"Yeah, it was okay before. Nothing has changed with the Slytherins, Cas. They've always talked down muggleborns, you know that. Since when did that stop me? You don't have to pretend that you don't want me to sit with you."

"No! I do want you to sit with me!" I cried out, and Lily shook her head.

"You just said that you didn't!"

"This is so stupid! I never said that! You're being so stupid, Lil-"

"Oh, so I'm the stupid one now?"

"That's not what I mea-"

"That's what you just said! You could sit at the Gryffindor table, you know."

"No, I can't. They hate Slytherins, and all of the other Slytherins would hate me-"

"You never used to care what other Slytherins thought. You said you weren't like them." Lily said softy, tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. I felt my own eyes watering as well. "I-I'm going to go. See you around, Cas."

"No-wait!" I called, but she'd already left, leaving me feeling even more alone than before.