"Sirius Black you give me back my book right now." Cass shouted, folding her arms tightly across her chest and glaring at her brother. Sirius simply laughed, chucking the book to James.

"You've been sitting here for three hours, I think a break is necessary." Sirius said. Cass scowled at him and reached for her Herbology textbook from James.

"Not a chance Cassie." James laughed, throwing it back to Sirius.

"We have exams soon!" Cass protested.

"In like, three months." Sirius scoffed. "You worry too much."

"You'll be the one worrying when you leave it to the last minute, like usual." Cass snapped.

"Lighten up." Sirius laughed. "It's almost the holidays, you're about to get a taste of freedom."

"I'd rather have freedom and my textbook thank you very much." Cass said. The Easter holidays were in a few days, and it would be the first time that Cass did not stay at Hogwarts for them, deciding that it would be best to get her room at Sirius' flat sorted out.

"Remus, catch!" Sirius called, lobbing the textbook at an approaching Remus and hitting him in square in the face. Remus clutched his nose, which had starting bleeding.

"Oh my Merlin." Peter squeaked, rushing to help
Remus.

"Good one Padfoot." James said. "Real smooth." Sirius face palmed and hurried over to help his boyfriend. Cass picked up her textbook from the floor, sticking her tongue out at Sirius.

"Oh no." Sirius moaned. "You'll never look the same. We have to go and get your nose fixed and that will take weeks." Cass rolled her eyes, going over to help the struggling boys.

"Episkey." She said lazily, pointing her wand at Remus' nose. It shifted back into its original position.

"Thanks." Remus said gratefully.

"Almost like magic, eh Sirius? 'It'll take weeks.'" Cass said, scoffing slightly.

"I panicked!" Sirius defended. "Sorry Moony, I didn't mean to hit you." Remus laughed.

"Good think you're a beater and not a chaser Padfoot." He said. Sirius grabbed the book back from Cass.

"Prongs, think fast!" Sirius shouted, aiming the book at James. It sailed past him but he chased after it, grabbing it just before it hit Lily. James collided with her, sending them both to the ground. Lily landed with a thump on top of James' chest.

"Well, I caught it." James groaned.

"For goodness sake Potter, watch where you're going." Lily huffed. James grinned up at her. 

"That's kind of hard to do, considering you're on top of me." He said. Lily went as red as her hair, standing up from the floor and brushing herself off. Sirius, Peter and Remus were howling with laughter.

"Sorry." Lily muttered.

"It was my fault." James said, offering her a lopsided grin.

"I- um I should..." Lily stammered.

"We said we'd meet Grace to study." Cass cut in. "In the library, right now."

"Oh yeah." Lily said.

"Bye idiots." Cass called, waving vaguely in their direction.

"Bye." Sirius shouted at the two girls retreating backs.

"You know Prongs, I think she's starting to like you." Peter said. James beamed at him.

"Knew she'd come round."

•••

Platform nine and three quarters was as packed as ever, families waiting to meet their children from the train. Cass detached herself from Noah and picked up her trunk, slipping her wand into the waistband of her skirt.

"It feels weird." Cass said.

"What does?" Noah asked.

"This is the first time I've gotten off of the train and not been terrified of what awaits me." Cass admitted. "It's weird."

"It shouldn't feel weird." Noah said softly. "You shouldn't have ever had to put up with what you did, it's awful." Cass shrugged, not really knowing what else to say. She was saved by Lily and Alice, who were chatting excitedly about their plans for Easter.

"Cass!" Alice said. "You have to come to my house at some point, we just had our extension finished and I'm pretty sure mum and dad were thinking about getting a jacuzzi."

"Sounds fun Alice." Cass smiled. "Let me know when and I'll be there."

"Excellent." Alice said. They stepped off of the train. "Oh, there's Frank I'd better say goodbye." She ran off. Lily gave Cass a tight hug.

"I'll see you soon." She said. "You still want help moving in, right?"

"Yeah, that'd be great." Cass smiled. "Tomorrow okay?"

"Sure." Lily said. "I'd better be off, bye Cass. Love you!" She too hurried off to her parents. Cass stood staring blankly around. Noah gently took her hand.

"It's okay, they're not going to be here." He said. Cass shook her head.

"It's not that, it's just so strange not going back to them. I almost feel like I should be, they are my family."

"They are not your family." Noah said sharply. "No family treats their child like that, lets them deal with monsters like him."

"It's okay Noah." Cass said softly. "It's fine."

"It is not fine." Noah said, throwing his hands up in frustration. "You did not, and do not deserve to be treated like you're nothing. Because you're not Cass, you're everything. You mean everything to me. I love you." Cass flung her arms around his neck, ignoring the stares they were starting to receive.

"I love you too." Cass said. They sprang apart as someone cleared their throat. Will was smirking at the two of them.

"William! I told you not to interrupt them." Grace said, smacking his arm. Will feigned hurt.

"Ouch Grace, that was your strongest hit yet." He clutched his arm. Grace scowled at him.

"Sweet lord." Noah muttered.

"You're holding us up lover boy." Will said. "The 'rents want to get home." He gestured over to their parents, Phillip and Sophia.

"Where's Sirius?" Cass said.

"He was still on the train when we got off." Grace said.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to my folks." Noah said, leading her towards them. Cass felt her stomach do a few somersaults.

"Will! Noah!" Sophia said, hugging both of them.

"About time." Phillip said grumpily, checking his watch. Sophia swatted his arm.

"Don't be so moody Phil, they must be exhausted after the journey. Oh, hello Grace sweetheart, I didn't see you there." Sophia wrapped her in a hug.

"Hello Sophia." Grace smiled. Sophia turned to Cass.

"And you must be the famous Cassiopeia!" She said. "We've heard so much about you!" Without warning, she pulled Cass into a hug. Cass tensed but soon relaxed into her soft grip.

"Nice to meet you Mrs Rosenthal." She said politely. Noah gave her a small thumbs up.

"You must come for dinner at some point, I'll have Noah let you know when." Sophia said. "And-"

"We'd better be going." Phillip interrupted. "Long car journey ahead."

"See you soon dear." Sophia said, turning to walk with her husband. Grace hugged Cass.

"I'll write." She said. "I'm sure I'll see you at some point, one way or another."

"See you later Cass." Will said. The two of them turned to leave also. Noah turned to Cass.

"As my mother said, I'll write." Noah grinned. "She likes you."

"So you talk about me then?" Cass said slyly, a smirk on her face. Noah blushed. "All good things I'm sure."

"Of course." Noah said. They leaned in to kiss.

"Cass! There you are!" James' loud voice floated over to them. "Come on!"

"We just can't catch a break." Cass muttered, giving Noah a quick peck on the lips. "Bye, I love you."

"Love you too." Noah said. James shouted her name again.

"I'd better.." Cass said. Noah grabbed her waist and kissed her properly. Will had returned, sent by his parents and pulled Noah off of Cass.

"So that's what kept you." He said. Noah shoved him off and picked up his trunk. "Laters."

"Bye." Noah muttered, aiming a kick at Will. Cass giggled slightly and then went over to where James and Sirius were waiting for her.

•••

"Thanks for dinner Euphemia." Sirius said. "It was lovely."

"Yeah, thank you so much." Cass said.

"No problem at all, you're both welcome anytime." Euphemia said.

"We'd better be going." Sirius said. "Bye Prongs."

"Bye James." Cass said. She picked up her trunk from the ground. "We'd better start walking, it's already dark."

"Who said anything about walking?" Sirius said, a mischievous glint in his eye. Cass stopped dead, causing Sirius to collide with her.

"Well, we can't apparate yet." She said. "And I don't really fancy splinching myself."

"Obviously not." Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "I'm not that stupid."

"Debatable." Cass said. Sirius nodded in agreement.

"Wait a second, hey!" He said, lightly pushing her. "That was mean."

"Stay on topic Sirius. I'd like to be in bed right now." Cass said, snapping her fingers in front of his face.

"Oh right, yeah." Sirius dug about in the pocketed of his prized leather jacket, pulling out some keys. "I left it here when we went back to Hogwarts."

"Left what here?" Cass asked suspiciously. Sirius didn't answer, strolling towards the side of the Potters house. He pulled a cloth off of his motorbike.

"Et voila!" He grinned. Cass gaped at him.

"I am not getting on that." She said.

"Have a nice walk home then." Sirius said, swinging his leg over the bike.

"What about our trunks?" Cass said, desperately trying to think of an excuse.

"You're a witch for a reason Cass." Sirius said. "Come on it's fun." Cass eyed her brother and his bike doubtfully. Sirius chucked her a helmet.

"Fine." Cass said, slipping it over her head. "But if we die, I will kill you." Sirius grinned at her, shrinking both of their trunks with a wave of his wand. Cass put them in her pocket and climbed on behind Sirius, wrapping her hands tightly around his waist. The motorbike roared to life and Cass squealed loudly. Her grip tightened on Sirius as the weaves through the dark streets towards their flat. Sirius pulled up at the side of an apartment building, where Cass assumed their flat was.

"Well?" Sirius said. "What did you think?"

"I think..." Cass said. "That I never want to do that again." She clutched her stomach, feeling rather queasy.

"Aw come on, it was fun." Sirius said. Cass staggered slightly, grabbing onto Sirius for support. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Cass said weakly. "Think it's just motion sickness." Sirius looked at her worriedly, helping her into the building and into the lift. Cass looked rather pale in the harsh lighting of the hallway.

"Where are my keys?" Sirius muttered to himself, rummaging around in his numerous pockets. He unlocked the door of flat 3B and ushered Cass inside. "Home sweet home." Cass wrinkled her nose slightly.

"It's clear that interior design isn't your strong point." She said.

"I thought it was quite nice." Sirius defended.

"Yeah, if you're a fifty year old woman." Cass scoffed, examining the lace curtains and pink walls of the living room.

"I hadn't gotten around to fixing that yet." Sirius said. "I spent most of Christmas at James'." Cass suddenly blanched and clutched her stomach again, pushing past Sirius into the bathroom. She managed to make it to the toilet before vomiting into it. Sirius held her hair back out of the line of fire.

"Eugh." Cass groaned. "Disgusting."

"Did you get it all up?" Sirius asked. Cass nodded slowly.

"I think so." She wiped her mouth with her hand. "Wait-" Her words were cut off by more vomiting. Sirius whipped out a bobble from his pocket and gently tied Cass' hair into a ponytail.

"I'm just going to get you a glass of water." He said. Cass nodded, holding tightly onto the edge of the toilet. Sirius came back through a few minutes later, handing her a cup of water. Cass sipped it gratefully.

"Our trunks, they're in my jacket pocket." She murmured. "I want to go to bed." Sirius picked up her discarded jacket and picked out their trunks, enlarging Cass' one.

"Er, do you want some pyjamas?" He said.

"No, I told you to get our trunks because I wanted my robes." Cass said dryly.

"Right." Sirius muttered, digging about in Cass' trunk and pulling out some pyjama bottoms and one of Noah's t-shirts. "How cute." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Don't act like you don't have seven of Remus' jumpers stashed in the bottom of your trunk." Cass murmured sleepily. "I'm tired Sirius."

"I know, let's just get you changed." Sirius said. He hesitated as Cass vomited again. "Merlin, what's wrong with you?"

"I appear to be spewing my guts up." Cass said unhelpfully. Sirius helped Cass slip off her tights and on her pyjamas bottoms, then helped her take off her skirt. "Turn around." Cass commanded. Sirius obliged and Cass whisked her top over her head and Noah's t-shirt in its place.

"Do you think you've stopped vomiting?" Sirius asked. Cass nodded slowly.

"I'm just so tired." She said, slumping down against the wall. Sirius lifted her up and carried her through to his bedroom.

"You can't sleep alone, in case you choke on your own vomit." He informed her, laying her down on his bed. Cass didn't fight him on it, allowing him to tuck her in.

"Night." She said, her eyes already starting to close. Sirius summoned a large bowl, placing it on the cabinet in case she woke up and needed to be sick again. He pulled out a mirror from his pocket, holding it up so he could see himself.

"Prongs. Psst, James." He hissed. James' tired face appeared in the mirror.

"Padfoot, it's late." James groaned. "What do you want?"

"Charming." Sirius said.

"Well? Can I go back to sleep?" James asked.

"No don't do that." Sirius said quickly. "Cass is sick, like she just spewed for like an hour." James' irritated expression immediately changed to one of worry.

"Where is she now?"

"In bed, she's sleeping." Sirius said. "The first night she has away from the 'noble house of black' and she gets sick. I don't know if it's just a coincidence or not."

"It will be." James said, although he sounded a little uncertain. "Look, there's not much we can do right now. It's late and Cass is asleep. I'll speak to my mum in the morning, we'll probably come over." James laughed softly. "You know how she is."

"Thank you." Sirius said.

"Wait, isn't Lily supposed to come tomorrow to help Cass move in?" James said. Sirius nodded.

"I'll owl her, tell her not to come." He said. "I'll let you get back to sleep mate."

"Goodnight Padfoot." James said. "Try and get some sleep, yeah? I know what you're like."

"Okay Prongs, night."