(A/N): Hey Guys! So, this chapter is much longer than the last, yay! This the second to last chapter of first year, also yay! Sorry about the amount of line dividers in this chapter!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Leo, Elaine, Nicholai and Quiggly.
Leo
It had been two weeks since our little pact, and Lily, James, Sirius and Peter were holding up their side of the deal, albeit begrudgingly. Today was the last day of term though, and nothing could bring me down, because I was going to see my father. Of course, this meant being away from Elaine and Remus, but still, I got to see my dad. Besides, I'd still be able to send them letters, and I'd still be able to see Lily at least.
I packed all my last minute items into my trunk before glancing around at our dorm room, to see Remus laying on his bed, finished, and James, Sirius and Peter rushing around trying to pack everything, seeing as they had been too lazy to pack it before now.
"You could have saved yourself the trouble if you'd just packed last night." I muttered, and James glared at me before tugging on his hair roughly. I held my hands up in surrender before pushing myself onto my bed.
"What you reading Moony?" He shook the book cover in my face silently, and I smiled in amusement.
"Romeo and Juliet? Hoping for a great romance of your own?" He simply flipped me off before taking another bite of the chocolate bar he held.
"Fine, just don't blame me if you get chocolate on the pages." He rolled his eyes at me, before we heard Elaine's voice calling up the stairs.
"Hurry up slowpokes, we're going to be late for the train at this rate!" I grinned at Remus before pulling him off the bed quickly and rushing down the stairs to see Elaine waiting there.
"Hey." I greeted her quietly, the smile still on my face, and she smiled back.
"Hey." She said, raising her eyebrows slightly. "Remmy still getting ready?"
"No, he's just putting a book back in his trunk. How about Lily?" As I asked this, she emerged at the bottom of the girls staircase.
"Has anybody seen my toothbrush?" she asked over the din, to which she received no reply. "No? Okay, I'll check upstairs again then." I grinned after her before returning my gaze to Elaine.
"What about you, have any trouble getting ready?" She chuckled quietly before shaking her head.
"No, I got everything ready last night, like a sane person." At this point Remus trudged down the stair, another chocolate bar in his hand, and yet more in the pockets of his jacket from what I could smell.
"Got enough chocolate there Moony?" I asked with a smile, and Elaine snorted quietly.
"One can never have enough chocolate."
When everyone was finally ready, we made our way down to the entrance hall as one big group, where we were joined by Severus, who nodded politely to me, which I returned. I made sure the boys were on my right, and that Severus was on my left, with a barrier of Lily, Elaine, Remus and I between them.
Since all of us wouldn't fit in the one carriage, or the same cabin, we decided we would split into groups for the journey, our original groups, in fact. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter in one group, and Lily, Severus, Elaine and I in the other.
"Well, I guess this is pretty much goodbye."Remus said to both Elaine and I, and we glanced at each other solemnly before pouncing on him, pulling him into a tight hug.
"We'll miss you!" We chorused, and the others chuckled. As we separated, Elaine hugged both Sirius and James, which I was surprised about, before patting Peter on the shoulder. He looked slightly dismayed at this, so when I gave James and Sirius their pat on the shoulder as a way of saying goodbye, I gave him one too, which seemed to cheer him up.
We boarded our separate carriages, Lily and Severus on one side, Elaine and I on the other. Quickly, the carriages set off towards Hogsmeade, and I grinned somewhat sadly at Elaine.
"Just think, after this train ride, you'll be free of me for a whole summer." I joked, and Elaine giggled quietly.
"And who wouldn't want that?" I pouted silently in response, and she quickly backpedalled.
"I meant-" I cut her off with a grin.
"I know what you meant." I said before pulling her into a one-armed hug around the shoulders quickly.
"Make sure to write." She muttered, and I smiled slightly.
"Every day, if you want."
We had boarded the train, taking our seats in the cabin exactly the same as we had in the carriage, and Elaine leaned against my side, a book in her hands, as well as one in mine. She and Remus had snuck some books out of the Room of Requirement on Animagi, but I was reading up on normal transfiguration, to see if it would help with the change. We were silent for most of the train ride, only speaking on occasion.
When we arrived at the station, some hours later, we tucked our books in our bags and stood, heading out. Once outside the train, I helped Elaine load her trunk onto her trolley before lifting mine on, and looking around for my father.
"There's my mom!" Elaine said, a wide smile on her lips, and I followed her gaze to see a woman in her early thirties with chestnut brown hair, deep brown eyes, and pale skin.
"Well I see where you get your looks." She elbowed me in the ribs, blushing slightly, before suddenly hugging me. I released my grip on my trolley and wrapped my arms around her quickly, before we both let go.
"I guess I'll see you next term." I grinned at her.
"Looking forward to it." She started towards her mother before glancing back at me and waving. I waved in return before scanning the crowd again, finally seeing my father off to the side, and wheeling my trolley towards him quickly.
"Hey dad." I said, and he smiled, genuinely glad to see me.
"Hey Leo." He replied, before pulling me into a tight, somewhat unexpected, hug. "There's been a bit of a change in plans." I felt my eyebrows wrinkle as I returned the hug, and we both separated.
"What do you mean?" I asked, and he glanced around.
"We're not going to be spending the summer in Cokeworth, we're going to the old house." I blinked, letting it sink in for a second before nodding slowly.
"Explain it later?" He nodded, and we headed for the exit.
Once outside, he grabbed my arm, and closed his eyes before spinning on his heel, and suddenly, I was apparating again.
When I stopped feeling like I was being squeezed through a tube, backwards, I opened my eyes to see our old house, the one we had lived in before moving to Cokeworth. It looked more like a castle, really. You see, this was the old Ellwood estate. The family had died out a long time ago, except for my father and I, so we were the only ones there, in this huge house, in the middle of the English country-side.
"So, what are we doing here?" I questioned, and my father grimaced slightly.
"We're training." Okay, now I was confused.
"Training for what?" He glanced around again, before looking down at me.
"For anything. Word is starting to spread amongst us half-breeds, and the word is that a war will be coming in the next few years. I want us to be prepared." I nodded slowly, showing I understood. "Also, this training will help you keep in control of your more...animalistic...tendencies." I winced, and he frowned.
"To help with this, I brought an old friend along." He gestured to the trees near the house, where a girl, perhaps in her late teens, with long and wavy dark brown, almost black hair, tanned skin, and hazel eyes. She was beautiful, but clearly a vampire, despite the tanned skin. "Leo, this is Shari. Shari, Leo." I nodded to her out of politeness, and she smiled in return.
"Shari has agreed to help us to train, so let's get started after we get you some food, and put these bags away, okay?" I nodded slowly, still caught off guard.
Five minutes ago, I was going home, and now, I was training for a war.
(A/N): Please review and/or check out my other stories!
Disclaimer: I also own Shari.
P.S: Shari looks like a young Charisma Carpenter, and her name is based on the fact that people in my class keep saying i look like this girl called Shari.