(A/N): Hey Guys! So, this chapter was pretty fun to write, and I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Leo, Elaine, Nicholai and Shari.

Elaine

My breath came out in pants as I cowered inside the small cupboard, and I could hear his footsteps getting closer. I stopped breathing all together as I saw his shadow fall across the side wall of the cupboard, through the gap between the door and the actual cupboard. I shuddered as he paused, just outside the door, before silently sighing in relief as he started to walk away. That is, until he pulled the door open and wrenched me out of the cupboard.

"Let me go!" I yelled, struggling against his grip.

"Stop moving!" He bellowed, his breath stinking of the same herbal concoction he always drank, and I saw my mother lying on the floor as my father pushed me into the Living room.

"Mom..." I whimpered, and she lifted her head slightly at the sound of my voice, and I was honestly a little surprised to see that she was still alive. I crawled across the carpet to curl up at her side, trying to protect her.

"You better be here when I get back...or else." My father threatened, sweeping his arm across the table and sending our long neglected dinner flying across the room, and I screamed quietly as the plate it was on shattered on impact with the wall. He exited the room, and seconds later I heard the front door close.

"Come on." My mother said as she stood up, quickly but carefully, holding her side, and I gaped at the bruises marring her normally beautiful face.

"What are you doing?" I asked quietly, surprised. Usually we waited for him to return, too scared to disobey him.

"We're leaving this place, for good. We'll pick up Jay on the way." She told me firmly, staring down at me like she expected me to argue. Instead, I grinned at her.

"I'll help you pack."

We were getting ready to leave when my father burst through the door, and, upon seeing our suitcases packed, flew into a rage. I watched as he attacked my mother, and then he came for me. I felt fear pour through my veins as he approached, and I shrunk back into the corner, having nowhere else to go. Just before his fist made contact with my face, I was shaken awake.

"Elaine! Elaine." I recognised the voice, and opened my tear-filled eyes to see Remus. Just a dream. No, not a dream. A memory that had turned into a nightmare. My mother and I had been able to leave without complications that night, and we were finally free of my father.

"Remus?" I asked, my voice full of terror and embarrassment. He stared at me for a few seconds before pulling me to his chest, his arms around my shoulder, resting his chin on top of my head.

"It's okay now, it was just a dream." I shook my head at his reassurances.

"No, it wasn't." I choked out before I could help myself, and he pulled away to stare down at me. "It was about my father." He still looked confused, and I remembered that he had no idea about my abusive past.

"It's going to be okay." He told me again, and I pulled away, wiping at the tears that had carved warm tracks down my cheeks, avoiding his eyes.

"Yeah. It was just a dream." I could feel him staring at me once more, and I glanced around, noticing for the first time that Leo was missing.

"Where's Leo?" The corner of Remus's lips quirked up, and he too glanced at Leo's empty bed.

"He went to wake Lily up so he can wash his sheets." I nodded slowly, before standing up. He grabbed one of my hands, and I turned my head so I could still see him.

"It really is going to be okay, Elaine. Leo and I won't let anything bad happen to you." I stared at him for a second, to determine whether he was really serious.

"Thank you Remus." I whispered, ruffling his hair with my fingers to try and lighten the moment.

"No problem. Seriously." I got the feeling that he was being totally sincere when he said this, and my gaze softened.

"I'm sorry." He stared up at me, confused, and I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for all the things I said while I was in the trance." He waved a hand, like he didn't really care, and I put my hands on his shoulders. "And don't say it's nothing, because I know I made Leo cry, and let's face it, he's a lot tougher than you are..." I trailed off as he raised both his eyebrows.

"You made Leo cry? I didn't know that." We stared at each other for a few seconds before shaking our heads and saying the same thing at exactly the same time.

"Secretive bastard."

Leo

I stared around the familiar, yet messed up dorm room, and carefully made my way over to my bed where Lily still lay, curled around my pillow.

The boys were gone, probably down at breakfast, so I reached out and shook her shoulder lightly.

"Mhmm." She protested, and I rolled my eyes.

"It's ten o'clock Lils, you can't be that tired." She jolted upright at the sound of my voice, and glanced around the room, wide-eyed.

"Ew, I can't believe I fell asleep in here." She said, pretending to shudder, before glancing down at the bed she had been sleeping in- mine. "Wait, this is your bed. But then...where did you sleep?" I shrugged and glanced around at the pillow-strewn room awkwardly.

"Room of Requirement. Remus dragged me there, even though I was fine with just sleeping on the floor." She raised an eyebrow, chuckling lightly before noticing that I was being serious.

"You were seriously going to sleep on the floor? Just because I was here? Even if you didn't want to wake me, why didn't you just sleep in one of the other boys beds?" I shook my head, grimacing as I gestured to my fellow dorm mates' beds.

"Lily, you've been in this room. It stinks. Remus and I are the only ones who have even heard of personal hygiene, I'm not going to sleep in the stink pits they like to call 'beds'." I made fingers around the word beds, and she grinned at me somewhat sheepishly.

"So, did you have fun in the Room of Requirement?" She asked, and I shrugged, rolling my eyes as I sat on the edge of my bed.

"Yeah, we invited Elaine and we had a great big sleepover." I said somewhat sarcastically, picking at the fraying edge of the sheet.

"You like her don't you?" My head snapped up, and I stared at her for a minute, unable to help myself from blushing furiously the whole time.

"No- I- What gives you that idea?" She giggled, beaming at me, and I looked away, embarrassed.

"Pretty much everything you just did." I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest mock-angrily.

"You really need to mind your own business." I muttered, while smiling at her so she knew I meant it fondly.

"And you need to tell yours." She retorted, and I placed one hand over my heart.

"Ouch Lils, just ouch."

(A/N): What did you think? Good? Lame? Too many question marks?

I really liked this chapter, because of having Leo comfort Elaine, like he usually does, it was Remus, and I feel like that really strengthened their relationship.

Please review and/or check out my other stories!

This chapter has had small edits made to it on 29/12/22 - I made changes to Elaine's dream, because I originally wrote Elaine's father as an alcoholic (his breath reeking of alcohol, smashing a beer bottle), but it doesn't match the character I make him into later, because I completely forgot that I had written him that way previously.