(A/N): Hey Guys! So, this chapter is full of surprises, and not all of them are seen as good.

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

Leo

I waited until Elaine's footsteps had faded, before turning to face Brooke finally.

"What's up?" I asked, both confused and surprised. Why, of all people, would she want to talk to me?

"Uh...I guess it's time then." She stared at the ground, and I could feel how nervous she was. Nervous, not afraid.

"Time for what?" I asked, half suspicious, still half confused, and full of curiosity. She looked up, staring me directly in the eye as she spoke her next part.

"I know what you are." I forced myself not to freeze up, instead chuckling and rolling my eyes.

"What, a wizard? I think everyone here knows that." I tried to joke, but she shook her head, face serious but a little shy.

"Half-vampire."

Now I just stared.

"Wha- how?!" I hissed, almost pulling my hair out in frustration. "Did someone put out a notice on the bulletin board or something?" Brooke smiled slightly, pulling my hand from my hair with hers so I would stop trying to yank it from my scalp.

"No, but it is kind of obvious." I rolled my eyes, smiling slightly for the first time, though it probably looked more like a grimace.

"Well, yeah, I've been told about that before. What clued you in though?" She smirked, mischievously, and I stared at her. She had the expressions of a Marauder, this girl.

She moved closer to me, until our bodies were almost touching, though we both faced straight ahead, and whispered her reply into my ear.

"Your smell." She giggled quietly, and spun on her heel, walking away. My smell? She could smell me? How?

When she was maybe two meters away, she beckoned for me to follow over her shoulder, and I considered my options quickly before deciding, ultimately, that she wouldn't, couldn't, cause me harm.

And I ignored the small voice in my head that was growing ever stronger.

Kill her. She knows, she's a liability.

She of course, had almost certainly no clue what was going on in my head, as I didn't feel the nerves I had felt from her earlier, nor any sort of fear.

"So, how did you know?" I asked, and I felt a smirk form on her face. "And don't say my smell again. Because I know as well as you do that full-humans can't smell the fact someone's a vampire." The smirk fell, only to replaced with a grin.

"You are smarter than you look, I thought that might be a myth." Sort of cryptic. Did she mean me, specifically, or vampires in general?

"Yeah, well, don't judge a book by its cover." Of all the people at Hogwarts that didn't know, other than Sirius, Lily and Peter, Brooke is the next person I wouldn't be surprised if they found out.

She was smart, I had always known that. She was observant, something very important, but most of all, just like it was with me, it was her smell that lead me to believe that she was different.

Just like with every person, their blood smells slightly different to everyone else's, and everyone has their own unique scent above that.

Brooke smelt like peppermint, red licorice and ice cream. Why does everyone smell like food? ...Don't answer that.

Brooke's blood, however, smelt entirely different. It was also different from any blood I had smelt before, because along with the tangy smell of copper, was the smell of fire. Well, like a wood fire, plus the smell of the feel of the sun on your skin.

Confusing, but basically, she smelt like fire, warmth and copper. Different, but still good. Less appetising than human blood, but I bet it would still be delicious.

My eyes widened, and I shook the thought from my head.

"You alright back there?" Brooke called back, and I shook my head again before replying.

"Yeah, completely fine." No, I wasn't. "So, what are you? Giant? Ogre? Mountain troll?" She rolled her eyes, and I smiled slightly as I felt anger bubble in her veins.

"Part veela, actually." I raised an eyebrow. Veela? Really? I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't that.

"Aren't they usually fair haired?" She glanced at me as I quickened my pace to draw level with her.

"Most of the time, yes, but they can be any." I nodded my head slowly, showing I understood. I checked her blood silently, to make sure she wasn't lying. Her pulse hadn't quickened, and she wasn't nervous, so unless she was a really good liar, and didn't feel guilty about it, she was telling the truth.

"My mother was a full veela, my father a wizard. They met, fell in love, and had me. Eight years later, mum died." She stated it, as if she was speaking about someone else, but I knew, she was in pain.

"I thought veela had pre-selected mates? Like a love at first sight kind of thing?" She nodded, and I wrapped an arm around her shoulder comfortingly.

"Yeah, but I didn't want to say, 'they met, mated, and had me', it just sounds...dirty, that way." I nodded in agreement, biting my lip, wanting to ask her why she was telling me this.

"So, why are you telling me this?" I asked rather bluntly, and she blinked before grinning at me.

"Because you're like me, part veela."

(A/N): ...surprise?

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This chapter has had minor edits made to it on 29/12/22 - Once again changing Brooke saying her mother died when she was nine years old, to when she was eight years old because of the math that I had to do based on the information given in the next chapter.