(A/N): hey Guys! *Nervous chuckle* Now, I know I haven't updated this story in a while, but I've been having some emotional probelms... so here's a chapter of over 2,000 words to compensate! Have fun!

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognised belonging to J.K Rowling or anyone else.

Elaine

I woke up in my bed, not quite knowing how I had gotten there.

I hadn't walked up here, I know that much. Lily wasn't strong enough to carry me, and the boys couldn't come up… The only thing remotely possible would be Leo, but I dismissed that idea, both because he's a boy, and my current mood with him.

I threw on my clothes, dragged a brush through my hair and pulled it back into a loose ponytail before making my way down to the Great Hall and plonking down on the bench next to Remus with a yawn.

"Ah, Sleeping Beauty awakens!" I flushed dark pink, both from embarrassment and with anger.

"And now she wishes she hadn't." I said, glaring at Leo sharply enough to make his grin fade to a pout.

"Aw come on Dams, I'm just trying to protect you!" He exclaimed, reaching a hand out towards me, but I smacked it away.

"I don't care!" Everything was quiet for a second between us, before a voice piped up.

"You know, you shouldn't talk to my brother like that!" Turning my head, I recognised her immediately as Leo's little sister, Mia, plus by the way she had said, 'my brother'.

"Little bug…." Leo trailed off warningly, but still gently, and she sighed, turning her gaze to him.

"Yes, big bear?" Sirius snickered quietly, before yelping and glaring at Leo.

"You didn't have to kick me!" Leo smirked proudly, shrugging.

"I didn't." Mia reached a hand across, and highfived her brother.

"She's like a female you." Lily marveled, and Leo took on a worried look.

"Unfortunately." He muttered, and Mia stuck her tongue out at him before racing back to the Hufflepuff table.

"Just as protective…" I mused, and I didn't have the time to swat him away as Leo wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me tightly to him.

"Just as reckless too." He muttered in my ear, and I fought the urge to blush.

"I didn't think that was possible." I joked, and he smiled at me, a genuine, happy smile.

"Neither did I." He admitted, his gaze far off, probably on Mia's back.

"What was that you said about Mia saving you over the holidays? With your mother?" I asked quietly, trying to avoid drawing the others attention, knowing he'd only tell me and Remus, if he would tell anyone at all.

"Eh… My mother was going crazy, Mia unchained me from the table, no big." I spun around in his arms to stare at him with wide eyes.

"Unchained you?!" I squealed, and the others glanced at us before Leo waved us away.

"It's nothing." He shot me a look that clearly said, 'later', so I let the matter drop with a slight glare.

Turning in my seat, my eyes sought Mia out of the crowd, and I shot her an appreciative look, even if she didn't notice it.

I understood now why she was so protective of him, and why he was so protective of us, but with my becoming an animagus… It just didn't make sense!

Yes, I'd be spending most, if not all of my time in animal form with Remus in his werewolf form, but werewolves aren't dangerous to animals, only to humans, and, apparently, according to the last time I had seen Remus in his werewolf form, those with vampire blood.

After lessons, we- Leo, Remus and myself- lounged in the Room of Requirement, and I looked to Leo expectantly.

"So?" I asked him, and he gave me a confused look, but I could see the recognition in his eyes.

"So?" He knew what I was talking about he just didn't want to talk about it. I considered my options for a split second, biting my lip.

"What happened over the holidays, Leo? The last time I saw you before school started, you were writhing in pain, and you looked like you were at death's door!" Remus raised an eyebrow, curious and worried, but trying to remain nonchalant, which was something he had definitely taken from Leo.

"My mother. I've told you that." He glanced at Remus, and I remembered that Remus didn't quite know everything there was to Leo.

"What happened with your mother?" Remus asked, most definitely perplexed now, and I bit my lip again.

"Leo, you should tell him." Leo shot me an incredulous look, before it turned into a glare.

"Why don't you tell him?" He was referring to my father's abuse, I knew, so I swallowed my pride, and turned to Remus.

"Remus-" Leo grabbed my arm and dragged me through the bookcases until we were near the back of the room of Requirements library, way out of Remus's hearing range, no matter how close it was to the full moon.

"I didn't mean now!" He exclaimed quietly, wearing a look on his face that reminded me of a panicked child, which told me his mask had slipped while he wasn't paying attention.

"Well, you need to tell him! Or at least me." I reasoned, and he stared at me, dumbstruck.

"I don't have to tell anyone anything, it's my past, why should it matter?" I went to rest a hand on his shoulder but he twisted away, leaving me to flinch.

"Leo…" He glared at me, an actual glare, but not one that suggested that he was truly furious with me, just at the situation I had put before him.

"I don't need anyone's pity." He said bitterly, and my eyebrows raised of their own accord.

"Do you honestly think anyone pities you, Leo?" He looked up at me as he leaned against the edge of one of the thick, sturdy wooden bookshelves. "Sure, you had a horrible past, but you don't need to keep secrets from us. We're your family now." I told him, offering a smile, but he just stared at me, his eyes roving my face like he was looking for something precious hidden somewhere deep beneath my skin.

"You were really going to tell Remus? Just because of me?" I shrugged, willing the blush that had bloomed on my cheeks to go away.

"It's about time anyway." I murmured, looking off in the direction I knew Remus was, and Leo wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to his chest.

"Don't worry about it Damsel, we'll get through this, you'll see." I grinned, worming my way out of his grip before boldly taking his hand in mine.

"I'll race you." I joked, and I took off, and he clearly let me win by the way we all knew he could have beat me there and had time to lap me a few dozen times before I, too, finished.

"You win." He told me with a smile, though he pretended to look disappointed and puffed out.

"Uh…" Remus piped up, gaze flickering between us with a small, knowing smirk.

"Remus…" I trailed off, biting my lip and sparing a glance at Remus before slipping into the chair closest to his.

"Do you remember, last year, when I had a nightmare in the room of requirement, and I ended up crying in your arms?" I saw Leo blink out of the corner of my eye, and remembered that he hadn't quite been privy to that event. Remus nodded quickly, obviously having the memory imprinted into his brain.

"You said, 'it's just a dream', and I said, 'it isn't' and 'it's about my father'?" Remus nodded, getting more confused the further we went along. "Well…" I glanced at Leo again.

"Go on." He mouthed, giving me a kind, calming look.

"My father abused my mother, brother and I for years before we finally got the money to leave him." I whispered, my eyes fixed on the ground as a smile started to bloom on my lips. It felt good to tell Remus, one of my closest friends, but I was still close to tears.

"Elaine…" Remus murmured, then all I heard was the sound of a chair scraping back before he crushed me to his chest.

We stood like that for a minute, before he pulled back slightly. I was still in his arms, but he was looking over my shoulder at Leo.

"Circumstance." He said, one word, and I stiffened, waiting for Leo's reply, unable to wriggle my way out of this embrace.

"Yeah." Leo muttered, his tone dry and hollow, and I knew that the mask he wore so well was back up, that emotionless mask.

"So, what did your mother do to you over the holidays?" Remus sounded calm, but I could feel his hand curled into a fist resting lightly against my side.

"Surprisingly little. A slap here, a Cruciatus curse there…" I sucked in a sharp breath, pushing Remus away lightly so I could face Leo again.

"That bitch, she deserves to rot in hell!" I growled, and Leo shot me an almost amused look.

"It's fine Damsel, Mia unchained me before she had the chance to do anything too serious." He had his mask back on, I could tell, but he covered it with a reassuring smile.

"Then why were you so… weak and in pain when I saw you?" He winced, and shrugged.

"Weak was because of blood loss… and pain was mostly because of this." He pulled the collar of his shirt away, and I saw a glistening scar, almost white, that closely resembled an older version of the one on my own neck.

I saw him look to the side as my own hand flew to my neck, and knew he was lying. What else could have happened that he didn't want us to know about, after telling us that.

"That- That's a vampire bite." Remus murmured dumbly, and Leo nodded.

"Like mine." Remus's head snapped around, but I ignored the dumbfounded, shocked look on his face in favor of Leo's somewhat guilty one.

I pulled back my collar as well, knowing what lay there, and mentally compared it to Leo's.

"Why does yours look older?" He raised an eyebrow, before chuckling lightly.

"Vampire, remember?" I stared at him for a minute.

"So… Does this mean that you're a full vampire now, or…?" I asked, and Leo shook his head.

"I told you, to become a vampire, a vampire has to suck your blood, then you have to suck their blood. And I'm pretty sure it'd just kill me anyway, given my already half-vampire-ness." My eyebrows furrowed, and I could see Remus still gaping at us from the corner of my eye.

"So, who bit you?" Leo shrugged, looking somewhat amused.

"Lisbet." I didn't recognise the name, but I vaguely remembered a third person when I had gone to see Leo during the summer, a person who clearly hadn't been human.

"Ah…" I said, before Remus made a spluttering noise, causing us to look at him.

"Who bit him? Who bit you?!" He exclaimed, looking murderous and worried, but I only shrugged.

"Jonothan." He looked perplexed, and Leo decided to explain.

"My uncle. He was after me and tracked my scent to Damsel. Then he decided to attack, and I sent him away." Remus stared at us both, and the corners of my mouth twitched down, making a 'sounds about right' face.

"And you just… Neglected to tell me this via letter?" Leo and I glanced at each other, looking both ashamed and a little guilty.

"Sorry Moony…" Leo murmured, and Remus placed a hand on his forehead.

"I just… Can you guys not keep secrets from me from now on?" Leo and I glanced at each other, before nodding.

Leo gasped for a second, before his face screwed up, and for a second I was worried he was in pain, but then he glanced at us both, and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Uh… One more secret?" Remus and I raised an eyebrow each, looking unamused, yet curious.

"What is it?" Leo shrugged, sticking both hands in his pockets.

"I'm also part Veela." Remus and I froze, and my eyes fluttered shut before I exhaled slowly.

"Is there any part of you that's actually human?" Leo's smile dropped slightly before it rose again, and I knew that I had, albeit unintentionally, hurt him.

"Just a teeny bit." He held his fingers out, about an inch apart, and I shot him and apologetic look, only to have him wrap an arm around my waist. "Oh!" Remus and I glanced at him, surprised, before becoming worried.

"Another secret?" Remus asked, and Leo shook his head.

"No, just remembering something." It felt, to me, like he was lying, but he didn't look off to the side like he usually did, so I let it go for now.

"Oh…kay…" Remus murmured, looking unsure, but Leo ruffled his hair, and grinned.

"We should get back to the common room…" He glanced at me, and I shot him a glare.

"You can't stop me from doing this Leo." I told him, standing my ground, and he shrugged.

"I know that. I just said that I wasn't going to help you." Remus and I glanced at each other, and eyebrow raised each.

"So… I'm still allowed to?" Leo smirked lightly, one eyebrow raised a little, as if making a challenge.

"If you can do it on your own, yes." I stared at him for a minute before jumping up and down.

"Yes, yes, yes!" I beamed at Remus, who only gave me an amused look in return.

(A/N): So, what did you guys think?

Also, I couldn't remember if Leo had told them about being part veela yet... so if I have, please alert me.

This chapter has had some small edits made to it on 30/12/22 - Because this chapter was riddled with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors for some reason. It wasn't even on my original list of chapters to edit, I only edited it because I decided to read the chapters between 121 and 128, which were two that I was planning on editing.