(A/N): Hey Guys! So, I know it's been a while, but things with school have been really hectic, and I started a new hobby (miniatures, yay!), and I had little to no muse for this story until a few days ago, so that's where the next few chapters will be coming from. Sorry for the wait.

Also, this chapter is very important!

For one, it reveals the status of the war!

For two, it introduces a character I forgot about for ages.

And for three, there's this plot point from first year I forgot I hadn't shared with you guys until only a few days ago, so that comes out in... not the next chapter, but the next one I think? ;)

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.

Remus

By the time I woke up in the morning, the boys were in their beds, but strangely enough, Elaine was still in Leo's.

Alone.

Now, it wasn't unusual for Leo to be gone before I came to, but on the rare occasion that Elaine did fall asleep in Leo's bed, he always carried her up to her bed in the girls dormitory when he eventually went to bed.

"Guys!" I exclaimed urgently, and if that didn't wake them up, then Peter falling out of his bed and crashing into his night-stand definitely did it.

"What- Remus? What's wrong?" Elaine asked blearily, and I took only a split second to marvel at how high her hair was sticking up.

"Wait, where's Leo?" Peter questioned, apparently more observant than everyone else, even though he was still slumped rear first on the cold stone floor.

"Exactly." I said as the other boys turned their eyes to Elaine.

"Room of Requirement?" Sirius suggested, and Elaine turned bright red as Sirius flung the covers off himself, revealing his stark white boxers.

"Merlin, Sirius, have some shame." He threw her a haphazard wink, falling back on his bed as he tried to pull on a pair of slacks.

"Shame? I'm afraid we don't know the meaning of that word, cousin." James teased, threading his belt through the loops on his pants and shrugging on a shirt over his tank top and starting to button it up.

"That, and a lot of others." Elaine muttered, and Peter shot her a weak smile.

By the time we reached the Room of Requirement, we didn't bother to knock, figuring that Leo, if he was indeed there, would hear us coming.

When we pushed the door open, however, we found him fast asleep, curled up in the mass of duvet that swamped the king size double bed, his messy blonde hair peeping up over the top.

"Leo." I said at an average noise level, and he let out a long, quiet groan.

"Go away," He whined. "'m sleeping." My eyes darted to Elaine as I saw her move in my peripheral vision, and noticed she was grinning.

"Leo..." She cooed, starting towards the bed, and the rest of us followed.

The duvet shifted a little as she crawled onto the bed and up to the headboard, pulling Leo's head into her lap as she settled in.

"Mmph..." He murmured, and her smile intensified as she started carding her fingers through his hair.

"Morning, sweetheart." She said, but near the end, it was almost drowned out by the low, thrumming purr Leo was producing. "Well- woah." She let out in surprise as Leo started rubbing his cheek against her leg.

"Is this a vampire thing?" Sirius inquired, and my eyebrows furrowed as I reached out, pulling her hand from his hair and watching him visibly relax.

"Unless someone switched his mind with the mind of a cat, I'm guessing, yeah, it's a vampire thing." I replied, glancing up at Elaine, who nodded.

"Vampires are kind of like the humanoid equivalent of cats, and werewolves are like dogs. That's why cats don't like vampires, they feel threatened by them." Leo and I both raised our eyebrows at her, although Leo still looked rather sleepy and cute. "What? I've been... reading up on vampires." She confessed tightly, and Leo flashed an easy grin.

"Why?" He asked, sounding both incredulous and amused, but in the best way possible.

"Because. It's interesting." She said, shrugging and wearing a slight pout that instantly made him drop the subject.

"So, all vampires purr when you scratch them on the head?" James asked skeptically, and Elaine shook her head.

"No, everyone's different. Just like how different vampires keen at different things." Leo pursed his lips, sitting up and avoiding looking at us, so I instantly knew that something was wrong.

"Leo..." I prodded, and the others turned their attention to him. "What's wrong?" He shrugged faux-lightly.

"Nothing! Just... did you know that when a vampires' mate dies, they can keen for weeks, months, or even years solid?" He asked, and it felt like he was leading to something, so I glanced to Elaine for clarification.

"Not like how a Veela does, where it's a predestined mate. When two vampires have been together for a really long time, and one of them loves the other romantically, they become that vampires' mate- it's usually mutual... considering the romantic leanings of the vampire species." She explained, and Leo cocked an eyebrow at her.

"I think you know more about vampires than I do." He told her, sounding oddly proud as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"That's probably not true." She said, seeming slightly embarrassed by his statement, and he shrugged.

"It's pretty close. Shari hadn't been training me as of late." My eyebrows furrowed, mostly out of confusion, but partially out of worry. Leo would have told us if something had happened to Shari, right?

"Why not?" He shrugged again, pursing his lips slightly, not at the question, but the fact that I had asked.

"Everyone's been pretty busy... what with everything going on." The war that Leo's vampire family had predicted had finally reared its ugly head early in the summer, and although we tried our hardest to ignore it, it was still there.

"Tell me about it." Sirius muttered somewhat bitterly. "My mother's been even more psychotic about Reg and I than normal." We all paused for a second, then made little sounds of understanding.

"Right, your brother... I keep forgetting he exists." Leo told him quietly, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Lucky you." He murmured, and I knew he only expected Leo to hear it, but I was too close to avoid it.

"How is Regulus, by the way?" Elaine asked in a surprisingly timid tone, and Sirius shrugged sharply.

"The same as always, 'We shouldn't disobey mother!'" He practically spat, and I lowered my head, not wanting to make him feel insecure about his little outburst, but James placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"The offer still stands." He told him, and Elaine cocked an eyebrow at her cousin.

"...What offer?" James shrugged loosely, clearly not wanting to say anything further on the subject, and Leo frowned slightly.

"Is that the offer your mum gave him, to live with your family?" All of our eyebrows shot up, and James gaped at him.

"How do you even know about that?" Leo shrugged, looking a little amused that he had to ask.

"I'm a vampire, Prongs-y, remember?" James shut his mouth, instead choosing to cross his arms over his chest.

"If I remember correctly, Blue, you were out training at that point." Our eyes turned back to Leo now.

"Hunting, actually. And if I had half a mind to, I could eavesdrop on one of your conversations from Hogsmeade." And I'm pretty sure our eyebrows grew wings and flew away at that point.

"You're kidding... right?" Leo shrugged.

"Maybe. I'm not entirely sure." I turned to Elaine, and saw that her eyebrows had plummeted.

"Is that weird?" I asked her, and she shrugged.

"I... don't know. My father never exactly measured it. But even so, Leo's only fifteen. Think about it, some vampires are hundreds, maybe even thousands of years old, and getting stronger every day. If Leo's this strong, and stops aging when he turns sixteen, then think about it-"

"Woah, wait a second-" All of our eyes turned to Peter. "You're saying Leo could just up and stop aging in a year?"

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

So, yeah, I completely forgot about Regulus up until a little while ago. Oops.

Please review and/or check out my other stories!