(A/N): So, it's been a while. Again. About a year and a half since I last uploaded. Half of this chapter had been finished back then, the second half was written more recently but not actually recently, but from the chapter after that onwards, its all been written in the past day or two.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except everything.

Leo

It was just after sunset when the Hogwarts Express pulled into the King's Cross Station, and I was immediately relieved to see Lisbet standing on the platform, with people going out of their way to avoid so much as looking at her.

Her face was a dark mask, and for a split second I was scared something had happened, before our eyes met and her face split into a massive grin, the tension almost entirely melting away.

I could feel my own face mimic hers, my lips curving upwards, my eyes crinkling at the corners. It was so good to see her again, especially at a time like this, and it was hitting me a lot harder that I had expected it to.

"Lis..." I murmured as I stepped off the train, and she instantly threw her arms around me, drawing me to her body, and I crumbled into the embrace.

"It's so good to see you!" She cried, and I could feel the sincerity in that statement, so I squeezed her tightly in return. "We missed you, bud."

I could tell she really meant it, and it worried me that clearly my clan members weren't taking my absence well, and maybe weren't getting along as well as I had hoped.

"I missed you guys too, Lis."She butted the side of her head against mine, and I recognised it as the display of affection it was, and I rubbed my nose along her hairline near her ear, lightly scenting her.

It wasn't something we had ever done before, but the low hum Lisbet emitted told me I had done the right thing.

"We should get home." She seemed somewhat reluctant to let me go but did so anyway, and I could feel eyes on us as she heaved my heavy trunk into her arms with absolutely zero effort, which I guess would look rather odd to anyone who didn't know what we were.

I grabbed her arm firmly, knowing what would happen if I let go- and felt the familiar clenching of my body as we apparated away.

For a handful of seconds it was completely black as we traveled through the weird realm of nowhereness that all wizards just sort of seemed to accept as normal, before I was practically blinded by the light as we arrived at the property line of the Ellwood Family Estate.

My Home.

I looked at Lisbet, and amended that thought. Our Home.

Almost like she could tell what I was thinking, she turned and gave me a big smile, right before I was engulfed in a bear hug by two people that could only have been the twins.

"Leo!" They screeched, and despite the pain in my eardrums, I shared the sentiment.

"Aw, I missed you guys too!" As soon as they reached the spot on the side of my head where Lisbet had scented me, they huffed out a breath and quickly set about doing the same thing- thought I knew they probably didn't fully understand what they were doing. They were probably just running on instinct, which was almost MORE touching, in a way.

"How was school?" Danniel asked, and I shrugged my shoulders as we parted.

"School's good. Everything else... Not so much." Their faces dropped, and Lisbet squeezed my shoulder, her face full of worry, so I flashed her a small smile. "It's nothing-" I didn't want to say 'bad' because, I mean, it was bad, but that would give them the wrong idea. "Dangerous." Was what I went with.

"Okay... Why don't you tell us as we head inside? I know you'll probably want to see Shari before... Everything goes down." Lisbet said, and I grimaced, but set a brisk pace towards the house, letting them fall in on either side of me.

"How is she, by the way?" My tone was quiet, cautious, and Jo's face screwed up in a way that didn't read like good news to me.

"She's... the same." Which was all she really needed to say.

Shari had still been an absolute wreck when I had left for school in the September, seemingly unable (or unwilling) to do anything but stay secluded, curled up in my fathers room and to keen almost nonstop. She wouldn't even move to feed, with us having to bring her food, and practically force her to drink- and honestly, it made me a little uncomfortable.

For someone who had lived the better part of two centuries, she sure seemed pretty okay with letting herself waste away to nothingness.

"At least she's not getting any worse." Was all I could say, and the twins seemed to agree with me.

Vampires, much like Veela's, could succumb to something akin to literal heartbreak if their mate was killed, which is what we thought might be happening here. For all our teasing of my father and Shari's relationship, and the fact that they had never outright admitted it, we knew that they loved each other very much. But they was Shari was acting after... everything confirmed what I had been thinking for the past couple of months.

My father was Shari's mate... but Shari may not have been his.

"Don't avoid the subject, Leo." Lisbet intoned, but there was no venom behind it, probably knowing that I hadn't done it intentionally, and that I was just way more focused on Shari than anything else right now.

"Oh... Brooke and I broke up." The twins seemed surprised by this, but Lisbet froze for a second, before she jumped to catch up, easy as that was for her.

"What?! When did this happen?" I shrugged again, biting my lip as I considered it.

"Uh... A couple of weeks ago? We just weren't seeing eye to eye on things, and we decided it would be easier for both of us if we took some time apart." I said, knowing they were going to ask, and most definitely not wanting them to find out the real reason we had broken up.

"Oh. That's... Okay I guess?" She seemed unsure, but honestly so was I, so I just shrugged again.

"Yeah, I guess."

After roughly half an hour of faintly cooing in Shari's direction and trying (and failing) to convince her to feed, we heard footsteps in the distance, running in our direction, so we went downstairs to await the guest we had been expecting since my birthday.

It was completely nerve wracking, a truly unique feeling, and one that I had only experienced once before, so I tried to steel myself as I heard the front door open and close, and footsteps approach the parlor.

Suddenly, all too soon, there in the doorway, stood my brother.

(A/N): Finally get to introduce this character, and a few plot points of varying importance.