(A/N): So at this point I'm sort of on a tenuous schedule of posting a new chapter every second day, and spending the rest of the time editing the old chapters. I'm trying to make sure that when I edit the old chapters, I have a new chapter up so that people who are alerted that the story has been updated aren't disappointed by there not being a new chapter up, but at some point I have to start working on chapter 317. After I wrote 315, I wrote myself a brief outline of what I wanted to happen in the next three chapters- the first time I have ever written a chapter outline for this story, by the way, and when I wrote 316, I forced myself to keep writing that chapter until everything I had wanted to happen in that chapter, happened, which is how it ended up so freaking long.

This chapter unfortunately wasn't written around the time of Halloween, because that would have been funny.

Elaine

When we returned to the boys dormitory following dinner on Christmas Eve, we were all taken aback to see an unfamiliar owl perched rather comfortably on Leo's bed. My stomach clenched, remembering the surplus of owls I'd been receiving lately, and the news they had been carrying.

"Who's it for?" I asked, bracing myself against the wall by the door, hoping it wasn't even for me.

Remus moved to approach the bird and it watched him somewhat skittishly, like it didn't like the way he walked, so he took some extra time to make sure it wouldn't freak out, or fly away from him when he went to take the letter from it. He lifted the attached letter, presumably enough to read the address, before immediately releasing it.

"Elaine." Ugh, of course it was for me, I couldn't catch a break recently. "It's Leo's handwriting." We all reexamined the bird out of curiosity. Leo usually only sent his letters with my owl, and this was very decidedly not Lawrence, especially considering that I knew him to be sleeping in his cage by my bed at this very moment. On the upside, I hadn't sent my letter yet, which meant I could read this one and reply to it without having to send a second letter.

I made my way over to the owl, being careful not to startle the poor thing, and I gently untied the letter from its leg, idly noticing the envelope itself was heavier than normal. I opened the envelope and pulled out the letter, and as I did so something metallic fell out and landed on the bedspread. Looking at it, I realised it was a knut attached to a chain- this must be the charm Leo had made for emergencies- but hadn't he said he was going to give it to me when he returned after the holidays?

Folding the letter open, I searched for answers.

Dear Elaine,

NO EMERGENCIES, DON'T PANIC.

Maybe you should have put that on the outside of the envelope, Leo!

I know I said I was going to give you the charm when I next saw you, but I thought since I was sending Charlie out, I should have her deliver it. The owl is Charlotte- Charlie for short- and she was Lisbet's Christmas present to me. She thought I should give Lawrence a break, and stop running him ragged.

Please give one of the included Eeyelops Premium Owl Treats to Lawrence for me, but make sure you don't show his treat to Charlie when you feed her the other one, as she goes MAD for them.

Love, Leo

I shook the envelope out, and a resealable plastic baggy fell out, containing two brown square treats. The new owl- Charlie- immediately perked up.

"Yeah, one of those is for you." She gave a soft hoot and hopped towards me, suddenly much more amiable now that she knew I had food, and I turned back to the others. "This is Charlie, short for Charlotte. She's Lisbet's Christmas gift to Leo."

Leo

Charlie returned toting a letter from Elaine during breakfast on Christmas morning, looking a little tired, but rather proud of herself.

"Hi, sweetheart." I cooed in her direction, and she waddled over to me, eyeing the sausage at the edge of my plate. "No, no sausage. I'll grab you a treat in a sec." I released the letter from her leg and peeled the envelope open.

Dear Leo,

She tricked me.

This did not surprise me in the least. Charlie had tricked me out of half a box of treats in ten minutes the previous day; she was crafty, and manipulative. I adored her.

I gave her the one treat, and then she wouldn't take it, so I offered her the other treat to see if she found that one more tempting- I took my eyes off her for one second, and she gobbled down both of them!

I looked up, and had to stop her from doing the same to the sausage she had been eyeing off.

I gave Lawrence one of his own treats, so he wasn't left empty handed- er, winged- but either way, he was very appreciative. We were both willing to let you use his services as much as was necessary, but its good to spread the load around, so that was a good idea on Lisbet's part.

Lisbet, who was now feeding Charlie one of the treats she had retrieved from my bedroom in an attempt to stop her from pilfering my breakfast.

I don't know what instructions you gave her, but when we came up to the dorm after dinner, she was waiting for me on your bed.

Huh. She did seem to like my bed here, but if I sent her to Elaine, shouldn't she have gone to the Great Hall, or to her dorm like Lawrence had done when she had been in the Common Room? There was no way she could know Elaine was going to end up in my dorm, so why had she gone there? Did she just go to where I slept because she didn't know how to get to Elaine, and she thought that was her next best option?

Hmm, I'd have to try and work on that with her.

She was a bit skittish at first, until she found out I had treats, and then she was much more agreeable.

Yeah, that sounded like Charlie all right.

The charm fell out when I pulled the letter out, and I had to let the others think it was supposed to be a secret Christmas present from you to me. They're disappointed in your choice of gift, but at least it will stop them from asking unwanted questions.

Oh god. I hadn't thought about the fact that Charlie going to my dorm meant Elaine would most likely be forced to open the letter in from of the others in order to avoid drawing too much attention, and the letter was supposed to be private.

That hasn't stopped them from making fun of me, however.

Of course it hasn't. Ugh, hopefully they will have forgotten all about it before I get back.

I talked to my mother, and she asked about why Jay had reacted to you the way he did- why he thought you hurt me, why I was hurt in the first place, and why neither of us had told her.

And on a long list of conversations I'm glad I wasn't a part of, that's right up there.

I briefly explained what happened, and everything thats happened since- at least, the stuff I deemed relevant to her. I didn't mention that Jonothan is your uncle, or that Lisbet is the one that shoved you through the window-

Yeah, that probably wouldn't go over well. Now that I think about it, maybe that's why Lisbet was so intent on inspecting every part of the Folley's upholstery while we were there- she probably felt guilty for breaking their window.

-or the fact that when I went to see you while you were recovering, it wasn't just from the glass shard and the fight, but because your mother had poisoned you. I figured you wouldn't want me to tell her all that-

Right you are, my love.

So I intentionally kept it a little vague. By the way, I just wanted to verify... You DID tell the others what my father does, right? The vampire hunting stuff, I mean?

I knew she was concerned about what would happen if Tarea found out we were watching over his ex-wife and kids, but I'd told them as soon as I found out, and they had all accepted the risk readily.

Merry Christmas

Love, Elaine

PS: You know I'd love to help the Twins expand their tolerances, just tell me when, and I'll be there.

"Everything go according to plan?" Lisbet inquired as I set the letter down in order to get back to my breakfast, and I shrugged.

"The charm made it into Elaine's hands, so I'd say so, but apparently Charlie chose to wait for her on my bed." Lisbet appraised me quietly, with a look I didn't think I liked.

"Aren't dorms off limits to the opposite sex? What was Elaine doing there, in order to receive the letter?" I scowled at her, which she seemed to delight in.

"While technically frowned upon, there isn't an deterrents- physical or magical- against the girls entering the boys dormitory. We like to hang out in there if we want privacy- all seven off us." I added that last part, and Lisbet shut her mouth, whatever she was going to say about Elaine and I hanging out, privately, in my dorm room cut off before it could fully form.

"But she wasn't in the dorm to begin with, right? You said Charlie was waiting for her there?" I nodded.

"Yeah. I don't know if she couldn't find her, or if she just got confused and went to where she could sense me." Lisbet pursed her lips, staring at the bird in question.

"We'll have to work on your targeting, Cadet." Charlie considered the vampire in front of her for a second, before leaning in and trying to 'sneakily' steal a treat from the box in Lisbet's hand.

And Lisbet let her take it.

(A/N): Leo thinking that Lisbet was awkward at the Folley's because she felt guilty for breaking their window will be addressed in the chapter that features Lisbet's first POV, which is 316. Yes, 316, the one that is 6,666 words long, is Lisbet's POV. Apparently since she'd been waiting such a long time for her own POV, she had a lot to say, lol. Edit: So when going back through to edit older chapters, I found that Lisbet's first POV was actually chapter 174. To be fair, that was a really short chapter, so I guess my point still stands that she had a lot to say.

Also Lisbet really went out and bought Leo an owl that was basically herself in bird form.

This chapter has had small edits made to it on 9/2/23 - Because I originally said, 'Not that my father had been really seemed surprised... hmm, maybe there was some history there I didn't know about.' about Tarea being a vampire hunter, but Nicholai was already dead when Leo found out. Tarea's possible history with some of Leo's clan members will be explored in chapter 346.