(A/N): We're back with Elaine and Remus, with Remus being concerned about Leo's reaction to Mia having a crush on him. I finished chapter 500 (I think...)

Trigger Warnings: Mentions of child abuse, and self-harm. Elaine mentions her father, and her intention to tell everyone about what he's done, and Remus mentions Leo's self-harm in passing, as they're discussing things.

Elaine

Remus's concern was sweet... if a little misplaced. "Remus..." I said, then took in the worry in his eyes, and sighed. "Okay, first of all, you know Mia would never let him hear the end of it if he actually tried to say anything to you about it, right?" Reluctantly, he nodded. "Second, do you really think he'd react so much worse to his sister having a crush on you, than he did to you having a crush on me?" He flushed, but shook his head this time. "And lastly... Leo has super senses and an oblivious streak a mile wide- whether he knows or not is a complete toss up. But... he is typically better at noticing this sort of thing when it doesn't directly involve him, so I'm guessing he knows." He swallowed thickly. "Remus... have a little faith in him, alright?" He blinked, and then his expression softened. "You and Lily both- give him a chance; let him surprise you. He's been doing that a lot, lately." Thankfully, Remus's desire to tease me beat out his waning concern, and he cocked an eyebrow at me knowingly.

"Speaking of which," He said, and I knew that whatever he was going to say next would be at my expense. "You and Leo, huh?" I rolled my eyes at him in faux exasperation, and sighed.

"'Me and Leo', what?" His eyebrows rose a fraction, as if to urge me onward. "You heard what Lily said about the letter she- misappropriated-" The corner of his lips quirked at that, but I wasn't sure whether it was heading upward, or downward. "-and you read the letter from Lisbet that I let you guys pass around at breakfast, so you know pretty much everything I know, about 'me and Leo'."

He narrowed his eyes at me, and moved to lean against the closest wall- likely already feeling the effects of his near-constant lycanthropy-induced fatigue, even if it wasn't immediately preceding, or following, a full moon. "Elaine," He said firmly. "Don't take the piss- As far as I knew, one second we were all composing letters together, trying to keep track of Leo's destructive tendencies, and the next thing I know- well, after the necklace, I mean- you and he were being all... lovey-dovey." As I moved to snap at him, he held a hand up as if trying to surrender. "Don't get it twisted, I think lovey-dovey Leo and Elaine is a fantastic thing, but I just... forgive me for being a little confused at to how we got here." I softened at that- because in the end, he was right.

"It's... a long story," I told him, and he started to look disappointed, so I pushed onward. "It's not- I don't plan on keeping it a secret, but it's- There's a lot of components that are necessary to be able to show you guys the full picture, and while you already know about... my father-" His head snapped up, the fatigue suddenly wiped clean as his nostrils flared in obvious rage. "Calm down- it's not like he's waiting around the next corner to nab me, Remmy." He did indeed relax, but only very slightly.

"But he might try to nab you at some other point?" He asked pointedly, and when I hesitated, he straightened up, once again looking like he was ready to start a fight- or at least finish one. "Merlin, Elaine, what-"

I cut him off, because I wasn't sure how much longer I could hear him talk like that- even if he'd barely started- or tolerate him looking like that; like he wanted- needed, to kill on my behalf. "Leo's taking care of it. It won't be an issue until the summer, anyway, but he's- They're on top of it." He stared at me incredulously- almost disbelievingly.

"Elaine," He said, then paused, his hands flexing at his sides restlessly. "Is this one of those things where I'm going to be mad at you and Leo for not telling me? Like when Jonothan attacked you?" When I hesitated again, he turned away from me, making a sound as he went- a sound that was eerily reminiscent of a growl he would typically only make on a full moon. Then he turned back to me, caught the look in my eye, and softened. "Elaine..."

I shook my head. "I was trying to be fair," His eyebrows furrowed. "Lily knows that my father is... not a good person," He seemed to disagree with how lenient I was being with that particular statement. "And all of you know that he was- is, a Vampire Hunter- but... well, for one, it's a hard thing to talk about-" He appeared sympathetic, but like he wasn't sure whether he could excuse that, if it meant leaving me without every avenue of protection. "-but also... I was planning on telling everyone, when Leo got back. Everyone, everything." His eyes widened at that.

"Elaine..." He said, then hesitated. "You're not in danger?" I gave him a small, tremendously fond smile.

"Not right now, no- unless you've got something to tell me, wolf boy." He rolled his eyes at me, but shook his head anyway. "My mother will be pleased, then." He blinked, then shot me a look that was equal parts confused and wary. "You see, there was a point over Christmas where Leo was forced to..." I saw him hold his breath, and I couldn't help but huff out a little laugh. "Meet my mother." He froze for a second- and then his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Before you ask, it went well. She's quite taken with him, actually."

He seemed dubious about this, but also... oddly relieved? "What- What- Why?" 'Why' what? 'Why is she taken with him', or 'why was he forced to meet her'? Or maybe, 'why are you telling me this?' "And what were you saying about- about me?" Oh. Right. That.

"Well... some things may have been said. By me, by my mother, by Leo- by Jay. Because, y'know, Jay saw the bite mark, after Jonothan attacked me, and latched onto the idea that Leo did it- not that he even knew it was a vampire bite- and has been holding a grudge ever since-"

Remus cut me off, looking utterly gobsmacked. "No, Elaine, I did not know that- if you'll remember, you two were pretty light on the details of that particular incident." His scolding left me feeling chagrined, which I imagine was exactly how he wanted me to feel.

"Er... right. Well. We'll... try to be better about that, in future." He shot me a look, and I flushed slightly. "Anyway, Jay questioned Leo's intentions, and Leo... rather soundly quelled any fears he or my mother may have had about him- at least on the front of physically hurting me. You, however... my mother's never met you, and despite my best efforts to assure her that you're a good egg-" He looked surprisingly chuffed about this designation. "-she's still somewhat wary about you just on the basis that you're male, and a close friend of mine."

Remus's lips quirked downward, before he seemed to force a smile onto his face. "What an odd juxtaposition. Your brother thinks Leo bit you, holds a grudge against him for a couple of years, then forgives him after one meeting- and yet I've never met them, and you're mother think I'm a 'bad egg'." It was unfair, yes. "And anyone who knows Leo would know he'd never willingly bite you, anyway." Uh... oh. I felt my cheeks start to turn red- saw Remus's nostrils flare again, then caught his eyes widening with shock, pain, curiosity, and... something else I couldn't quite name.

"So, um... when I said it was a long story-"

"Elaine," He said, his tone disbelieving. "Elaine Grace Folley- Damsel-" I blinked at his use of the nickname that had always been primarily Leo's, and he paused for a second, looking like he was coming to terms with a few things within the confines of his own mind. When he spoke again, his voice was hushed- almost confidential- and more than slightly intrigued. "Was it good?"

(A/N): I don't know if I've ever mentioned the fact that Elaine's middle name is Grace, but here it is, if not. Remus tried to full name her, but couldn't go that extra mile to use 'Ghislaine', so he used Damsel instead- which he hasn't used since she told him to never call her that again, after he attacked Leo on the full moon. Does this chapter involve foreshadowing? Uh... not technically, but I feel like this is one of those things where after future events take place that give more context to what Remus is really feeling at this point in the story, I'm going to have to come back and write an explanation of certain things... like his eyes widening in 'pain'.

To address the growl: Elaine was mildly like, 'Um, what are you doing, wolf boy?' (not really in a scared way, almost more in a reproachful way), and Remus realised that he'd just growled in frustration and a little bit of the wolf had slipped out (because BOY is that wolf frustrated), and he sort of saw it worse than she did, because he was like, 'wolf is scary and could hurt her, Elaine's been hurt enough and I don't want to scare her more', but also, his wolf has a healthy dose of respect for Elaine from when she attacked HIM in her wolf form, after he attacked Leo, and is like, 'oh no, I've upset the other, more formidable canine' (more formidable than Sirius, NOT more formidable than Remus's werewolf), so it backs off, leaving Remus with the full aftermath (as per usual).

Also, I couldn't remember if 'Remmy' or 'wolf boy' were nicknames that Elaine would use, and uh... yeah, they are. In fact, 'wolf boy' is exclusively used by Elaine (Leo refers to him as 'the werewolf boy' a few times in passing, but other than that, it was her, once, at the end of second year), and 'Remmy' was originally Elaine, then adopted by the rest of the group- though primarily Leo, then Sirius and James. For the record, Remus finds 'wolf boy' endearing- much in the same way he would find Leo calling him a half-breed endearing. Like, if it was coming from anyone else, he'd probably hate it, but because it's from them he's okay with it, because it's sort of their way of connecting to him? Elaine calling him wolf boy is half an acknowledgement of his condition (which is difficult for him, but he ultimately prefers having it acknowledged and treated as a part of him, rather than outright ignored), and after she became an animagus, her being like, 'wolf buddies!', which he LOVES. She doesn't use it often because it's a give away (even more so than Moony), but when they're alone, she'll bust it out every now and then, and to both of them, it sort of speaks of untold nights huddled up in the shrieking shack- and particularly, the few full moons Leo took off, while he was recovering (physically and mentally) from the attack.

Also, also, the similarity between this chapters title and the last chapters title was completely coincidental, it just happened to work out that those were the best names I could come up with for each of them, and they were unfortunately right next to each other.