(A/N): hey Guys! So, my internet clocked out for a minute, and out of boredom, I wrote this. This is the second chapter in the last...hour, or so? Again, writing without reason, but at least this one isn't as angst-y as the last.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Leo, Elaine, Shari, Nicholai, Brooke and Mia.

Leo

The wind rushed through my hair, cooling me as my feet flew across the ground at an even clip. The branches of the trees around me reached out to grab me, hoping to drag me back, to stop me, but with the speed I was running, I barely felt them as they trailed over my skin, their usually sharp needles only tickling me as I passed.

I breathed in and out evenly, savouring the cold air of night, my eyes peeled, darting this way and that at the slightest sign of movement. When you're alone, your senses heighten, as if you expect someone, or something to attack. Like you're simply waiting for the need to listen for an attack. Being alone, it makes you paranoid, and cold, but it can also free you.

Too much freedom, you can go insane, too little, and you begin to hate everyone, even those who aren't dragging you down.

Me though, after so many years of being controlled, being manipulated and abused, freedom was exactly what I needed sometimes. And this running? It burnt away all of my anger, fear and pain, just as it did my energy. But I was nowhere near tired yet.

Around half an hour after I had set off on my run, I froze as I inhaled. I lifted my nose to the sky, sniffing like a bloodhound (irony, I had it), and I smelt the familiar scent again. So, my mind wasn't playing tricks on me?

They weren't far away, so I opted to walk instead of run. A minute later, and I stood in the shadow of the tree-line, the familiar outline of a girl sitting on a swing set, lazily pushing back and forth in time with the cold breeze that blew across the small field between us. A amusing, and probably somewhat cruel, idea wormed its way into my head, and I smirked slightly before painting a completely innocent smile of my face, advancing towards the girl silently.

Only twenty feet away, I made my move.

"A little late for a swing, isn't it?" She jolted, jumping up and spinning to face me, both startled and confused.

"Leo?" Elaine's voice rang out, hushed, and she took a few steps towards me. "What the hell are you doing here?" She glanced at the sky. "And so late?" I grinned, shrugging.

"I was going for a run." She nodded before realising the implications of what I had just said.

"It's the middle of the night and you live Derby, not Nottingham." She stated, looking both confused and sceptical.

"It's a long run." Actually, it wasn't, considering it had only taken me a half hour, around the same as a car ride would.

"And the middle of the night?" She continued, one eyebrow raised, and I shrugged again.

"I was up anyway." Not exactly the appropriate answer to the question, but I couldn't let her know that Shari was helping me to become an animagus, just as I couldn't let Shari know that Elaine was also in on the animagus deal.

"You're a very complex person, you know that?" I smiled before raising an eyebrow at her.

"What about you? Why are you up at like, three a.m?" She blushed slightly, staring at the moon that hung high above our heads.

"It's the full moon. Had you noticed?" She asked quietly, her voice calm, though I could hear the undertone of pain in her voice.

"I had." I continued to stare at her. "I'm sure he's fine." It was a blatant lie, and I think she knew it, but she nodded anyway.

"Right, yeah." She lowered her head to stare at the ground now, and I sighed, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her to my chest, arms around her back.

"Relax Damsel, stress-" She huffed loudly, cutting me off.

"'Stress is slowly killing me', I know." She mumbled into my shoulder, arms under mine, moving up my back so her hands could rest on my shoulders.

"Hey, hey, no sass young lady!" I scolded half-heartedly, and felt her smile.

"I just feel bad for not being able to help him. Or to help anyone." I could tell she was trying to shine light on something else, but I avoided it, knowing it would be about me, and helping me.

"You can help lots of people. Like Sirius, with his homework." She frowned, but faked a laugh anyway.

"Thanks, but no thanks, I'm not teaching that dumbass." She snorted, and I pulled away, pretending to act offended on Sirius's behalf.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, pretending to be hurt by her comment, placing a hand over my heart. "How can you hurt me so, Laney!?" I exclaimed quietly, trying to impersonate Sirius as well as I could, even using his nickname for her.

"Because, you are as dumb as a mile most of the time Sirius, even you have to admit that." I pretended to think it over for a second.

"Well, yeah, okay, I am, but that's no reason to hurt me like this!" I cried quietly, dropping to my knees in front of her, hands held up like I was pleading with her. "Show some mercy, Laney, and don't break my heart! Please?" I gave her a Sirius-esque pout, and she giggled quietly.

"Well..." She pretended to consider it, and I straightened up, swooping her up and swinging her around in a circle.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you Laney! You won't regret this!" I said, still pretending to be Sirius, and Elaine rolled her eyes.

"I already am." I dropped her to the ground, and she landed on her feet, slightly unsteady.

"I'll owl you tomorrow, okay Damsel?" She looked confused, but nodded anyway, and I pecked her on the cheek lightly before racing into the forest, and I could feel her confusion grow. I heard the back door of her house open, and felt her brother emerge.

"Izzy? Why are you up? I heard voices, were you talking to someone?" He questioned, and she shook her head.

"Nah, Jay, I was just out here thinking. Couldn't sleep, you know." Was the last thing I heard before I passed out of hearing range of the house, and I slowed slightly, so I could think.

Did she have trouble sleeping often? Did she sit outside, in the middle of the night in nothing but a nightshirt, on a swing set, a lot? With all the things she had seen, all the things Remus and I told her, and she would put herself in danger like that?

What was she thinking?

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

In my mind, Leo lives in Derby, and Elaine lives in Nottingham, which are about half an hour apart by drive.

Please review and/or check out my other stories!

P.S: This chapter was going to be called: Late Night Conversations and Impersonations, but wouldn't let me do that, because it was too many letters by like, three.