(A/N): Hey Guys! So, I wrote this a few days ago, but completely forgot to upload it! heh...you're all going to kill me, aren't you? It's short, too... perhaps you could use something less painful like... a chainsaw? At least it will be quick.

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

Leo

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of Lawrence, Elaine's owl, tapping on my window with his beak. I dreaded what awaited me in that letter, but I climbed out of bed nonetheless, and fed him a treat before untying the letter from him so I could read it. My mouth was dry as I unstuck the envelope, and I stared blankly at the parchment for a minute before actually beginning to read.

Leo,

I hope you got home okay.

It was nice seeing you, really. Neither my mother or Jay caught me up early, or technically, late, outside, so I'm not in trouble or anything... in case you were wondering.

Anyway, the big news that I wanted to tell you (that I didn't!) is that I saw Lily the other day. Yeah, we ran into each other when Mum and I went to buy the new books for this year, and we ended up spending the day together!

I just wanted you to know, because you wouldn't have gotten to see Lily since the Hogwarts Express so.. .just letting you know she's alive... and still cursing out my cousin!

Informatively,

Elaine

...that was it? Nothing about the kiss?

I stared out the window for a second, before cheering- mentally, of course, I didn't want my father or Shari to hear me, after all. It seemed that I'd gotten off pretty easy. I pressed the pads of my index and middle fingers to my lips gently, and smiled faintly at the memory of her slightly-chapped lips against mine. I shook my head, removing the indulgent thought from my head before I started to write my reply. Last time I had written a letter to Elaine, that was more than three words, had been rather hard to write. See, Shari had been hounding me all day to write one, and, of course, when I did, then proceeded to steal my quill and try to write it herself. Without consulting me. This time however, was slightly easier.

Elaine,

Yeah, I wasn't attacked by rabid squirrels or anything, so don't worry.

That's good, wouldn't want them to-

I stared at the letter so far for a few seconds before shaking my head, and screwing the parchment into a ball, lobbing it at the waste basket in the corner.

What had I been thinking? 'Wouldn't want them to ask why you were out there'? That would certainly allude to the kiss, and if she was avoiding the occurrence, then I wasn't going to ruin it.

Elaine,

I made it home okay.

That's good, wouldn't want you to get in trouble because of me.

Really, you saw Lily? Ha ha, of course she's going to be cursing out James, she 'hates' him! I haven't even thought about getting the new books for this year yet, figured I'd go later. I hope you had fun, because, yeah, I haven't seen Lily since we split up at the station.

Replyingly,

Leo

Okay, now I know 'replyingly' isn't a word. The letter sounded kind of too formal and brusque, but at that precise moment, Shari called me down for breakfast. Quickly, I rolled up the already dry letter and tied a tight bow in the ribbon around it before securing it to Lawrence's leg. "Send it whenever you want, buddy." He cooed at my hushed order, and I pet him lightly on the top of the head before shuffling out of my room and down the stairs.

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

Next chapter, time skips again.

This chapter has had edits made to it on 9/2/24 - just some formatting stuff to make it slightly less painful to read.