(A/N): Hey Guys! So, last chapter of third year, yay!

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.

Leo

The last day of term was, as per usual, fraught with excitement, and an excessive amount of students rushing around to pack at the very last minute. Remus, Elaine, and I relaxed comfortably on the couches in the Gryffindor common room, knowing that James, Sirius, Peter, and Lily were still packing upstairs. "I don't know why they do this every year," Elaine muttered, her head in Remus's lap and her feet in mine, as she stretched out over the rest of the couch.

"They like the excitement, I bet," Remus replied, politely attempting to avoid spilling on her as he drank what I was pretty sure was his second cup of coffee already this morning.

"I think they honestly think they'll have more time in the morning," I said as Lily stomped down the stairs.

Her hair pulled up into a bun that I suspected hadn't been quite so messy when she'd first done it, a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead as her face split into an accomplished grin. "All done!" She announced, and Elaine sat up- choosing to scooch closer toward me to give Lily a place to sit, even though she could've just as easily scooched closer to Remus, and allowed Lily to sit between us. I was secretly rather pleased with her spur of the moment decision though, I must say.

Half an hour later the boys were finished as well, and we headed down to the entrance hall where we only just caught the tail end of the procession of students down to Hogsmeade station. We managed to secure a carriage all to ourselves, and soon, we arrived at the Hogwarts Express and boarded. "I can't believe we're going to be fourth years next year..." James said wistfully, as if he thought everything was going to suddenly change for us just because we were fourth years.

"I'm getting too old for this," I whispered to Elaine, who smothered her laughter behind her hand- yes. Success.

"You're also too tall."

Over the past year I'd grown even taller, and now towered over even Remus, who was one of the tallest boys in our year due to his werewolf side. "I'm a perfectly reasonable height."

Lily scoffed. "You're like, the same height as Hagrid." I rolled my eyes, smiling at her fondly.

"Just because you're the same size as a house-elf..." I trailed off, and she glared at me.

"'I'm a perfectly reasonable height,'" She replied, echoing my words from just before.

"I'm sure super short and super tall are fine heights to be," Elaine said faux-judiciously, and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"You'd know, Thumbelina."

She gaped at me, punching me in the arm- a solid hit for her, but I barely felt it. "Cyclops." I pouted at her, pretending to look hurt.

"I have two eyes, thank you." I pointing to both of my blue eyes and purposely went cross eyed briefly, making her have to choke back laughter as she waved me off. Double success.

"Specifics."

Elaine

A few hours later, we arrived at King's cross, and I watched as Leo gave Mia one last hug in the corridors of the train before they parted ways; the seven of us jumped off the train and grabbed our luggage, scanning the crowd for our families. Lily split off first, then James, followed by Peter, Sirius, and finally Remus- I knew Leo had found his father by now, he would've had to, but it was only once I announced that I'd located my mother and Jay that he hugged me tightly, only to pull back quicker than usual and give me one last wave before he, too, disappeared into the crowd.

When I was only a few yards away from my family, I felt a pair of eyes on me, and I paused. Glancing around for the source of the feeling, my eyes snagged on a flash of blond- Leo?- only to meet eyes with Cipicia Joannis. As I stood, briefly frozen by terror and the memory of the last time I'd seen her, her lips curved into a sinister smile; I forced myself to move, hurrying toward my mother and brother. "Who was that?" Jay asked once I finally reached them, clearly having noticed, and I hesitated, shrugging weakly.

"No one, Jay. Just a friend's mother." He didn't look at all convinced, then his eyes widened with understanding. Uh oh, that was almost never a good thing when it came to Jay.

"That's that Leo kid's mother, isn't it?" I nodded slowly, and he frowned. "Why did he walk in the opposite direction, then?" He asked suspiciously, and I shook my head- Cipicia Joannis wasn't a good person to ask questions about, and Leo wouldn't be happy about it either.

"He doesn't live with her, he lives with his father. She's only here to pick up his little sister, Mia." He nodded, keeping his eyes on Cipicia, and I grabbed his hand to drag him away, in case she caught him looking. In case she'd been watching, this whole time.

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

Jay is still very suspicious of Leo, I see...

Please review and/or check out my other stories!

This chapter has had minor edits made to it on 11/02/23

This chapter has had edits made to it on 4/5/24 - formatting, and reconfiguring of sentences so they make more sense. Added Elaine's feet being in Leo's lap, because originally I just said her head was in Remus's lap and she was stretched out on the couch, then didn't mention where Leo was sitting. I didn't change Elaine's head to Leo's lap and her feet to Remus's, despite how much I think that fits their relationship dynamic a bit later, but for right now, Elaine putting her head in Leo's lap would be considered by everyone to be a bit of a give away (about their crushes). It wasn't like Elaine specifically made the choice to put her head in Remus's lap and not Leo's, Remus was just down there with her before Leo got there, and Leo only arrived after she was already laying down, and scooped her feet into his lap. Also, I changed Remus trying not to drop bits of chocolate on Elaine to him trying not to spill coffee on her, because the Remus Lupin luvs chocolate trope is overdone. It's his second cup because Remus is a tired boy. I originally said Lily's hair was in a messy bun, but now I've changed it so it was in a neat bun to begin with, and got messy through activity. Added Elaine sitting up to give Lily a place to sit, which means I added the whole thing about her choosing to scooch closer to Leo instead of Remus, and Leo subsequently being chuffed to bits about the whole thing. Added Leo's 'Yes. Success', over making Elaine laugh. Changed Elaine's punch from a 'hard hit' to a 'solid hit', because I feel like that better portrays the fact that everyone involved knows she doesn't mean him harm. Added Leo purposefully going cross eyed to make Elaine laugh again, and his 'double success'. Made Leo's departure slightly weirder, since he knows that Jay is watching, and is also probably aware that Cipicia was watching, which is one of the many reasons he didn't leave Elaine's side until she was ready to go directly to her family. Also, not only did Leo not go to his father after noticing him, Nicholai also didn't come over, despite having the same abilities if not better- because he was probably keeping an eye on Cipicia as well. Added Elaine's eyes snagging on a flash of blond, and her automatically thinking 'Leo?', only to lock eyes with his mother, who was already watching her. Specified that Elaine was frozen by terror and the memory of the last time she'd seen Cipicia, instead of just frozen- which is probably exactly what Cipicia wanted her to be thinking. Specified that Jay's eyes widened with understanding, rather than just widening, and added the fact that Elaine thought this was typically not a good thing- because usually Jay was safer from their father when he didn't understand things, because when he did understand, he'd fight back... which would get him in trouble with Tarea. Added Elaine thinking that Cipicia Joannis wasn't a good person to ask questions about, and the fact that Leo wouldn't be happy either. Added Elaine's concern that Cipicia wouldn't just happen to notice Jay's attention, but that she'd been watching her- them- the entire time.