(A/N): Hey Guys! So, here's a chapter we've been waiting a while for, I guess, since Brooke's threatened to tell Leo's friends about his cutting. I wrote this chapter fairly recently, so it isn't exactly... placed in the timeline, per say. It's sort of a floating chapter, so I sort of just decided to put it down here, where it least interferes with the flow of the chapters.

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.

Leo

Breaking up with Brooke turned out not to be a good decision. I mean, I never thought it would incur rainbows and puppies a-plenty, but I never thought she'd- I never thought she'd make good on her promise to tell my friends about my self-abusive tendencies.

I was awoken just after midnight by the door to the boys dormitory slamming against the wall, and then by my favorite voice in the whole world shrieking words that struck fear into my very soul.

"What the hell kind of idiot do you think you are?!" Elaine seemed completely unamused and I froze still under the covers just before she ripped them off me.

"Umm... I have a feeling I'm missing something." I said, rolling onto my back to look up at them all crowded around my bed, trying to dodge the subject, and the fact I was almost certain I knew exactly why they were pissed at me.

As if to confirm my suspicions, Elaine stalked forward and yanked my shirt up around my shoulders, revealing my stomach, and, subsequently, the scars littering the skin there.

"What are these?" Remus barked, with a steely look in his eyes I'd never seen before, with an underlying sadness.

"They're scars. What do they look like?" Elaine's lips curled upwards in a mockery of a growl.

"They look like you hid yourself away in the bathroom and cut yourself open with a shard from the mirror you broke." I stared at them for a second before groaning and pulling my pillow over my face.

"I see Brooke wasted no time in spilling my darkest secrets. I'm guessing she told you everything else then- go on, tell me everything's going to be okay, I'll be sure to try and believe you." They were silent for a second, but I didn't let that trick me into removing the pillow and revealing my face.

"'Everything else'?" Sirius asked, sounding almost broken, and I could help but smirk bitterly.

"Oh, of course, she tells you the crap I've done but not the reason behind it. Merlin, she can be vengeful when she wants to be." The pillow was snatched out of my hands, and James's face swam into view.

"Look, I don't know why Brooke didn't tell us your reasons behind- behind hurting yourself, but she's just trying to look after you, Leo." I snorted, and threw my forearm across my eyes.

"I don't need looking after, everything's fine." The mattress sank around me with the weight of a person, and I didn't need to peel my arm away to know that Lily was the one currently straddling my bared stomach.

"Leonides Judas Joannis." I didn't flinch, I knew it was coming. Anytime anyone wanted me to pay attention, they called me by my full name.

"Lily, don't start. You don't know half of the things the others know about me- which is my fault, I'll admit- but I don't need to be coddled. I'm not a baby, I can take care of myself." I jolted as she slammed her hands down on my shoulders, gripping the material of t-shirt between her fingers.

"Obviously not, considering you keep hurting yourself. Tell me, what is the allure to that? Do you really hate yourself that much?" I raised my arm quicker than she could blink and shoved her backwards into James's arms.

"I hurt myself so I don't hurt other people. I'm dangerous, Lily- You may not get that, but the others have seen what I'm capable of." James watched me warily from over Lily's shoulder as he helped her to her feet.

"Don't try to intimidate us, Leo. We know you won't hurt us." I bared my teeth at him. "I've broken your nose before, James, what makes you think I won't break your neck?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Because you're incapable of killing someone." I used vampire speed to make my way off the bed to stand in front of James, not particularly caring that Lily could see me.

"What makes you think I haven't already killed?" I growled in his face, slipping into Sensory Alert momentarily to flash my fangs and unnerve him with my darkened eyes.

"You haven't." But he didn't sound so sure.

"I have. And I want to again, and- I feel hopeless. I want to kill, and rip, and feed... the pain keeps me in control." Peter moved to put a hand on my shoulder, but I stepped away.

"I can feel your blood pulsing through your body, Pete. I can feel your heart beating, and I can smell your fear. You're afraid of me, even if you don't want to admit it, and I feel it all the time, the want- the need to rip your throat open." Lily looked away, but the others stared at me.

"Leo..." Elaine started, but I shook my head, and headed for the door. She raced forward, grabbing my shoulder, and in a second I had be pinned against the wall.

"Stay. Away." I growled at her, hand at her throat, and she rolled her eyes at me.

"You can't scare me off, Leo. You wouldn't actually hurt me, you love me too much." I tightened my grip on her throat incrementally.

"Leave." She choked out, and the others hesitated for a second before rather quickly obeying.

"What? You don't want them to see you give up on me?" The door clicked closed and Elaine struck me in the chest, effectively making me step back.

"What's really going on, Leo?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest, trying not to show any extra intake of breath.

"What makes you think I'm not telling the truth?" I asked in kind, tone sharp as I forced myself to glare at her.

"Because whenever you admit to something bad, it means you're not admitting to something worse." I stared at her for a second, then bit out a laugh shaking my head.

"You're right. I'm not admitting to something worse. But I'm not lying about what I told the others." She hesitated for a split second before nodding.

"I know you weren't, Leo. And I admire you for being strong enough to resist feeding on humans." I dropped my head, wrapping my arms around my midsection.

"I'm not... I'm not that strong." I murmured, and Elaine was silent for a second before she started creeping towards me.

"I know you've fed on Brooke before Leo, but that doesn't mean you should be punished for past mistakes." I raised my eyebrows, and bit my lip.

"The last time I- I hurt myself, Brooke made me feed on her in order to heal myself." Elaine stared at me for a second.

"And have you been feeling different since then?" She questioned carefully, and I frowned.

"I felt better. The cravings, they were... less intense. I guess I'm coming down, crashing from a blood high." I was confused as to why she was asking.

"What if you fed on me?" I shook my head immediately, and vigorously.

"No- No way." She moved forward quickly, grabbing my hands.

"Leo, you said your cravings were better when you were drinking human blood. Madam Pomfrey won't give you extra, and you and Brooke broke up so you can't drink from her. What's stopping you?" I pursed my lips, stroking my thumb across the back of her hand.

"I don't want to hurt you, Elaine." She stepped closer, resting her forehead against mine.

"Well, what if I had my wand? I could stun you." I reluctantly winced and shrugged.

"Maybe. Just... I'll consider it, okay?" I couldn't outright say no to her, not while she was giving me those eyes.

"Thank you, Leo."

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

Merlin Leo can be melodramatic sometimes. And 'those' eyes is just Elaine's normal face, Leo's just a sap.

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