(A/N): So this chapter has my favorite Jerremyah-ism in it... I think you'll be able to guess which one, when you come to it. Next chapter is the looong one.

Leo

When Jerremyah returned with his trunk, it fell on me to chaperone Lisbet up to the room we had assigned him, in order to help her attempt to keep her honor at least somewhat intact.

Not that I cared one way or another whether Lisbet crawled into bed with her ex, but she was obviously trying to resist him, and I was more than happy to play the part of the ultimate cockblock- especially because I wasn't really eager for Jerremyah to get anything that he wanted, and he clearly wanted Lisbet most desperately- which was a good thing, considering that the others had decided to make themselves busy.

Danniel had left to recommence his watch over the Folley household, probably to avoid Jo's wrath, and after he had escorted Shari back to her room, Herc had volunteered to take Jo out hunting to try and blow off some steam.

It had been easy enough to insert myself into the situation, trailing behind Lisbet as she reluctantly led Jerremyah through the house, pretending that I followed her around like a lost puppy all the time, instead of the truth- which is that I was usually trying to avoid her for whatever annoying transgression she had committed lately. At least, that was how it had been before my father had died.

We had allocated Jerremyah the furthest room from mine that was available, considering his readily evident disdain for me, which was the room next to Herc's. Honestly, if we had had the time to prepare, I would have switched the two, but it would have taken days for Herc's scent to leave the room enough for it not to seem like a deliberate attack on Jerremyah's entire character.

Over the past few days, Herc had not only proved himself not to be an overt threat to my wellbeing, but a useful member of the- well, he wasn't exactly part of the clan, was he? He had his own clan, back at home in Colombia, and he would be returning there soon after I returned to Hogwarts. A useful member of the family, then? We were biologically related, that made him family... but Lisbet, Jo, Danniel and Shari were all also members of my 'family'. The same word held two very different connotations, depending on who I used it to describe, I had found...

Maybe the word clan could be used similarly, but I didn't want to offend him if he saw the use of the word differently than I did. I didn't want him to think I was assuming he was part of our clan, or that I would expect him to leave his clan behind and join ours, simply because we were bonded by blood.

He was clan, but he wasn't a member of The Clan, if that made sense... Sort of like Dahrya. I had told her she was my kin- was that a better term for what they meant to me? We were bonded in a way that was separate to blood relation or the kind of allegiance required by membership in a clan.

When Lisbet and I had debated whether we should ask others to join the clan, I had very briefly entertained the idea of offering Dahrya the option to join- before I remembered that Dahrya was only twelve, and while I'm sure she would argue that she was more than capable of holding her own against my other clan members, at least personality-wise, that the safety being part of a clan would offer her would be heavily overshadowed by the danger being part of my clan would inevitably entail.

I didn't have much of a choice in whether Mia was involved, lack of vampirism or no, but I sure as hell had a choice in whether Dahrya was involved, and I had decided not to let her know it was an option- at least until she was a little older.

... Of course, if I asked Greygorry to join, and the fact that they were related ever became known, she would be in danger anyway- and if Greygorry was part of the clan, would it be wrong for me to keep what I know a secret from him? Would Dahrya hate me for telling Greygorry, and not telling her? Should I tell both of them? If I didn't know who my father was, would I want someone to tell me, if they knew? It had never been a choice for me- Sebastien was my father, then all I knew was that Sebastien was not my father. My mother had thrown me out, and the only people I knew, didn't know who my mother was, let alone who my father could possibly be. And then, a man had found me. He'd told me his name was Nicholai, and that he was my father. And just like that, Nicholai was my father.

I wasn't really old enough at the time to question who my father was- St Mungos had told my mother that I was half vampire, which meant my father was a full blooded vampire. I didn't know any vampires, ergo, I didn't know my father. Maybe I should ask Herc his opinion on the matter- he had tracked Nicholai down right around the time he had finished going through his change, after all- he was a full blown adult by that point, he must have more insight than I did.

"Leo!" Lisbet hissing my name brought me back to the conversation I had been blocking out, and my eyes darted between the two older vampires. Lisbet was clearly flustered, and Jerremyah was just as clearly amused, which couldn't possibly mean anything good. "You're not nearly as dedicated to your job as buffer as you should be!" It was true. My mere presence wouldn't be enough to put Jerremyah off his game, as evidenced by their prolonged interaction in the study that had taken place in front of the whole clan- plus Herc- so I would simply have to distract Lisbet away from him instead.

"Are you implying we need a buffer between us, love?" It was said casually, with simply a quirked eyebrow as he leaned a hip against the newel post of the staircase, but even so, none of us missed the slight hitch in Lisbet's breathing at Jerremyah's use of the word 'love'. Was this a regular term of endearment for them, or...? I refused to consider the alternative- that it was one he used at specific times- because even knowing Jerremyah for less than a few hours, I knew that was something he would absolutely do, just to get exactly the reaction he was getting from her.

"You can't just waltz in here and start giving her bedroom eyes and expect her to want to crawl into bed with you, when not even a couple of hours ago she was yelling at you for being a right royal bell-end." Jerremyah shrugged, seemingly undeterred by my interruption- and insult.

"We've had quicker turnarounds." Lisbet flushed, and I couldn't tell if she was angry, embarrassed, or a bit of both. "Besides, these aren't bedroom eyes-"

"Could have fooled me." Jerremyah looked vaguely entertained by my quip, before continuing on in an entirely Jerremyah manner.

"These are clearly 'in the hallway, up against the wall, until neither of us can walk properly' eyes." Fuck, but he was good. Lisbet's eyes went almost comically wide, and she retreated a step- putting her back against the wall, just like I bet Jerremyah had intended, judging by the curve of his lips at her startled reaction to the unexpected contact. "Which you're intimately familiar with, aren't you, love?"

"Okay, first of all, gross-" Jerremyah cut me off with an amused snort, and he shot Lisbet a look that clearly declared this wasn't over, before turning his full attention on me as he effortlessly hauled his trunk further down the hallway. Clearly we had been stopped at the top of the stairs at Jerremyah's behest, then.

"You won't think its that gross in a couple of years." What was that supposed to mean? Was that... was he..? Did he think-?

"I'm sure even in fifty years, I would find your feeble attempts at getting in my aunts' pants to be lacking any appeal." For whatever reason, it was this that made Jerremyah's composure break, and his licentious facade drop- along with the trunk that momentarily slipped in his grip. He caught it again quickly, but when he straightened up, he hadn't managed to put his mask back on, and the raw emotion that flickered across his features made him look almost like a different person- a person I could much more easily imagine Lisbet having the amount of trouble she did resisting.

I glanced at Lisbet, to check if she was seeing this too, but a split second after our gazes met, she looked away, seemingly avoiding my eyes just as readily as she was avoiding Jerremyah's.

"Your...aunt?" I had used the term as a joke, to reference what we had deemed her at the Folley's, but clearly the meaning was being lost on Jerremyah, who wasn't in on the joke.

"She's not actually my aunt. Obviously. I mean, you can probably tell that-" He nodded grimly, which I thought was an odd reaction, especially given the way he was watching her like she'd just shot him through the chest. "It's- She's- Besides everything else, she's the closest thing I have to a legal guardian, since my father-" I cut myself off, once again seeing Jerremyah's body jerk like had suffered a physical blow. Like, damn, I knew Lisbet wasn't the most obviously maternal person out there, but for Jerremyah to react like this? Something more was going on.

"Um, Lisbet? What's-?" She reached out and put a hand on my shoulder from the back, her fingertips curling to bump against the side of my neck even while she refused to make eye contact with me, and Jerremyah didn't bother trying to hide the way he was watching the interaction like a particularly fascinated hawk. It was almost like she was casually trying to impart her scent on me, but didn't want to make it so obvious in front of the other vampire in the room- not that she was going to be able to hide something like that from Jerremyah right now.

"It's... a long story. Maybe you should go join up with Jo and Herc, or check in on Danniel." She was sending me away? With Jerremyah looking at her like that? Looking like that, in general?

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked pointedly, jerking my head in Jerremyah's direction none too discreetly, and Lisbet winced slightly.

"Jerremyah and I need to have a chat-" Her tone was light, but I doubted there was something quite so casual as a chat in their future. "And I would prefer to have it in private, if that's alright with you." If that's alright with me...? Unless the chat they would be having was about me, it wasn't really any of my business, was it?

"Tell me again you would like me to leave." She opened her mouth to repeat it, but her eyes were still glued to the ground, so I bent my knees and ducked as much as possible to force myself into her eye-line. She seemed surprised by this for a second, before something in her gaze perceptibly softened, and even as she adjusted the orientation of her hand on my shoulder now that our positions had changed, she reached out with her free hand to grasp my other forearm.

"Leo, just for now, I would like you to leave so I can have a private conversation with Jerremyah." I searched her eyes for a second, trying to determine how long it would take for a private conversation to become more than just a conversation, before I shrugged lightly.

"Okay. I'll see if I can get Shari to go with me."

(A/N): Jerremyah: Calls Lisbet 'love'.

Leo: He... He uses that during sex, doesn't he?

also

Leo: 'You're a dick.'

Jerremyah: Lisbet likes my-

Lisbet: *throws something at him*

Okay, so, the term 'Cockblock' dates back to at least 1972, when 'Edith Folb documented it's use by urban black teenagers'. So, it's timeline compliant, and I can use it, unlike 'Booty Call'.

also, Leo's 'What was that supposed to mean? Was that... was he..? Did he think-?' was him realising that Jerremyah thinks he's a virgin, and then deciding he wasn't going to correct him, especially in front of Lisbet.