(A/N): The aftermath of Leo accidentally letting it slip to Jerremyah that he's part veela.

Leo

I was an idiot.

I was a big, dumb, idiot.

I had completely forgotten that we hadn't told Jerremyah that I was part veela- that we had specifically planned not to to tell him yet, because he had already exhibited disgust at my being only half vampire, and as such, we thought that him finding out that I was even more so the supernatural equivalent of a mutt would only make him detest me more.

And yet, here I was. Blabbing out one of my bigger secrets to a veritable stranger like it was nothing more than water cooler chatter.

To reiterate: I'm an idiot.

"Um... Could you maybe forget I said that?" The look on Jerremyah's face was incredulous, and when he glanced at Lisbet, she stared him down- likely telling him with only her eyes that if he insulted me again, he would pay for it dearly.

"Careful." She warned, and his lips twitched, but I couldn't tell what emotion made them do so- amusement, or disgust. He turned his attention back to me, and he eyed me warily- whether that's because he was worried about having to tread carefully lest Lisbet eviscerate him -maybe somewhat literally- or because he was concerned by no longer being able to estimate my limits, I wasn't sure.

"I'd like to be able to forget that you said that, but I don't think that's something I can do." He seemed genuinely regretful, which I didn't think was an emotion he displayed often, so I tried to take the time to appreciate it a little bit before it inevitably turned into teasing, or some other generally annoying expression.

"Fair enough." He shifted, looking slightly uncomfortable, and he glanced back to Lisbet again.

"You didn't tell me that." It was a statement, not a question, and for whatever reason he didn't seem angry, but almost... hurt? That didn't sound right.

"That's because I asked her not to." His eyes darted between us, before he gave an emotion-heavy nod. More heavy than I thought it had any reason to be- were they back to acting weird again, like they had been before I left? If so, I wanted no part of it. "Alright, I'll be brief." Both of their eyes fixed on me, and they seemed just as confused as each other. "Dad- Nicholai- Vampire. Mother- Cipicia- Half veela. Her mother, my grandmother, was a full veela, which makes me half vampire, quarter veela. Making sense so far?" Jerremyah hesitantly nodded.

"Brooke's mother was a full veela, making Brooke half veela, like my mother. Her mother was friends with my grandmother before she passed, which is how we met. Still with me?" He nodded again, looking a little surer of himself this time. "Brooke and I only spent one night together before my mother kicked me out-" Jerremyah cut me off.

"Your mother kicked you out?" I waved him off.

"Even if Lisbet didn't explain it to you directly, you must have heard me earlier talking about her poisoning me-" I looked to Lisbet and she nodded, confirming that she had, in fact, told him. "So I don't really know why her kicking me out is the sticking point here." He seemed shocked that I was so nonchalant about it.

"I thought maybe Nicholai had taken you from her, I didn't realise she kicked you out first." I had doubted my father would have stolen me away if my mother hadn't already kicked me out before, and I thought it even less likely now that I had heard about how he had treated his other children.

"Well, no one can say she isn't proactive." Jerremyah wasn't amused by this, and I crossed my arms over my chest in an attempt to subtly comfort myself. "Anyway, I met- well, re-met, I guess- Brooke in first year, while I was trying to fly Elaine out of her dorm, and I went to the wrong window." Jerremyah looked almost impressed, whereas Lisbet just looked bemused.

"I'm sorry, what? You tried to fly Elaine out of her dorm? Are you insane?" I shrugged.

"Jury's still out on that one- and I didn't just try, I did it." Jerremyah actually did look impressed now, and Lisbet looked like she might be sick. "I flew her down to the common room before Professor McGonagall caught me, and confiscated my broom. Dad got me an even better one the next summer- I think he was a little proud that I caused a new rule to be instated all on my own." Lisbet shook her head, before dragging a hand through her hair, looking like she wanted to rip it all out from the stress of dealing with me, even if it was a few years after the fact.

"You know, sometimes I forget you're a Gryffindor, and then you tell me things like that." I grinned at her, then furrowed my eyebrows as a curious thought hit me.

"Hey, speaking of which, what house were you in at school?" She rolled her eyes at me, but it lacked heat.

"Leo, look at me. If you think my house colors were anything other than green and silver, you're sorely mistaken." Lisbet was a Slytherin?

...Yeah, that tracked.

I turned to Jerremyah, who looked slightly surprised by my attention. "What about you?" I was expecting Slytherin- the dark clothing, the prickly personality, Jerremyah practically screamed Slytherin-

"Hufflepuff." Hufflepuff?!

"Hufflepuff? You? You're a Hufflepuff?" He seemed slightly offended by my disbelief.

"Hey, I may be a prick, but I'm a loyal prick, alright?" Well, I guess being in a relationship with Lisbet for so long gave him a leg up in that department.

"Alright." I said, then muttered under my breath, "I can't believe you're in the same house as my little sister," even though I knew he could hear me.

"Hey, if your mother is half veela, that means Mia is also quarter veela, right?" Clearly Lisbet had given him the rundown- at least in that respect- if he knew her name.

"Yes. She also has very little natural survival instinct, and is as stubborn as an ox." Which is about all I felt comfortable telling Jerremyah about Mia- not that I thought Jerremyah was a threat to her, but I wasn't willing to take any risks. Not when it came to Mia- she'd been through enough as it was.

"You spoke a lot more highly of her to Herc." Lisbet noted, and I gripped the hair at the back of my neck in an attempt to soothe myself a little bit.

"Herc is family." I said simply, and I barely caught the flicker of some sort of emotion on Jerremyah's face, and the echo of it on Lisbet's when she glanced at him after I said it- as if she was expecting such a reaction after that statement. "I mean, they're not related, biologically, but they're both my siblings, so I guess in my eyes they're like... quarter siblings?" Lisbet smiled at that, and I had the feeling she hadn't intended to do so.

"Leo, about tomorrow..." The subject change made me nervous.

"What about it?" I hadn't mentioned Greygorry by name, but I had sent him a letter inviting him to join the clan at the same time Lisbet had sent hers to Jerremyah. Greygorry had replied just as quickly as Jerremyah had, for entirely different reasons.

At first, I hadn't mentioned my trainer during the school year by name because I was worried that there might be some past grievances that could cause issues- and by the time it had come to asking Greygorry to join, it had just become... fun. Greygorry's identity had been my own little secret- one that didn't carry any real consequences, and it had been fun to hold it over Lisbet and Shari's heads.

I had a feeling my father had known- we had never spoken about it, but I doubted that Dumbledore, McGonagall, and the rest of the teachers had hired Greygorry to train me without at least letting my father know who would have private access to his son- especially when all parties involved had vampire blood running through their veins- or, well... sitting in their veins?

"Your trainer- don't tell us who it is." I wasn't planning on it, but okay. "I have a pretty good hunch about who it is-" Did Lisbet know Greygorry? I considered it for a second- Greygorry had said he was almost four hundred years older than me, and I thought that might be around the right time for him to have run into Lisbet and Jerremyah- if not when they were all freshly turned, then at least once throughout the years. The encouraged secrecy made me wonder whether it was more than once, and whether they were on good terms.

She didn't seem unhappy to be reunited with him- then again, maybe she wasn't even thinking about Greygorry at all. It wasn't like she had had many hints about my trainers identity, other than the fact that they were willing to train me- a half-vampire- without much complaint. Which, may be an identifying factor in and of itself, considering how Jerremyah had acted when we had first met.

"-But I'd rather leave it a surprise, if that's okay with you." Her eyes twitched towards Jerremyah just barely, but I got the message loud and clear- the surprise wasn't for her benefit, but Jerremyah's.

I truly hoped Greygorry was who they were waiting for.

"That's fine by me." Lisbet's reply was cut off by a flutter of wings, and I felt a draft of wind just before Charlie landed on my shoulder, a letter from Elaine tied to her fragile little bird leg.

"Oh, hullo dear." I murmured to her, and she hooted a quiet reply, briefly brushing her beak against the side of my head. "You've done so well. May I take your cargo from you?" She narrowed her eyes at me, and I sighed, waiting a second in case she relented- but she knew she had me well trained, and waited in turn until I reached into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out an owl treat to give her.

"Fair pay, for fair work."

(A/N): Leo: 'What house are you in?'

Lisbet: 'Slytherin.'

Leo: 'Makes sense.'

Jerremyah: 'Hufflepuff.'

Leo: 'Um, no.'