(A/N): Another mostly letter chapter, this time Elaine reading Leo's letter in which he signed off with, 'I'm in love with you'. There's also some Elaine and Charlie interaction, and the appearance of Elaine and Lily's rarely seen dorm mates. By the way, I have up to chapter 343 written up and ready to be posted- which, if I follow the current two day posting schedule, 343 will be posted March 3rd.

Elaine

When I woke up the morning after Boxing Day, I opened my eyes and was startled to meet the big brown eyes of an owl, much closer to me than an owl had any business being this early in the morning. I threw myself backwards, away from the bird leaning over me from my nightstand, and just barely saved myself from falling off of the bed. As my brain woke up a little bit, jolted into motion by the shock of having a living animal right in my face unexpectedly, I realised that the owl I was looking at was, in fact, Charlie.

"Merlin's pants, Charlie, give a girl some warning!" Lily grunted in her sleep from across the room at my exclamation but didn't stir, for which I was relieved. Alice, however, was already up, and I heard her laugh quietly at my shock.

"Yeah, she's been like that for a while. If I had to guess, I'd say she's pretty eager for you to open that letter." Which could mean many different things, if it was actually true. Typically, I wouldn't have believed someone who suggested that a bird- even one as intelligent as an owl- could display an eagerness to deliver someone information- information that the letter contained, and not just the letter itself, in pursuit of a treat- but the way Charlie was looking at me was definitely... knowing. As I watched her, she dipped her head down and plucked at the letter tied to her leg with her beak, making it flop weakly like she was trying to draw my attention to it- as if I could have possibly missed it.

"She's... an unusual bird." Charlie cocked her head at me, looking as offended as an owl could, and I rushed to make it up to her, lest she change her mind, and drop the letter in the Black Lake. "But very pretty, and very smart, and a great little messenger!" She looked a little less peeved, but I wasn't about to take any more risks, and immediately reached for the box of owl treats- Charlie, predictably, perked up immediately.

I reached for the letter, and she pulled her foot away. I furrowed my eyebrows, and met her eyes again. "Give me the letter, Charlie." I reached for it again, and she pulled away, again. "Charlie." She fluffed out her feathers, and I sighed heavily, knowing exactly what she was doing, and fully aware of the fact I was being extorted by an owl- and that it was working. "If you give me the letter, I'll give you two treats." She seemed to consider this for a second, and I tentatively reached for the letter- and she pulled away again. "Charlie, you're being ridiculous." I heard Alice laugh again, clearly amused by my struggle with Leo's new pet.

"Just give in, Elaine, she's got you by the short and curlies." She did, but there was only so much I could let the owl get away with- she was setting a bad example for Lawrence, after all, who was watching her with one eye half open from his stand by the window.

"I can do two and a half, but that's it. Leo wouldn't want me to give you any more than that." Charlie gave me a look that told me she knew that Leo was just as much of a pushover as I was, if not more so, but she lifted her foot to hold the letter out for me to take, so I did so. I was wise enough not to give her the treats first, in case she decided to take them and still refuse to give me the letter, but she knew I wouldn't withhold the treats I owed her, now that I had promised them.

"You're a menace." I told her, trying not to sound fond, and she seemed almost proud of this- it was very clear that this bird had been handpicked by Lisbet. I untied the letter and set it on my bed, out of her immediate reach just in case she decided to try and take me for all I was worth with the treats and hold the letter ransom again, and gave her the two and a half treats I owed her- sneaking the other half to Lawrence while she was distracted. He'd had his last treat not that long ago, but I knew if I left the half treat lying around, it would be gone before I finished reading the letter- and Lawrence was a healthy weight, so it wouldn't hurt him to get a little extra food provided for him every now and then.

I peeled open the letter, and started reading.

Dear Elaine,

Well, that's not ominous at all. I'll be sure to try to save all of my best reactions for when I see you in person, if that's the case.

Well at least he didn't seem to be freaking out too badly.

I did my best, but I think they all got sick of my pessimistic scaremongering, and Lisbet just put them in the rotation to spite me.

Uh oh.

That was a joke- they're perfectly capable, Lisbet wouldn't add them to the schedule if they weren't, and I certainly wouldn't have allowed it.

Oh. Well, I'm glad he cleared that up. I hadn't really believed that any of them would risk something like that- Danniel and Jo agreeing to it, Lisbet setting it up, and Leo letting it happen- but it had concerned me momentarily.

Well, she did tell you she thought I was 'a nice young man', so I guess she has plenty to want to protect!

At least he wasn't being weird about it. Then again, maybe that's because of how I had downplayed it, and I was glad that I had.

I just figured Lisbet was feeling guilty for breaking your bathroom window- why, what did you think it was?

Oh, Leo. You poor, sweet, emotionally stunted fool. He thought Lisbet felt more guilty for breaking a window- an inanimate object- than forcibly shoving him through said window, causing him to be impaled with a shard of glass and almost bleed to death?

Was he just oblivious on this matter, or... did he really not know how Lisbet felt about him? I had left her letter for him to read, when she had called him 'my little boy', and I was pretty sure he had read it, but maybe I was wrong. And the last time I had seen the two of them interact, Lisbet had been more keen on taking the 'fun aunt' position, than any sort of maternal role, but clearly- at least, it was clear to me- that had changed.

It made perfect sense to me that since Leo was lacking a mother- Cipicia didn't count, for every possible reason under the sun- he gained two alternative maternal figures in Shari and Lisbet.

If I thought Lisbet was struggling when we were at your house, I didn't know what Lisbet struggling looked like. We decided a few days ago- before everything with your family- that we should expand the clan.

They had? Why? ...Were things getting that bad with the war, that they felt like they needed the protection extra numbers would provide them? Or was there some other reason I hadn't considered?

I asked 'my trainer during the school year'- I never mentioned Greygorry by name because I was worried there might be bad blood there (heh, bad blood)

Leo still hadn't told them who his trainer was? That seemed a little... irresponsible.

and Lisbet has since ASKED me NOT to tell her who it is, because she has a hunch about who it is- he's coming to the house tomorrow morning, so I'll let you know how it went in my next letter.

You know what, never mind. Apparently it was a vampire thing that my human brain couldn't understand. Wait, if Greygorry was coming tomorrow morning, and Leo sent this letter last night, then... Greygorry was probably at the Ellwood Estate right now- I wonder how it's going.

Lisbet sent a letter to her 'old friend', Jerremyah-

The fact that 'old friend' was in quotation marks made me nervous. Was he an 'old friend', or an old 'friend'?

-the vampire who brought the Twins to us. Jerremyah also happens to be the most infuriating person in the world- yes, Lisbet has been surpassed

Really? I hadn't thought that was possible. Then again, maybe Leo was exaggerating.

but that's fitting considering I'm pretty sure he's Lisbet's mate.

He's what? Her what? I hadn't known Lisbet had a mate- then again, guessing by the way he said 'pretty sure', Leo hadn't known either.

It's a long story- one I'll have to tell you in person, to see YOUR reaction-

Uh oh. This was payback, and I had a feeling my reaction was going to be more rewarding for Leo than his was going to be for me.

-but to give you the short version:

Jerremyah has horrible self control- hence why we haven't told him about your family-

Well, that was... unfortunate, but I was grateful that Leo had taken the precaution of keeping my mother and Jay out of it. I didn't know what 'horrible self control' entailed, especially when it was coming from Leo, who had a meltdown about his own 'lack of self control' it felt like every time I blinked, but never actually seemed to lose said control- at least not without extenuating circumstances, such as having recently been hit in the chest with a stunning spell, or being actively encouraged to bite someone- I was referring to Brooke there, not myself. Leo had been perfectly in control when he had fed from me- I thought back to him grinding against me, and then to him recoiling when he had thought he had hurt me with the bite- at least, he hadn't lost control of his vampire side.

-and he turned the Twins.

He had?... Was that new information? That felt like new information.

Jo wants to kill him for it

Uh, what? Was that... normal? Did most new vampires want to kill their sires, or was that... a product of the way he turned them?

and is mad at Danniel and Lisbet because they had both suspected that that was the case.

Oh. Damn. I felt bad for her- she was probably feeling betrayed by two of the people closest to her, and I doubted there was a vampire version of counselling she could go to in order to try and come to terms with it.

The last time Lisbet saw Jerremyah, apparently she had told him she never wanted to speak to him again for some undisclosed indiscretion,

Uh oh, that sounded serious.

but is barely managing to stop herself from jumping his bones, despite the rest of us standing right next to them, and doing everything we can to try to dissuade her.

Oh. Or not.

She did briefly tear him a new one after I told her that he spat he spat on the floor in disgust about my being a half-breed when he dropped the Twins off,

I'm sorry, he did what? And they were considering letting him join their clan? Either they were desperate, or... Lisbet was.

but after he left to get his belongings she calmed down a bit, and went right back to pining after him. Honestly, I've never seen her so pathetic- and before you say anything, I'm sure she would agree that 'pathetic' is the appropriate term.

Wait, he left to get his belongings? They were letting him stay, after that? Merlin, either this guy was the smoothest talker in the world, or Lisbet truly was pathetic- and everyone else was much too accepting of that fact.

So, yeah. Jerremyah is part of our clan now, Lisbet wants to screw him, and Jo wants to strangle him. And I want to strangle him. And I think Shari wants to strangle him. I don't think Danniel currently wants to strangle him, but that's probably only because he's on watch in an attempt to avoid Jo strangling HIM. Unfortunately, Jerremyah seems to have a strong neck, so I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon, but at least we'll have fun trying.

Merlin, they were letting him stay. Honestly, I was rooting for the strangulation chain to succeed, but given the fact that vampires didn't need oxygen to survive, it was a futile- but probably nonetheless extremely satisfying- endeavor.

I'm sure Jay would come around, when he realised the main way I use my vampirism is keeping you safe, but it's a last resort, for sure. By the way, are you aware that his left forearm was healed weirdly? I noticed it when I was there- it doesn't seem to be giving him any trouble, and it isn't super obvious, but I thought I'd ask, just in case.

Leo was apparently rather optimistic when it came to my brother- and observant. I knew exactly the injury Leo was talking about, and I knew why it had healed 'weird', as Leo described it- my father had broken it during 'training' a few days before we had left him, and the reason it hadn't quite set as well as it should, was because we hadn't been able to risk going back to St Mungo's for the first few weeks after we had fled. After all, one of the first places my father would think to check for his wife, young daughter and teenage son with a half healed arm, would be a hospital. Eventually, we had been able to guarantee secure passage to a healer, but by that point, Jay arm was ever so slightly crooked.

The healers weren't worried by it- apparently, it was within the accepted range of displacement, and since it wasn't causing him any trouble, they didn't recommend further treatment unless he happened to break the bone again.

The fact that Leo had noticed it, meant one of two things- either Leo was paying very close attention to Jay, or he was a lot more observant than I had given him credit for- maybe he had used his blood sense, but I didn't see a reason why he would- and there were probably a few other things Leo would have noticed if he had, that would have been of more interest to him than an incorrectly healed bone.

Ah yes, our... closeness. You mean the fact that I love you? Or do you mean the fact that you love me?

Of course he was going to tease me about it- I should have expected nothing less. I guess my concern that Leo wouldn't want to write out his feelings was unfounded.

Or the fact that we're in love with each other?

...

Completely, absolutely, utterly, unfounded.

Reading those words took my breath away, and I felt a stupid grin spread across my face. I buried said face into my pillow, and squealed- which apparently got Alice's attention, because she piped up with,

"Wow, what's got you so excited? You're like a dog with two tails!" If I had a tail like Sirius did in his animagus form, I'd be wagging it as hard as I could. I mean, I had a tail in my animagus form, but wolves didn't quite wag their tails when they were excited the way dogs did- and I'd certainly never had much reason to be excited when I was in my animagus form.

"It- I- Leo-" I cut myself off, burying my head and squealing again, but I could still hear Alice's chuckle.

"Of course. I hear you loud and clear." I doubted Alice knew exactly what I was ecstatic about, but she got the gist of it- it was common knowledge that Leo and I were... close.

After a few minutes I effectively pulled myself together- mostly- and I returned to reading the letter- though I must admit my eyes lingered on the words 'we're in love with each other' for a lot longer than I had intended them to, before I managed- with a great deal of effort- to drag them away.

If you're willing to tell them, I'm willing to be your moral support. We could always tell Remus everything that's happened over Christmas beforehand, in case you want another person on your side when you tell the whole group everything, but I'm with you no matter what you choose, and I'm proud of you for even considering telling them, because I know how hard it can be.

Leo was... proud of me? He was... proud? It was an odd sentiment, considering that all I was doing was telling a truth I should have told a long time ago, but the thought of him being proud of me for it made me feel warm inside- well, warmer, considering I was still heated from the last thing he had admitted to feeling for me.

Telling Remus would be easier than telling the others, definitely, but it would still be hard- not because he would be disappointed in me for not telling him, but because every time Remus found out I was in danger, he got this protective look in his eye that I was usually only used to seeing in Jay or Leo's eyes- it was the, 'I would kill for you' look, and I hated it more than any other. Especially on Remus. Seeing it on Jay or Leo was bad enough, but Leo could take care of himself- most of the time- and Jay was... well, Jay. He was my older brother, there was no discouraging him from being overprotective. Remus was supposed to be my equal, and once a month, on the full moon, I played the role of his bodyguard, not the other way around.

Then again, was I his bodyguard? Bodyguards protected someone, they didn't stop them from escaping and killing people. I guess it was more accurate to say... I was his jailer. The thought was awful, and I lifted my mood back up by eyeing Leo's 'we're in love with each other' once more.

A friend of Shari's is currently staying with us as well-

Did this have something to do with what Shari was 'going through'? If so, it was good that she had a friend to help her through whatever it was.

-he has his own clan in South America, so he won't be joining ours permanently,

From what I understood, some vampire clans were like families- Leo's certainly was- so it made sense that they didn't typically desert their clan, but some were more casual- simply an alliance of like minded individuals who wanted the security that a clan offered. My father had made it very clear that the first type was infinitely more dangerous than the latter, because each individual vampire was willing to fight to the death for their fellow clan members, rather than abandon them the second the tide of the battle turned the wrong way.

but he is a fairly trusted ally- and since he has more experience with young vampires, we had him assess how the Twins are coming along while he was here. He said that they were good fighters, and normal or maybe even above average in terms of control. He said he expected vampires of their age to be a lot more unpredictable than they had shown to be- that was just based on me being quarter human though, so I think they're actually doing even better than he thinks, and I'm very proud of them.

There was that word again- proud. This time it applied to the Twins instead of me, and I took note of it, trying to re-form my opinion of Leo's relationship with Jo and Danniel, since it had been shaken by my mother relaying the fact that Leo had said that Danniel was like a brother to him.

He was the one that suggested more exposure, which is why I ended up asking you.

He must be trusted, if his advice convinced Leo to put me in the line of danger- not that I thought I would actually be in danger, but I knew Leo didn't quite see it like that.

It isn't ego. Danniel used to be a little bit more arrogant when he first came to us, but I think at this point Lisbet, Shari and Jo have put him in his place enough throughout a year and a half of training that they've humbled him. Being routinely beaten in a fight by a fourteen or fifteen year old half-vampire hasn't exactly inflated his ego either, but I've been trying to keep them interested in their training and confident in their abilities as much as possible whenever I'm here, which I think helps.

Was Leo... helping to train the Twins? Like, more than just being another sparring partner, was he... actively teaching them? I didn't know what that meant for my assessment of Leo's abilities- were the newly turned vampires so vulnerable that he was stronger than them, or was he just- stronger than them, in general? My father had always said that older vampires were more dangerous than young ones- and Leo had confirmed this for me- but he had impressed upon us the importance of never underestimating any vampire, even those freshly turned. I wondered, not for the first time, where Leo would fall on my fathers' scale, determining how much of a threat a vampire was.

I think Danniel's tendency to overexert himself is, in part, competitiveness with Jo- I think it would be impossible for them not to compare themselves to each other, given the fact that they were turned only days apart, and by the same person, apparently-

I suppose that made sense- siblings were typically competitive with each other, and that was the only real thing I could compare them to- not that I seemed to be the only one, considering that they were called, 'The Twins.'

-and something to do with how he grew up. The way you lived as a human has a lot to do with how you end up as a vampire- maybe you knew that, I don't know.

I... hadn't known that. Whether that wasn't a well known fact outside of the vampire community, or whether my father just hadn't told me because it would attribute some sense of personhood to the species that he couldn't allow, I didn't know. I completely believed that he would keep that sort of thing close to his chest, if he was aware of it.

I have a feeling I know what you want to ask me about how I mentioned Danniel to your mother, but as per request, I'll leave that subject until when is see you in person.

Ah. Clearly it wasn't just a passing comment, if he remembered it clearly enough to pick it out of a line up like that. My eyes moved across the paper, and I caught sight of Leo's sign off, and once again, my heart started to feel like it was going to beat it's way through my ribs, and out of my chest. Maybe Charlie would take it with her, when she went back to him.

I'm in love with you,

Leo

I squealed, my brain too mushy to remember to stifle the sound with my pillow, and clearly, I woke up the rest of the girls in my dorm.

Marlene threw a pillow at me- hitting me square in the face, those Chaser reflexes of hers paying off, even half asleep- Mary shot me a perturbed look, and Lily sat up, eyeing me warily before she recognised the soppy grin on my face, and her own face split into a smile.

"Leo?" I nodded, and she, Mary and Alice laughed indulgently. Marlene was still displeased, but I didn't hold that against her- I knew she was never in the best mood in the mornings, and it was still quite early. "Lily..." She stared at me, looking like she would have been concerned if I wasn't still beaming from ear to ear, and I glanced down at the letter, before grabbing my wand from my nightstand. I pointed it at the paper, and murmured the word obscuring charm Professor Flitwick had taught us last year. "Verba Celare." Lily's eyebrows shot up as I practically bounced across the room and jumped onto her bed next to her- double checking that everything on the paper, except for the two parts I wanted to show her-

'Ah yes, our... closeness. You mean the fact that I love you? Or do you mean the fact that you love me? Or the fact that we're in love with each other?'

and

'I'm in love with you,

Leo'

-was obscured by the spell. Because I had been the one to cast it, I could still read the rest of the letter, but everything I wanted to hide was covered in an oily blur, like I had smeared it with Vaseline, or something.

I thrust the parchment under her nose, and she took a second to rub the sleep from her eyes- but I knew exactly when she actually read it, because her eyebrows gradually rose all the way up, and when they couldn't rise any further, she turned to meet my gaze, looking shocked, and vaguely awed.

"You- he- when did this happen?" I could tell that Mary and Alice were curious, but trying to give us our privacy, but honestly, I couldn't care less if they saw me squealing, prancing around, and generally making a fool of myself. I was a fool- A lovestruck fool.

"Which part? The last part?" She looked at me like I was crazy.

"The last part? All of it. When did you two-" She glanced at the other girls, then back to me, pointedly. "Since when do you two say things like that? Last time I checked he would barely say it in general, let alone to you, and since when is it... since when does he know it's... mutual?" Which was code for, 'last time I checked, Leo would barely acknowledge that he had feelings for you, let alone to you, and since when does he know that you love him back?'

"Oh- um... You know when James was being a prick to Leo when he started dating Brooke, and I punched him in the face?" Lily's eyebrows shot up.

"That long?! Elaine, that was like, a year and half ago!" Had it really been that long? Hmm.

"Well, technically, you know, Remus let it slip before that, so I mean... I knew, I just didn't... know." Meaning, I knew Leo had admitted to having a crush on me to Remus, but I didn't quite believe it until I heard it from his mouth, almost a year later.

"So, what? You two just... say stuff like that whenever we're not around?" Well...

"Um... The first part. The second part is... new. Very new." Lily's eyebrows furrowed, confused for a second, before she understood what I was getting at, and her eyes darted to the censored letter again.

"And he told you via letter? Wow, I didn't figure Leo for a coward!" I didn't think he was a coward- in fact, I thought he was extremely brave for saying it.

"Lily." I said quietly, and she paused, examining me closer before rolling her eyes in exasperated fondness.

"Ugh, of course. This is Leo we're talking about. You're lucky he said it at all- and hey, at least it's a letter, and not a telegram. 'Dear Elaine, stop. How is your day? Stop. I'm in lo-'" I pounced on her, cutting her off by hitting her in the face with her own pillow.

"Lily!" She burst out laughing, and handed me back the letter.

"Go on, Juliet. Write back to your Romeo- just make sure the only thing tragic about this is your idiotic, pretentious first names."

(A/N): Leo: *signs of his letter, 'I'm in love with you.'*

Elaine: *squeals in excitement, her heart nearly beating out of her chest*

Elaine: 'I must tell EVERYONE I must scream it from the top of the Astronomy Tower. I'm SO IN LOVE WITH THIS BOY.'

also

Elaine: 'Charlie, if you give me the letter, I'll give you two treats.'

Charlie: '...Three.'

Elaine: 'Two and a half, final offer. Take it or leave it.'

Charlie: 'You drive a hard bargain. I like that.'

INFO

So, I know wolves do wag their tails when they're excited to greet pack members they haven't seen in a long time, and to demonstrate submissiveness, but they don't really wag their tails whenever they're happy quite like dogs do. Also, I couldn't remember if Leo has mentioned that he helps train the Twins in a setting where Elaine would know about it, but I don't think he has. Also also, short and curlies refers to the hairs on the back of your neck, not pubic hair despite popular misconception, and basically means to have someone completely in your power.

By the way, Remus slipping up and telling Elaine that Leo admitted to him that he likes her is in chapter 143. Elaine admits that she likes Leo at the end of 141, and Leo overhears her say it in 142, but Elaine doesn't know about that. Leo tells James that he loves Elaine in 187, which Elaine overhears, and confronts him about in 188, telling him that she feels the same way. 189 they fight about the fact that they can't be together because Leo is dangerous, and they end up saying 'I love you' to each other for the first time. In 180 Leo says he likes Elaine while explaining to Lily why he broke James's nose , to which she says, 'Okay, one, you admitted it and I shall never let you forget it', and she asks if he feels the same way for Brooke as he does for Elaine, to which he says he loves Elaine. Lily is shocked and excited, and Leo says its never going to happen, because he's dangerous. In 159, Leo says, 'Love you too, Damsel' as a snarky response, but secretly means it in reply to when he overheard her admitting that she had a crush on him, in 141/142. So, Leo not only said that he loved Elaine indirectly first (in 187), but also directly, in 159, though she doesn't know that.

141/142/143 are in third year before Christmas, and 180/187/188/189 are in fourth year before Christmas, which means they take place almost exactly a year apart. 159 is the last chapter of third year, which means its roughly in the middle of the two chunks of events.