(A/N): We're back in 1975 with Leo, Jerremyah and Lisbet, in the aftermath of Leo revealing that Sebastien is a massive creep.

Leo

Jerremyah looked disgusted and a little shaken, but not surprised. Not as though he'd expected it, but like it was to be expected. I suppose it probably was, given the type of life someone like Sebastien tended to live- and given what Jerremyah had told me about his own father, and his illicit affairs.

"I wasn't exactly... kept apprised of my f- Sebastien's- extramarital activities, but I... well, I tended to overhear things. Especially when they were things I wasn't meant to overhear." Lisbet looked pained. "They weren't trying very hard to keep it from Mia and I, but they did make an effort not to discuss it too openly in front of us, probably so we couldn't repeat any of it to anyone. Still, things... slipped out." She grimaced, then shrugged- which wasn't what I'd expected her to do.

"Most likely a combination of your heightened senses coming in, and an instinctual attraction to whatever a person is most desperately trying to hide from you." Or to say. It took me a second to realise that she was ruminating about when I'd said I tended to overhear things- maybe I shouldn't have been surprised that she was choosing to focus on that, given the discomfort the subject inspired. "It was probably originally useful for hunting- luring victims- but I'm sure at this point we've come to use it more to identify and avoid Hunters, or other dangerous parties." Like werewolves? It was a funny thought, given my close relationship with Remus- and Elaine, for that matter.

"Probably." I agreed with a certain degree of amusement, to which she gave me an odd look that I immediately moved past. "Anyway, the servants- staff- weren't quite as careful around me. Sure, they were worried about me taking things back to my parents, but they didn't know that I was... well, I tried to play dumb, most of the time." And they'd gotten a bit more loose-lipped, once I'd kept quiet for a while, but I wasn't going to tell her that. Lisbet's eyebrows furrowed.

"And they bought that?" She sounded surprisingly shocked, by this.

I shrugged, briefly checking on Jerremyah- who looked to be recovering, but was still worryingly quiet- before I turned my attention back to her. "I'd like to say I'm a good actor, but let's face it- I still don't know what's going on half the time. There wasn't much acting to be done, for the most part." She looked almost... disappointed? Sad? No, disappointed made more sense- she was probably disappointed that I wasn't as smart as she'd thought I was. Then again, it wasn't like I'd ever tried to pretend to be smarter than I was- with her, at least.

"Leo..." She murmured, and, hearing the 'we need to talk' in her tone, I continued before she had the chance to. I wasn't quite dumb enough to think it would stop her indefinitely, but hopefully it might delay her a little.

"I heard a lot from the maids. They weren't supposed to talk to me beyond what was absolutely necessary, so they didn't know that I was- they treated me like a kid." Which I appreciated, even it made me feel a bit useless. "My tutors, or my governess, they knew what I was capable of. Well... more of what I was capable of. If they talked around me, they were a bit more careful." I grinned. "Not careful enough." Jerremyah huffed out a laugh- thank God- and wiggled me by the shoulders again.

"You... sneaky little fucker." I heard Lisbet's outraged squawk mellow as I beamed at him, and from the corner of my eye, I could see that she was obviously conflicted. Jerremyah had no such problem. "Lis, tell him. Tell him how sneaky he is! Sneaky little-" She shot him a sharp look that maybe wasn't as sharp as she wanted it to be, seeing as it was blunted by affection. "-boy." He amended with a playful roll of his eyes, and I absently noticed that my cheeks hurt a little from how wide my smile was.

She huffed quietly, trying to sound put out- or perhaps just put upon- but only managing to look incredibly fond, once more. "He's sneaky," She acquiesced, before her eyes quickly darted away so she wouldn't fall prey to her mate's absolutely wicked grin. "My sneaky little boy." It was endlessly satisfying to hear, which I suppose was Jerremyah's point. My parents- Cipicia and Sebastien, anyway- would have seen my 'sneakiness' as a moral failing, but Lisbet and Jerremyah- especially Jerremyah- saw it as something... praise worthy. What a trip. "Also, if you think I'm not going to address the fact that you just said you had tutors and a governess, you, my dear boy, are mistaken."

I felt my cheeks heat- not because she'd called me out, but because she'd called me- her dear boy. "I-" It took a second to get my throat to work, and allow me the air to be able to force words out. "That's pretty much a staple, for pureblood families. Well-off pureblood families, anyway. The ones that are-" I shrugged. "I think Sirius had tutors, but not a governess, and James didn't have either, but he had informal teaching before he started Hogwarts, and y'know... parents that actually gave a shit." The corner of her lips turned down, disapproving of my poor language, even as her eyes darted from me, to Jerremyah.

"Well, I suppose. Was it-" I rolled my eyes at her as fondly as I could.

"Lis, I don't care. I knew what I was saying when I said it, it wasn't an accident. I trust him with you, do you really think my friends are any different?" Her eyebrows shot up, then she seemed to forcibly drag them back down, in an attempt to minimise her reaction.

"That's... very sweet, Nounours." I shrugged- it wasn't. It really wasn't. Lisbet was- I didn't know what I'd do without her. Or rather... I knew exactly what I'd do without her, and that wasn't the reason I'd want to resort to that, if I did in fact do so. Jerremyah wasn't a danger to my friends- at least not because they were my friends- and I knew that. No, there was no point not using their names, anymore.

"I... thank you." Jerremyah said, and he sounded genuinely... grateful? Ah, it must be because I'd said I trusted him with Lisbet. Of course.

I shrugged again. "She's your mate. You'd never hurt her on purpose- I know that, and she knows that. You may have messed up before, but you won't do it again- Well," I amended. "If you do it again, you won't let it get to that point again. I believe you learnt your lesson, and will continue doing your best to keep learning." He blinked, his face almost unbearably soft, before he seemed to shake himself out of his stupor.

"I didn't mean-" He stopped, apparently in an attempt to try to rid himself of the emotional rasp that had crept into his voice. "I meant, 'thank you for trusting me with your friends'." Oh. I felt my eyebrows furrow, and I shook my head.

"You wouldn't betray me, it'd hurt Lisbet." He blinked again, and from the corner of my eye, I saw the woman herself do the same. "What?" I asked, and he opened his mouth. He stood there for a second without saying anything, like he knew words were coming, but not when, and Lisbet just... let him?

"Is that... the only reason?" I stared at him blankly, trying to figure out what he was saying.

"I don't know, is it?" If in doubt, throw the ball back into their court. In this case, they both looked pained, which made me nervous. Had I said the wrong thing, or was this one of those times, when-

"Leo, I..." He hesitated, briefly taking a hand off my shoulder so he could rub the back of his neck. When it returned, he squeezed said shoulder as if he was trying to reassure me- how odd. "I don't think there's anything I can say that could prove to you that I would never betray you-" I cut him off.

"I know you're not going to betray me," I told him easily, and saw a crease appear between his brows. "I mean, it would really only be detrimental to you, considering I'm your clan leader, and Lisbet would be mad, and Jo's already spoiling for a fight-" He pushed downward on my shoulders, almost hard enough to make me feel the need to bend my knees to lessen the pressure, but it felt... good. Almost like... like he was anchoring me to the spot- to the conversation. It made it nearly impossible to ignore what he was saying, when he started speaking again.

"Leo, I'm not going to betray you, ever. Not because we're in the same clan, not because Lisbet loves you," I couldn't help my sharp intake of breath, and I felt her hand slip into mine. "Not because it would be 'detrimental' to me, and make me even more enemies than I already have. I will never betray you, because I like you. Because I care, about you. And I- I'm going to prove it to you. Not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually, someday, I'm going to get it through your thick skull- another thing we have in common- that I'm not doing this for myself, or anyone else. I'm here for you, kiddo- and I'm sorry to inform you, but you're stuck with me from here on out."

(A/N): Leo: 'She looked almost... disappointed? Sad? No, disappointed made more sense- she was probably disappointed that I wasn't as smart as she'd thought I was.'

Leo: 'Lisbet? Sad? About me? Nah, can't be. She must be disappointed that I'm a complete numpty.'

Lisbet: *is sad that Leo felt like he had to play dumb, and also that he apparently thinks he still IS dumb*

Lisbet: 'Well... his emotional intelligence is a little lacking, but I can't fault him for that.'

also

Leo: *says he trusts Jerremyah with his friends, because if he trusts him with Lisbet, then why would he hide his friends identities from him*

Jerremyah: *is grateful*

Leo: 'Ah, it must be because I'd said I trusted him with Lisbet.'

Leo: *long speech about why he trusts Jerremyah not to screw it up again*

Jerremyah: *just. completely choked up about the fact that Leo trusts him- with his friends, with Lisbet, AT ALL really*

also

Leo: 'You wouldn't betray me, it'd hurt Lisbet.'

Jerremyah: '...is this kid... fucking serious?'

Lisbet: 'I'm afraid so.'

Jerremyah: 'What... what the fuck? How am I supposed to fix this?'

Lisbet: 'Oh, I have no idea- but if you figure it out, could you let me know?'

Elaine: 'And me.'

also

Jerremyah: '...is this kid... fucking serious?'

Lisbet: *war flashbacks to finding out Leo isn't a virgin*

Lisbet: 'God, I hope not. Brooke was bad enough.'

Confession time... y'all know that Jerremyah has changed a lot since I first introduced him to the story, both personality-wise and arc-wise. Well... my original intention was that Jerremyah would have come to join the Ellwood Clan with the intention of betraying Leo. My intentions changed immediately (around the time of Kit and Caboodle), because I basically realised that the person that Jerremyah is now- which was the person he was rapidly changing into in my head at that point in time- would never, ever do that, to Leo or to Lisbet.

I want to emphasize that their is absolutely no chance (zero percent, not going to happen) that Jerremyah has any intention to betray Leo in this version of the story, and in my original version he didn't actually end up betraying him, either. He slowly changed his mind, and Leo even knew that Jerremyah came to them with the intention of betraying him, and didn't care. There was even a point where Leo literally said to him, 'now's your chance, you should take it' and Jerremyah was just completely, utterly horrified. So, yeah. Maybe that gives you some insight as to why I wrote him acting like that, that first day, but in this version of the story- where again, I have to reiterate, he has NO. INTENTION. of betraying them- he's acting that way because he thinks it's his best shot of getting Lisbet back. I guess this chapter- or that part of it at least- is my apology to Jerremyah for originally thinking he would do something like that. Or, want to do something like that, anyway.