(A/N): We're back with Leo, Jo, Lisbet, Jerremyah, Danniel, and Greygorry.

Trigger Warnings: Leo is temporarily afraid/wary of Lisbet because he equates her with his mother, who abused him. So, I guess, references/allusions to child abuse?

Leo

I winced, and unfortunately, felt the need to come to Jo's rescue. "Lis-" She cut me off, holding up a hand that I knew from experience with my mother meant: 'Silence... or else.'

"How long have you known?" She demanded, and where I expected Jo to gulp, she simply rolled her eyes.

"Since right after it happened- and if you don't know when that was, then I'm not going to tell you." I thought she was being spectacularly loyal, right up until she added, "That's Leo's problem." Lisbet turned on me, and I hid behind Jerremyah's shoulder again.

I expected her to prod me for answers, or to make her frustration with my avoidance known, but instead there was silence for a long moment, and when I peered over the ridge of Jerremyah's shoulder at her, I saw her watching me with a soft, pained expression. I popped my head up further, giving her an immediate once over to make sure it wasn't physical pain, only emotional- Only emotional, as if that wasn't just as bad, if not worse. I wanted to ask what was happening, but wasn't quite ready to speak like that just yet, so I pulled my head back so I could see Jerremyah's face. "Mm?" He responded to my inquisitive noise like I'd done something momentous, and rather touching.

"You reacted like you were scared of Lizzy, and obviously, she got worried about that." His explanation was helpful, even if it made Lisbet make a sound that drew across my nerves like a bow across the strings of a violin. "Oh, come off it! The longer he stays in the dark, the longer he smells nervous- and I think we can all agree that we want to make Leo feel better, pretty much no matter the cost." I flushed, and only barely managed to resist tucking my head again.

Lisbet shot the back of his head an almost reproachful look- which she should've known by now was wasted on someone like Jerremyah- before her eyes moved to mine, and her expression softened drastically in an instant. "I'm not sure how to make this better," She said quietly. "I would normally say a whole bunch of sweet things, but I don't want to risk driving you to the edge again. I don't know how to reassure you without accidentally making things worse." It was a valid concern, to be honest- one I didn't address right away, mostly because I couldn't.

"Don't be mad Jo didn't tell you," I said, my voice barely more than a murmur. "You can't go on and on about clan loyalty and then get mad when someone doesn't tell you a secret someone else would want kept." Jo seemed to appreciate me sticking up for her, and Lisbet's expression turned slightly dry, even as she stared at me like she was waiting for me to do something else extraordinary. What I'd done in the first place, I hadn't the foggiest.

"I suppose I'm just a bit sore that I was the last to know," She said, not sounding sore at all. "It-"

"Um, sorry, but- No," Danniel interjected, waving his hands around somewhat wildly as he spoke, which wasn't unusual. "You were the last to know- other than me. Does Herc know about this?" I don't know, but I doubt he'd care either way. Hardly the worst thing he's learnt about me.

I shrugged, making sure it could be seen past Jerremyah's shoulders even though I knew they could sense it either way. "Before his time." I mean, obviously, considering I hadn't interacted with anyone my age since leaving Hogwarts- and subsequently meeting Herc. "It's really not that big of a deal-" Danniel cut me off, shaking his head with an uncharacteristically furrowed brow.

"Of course it's a big deal, what do you mean?!" I raised an eyebrow at him slowly, but in the end, I didn't need to- he continued without my input. "Leo, it's an important life milestone- no matter how you view it personally, it is something that most people consider big and life-changing. And even if you don't think so, you might appreciate the fact that this is one of the few big, life-changing things that aren't, y'know... life or death." Well... he had a bit of a point, there. "Also, I'm a little hurt that you told Jo before me, but I can understand why you might-"

"I didn't tell Jo," I said, and he paused to blink at me owlishly.

"Yeah," Jo snorted humorously. "I caught him sneaking back in- big difference."

I rolled my eyes at her. "I wasn't sneaking, and you just happened to be the only one here- other than Mia." I saw Lisbet glance away briefly, as though she was mentally adding this new information to some sort of dossier, or something. "Anyway, I think we already know that I have issues when it comes to- particularly female- parental guardians getting angry at me, or at least, in my vicinity. It's nothing to do with you, exactly, Lis, I just... I'm a bit sensitive, right now. Ignore me."

Her face... I almost buried mine in Jerremyah's shoulder to avoid having to see it, the pain was so blatant and strong that it physically hurt me to see it. She stared at me for a long moment, long enough that I turned to Jerremyah again, who arched an eyebrow at me. "Oh, I'm sorry, are we going to have a heart to heart about our issues with our respective parental figures? I must have missed your invitation in the- owl." It sounded snarky- and it kind of was, in a way- but it was also rather funny, so I couldn't help my snort of amusement.

"Ah, so that's why I didn't receive your RSVP!" I exclaimed quietly, and delighted in the way the corner of his lips twitched upward. "No, but anyway, I just- I didn't even realise I'd done it. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Lis, I sw-"

"Uncomfortable? You didn't make me uncomfortable, why would you think- There's no discomfort, there's just... I don't want to scare you, Leo. Ever. I want to be your safe haven- though... currently, I think my mate is a little closer to filling that role than I am." Jerremyah and I both flushed, decidedly not making eye contact this time. "Or his shoulder is, at least."

In my defense, it was a very nice shoulder. "In his defense, it's a very nice shoulder." Oh. "The best, really." Jerremyah's confidence was, as always, infuriatingly charming- even if he had taken the words out of my mouth.

"You don't scare me, Tante- I just forget sometimes, that you aren't..." I trailed off, not knowing what to say there that wasn't incredibly 'too involved'. What wouldn't break my heart and hers- and likely Jerremyah's, too, as collateral damage. "I'm going to react to things in unfavorable ways, sometimes. It has nothing to do with you, it's just- instinct." It didn't sit right with me for some reason, and just as Lisbet opened her mouth to reply, it came to me. "No, not instinct- habit. My actual instincts are different- really, really different." Her eyebrows furrowed.

"What do you mean, 'di-'"

I cut her off, shaking my head. "You are my safe haven- one of them, anyway. That's- You wouldn't be my open arms if you weren't. Jerremyah's just... safe in a different way. And... I think it's reasonable to say it's because my relationship with male parental figures is vastly less complicated to my relationship with female parental figures."

Lisbet blinked, then her mouth hung open for a second before she seemed to force herself to talk. I barely noticed the fact that Jerremyah had suddenly become rather stiff, but by the time I did, I was too distracted by what Lisbet was saying to check up on him. "And I assume it's reasonable to say one of your other 'safe havens' is your very favorite person in the world- the lovely Elaine." I flushed slightly, less at what Lisbet was saying and more at how I thought Elaine would react when I inevitably told her about this in order to provide context to the revelation that Lisbet had called her 'lovely', even if she was just impersonating me.

"Well, yes, of course. But it's not- All of my friends are- All of you are-" I paused for a second to gather my wits. "Kin equals safe. Safe equals kin. Kin equals good, and... No, yeah, that's about it." I looked up, and they were all staring at me with fond tenderness- except for Greygorry, who was almost as aloof as ever, and Jerremyah, who was both not looking at me, and clearly affected by something else. "What's-" 'What's up with Jerremyah?' I'd been about to ask, but Danniel started talking to me before I had the chance.

"Family's meant to mean safety," He said simply. "And even if clan doesn't automatically mean family in the way we were all told it does... I think it's safe to say we're all family anyway, now." Jo and Greygorry both rolled their eyes with differing levels of fondness, then realised that they'd shared the gesture, and Jo turned away from him with a quiet huff. "It's too late, now- we've adopted you. Too bad if you don't want us-" I would've hugged him if I could do so without leaving the sanctuary of Jerremyah's arms, but since I couldn't, I very intentionally made direct eye contact with him, grinned so wide it made my cheeks hurt, and purred as loud as I possibly could.

"Well. I think he might be okay with it, after all."

(A/N): Leo: *refers to Jerremyah as one of his parental guardians without noticing*

Jerremyah: *freezes*

Lisbet: 'Oh. My. GOD. Quick, quick, distract! Distract Leo before he can realise, and freak out or disappear again! How do I... Oh, of course! Elaine!'

Elaine: 'Happy to help.'

Leo: *tries to ask 'What's up with Jerremyah?'*

Danniel: *cuts him off to talk about clan and family, shooting Lisbet a look to let her know she owes him one*

Lisbet: 'Yes, yes, free pass to my chocolate stash, I get it- now get distracting!'

also

Jo: *rolls her eyes fondly*

Greygorry: *rolls his eyes slightly less fondly*

Jo: 'EW.'

Greygorry: 'Ew, yourself.'

Leo expects Jo to be afraid of Lisbet because A) Leo is currently afraid, and B) if Lisbet was actually acting like his mother right then, or had in the past, then Jo WOULD be afraid. Jo isn't afraid because she knows Lisbet isn't actually going to hurt her, and because she's Jo.

Also, Leo immediately went to Jerremyah for answers about Lisbet and he immediately caved because yes, the whole clan is desperate to help Leo feel better in any situation, but also because Jerremyah LOVES helping/being relied upon, basically, so Leo going to him first (and so quickly, and without much thought) was pretty much just a triple whammy. Jerremyah never stood a chance.

Lisbet is impressed with Leo for sticking up for his clan members (not that this was in any way unexpected of him) but also because he was able to concisely lecture her on being a hypocrite even though he was flustered and frightened.

Also, this chapter was when I came up with a particular headcanon (well, he's an oc, so... just canon, I guess?) for Danniel, which sparked a story thread I want to explore with him later (like... summer between sixth and seventh year, maybe?), so this was a pretty big chapter for him, even though he wasn't really the main focus.