(A/N): So um... long time no see, I guess? As of typing this chapter up and submitting it, it has currently been... almost five years since I last updated this story. Or any story. Now, there are a couple of reasons for that, and I won't bore you with a long in depth explanation of all of them, but one of the most important to the story is that I was struggling with depression and anxiety. Much of what I was writing with Leo was spurred by my own emotional turmoil, and I have since gotten a lot better (my antidepressants help massively, thank god). However, because I have gotten a lot better, I have been hesitant to try and revisit this story, since the situations and emotions are things that hit very close to home for me- especially the self harm thing. This isn't even to mention the fact that I have been completely unable to write just about anything for a couple years now due to a lack of motivation (a typical symptom of clinical depression) and just the fact that words don't flow quite as easily as they used to. Now, over the past couple of years, I have managed to write a couple of chapters (usually months if not years apart), and while I never plan to let this story die, I may have to adjust the course of the story simply because I am a different person to who I was five years ago, and I view my characters differently, but nothing MAJOR should change. Umm... well thats enough rambling for now. I hope you all enjoy this chapter that in all probability was written at least like three years ago.

Disclaimer: What do I usually say here? I don't own anything you recognize? Something like that.

Elaine

Leo had been acting strangely as of late, and I guess now we knew part of the reason why. He was hiding something, pulling away... hurting himself.

I always knew that he was self-destructive, that was obvious by the way he'd let himself get hurt in order to protect other people, or the multiple times he'd fought a very one-sided fight with a brick wall, I just never thought he'd take it into his own hands like that.

When Brooke told us, I wanted her to be wrong, I wanted to be able to deny it, but deep down I knew that she was telling the truth.

Maybe I should've figured it out earlier- I'd seen the scars, seen how differently he was acting, maybe I should've put two and two together.

The way he reacted when we confronted him, he was irritated by our concern. Like he didn't see the point in us being pissed at him for hurting himself. And the way he reacted when I offered to let him feed from me? He was shocked, worried... but just for a second, I swear I saw a glimmer of something akin to desire in those big blue eyes of his. He wanted this, to feed from me. The only thing getting in his way was his incapability to hurt people.

But there was something else going on as well, something he wasn't willing to admit- the reasons behind his self-abusive tendencies- and I was going to find out what those reasons were.

"Are you going to tell me why you dragged me all the way up here?" He asked as I led him through the doors to the Room of Requirement, his Gryffindor tie hanging loose after a long day of lessons.

"We're up here to... y'know, talk. Hang out... spend some time with each other." He squinted at me, looking a tad disbelieving before he smiled.

"Well, you know I'm always up for a little of that." He said, squeezing the hand I had used to drag him up here, and I couldn't help but to blush and smile.

"Come, sit with me." I led him over to the couch along one wall of the cozy little room, sitting first and watching him follow my lead.

"You know, this is exactly what I needed." He murmured, with his face buried in my neck, and I giggled quietly at the sensation.

"Well I'm glad I could help." Both of his hands moved to grip my waist, and he used that grip to pull me gently up into his lap.

"May I?" He inquired, one hand rising to rest on the elastic band holsing my hair tied up.

"...Sure." I replied, more than a little bemused. I knew he liked my hair, but to actively seek it out? I wasn't used to that.

His fingers deftly tugged the band free of my hair and started gently sifting through it, occassionally snagging on tangles and smoothing over my curls.

"Soft..." It was barely in my hearing range.

Brushing the pads of my fingers across his jawline, I tilted his head to make him look at me, and searched his almost unbearably bright blue eyes.

"You're one to talk." I told him, leaning down to rub the tip of my nose against his.

His smile turned to a grin as he closed the gap to ghost his lips over mine. "You're beautiful." I immediately flushed an assumingly unflattering shade of red.

"Ditto." His smile intensified. "You seem to be in a good mood." He shrugged, slipping his hands up my back to rest between my shoulder blades, and to pull me closer.

"That's because... hmm, I love you." He hummed quitely as I scratched the short hair at the nape of his neck.

"I think you just say that sometimes to make me blush." He barked a small chuckle, rubbing his nose around the edge of my face, kind of like...

"Well, you are very pretty when you blush." He intoned, continuing to nose around, kind of like... like he was sniffing me.

OH.

"Are you scenting me?" He froze, and I immediately knew I had my answer. "You are, aren't you?!" His face was bright red, and he wouldn't look at me, seemingly embarrassed.

"...Maybe." He replied timidly, and I couldn't help but to beam, hefting myself up so I was flush against him, folding my arms around his neck and without a second of hesitation, kissed him as passionately as I could manage. "Mmhm!" He moaned, and I quickly echoed him.

One of his hands stayed between my shoulder blades, the other sliding down to my lower back in order to keep me pressed against him, his thumb stroking against the waistline of my school skirt. My knees were bare, pressed against the couch cushions as I straddled Leo's lap, and he took full advantage of that fact.

The hand that had been at my lower back skimmed around my side and down the top of my thigh, then back up, then down again...

"Leo..." I groaned against his lips as he started rolling his hips against mine, slowly, gently. Just enough to tease, to contrast the rougher grip of his hand on my thigh, slowly inching higher and higher, and around to the inside of my thigh. "Leo..." I repeated, and he mouthed his way from my lips across my skin to my jawline before starting to nibble at the flesh of my throat. "Oh, Leo..." I moaned as he suckled at my pulse point, and I pushed his hand away so I could grind down against him properly.

"-laine!" He didn't sound much like he was protesting, the hand that had been on my thigh moving to palm at my arse through my skirt instead.

"I like it when you're- ah! Vocal." I managed to get out, momentarily distracted by him dragging his teeth along my collar bone.

"Do you?" He breathed against my skin, and I tilted my head further to the side to give him better access.

"Very much so- ohhh..." He changed from kissing and nipping to burying his nose in the hollow of my throat, and with my chest pressed so tightly to his, I could feel his heart racing, and I could both hear and feel him inhalaing deeply. "Are you sure you're okay? With the blood lust and everything?" I inquired, even as I dug my nails into his shoulders to drag him closer.

"I'm fine- I'm great, actually." He confided, and I blinked in surprise. Not so long ago, he struggled to tolerate anyone being within a foot of him as long as they had blood pumping through their veins, and now...

"You know, I have my wand on me," I hinted. "You could always take a bite." He froze, and I cursed myself for busting out the unfortunately necessary ultimate mood killer even as I prepared to argue with him.

"Elaine... I'm not exactly... 100% affected by spells. There's no guarantee that if I start... over-indulging, you'll be able to stop me, even with magic." I continued to stroke his hair as I considered my options.

"What if I had vervain or something like that, on hand? If you start getting too into it, I could... y'know." He cocked his head at me, like the most adorable puppy at puppy camp.

"Hurt me with it?" I immediately started to backpedal, but he cut me off with a tenuous smile before I could actually say anything. "No, it's a good idea. I know Slughorn has some in his storage closet." I perked up instantly.

"Great, let's go!" I tried to get up to do just that, but he pulled me back down again with a chuckle.

"No way, you'd totally get us caught. I'll go on my own." I tilted my head to look him over, one eyebrow raised.

"So you'll do it? You'll drink from me, after we get the vervain?" He hesitated for a second, clearly reluctant, then hunched a little so he could look me straight in the eyes.

"You know I can't say no to you."

(A/N): So, there was a fair amount of on the fly editting because I didn't quite like the way it flowed (I still don't), but most of its the same. I hope you all enjoy it, and that the epically long wait didn't hype it up too much. The next chapter is going to be much longer- the content, that is, not the wait.