(A/N): Letters. Letters galore. Elaine writes a letter to her mother, and Charlie brings mail from Leo.

Elaine

The twenty-eighth of December started with me writing a reply to my mother's letter from the night before.

Dear mum,

It hasn't been an issue for a while now, with Leo's family watching over us- but yes, I promise, in future, I'll tell someone. You won't have upset him- Leo has a good sense of humor, and he typically doesn't take offense to things that he knows are well intentioned.

Dad mentioned half-vampires to you? ...When was that, exactly? Do you remember? No, that isn't why he's unique, but... it's hard to explain. Just know that Leo is abnormally powerful for someone who is half vampire, and he's on our side.

I've learned to lean on Leo- and usually, if there's someone he leans on, it's me, but... Leo has a lot harder time relying on other people than I do. He's trying though, and I hope that, eventually, if I'm steady for long enough, he'll get used to it.

Uh, no. He and his mother do not, in fact, get along- and that's quite the understatement. He and his dad see eye to eye MOST of the time, but I think he wasn't the most equipped to be a father, and sometimes, it shows. He treats Leo well, he's just more of a friend than a father- and I'm glad that Lisbet seems to be giving him the parental care that he needs.

I met Danniel and Jo in passing when Leo (extremely reluctantly) brought me in to measure how good their self control was, a while ago. I was NEVER in ANY danger- Leo would never allow that- but they didn't react well back then. When I say that I said hello to him, I mean that I literally JUST said hello to him- and before I could say anything else, they had fled from my presence. They've progressed very far since, though, so I look forward to meeting them again soon, and having a real conversation.

They're young, but they know what they're doing. If you feel bad about it, you can always ask Leo or Lisbet what you can do for them in return- I'm sure they need something you can help them with.

To be fair, I have more than two male friends, but Leo and Remus are the closest, and the only ones that know about dad- and I know they would do anything for me. Sirius and James are my friends too, but we're not quite as close- and Peter... well, Jay wouldn't see Peter as a threat, let's just say that. He's a good friend, we're just not affectionate the same way I am with Leo and Remus, or even James and Sirius, to a lesser extent.

I'd forgotten that dad was a Prefect- but Remus isn't HIM. Remus is likely to become a Prefect, despite the fact that he's spent half of his school life planning and executing spectacular (not that I would ever admit to that) pranks with the other boys. Remus is a good egg, I promise.

No. I have NO fear of Leo. In fact, I probably fear Leo less than he fears himself. I know I've got a good grasp on who he is- and I like that person A LOT.

Love,

Elaine

I sent the letter off with Cecil, and got ready for the day- I was not going to miss breakfast again. Last night, while Lily had been in the bathroom getting ready for bed, I had retrieved Leo's letter from the underside of my drawer and censored the rest of it, along with my mother's letter, and returned them to their hiding place. I would have to find a better way, but for now, this would do.

It was only when I was at the breakfast table, sitting next to Lily and Remus, and across from James, Sirius and Peter, that an owl swooped down over the table. Recognizing Charlie, I held up an arm so she could land on it if she wanted to, but she flew right past me. I felt a split second of confusion, before I remembered that we weren't the only people Leo knew, and might want to send a letter to.

She had flown straight past the Gryffindor table, so clearly the letter wasn't for Brooke, but I assumed it was probably for Mia- right up until she completely ignored the Hufflepuff table. It was only when she reached the last table in the hall, the Slytherin table, that she landed- right on Dahrya's shoulder.

Even from across the Hall, I heard her exclamation of shock and dismay. Clearly, she hadn't been expecting an owl today- and Charlie was the most unpredictable owl I had ever met. I watched as Dahrya examined Charlie's cargo, and I realised that there wasn't just one letter attached to the owl's leg, but two. After she checked the second letter, she frowned, and looked up and across the room, clearly searching for something- our eyes met, and her frown intensified.

"What do you think that's about?" Lily asked quietly, as Dahrya stood up, and I shrugged.

"I don't know. Probably-" I remembered that she didn't know that Dahrya was like Leo, and readjusted my response. "Probably to do with their training. You know how Leo is- he's probably making sure that she's sticking to whatever workout regime he set up for her." Now Lily frowned, but Remus spoke up before she could say anything.

"I could smell Lisbet on one of the letters, as Charlie flew past." He could? Why would Lisbet be writing to Dahrya? Unless... Leo had said that they were trying to expand the clan, but... surely they weren't considering taking Dahrya on, right? She was only a second year, for Merlin's sake! And why would Lisbet be the one to ask her?

"Is that who that is?" A voice said at my shoulder, and when I turned back around, I saw Dahrya standing behind me. "And I assume this is Leo's new bird?" As I nodded, I saw Remus's nose screw up, like he had just smelled something terrible. "I think something's wrong-" My heart seized. "-Elaine, these are both for you." I- What?

"Huh?" She stared at me, and I forced myself to shake off my shock. "I- I mean, I was expecting a letter from Leo, but not- not from Lisbet." Why was Lisbet writing to me? She had written to me once or twice in the past- to ask me to help test the Twins, or to answer- well, 'answer'- my questions about Leo's emotional distress, but still, it made me a little nervous.

"She smells like someone else, too." Remus said quietly, and I looked at him. "Someone, uh... new." New? Oh, new! He meant a new vampire- not as in a new addition, but newly turned. He had said in the past, when the Twins had first joined, that they smelt worse than everyone else because they were freshly turned. One of the Twins had interacted with Charlie- and recently. My bet was on Danniel.

"Probably Danniel." Remus's eyebrows furrowed, and I remembered that he didn't know about Leo and Danniel's apparent closeness.

I accepted Charlie from Dahrya, and untied the letters from her leg. As I did so, I noticed that they both felt odd- Leo's, abnormally thick, and Lisbet's, abnormally thin.

"Sit for a sec, Dahrya- maybe we'll find out why Charlie went to you." She hadn't gone where she was supposed to before, but she hadn't gone to completely the wrong person- and the fact that it was someone else that Leo was close to, made me think that it hadn't been completely accidental.

She shrugged, and Remus scooted over, so she could sit down between us. I considered my options for a second, before opening Lisbet's letter- it was shorter, after all, which meant I could move onto the other one sooner.

Dear Elaine,

Leo doesn't know that I'm writing you this letter.

Always a good start.

I feel like you should know that Leo was so excited by your letter than he showed Danniel, Shari and I your postscript.

I hugged him after he showed me, and he started purring- and Danniel told me that he was purring when he first read it, too.

Before bed last night, he asked me to help him duplicate certain parts of your letter and transfer them to a fresh piece of parchment, so we could attach it to the wall above his headboard.

I thought you might like hearing that.

Love,

Lisbet

PS: I am so, so happy for you two- I am utterly delighted.

Lisbet was right- I did like hearing that. Leo had purred upon reading my letter? And again, when he had showed it to Lisbet? And he had asked her to help him stick it to the wall above his bed?

...Merlin, I loved that boy.

"Uh oh, she's not even on Leo's letter yet, and she's gone all goofy." James teased, and I became aware of the fact that I was, indeed, grinning rather stupidly. After half a second of thought, I pulled out my wand, and once against cast the word obscuring charm on the letter, hiding all trace of Leo's purring, before I slid the parchment over to Lily.

"Pass that around while I read Leo's, alright?" They all stared at me for a second, clearly surprised before I moved on to reading Leo's letter. As I peeled open the envelope, a second letter fell out, onto the table.

"Oh! Well, I guess we know why Charlie came to me, now." Dahrya said, as she collected the new letter, with her name scrawled across the front in Leo's handwriting.

"I figured it was something like that- Charlie doesn't make mistakes, she just mixes things up. She's a little troublemaker." Charlie seemed to take in my fond tone, and pressed her face into the side of my neck. Vaguely, I recognised that it felt less like she was doing her best birdy interpretation of a hug, and more like she was emulating scenting. Maybe she was mimicking Leo, or one of the other vampires.

I reached a hand up and stroked the side of her head, as I opened Leo's letter- subtly leaning away from Lily, just in case she felt the need to try to peek.

Dear Elaine,

You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that.

Thanks to Lisbet, apparently, now I did.

I'd like to see you look 'like an idiot'- I've never seen that before, I didn't think it was possible.

Oh, Leo... That was very sweet, but lying doesn't work on me.

Should I ask what her holdups about me are? I assume that- for whatever reason- it isn't about the vampire thing.

Funnily enough, he was correct- my mother was more concerned that he was born with a penis, than the fact that he was born with fangs. Or, well, the capacity for fangs, anyway.

Ouch. That hurts. Guess I'll have to comfort myself by re-reading where you told me you're in love with me.

Yeah. Just lay in your bed and look up- you'll be fine.

I'm sure it's going to be painful for both of us- things concerning Lisbet usually are. I'm sure we can find a way to make it more... 'comfortable', for both of us, though.

I didn't have time to blush at Leo's uncharacteristically suggestive comment- I was distracted by Remus checking in on Dahrya.

"Dahrya, are you- You okay?" I turned to look at her, and felt my mood sober as I took in her pale- well, paler than usual- face.

"I- no. No, I'm not." I wasn't sure how to comfort her, but luckily, Remus beat me to it. Hesitantly, he put a hand on her shoulder, and when she didn't shrug him off, I figured he had made the right move. "Leo says he wants to talk to me when he gets back- he says he knows who my father is, but he thinks he should wait to tell me in person." I blinked- did Dahrya not know who her father was? Why did Leo know, if she didn't? How could Leo possibly have learned who-?

Suddenly, I realised. Dahrya, being half vampire, must have a full vampire father. What new vampire had come into Leo's circle recently?

Jerremyah.

Jerremyah was Dahrya's father, and Leo was waiting to tell her until he got back, because Jerremyah was a giant wanker. And Lisbet's mate, but I'm pretty sure it was mostly the first thing.

Quickly, I put my head down to hide my expression, returning to reading Leo's letter- maybe there would be more answers, there.

Just trying to shore up the defenses. If we can add to our number with trusted allies, we're more likely to be able to fight off an attack- or deter people from wanting to attack us in the first place.

That... makes sense. It was, however, also rather open ended and vague, which tended to worry me when it came to Leo. Whenever he was vague, it typically meant that he was trying not to lie, while also trying to hide something. And Leo trying to hide something usually meant something bad.

Oh boy. If I thought things were bad before, I didn't know what bad was.

Uh oh. Where was he going with this?

It has become obvious that Lisbet, Jerremyah and Greygorry are all... INVOLVED, with each other.

My friends turned to look at me as I choked on my own spit, but I waved them off, and returned to the letter in search of answers.

They immediately started acting weird- well, even weirder. Lisbet has started enforcing a family friendly language mandate, because- and I quote- 'There is a child present.'

Oh, Lisbet... it was a nice thought, but much, much too late.

Jerremyah spent the better part of an hour in Greygorry's arms, and they openly scented each other quite a bit. I managed to taunt Jerremyah into admitting that he likes threesomes-

...What?! How did the conversation ever get to that point? I didn't want to know, did I?

Lisbet scolded him for assaulting my poor, innocent ears, and then Greygorry freaked out- no, I don't know why. I'm STILL confused. Lisbet and Jerremyah calmed him down- well, Lisbet slapped a hand over his mouth like he was about to spill her deepest, darkest secrets, and Jerremyah promised him that they would talk about it later.

Well... that did sound really odd.

Lisbet immediately switched to convincing me to take watch at your house, and Danniel volunteered to come with me, so we had a picnic in the forest behind your house.

And things just kept getting stranger.

That's where I was when Charlie showed up with your letter.

Oh, so that's why Lisbet wrote that Danniel had told her that Leo had started purring when he first read it- because Danniel had been the only one with him. And Leo's first instinct was to show him the letter, where I had told him that I was in love with him. Wait... Leo had been in the forest behind my house when he had received my letter? That was... a hell of a coincidence.

Danniel seems to know what's making Lisbet, Jerremyah and Greygorry act weird, but doesn't want to tell me until he's sure. I told him that I'm not going to bug her to tell me until she feels ready to do so.

Well that was... surprisingly big of him.

I asked Danniel about why he tends to overexert himself, and he told me that he's always been competitive, because he wants to make his mother proud, and be able to give her everything that she's given him. He said that he thought that if he pushed himself hard enough, maybe he could see her again at some point.

Oh. Well. That was... unexpectedly sad. Hopefully, I could help him build up his tolerance, and he could get back to her sooner, rather than later. I thought back to what my mother had said, about waking up and finding me missing- because, after all, wasn't that basically what had happened with Jo and Danniel? One day they had been living their lives, and the next...

Yes, Lisbet having a mate was news to me- to be fair, none of them have confirmed it, but... they act... differently, around each other. Even though they're not together, you can just sort of... tell.

Elaine... I would wait to tell you in person, but I worry that it could have consequences that I may not be able to foresee without your perspective.

Uh. Oh. That didn't sound good- and as I continued reading, I confirmed that it was, in fact, very bad.

Jerremyah and Greygorry know your father- and they are decidedly not fond of him.

Yeah, well, they could get in line.

Apparently, Greygorry has known that you're related to him for a while-

He has? He never said anything, or seemed to treat me any differently to the rest of Leo's friends.

But Jerremyah was a bit... apprehensive, when he found out who your father was- especially after I had just told him that you advised me to behead him, rather than strangle him.

Well of course he was going to react badly to that! Damn it, Leo!

He seemed to think it was funny before he found out, though, so that's his problem.

Oh. Well. Vampires were... weird, weren't they? Then again, maybe it was just the vampires in Leo's clan that were odd- it's not like I had much experience with other vampires, other than Jonothan trying to kill me.

I assured them that you're NOT your father- and I made it VERY clear that they were NEVER to compare the two of you again.

...They had compared me to my father? I wasn't sure Leo had intended to let that slip- the 'again' part, anyway.

One thing led to another, and I accidentally made it clear to them that I fed from you. It... It's a long story, but basically, my heartbeat has been ratting me out a lot lately.

Well... that's... kind of funny, actually. I wish we could use his heartbeat against him like that!

I've got some more things to tell you when I get back- not anything that really has anything to do with you, just... stuff I've learned about the vampire community, and Greygorry's sire, and Jonothan's sire. I would like to hear your opinion on certain things- hearing you talk things through, helps me be able to think.

That was... very sweet, actually.

Greygorry mentioned Dahrya, which revealed to everyone else that she... y'know, exists.

Did... did they not know she existed, before that? Merlin, what did Leo even talk to them about? Clearly it wasn't any of the people he knew- besides me, apparently. Hmm... I wasn't sure I liked being the exception, in this case. Was this how he had found out that Jerremyah was her father?

Jerremyah isn't that bad- he's just... well, he's like the male version of Lisbet, if Lisbet was a little less personable. He teases everyone, regardless of whether he's earned the good will to do so. He's clearly very devoted to Lisbet and Greygorry- especially Lisbet- so he can't be THAT bad.

I guess that depends on how highly you evaluated their senses of taste.

Herc- Shari's friend- IS very nice. He's been a big help while he's here- he's actually the one that made the emergency charms. He said that his clan uses them to communicate. I trust him quite a bit- I don't think he's the sort of person who sees much of a point in causing problems. I suspect he teases me as well, but since he only does it in Spanish, I've decided to allow it.

I'm sure that you and the Twins will team up against me- well, probably mostly Jo, if I'm honest- so I'm not quite so eager for you to meet them. I do think they'll grow attached to you though- how could they not?- and that means they'll work even harder to protect you, so I guess I'll just have to tolerate whatever teasing that comes my way.

Well... I guess that showed how much he liked us if he was willing to accept us annoying the hell out of him.

Did I not mention that I helped train the Twins sometimes? I wasn't trying to hide it or anything, I just legitimately forgot to mention it.

Of course he did- if Leo didn't omit something intentionally, he forgot about it entirely. If he was ever to write a memoir about his life, he would probably forget to tell people his name until the very last page.

That might be a vampire exclusive theory- I'll have to ask Greygorry about it at some point. He's the one with the strongest connection to that side of the vampire community... I think.

Hmm. That was new information.

I've enclosed a letter to Dahrya. If you could make sure that it reaches her, I would appreciate it- and, uh... if you could stay with her while she reads it, I would be really grateful. She... might need the company.

Well... somehow, unintentionally, I had done just as he asked- all because of Charlie. Maybe he had expressed his concern for Dahrya reading her letter alone, and Charlie had forced me to keep her company, even before I knew I was supposed to do so.

Love,

Leo

PS: I adore you.

PPS: I'm crazy about you.

PPPS: I treasure you.

PPPPS: You're my favorite. (Okay, I'll stop now)

...Or you could keep going. I'd listen to- well, read- Leo telling me how he felt about me for as long as he felt like saying it- even if the parchment stretched all the way across the Great Hall. Further, probably.

"Well, I think Leo said something 'forthright' and 'romantic'." Sirius teased, and I didn't even bother to try to hide my blush.

"He's 'crazy about me'." I said, and my friends eyebrows shot up.

"That... that is forthright." James admitted, and I rested my chin on my hand, staring into the middle distance rather dreamily.

"He adores me." Silence.

"Um, how many-?" I cut Lily off.

"He treasures me." She blinked.

"Is it the whole letter, or...?" I sighed happily.

"He says that listening to me talk helps him think." They all wore similar fond, or maybe even indulgent looks. I half pulled myself out of my lovesick stupor, in order to crack a joke-

"And as we know, he needs all the help he can get with that."

(A/N): Dahrya: 'Leo knows who my father is, but wants to wait to tell me until he can talk to me in person.'

Elaine: 'The only new male vampire in Leo's life is Jerremyah- he must be waiting to tell her because Jerremyah is such a wanker.'

Jerremyah: 'What did I do?!'

Also yes, the thing Leo asked Lisbet to help him with was duplicating the particular parts of Elaine's letter to another piece of parchment, and sticking it to the wall above his bed. He considered asking Danniel, but didn't want to wait for him to get back- if he had though, Lisbet probably STILL would have sent the letter to Elaine telling her about it.

Poor Charlie was forced to carry three letters, because Leo wrote two- one to Elaine, with his letter to Dahrya inside it- and then Lisbet, not knowing he had added the second letter, to Dahrya, snagged Charlie on the way out and added her own letter to Elaine.