(A/N): Hey Guys! So, I'm back, and it's the Christmas holidays now anyway, so I should be updating more, but, knowing me, I probably won't be.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Leo, Elaine, Shari, Nicholai, Brooke, Mia and Jonothan.

Elaine

I sat on one of the chairs at the kitchen table with my knees pressed into my chest, and my arms curled around them as my chin rested atop. My fingers were just barely visible past the end of my sleeves, seeing as I had rushed to put on a turtleneck in order to hide my newly acquired wound- after all, I couldn't have Jay or my mother seeing this, right? They'd freak out, and ask me questions that I couldn't answer... it stung like hell, though, not to mention how itchy it was. I scratched at the outside of the gauze covering it with my fingertips and wished I could pull back the neck of the shirt to do so, but there was no way I was willing to risk them seeing it.

"Aren't you hot?" Jay asked, having finally glanced up at me from the other side of the table, where he had been busy scarfing down any food he could find. It was, after all, summer, and I was sitting in the middle of the kitchen wearing a turtleneck and a pair of shorts. He was right to be suspicious, but... Merlin, I wish he wasn't.

"Not really." It was a blatant lie, and I made myself act busy so he wouldn't question the fact that I didn't look him in the eye when I spoke to him. He didn't seem completely convinced but shrugged, returning to his heaped plate of food nonetheless and leaving me to fidget with the heat that was blooming on the side of my neck where the wound was. "I'll be back," I blurted, leaping out of my kitchen chair and racing to the bathroom before tugging the turtleneck away from my flushed skin and pulling it over my head to reveal my skin, gleaming with sweat, and the piece of gauze taped to my neck, where a small amount of blood had seeped through during the night.

Carefully, I peeled back the tape, and lifted the gauze until the wound was in view- where I saw that it was already half-healed, and if I stared at it for long enough... I could actually see my skin knitting itself back together. I heard a gasp behind me, and my eyes snapped from my wound to lock with Jay's in the mirror. "Jay..." I breathed, and he spun on his heel and fled- leaving the door ajar, just as I had- foolishly- done. "Jay!" I yelped, trying to keep up with his much longer legs as he raced through the house and out into the backyard, where he collapsed on the ground and curled into a ball, practically sobbing. "Jay...?" I approached cautiously, before placing a hand on his shoulder lightly.

"What happened?" He sobbed desperately, lifting his head to eye my wound rather than meet mine, which almost stung more than the actual injury.

"It was an accident."

His eyes hardened, and he wobbled to his feet with impressive speed, glaring at me- even if his eyes were still full of secondhand pain. "Don't give me that! You're hurt, Izzy, who did it?" Jay wasn't usually so demanding- especially not with me- and I stared up at him with my mouth hanging open, before I managed to finally shake my head.

Tears sprang to my eyes as I clenched my jaw shut, trying to remain strong. "I am fine," I said as firmly as possible, trying to reassure him while also trying to reassure myself, seeing as I knew that it wasn't true- I had been attacked last night, and I couldn't even tell my own brother the truth about what had happened.

"Was it that Leo boy?" Jay asked suddenly, and my eyebrows shot up before my gaze instantly turned rock-hard and fiery.

"Leo would never do that! Never!" I practically spat at him, jaw clenching before I turned and stormed back inside the house, tears streaming furiously, now- I couldn't believe that Jay, of all people, would say such a thing. Leo would never, ever hurt me- especially like this- and I know Jay was concerned about me, but... "Augh!" I cried, slamming my fists against the wall in my bedroom before collapsing onto the bed, and burying my face in the pillow.

"You know," A sudden new voice startled me, and I jolted upwards until I was sitting, spinning in the complete opposite direction to face the person the voice originated from. "Leo would hurt you if it meant you'd survive."

I rolled my eyes, attempting to wipe the tears away- embarrassed that anyone was witness to them, especially someone that wasn't Jay or my mum. Or Leo. "Probably, Shari," I admitted. After all, Leo seemed to think that everyone's life was something to put over his own well-being, and it irritated me greatly that he could give up everything he believed in so easily if it meant that someone he cared about would live, even if he didn't.

"He's stubborn, and reckless," She hissed, looking particularly annoyed, but also as if she was focusing on something else at the same time.

"But brave," I whispered, and her gaze flicked to me before her lips twitched up slightly.

"He's a Gryffindor to the core, really."

I nodded, my lips lifting slightly at that, even though I could feel that my eyes were red and puffy from the tears I had been shedding just a few seconds prior. "How'd you get in here, anyway?" The second I said it, I knew it was a stupid question- I mean, she was a vampire. If Leo could get in here undetected, then Shari most definitely could.

"The window." She gestured to the window with an upraised thumb, smirking slightly at the knowledge that the answer was almost completely unnecessary now that I had realised exactly who was standing- well, sitting- in front of me. Perched on the edge of my dresser, it amazed me at just how graceful she was, even sitting still. She looked lithe, able to kill you within milliseconds- which I knew she could, but she mostly likely wouldn't, unless you were threatening someone she loved. You mess with her cub and she'll come after you like a mother bear, ready to tear you limb from limb and then drink your blood.

...too morbid? Well, to be honest, it was the complete truth- she's a vampire, not a bear, but she'd still react much the same: vicious, protective, able to kill you without a thought... and very hard to kill if you didn't have the right weapon.

(A/N): So, what did you think?

This chapter has had edits made to it on 14/2/24 - formatting so it's readable, plus some rephrasing, and editing how Jay reacts to seeing Elaine's wound, since it was very... explosive, before. He's a little less dramatic and 'shouting in her face' than he was before, because it really didn't sit right with me, since that isn't the way Jay's personality reads to me, nor do I think that's how his and Elaine's relationship works. He's also portrayed as a bit more considerate in the future, and while I do think he was probably having a little bit of a freak out here (if not a straight up anxiety/panic attack), I don't think he'd ever yell in Elaine's face, and I don't think she would tolerate him doing so, either.