(A/N): Hey Guys! So, chapter 120! Woo!

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.

Leo

After the feast, right as our group was heading out toward the Gryffindor common room, Mia caught up with us. "Leo!" She exclaimed in a whisper, catching my attention but no one else's.

"I'll catch up with you guys," I told my friends, who seemed very confused, but went along with it anyway. I spun on my heel, making my way through the milling crowd to where Mia was standing off to the side of the hallway before leading her down a few corridors, away from any route that could be taken to any of the four common rooms. "What is it? Are you okay?" I asked quickly, placing my hands on her slim shoulders and examining her closely for any injury before she shrugged me off.

"I'm fine, Leo! I was actually... going to ask you that," She admitted shyly, glancing back up at me.

"What? Why?" I asked, confused.

She narrowed her eyes at me slightly, as if she was surprised by how slow I was on the uptake. "Think about the last time I saw you, Leo."

"Oh," I mumbled dumbly, pulling back a step and biting my lip. "I'm fine Mia, really." She raised an eyebrow, obviously skeptical, but I only grinned and swept her up into my arms quickly.

"Leo!" She squealed as I spun around in circles, making absolutely sure not to drop her, even though she was light as a feather to me. It reminded me of when we were young- well, younger- and I used to spin her around under the old oak in the gardens until she got dizzy, and I had to pick the sticks out of her hair.

"So, Hufflepuff huh?" I asked with a smile as I set her down, keeping her at arms length- though perhaps only in the very literal sense.

"Yeah... better than Gryffindor," She teased with a smile, so I knew for certain that she was joking.

"Oh, but you definitely have the recklessness of a Gryffindor, Miasenna."

Her eyebrows furrowed at my use of her full name, but she let it go. "And you have the loyalty of a Hufflepuff." I shrugged, having heard it before from pretty much everyone I had ever met. Well... the ones worth listening to, anyway.

"What can I say? Family is important to me," I told her, looking her straight in the eye as I did so, making sure she knew I was serious.

"I know, Leo. It's important to me, too," She replied in a quiet voice, her thin arms wrapping tightly around my waist once more.

"I don't think you'll have any problems fitting in," I told her with an easy smile, confident for real this time. "If any one teases you, they'll have me to answer to," I said, only half joking.

"Pfft, I can handle myself, big brother," She reminded me, giving me a playful shove in the shoulder that failed to move me even an inch- Oh, how the gentle reminder of our relationship soothed every sharp edge in my chest, if only for a second.

"Of course you can," I said, before making a face that clearly told her I didn't think so- I did, I thought she was perfectly capable, much like Elaine... but I wasn't going to let her have to take care of it on her own. Again, much like Elaine.

"I can!" She argued, half giggling at the face I made.

"Sure, sure, and I'm a hippopotamoose."

She giggled harder, shaking her head. "It's hippopotamus, dummy!" She laughed, and we started to walk in the direction of the Hufflepuff common room.

"Just be careful with the Slytherins, okay? And don't do anything foolish," I advised her, my tone turning serious.

"Not all the Slytherins are going to be spies for her, Leo. And when have I ever done anything foolish?" I raised an eyebrow at her seemingly rhetorical question, and she rolled her eyes. "That wasn't foolish."

It was my turn to roll my eyes now. "It was so idiotic that I wondered how you hadn't accidentally stabbed yourself in the eye with a fork at dinner, yet." She gave a dry look, before shaking her head.

"It was worth it. Without me, you'd probably still be there."

I paused for a second, shuddering at the thought- and just how right she likely was. "Yeah," I said, keeping my eyes fixed on the ground. "Probably." I escorted her back to the Hufflepuff common room, making casual small talk as she realised that she had turned the conversation in a rather stressful direction, and headed somewhere quite dark. After that, I used vampire speed to make it through the now empty halls until I reached the Gryffindor common room.

"Pineapple slices," I uttered in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, who jumped in her frame before groaning and swinging open, complaining the whole time.

"Don't sneak up on me!"

I rolled my eyes, a small smirk gracing my lips as I slipped through- only to see Elaine, Remus and James on the couch, waiting for me to return. Their heads turned towards the door slowly, having heard the Fat lady, but I used vampire speed to launch myself into the rafters above their heads before swinging down, holding on with only my lower legs hung over the rafter. "Leo?" Elaine asked quietly, though James looked perplexed, having only been newly exposed to my 'secret'.

"Hi!" I announced, and their heads snapped up, all three releasing a quiet, startled little shriek. It was quite satisfying.

"Hilarious," Elaine muttered as I chuckled lightly, before she jumped to her feet, heading for the girls dorms.

"Aw, Damsel..." I began, using vampire speed to return to crouching on top of the narrow rafters, stalking my way across them quickly to drop down onto the floor in front of her, just before she reached the stairs. "...Don't go." She jumped, and the boys spun around to see me leaning against the wall cockily.

"Idiot," She muttered, crossing her arms over her chest and turning around to rejoin the boys on the couch- likely only because I had successfully foiled her attempt to leave, and she knew I would continue doing so until I got my way.

"You love it," I called after her, before using vampire speed to sit in the chair opposite their couch, making all three jump- something I also delighted in, but I hid said delight with a smirk, lest they call me out on it. "So, what can I do for you three?" I asked with a sigh, pulling my legs up so I was sitting cross-legged on the bright red armchair as they shared a look.

"Well... we were worried. Well, Remus and I were, James is just here because he's the only other person who knows."

I shrugged, shaking my head. "Brooke knows, Mia knows, Minnie knows." Elaine raised an eyebrow.

"So, Brooke knows? And what was Mia doing while you were having that... 'visit'," She spat the word. "With your mother?" Remus and James looked confused, and I paled slightly before shrugging again, trying to remain nonchalant.

"Yes, Brooke knows. And, saving me, actually."

They all seemed surprised- Elaine by the action, the boys by the word, 'saving'. "'Saving you'?" James asked, and I glanced at him before shaking my head.

"Another secret for another day, James-y-poo," I teased, before turning my attention back to Elaine.

"But... she...?" She spluttered, and I shrugged.

"Turns out, Mia takes after me." I rolled my eyes. "Reckless fool..." I muttered under my breath, and Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Now you know how we feel about you," He reminded me with a smile, but I shook my head.

"Yeah, but I can handle it- she can't. She's human, I'm not."

James seemed a little taken aback. "Wow, you were right, he really does go on tangents of self-loathing."

Elaine punched him in the arm roughly, looking furious, but I chuckled. "Oh, I go the whole nine yards." I shook my head, standing up to stretch. "Tangents, putting myself in danger intentionally, crying myself to sleep- y'know, the big three," I told them faux cheerfully, starting to head for the stairs to the boys dorm room. "Goodnight!" I called over my shoulder, before climbing the stairs and falling into my bed.

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

Um...

To Featherwing:

It's better for her to be in Hufflepuff than Gryffindor, not because of the pureblood/slytherin discrimination, but because Cipicia wouldn't want Mia to follow Leo into Gryffindor and become closer with him.

This chapter has had edits made to it on 20/2/24 - formatting, and reconfiguring of sentences to make more sense. I also added the parts about Leo spinning Mia around under the old oak tree when they were younger (for those of you here from the far future 'little Leo' chapters, yes, it's the same oak tree), and the part where he responds to her calling him 'big brother' with just, complete adoration. I also added the part where he gives her a look that says he knows she's capable, just like Elaine, but he doesn't want her to have to handle it on her own, because before that it was just a look that said he didn't think she could handle it, which isn't Leo, and it isn't Leo and Mia's relationship. I also changed Mia's idiot to dummy, and the stupid's to foolish or fool. I also changed Leo saying 'it was so idiotic I wondered how you hadn't chewed through electric wiring yet' to 'wondering how you haven't stabbed yourself in the eye with a fork at dinner yet', because duh, they're purebloods who, presumably, don't have electricity? So while Leo probably knows about electricity now, I think he reverts a little when he's with Mia and wants to make sure she understands what he's saying (a bit of a theme for them, if you read the later chapters) so he went a bit simpler. He basically means like, 'I'm surprised you know which end of a fork to use', which is a bit ridiculous considering how much training they had to use the correct utensils for dinner, but that's kind of the point. He's not actually saying she's dumb, he's saying she doesn't think things through. Also, the 'hippapotamoose' thing definitely spiraled from the 'Meese' thing, if you know what I mean.