(A/N): Hey Guys! And no, I shouldn't be doing work at the moment, I finished it already... The teacher's trying to set something else but his computer isn't working, so... yesssss!

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.

Leo

Thoughts whirred through my head, and I panted for breath even though I was walking at a normal- well, it was probably a bit fast for a human, actually- pace. I could hear Remus and Elaine trying to follow me, but they were losing me- they were too slow, especially with Remus in his weakened state. Then I scented something new- someone new. Well, not new, but they hadn't been there before. I paused in my walking, choosing to wring my hands instead, in order to placate my frayed nerves. "Brooke," I greeted her as she approached, neither looking up nor turning around.

"Leo." She didn't sound surprised that I knew it was her, and instead moved to my side.

"We may want to move unless we want the terrific twosome to find us," I told her, hearing Elaine and Remus slowly start catching up. She waved a hand at me to encourage me to continue walking.

"Lead the way," She said, but I rolled my eyes and instead took a deep breath before scooping her up into my arms and taking off at a run.

Seconds later, we were a few feet back from the edge of the Forbidden forest, shrouded by the trees from any prying eyes. "I heard there were spiders in here..." She said, and I couldn't help but snort quietly.

"Big ones," I agreed, causing her to blanch and examine the ground around us with wide, darting eyes.

"I don't like spiders..." She whispered, and I grabbed her again. "I also really don't like heights," She murmured anxiously as we perched in the tree tops, and I grinned at her.

"Don't worry, I'll catch you if you fall." It felt wrong saying wrong that to her, but I wasn't quite sure why.

She shot me a vaguely curious look. "Strangely enough, that doesn't help," She said, a small, weak smile on her lips. "Aren't we going to miss class...?" I shrugged.

"Does it matter to you?"

She seemed to think about it for a second before she followed my lead, and shrugged. "Not all that much actually. You?" I shook my head.

"Not at the moment, no. Besides, I have Minnie first- she'll probably just give me a detention and move on." She raised an eyebrow at the nickname, and I smirked in response.

"How'd she take to that nickname?"

I winced slightly, and she giggled. "Not as badly as she could have," I admitted, and when I honed my senses, I could still hear everything inside the castle. Lessons were only just now going in, we could still make it in time, if I ran us back.

"If you want, you can still go..." She cut me off with a shake of her head.

"Not until you're okay." It was an odd sentiment, given our positions. Shouldn't I be the one worried about her, not the other way around?

"I'm fine, Brooke, I just needed a breather." She raised an eyebrow, giving me a look that told me she knew that I was full of shit. It reminded me of Elaine. "It was either that or punch Severus in the face."

She paused for a second, biting her lip. "Is he that Slytherin who always hangs out with your friend Lily?" I nodded an affirmative before shrugging as lightly as I could force myself to.

"He may or may not know that I'm half-vampire."

She gasped quietly, before her wide eyes narrowed into a deadly glare. "He better not say anything, or-"

I smiled at her, resting a hand on her shoulder gently. "Don't worry, Minnie would kick his arse for me if he did."

(A/N): Yeah... So, I just had to do my new assignment for science, which is why it took me so long to write this... I have recess in ten minutes, then a double of maths afterwards, so I might write another chapter then if we still don't have work to do.

This chapter has had minor edits made to it on 30/12/22

This chapter has had edits made to it on 29/2/24 - formatting, and reconfiguring of sentences so they make a tad more sense. I also changed Leo calling Elaine and Remus the 'terrible twosome' to the 'terrific twosome', because I think he's just so grateful to have friends that care about him that even now, jokingly, he wouldn't say something like that about them- especially when he knows they're only following him because they're concerned about him, even while Remus is recovering from the full moon.