(A/N): Hey Guys! You asked (begged) for another chapter, so here it is! I should be getting started on my Camp NaNoWriMo stuff for today... I hope you enjoy this!

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise as belonging to J.K. Rowling or anyone else.

Leo

Of course, during this time, I still had to go to classes. I continued to sit with Elaine and Remus in order to keep up the facade to the others that I wasn't avoiding them, and because of this, I had to leave the classroom quicker than them so they couldn't corner and question me. They stopped the others from suspecting anything by covering for me, saying that I was with them, when, in reality, they had no clue where I was. I even spent time with the others, occasionally- the amount of time I usually would, so they wouldn't get their knickers in a twist and question Elaine and Remus, only to find out that they hadn't seen me either.

I was also avoiding Brooke- which was, unfortunately, a lot harder than avoiding Remus and Elaine. I had to be eternally vigilant, and even then, I barely managed to escape her finding me most times. The only spots I knew I was safe were up on the astronomy tower, or in the Forbidden Forest. During this period I hunted more and more often, knowing that it would help with my cravings for human blood, but I also felt sickened by myself every time I did so... especially the first time I hadn't been able to control myself, and had killed a deer.

It hadn't quite satiated my thirst, even after draining it, and I moved onto the next deer quickly, but I knew- I knew that I had killed it. Its body was still warm but rapidly cooling, and I knew that the acromantulas would find it soon, which I was somewhat grateful for. At least if the acromantula's got it, Hagrid- or anyone else for that matter- wouldn't see it, and the acromantulas would be less likely to try and kill me if I encountered one. I felt bad for killing it, seeing as I usually only left them weakened, but I also knew that it was probably going to come down to either a deer, or a human- and in that case, there wasn't a choice to be made.

I zoomed around the forest for about an hour after everything in an attempt to wear myself out, but upon failing that, I decided to train for a little bit. I threw punches left and right, lashing out with my feet and parrying blows that didn't exist- taken down invisible enemies with the grace and speed of a big cat before I aimed my last spinning back kick at the trunk of a tree as if it were yet another opponent. The top half of the tree had been sheared off somehow, but it was still over six feet tall and at least three foot in diameter; with a loud crack, a few creaks, and a groan, the tree was uprooted. It fell to lean against the trunk of another tree, halfway out the ground with a split in the bark where my foot had struck it, and I stared for a second, the bottom of my foot slightly numb from the impact.

My foot suddenly felt cold, and upon glancing down, I noticed that my shoe was practically shredded, the sole having been pounded flat against the tree and mostly peeled away due to the lack of material holding it together. There were tears along the top surface due to the material having been ripped away so harshly- it was truly a sorry a sight. After staring down at my ruined shoe for a minute, I shrugged and removed the pair- not that it was all that hard on my right foot, the one that had struck the tree. Tapping the ground softly with my feet, now only covered by socks, I shrugged again- not really seeing all that much of a difference between wearing shoes and not.

Angling my feet against the pine needles that littered the forest floor, I took off at my fastest run, easily avoiding the tree trunks speeding toward me with my vampire reflexes before exploding out of the tree line. The castle approached rapidly, and I barely slowed as I pressed the balls of my feet against the ground, pushed off of it with all my might, and sent my body soaring through the air. It was an experiment really, to see how high I could actually jump- I caught hold of a windowsill on the fifth floor, swinging myself upward and scaling the side of the building, my fingers grabbing the tiniest of notches in the bricks, window sills, and drain pipes, until I was on the roof high above. It wasn't quite the roof of the astronomy tower, but it was the roof of the Gryffindor tower, which was over seven stories tall.

I'd realised that I would need a new pair of shoes for classes tomorrow, so, holding on tightly to the gutter edging the roof of the tower, I leant down and carefully pushed the window to the bathroom of my dorm open. Swinging my leg over the edge of the roof I found the window ledge with my foot, and gripped the gutter with my fingers as I did the same with the other leg. I released the gutter with one hand and grabbed the top of the window opening- pausing only briefly as I noticed the rather distinct dips in the metal, where I had gripped it with my fingers. Perhaps I'd held it a little bit too tightly, then... Oops.

I dropped down onto the bathroom floor, landing silently on the balls of my feet- able to see perfectly in the gloom of the unlit bathroom. I crossed the room and, as quietly as possible, opened the door leading to the dorm, finding my bed in the room crowded with the other boys belongings. I could tell Remus was awake, but when he didn't turn his head, I figured that he hadn't heard me. As quickly and quietly as possible, I filled a bag with clothes and grabbed a spare pair of shoes, then crossed the room again using vampire speed. I closed the bathroom door softly behind me, but apparently not softly enough, since I could both hear and feel the way Remus's breathing sped up right before he blurted, "Leo?!" I winced, knowing he'd woken up the other boys- both because there was no way he hadn't, and because I felt them all jolt.

"What? Is he here?" Sirius questioned, mostly asleep, but I was already out the bathroom window.

Bag slung over my shoulder, I gripped the roof tiles and pulled myself up by digging my forearms downward. I swung my legs up just as Remus burst into the bathroom. "...Leo?" He sounded perplexed, and in a normal situation it would have amused me, but now I only frowned, perched almost directly above him as I was.

"Y'must've dreamt it, Moony," Sirius told him with a yawn, patting him on the shoulder before he returned to his bed. Peter had never gotten out of his, and Remus and James shared a look- they both knew that Remus hadn't been dreaming... and that I most likely really had been there, just out of reach. Was always, just out of reach.

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

This chapter is mainly to show how Leo's abilities are progressing, so, yeah.

This chapter has had edits made to it on 1/3/24 - formatting, and reconfiguring of sentences.

This chapter has had minor edits made to it on 4/5/24 - changed Leo's roundhouse into a spinning back kick, because that's what I imagined when I wrote it I just didn't know the proper name for it. A roundhouse kick you hit with either the shin or front/top of the foot, whereas a back kick you hit with the bottom of your foot, which is why the bottom of Leo's shoe is ruined, among other things. I also changed Leo kicking with his left leg to his right leg, for reasons that aren't obvious yet, but have been sort of revealed later in the story. For the record, he primarily likes to kick with his right leg because he cares less if that one gets hurt, and trusts his left leg more to support him while he lands the blow.