(A/N): Hey Guys! Here's the next chapter, I'm starting to run out of fairy tale names for these things.

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.

Leo

After nearly three more hours of mingling with some of the most prestigious pureblood families in the world- and with Sirius sparing glances at me every few seconds- we left the gala, all four of us jammed into one carriage as we rode back to the house. Once inside, my mother handed me a vial of what appeared to be almost impossibly clear water. "This will hurt, but it will work." I hesitated for a second, and slipped it into my pocket. "I'll be in touch the next time I need you, Leonides." She paused for a second, faltering, before her expression slipped into a scowl. "Now get out my house, you filthy half-breed."

I walked all the way back to the Ellwood Estate. It took four hours, which typically wasn't something that I would find all that notable, but with my current 'condition', I was a little concerned that the overwhelming fatigue I'd been experiencing lately would rear its ugly head and refuse to let me make it home. My contingency plan, in that case, was that I would signal the Knight bus- something I was reluctant to do at the best of times, but especially right now- so it was lucky that I never wound up getting to that point. In the end, I was just happy for the time on my own. I mean... the dress robes chafed a little, but I could live with it.

A few miles out from the house, I barely had time to recognise the sound of footsteps before I was in my father's arms. "Leo! Are you hurt?" He asked, before pulling back to cup my face to make sure I wasn't injured. I was pretty sure he was checking my pupil dilation, actually, which was... sweet, if unnecessary. Sure, a normal person might show their concern by asking more questions, but he'd never been a man of many words, so in a way, this was how he showed me he cared.

"I'm fine! I'm... fine." Shari pushed my father out of the way, wrapping me in her arms.

"Did you get it? Did you get the antidote?" I nodded, patting my pocket where the antidote was.

"What is it?" Lisbet questioned, her eyes narrowing in suspicion, which was... again, quite sweet. My father checked for injuries, Shari made sure the whole thing wasn't a waste of time, and Lisbet asked whether a waste of time might've been the better option.

"My guess? Holy water." Their eyebrows shot up.

"You can't take that!" My father protested, and Lisbet followed it up with, "It's completely pure, it's extremely toxic to vampires!" Most likely because she knew that telling me I couldn't do something was a bad idea.

I pursed my lips, already knowing that- because even if they hadn't taught me that, my mother had. "She needs me. She's not going to kill me now, I'm too valuable to her." With that, I pulled the vial from my pocket, removed the stopper, and tipped the contents down my throat. There was a sound while I had my head tipped back, like someone had moved to try to stop me, but by the time I was able to get my eyes on them again they were in the same position been in the last time I saw them, so I couldn't tell who it might have been... if I hadn't imagined it.

"...well? How do you feel?" Shari asked, but when I opened my mouth to reply, I was wracked by a deep discomfort so strong I fell to my knees.

"Ah! Ah!" I yelped, grabbing fistfuls of grass in my hands for something to hold onto- even if it didn't last long in my grip.

"Leo!"

I pushed her back as she reached for me. "Ah, I'm- Ah! I'm fine," I told her, forcing myself upright as my vision swam.

"You are not!" My father argued, gripping my shoulder tightly.

"It's- Ah! I think it's counteracting the- Ah! The toxins from before." I doubled over, retching.

"Oh, God..." Shari murmured as I threw up, and there was a frankly impressive amount of blood in it. In fact, I was pretty sure it was mostly blood, which seemed... odd.

"Leo!" My father cried, his eyes wide and frantic, but Lisbet rolled hers- despite the fact that I could tell by the stiff line of her body that she wasn't anywhere near as relaxed as she was pretending to be.

"Relax, you two, it's not his," She assured them, and I spat, sniffing lightly as I drew back- and then immediately regretting the need to do so, as I was hit with the scent of my... expulsion.

"Do you feel any better?" Shari asked, and slowly, I nodded.

"A little."

My father kept his eyes trained on me, obviously paying close attention to my reactions. "Enough to eat?" I shook my head violently.

"God, no."

The three vampires helped me back to the house, and into my bedroom. "Go to sleep," My father said, and I shook my head again, almost as violently as before.

"No way, " I protested, trying to get up, but he just pushed me down again. He resorted to giving me an incredibly disapproving look, so I endeavored to explain the issue. "My mouth tastes like a troll died in it. Let me brush my teeth, drink some water, and I'll sleep as much as you want." Reluctantly, as if knowing how much of a menace I used to be when I didn't want to go to sleep when I was younger, he helped me to the bathroom, where I did indeed brush my teeth- my whole mouth, really, it all needed a hearty freshening- and did everything else I needed to do to ready myself for bed. After I was finished, he helped me back into my bedroom, where Shari was waiting- oh, and Lisbet was leaning against the door frame. That was nice of her, I guess.

"Alright, time for bed," Shari told me, and knowing I had no other choice, I allowed them to essentially tuck me into bed.

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

Please review and/or check out my other stories!

This chapter has had minor edits made to it on 5/2/23 - Because Leo said the suit chafed, but I changed the last few chapters to say dress robes, because Cipicia would never have put him in a muggle suit.

This chapter has had fairly large edits made to it on 3/10/24 - Added Leo describing the vial of Holy Water as 'almost impossibly clear', since I thought something should differentiate it from regular water, at least to a vampire's eyes, especially since it's later described as 'completely pure'. Added Leo noticing Cipicia falter before scowling at him. Added more information to Leo's walk home, like his contingency plan. Added Nicholai checking Leo's pupil dilation, and Leo thinking it was sweet that his father was showing that he cared, in his own way. Added Leo thinking it was sweet that Lisbet was suspicious of the antidote. I originally had one person say the whole line, 'You can't take that! It's completely pure, it's extremely toxic to vampires!', without assigning it to anyway. I changed it so Nicholai said the first part, because no one else could get away with that (and he kind of didn't, either), and had Lisbet say the second part, since we later find out she has quite a bit of experience with holy water. Added Leo thinking that he knows that already, because even if they hadn't taught him that, his mother had. Added Leo hearing the sound of someone moving to stop him while he had his head tipped back, but not knowing who it was because they moved back into position before he lowered his head back down. That someone was Lisbet, by the way, since she's seen what happens to vampires exposed to holy water first hand, and she cares more than she lets on.

Added Leo describing it as a 'deep discomfort', since I don't think it was pain, exactly- or at least, Leo is so used to pain that the discomfort was more notable. Added Leo describing the amount of blood he threw up as 'impressive', and noting that what he threw up was mostly blood, which is odd (because if he had internal bleeding, it would likely be a different story). Added Leo noticing that Lisbet was less relaxed than she was pretending to be. Added Leo regretting his sniff, because yeah, he would. Added Leo refusing to go to sleep without brushing his teeth, because the chapter originally ended with them just forcing him into bed, and as I was re-reading it I was like, 'but... but he just threw up'. Because of that, I also added the fact that Shari and Lisbet were waiting for him when he came back into the bedroom, which is another point in the 'building Leo and Lisbet's future relationship' column. Added the three older vampires basically tucking Leo into bed, which is kind of funny, since much later in the story Lisbet thinks about offering to do so, but doesn't, because she 'knows' Leo will say no, and resent her for it.