(A/N): We're back with Elaine, Dahrya, and Remus. They briefly discuss Leo's clan and Dahrya's mother; Dahrya loses her temper, and Remus steps in to help calm her down, before Elaine makes her a deal she can't refuse.

This used to be chapter 510, but needed to be moved up since the special Valentine's Day chapter follows on from this one.

Trigger Warnings: Mentions/references to self-harm. (Elaine almost mentions Leo's self-harm out loud, and thinks about the fact that she doesn't want to tell Dahrya about it, despite the fact that she thinks Dahrya is probably the only person who might be able to keep Leo on the straight and narrow because she's the only other vampire regularly in the castle).

Elaine

Dahrya looked... well, it was hard to describe the rush of emotions that took over her face. The first was a brief approximation of satisfaction- probably that she'd gotten me to tell her- before it was replaced by confusion, which quickly became tinged with concern. And then, of course, most of that was pushed aside in favor of indignant anger, accompanied by the fitting motion of crossing her arms over her chest. "Why?" She asked sharply- the fact that she cared enough to ask betraying her seemingly disappeared concern, despite her trying to hide it with aggression. "I was under the impression that it was a rather selective kind of thing- like a gated community. Is that not the case?" Oh. Oh... she was hurt. I felt myself soften at that, unconsciously, and earned a glare for it. "Don't give me that look-"

"You're mad Leo didn't ask you to join the clan," I said, and for a long second she didn't deny it. Then her lips thinned to a line, and she scoffed.

"What? No! Of course not- Why would I want to-"

I cut her off with a soft look- which I wish I could've said was entirely, or even primarily, for her, but in reality, even if the tone was off, the sentiment reminded me so much of Leo that I couldn't help my reaction. "Why would you want to be included? Involved? Taken care of? Gee, I wonder-" She cut me off in turn, much more harshly as I saw fury and pain war across her face.

"I'm already 'taken care of'! My mother may not be-" Oh... oh no. "She may be human, but she's-"

"This isn't about your mother, Dahrya," I said softly, gently, which she didn't seem to like, but I continued before she had the chance. "This is about having a clan... a group of people who care about you, and have your back. After all, Leo has his dad and still needs his clan... right?" She was clearly reluctant to admit I had a point. "And as for him not inviting you to join... I'm sure he has his reasons, your age likely high on the list-"

Her eyes flashed with anger, and I was so shocked by the way they darkened that I legitimately took an instinctive step back before it dawned on me what happened. By the time it had, I was staring at a spot in the middle of Remus's shoulder blades as he stepped in front of me- blocking me from Dahrya. Protecting me, from Dahrya. "Dahrya- Remus, move." He shook his head. "Remus-" He moved- not away, but it was enough to stop me from talking, thinking he was about to, and by the time I recognised that he wasn't moving out of the way, I realised he was reaching for her, instead.

"Dahrya," His voice was steady, calm, but still strong- firm; it had a power to it even with the reserved nature of it. "May I touch you?" Silence. "I'm going to put my hands on your shoulders, if that's alright with you- I'd prefer if you didn't bite me, when I do." She made a noise- almost like an angry huff, but deeper... more visceral. It made Remus pause for half a second, but I guess once he determined it wasn't a prelude to her taking a chunk out of his arm he must have done as he said and placed his hands on her shoulders, because a moment later he said, "There. That's not so bad, is it?" Silence. I wanted to lean around him to see what was happening but I knew doing so risked ruining all the work he'd done so far, so I stayed put. "When was the last time you fed?" This time she did make a noise, and I couldn't tell if that growl was merely frustrated, or hungry. "Alright, alright, you know I had to ask." Ah- judging by that, Remus, at least, seemed to think it was frustrated.

"Nnt 'ngry, 'ngry." Huh? "'ngry. 'ngry. Angry." O...kay? "Not. Hungry. Angry." Oh. She wasn't hungry, she was angry- was that... did vampires typically go into Sensory Alert when they were really angry, or...? I couldn't remember an instance where Leo had ever reacted that way, but then again, he usually hid that kind of thing from us anyway.

Remus nodded understandingly. "Got it. Is there... Do you want Elaine to leave?" For a second I wanted to protest, but then I remembered that this wasn't some normal temper tantrum- there was a literal vampire no more than five feet from me, in Sensory Alert, because I had made her angry; this was dangerous, and even if it hadn't been... if Dahrya was angry enough to react like this, then if she wanted me to leave, I should. Remus had been smart about it, too- asking her if she wanted me to leave, rather than needed me to, which was a distinction that she, like Leo, would appreciate. Or, well, respond to better, the less they noticed it.

There was silence for a moment, before I heard Dahrya sigh somewhat bitterly. "No," She said reluctantly. "No, I'm good now. But... maybe we should take a break from talking about my father, for now." She wasn't saying it outright, but I knew what she really meant- no talk of clans, or Leo's choice not to ask her to join... or how much it obviously hurt her to be excluded, because of her age.

"That's fine by me. I did, um..." I hesitated, and as Remus moved from between us, I saw that her face- and body in general- was back to normal. Other than the fact that Remus had left a hand on her shoulder even as he moved to stand beside her, that is. "I did want to ask you more in-depth about being-" I checked that the corridor was empty, even though saying this out loud was far less dangerous than Dahrya going into Sensory Alert out in the open. "-half-vampire, because I thought... I thought knowing more about actually being one, might help me better understand Leo's struggles better." The look she shot me was wary, but not necessarily angry- which was surprising, given the way she'd reacted to just about everything else, so far.

"Blood lust isn't unique to half-vampires, you know," She reminded me, and I was a little confused as to why she was bringing it up until she continued with, "You could've just asked one of his clan members, or even Greygorry."

It was an instinctual response- one I didn't even think once about, let alone twice. "Greygorry is one of Leo's clan members- and I can't talk to any of them, because it's not about blood lust. It's about- everything else." I caught myself at the very last second, before I revealed that Leo was- that he'd- We only told Brooke because she'd told us; Dahrya wasn't part of that deal, so I wasn't going to out his self-harm to her... even if I did think she was probably the only person in the whole castle with any hope of sniffing him out.

Unfortunately for me- and Leo, no doubt- Dahrya wasn't dumb, and she shot me a pointed look at my near slip-up. "If you won't tell me what you want to know, how am I supposed to help? And also- him? Really? I would've thought Leo would want to keep the two separate, but-" I cut her off, rather than listen to her have a go at Greygorry.

"Anything you can tell me is helpful, Dahrya, I promise- and if you can help me, I'll help you get back at Leo... within reason, of course." After the expected suspicion, she flashed me a sly, toothy grin that sent a shiver down my spine- which I hoped she wouldn't notice, probably rather futilely.

"Folley, you've got yourself a deal- Leo's not going to know what hit him."

(A/N): Okay, so, I'm not sure whether I should technically be using 'bloodlust' or 'blood lust'. Most results say bloodlust without the space, but they're talking about a desire for violence, whereas in this case and most others I am referring to a literal desire for blood itself, but there will be mentions of the other kind very soon and throughout the story. I'll probably go back and forth between the two spellings (because indecisive and forgetful), but yeah.

Have a go at = British slang meaning to attack or criticize someone. (I basically wanted Elaine to be like, 'Damn Dahrya, you don't need to roast the poor bloke', neither of them knowing that Greygorry is her father).