"If you could be any magical creature, what would you be?"

"I don't know... a Hippogriff?"

"Why?"

"They have wings... I think they're beautiful creatures..."

"Have you ever seen a Hippogriff?"

"Not yet... okay, how about... because everyone has to bow to them..."

"There we go!"

"What about you?"

"Dunno. I guess a stag?"

"Are they magical?"

"Dunno, probably..."

"I guess they are the kings of the forest..." Bess said, as she pushed her mop in to the bucket of water and twisted it in the strainer, before throwing it back on the ground with a thwup.

"Are they? Didn't know that..."

"I highly doubt that. I'm pretty sure that between you, you and Sirius know everything..." Bess replied.

"Was that a compliment?"

"The issue is you're both as cocky as you are intelligent... Are you actually going to do anything?"

James turned his head and grinned at Bess from his perch in an alcove - they'd been tasked with mopping an entire corridor as detention, and so far Bess was the only one working.

Bess could think of nothing she'd rather do than be in her bed, but McGonagall had said that since it was so close to Christmas and James already had a detention the same evening that she'd talked back in class, she had to join him.

Considering James hadn't done anything and had peppered the conversation with ridiculous questions that after a while hurt her head, she thought the older witch may have thought of this as a double punishment. Diabolical.

"Nah, it's honestly more fun getting a detention for not doing your original detention..." James said.

"You're ridiculous."

James just smiled and looked up at the ceiling again, absentmindedly playing with his hair, "Hey, so in that book series you talked about..."

"Yeah?" Bess replied, keeping her eyes on the ground. She had managed to avoid a lot of questions about her real life so far.

"Were Lily and I characters in it?" James asked, throwing a bottle of ink up in the air and catching it with the tips of his fingers as he ran a hand through his hair again.

Bess tried not to laugh, but let out a small chuckle instead. "Yes. You got married and had a baby boy named Harry."

"Fine, don't tell me about the books, see if I care!" James declared, before placing a book on his face and pretending to snore.

Bess rolled her eyes and continued to work for another 15 minutes before she asked, "why is Peter in Transfiguration by the way? All he does is sleep..."

James chuckled, "we coached him through his exam. Thought it would be funny to see the look on Minny's face when he turned up with an exceeds!"

"Yup. Ridiculous."

Silence fell for another five minutes before James piped up again. "What're you doing for Christmas?"

"Staying here. McGonagall brought round the sign up sheet at lunch. Don't think many people are though..." Bess said, trailing off.

McGonagall had come round with the sheet while Bess had been at lunch with Grace, Scott, Bartie, Merritt, Lucy and Amarella. It had been the final sign up, as Christmas break would start at the end of next week, so Bess had just put her name down.

Then she'd had a double History of Magic class before her pre-dinner detention, so she still hadn't found the time to tell Sirius yet.

"Oh. Yeah, most people go home... why are you staying? Is it because you and Sirius had a fight?" James replied quietly.

Bess chuckled. "No, Sirius and I are past the argument from my perspective. I just think the Muggles who bought my parents' house would be a bit bemused if I turned up..." Bess said with a laugh.

"True. Don't you have anywhere else to go?"

Bess frowned. "I don't like this conversation..."

"No, I mean... I thought Lily would've invited you to hers," James backtracked quickly.

She smiled at his attempt. "She did this morning, but have you heard about her sister? Also, honestly, I don't really want to stand out, so I said no."

"Stand out?" He asked, swinging his legs round and standing up so he could see her better.

Bess sighed and leaned against her mop. "I'm Muggleborn here, but out there I'm... well, can't run from the colour of my skin, and it can be not so great out in the Muggle world at the moment. Last month they issued a new anti-discrimination Act and some people are... angry about it. So I don't really want to chance anything."

James frowned deeply. "What? Why would your skin colour matter?"

Bess stared at James for a moment before she asked, "Why does my blood status matter?"

"It doesn't," James replied without a beat.

"To you. But to some people, it does," Bess said, sighing and putting the mop back in the bucket. "You've only known what it's like to be a white pureblood wizard."

"But-"

"Don't really want to get in to it any more than that, James, sorry. Just trust me, a mixed race girl rocking up in Cokeworth would probably shock a few neighbours and I don't want the stares, or for Lily's family to be left with all the questions when I've gone. On the other hand, staying at Hogwarts means I can explore and have great dinners for two weeks."

James frowned and tossed the ink pot in the air. "Would you come to mine for Christmas?"

Bess couldn't help but grin as she thought of Harry, who was always happy to share what he had with his friends. "Thank you, James, you're really kind. But it would be a bit weird wouldn't it? Sirius and I have only been going out for a month and a half, so I don't really fancy crashing his first truly free Christmas."

"What if he asked you? Would you come then?"

"James..." Bess said with a sigh of frustration, "can we stop? Honestly, you're being lovely, but I just want to be at Hogwarts for Christmas break."

"But you'll be on your own!"

"Sometimes that's a good thing though."

"No it's not! You should have people around at Christmas! It should be fun and filled with family and friends!" James argued, before his face fell and he seemed to understand his mistake.

Bess pursed her lips and rubbed her nose as angry tears filled her eyes. "Yeah. And last Christmas my family were murdered and I woke up in St. Mungo's. Last night I had to relive the pain of that night, and it terrified me. So I'm sorry if I want to have the safest Christmas possible this year and don't want to risk accidentally getting any of my friends in to hot water.

"Look, if anyone asks, I did all of this," she said, gesturing to most of the corridor, "but had a headache and went to lie down," before dropping the mop and walking away.

Luckily, Filch had been in a hurry and neither James nor Bess had reminded him to take their wands. The only reason she'd really been cleaning was out of a weird respect for the rules of her detention.

"Ugh. Bess, I'm sorry!" James called after her, but she kept walking.

She knew she was being dramatic, but after Dumbledore inadvertently caused her to go through the pain Daphne had been subjected to, she had been on high alert.

The Muggle and Wizard newspapers had been rife with stories about racist and anti-Muggleborn sentiments recently, and she thought she owed it to herself to have as uncomplicated of a two week break as she could without potentially endangering her friends.

xXx

"You blew up at Ja-a-ames!" Lily sang as she pulled the curtain to Bess' bed back.

Bess groaned and mumbled, "You do it all the time," into her pillow.

She was laying face down in her bed, having managed to change in to her pyjamas and crawl under the covers before Lily interrupted her.

"Yeah, but I can get away with it. He thinks he's really upset you."

Bess pushed her arms under her pillow and lifted up her head. "Please tell him he did nothing wrong, I'm just really tired and just want to sleep? He was just unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Can you tell him yourself?" Lily asked, cocking her head to the side.

Bess shook her head and flumped her head back on to her pillow. "No, because I'm asleep."

"He's your boyfriend's best friend."

"He's also the closest thing I have to an annoying little brother and families argue."

"I can't tell him that!" Lily cried.

"Why not?" Bess asked in a mumble.

"He'll cry or something..."

Bess laughed but otherwise didn't move, as she fell asleep.

xXx

"Bess? Bess, wake up."

Bess groaned and moved slightly so she could push the person who was poking her, away.

"Really? Come on! Wake up!" Came the voice again.

"Why?"

"Because! You missed two meals yesterday! You have to have breakfast before History of Magic!" Lily replied in an angry whisper.

Bess groaned again and moved in to the yoga position child's pose, before she began to fall asleep again.

"Bess!"

"Fine!" She replied loudly, before she jumped up and walked to the bathroom, yawning.

By the time she'd got dressed and been dragged downstairs, she had lost all of her energy and felt dead on her feet.

She sat down on the bench in the Great Hall and, if it hadn't of been for Lily making her drink some juice and have some food, would have fallen asleep on her plate.

Just as she was trying to chew a piece of pain au chocolat, the boys sat down, and she smiled slightly at Remus, who was back from the Hospital Wing.

"Hey," she said, trying to wave her pastry but only managing a limp shake. She had one hand under her chin, with her elbow on the table and her eyes were drooping.

"I just don't get it! You've slept so much!" Lily said, clearly annoyed.

"What's up, love?" Sirius asked as he straddled the bench next to Bess and wrapped his arms around her middle.

She sighed and moved closer to him, before Lily pulled her back and said, "No you don't. We have class in fifteen minutes, and you're going to be awake for it."

"But I'm so tired," Bess mumbled, before dropping her head on to the table. As she began to close her eyes, she could hear her friends talking above her.

"Bess, love?" She heard Sirius ask.

"She's been asleep since six last night!" Lily cried.

"Shit, has she eaten anything?" James asked quickly.

"Barely!" Lily replied.

Bess groaned and moved slightly, mumbling, "I'm fine! I'm just tired!"

"How long've you been tired, Bess?" Remus asked.

Bess frowned and took in a deep breath as she thought. "Since Pomps gave me a pain potion I think."

"Was it pink?"

Bess nodded.

"Did you sleep after she gave it to you?"

Bess shook her head.

"Ah, classic. Feel a bit drunk yesterday?"

Bess barely moved, but Sirius said, "Told Minny she wanted me, so I'd say yeah to that one."

"I highly doubt that," Remus replied.

Bess chuckled and mumbled. "I did and I do."

"Bess, we're at breakfast..." Lily admonished, as Bess heard the boys laugh and felt Sirius move her hair from her back and press a kiss to the back of her neck.

"What d'you think Moony?" James asked, unable to hide the smile in his voice.

She heard Remus sigh and root around in his bad for a moment before he poked her arm with a vial and said, "Bess, drink this."

"What is it?" She asked as she propped her head up again.

As she did, Sirius slipped his hand under the back of her untucked shirt and rubbed her lower back to comfort her.

"Pepper up potion," Remus replied as he thrust it in to her hand.

"Why?" She asked, looking at the potion.

"Honestly? You're on a come down. The pink pain potions are the best, but if you don't sleep straight away, you get a little... high. Then you end up sleeping for a couple of days. Only way to break it is to have a pepper up within 30 hours of having the other potion."

Bess sighed and tipped the vial's contents into her mouth. She drank the potion slowly, unable to swallow quickly.

"Bess, I'm so sorry, I thought you were just being lazy!" Lily cried, throwing her arms around Bess and hugging her tightly.

Bess just laughed as she started to feel the energy coming back to her, and began to eye up the platter of pastries hungrily.

"Oh yeah, side effects of the combination of potions is increased hunger, and you might feel a little impulsive. Otherwise, all back to normal!"

Bess' eyes widened as she began to smoke at the ears.

"Oh and uh- the pepper up potion makes the steam come out of your ears... that'll last for a few hours. The rest should alleviate by noon."

"Thanks Remus," Bess managed to choke out while she stuffed an entire pain au chocolat in her mouth.

Sirius let out an impatient noise and pushed Lily's arms away from Bess before removing his hand from Bess' lower back and slipping his arms back round Bess' waist. Once he'd kissed her on the cheek and confirmed she was okay, he turned to Remus and asked, "How'd you know?"

"Remember last year, Beatrice wouldn't stop going on about were- uh- reforms?"

Bess felt Sirius nod as she grabbed some bacon and pancakes, before reaching for the maple syrup.

"Poppy had just got this potion in," he said, gesturing to Bess, "and this was happening to me. That's why I couldn't not tell her she was being a bitch."

"That's what happened? Didn't you break up with her, Sirius?"

"Uh-" Sirius said before coughing slightly, "yeah I uh-"

"Don't worry, he traded up!" Peter said, as he beamed at Bess. He'd been on the major charm offensive with her recently, probably trying to make up for telling her to get lost for the second time.

Bess, who had stuffed an entire pancake, two rashers of bacon, and some eggs in to her mouth, stared at him as she chewed, knowing that in that moment she was about as unattractive as you could get.

"You... sure about that?" She heard Lily ask with a grimace, watching as Bess tried to pour maple syrup directly in to her mouth, which was still full of food.

Bess narrowed her eyes, swallowed her gigantic mouthful, and then reached for more just as the warning bell rang, signalling the end of breakfast.

Just before the food disappeared, she grabbed the tray of pastries and emptied it on to the table, cheering to herself as all of the rest of the food disappeared from the platters and plates, leaving the small mountain of food in front of her.

She heard Remus say, "I wasn't joking about the hunger..." as she scooped as many of the pastries as she could in to her bag, before, without asking, she pulled open Sirius' robe pocket and started putting croissants in.

"I think it's a mark of how much I love you that I'm letting you do this..." He said as he turned slightly, giving her access to his other pocket.

"Shut up, croissant carrier," she said, trying to stuff the last pastry into his pocket. When she couldn't, she frowned and held it out to him. "Please keep this safe?"

He rolled his eyes and nodded, "When will the hunger end?" He asked Remus as he put the pastry into his bag.

Peter piped up and, predictably, put his foot in it. "Knowing Moony at the full-"

James reached over and punched Peter on the arm, which shut him up.

"Full what?" Skye asked as the girls joined them, ready to walk to class together.

Before anyone else could answer, Bess said, "Full body wax. What do you think his furry little problem is?" She gestured to her chest and mouthed, "he has so much hair."

Bess could see the boys visibly relax at her words.

"I do not!" Remus said, glaring at her playfully as she grinned at him.

"One hundred percent. Uses the same waxist as Sirius," Bess continued, looking back at Skye.

"You haven't even seen Sirius topless, so I don't know what you're talking about," Remus said in a 'so there' voice.

"And how would you know that?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Becau- uh-" Remus trailed off with a cough.

Bess looked at Sirius next to her, who was evidently trying incredibly hard to find something in his bag.

Skye just rolled her eyes and laughed as Lily jumped up, Bess following a second later. The girls were headed to different classes - Bess had History of Magic - but they'd made it a tradition to walk as far as her classroom together.

"See you later?" Bess asked Sirius, before leaning down to kiss him deeply when he nodded.

Since they had a lot of the same classes, they'd decided that 'see you later' meant that they'd meet up after school ended for the day, or, if Sirius found her during a free lesson.

Just as she was about to walk away, Sirius grabbed her hand and pulled her back down in to another kiss.

"I love you," he said as he let her go.

"I love you too," she replied before smiling at him and walking off.

What Bess didn't realise in that moment and would learn within the next five minutes, (but the rest of the girls, everyone within hearing range, and soon enough the whole school - did know) was that this was the first time Sirius Black had ever publicly uttered those three words.

xXx

As Bess left the History of Magic classroom, she stuffed another pastry in her mouth.

If she'd known Sirius was waiting for her outside, she would have at least tried to take bites.

He rolled his eyes as she tried to chew, and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her along the corridor until he found an unused classroom.

Once he'd locked and silenced the door, he turned to her and asked, "Why're you staying here for Christmas?"

Bess rolled her eyes and put her bag on the floor before sitting on a desk. They both had a free lesson before break, so she knew she could settle in.

"Why not?"

"Because I want you to come to James'," he replied, as he stepped forwards and cupped her face, tilting it up to look at him.

"It's your first Christmas not at home. I don't want to-"

"I know, James told me. But I want you there. I-"

Bess reached up to hold his forearms. "I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me. You know what I felt last night. Sirius... that's what happened last Christmas. I don't want to go through it again, and I don't want anyone else to feel that either. What if they come back for me?" She asked, worriedly.

"Love, the Potters' is so secure even my parents couldn't get to me there. That's honestly... that's saying a lot. Just... please?"

"Sirius, I don't want to go just because you want to protect me."

Sirius grinned and leant in to rub his nose against hers. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.

"Then it's a good thing that's not why I want you to come home then, isn't it?" He said softly.

Bess sighed and said, "If you really wanted me to, we would've talked about this already..."

"Ah, yeah, complete misunderstanding on everyone's part there, love. Lily said she was going to ask you about two weeks ago, and I thought you'd say yes, so I didn't ask.

"Yesterday James was doing recon for what to get Lily as a present, and, well..."

"And found out I wasn't going to hers," Bess said with a sigh.

Sirius chuckled and rubbed his nose against hers again. "Yeah. Turns out after our chat she thought that I was going to ask you... it's just a whole thing really..."

Bess blinked. "Okay... then why do you want me to go to yours?"

Sirius shrugged and said, "I want you to meet mum."

Bess' eyes widened and she stared at him like he was mad. "You what? Sirius, no! She's a blood puri-"

Sirius realised his mistake and laughed. "Merlin, not my mother, I mean James' mum. But... well, she's been the closest thing to a proper mum I've ever had, so..."

Bess smiled at the way he called his own mum 'mother', but used the more colloquial term for Euphemia - it was endearing.

She frowned after a second. "Oh. Wait, haven't I already met her?"

Sirius chuckled. "Yeah, but she wants to meet you properly this time, without having to apologise for James and me."

"You've told her about me?" She asked, moving her hands to grip the bottom of his untucked shirt.

"Of course. She's quite the meddler... how do you think I knew you were in Diagon Alley over the summer? She actually apparated back home from the apothecary just so she could pick me up... apparently I needed a little cheering up, and 'that gorgeous girl you met at Easter is in Madam Malkin's! Why don't you go talk to her?'" He said, putting on a high pitched voice.

Bess pursed her lips and tried not to smile. "I knew James had to have got it from somewhere..."

"What? His romantic side?"

"No, his eyesight," she said, grinning as Sirius threw his head back and laughed.

He stroked her cheek and kissed her soundly, before pulling back and staring in to her eyes. "Please? Come to the Potter's?"

"I can't, I've already signed the list."

Sirius made a face. "About that... your name might have been accidentally erased..."

Bess gasped and whacked him on the arm. "Sirius! You didn't even know I'd say yes!"

"Actually, you gave in a lot quicker than I thought you would. I have four speeches prepared, and was fully intending on using my expert powers of persuasion..." he said, winking and moving his hands to her waist, his thumbs rubbing circles through her jumper and shirt.

"I guess you just caught me at the right time... I'm just feeling quite... vulnerable. It's easier to push people away, but I think part of me just wanted to know you wanted me."

"I do. I always do," Sirius said, before kissing her again.

When he pulled away this time, Bess moved her hands to his tie and said, "what- what happens if-"

"Love, it really will be fine."

Bess nodded and moved forwards to rest her forehead on his chest. She took a deep breath, breathing in his scent, and revelling in it.

She'd realised a few weeks previously where she'd smelt him before - the Amortentia potion back in their first week of school. She still hadn't told him though.

"I won't be intruding?"

"No, honestly, I think James is excited to have a girl around who he can actually ask for advice about Lily."

Bess groaned and shook her head slightly as Sirius chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

"Are we okay? You know, after yesterday?" He asked after a second.

Bess looked up and smiled. "Yeah. Are we okay?" She asked him back.

He smiled down at her and nodded before kissing her again.

After a few minutes, they pulled apart and rested their foreheads against each other.

"Are you free tonight?" Bess whispered.

Sirius groaned and shook his head. "Detention. I'm yours all of Saturday. And Tuesday evening?"

Bess shook her head and said, "Busy on Tuesday."

"Thursday?"

Again, Bess shook her head. She had already agreed to go with Skye to Gobstones club on Tuesday, and had a pre-Christmas study session with Amarella planned on Thursday - they were hoping to get a lot of their essays done before they finished classes on Friday.

"Friday?" Sirius groaned, clearly frustrated that he wouldn't be able to spent proper alone time with her for over a week if they only had Saturday together.

She shook her head and said, "Slughorn's party."

"Oh for fuck's sake. Saturday?"

Bess giggled. "I'll be on my way to meet your mum, so I think I'll be busy."

"I'll let it pass then," he said with a proud smile before kissing her again.

Bess pulled back and asked, "Did you say you had four speeches prepared?"

Sirius nodded and Bess raised an eyebrow.

"James said meeting the parents is one of the most important things in a relationship," Sirius said, beaming down at her. "and in true Marauders fashion, I needed to be fully prepared going in, but able to wing it if needed."

Bess, who realised this was the first time he'd mentioned his group's name to her, asked, "Marauders?"

He sent her a cocky smile and said, "that's one for another time, love."

She smiled back at him. "You really should stop listening to James about everything, you're becoming quite the hopeless romantic..."

He nodded his head from side to side and said, "I would, but he's the only authority I have on how to act when you're head over heels for a girl, and I don't want to scare you off by going too fast."

"Too-? What did he say?" Bess asked, narrowing her eyes.

Sirius shook his head and laughed, until her narrowed eyes turned to a glare and he gulped and said, "The main points are: one, slow and steady wins the hand-"

"-what?-" Bess interjected.

"-two-"

"Oi, still on point one, mister! What does 'win the hand' mean?"

Sirius just shrugged. "Dunno, just an expression I guess."

"You said 'too fast'? Have you been... holding back?"

Bess grinned as she saw the blush creep up Sirius' face and neck, and she looked around him at the door and windows to make sure the blinds were down. "How long've we got left?"

"Forty five minutes," Sirius replied, frowning.

Bess grinned. "I know I look ridiculous with this stupid steam coming out of my ears, but..." she said, before undoing his tie.

"Love?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow.

When the bell signalling break rang, Bess and Sirius exited the classroom.

Sirius had a new swagger to his walk, and Bess couldn't stop smiling. She'd now ticked off 'see Sirius topless' and 'kiss a topless Sirius' off her bucket list, and had confirmed that he didn't mind her scars at all - in fact, he'd taken the time to tenderly kiss her left forearm and tell her that she was beautiful, before capturing her lips with his again.

And she was going to be spending the holidays at the Potter's house.

That happiness continued to fuel her and, after spending an entire day with Sirius that Saturday, she was on cloud nine.

xXx

A/N: right, so I skipped posting a chapter last night, so I'm posting two at the same time instead! This will be it for the next two days unfortunately, but I hope you like the chapters! I'll be back with more on Saturday!

So... go on, part two is up - have a read!

Thank you to my lovely reviewers, Siriusly - (It's intentionally confusing! I jumped up and down and punched the air when I read your review! I have a whole plan, just have to get to it now!), CharlotteGryffindor, idreamtosmilealways, chibi-no-baka, HorseGirl16, and Ghost Claw 001!

And thanks again to everyone reading, following and favouriting!