"I'm sorry," Bess said quietly as she listened to the strong beat of Sirius' heart.
She was lying next to him, with her head on his chest, an arm across his stomach. Once they'd finished, they'd put their clothes back on and Sirius had conjured another blanket to throw over them while they lay there.
He'd been quiet for a long time, just staring up at the stars, his arms wrapped tightly around Bess, who was feeling both absolutely wonderful, and like a horrid person for using him like that.
When she'd been at university, she'd had... relationships... if you could call them that, with a few people, but none who meant as much to her as Sirius did. She hadn't been lying to him - she'd thought of him for weeks, ever since they'd finally got together, and it was now almost two months since they'd started courting, or six weeks since they'd told each other they loved each other.
But still, she couldn't help but feel like this wasn't how either of them would have wanted their first time to be, even though, honestly, it had been... for lack of a better word, as perfect as it could have been.
Later, when they left school, and the war raged around them, Bess would think back to this moment and think that it was the first time in her life that she felt truly loved. She would forget her worries that he would think she'd been using him, and she would only remember how safe she felt in his arms and how romantic it was to spend time with him outside, on the beach, watching the stars and losing time together.
"Why, love?" Sirius asked, tightening his hold on her.
"I think... I'm worried you think I used you," Bess whispered.
She could feel Sirius shaking his head, and moved so that she had her head propped up on her hand, her elbow next to his head, as she stared down at him.
After a moment, he looked up at her and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Love, don't apologise for this. Please? You didn't use me. I'm more worried about you thinking I've used you, but please trust me. This won't be the last time we get lost in each other."
Bess frowned. "What d'you mean?"
Sirius sighed and looked back to the stars, pulling Bess back in to his arms. He took a few minutes, before he spoke again. "The first time I had sex, I was fifteen. I'd just come back from Christmas break with my family and... I... I just felt like I wanted to do something... reckless. Something destructive to myself. I dunno really, but I just wanted to feel something other than the pain and anger inside me at that moment. James wouldn't let me do anything stupid, so I... I just wanted to feel something... good.
"There was this party, and I went off with an older girl who... well, she took the lead, and it worked I guess?
"When you asked me tonight... I- I recognised that pain and anger and hurt. That want to..." he took in a deep breath before continuing, "to feel something else.
"But I also recognised that it was... different this time. You weren't looking for reckless. You were looking for love and comfort. I'm just glad you trusted me, rather than having to go off and find something else... or someone else...
"Because I love you, and I'm always here for you," Sirius said, as he stared in to her eyes. "And... I realise you didn't want me because you wanted a couple of hours of pleasure. You wanted me because you wanted me to love you, because you trusted me to love you, to care for you. That's what I hope, at least - that you asked me to make love to you because that's what it was; love."
Bess, whose eyes had filled with tears, nodded. "How do you always know?"
"Because that feeling inside of you? The one that tells you you're all alone in the world? That there's something wrong with you? That you don't deserve love?"
Bess nodded as she felt tears rolling down her cheeks.
"I feel that too. And that feeling only goes away when I'm around about four people, and that includes you, and James."
"I- it used to be... I used to have- I miss-" Bess started, before shaking her head. If she thought about her friends from her world right now, she would break down. "Now... for me... it's you, James, Lily and Remus," she whispered, her voice breaking.
Sirius was quiet for a moment before he muttered, "Poor Peter."
Bess didn't know if he'd said it to be funny, but she couldn't help but laugh.
He smiled up at her as he reached a hand up and stroked her cheek. "We should head back soon. It's past midnight and I'm sure someone will come to check on the fires soon."
"Sirius?"
"Yes love?"
"You... you said I trusted you, and you were glad I didn't go off to find someone else? I just want you to know that there's only you. No matter what happens, what comes for us, I love you, and I would never..." she trailed off.
She wanted to say that she'd never hurt him, but she couldn't. She knew that if he found out that she knew about his past already because he was a character in the books she'd read growing up, that would hurt him. And she was terrified that he would leave her for it.
Because she'd realised something about Sirius - he'd begun to fall for her because she was an enigma, a problem to solve, and then when he'd found out who she was and where she came from... where he thought she'd come from... he'd decided to try and unwrap her secrets.
In doing so, he'd fallen in love with her, because he thought she was being completely honest with him, and at the same time, wasn't pushing him to tell her anything about his life.
But what he didn't know, and what she hoped he would never find out, was that the only reason she didn't push to know more was because she already knew his biggest secrets.
"You would never?" He asked, looking up at her and frowning.
"Betray you," she said, as a tear rolled down her face. "Because I'm yours. I always will be."
"You mean that, don't you? You actually mean that?" He said, cupping her jaw as he searched her face for any sign of deception.
Bess nodded and stared into his eyes, trying to convey as many emotions as she could.
Sirius' face relaxed, and he tightened his arms around her, before he said, "I feel the same way. I will always protect you, love, I will always be here for you."
They stared at each other for what felt like hours, before Sirius broke the silence, saying, "I'm sorry, love, we really should get back."
Bess nodded and reluctantly stood as Sirius magicked away their things. He jumped up and took her hand, before leaning in to kiss her deeply.
"I love you," she whispered, looking up at him as he pulled away.
Sirius leant in and rubbed his nose against hers, before saying, "I love you." As she turned back towards the castle, she thought she heard him whisper, "more than you could ever know."
xXx
The next morning, Bess woke up in her own bed, with a parchment bird note bouncing up and down on her nose. It reminded her of when James and Sirius got so excited about something they would almost bounce off the walls. Normally, that meant they'd go off and prank someone... she hoped this wouldn't be the case today.
When they'd made it back to the common room just hours before, Sirius had said that as much as he wanted to spend the entire night with her, he didn't think that the night before Christmas break would be the best time. Bess, who had been thinking exactly the same thing - she didn't know how to explain it to the girls if she had to do the walk of shame - had agreed with him, and they'd reluctantly gone their separate ways.
She thought she'd be upset not being with him, but instead, she'd almost floated to the bathroom to remove her make up and get changed in to her pyjamas. She felt so comforted and loved, and when she'd finally fallen asleep, after replaying the time they'd spent on the beach in her head, she had a wonderful dreamless sleep.
Groaning slightly, Bess rolled on to her back and reached for her wand, before tapping the note. This time, instead of turning in to a flat piece of parchment in her hand, it continued to float in front of her face as it unfurled itself.
Bess smiled as she read:
I can't wait to see you.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Mary asking, "How much packing've you got to do?" She looked over to see the brunette sitting on her bed, her trunk already locked.
Bess smiled and pushed herself up. "Considering I undid all my progress last night looking for a stupid hair potion? I've still got to start..."
Mary grinned and said, "pick out your clothes and I'll do the rest."
Bess jumped up and pulled out underwear, a top, turtleneck jumper, skinny jeans, boots, and her leather jacket, before Mary waved her wand and everything from on and around Bess' bed flew inside her trunk before it closed with a click.
"Yeah, you're gonna have to teach me that or you're just going to be my resident packer from now on..." Bess said, grinning at Mary before walking towards the bathroom. "When do we have to leave?" She asked no one in particular.
"Fifteen minutes until breakfast, then we're off! You excited for your first train ride?" Jo asked as she passed Bess, wearing only a towel.
Bess stopped as her mouth dropped open. "Oh my god. It's... I'm going... I'M GOING ON THE BLOODY HOGWARTS EXPRESS TODAY!"
She could hear the girls laughing as she jumped up and down.
That morning, she sang in the shower, squealed while she dried her now-curly-again hair, swore as she poked herself in the eye with her eyeliner, bounced around the bathroom collecting the last of the things she'd need over the next two weeks, and grinned stupidly at the Lily, who was the only one left in the room when she'd returned from the bathroom.
"You excited to go home?" She asked brightly as she grabbed her bag and tried to get a look at the redhead, whose face was obscured by her hair. When she did see Lily's face, Bess gasped and ran over to her, asking, "what's wrong?"
"Nothing... really... I just... I don't- I don't want to go home. I- I love it there, I really do, and I really miss my parents, but... Petunia's being so horrid!" Lily said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, "and James was so lovely last night! He was a perfect gentleman, and... it- it's so stupid, but I feel so down thinking I won't see him for two weeks..."
Bess grinned. "That's not stupid at all! I get it, I really do. It's not like you can just facetime him or something..."
"What's facetime?" Lily asked, sniffling and looking at Bess.
Bess grimaced and tried to find the words to explain. "It's uh... it's a... it's kind of like where you have..." she just couldn't describe it without explaining phones, and that would open a whole can of worms about her time and the world she was- of course! Bess thought, mentally slapping herself before she said, "you know the Muggle world I thought I was in before?"
Lily nodded and sniffed again.
"There were these things that you could use to communicate. Like owls, but instead it was... kind of like a two way mirror? So you'd be able to hold up a telephone in front of you and chat to someone else through it."
"Wow... your imagination is ridiculous!" Lily said, with a bemused smile on her face. "That's so rad. Honestly, I think that would make things a lot easier!"
Bess smiled and nodded, before she asked, "Are your parents hooked up to the Floo network?"
Lily shook her head. "I think that would be a step too far for them... they're so proud of my magic, but Petunia's very... difficult... it would make it hard for them if she saw me Floo-ing in and out."
Bess nodded. "Well, I'm sure there'll be a way for us to see you over the holidays... I honestly can't imagine having to spend two weeks with just those two idiots and James' parents!"
Lily laughed and reached over to hug Bess tightly. "Thank you. Honestly, if I can see you for just a day..."
Bess hugged her back and smiled. "We'll work it out. Can't leave you with Petunia the whole time!"
Lily laughed before asking quietly, "Do you think she'll hate me forever?"
"I think she's just jealous, and it's..." Bess trailed off, thinking about what Petunia would do to Harry. "Honestly? She's your sister so you'll always love her and want her to be there for you, but I don't think she will be."
"But maybe one day?" Lily asked, resting her head on Bess' shoulder and wiping away her tears which had begun to fall again.
Bess pursed her lips and waited a moment before whispering, "Yeah, Lils... maybe one day."
xXx
By the time Lily had felt ready to head down to the Great Hall, breakfast was over, so the two girls just joined the line of students heading outside.
Just as Lily's stomach growled loudly, Bess removed the four pain au chocolats she'd hidden in her bag the previous night, and gave two to Lily before removing the stasis charm on them.
"Oh my god, you're a lifesaver!" Lily cried before shoving half of the pastry into her mouth as Bess threw her head back and laughed.
As she looked around at the masses of students waiting for the carriages, Bess caught James' eye and waved. Lily followed her line of sight and went bright red before turning her back to James and quickly chewing the food in her mouth.
"Quick, quick, quick, he's coming this way!" Bess whispered frantically as Lily went redder and tried to chew quicker.
Finally, Lily gulped down her food and turned around, throwing her hair over her shoulder. Bess tried not to laugh as Lily looked around before turning to back to Bess and slapped her on the arm with her bag, saying, "I hate you!"
"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist!" Bess said, still laughing, "are you blushing?"
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Lily hissed, whacking Bess on the arm with every two words as Bess laughed.
"Oh come on! You would've done the same to me!"
Lily just glared, before asking, "So where were you last night anyway?" She raised an eyebrow, and Bess knew that she had an inkling what had happened, and was just asking to deflect the conversation away from her obvious crush.
Bess sighed and looked down, her laughter leaving her immediately. "Uh- Delbert told me a little more about who attacked me..."
Lily, who didn't seem to have been expecting Bess to say that, looked up sharply and gasped. "Oh god! At a party? Why would he do that?"
"It's okay, he was just trying to protect me," Bess mumbled as she heard the stampede of hooves approaching. "He uh- he tried to warn me away from Sirius."
"Because of his family?" Lily asked in a whisper, putting an arm around Bess' middle as Bess nodded. "But why would Professor Serpen mention it to him if he knew...?"
"He didn't... I mean, I- Delbert said Jasper's been taken off my case. Conflict of interest since he's my teacher now. And... well, Jasper knows you all, doesn't he? And he was Head Boy, so I'm guessing he had plenty of run-ins with the boys, so he wouldn't have even thought Sirius would be a threat... Delbert on the other hand..."
Lily nodded slowly and send Bess an apologetic look before the crowd began to move towards the carriages. Lily pushed Bess forwards slightly, and they fell in to a walk, heading towards the back of the line of carriages.
When Bess finally looked up, she took a deep breath in.
The Thestrals were even worse a sight to behold than Bess had been expecting. She gulped slightly as she took in their reptilian skin, massive leathery wings, and skeletal bodies, and thought about what Daphne must have seen for Bess to be able to see these creatures now.
She felt a bit sick, thinking about the fact that within three weeks, she would have been in this world for an entire year. She gulped back the bile which had begun to ascend to her throat, and took in a deep, shuddering breath as she continued to stare at the winged creatures.
"You okay?" Lily asked, trying to look at the front of the carriages.
"You can't see them?" Bess asked quietly, nodding her head towards the Thestrals pulling the carriages.
"No... I can't," Lily said sadly.
"Thought you might be able to see 'em too..."
Bess looked to her left to see Bartie standing there, frowning at the front of the carriages as well.
"Who...?" She asked in a whisper.
Bartie sighed and put his hands in his pockets as he tilted his head to the side. "My dad. Died last year."
Bess nodded and frowned at him. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, it was a long time coming," he replied, taking another deep breath in and finally looking at Bess. "You'll get used to them. I thought I was crazy first time I saw 'em, but Hagrid explained it to me, and now we're old pals!" He said, before grinning and stepping forwards and reaching a hand up to pet the Thestral on the head.
Bess grinned and walked forwards, before placing a hand on the Thestral's side. "It feels..."
"Disgusting...?"
"Interesting," Bess laughed, "I was going to say interesting."
"Sure you were..." Bartie said with a laugh, before he went back to petting the Thestral. "People'll think you're crazy, for seeing them, but they'll get used to it."
Bess smiled at him sadly. "Really?"
"Nah. But it's nice to think... well, I'll let you get on..." he said, looking behind her quickly, before smiling again and walking off.
"Alright, love?" She heard Sirius say as he slipped his arms around her middle and pulled her back slightly. She looked up to see him glaring slightly at Bartie's back, as the boy walked back towards Grace and Amarella.
"Are you jealous?" Bess asked as she turned in his arms and leant up to kiss Sirius on the chin.
"No..." Sirius replied a little too quickly.
"I have lunch with him every day," Bess said, as she wrapped her arms around his middle and looked up at him, a small smile on her face.
"Still..." Sirius said, still glaring at the boy.
"What d'you think is going to happen?"
"Honestly?"
Bess nodded before leaning in and placing a kiss on his neck.
"He's going to steal you away for a boring life of briefcases and financial security," Sirius said, a completely sincere look on his face.
Bess couldn't help but laugh out loud. "What on earth are you talking about?"
Sirius frowned down at her and bit his lip. "I don't know. I just think... I just worry one day you'll wake up and realise the poor Blood Traitor isn't worth it."
"First of all," Bess said as she reached up and brushed his hair from his forehead, "I have enough money for both of us for now. I can't say it'll last forever, school fees and stuff aside, but if you ever need any of it, it's yours. Second of all, I think it's more of a risk that you'll wake up and realise the Mudblood isn't worth it."
Sirius frowned. "I don't want your money, Bess, that's yours."
"I know, but if you did, I would give it to you in a heartbeat. I would for any of you," she replied, before kissing his chin again.
"I could never think you weren't worth it. You are," Sirius said as he cupped her jaw, before leaning down and kissing her.
When he pulled away, she said, "Sirius, like I said last night. For me, there's only you," before she kissed him again.
Bess pulled away first this time, and put her hands on his chest, pushing him away from her. "However, I have friends to spend time with, so please leave..." she said, a playfully serious expression on her face.
"Told you you'd get tired of me..." he replied with a half smile.
Bess rolled her eyes and walked over to Lily, who was just stuffing the other half of her pain au chocolat in her mouth. "Oh, hi James," she said, looking over Lily's head.
Lily glared at her through her mouthful of food and mumbled, "You're the worst."
"What was that?" James asked, dodging in front of the girls to try to hear what Lily was saying better.
Lily, who hadn't believed that James was actually there, managed to splutter flakes of pastry out of her mouth, spitting them directly in to James' face as Bess laughed.
Lily looked mortified, but James just cleaned himself up and sent her a giant smile. "I think you owe me a pumpkin pasty for that one, Evans..."
"Two o'clock," Bess said loudly.
"What?" James asked, clearly confused.
"Lily's got her train patrol at two o'clock. I'm sure she'd be happy to buy you a pasty then?" Bess said, raising an eyebrow at Lily, who went bright red and nodded.
"Yeah, definitely," she said, adding quickly, "I mean... if you want... and as long as you don't do anything stupid on the train."
James grinned and nodded enthusiastically, before shooting Bess a double thumbs up and running back over to his friends.
xXx
As she sat in the carriage on the way to Hogsmeade Station, Bess couldn't help but stare out of the window at Hogwarts. It was the first time, if you didn't count their Hogsmeade trip, that she'd left the grounds in almost three months.
So much had happened since she'd joined the school, and she couldn't help but feel a panic growing in her chest at the thought of being back out in the unsafe world.
She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that something would go wrong, and soon, that she barely registered the large red train, steam billowing from its engine, as Lily pulled her along the platform and wrenched open the door to a compartment.
The first two hours of the journey flew by, as Bess pretended to read her new book and tried to shake off her feeling of worry.
It was only at one o'clock that her feeling dissipated slightly and she felt like she could breathe again, but the feeling that something was coming sat in the back of her mind.
She forced herself to spend the next few hours chatting, eating sweets, and laughing with her dorm mates, commiserating with Solstice about her boyfriend - who really should not be her boyfriend anymore - and mentally preparing herself for meeting Euphemia and Fleamont Potter, instead of waiting for something bad to happen.
However, just as she was beginning to think she was being stupid, all hell broke loose.
"-WAS NOT FUNNY, POTTER! YOU COULD HAVE REALLY HURT HIM!" Bess heard Lily scream outside the girls' carriage.
Bess jumped up and flung open the door, and poked her head out in to the hallway. She could feel and hear the other girls peering out behind, and below her as they crouched, leaned, and stepped out to see what was happening.
"Oh come on! He's an arse! All he cares about is what spell he can use on Muggleborns! He doesn't care about you, Lily!" James cried.
He was standing in the middle of the hallway, hand in his hair as he ruffled it up. His wand gripped tightly in his other hand.
"So what? That doesn't give you the right to hex him just because you can!"
"He was going to attack me first! You saw him! He had that weird book he's always greasing up in front of him!"
"THAT WAS HIS POTIONS TEXTBOOK, YOU ARSE!" Lily shouted back.
Even though she was facing away from Bess, she could tell the redhead was bright red.
James, to his credit, looked just as irate as Lily did, and was about to continue when Bess stepped out and put her hands on Lily's shoulders.
"James, I think you should-" Bess began.
"Oh. I bet you're on his side, aren't you?" Lily said, turning to glare at Bess.
"Whoa. I never-" Bess began, putting her hands up in surrender. She had no idea how she'd suddenly incurred Lily's wrath.
"You think she should be hanging round with that greasy git?!" James cried, sending Bess an equally angry look.
This was the last straw, and all of Bess' panic came out.
"STOP!" Bess roared, putting her hands up to the rowing couple. "ALL OF YOU, FUCK OFF!" She shouted, pointing to all of the bystanders.
"NOW!" When she shouted again, everyone began to run, walk quickly, or dash in to their carriages and out of the hallway, leaving her, James, Lily, Remus, Sirius, and Peter. Bess hadn't realised the boys were even there until everyone had left.
"You," she said, pointing at James. "There is no excuse for hexing someone for existing, whether you think they deserve it or not. And you," she said, turning to Lily, "I honestly don't care who you're friends with, as long as you're safe and happy, but remember, he wouldn't hesitate to call you a vile name, or hex people like us, and you know it. You are my best friend, Lily, but I will kill you if you put yourself in harm's way to prove a point, especially with a fucking Death Eater."
She glared at the two students in front of her. When they opened their mouths to say something, she raised both hands to silence them and said, "No. James, you were being an arse. Lily, James is right, Severus is making horrid spells in that book of his- spells he and his friends wouldn't hesitate to use on people like us. No, people like me. Because you're his exception. Whereas I'm the person he has attacked. Or do I mean so little to you that you've already forgotten that? And if you don't believe me, ask him what sectumsempra means and you'll know.
"But James, that does not mean you can hex him for no reason. And I don't care if you don't understand why she would defend someone like him, give her a fucking break. Snape is a grey area, especially right now. I can't begin to imagine the thoughts and feelings Lily's having right now. On the one hand, hating him and what he's become, but on the other wanting to stop you from being an utter arse and hurting him just because he's there!
"Now you two are going to make up right now, or I refuse to see you over break," she said, pointing at Lily, "or stay with you for two weeks," she said, pointing at James, "if all I'm going to hear about is how mad you both make each other.
"Stop self-sabotaging and just be kind, you idiots."
With that, Bess turned on her heel and stomped back to her compartment door. As she slid the door open, Sirius called out to her, "love, you're sexy when you're mad."
The glare she shot him wiped the smile off his face in an instant, and she said, "shut it, Black," before walking into the compartment and slamming the door shut behind her.
She sat down in her seat with a huff and stared out of the window, grateful that the girls weren't saying anything to her.
Slowly, her breathing began to mellow out and she took deeper and deeper breaths as the thumping in her head slowed down and her heart rate began to settle.
At some point, the girls had left the compartment, and when Bess looked up, she realised they'd been replaced with James, Remus, Lily and Sirius. She didn't really care where Peter was, but she imagined he was either having a nap, or had gone in search of the trolley.
"What?" She asked tiredly.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to defend him, I just..." Lily said, trailing off and looking at her hands.
"Lily, honestly, I get it. I do. You've avoided him and ended your friendship but there's always going to be a little part of you that cares about what happens to him. Also, I can imagine it's hard seeing James hex someone, anyone really. I can't say anything there, considering I blew up at Sirius when he hexed than second year..."
"He gets younger every time you tell it!" Sirius complained. "He was a fourth year."
"But James," Bess continued, "you need to stop being a dick, or Lily will never go out with you. It's frustrating because you made such good progress and then you threw it all away. Ask yourself, do you want to get into fights with Snape for the rest of your life, or be happy with Lily?"
"No one said-" Lily began, before James cut over her.
"Lily. One hundred percent," he said firmly.
Lily looked at James with wide eyes. "Really?"
"Really," he said, nodding. "But if Snape hexes me first, I will defend myself."
Lily blushed and nodded before looking down at her hands again, a little smile on her face.
Bess leant in and whispered, "we'll talk about this later," before she sat back and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted at either of you, I just... ugh. I- I have... trouble... when it comes to people shouting, and... when people turn it on to me, I get...
"Ugh. Okay, in my memory, my parents used to fight a lot, and they would get angry with me and hurt me. So when people I care about shout at me, I get panicky and defensive and end up..."
"Putting them in their place?" Sirius offered.
"Or just being a dick... I- I can't really remember what I said... But I'm calm now, I really am. And I'm sorry for blowing up at you all..." Bess said, hanging her head.
"Love, they've had to deal with me for years. I think they get it," Sirius said, moving to kneel in front of Bess.
"But it's going to make Christmas really awkward..." Bess whispered.
Sirius chuckled and leant in to kiss her on the forehead. "Love, last Christmas I turned up on the Potter's' doorstep covered in blood. I officially ran away this past summer, but I left that Christmas. I'm sure blowing up at two people who are fighting is the least of James' issues."
"Yeah, I mean the biggest thing for me is having to tell my dad you hate his potion..." James said loudly.
"What potion?" Bess asked.
"Sleakeazy's..." Sirius said, before cringing.
"What d'you mean?" Bess asked, frowning.
"He invented it," James said with a grimace. "My dad invented Sleakeazy's."
Bess' face fell and she gasped and put her hands up to her cheeks as everyone laughed. "Oh my god! You... You can't tell him! No!"
"It's alright, he'll see the funny side!" Sirius said with a laugh.
"Maybe... Who knows..." James said with a shrug, before grinning teasingly and reclining in his seat.
"You know... I think one year I'll have a nice, relaxing trip on this train..." Remus said, looking up at the girls' trunks, pretending to be deep in thought.
Sirius and James laughed before James clapped Remus on the back and said, "Nah, you'd be the unlucky sod who becomes a teacher here for a quiet life and has to deal with our kids!"
Bess grinned as she tried not to think about how right James was, before she pursed her lips.
"Stop it, love," Sirius said, as he moved to sit next to her and flung his arm around her shoulders.
"But I... I caused a scene..."
"No love, you ended one. Just like me with that first year."
"I thought he was fourth..." Bess replied with a frown.
"Ah so you do listen to what I say..." he replied, grinning at her.
"Every word," Bess replied sincerely. "I am incredibly embarrassed though."
Sirius pursed his lips for a second before leaning in and kissing her deeply. When he pulled back, he winked at her and turned to Lily. "Have I ever told you about the time James' parents decided to have Bathilda Bagshot over for lunch last Easter?"
"I remember you bragging about meeting her..." Lily said, rolling her eyes.
Sirius laughed and continued, "Did I remember to say that James woke up late and ran in in just his boxers?"
Lily gasped and began to laugh, as Remus chuckled and Bess rolled her eyes.
"Oh yeah? Do I need to tell the one about a very naked Sirius, a broomstick and a snowman? Or shall we quit while we're ahead?" James asked, raising an eyebrow as everyone laughed.
Bess grinned and leaned in to Sirius' side, whispering in his ear, "I definitely want to hear about that one later..."
xXx
A/N: I couldn't wait until Saturday... I'm breaking my own rules! Here's a fluffier but angst filled chapter for you! Hopefully it answers some questions, and adds some more details about Bess' home life pre:HP universe!
Please let me know if these kinds of chapters are boring? I love these characters so much, so often the chapters just take a turn off course! This was meant to end with Bess meeting the Potters but that'll happen next chapter instead now.
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed: CharlotteGryffindor, Lavendor Queen, Ghost Claw 001, HorseGirl16, and Siriusly - (thank you! I love it too! Next chapter! I can't wait to find out how the boys are at home! Honestly, I put my fingers on the keyboard and they just pour out. It's fun to see what happens!)
And thank you to everyone who's reading, favouriting and following!
