"Hi James. Sirius," Lily greeted, sending a small smile and a wave to each of the boys.
"These lovely people are James and Sirius' parents, Euphemia and Fleamont," Bess said, pointing to James' parents, and noting the proud smiles they both wore at being referred to as both boys' parents. "They're lovely," she added in a whisper.
Lily grinned nervously at the older couple and said, "Thank you for having me, I really appreciate it. I'm so sorry I'm early. It's just... uh- my sister's not been making it easy on my parents this Christmas, and there was an argument-" Lily cut off as Euphemia walked over and wrapped her arms around her.
"My dear, you are most welcome here. We have space, and we always say the more the merrier, don't we Fleamont? Now... are you the Lily?"
"The Lily?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow.
Bess leant around her friend and nodded enthusiastically at the matriarch, who grinned. As she pulled back, Bess sent James a look. The poor boy looked incredibly nervous, and was running a hand through his hair.
"Well then, I think maybe it's time that we oldies headed to bed..." Fleamont said quickly.
As he stood, he drained his goblet before half wrestling his wife out of the room and up the stairs - Euphemia, as Bess expected, wanted to stay and grill Lily.
"Right! Evans! Drink?" Sirius asked, clapping his hands together and jumping up to head over to the small bar in the corner of the room. When Lily nodded and began to take off her scarf, he asked, "Wine? Cocktail? Straight Firewhiskey?"
Bess thought he was joking with the last one, but Lily replied with a, "Honestly? After my day? I'll go for the whiskey," before she looked at James, who still looked perturbed. "James? Are you sure it's okay that I'm here?"
He replied without a beat. "Of course, Lily. You're always welcome."
Bess watched as a blush rose on her friend's face, and nudged her with her elbow. Lily smiled slightly and said, "Thanks," to James, before smirking at his pyjamas.
He looked down at them and gulped. James was, like Bess, wearing a set of traditional pyjamas. His had snitches and quaffles on them. Bess saw James shoot an envious look at Sirius, who'd refused to put on the button down pyjama shirt and instead worn a black t-shirt.
He gulped and turned back to Lily, saying, "Sorry... uh- wasn't prepared for guests..."
Lily just snorted and reached down to undo the belt of her oversized jeans.
"Lily?" James asked, his eyes wide, as he watched her pull open her belt.
Lily rolled her eyes and Bess tried not to laugh as the redhead undid her trousers and slipped them off, before pulling off her jumper, revealing a set of bright pink, present and turkey themed pyjamas. "I think mine are worse. At least yours are a nice colour!" she said with a laugh, before chucking her things down and jumping on to the seat next to him. James, who had gone bright red, sent her a small smile before he downed the rest of his hot chocolate.
Sirius barked out a laugh as he finished making a fourth drink, and waved his wand. James and Lily held on tight as the loveseat they were sitting on moved round, and Bess and Sirius' sofa roughly nudged all of the other furniture out of the way, coming to rest in front of the future Potter's' seats, the coffee table in the middle still. The change had created a much more intimate gathering space.
"Right. Evans, Prongs," Sirius called as he walked over, raising each glass in turn, before handing over a large tumbler filled with amber liquid to Lily and a half filled red wine glass to James. He turned to Bess, and said, "Love, ours need ice. Come with me?"
Bess nodded and let Sirius lead her out of the room and in to the kitchen. "That was nice of you, giving them some alone-" she was cut off by Sirius, who'd grabbed her roughly by the hips and sandwiched her between himself and the kitchen wall as he kissed her passionately. Bess smiled against his lips as his hands began to wander.
Eventually he began to trail open mouthed kisses down her neck, giving Bess time to breathe. She gasped slightly as he undid the first two buttons of her pyjama shirt and roughly pulled it to the side so that he could have better access to her lower neck and shoulder.
"Sirius..." Bess whispered, as he nuzzled her neck.
"Love," he replied, his voice deep and husky.
"I don't want to stop, but we really should get back."
Sirius seemed to be expecting this. "Fine. But I'm finishing this later," he promised, before capturing her lips in another breath-taking kiss.
Bess grinned up at him as he pulled away. "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?"
"I'm just excited."
"About what?"
"Being with you again tonight... waking up next to you in the morning..."
Bess hoped he didn't notice the shiver which ran down her spine at his words. "You did this morning, and yesterday!"
"That was different. Now we can wake up at our own pace... maybe chat in bed... watch the sun come up..."
"You're such a hopeless romantic..."
"Only for you, love."
They stared at each other for a few moments before he leant in to rub his nose against hers, and groaned in annoyance as he let her go.
As he headed over to the ice box, walking backwards, Sirius grinned and said, "One day I'll have you all to myself."
"You do now!" Bess laughed as she redid the two top buttons of her red book-themed pyjamas, and leant against the wall catching her breath.
He shrugged and opened the box, waving his wand to levitate a few handfuls of ice across the kitchen and out into the hall. For a moment he frowned at the expanse of ice, before he snapped the box shut.
Still staring down at the lid, he said hesitantly, "I mean... I - I don't know... I mean... have you to myself as in... in our own kitchen. Our own living room... if... if you'd like that?"
He looked up at Bess, and she realised how... serious... he was. She couldn't deny she'd not thought about it in passing over the past week, but she hadn't thought about it seriously - maybe staying with him for a bit, but moving in? That was another ball game.
Especially when they'd both be going off on Order missions, and she'd having meetings with Dumbledore about Horcruxes, and would be actively trying to bring down Voldemort.
What if he found out the extent to what she'd be doing? What if he disapproved? He'd already shown her how protective be could be. What if something happened to her? Or to him? What would become of them?
"Sirius... we've only known each other for what-?"
"Eight and a half months. And before you say that our first meeting doesn't count, it does to me. I haven't stopped thinking about you since I saw you in that little green dress. Your smile that day still haunts my dreams," he replied with an intense sincerity.
"O-Okay, but then... we've only really been chatting... or together... for-"
"Four months. Four months next week," he replied firmly, "and... you really don't have to say anything now. I mean, I don't even know how we'd do it, but..."
"We're still a year and a half away from graduating."
"I know. I- it's fine. I thought you wouldn't want to. I understand."
Bess gasped slightly. She knew those words. Only, the last time he'd said them, he was talking to Harry about them living together, as they walked through the cramped tunnel leading from the Shrieking Shack back to the Hogwarts grounds.
Just as she was about to reply, they were interrupted.
"Oh, sorry! Just popped down for some water..." Fleamont said as he stepped in to the kitchen and almost walked straight in to Bess, who was still standing by the door. Taking a moment to look between the couple, he added, "I'm interrupting something, aren't I?"
Bess tried not to smile as she thought, like father like son, and moved to the side, giving Fleamont more room to walk through to the sink.
Sirius shook his head before he grinned, though it didn't reach his eyes, and raised an eyebrow at his surrogate father. "Have you heard of aguamenti?"
Fleamont laughed. "Have you heard of 'my son's future wife is in the living room and Euphemia wants all the gossip?'"
"Thought so. Well, tell her to wait until breakfast - I'm sure Lily will overshare with you both - she usually does the morning after a drinking sesh," Sirius replied with a forced laugh.
Fleamont didn't seem to notice. "Well don't get too drunk, please. I still don't want to know what happened in the summer, but I swear there was an antler mark in the bureau..."
Bess smirked at the floor as Fleamont filled up two glasses and walked back over to the door. "Also, James asked me to check on you both when I walked past, so I think he needs saving. I don't think I've ever seen him play with his hair quite so much..."
Bess let out a small laugh, and nodded. "Yeah, we'll be there in-"
"'Course. We're all done here, just needed ice," Sirius replied, as he walked over to follow Fleamont out of the door.
As he reached her, Bess held out a hand to his chest, stopping him. "Sirius."
"It's fine, love. Think I've had a few too many cocktails," he tried to reason, but his jaw was tensed, and his gaze remained fixed to the doorframe.
Bess grabbed his forearm in one hand, and placed her hand on his neck with the other, looking up into his eyes. "Sirius. One day, yes. I would love to move in with you, but tonight? We're only seventeen. I-I'm not as 'just go for it' as you are. I need time to think things through. So can we... can we park this conversation for another time?"
"Merlin, I know that. I don't mean now. I mean... eventually. I mean... I have no money, so I'd have to get a job anyway, so it wouldn't be until at least next summer, and like you said, that's a year and a half away, but I just... I just want you to know what I want."
"I want it too. I want to move in with you," she said, staring in to his eyes, trying to convey the truth of her statement. "But also, a year and a half is a long time. Things could change."
The war could change. You could change. Bess thought, because she knew that if she told Sirius her true feelings for him, and what she was prepared to do for him to live? She didn't think he'd be able to handle that level of commitment.
Sirius laughed. "Love, I'm stubborn and I like to take risks. So I'm in for the long haul."
"What's the risk?" Bess asked quietly.
"That you'll break my heart," he said firmly, as if he'd thought about it a lot. "Come on. I think I can hear James making a fool of himself."
As Sirius pulled her back in to the hall, Bess thought about what he'd said, and frowned. Was he expecting her to break his heart at some point?
When they walked back in to the living room, they were confronted with a very happy James and Lily, who were facing each other, and giggling.
"Oh thank Merlin. The ice came back a while ago..." James said with a lazy grin when he noticed they were there.
"Enjoying Evans' company that much, Prongs?" Sirius asked with a laugh.
"Shut up. No, we've just been waiting for you two so we can start the entertainment. Lily was thinking a nice game of truth or dare?"
"I'm in," Sirius declared as he sat down, flinging his legs out and crossing them at the ankles as he rested them on the coffee table, and stretched out his arms across the back of the sofa.
Bess rolled her eyes and grabbed their drinks, handing him the larger, more ridiculous looking cocktail as she sat down next to him and curled her legs underneath herself. He'd sat right in the middle of the sofa so she had no way of sitting without cuddling up to, or touching him in some way. His wink confirmed that he knew what he was doing, and he moved his arm to drape around her shoulders.
Lily, who was smiling tipsily at the couple, said, "We were thinking clockwise, starting with Bess."
"What? Why starting with me?" Bess asked as she lowered her as yet untouched drink and her mouth dropped open.
"Because we span the bottle already and you sat in the right spot," Lily said with a giggle.
Seeing a distinct lack of a bottle on the table, and no wands out, Bess was suspicious, but decided to give her friends the benefit of the doubt.
"Ugh, fine," she said, taking a large gulp of her cocktail and regretting giving Sirius the bigger one - she could feel the burn of the firewhiskey down her throat and tried to school her features as she almost gagged. The alcohol, or a newfound confidence, went to her head, and she grabbed Sirius' drink, swapping it for hers despite his indignant cries that she'd already had half of the smaller glass.
"Okay, truth or dare?" James asked as Sirius piped down and summoned a bottle to top his drink up.
Bess replied in an instant, "Dare." She thought Sirius would appreciate her bravery.
"You sure, love?" Sirius asked, moving his arm from her shoulders and reaching up to tuck a stray curl behind her ear.
"Yup."
"Okay... Pads?" James beckoned Sirius over, and the three teens put their heads together while Bess nervously gulped down some of her new drink for more liquid courage.
"Right. Are you sure?" James asked Sirius.
"Yeah, she'll be fine," Sirius replied with a nod and a grin.
James grinned at Sirius and Lily before rubbing his hands together as he said, "Right. Bess, time for your first flying lesson."
"What? No!" Bess cried, before turning to Lily and pointing an accusatory finger at her. "You set me up!"
"Such accusations! Potter! Defend my honour!" Lily cried, sitting up on her heels and pulling James' arm across her to shield her from Bess as James and Sirius roared with laughter.
When they recovered slightly, James, still chuckling, said, "Yeah, no getting out of this one Elizabeth. We dare you to hover for three minutes-"
"Oh thank god. That's not too bad!" Bess cut across, grinning at James and Lily - Lily was still holding on to James' hand.
"Uh uh, let me finish! Then you have to go for three loops of the field."
"What? No!"
"Sirius'll go with you," James replied, as Sirius sat down next to Bess and buried his face in her neck, kissing the skin there.
Bess put a hand over Sirius' face and pushed him away, saying, "Stop using my weaknesses against me. And no, James, he won't. If I have to do this, you're taking me. That way Sirius can kill you if you kill me..." Bess reasoned.
"Love, you won't die," Sirius said with a laugh.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did you forget Fleamont broke his leg in three places playing Quidditch with you two last week?"
Both boys winced and Lily choked on her drink before spluttering, "He did what? James, you didn't tell me that!"
However, despite Bess' complaints and Lily's regrets, soon enough, Sirius was jumping up to fetch his broom, casually dropping in that it was in, "Our bedroom."
Bess bit her lip and looked at a shocked Lily, who began to ask, "Wait, did he just-?" as she pointed between where Sirius had just been, and Bess. "Is... is Sirius staying in your room?"
Bess pursed her lips and scratched her head. As much as Lily had joked about knowing that Bess and Sirius had run off from Slughorn's party, she knew that she wouldn't have guessed that they'd spent the night together.
In fact, Bess was quite worried about what Lily and her friends would say - except for Solstice, who was very open about her sexual history, Bess didn't know if any of the others had ever had sex before.
Lily's eyes widened, and she gasped slightly. "Oh my god he is, isn't he? Did you two...?"
Bess opened and closed her mouth a few times before grimacing and nodding. Bess watched as a blush rose on her friend's face.
Once she'd recovered from her momentary shock, she asked, "How far away from your room am I? And how thick are the walls exactly?"
James laughed and explained that Lily would be staying in Sirius' old room, making sure to add in that they'd changed the sheets since he'd been in there. Bess rolled her eyes as James waggled his eyebrows at her, clearly insinuating that she'd been in Sirius' bed, even though that wasn't true - they'd spent all of their time in hers.
When Sirius returned, the smirk on his face proved to Bess that he'd known exactly what he was doing, and knew that Lily would probably let slip this information to the girls when they got back to school, further solidifying the fact that Bess and Sirius weren't short term. It was one thing for Sirius to have sex with someone, but quite another for him to share a room with them at his surrogate parents' house.
However, all thoughts of that went out of Bess' mind as Sirius handed her his broom and grinned. As she stared at the stick with sticks coming off it, she felt her nerves begin to get the better of her, and she felt a bit nauseous. However, she had a feeling of deep satisfaction when she managed to get the broom to fly in to her hand on the third try, shutting up James' cat calls.
Mounting the broom, she kicked off, and hovered slightly, one foot remaining on the floor to steady herself.
"No cheating! Legs up, Coulson!" James shouted, and Sirius and Lily laughed.
Bess gulped and slightly lifted her foot. She already felt unsafe, but she concentrated and counted to 180 before putting both feet on the ground as Sirius approached her, taking the broom back and pushing her towards the back door.
"You'll be fine, love, really. But if you're really scared, just say the word and James will stop, okay?"
Bess nodded, but felt a sudden determination mixed in with her trepidation. She wanted to prove that she could do this.
And in any case, she'd need to brave some kind of flying soon, so that she could help fight in the Order. Which also reminded her that she would need to start going for runs soon to build up her stamina. She inwardly groaned at the idea of exercise.
"Right. Front or back, Pads? Which one's safest?" James asked, as he produced his own broom, which he'd got as a Christmas gift from his parents just a few hours previously - the new Nimbus 1001. The boys had gushed over the broom, whose speeds went up to 125 miles per hour, making it the fastest broom on the market.
"Why does it sound like you've never flown with another person on a broom before?" Bess asked nervously. The boy's laughter did nothing to calm her.
After deciding that it would be best for her to sit in front of James, Bess straddled the broom, and James sat behind her, pulling her back in to his chest and wrapping his arms around her, securing one about her waist, while the other held the broom, just behind her hands which we gripping it tightly.
"Right, you steer, I'll fly, and if anything happens, I'll take over?" James asked, breathing in to her ear.
Bess nodded, and James kicked off. If she'd been able to focus properly, she would have noticed the unease on Sirius' face, and the uncomfortable expression on Lily's - both weren't used to seeing their best friends in such an intimate looking embrace with their girlfriend/crush.
Later, Lily would admit to Bess that this was one of the first times that she truly knew she wanted to be with James - she'd felt her green eyed monster roaring as James had sat behind Bess, and it hadn't shut up until they were safely on the ground, even though she knew it was just a broom ride, "But that's not how jealousy works".
Sirius would explain to Bess that he felt the same way as Lily, but he would do so later that evening as they fell in to bed together.
However, in that moment, Bess was oblivious to the jealousy radiating from Sirius and Lily, and instead felt her world shift - flying was, just as she imagined, awful.
Bess wasn't joking when she'd said that she was a 'feet firmly on the floor' person - she even disliked most roller coasters. It wasn't so much the feeling in the pit of her stomach from the sudden take off, though that was a large part of it, as much as it was the relentless battering of the wind against her face, making her gasp and reminding her of panic attacks where she was unable to draw breath.
"HOW DO YOU STAND THIS?" Bess shouted back to James as they sped upwards and began their first loop, going at at least 100 miles per hour, her hand being nudged by James, who was letting her steer to an extent, but adjusting as they flew.
"WHAT?"
"I CAN HARDLY CATCH MY BREATH!"
"YOU GET USED TO IT! JUST LET GO AND ENJOY IT!" James shouted back.
Bess almost rolled her eyes at that one, but soon enough, James' words repeated in her mind, and Bess tried to relax.
She did feel incredibly safe with James, and relaxed somewhat, moving her hand to her face to take in a deep breath behind the cover of her palm, and felt her breathing go back to normal.
She replaced her hand on the broom and tried to focus on the blurred surroundings as they sped past trees at an alarming rate.
She felt light, connected to the broom as if her magic was flowing between herself and the piece of wood. Focussing on the feeling, she began to smile, and as she felt herself relax fully, she grinned.
By the end of the third lap, she actually found herself wishing she could go for another. Though that did nothing to stop her legs from almost buckling underneath her when she dismounted, a giant smile on her face.
"Okay, that was fantast-" she began to say, before she was cut off by Sirius, who cupped her face and kissed her hungrily.
Bess just about registered James asking Lily if she'd like a go, to which she replied yes immediately and jumped on his broom before he could properly register her answer. The duo flew off, leaving Sirius and Bess alone for at least five minutes, which passed by in a flash as Sirius kissed her senseless.
Bess and Sirius only stopped kissing when James coughed loudly and joked that if they didn't come back to finish the round of truth or dare, he'd hex Sirius.
The rest of the evening flew by as the foursome joked, dared, and told truths.
Finally, at three in the morning, they all retired to bed, and Sirius convinced Bess to leave the room orientation to James, as he pulled her towards their bedroom as fast as he could.
xXx
Bess woke up late the next morning feeling slightly parched, but otherwise adequately rested and lacking most of her usual hangover symptoms - she had had the foresight to start drinking water at midnight and, although it meant she needed to go to the loo more, had the added benefit of hydrating her enough to starve off a hangover headache.
She did feel slightly nauseous however, and reckoned that only a massive stack of pancakes would make her feel better.
Sirius, on the other hand, looked like he probably felt - despite never getting to what Bess would describe as drunk, he had been consistently drinking from noon the previous day, and so had maintained a happy level of tipsy, which was now coming back to bite him in the arse.
While Bess had a long leisurely shower, he spent five minutes in the shower and ten with his head in the toilet bowl.
As Bess walked back in to brush her teeth, he was wincing and trying to brush his slowly as to not trigger his gag reflex.
As Bess got changed, he shoved on a t-shirt and jeans, not bothering with socks.
As Bess descended the stairs, he all but fell down them.
As Bess laughed at him, he winced and placed a hand over her mouth, asking her in no way politely to shut up. This only made Bess laugh more.
He apologised after a strong hangover potion and a Full English breakfast, both provided by a laughing Fleamont, who did the same when Lily and James finally emerged from their own rooms, James looking like Sirius, and Lily looking marginally better, but embarrassed that she was feeling hungover in front of the Potters.
"So, tell us more about you, Lily?" Euphemia asked, leaning forwards over the table, a mischievous glint in her eye, as Lily cut in to her sausage.
"Uh- not much to tell really..." Lily began.
"Smartest witch of her age, a marvel at potions, and a wonderful friend," Bess said quickly, as she added a spoonful of sugar to her tea. She looked up to see Lily staring at her. "What?"
"Nothing, I just... thank you," Lily replied, a blush rising to her cheeks.
"For what?"
"The compliments."
Bess shrugged. "They're not, they're just facts. Ask James, he'll confirm it."
"Well, how long have you two been dating then? James barely tells us anything anymore!" Euphemia asked with a smile, as Fleamont rolled his eyes and bit in to his large slice of toast.
Bess pursed her lips to stop from smiling as Euphemia spoke, and she thought about how Lily and James would be together by the end of the year.
A moment later, Bess felt her hangover headache finally begin to come on, as she felt a dull ache sitting at the base of her skull.
"Oh, we're not..." Lily began.
"Mum!" James cried.
Bess rolled her head from side to side, trying to loosen up her neck, and motioned towards the hangover potion sitting on the counter. Sirius grinned and seemed a little too happy that Bess was also suffering, and summoned the potion over, pouring her a small glass.
Euphemia smiled and sat back in her chair. "I'm sure you will soon, you both look like a lovely couple!"
"Mum..." James said exasperatedly.
Bess tried to hide her laughter behind her large cup of tea, but failed as she made eye contact with Sirius who was biting his lip and going red in an effort to hold back his own chuckles. She stopped after a moment, as her headache began to get a little worse, the ache moving towards the front of her head.
"I'm just saying! I have it on good authority from a seer friend of mine that James will settle down soon and have a baby..."
"Was that seer Bess by any chance?" James asked with a glare in Bess' direction.
Bess gulped and shook her head slightly, but Euphemia just rolled her eyes and said, "As a matter of fact, yes."
Bess was worried for a moment, but then everyone burst out laughing, as Euphemia winked at her. Hide in plain sight, she thought to herself.
However, she could barely manage a smile.
The headache had begun to grow, and she reached for the glass of hangover potion, grimacing and gasping through the pain.
"You okay there?" She heard Fleamont ask as she reached a shaking hand up to her head.
"Bess?" She heard Sirius ask in a concerned voice, as he brought his hands to her arms, turning her slightly towards him. "Love, you alright?"
But Bess couldn't see him properly - her vision was beginning to blur, and she felt her limbs shaking violently as pain began to radiate throughout her body.
Suddenly, she began to hear screaming, and screwed her eyes shut.
She felt Sirius' hands pull back from her arms, and a moment later they were replaced by a surprisingly strong but far smaller pair, and she heard Euphemia's voice shouting above her screams.
"Bess! Bess! Don't go with it! Stay with us here!" When Bess didn't respond, she heard Euphemia shout, "Sirius! Hold her!"
The pain wouldn't stop - the waves kept coming, and Bess could hear the screaming intensify.
As she tried to reach her hands up to clutch her head, she felt her arms pulled down by her sides, and Sirius' wrapped around her from behind, holding her as still as possible.
She heard some more shouts from Euphemia, before liquid poured in to Bess' mouth, choking her.
The screaming stopped and turned in to gurgling and spluttering as Bess tried to gulp down the foul tasting liquid.
She recognised it instantly as a strong pain potion, and silently thanked Euphemia, as she writhed and shook.
She tried to think about anything else, but she could only focus on one thing - James will settle down soon and have a baby.
Something in their conversation about the future, intertwined with Euphemia's joking about Bess being a seer, had flicked a switch and suddenly, just like last time, when she thought she couldn't take the pain anymore, the black spots overtook her eyesight and suddenly everything went dark.
xXx
When Bess opened her eyes and looked around, she thought she was back in the Potter's' kitchen. It took her a minute to realise that she wasn't.
The kitchen was similar, with the same large dining table and chairs, but there were immediate differences.
The room was shorter, and didn't have stools against one of the counters, and the giant window which showed off the beautiful garden was gone, replaced with a smaller one, which gave a small peep out on to a large grass filled space.
She saw movement in the corner of her eye and turned to see a beautiful auburn haired woman with a giant smile on her face march in to the kitchen, followed by a dark haired man with glasses, who was holding a small boy.
They were both banging drums and looked like they were laughing, but just like last time, Bess couldn't hear anything.
This time, her vision was just as blurry, but the scene was lighter, brighter somehow. As if their happiness was creating a glow around the room.
Bess felt a tear roll down her face as she stared down at Harry, who could only have been eleven, maybe twelve months old.
She gave herself a few minutes to watch as the trio bounded around the room, before James split off to jump behind the counter, where he grabbed a few oranges from the fruit bowl and began to juggle them.
He sent a wink behind Bess, and she turned, and gasped.
In the second doorway, leant up against the frame, arms crossed and laughing, was an older Sirius. He was flanked by Remus, who was also laughing, his thumb hidden within the pages of a book, saving his place.
She watched as Sirius removed his wand and shot a spell straight through her.
She turned as it hit James, and he began to jerk and twist, juggling at a furious pace. She smiled as she focussed on Lily, who was laughing even more, and holding on to Harry, who was trying to swat the oranges out of James' hands.
Bess felt another tear roll down her face, and turned to the large clock hanging over the door. It was the same as the Potter's' one which currently stood in their kitchen, and so Bess read the time and date with ease, once she'd focussed solely on the clock face.
Fourteenth of July, 1981.
This told Bess nothing of whether she would save James and Lily's lives, only that at some point in 1981, Sirius, James, Remus and Lily would be together.
If she didn't change anything, then Sirius wouldn't spend Harry's birthday with him, and would instead receive a letter explaining that they had had Bathilda Bagshot over for a birthday tea.
Just as Bess began to look around to see if she could find photos or something, anything, to tell her if she was there still, or if Peter was still trusted, she felt the familiar yank of a hook in the back of her head, and her vision faded to black once more.
xXx
When Bess woke up again, all she could hear were her own screams, and felt Sirius' arms tighten around her again, as she felt his mouth right next to her ear as he said over and over, "It's okay, love, I've got you. I've got you. It's okay."
It didn't feel like the pain potion had done anything - it felt like she was on fire again, burning every part of her again and again.
Just like last time, she felt the cold floor underneath her, but this time she was just sat on it - her back to Sirius' chest as he held her upright, his legs either side of hers. She could feel his body wrapped around her, and felt slightly comforted by his presence.
She tried to thrash and move, but felt Sirius' arms tighten even more, holding her to him.
She threw her head back over his shoulder and her feet found the ground as she pushed up, screaming even louder. She could hear him saying, "I'm sorry, love, I have to hold you down. I'm so sorry," as he tried to wrestle her back down.
Suddenly, the screaming stopped as she felt a spell hit her. Silencio, she thought.
Screaming silenced, she could finally hear everything in the kitchen - Sirius' repeated phrases, first loud, and then quieter as he whispered them to her rather than shouting over her screams.
She heard Lily crying and James' voice cracking and echoing across the kitchen, saying, "She'll be okay, she'll be okay."
"She can't stand this much longer!" Fleamont cried, his voice coming closer to her, though Bess could only guess where everyone was - her eyes were still screwed shut.
"Well it's not like we can stupefy her, is it?" Came Euphemia's panicked voice.
"Why not?"
"What?"
"We could..."
"Dad! You can't be serious!" James cried.
"It's worth a shot," Euphemia responded, ignoring her son.
"No!" Sirius shouted, but a second later Bess felt a spell hit her, and her vision went black once more.
xXx
A/N: I don't even know what to say! Hope you liked it! Euphemia and the others will be having a chat with Bess next chapter to find out how Euphemia knows about seers, and about their reactions.
Thank you to those of you who reviewed my last chapter: Ghost Claw 001, CharlotteGryffindor, Guest, and themugglepadme24, I really appreciate the support! And thanks again to everyone following and favouriting!
My baby's better now, so I'm just getting back in to writing! Luckily not COVID, but poor baby was ill for over a week! All recovered now luckily!
Edit: a previous version of this chapter had 360 seconds. That was obviously because I'm a sleep deprived idiot - 3 minutes = 180 seconds of course!