As Bess came to, the pounding in her head subsided and she felt the pain potion Euphemia had given her finally kick in. However, her eyelids felt heavy and her body felt drained, so she gave herself some time to adjust before trying to move.

After a while, the ringing in her ears faded away and she began to make out voices talking around her.

"-a seer."

"Do- Do you think that's why they attacked her last year?" James asked quietly.

Fleamont answered. "No. If they knew what she was, she would either be in a cell somewhere, or she'd be dead."

"I'm so sorry you all had to find out like this. I know it's not what she wanted," added Euphemia.

"How did you know?" James asked his mother carefully.

Bess heard Euphemia sigh, before she answered, "My Grandmother knew Cassandra Trelawney. Have you heard of her? No? Well she was a true seer. I met her a few times before she died. She taught me how to recognise a seer. So when you mentioned what Bess had said, James, and I put together the other signs? Well, the jig was up..." she paused for a moment. "There's a knowing reservation to her. I don't know if you've ever noticed it?"

"Like she's holding back? Yeah. When we became friends I thought I was pushing her in to it," Lily admitted, and Bess felt bad that she'd noticed.

"That's her trying to hold back, because she knows, or will know, some of your futures. I'm sure that's why she tried to avoid Sirius for so long as well," Euphemia added.

"You think she knows about me?" Sirius asked quietly.

Euphemia sighed and said, "She definitely knows a lot more about what will happen in this war than she's letting on, though I'm not sure what. I can't imagine how hard it is, being imbued with knowledge and having to push it out of your head so you can get to know someone."

"You think she's using us?" James asked, and Bess could hear his frown.

"No. I don't for one moment think she is. Has she ever revealed anything? Other than telling James that he shouldn't give up on Lily?"

"No." James said.

"There. She's just trying not to interfere."

"I asked her to move in with me when we leave Hogwarts. She said no," Sirius said quietly, in an upset tone.

"Are you sure she said no?" Fleamont asked.

"She said she wanted to think about it more... but there was something about the way she said it," Sirius replied grimly.

"Can you blame her? After what just happened? Can you really blame her for trying to hold back and not affect your life? Not make you see that more?" Euphemia asked, imploring Sirius to not be angry with Bess.

When Sirius spoke again, Bess could tell his jaw was tensed and he was glaring, even though his voice remained relatively calm and level. "Dumbledore made her do this. He asked her to see something for him. She said he'd never ask her to again, and now I know why. What if him forcing her to have a vision is what opened this up?"

"You may be right. And it's dangerous for her. You saw how much pain she was in," Euphemia replied sympathetically.

Lily spoke next, her soft voice cutting through the room, coming from the direction James' did. "I don't understand though. We've all heard about seers before. None of them... That light... it was..."

"I don't believe that Bess is a seer in a traditional sense. She's... there's more to it," Euphemia replied.

Sirius adjusted his arms, and Bess realised that the pressure against her back and waist were from Sirius' arms, which were still wrapped around her. She could feel that she was slightly elevated. She'd been in this position before, and felt a warmth of happiness seep through her as she realised that he must be sitting in an armchair, with her lying across him. As she concentrated, she could feel her head on his shoulder, and an ache on the backs of her knees as her legs dangled off the arm of the chair.

As her other senses returned, she realised she could smell him, and tried to burrow her nose closer, but couldn't - she still felt incredibly weak.

He broke the silence to ask, "Ma. Do you... do you think this could kill her?"

"If she goes too deep and the pain is too great... if she's not protected when she comes back... then yes. I honestly don't know how she managed to go for so long without having any episodes before," Euphemia replied, her voice filled with sorrow.

Bess could feel him turn, his breath trailing over her face as he looked down at her. "There's nothing we can do to stop the visions now?"

Euphemia replied with a shaky voice. "I don't think so. The only thing would be if she can learn to hold them off. But that one came on so quickly... I don't know if she had a chance to stop it."

Before anyone else could say anything, Fleamont said firmly, "All of you need to promise us right now that you will not tell anyone else about this. Not Remus, not Peter, not your friends, Lily. I know this may change your view of Bess, but if this information gets in to the wrong hands, Bess will die."

"Why would it change anything?" Sirius asked, and Bess felt his arms tighten around her protectively, as if someone was about to take her away from him.

"Sirius. Being with a seer is hard. Being with a seer who goes through this much pain when she has a vision? And the other things I can't tell you? You'll never be able to protect her," Euphemia said firmly.

"Yes I will. She's mine."

Euphemia let out a breath of air, before saying, "She's no one's, Sirius."

"She is. She's mine, and I'm hers. For as long as we'll have the other. And I'm not giving her up. I love her."

"Even if you lose everyone by trying to protect her?"

Before Sirius could reply, James said, "We don't give up easily, Mum. You know that," and Bess heard Lily make a noise of agreement.

She could hear the smile in Euphemia's voice as she said, "Yes. Yes I do."

They all fell silent, and Bess felt Sirius press a kiss to her forehead. She was reminded of the time she spent in the Hospital Wing, when she'd talked to Remus in the early hours of the morning, and he'd acted- she realised with a jolt that if James had the invisibility cloak, and she'd heard whispers and a laugh... that meant that it wasn't just her and Remus chatting. James and Sirius were there too.

Before she could think of anything else, she heard Fleamont ask, "So she really did see Lily getting with James then?"

Euphemia laughed, before saying in a serious tone, "Please don't let it influence either of you. Bess wouldn't want that."

"I think it already has though," Lily replied quickly.

"How?" James asked.

"Well, if we're going to end up together anyway, what's to stop us getting together now?" Lily answered.

"No. Not yet. James needs to-" Bess croaked out, her voice so hoarse from the screaming. She tried to sit up slightly, but Sirius wouldn't let her.

"Love?"

"Friends. First," she croaked out, again, trying to sit up as Sirius kept her still.

"Here, Bess, drink this. I made it myself. Should help with the throat," Fleamont said, and a moment later she felt a cool glass vial press up against her lips. She opened her mouth and the oddly hot liquid poured in, coating her mouth and throat in what felt like thick slime.

She was just about to complain about the treacle-y consistency, when her throat grew hot and began to pulse slightly. A few moments later, the feeling dissipated, and the pain in her throat disappeared.

She groaned and grimaced as she tried to open her eyes.

"It's okay, love, take your time. Don't worry," she heard Sirius say, and felt his breath on her face again.

What felt like an age passed, and finally Bess was able to slowly blink, her eyes adjusting to the light. When her eyes focussed, she found herself staring in to Sirius' grey orbs.

"You scared us there, love."

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't be."

"But I lied-"

"No. No you didn't. You told us you were trying to remember, and we thought you meant remember your past. Not remember what you saw of the future."

Before Bess could reply, Lily asked, "What did you see, Bess? Was it important?"

She shook her head. "It was... disappointing." She wasn't lying. She'd hoped that she would have seen something more - something pivotal. Instead, she'd only seen a moment, a glimpse of a happy future. She was disappointed and upset that she couldn't tell if she was there or not. Though, by the looks of the length of Sirius' hair - not much longer than it was now - he was happy, as she remembered from the books that he tended to grow his hair longer during bouts of depression.

"What happened?" Lily pressed.

"It was lovely, really, but I don't feel like it was worth the pain..." Bess said with a groan.

"Could you... could you tell us about it?" Lily asked again.

Bess nodded and motioned for Sirius to help her to sit up slightly, readjusting in his arms as she let out a shaky breath. "Am I crushing you?"

"Even if you were, I wouldn't let you go," Sirius said, before leaning in to place a kiss on her cheek.

"It was your house, James and Lily, and Sirius and Remus were there too. You were all laughing." She didn't want to say more and potentially change things - she already felt awful that they now knew that they would get together, and that her joke about a boy named Harry would come true.

"You... Bess, you were screaming..." James said.

"I know. The pain is... the pain is on another level," Bess replied.

"Dumbledore said it was like the cruciatus curse," Sirius elaborated, grimacing over at James, who suddenly looked nauseous.

"All that... for us laughing together? It's not fair," Lily added, as she put her head in her hands.

"Was... was Harry there? What does he look like?" Euphemia asked eagerly.

Bess looked over at James and Lily, who were sat next to each other, holding hands, and staring at her.

"Uh- my visions, they don't... I don't always see everything properly. I've only really had two that I can remember."

"But...?" James asked quietly.

"I don't know if-" Bess began, but Lily cut over her.

"Bess, please. We want to know."

Bess frowned for a moment. "I can't. Honestly, if I told you, you might... I don't know, but you might end up getting pregnant before, or after. It's not an exact science, and I'm messing with the timeline by even being here. If I tell you, and then you end up breaking up, or you end up getting married earlier, or having a baby earlier or later? It would just be giving you a false narrative. I don't want to do that. I've... I've been so careful with what limited information I know so far."

"You told me about Harry..." James said quietly.

"I honestly thought you'd never find out what I was... or... or..." Bess trailed off, and looked to Euphemia, who shook her head slightly.

"Were you there, love?" Sirius asked slowly, breaking the silence which filled the room.

Bess shook her head. "I don't think so. But I've not seen myself. I don't think I'm meant to be here, so I don't know my future. It's-"

"Does that mean you don't know Sirius' either?" Lily asked quietly.

"Not at the moment, no. If I leave, maybe, but... but... just by being together, I've changed a lot."

Sirius nodded solemnly, before he buried his face in her neck, bringing his other hand up to cup the other side of her neck as he began to place long, desperate, open mouthed kisses against the juncture between her shoulder and neck. She could feel him sniffing her as well, and his other arm tightened around her, like he was worried she would leave in the next moment.

If they felt at all uncomfortable by the PDA, no one said anything, and Bess could tell that they were all wondering the same thing - would she even be alive, or in this world, by the time her vision came true?

"Bess... the other day... when you said that you wanted to defeat Voldemort. You weren't joking, were you?" James asked quickly, as if just realising the truth of her statement.

Bess shook her head. "Dumbledore and I are working on something. If we succeed, then he'll be gone by the early eighties."

Sirius stopped kissing her neck and raised his head, staring wide eyed at her, his eyes darting between hers. "Bess, love, you can't. He's too-"

"Sirius. I'm doing this for all of us. If I defeat him, we all survive. I don't want to tell you what happens if we don't."

He shook his head. "No, I mean you can't do this on your own. Merlin, you're practically a second year when it comes to duelling. When the time comes, tell me how I can help."

Bess stared in to his eyes and took a deep breath in, before she nodded.

"We're in too," Lily said without pause, indicating James as well.

"Already talking for me, eh, Evans?" James said with a wink.

Lily blushed slightly and ducked her head.

"I've already changed everything..." Bess said quietly, but everyone heard her. They sent her quizzical looks, and she continued, "you're not meant to get together until at least September. I know you're not... but you've been getting closer for months. What if-"

Euphemia moved forwards in her chair, and Bess turned to look at her as she said, "Bess. You changed everything when Daphne decided to leave this world and swapped the two of you. This isn't your fault, it's hers."

"What does that mean?" Sirius asked loudly, as he adjusted his position in the chair and moved Bess to a more comfortable position.

Euphemia pursed her lips before turning to Bess and asking, "Bess... when you had your vision, do you know what happened?"

Bess shook her head.

"You were screaming, and all of a sudden, it stopped. You fell backwards and began to float in front of us, as if you were suspended in water. Your eyes opened, and a bright golden light shone out where your eyes should have been. You were there for minutes in absolute silence. Then, just as suddenly as it started, you fell to the ground and began to scream again."

"But-"

"Bess, I think that when you see something, you're opening the void, and accessing Daphne's powers. The pain you feel isn't just the cruciatus curse, it's the pain of opening a space between worlds. I don't know what Daphne feels when you do it, but I'm guessing she blacks out for a few minutes at least..." Euphemia said, trailing off as she frowned.

"That's crazy..." Bess said, trailing off.

"Crazier than going to sleep in a Muggle world and waking up in a magical one?" Euphemia asked impatiently.

Sirius frowned deeply and Bess felt his arms tighten around her again.

"No... that's... that's impossible," James said, releasing Lily's hand and sitting forwards in his seat.

"More impossible than you owning the invisibility cloak that's mentioned in the Tale of the Three Brothers?" Bess asked, an annoyed tone to her voice.

"What? How do you-?" James began, before Euphemia cut him off.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Flea Pea. I told her."

"That tale you told us the other night... the one my mother used to read to me, it's...?" Sirius asked quietly.

"It's true," Bess whispered, looking up at Sirius. "Except I didn't ask for this. We have a similar story where I'm from, but it's not anti-Muggle or anti-Magic. It's about Janet, who goes to sleep in her world and wakes up in a magical one. Euphemia thinks it's happened multiple times throughout our shared histories."

"Wait. So you're saying that you're from a different world?" Sirius asked quickly. When Bess nodded, he continued, "so Daphne could come back at any time?" He asked, turning to Euphemia, his jaw clenched.

"I- I don't know. I don't know," she answered.

Sirius nodded, before turning to look down at Bess again, his eyes blazing. "I'm all in. For as long as I have you, I'm all in. I'm not going to waste one second of time with you."

"I- I- Sirius... I meant what I said. If I go back, I will try everything to come back to you," Bess said quietly. "But hold that thought?" She asked, turning to James. "Flea Pea?"

xXx

It took three days for Bess to fully recover. Sirius spent as much time with her as possible, to the point where she had to make him spend more hours with James.

James hadn't minded in the slightest though, as he and Lily had, when they weren't hanging out with Bess and Sirius, become much, much closer.

They'd listened to Bess' worries, and agreed to take it slow and just be friends first, but that meant that they'd ended up talking all the time, and James had made an active effort to, as Bess put it, "Grow the fuck up."

So, at the very end of December 1976, just two days before the first of January when they would return to school to Hogwarts, and while James and Lily sat in his parent's garden talking to Fleamont about his potions and career, Bess and Sirius sat on their window seat, listening to records as they chatted and counted how many times James ran his hand through his hair.

"So we can't tell Remus?" Bess asked quietly.

"No. Nor Peter."

"No offense, but I wouldn't trust Peter with this."

"Why not?"

"Uh- because he told Margaret Hilding that my perfume was Chanel No. 5, and she bought a crateload and is selling them to all of the girls who want to get with you? They honestly think if they smell like me you'll get confused or something..."

"That little rat. He said it wasn't him!"

"She told me herself."

"Why were you talking to her?"

Bess shrugged. "I ran out..."

"You bought perfume from her too?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"I thought you said you loved my smell!"

"I do. As does half the school now... And honestly? It is a little confusing. I've got a great sense of smell and until the start of December I'd be able to smell you from around the corner." Bess raised an eyebrow and he winked at her as he continued, "it was so hot thinking you were nearby... But it's been getting weird since she started selling it to third years..." He said, grimacing.

Bess couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, Saturday, before we board the train, we'll go to a perfume store and you can pick me out a new scent."

"Sounds good to me."

After a moment's pause, Bess asked, "Can I tell Remus though? I feel like I want him to know."

"What if-?"

"I trust him."

"Then it's up to you. But... if- if this- Bess. Promise me you'll be safe with this?"

"I promise I'll be as safe as I can. But what's life without a little risk?"

"Merlin. I love you."

"Should I go and leave you and Merlin alone?"

Sirius barked out a laugh and leant over to kiss her deeply, before sitting back and grabbing a chocoball from a pile of sweets hovering in the air next to him.

Bess grinned and looked down at the garden again, before laughing and adding another line to the tally.

"Love?"

"Mhmm."

"How're you so... okay with everything?"

"What d'you mean?"

"I don't... You're just..."

Bess understood where he was going with this, and decided to be completely honest with him. He deserved to know how she really felt.

"Okay... I'll say this quickly. I grew up in an abusive household. I learnt how to hide how I'm truly feeling, and had counselling to come to terms with everything that happened. I learnt grounding exercises and stuff, and learnt how to cope. The fact that I can hide my feelings comes in handy sometimes, though you've seen me when I panic...

"And then... After all of that, I found myself in this world, and... if I'd think about my life before, I'd cry myself to sleep. I missed it so much. And I tried to find a way to go home... And then I met you, and honestly? I stopped looking. I still miss it, and my friends, but...

"It was like everything kind of fell into place. And now, if I think about going back there, that makes me sob. Because I never want to leave you, and I want to make the world a better place for you all.

"And we've only been together for a few months, but I've been going through all of this on my own for almost a year now. I guess I'm just so used to it, and pretending to be normal that it feels...

"It's therapeutic to just chill out and have fun with you all for a bit. It makes me forget about the war... and then when I remember, it reminds me who I'm fighting for. Who I'm staying for."

They sat in silence for a minute, as Bess stared out of the window. She could feel Sirius' eyes raking over her. He'd taken to staring at her even more since she'd woken up from her vision, as if trying to commit every inch of her to memory before she left him.

Finally, Bess sighed and said, "And... I'm always myself around you all. I don't have to be the seer, or the girl from another world, I can just be me. And you accept me, and like me for that. I've never had to pretend to be anyone else."

After a moment, she looked down, grinned and added another line to the tally. When she looked up, she asked, "How are you three so okay with this?"

"Ma. She talked to us all. We're... we're... it's not that we're happy with it, and I don't think any of us really understand everything, but... there are bigger things than us right now."

"Like what?"

"Uh- I- uh- shit," Sirius muttered, looking a little shifty, before he exaggeratingly clapped a hand to his head.

"What?"

He groaned. "I still haven't given you your Christmas present..."

"That's okay!" Bess laughed and put a hand on Sirius' forearm, pulling his hand from his face.

"Would you... would you like it now?" Sirius asked somewhat nervously. When Bess nodded, he said, "One second," before he ran over to his trunk and rummaged around for a moment. He pulled out a small box wrapped in light green paper. He practically bounced back across the room, before handing it over and sitting down again.

Bess shook the package gently and raised an eyebrow before opening it. She gasped as she looked down and saw a little silver pendant, in the shape of Padfoot. As she looked closer, she could see more and more detail - it looked exactly like the dog she'd met the other week.

"It's a bit weird, I know... but I know you've been looking for something to add to your chain, and uh- that dog you saw the other night? It's uh- it's kind of special to me. I've seen it around a bit, so I know what it looks like... and I made a pendant to match it. Now, if you ever come across it again... if you're wearing that, it'll know who you are."

"You made this?" Bess asked as she looked up sharply, realising that he still didn't know that she knew who Padfoot really was.

It was one of the last main secrets he had from her, and she didn't want to ruin it for him.

"Yeah... Just a few spells really, but thought you might like it..."

Bess' eyes filled with tears, and she launched herself at Sirius, hugging him tightly, before twisting in his arms so he lost his balance and they fell to the floor together, where they spent a blissful twenty minutes, unmissed by anyone.

xXx

A/N: Another day, another chapter! Hope you liked this! Tried to end with some fluff this time to balance it out a little!

Thank you so much to: AvalonRivers, CharlotteGryffindor, Guest - (angst will be coming at some point I'm sure! I can't answer any of the rest without giving spoilers! So sit tight!), Ghost Claw 001, lizyeh2000, and themugglepadme24 for your reviews! I really will be PM'ing everyone who's reviewed the last few chapters, but it might not happen until tomorrow!

Thank you again to everyone reading, following and favouriting!