"How am I meant to just go to classes for the next- what? Five weeks? Just sit in class with you pretending everything's okay? Why are you and Dumbledore asking this of me? After everything you've just told me? Why?" Bess cried as she waved her hands in the air and tears streamed down her face.

"Because there's no one else to teach, and I have nowhere else to go," Selket responded, peering down at his hands.

Bess thought about the other students in the school, and how their education would be lacking if Selket left early.

Then she thought of Selket himself, and wondered what would happen to him if he left the castle protections. Would someone be waiting for him? When she'd returned to the castle in January she'd likened it to a prison, hadn't she? And she'd been able to leave for Hogsmeade trips. She wondered if Selket had left the castle since he'd arrived.

"You're right," she replied after an age. "But it's so much. It's going to be so hard."

"I know. But Dumbledore thinks it's for the best. Please, just go to your classes. You don't need to speak to me, listen to me, learn from me... just please go. Act normal. If you can't do it after the first lesson, I'll say I can't teach you again, and we'll blame it on me."

Bess wiped her eyes roughly and nodded slowly. "T- t- that could w- w- work... I want- I want to go now," she managed to sob out.

Selket sighed and stood up, and Bess followed suit, following him over to the door. "Goodbye, Bess," he said as he opened the door.

"Goodbye."

As Bess walked through the deserted halls, she tried to push down and bury her upset, but whatever she did, it bubbled up to the surface. She couldn't stop thinking about everything she'd found out in the past few days. Tears clouded her vision, her heart beat faster, and her head throbbed.

"My Uncle died."

Bess jumped slightly and whipped out her wand for the third time that day as she turned to the side as she saw Sirius step out from behind a tapestry.

She lowered her wand and frowned. "What?"

"The reason I kissed you on front of Regulus yesterday. My Uncle died last week. I found out yesterday that he named me in his will, and I just-" he sighed, "I just wanted to show him that my life wasn't reliant on him or on my parents anymore."

"It hasn't been for a while..." Bess whispered as she wiped her eyes.

Sirius sighed again and moved forwards. He put his hands on Bess' upper arms and placed his forehead against hers. "I know, but Uncle Alphard has given me everything. I won't even need to live with the Potters anymore."

"Why didn't you tell me when you found out?"

"You had your meeting with Dumbledore. I was going to tell you about it afterwards, but then it seemed like you needed me more," he whispered, "and James? The whole quidditch thing? He was just joking around on Wednesday. It had nothing to do with you, I promise."

"Oh god, Sirius," Bess groaned and reached up to rub her face, "your Uncle died and I'm here freaking out over... I'm sorry."

"No, Bess, I'm sorry," he replied as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him.

"No, this isn't your fault, this is mine," she said, staring into his eyes. "Are you okay?"

He smiled sadly and leant in to rub his nose against hers. "Yeah. Yeah I am. I'm great actually. He's given me my freedom, Bess! I know it sounds harsh to not be too upset about him dying, but- but- look, I've inherited gold, and a house, and-"

"Yes," Bess said firmly.

"What?" Sirius cocked his head to the side and frowned.

"I want to move in with you," she replied quickly. "If I haven't ruined everything, that-"

She was cut off by Sirius' lips on hers. The kiss was fuelled by love, passion, and... it was as if the stars had aligned and both Sirius and Bess needed to let out their frustration and upset together.

Bess could hear the protestations of the portraits behind her as Sirius pushed her against the wall and hooked one of her legs around his hip as he deepened the kiss.

When she finally pulled away, Sirius whined but dropped her leg and stepped backwards slightly, giving her room to breathe.

"Where's the nearest broom closet, or classroom, or anywhere... anywhere we can be together without someone interrupting us," she asked breathlessly.

Sirius took a moment before he shook his head and glanced around. "Probably..." he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her along. They practically ran through hallways and up a few staircases until they reached the Gryffindor portrait hole.

"Sirius, if I wanted to-"

"Trust me, love. Trust me," Sirius replied, before turning back to the portrait, and saying, "Tutshill Tornadoes."

Bess was about to ask how James' favourite team had become the new password, when her ears were assaulted by a deafening roar of sound. "They won then?" she asked loudly as Sirius pulled her through the crowd, weaving through the students with ease.

He didn't bother to reply. Instead, he led her up the stairs, and into the boys' dorm room. He locked the door with a flick of his wand as Bess practically jumped on him, attempting to kiss him whilst also removing her top.

Sirius pulled away and laughed as he pulled her top down again, "Slow down, love, we have time."

"It feels like we don't. Not anymore," Bess whispered as she grappled with his belt.

His hands covered hers. "Bess? Love? What's going on?"

Bess shook her head and tried to free her hands. "I'll tell you after."

"No, love, tell me now."

"Your Uncle just died. If I tell you, we just make it all about me."

Sirius let out another small laugh and finally managed to pull her hands up, holding them in his as he stared down at her. "And if we don't slow down, it'll be about you as well. I'm not going anywhere."

"But I might be!" she cried.

"Which is why I want to savour every moment I have with you. Bess, I know we don't have forever," he said as he tucked a few curls behind her ear and sighed. "Love, please tell me what's going on? I know something's up. First Dumbledore, then you were with Selket? I heard you talking to him outside."

"Outside? In the courtyard? You were there? I didn't see you..." Bess said slowly.

Sirius frowned and bit his lip before he replied, "Must've been focusing only on Selket." Bess didn't quite believe him, but she shook her head and carried on anyway.

"Before... before I thought I was safe. I thought it was just... I thought the only threat was Daphne coming back. But..."

"But what, love?"

"It was me," she whispered.

"What was you?"

"I'm the Mudblood. I'm the one they tried to kill. They know I'm not Daphne," she said desperately.

"What're you talking about? How? Who knows?" Sirius asked, his eyes widening and his hands moving to grip her arms, as if someone would take her away in that instant.

Bess replied in a whisper, "Delbert."

Sirius let out a relieved laugh. "Merlin, Bess! That's fine!"

"No it's not. Sirius. It's not fine," Bess replied in a terrified tone as she began to shake and her breathing increased in pace.

"Tell me everything. Everything, Bess. Now," Sirius said, his laugh dying in his throat, his smile leaving his face.

And Bess did. She told him everything Dumbledore and Selket had told her, and Sirius held her while she cried. For the first time since she'd known him, he didn't seem to know what to say apart from repeating that it would be okay, and that he would keep her safe. Promises which Bess and he both knew he wouldn't be able to keep. By the time they'd finished talking through what she'd found out, the door was unlocked and Remus came in.

One look at Sirius and Bess' faces told him that something was wrong - the couple were lying together on top of Sirius' sheets, still fully dressed, hugging, with tear tracks down their faces. Instead of asking anything, Remus grabbed his pyjamas and headed into the bathroom.

"Do you want me to close the curtains?" Sirius asked her quietly, still studying her face as she stared unseeing towards the middle of the room.

Bess shook her head and turned to rest her head on his chest. He tucked his chin on the top of her head, wiped his face, and pulled her closer.

When Peter came up less than ten minutes later, Bess felt sick. She didn't want to see him, let alone hear his voice, but she had to - if she was fine with Remus, she had to act fine with Peter. This time, she didn't even glance over, just snuggled closer to Sirius.

"Uh- a- a- are you staying then, uh- Bess?" she heard Peter ask.

She shook her head slightly and began to sit up, but Sirius' arms tightened around her and pulled her back down.

"Yeah, Pete, she's staying. Why?"

"W- well, remember, we said no girls overnight?" Peter said, and Bess could almost see him wringing his hands as he shot Remus looks.

"Peter. With all due respect, fu-" Sirius began.

Bess sat up again and shook her head at Sirius, "No, he's right," she managed to say. "It's the rules."

"No. Everyone was fine with the idea back in November. What's changed, Peter?"

"Well... well you weren't... you know. She was just a friend still. But now... I just think we should honour the rules we made. Otherwise, who are we? You know... if we don't respect each other?" Peter replied, and Bess tried not to glare at him.

In response, Sirius let out a frustrated noise and pulled her back down as he reached over to grab his wand and waved it quickly. She watched as his trunk opened and something flew into his hand. He glared at Peter as he grabbed Bess' left hand and slid a signet ring onto her ring finger.

"She stays. Whenever she wants," he spat out, as a euphoric James stumbled into the room, still wearing his quidditch uniform.

The smile slid off his face as he looked between the group. "Okay, what's going on?"

"Sirius just proposed to Bess so she can stay here tonight, and Pete's not happy about it," Remus said quickly as he got into bed.

"That's not actually the weirdest thing I've heard today... uh- vote to change the rules to allow long-term girlfriends to stay over?" James asked, raising his hand. Sirius and Remus raised theirs. "Right. Three out of four majority. The motion carries. You alright, Bess?"

Bess shook her head.

"But you will be?" James asked with a laugh. He gulped when she shook her head again and tears began to cloud her vision.

"But she'll see us all in our pyjamas!" Peter complained as he sat down on his bed, oblivious to everything.

"Trust me, Pete, if she was interested in you, we wouldn't be here," Sirius snapped, before he turned his head slightly and asked Bess, "are you interested in seeing Peter in his pyjamas, love?"

The ridiculousness of the situation began to break through Bess' fear, pain, upset and terror, and she felt a laugh bubble up into her throat. She couldn't help but smile as she said, "Not Peter, no. Sorry Pete," before she propped herself up a little and winked at Remus, saying, "I do have a thing for dogs though."

Remus snorted and rolled his eyes as he turned a page in his book, and Bess giggled at the look on Sirius' face.

"What?" she asked, when she realised Sirius' mouth was still open and he was staring at her, an unreadable expression on his face.

He shook his head quickly and sent her a half smile, "Just didn't think I'd have competition from my own brother, that's all."

"I mean... the glasses do add something extra," Bess said slowly, looking over to James, who rolled his eyes and headed over to his own trunk.

Sirius smiled and Bess' bottom lip began to wobble as she looked down at him. He reached up to move a few curls from her forehead and they stared at each other for a few minutes as Bess' tears fell down her cheeks.

That night Bess stayed with Sirius and, huddled together, they whispered to each other until finally, in the early hours of the morning, Bess fell asleep for the first time in two days.

xXx

When Bess woke up the next morning she thought for a moment she was back in her own bed, as the curtains were closed around her and she was on her own. It was only when she stretched and looked down that she realised she was only wearing Sirius' The Who t-shirt. He'd transfigured it the night before so that it fell to her mid-thigh and she'd slipped it on over her underwear so that she could escape the confines of her jeans.

Without thinking, she pulled back the curtain surrounding Sirius bed, and made eye contact with Remus, who was lying in his own bed, writing a letter and snacking on chocolate.

"Morning," he said, a hint of a blush on his cheeks.

Bess smiled and yawned, bringing her left hand up to her mouth as her eyes screwed shut. As they opened, she rubbed her hand across her face and sat up more. When she looked back at Remus to say, "Morning," the blush had gone from his cheeks, and he was studying her hand. She looked down and frowned for a moment before she realised she was still wearing the signet ring. She felt a blush creep up her neck and onto her cheeks, and she moved it from her ring finger to her index finger, saying, "I'm sure it's just a joke."

"Doesn't look like one to me, and honestly, I don't think it's very funny..." Remus replied, still staring at her hand. Bess' frown deepened before she followed his gaze and realised that he wasn't looking at her hand after all, but at her arm.

It was one of the things that she'd not yet told him about. She knew that he'd seen her other scar before - he'd told her he had, but this one she'd managed to hide thus far. She automatically pulled her forearm across her chest to try and hide the jagged writing, and pulled the covers up over her arms.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare. I just-" Remus began.

"No, it's okay. Really. I- I'm just a bit- I'm not used to people seeing it," Bess said quickly, as she stared at Sirius' miniature motorcycle which sat on his bedside table. "Sirius, obviously sees it a lot, but uh- not many-"

"It's okay. I have scars too," Remus replied, pointing to a few on his face, and pulling back his t-shirt at the neck to show more.

Bess smiled slightly and gulped before she pulled her arms out of the covers. It felt as though she was putting them on display for the whole world to see, even though it was only Remus. It felt... brave.

"Where's-"

"Sirius?" Remus asked, and when Bess nodded, he continued, "went on a breakfast run with James. Peter's still asleep. Probably won't be up for a couple of hours yet since it's only seven thirty..." when he saw the look on her face, he added, "Sirius didn't want to wake you. He said you didn't eat yesterday?"

Bess grimaced. "Yeah, I forgot. I did have breakfast though!" she added in a defensive tone.

"That's only the most important meal of the day if you actually eat all three of your meals, you know that right?" Remus teased, which made Bess smile again.

By the time James and Sirius returned, Bess had opened all of the curtains around Sirius' bed, and was sitting cross-legged, propped up by his pillows, his sheets tucked over her legs and around her hips to protect her modesty. Her scars were on full display, her mass of dark brown curls was wild, cascading over her shoulders and down her back, and for the first time in over a day, she had a massive smile on her face as she laughed at Remus' joke.

When she saw Sirius, she had stop herself from running over to him, she was so happy to see him. Instead, she sent him the biggest smile she could muster, and reached out her arms, flexing her fingers, to show him that she wanted him to come to her.

She frowned slightly and dropped her arms when he didn't return her smile, but stared at her with an indescribable expression on his face.

"What?" she mouthed at him as she tilted her head to the side.

He shook his head and walked over to her. He sat down on the side of the bed, facing her, and placed a plate of food onto her lap. "Eat, love."

"What's wrong?" she asked, shaking her head and leaning forwards to place a hand on his cheek.

"Nothing. Eat, love," he repeated, his expression unchanged.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong," she replied. She couldn't work out why he was looking at her as he was, and it was worrying her.

Sirius sighed and took her left hand in his. After a moment he frowned at her hand, and moved the signet ring from her index finger back to her ring finger. "It's really nothing. I'm just- sometimes I can't quite believe you're real."

"I feel the same about you," she whispered, staring into his eyes as she swapped the ring back without looking.

"Don't do that," he said, his face changing to show his annoyance and slight anger as he moved the ring back to her ring finger.

"Sirius, we're seventeen. We're not getting married yet, we're too young."

"You're not though," he whispered, and Bess' eyes widened. "You're twenty-one. And in any case, is the idea of marrying me so abhorrent?"

Bess sighed and rubbed her thumb against his cheek. "No, of course it's not. But it's also too quick. We've been together for-"

"How long?" Sirius asked, cutting across her. "How long until I can ask you and you'll think it's been enough time? A year? Two? It took you almost two months to agree to move in with me. Tell me how long I have to wait until you'll understand that I'm sure about this? We're in the middle of a war, Bess. We don't have the luxury of time on our side. We see each other every day. I'm going to spend Easter break getting our place ready so we can move in together. So just tell me now. How long?"

Bess gulped and took in a deep breath. "Next summer. If you ask me next summer, I'll tell you my answer," she said, swapping the ring back. This time, Sirius just nodded and brought her hand up to his lips, as he pressed a kiss against the ring. "What does it mean?" she asked quietly, looking down at the ring's crest. She hadn't looked at it properly before, but she could just about make out a few creatures.

He let out a breath through his nose, and smiled slightly. "It's a Marauder's ring. We all have one. It's a long held Black family tradition to pass down a signet ring from heir to heir, so James thought it'd be funny to give us all matching fake ones when we turned sixteen. He thought it'd break the negative connotations for me. Peter already lost his though, so don't know what that says about me that I've still got it..."

"Well, you are giving it away..." Bess said teasingly, as she looked down at the ring again and watched as a dog jumped over a rat. "I don't know if I like the fact that I'll be wearing a rat on my finger though..." she muttered as she grimaced slightly, before smiling as Sirius let out a loud bark of laughter.

xXx

On Sunday, Bess didn't have a chance to tell Lily, Remus or James about what she'd learnt about her past, as she couldn't find a time when Peter wasn't around the boys, or Lily wasn't with their dorm mates - being the day after a massive Gryffindor-Slytherin match where Gryffindor had decimated their competition, everyone was eager to gossip and chat through what had happened.

So, on Monday morning, it was only Sirius who held her hand as they waited outside the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom for Selket to arrive.

"You okay, love?" Sirius asked for the umpteenth time that morning - he'd grown more and more worried as Bess refused to eat or drink anything at the breakfast table until at last she'd given in and taken a large gulp of orange juice, only to look like she wanted to throw it back up a second later.

They were now standing slightly away from their friends, holding hands, with their foreheads pressed together. Well, Sirius was holding one of her hands, and his other was in his pocket, holding onto his wand. He'd taken to doing so in certain situations after watching Jasper do it a few times.

Bess sighed. "Yeah, really, I'm fine. He said that if I couldn't do it, he'd say he didn't want me in the class anymore. I'm really okay, I promise," she said, somewhat unconvincingly as the bell rang and she steeled herself for the next hour.

However, five minutes after the bell rang, Bess and Sirius re-joined their friends to wait with them, as Selket was nowhere to be seen.

Ten minutes after that, as people grew tired of standing around, Sirius and James conjured cushions for everyone, and their entire class sank to the floor in the hallway, waiting for their teacher to arrive.

Ten minutes after that, Professor McGonagall arrived to tell the class that Professor Selket was ill, and wouldn't be teaching their class that day.

Bess and Sirius shared a look, but otherwise didn't say anything as they joined Lily, Remus, James and Peter and headed towards the library. For his part, Sirius only complained a few times about the fact that they were wasting their morning by studying.

Bess gave up on her goal of reading through another chapter of their Transfiguration textbook when he complained for the fifth time - she wanted the distraction, so they headed off to spend a blissful hour walking along the beach, comparing their childhoods, and playing a rather awful game of theirs that Sirius liked to call, "Who was more traumatised?"

At lunch, they found out that Selket hadn't taught his third or fourth period classes either.

At dinner they found out that he hadn't been seen by any of the teachers or students since Sunday lunchtime, and that he wasn't in the Hospital Wing.

On Tuesday morning, Bess almost threw up as Sirius, who was sat next to her at the breakfast table, received his morning copy of The Daily Prophet and she read the main article:

HOGWARTS PROFESSOR FOUND DEAD

Professor Godric Selket, 45, a former Auror and well respected member of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry teaching staff, was found dead in the early hours of this morning at his home in Southwark.

We can confirm that the dark mark cast was over the house.

Ministry officials seem baffled as to why Selket was at his private residence, as he was not due to leave Hogwarts castle until the Easter holidays. However, at the time of going to print, no more information has been released, and we have yet to receive an official statement from Hogwarts, though we have been informed that Professor Albus Dumbledore is assisting with the investigation.

Selket leaves behind no family, and so our hearts go out to his friends, colleagues, and students, at this most awful of times.

Sirius wrapped an arm around Bess' shoulders as they read, and cursed under his breath.

Bess was too shocked to say anything, and instead let her head fall on to Sirius' shoulder as she stared at the words.

All around them, students and staff members began to talk, shout, and cry in shock. Bess could hear students' conversations;

"Only forty two? He looked at least fifty, right?"

"I didn't know the Professors were allowed to leave the castle."

"This must be because he was an Auror, right?"

"What did he do?"

"Was he half-blood or pure-blood? I need to know if I should warn my parents or not!"

"Bess?" Lily asked quietly, cutting through the chatter. "We need to talk, don't we?"

Bess glanced around and saw James and Remus leaning in slightly. She nodded, her eyes swimming with tears, her mouth slightly ajar as she felt a numbness take over her body and her brain as she thought about the last thing he'd said to her - "Goodbye Bess."

Not, "See you tomorrow."

Not, "See you on Monday."

No. He'd said, "Goodbye."

A/N:

Thank you for your reviews! Thank you to CharlotteGryffindor, Ghost Claw 001, Guest, and amugglepadme24 - (Honestly, slightly broke my heart! I didn't think about last chapter being an exposition dump at all! I spent so long on that chapter, as the last two have been massive pivotal moments in my story which I've been working towards since the start. I thought it rounded out Lucas' character more, Selket had a slight redemption before he left the story, and it showed Bess' lashing out finally, as she starts to let the fear overtake her. She's been so laid back relatively before this, like the others said, so 'unbothered' really. But anyway, yeah, just wanted to explain that I didn't think of it as an exposition dump when I wrote it, but I guess it's true what they say - you should 'kill your darlings!' Hope this chapter sufficed on the character front!)

And thank you to everyone reading, following and favouriting! I really appreciate the support!