James, Remus and Lily had all grown more and more curious as the papers reported on Selket and his past as an Auror, but whenever Bess began to try to tell them what he'd told her, Peter appeared. It was especially hard to find a time when he wasn't around, as Bess, who found herself unable to sleep without Sirius, had continued to make the trip over to the boys' dorms every night.
Not that Sirius was complaining - he seemed to be relishing in the comfort of waking up beside Bess every morning, and kept saying that he couldn't wait until summer, when they could spend all morning being lazy in bed together.
Having Sirius on her side also helped when James got impatient on Tuesday night and asked why they couldn't just bring Peter up to speed, so they could find out what Bess knew.
"You saw what happened to Selket. He knew everything Bess is going to tell us, and they tracked him down and murdered him. Do you really think Peter's in a need-to-know position?" Sirius asked angrily, and James begrudgingly dropped the subject.
It was as if since Saturday, Sirius had stepped into his protector role full-time.
Even Professor McGonagall noticed a change in him when she took their Wednesday Defence Against the Dark Arts class, awarding him twenty points for his, "Brilliant display of a protective spell," when he'd volunteered to show how to counter-act her knee-reversing hex during the practical portion of their lesson, and had sent a non-verbal stunner back within a second of defeating the hex.
Whereas normally he would have been on the receiving end of teasing or joshing by his friends for his volunteering, he was instead welcomed back to his seat with a pat on the back from James, an awed look from Peter, and a firm nod from Remus.
Sirius had also convinced Bess to still go to her extra Defence lesson with Jasper on Thursday, even though she'd wanted to skip it. She'd gone as far as writing a letter to Jasper to ask him if they could start a week later, but Sirius had stopped her from sending it, and told her that she needed to have the lessons - the sooner she began, the sooner she'd be able to protect herself.
However, as Sirius became more... serious... Bess noticed whispers and stares as the student body tried to figure out why. They quickly attributed it to Selket and Bess' connection, but wild theories began to circle, and after she heard one where Selket and her were carrying on a secret affair, Bess decided enough was enough.
In an act of bravery she'd not been able to muster before, possibly due to the numbness that she was still feeling, and the want to be reckless, on Thursday morning she walked in to the Great Hall late and, after joining her dorm mates and the Marauders who had just finished their breakfasts, she slipped off her outer robe, undid her cuffs, and pushed up her sleeves.
She'd taken to wearing the signet ring around her neck, so that it sat next to her dog charm, but she slipped it on to her index finger for a feeling of security.
She took a deep breath, and reached over to grab a pastry, showing, for the first time in public, her left forearm.
"Shit, love, your-" Sirius said quickly, reaching up to try and grab her arm. He stopped talking and dropped his hand from her forearm as he saw the stoic look on her face. Instead, he nodded, kissed her on the cheek, and returned to his paper.
"So James," Bess said with a slightly shaky but defiant tone to her voice, "I've got a joke for you... how many Slytherins does it take to stir a cauldron?"
James tilted his head and frowned as Bess buttered her toast. "I don't know..."
"Just one. She puts her wand into the cauldron and the world revolves around her," she said, before taking a bite of her toast as James and Sirius let out huffs of air as they couldn't help but laugh, and Remus sent her an encouraging smile.
Peter, meanwhile, simply stared openly at Bess' forearm, as did her dorm mates, and everyone around her.
Lily leant across the table and quickly squeezed Bess' hand, and a moment later. the bell went. Standing, Sirius grabbed her bag and swung it over his shoulder as she stood, and intertwined his fingers with hers as they walked towards Potions.
"You didn't have to do this, love," he whispered in a concerned tone. "Are you okay?"
Bess smiled up at him, and said, "I don't care what they think anymore. Icare what you think of me. Do- do you mind seeing my scars in public?"
Sirius shook his head quickly. "No, love, they're part of who you are. Even more so now. And anyway, nothing's going to stop me thinking you're bloody gorgeous, not even some wonky writing on your arm."
"It is pretty badly written, isn't it? They must skip penmanship in Death Eater school..." she whispered, and smiled as Sirius barked out a laugh.
As they walked she realised there were only two people she'd ever truly feel comfortable joking about her scars with.
xXx
Bess was prepared for the stares and the whispers - she'd had months to get herself ready for the onslaught of questions.
What she wasn't prepared for was the utter lack of... anything.
After they'd gotten over the shock of seeing her scars for the first time, her dorm mates acted as though nothing was wrong. The students in her Potions class did the same, apart from the Slytherin students - Snape and Rivers - who both glared at her. Even Professor Slughorn made sure not to mention anything, though he looked as though it was physically paining him to hold his tongue.
The only person who mentioned something that morning was Jasper, who turned up to their class five minutes early. After apologising to everyone, saying that he would only be taking one of their two lessons today as he was needed back at the office, and sending Bess a note which said the same but apologised for missing their first solo session together, he looked up at the class and groaned when he saw Bess' arm.
"Merlin, Bess. Really? A Troll last week, now this? I thought you were smart," he said, exasperatedly as he headed over to the chalkboard, shaking his head. "it's spelt, M-U-G-G-L-E dash B-O-R-N," he said as he wrote out the word in large letters across the board.
Bess kissed her teeth, rolled her eyes, which were now filled to the brim with appreciative tears, and shook her head. "Gah! I knew there was something wrong with it!" she said in a mock-annoyed tone. "Bloody Death Eaters, can't even get my blood status right!"
"That is probably their biggest failing. Second only to.. what? Blood purism?" he asked with a frown.
Bess sighed. "Maybe, or number two is the sadism?"
"Probably... or the fact that they practice the Dark Arts. Luckily this is Defence Against the Dark Arts though..."
Bess raised her hands up in the air and said, "Ah shit, I think I'm in the wrong class!"
"How can you both joke like that?" called a voice from the back of the room, "Professor Selket died and you're joking?"
Bess glared at her table as silence filled the room. She shook her head and turned around to say something, but Jasper got there first.
"I'm sorry, that was unprofessional of us," he said, in an serious tone, "but to give it some context, Selket was my mentor. He saved my life more times than I care to admit, and he was there the night Bess was pulled out of that house last Christmas. We both knew him well," he said, and Bess frowned.
She didn't really feel like she knew him at all, but after a moment, she remembered what he'd said - he'd given years of his life to Daphne and so he only had Lucas, Delbert, and Daphne. Which meant that knowing what he had done, she did know him well.
She sighed as Jasper continued, "in fact, we probably knew him better than most people. Now, I've spent the last three days working overtime, and am here to teach you for an hour before I head back to the office to continue to try and hunt down his killers. Killers who, I'd like to add, are probably the same people who helped attack Bess and gave her the scars that she's bravely displaying today.
"I still remember when she first saw those scars, over a year ago. And I'll never forget what happened when she saw them all at once," Jasper said, looking from the student, to Bess. "Do you remember that?"
Bess nodded and said, "I stayed in my room for three days and just cried. The only thing that got me out of that room was you coming to check on me to make sure I... how'd you put it? 'Wasn't dead?'" Bess asked, and Jasper scoffed and nodded. "Though unfortunately your joking had some terrible ramifications because less than two hours later I met this one for the first time," Bess said, pointing over to Sirius with a small smile.
Jasper nodded and took in a deep breath. "So, please don't get us wrong. We don't joke because we're unfeeling. Bess and I have gone through a lot together, and we joke because if we don't, we'd probably break. And, I'd like to add that the bell still hasn't gone, so I'm not officially your-" Jasper cut off as the bell rang. "Ah, now I am officially in a teaching capacity. Consider all jokes and personal chats now over." Silence filled the room as Jasper stopped talking, and took a deep breath. "You know what? Stay here," he said, as he walked out of the room, a determined look on his face.
Bess turned to look at Lily and then at Sirius, James and Remus, sharing confused looks with her friends, before she turned to look at Mary, Skye, Jo and Solstice who sat behind her. They all smiled slightly at her and sent her encouraging, but sad, looks.
Jasper returned five minutes later with a large cabinet trailing behind him, held up by magic, which he set it down at the front of the class, where it began to shake and jolt from side to side.
"Everybody, up," he commanded, and everyone jumped up as quickly as they could as their bags and the tables and chairs were swept away to the sides of the room, leaving everyone standing awkwardly. "Form a line from here," he said, indicating an invisible line with his foot, and all of the students scrambled forwards. "Bess, you'll go last since you've not done this before," he added. She nodded quickly and headed towards the back, and he turned to face the rest of the class. "McGonagall was saving this for the third years, but it seems as though you all need this more. You all know what a Boggart is?"
The sea of students nodded. If any of them wanted to say anything about the fact that they were about to do something they'd done years previously, they held their tongues.
"Good. Then you'll know that Boggarts take the form of whatever we fear the most. Now, who can tell me what the best defence for a Boggart is?" Jasper asked loudly.
"Riddikulus!" someone called from the middle of the group.
Jasper shook his head. "You'd think so, but no. Bess?" he called, looking back towards her.
She tried not to smile slightly as she caught his wink, and replied, "Laughter."
"Exactly. Rogers, you're up," he said, motioning to the first boy in line to move forwards slightly, before he waved his wand and the doors to the shaking cabinet opened.
Bess, who was at least ten students behind Sirius, James, Remus and Lily, having been sent to the back once the line was already formed, stepped to the side so that she could see the front of the cabinet clearly. After a few moments, a large dog, which reminded Bess of Padfoot, stepped out of the darkness, and advanced upon the boy, baring its teeth.
She watched Sirius, who tensed slightly, and leant towards James to whisper something to him.
"Riddikulus!" the boy yelled, and as he waved his wand in an intricate movement, the dog shifted into a little puppy, no bigger than Bess' hand. She smiled and let out a small laugh as the puppy bounded around the front of the classroom, before it sat down and began to lick its paws.
"Brilliant. Why a dog?" Jasper said, laughing.
"Saw it in the grounds once. Thought it was the grim..." Rogers admitted, ducking his head slightly.
"Great wizards have been caught out by that one! Brilliant imagination," Jasper commended, sending a smile towards the boy, who nodded and grinned as he walked to the side of the room. "Next."
They slowly made their way through the line of students. Bess was saddened by not surprised to see the forms her friends' Boggarts took, and smiled sadly as most of them turned their Boggarts into things that didn't make them laugh per say, but made them smile.
Remus' was the full moon, which he turned into a balloon.
James' took the form of Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily and his parents, lying motionless on the ground. After he composed himself, he whispered the incantation and the Boggart-Lily jumped up as the others disappeared, and she completed a little jig. He let out a couple of forced laughs before he walked slowly to the side of the room, joining Remus, who clapped him on the back.
Lily, who was next, found herself confronted with her whole family, dead, and piled on top of each other. When she waved her wand, it turned into James who was lying on his back, his arms and legs splayed out, his glasses eschew, and his eyes wide open. At the sight, she hissed in a deep breath before waving her wand, and Boggart-James jumped up, ran a hand through his hair, and mouthed, "Go out with me, Evans." Her laugh, loud and joyous, reverberated around the room. As she left the front of the queue she walked straight over to the real James and, surprising everyone, wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head in his chest.
Peter's was Lord Voldemort himself. The gasps reverberated around the room as the red eyed, pale, wax-faced man stood before the class. After pausing for a few moments, paralysed by fear, and only due to the encouragement shouted to him from his three best friends, Peter managed to wave his wand, and a moment later Voldemort was tumbling and falling comically over his robes. At first, no one laughed, until Lily let out a small giggle, and then the class erupted into loud laughs. Looking pleased with himself, Peter headed over to James and Remus.
Sirius went next. His was a large black door, with a silver knocker in the shape of a twisted serpent. Bess' eyes widened as she realised it was the front door of 12 Grimmauld Place. Within a second, Sirius had replaced the door with a large set of windows, in front of which sat a Boggart-Bess on a window seat, making ridiculous faces at him. Bess let out a small huff of air as she grinned, remembering that he'd woken up from a nightmare one night during their Christmas break and she'd cheered him up by doing exactly what Boggart-Bess was doing. Sirius laughed, shook his head, and walked over to his friends. He was still smiling when his gaze found hers, and he mouthed, "I love you." Bess smiled and held his gaze until she was only three people from the front.
Before she knew it, she'd watched the Boggart turn into a clown, a rather large-but-not-giant Squid, and a large bath filled with snakes.
"And this is why we need laughter, people," Jasper cried. "Because if we didn't laugh, we'd be confronted with our biggest fears daily!" he said, before he looked at Bess. "Now, you don't have to have a go, but if you do, we've got you, okay?"
Bess smiled and nodded as she stepped forwards. She'd had ample time to prepare herself for what was to come, but she still couldn't work out what form the Boggart would take, and was incredibly nervous. She and the other students watched as the shapeshifting creature filtered between forms with loud Cracks!, giving glimpses of her fears, without settling on one.
They saw: Sirius, James, Remus, Lily and Jasper's bodies, one after the other, a flash of Voldemort, a gigantic rat, and ten much smaller rats, before it settled on the last person Bess expected to see in the room, or in this world - her father.
In his hand, he held a shoe, and Bess took in a shuddering breath as he began to walk towards her, an angry look on his face. She just about registe r the thought, at least he's not a dementor, as she waved her wand, and with a loud Crack! it changed into just that.
She watched with wide eyes as the extremely tall hooded figure seemed to glide towards her, its greyish slimy and scabbed hands reaching out towards her, clamping around her upper arms, as it lowered its head over hers and she saw the revolting fleshy mouth descend upon her own.
In what felt like a split second, she thought of waking up next to Sirius. She thought of James' reaction to Lily catching him in his Christmas pyjamas. She thought of Remus being shoved into her in Diagon Alley. She thought of Jasper coming to check on her to make sure she wasn't dead. She thought of receiving her OWLs and knowing she was going to Hogwarts. She thought of the vision she'd had of James, Lily, Sirius, Remus and Harry in the Potters' kitchen.
Without pause, she raised her wand, and yelled, "Expecto Patronum," not expecting it to work, but hoping that it would do something, anything, to stall before Jasper could intervene.
Since she'd talked to Selket about Dementors back in October, she'd been trying, and failing, to produce even a wisp of a Patronus, but seeing a Dementor there in front of her, she felt that maybe her magic had just been waiting for the right time, and she remembered the fight she'd had with the three Slytherins when she'd managed to hold her own until Selket had arrived to save her.
Just as suddenly as it had descended upon her, the Boggart-Dementor was pushed backwards by a large silvery shield like mass, which flowed from the tip of her wand.
A deep sense of pride and belonging filled Bess, and she smiled slightly. In that moment, she realised that she could be terrified. She could make mistakes. But in the end, she knew something that Delbert, Voldemort, and all of the Death Eaters didn't know - she knew what would happen next.
She knew that if she failed, Dumbledore would continue and defeat Voldemort. She knew that no matter what they did to her, she would come back fighting, or die trying. Because finally, for the first time in her life, she had something worth fighting for.
The Boggart-Dementor moved slightly, and began to descend upon her friends. As if it knew what she was thinking, her shield grew stronger to protect them, until it burst forwards, and tackled the Dementor, sending it tumbling back into the cabinet.
"Was that a-"
"Yup!"
"Whoa! I've never seen-"
Bess tuned out the excited chatter as her Patronus padded back over to her and rubbed its head against her arm as it circled her, before coming to stand next to her for a moment before it disappeared.
"You know the spell is Riddikulus, right?" Jasper asked as he grinned at her and crossed his arms.
Bess made a face as she tried not to smile, and shrugged exaggeratedly. "I couldn't do it again, trust me. I'm only good under pressure."
"And here I was thinking you were a badger, 'Lisbeth!" James cried as he pulled her into his arms and spun her around. "Brilliant! Bloody brilliant!"
"It's not a stag, though, is it?" she asked quietly, a smile still plastered across her face.
"Ah, didn't you know? Stags and lions are the best of friends. Get along like a house on fire! Now, lions and giant dogs... that I'm not so sure about..." he whispered loudly.
"Yeah, yeah," Sirius said quietly, as he shoved James away and pulled Bess into a tight embrace. "I'm sure they'll get along fine."
"I'm pretty sure it was a lioness..." Bess said quietly into Sirius' chest, and she felt the rumble of his laugh. "Don't laugh!"
xXx
After all of Bess' worries about not feeling up to extra duelling lessons, Jasper wasn't able to help Bess for the next three weeks, as he was too busy with the Selket investigation. Additionally, Dumbledore had been called away on urgent business - code for 'helping the Ministry and the Order' Bess was sure - and so she'd not seen hide nor hair of him since she'd seen him on February the 18th.
In those three weeks, her underlying terror and fear had dissipated somewhat, thanks mainly to her friends supporting her, and the non-Slytherin students rallying around her in solidarity for her suffering. Her scars seemed to have earned her a great deal of respect, and she'd been grateful to her past self, as it meant that she could now wear tank tops and dresses as the weather got hotter.
Her mental health was further bolstered by her correspondence with Jasper, which she'd increased. His letters kept her informed about how he was personally, and she'd felt relieved every time she either received a letter, or saw him in person, and it had become part of her routine to look out for a letter or a sign from him every three days to confirm that he was still alive, or, uninjured.
Due to her better mental state, she'd even been able to spend the last week and a half sleeping in her own bed, and had also managed to act, at least to most of the outside world, like she was back to normal, though she was still incredibly affected by Selket's death and was no closer to finding out how, or why, he was murdered so suddenly after they'd spoken. She strongly suspected that he'd gone back to his house knowing full well what was waiting for him.
And so, in the middle of March, three weeks after her original lesson was postponed, Bess found herself dodging and weaving out of the way of spells as she duelled with Jasper.
"I have plenty of stamina, thanks," Bess wheezed out as she lay on the floor of the spare classroom Jasper had picked for her first lesson.
"That was a ten minute sparring session. Most duels and raids go on for hours. You can't just stop in the middle of a battle for a breather, kid. You'd be dead if you did that," Jasper said, as he stood over Bess, looking down at her with an exasperated look on his face.
"Okay. So I'm guessing I just died?" she asked with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood.
"Not funny, kid. Not funny. Look," he said, as he crouched down next to her. "It's only our first session, and I'll admit, you're better than I thought you were. Those boys are doing a good job, but you've got to up your fitness. What exercise are you doing at the moment?"
"Duelling practice and running to classes?" Bess asked with a grimace.
Jasper pursed his lips and sighed, moving to sit next to her torso, turning so that he faced the same way as her. "Right. Your homework is going to be to go for a run. No. Go for two runs. By next lesson. They have to be at least half an hour each, and I want to hear your times and distances."
"What? I can't do that! I barely have time to-"
"Make time. This is your life we're talking about." The tone of his voice and his expression told Bess that there was no way she'd win this one, so she sighed and looked to the ceiling. "Take Black with you or something. Make it a bonding thing, or whatever couples do. Just make sure you do it. Okay?"
Bess nodded and bit her lip.
After a moment, Jasper looked down at her from the corner of her eye, and sighed. "I'm sorry. But it's important, okay?"
"What do you do to stay in shape? Is there like an Auror gym or something?" Bess asked with a little chuckle.
She could hear the smile in Jasper's voice as he replied, "Nah, I run when I can, and failing that I've got a punching bag in my lounge."
"Oh, I've got a punching bag in my lounge, look at me, la dee da I'm Auror with a punching bag," Bess replied, putting on a high and whiny voice and shaking her head from side to side as she spoke.
"You do know I've been through three years of intensive training which includes modules on duelling, combat training etcetera, and I'm legally allowed to use any spell I need to, right?" he replied with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, yeah, don't get your knickers in a twist," Bess replied, before she said, without thinking, "does the punching bag come from your mum?"
"What?" he asked quickly.
"Because she's a Muggle?"
"How'd you know that?" he asked, frowning at her.
"Uh- one of the memories Dumbledore showed me started with you asking Selket to sign your leave request. You said she was a Muggle and she'd been feeding the pudding for months-"
"-feeding the pudding brandy for months," Jasper said at the same time. "Merlin. Didn't think he'd have shown you that one... Uh- yeah, it actually is. My uncle was a boxer. It was his bag actually. Amazing what magic can fix..."
"Can I ask you something?" Bess whispered.
"Anything."
"What're your sisters called?"
Jasper grinned. "Joss, Mattie, and Dottie. Those are their nicknames at least. There's no way am I telling you their real names. Can't be sure you wouldn't write to them saying I was mean to you or something!"
Bess laughed and punched his arm lightly. "Are they all Witches as well?"
Jasper smiled at her and shook his head. "No. Joss is a Muggle doctor. She works up at Leeds Infirm- crap. Uh, pretend I didn't say anything?"
"Why?"
"Because I'm trying to keep her safe, and as much as I love and trust you, I can't put her in danger like that," he said quickly.
"Aww!" Bess replied, reaching up to pinch his cheek, "I love you too!" she said, teasingly, and he rolled his eyes as he shoved her hand away.
"You know what I meant. But yeah, I'm just worried about her. Joss and Mum are the only two Muggles in our family. I've got to keep them safe," he said quietly.
They fell silent for a few moments, until they heard the bell ring, and Jasper sighed. "Right. Second half of the lesson. Patronuses. Dumbledore wants you to know how to cast one consistently, not just as a fluke."
"Why?" Bess asked as she sat up and watched Jasper jump up and walk over to his bag.
He pulled out a small bar of something and chucked it over to her. "That's a protein bar, they're good pick me ups. I make them myself."
Bess smiled but then grimaced when she looked down and realised the bar had nuts in it. "Oh, uh, I'm allergic to-"
"Peanuts, I know. It's made with walnuts," he said quickly and Bess shot him an appreciative smile as she bit in to the delicious bar. He smiled slightly and continued, "Dumbledore worked out a while ago how to use Patronuses to send messages. He said you mentioned that to Selket once in a class?"
Bess noticed that whenever Jasper mentioned Selket, it was with a sad tone. She, on the other hand, tried not to mention his name at all.
"Yeah I did. This is great by the way," Bess added, before shoving the rest of the bar in her mouth.
"Thanks. Uh- so yeah, not many people outside of the Order know about the messages thing, so thanks for breaking a massive secret," he teased, and laughed as Bess' eyes widened as she tried to chew the rest of her mouthful as she mumbled through apologies. "It's alright. Really. But that's why Dumbledore wants you to learn. If you're ever in a spot of trouble, send the Patronus to the Order and we'll be able to get to you. They're also brilliant for warning people about attacks. "
"Genius," Bess said, as she stood and dusted off her trousers.
"Honestly, I thought you'd have trouble with it, but if you can cast one under duress, then I think you can learn how to control them. Yours was a Lioness?" he asked, and Bess nodded. "Fitting really... they're forces to be reckoned with. I looked it up. Means you're brave, hardworking, and... practical. You don't mind getting your hands dirty to protect those you love. Have you managed to cast one since?"
Bess shook her head.
"That's alright. Just think of a happy memory then, I guess? Happiest you can muster. Let me know when you've got it," Jasper said.
Bess nodded and began to think. She filtered through her memories from her own world quickly and decided none of them were good enough, so she began to think about her time here. She raced through the times on her own, she tried to forget the happy memories she had with Delbert which were now poisoned, and tried to move past the memories of her hospital stay. In the end, she was just about to give up, when there was a knock at the door.
Jasper frowned and lifted a finger to tell her to stay where she was, as he crossed over to the door and opened it slowly. A smile came over his face as he turned and rolled his eyes to Bess, and opened the door wider. "You've got an audience."
Bess grinned as Sirius, James, Lily and Remus walked in. They'd had an Arithmancy class when she was meant to be in History of Magic, so she'd assumed they would have gone outside to enjoy the March sunshine once their class had finished, and so felt warm and happy that they'd come to see her instead.
In the back of her mind she suspected that it had something to do with Sirius wanting to check up on her to make sure she was okay, but she pushed that thought away and allowed herself to just feel grateful for his presence.
"Hey," she half whispered as Sirius made his way over to her, wrapped his arms around her, kissed her forehead, and then released her and moved over to the other side of the room.
"Right. Bess is about to attempt a Patronus again! Bess... focus on the memory. You got one yet?" Jasper asked enthusiastically.
Bess sighed and concentrated again, until one memory popped in to her head and she smiled.
"Great! Keep that in your mind, and go ahead," Jasper encouraged.
It was only on the seventh try that Bess managed a tiny wisp of silvery smoke for a second, before it vanished, and her hands dropped to her knees as she panted from the mental exertion.
Jasper began to clap loudly, and the others joined in, and when Bess raised her head, she smiled at the others and took her stance to try again.
Just before the bell rang, she managed to hold the wisp for one and a half second, which Remus and Jasper said was absolutely fantastic. To say she was chuffed was an understatement.
Jasper had to run off just after the bell rang, so he high fived and fist bumped the boys and Lily, and ran over to Bess to give her a little side hug before he left.
"What was your memory?" Sirius asked cautiously, and Bess grinned.
"The beach. The first time. Do you remember when we just talked for hours?" She asked, staring into his eyes.
He walked over and wrapped his arms around her. "One of the best days of my life, love."
"Thank you again for the Niffler," she replied, as she placed her arms around his neck.
"Anytime," he replied, leaning in to kiss her nose.
"Oh my god!" Bess exclaimed, and jumped back from Sirius, looking round at her friends. "Where's Peter?"
"Care for Magical Creatures..." James replied with a frown.
"Perfect! How long d'you think until he gets here?" Bess asked quickly, as she turned to wave her wand at the door, locking it.
"He doesn't know where we are. We said we'd find him for dinner," Sirius replied, as he ran a hand over Bess' curls, before playing with a few at her back.
"What're you all doing over Easter break?" she asked, bringing her hands out to her sides as if doing a stationary jazz hands.
"Headed home," Lily replied.
"Same," echoed James.
"Going back with Sirius and James," Remus replied. "You're coming with us, right?"
Bess grimaced. "I can't. Dumbledore asked me to stay here for Easter. Wants to keep me safe. But... if Peter's not here, then I can tell you all what's going on, can't I?"
xXx
A/N:
Thank you to everyone for your reviews, I'll reply properly tonight! - Ghost Claw 001, Avalon Rivers, idreamtosmilealways, CharlotteGryffindor, Guest, HorseGirl16 - (he knew that if he left the castle, he'd be attacked!), and themugglepadme24 - (please don't worry! I appreciated the honesty and wanted to reply but you have PMs disabled! Glad it was what you wanted! Thank you again for your review!)
And thank you as always to everyone reading, following and favouriting!