It was only when they reached the gates that Bess realised how dark it had been in the park. The streetlights were uncomfortably bright on her still-tired eyes, and she winced slightly, glad of the invisibility cloak so that no one saw her reaction. Her aches and pains were becoming worse with every step she took, and she realised that it had been over six hours since her last pain potion.
Moody heard her groan of discomfort and turned to Sirius, saying, "Sounds like you need something for the pain before we go. Drink this," and handed Sirius a vial.
Sirius, as smooth as silk, pretended to drink the potion and then slip it into his pocket, when he really held it in his hand and transferred it to Bess who took it from his hand, slipped it through the invisibility cloak, and downed the contents in one gulp. She felt the usual painful tingle as the potion made its way down her throat before the aches and pains she'd had left her completely and she sighed in contentment.
"It's going to get cold out there," Moody said, turning to look up at the stars. "Everyone wrapped up?"
Bess rolled her eyes at this one - she knew that he knew that she was still only wearing her jean shorts, jumper and tank top under the cloak, and therefore would freeze on the flight to Sussex.
A pair of black jogging bottoms appeared on the ground two feet to the left of her and Bess tried not to laugh at the fact that Moody still had no real idea of where she was standing - he didn't have his magical eye yet. She held in a giggle and just shuffled forward to pick up the trousers which she pulled on with one hand while holding the cloak closed with the other.
She wondered if everyone was bored by the wait while she had her potion and got changed, but when she looked around, James, Lily, Fabian and Gideon were chatting together happily, and Sirius and Moody were watching the street, all while Margot stood off to the side.
Bess wondered why Margot was even there if she was so anti-werewolf and seemed to be anti-Bess, especially after their argument at the last meeting. Bess made a mental note to ask Jasper about the sour-faced witch at some point.
"We gonna wait here all night, Moody?" Gideon asked, raising an eyebrow.
Moody frowned at the sky again. He pulled his wand from his pocket and waved it at the streetlights, turning them all off.
"I'd say we have about ten minutes before a Muggle calls someone in to fix these," he said, placing a bag on the floor and removing broom after broom, handing them to James, Fabian, Gideon, and Margot, before taking one for himself. He stood and looked at Sirius. "Black, what about you? Where's your bike?"
Sirius grinned and waved his wand. "This is her," Sirius said proudly, indicating the gigantic motorcycle and sidecar which had appeared on the road in front of them. It was parked on a double yellow line, and was taking up the space of a medium sized car.
"It," Lily replied, rolling her eyes and climbing into the sidecar. "It's an it."
"Her," Bess whispered as she threw her leg over the bike, trying to keep on the invisibility cloak at the same time. She tried twice before she gave up and whispered, "it's not going to work. I can't keep the bloody thing on."
"What Moody doesn't know..." Sirius replied, taking out his wand and sneaking a glance over at Moody, who had his back to them now and was mounting his broom, still watching every corner of the street as if they'd be attacked at any moment.
Bess stood in front of Sirius and placed her hands around his waist. Confirming where she was, he gently opened the invisibility cloak and flicked his wand.
Bess felt the now familiar feeling of something slivering down her body as the disillusionment charm took hold, and looked down, removing the cloak to find that she was near invisible now.
"Thanks pup," she whispered, kissing him slyly, pulling back and shoving the cloak into her bag.
This time, she had no trouble as she threw her leg over the cool black leather seat. She couldn't help but feel jealous of Sirius as he sat down in front of her - she wished she could look as cool and at home on the bike as he did.
"Moody?" she asked in a loud whisper, realising that the street lamps were probably all broken now. "Will the lights come back on when we leave?"
Moody shook his head.
"Could you leave magical lights then? I don't like the idea of leaving a whole street in darkness," she whispered, remembering when she was little and was deathly afraid of the dark.
"They'll be fixed soon enough," he said, not looking around.
"I can stay here, if you'd like?" she replied, beginning to swing her leg over the motorcycle and out from behind Sirius.
Moody let out an exasperated breath and asked, "Black, is she...?"
"Yup," Sirius replied with a small laugh, "she's almost off..."
"Fine. I'll magic the lights on when we leave," Moody replied, and Bess smiled as she straddled the bike again. She could see Fabian, Gideon and James' shoulders shaking as they tried not to laugh.
Sirius waited for her to move forwards and wrap her arms around his middle before he turned the key and the engine roared to life.
"Won't you be cold?" Bess practically shouted over the sound of the engine, and Sirius just shook his head and laughed.
"First one back has to cook when Ma and Pa come over to dinner," he called to James, who grinned and nodded from where he was already hovering above the ground on his broom.
"Three... two... one..." Moody called.
A slightly peaky looking Lily said, "I don't like thi-"
She was cut off by her own shriek as Sirius pressed a button and turned the handlebars, launching the trio into the sky the instant Moody said, "Go."
Bess held on for her life, sliding backwards slightly on the seat. She tightened her arms around Sirius' waist and pulled her chest flush to his back, her thighs clenching around his hips, anchoring herself to him and the bike as they flew through the night's sky.
She turned her head just in time to see a flash and watched as a few balls of light flew from the tip of Moody's wand. They split apart and settled into the streetlights, bathing the street in a bright white glow. She smiled - since Moody didn't have a deluminator, he'd left little balls of magical light at every streetlamp.
As they climbed higher, but still low enough to be at window level, she shouted, "Someone will see us!" but Sirius didn't answer as he turned the bike sharply, narrowly avoiding the top of a building, following Moody closely.
Bess could hear James' laugh somewhere in front of them, and shut her eyes, burying her face into Sirius' back when the bike seemed to gather even more momentum, hurtling up towards the clouds at enormous speed.
She felt sick - she normally had a fear of heights, hated rollercoasters because of the adrenaline rush, and hated the feeling in the pit of her stomach when planes took off, and this reminded her too much of all of those. But with her eyes closed, it was somehow worse. So she opened them and stared over Sirius' shoulder, imagining that it was all just a daydream, again, immensely glad that no one could see her face.
She tried to remember what James had said when she'd flown with him... something about letting go? she thought, but she couldn't be sure. It took her until they flew through the clouds to remember what it was - JUST LET GO AND ENJOY IT.
And so she did. For the next hour and a half - only because Moody made them take a ridiculous detour - she enjoyed the ride and the closeness to Sirius. She smiled as the fear felt away and they glided through the sky, the reassuring rumble of the motorbike beneath her.
Occasionally Sirius would reach a hand up to hold hers at his chest, or move one down to gently rub her thigh and knee, but it only lasted for a few moments each time before Lily noticed and shouted at him for prioritising touching up his girlfriend over their collective safety. Each time Sirius laughed and shook his head, but removed his hand and secured both on the handlebars.
Finally, they approached Coral Cottage, the Headquarters of the Order, and Bess smiled as they began their descent - it was much better than the take off. They bounced slightly when they landed on the large lawn outside the cottage. The soft thumps and sudden stop made Lily squeal and Sirius laugh as James launched himself off his broom and ran to 'save' his girlfriend.
"I honestly don't know how you do it," Lily said as James helped her get out of the sidecar. "I felt so out of control."
"It's nice to relinquish control sometimes," James said with a smile, "it's riskier that way."
"Yeah, well, I'll leave all of that to you," she replied, leaning in to peck him on the lips.
Bess turned her gaze away from the couple and waited for Sirius to get off before she followed, her legs shaking slightly as the blood rushed back into them and she stood for the first time in a while.
"You okay, love?" Sirius asked, reaching out to where he thought she was. Bess smiled to herself, realising that he couldn't see her properly in the darkness, she was still disillusioned, and so she let him try to figure out where she was for a while, dodging around him whenever he'd get close, playing with him. James, Lily, Fabian and Gideon watched on, laughing, while Margot and Moody walked inside. This went on for around five minutes, continuing long after Remus had joined the group, only stopping when Bess accidentally let out a laugh and gave up her position.
Sirius flicked his wand at her and this time she felt the trickling down her spine and looked down to see her hands were now visible. She smiled at her outfit - joggers and a comfy jumper was something she would have worn for a day of slobbing around at home in 2016, and here she was, in 1977 having just flown on her boyfriend's motorcycle.
"Much better," Sirius whispered, hooking a finger under her chin and leaning in to capturing her lips in a long, intense kiss which made her toes curl and the group around them groan, gag, and complain about PDAs.
He pulled away and rested his forehead to Bess'. "I missed you," he whispered, reaching up a hand to cup her jaw. "When I heard what happened I..." he trailed off for a moment before he ducked his head again and kissed her, using his other hand which was sitting on her waist, to pull her in even closer.
"All right, inside, all of you," Moody called, making Bess and Sirius part as they turned to stare in shock at the wizard, who was stood in the doorway to the cottage, no longer wearing his coat. "And you two," he added, pointing to Bess and Sirius. "I'm sure if Boneses wanted to christen their lawn they would've done it themselves."
Bess' mouth dropped open in shock, but Sirius joined their group of friends in laughing. She was still mortified when they made it into the house.
Before they walked into the dining room, she turned to give Remus a hug hello, and asked if he was okay. Passing them, James said something about Bess stalling, before walking into the dining room with Lily.
Remus smirked and rolled his eyes at Bess' checks, before the smile dropped off his face and he said, "I'm not the one who was out there fighting," in a somewhat morose and bitter tone.
Bess nodded and replied, "Exactly. I think sometimes that it's the waiting that's hard, not just the doing."
She didn't miss his thoughtful look, or the way he hung his head slightly as he passed through the threshold of the dining room, which was, from the sounds of things, filled with people.
"He'll be fine soon, you'll see," Sirius whispered, holding her back from entering the room. "We were all just really worried about you. Everyone's staying at ours tonight, hope that's okay?"
Bess nodded and didn't mention that she'd hoped it would just be her and Sirius for a week at least - she missed his company and just wanted to be selfish and spend all of the time she could with him, alone.
Still, as if he knew what she was thinking, Sirius added, "It's just for tonight, maybe tomorrow, love, then we'll be alone again, you'll see."
"Maybe, but it's the full moon on Friday," she whispered back, frowning in thought. Sirius' arms tightened around her.
"I know."
Bess didn't need to be a mind reader to know what he was thinking - it was the full moon, which meant that there was a chance she'd be running for her life in just a week. No wonder everyone had been extra worried about her.
She smiled up at him and leant in to place a quick peck on his chin. "It'll be okay. Happy for everyone to stay with us. Maybe Lily could keep me company while you're with Remus on Friday?"
"We'll see," he replied, kissing her on the forehead. "I don't know if I'll go this time."
"Sirius, he's your best friend. I'll be fine with Lily for one night. He needs you."
He smiled gratefully, sighed, and led her into the dining room, joining their small group of friends who were standing just to the left of the doorway.
Bess looked around to see a rather chaotic scene - most were Order members she knew from the last meeting, but there were a few new faces. There were around thirty people and counting. They were standing or sitting in small groups, nursing drinks, eating bowls of soup with bread, or just chatting. In the corner, Bess saw four stations set up with a couple of witches and wizards tending to injured parties who were wincing, crying out in pain, or whimpering as the Healers did their jobs.
"Why aren't they at the hospital?" Bess asked, frowning, unable to take her eyes off the scene.
"Some are Aurors, they just find it easier to deal with the injuries here. For some people who work in... other professions... it's easier to just get patched up here and then go back to the office and pretend they weren't at the fight. Others are just here because they want to hear from Dumbledore," Remus replied, looking somewhat pleased that he knew something the others didn't. "It's the Order, remember, it might have been set up by the Ministry and Dumbledore, but they still need to hide. What if the Death Eaters unmasked us all?"
Bess nodded and tuned out the rest of the conversation as she scanned the crowd. Finally, she sighed as she found Jasper. Standing next to him was a tall mid-to-late-twenties black wizard. He was wearing black robes, and had a hoop through his ear. Bess recognised him instantly - Kingsley!
When Jasper caught her eye he grinned and waved at her, motioning towards Kingsley. Bess, who hadn't met the wizard at the last Order meeting after all, bounced up an down enthusiastically and waved at Shacklebolt, who simply laughed and nodded at her. She was wondering why Kingsley was wearing such dark robes, when she realised that Jasper was as well, as was the man the duo were talking to. She wondered if this was their current Auror uniform.
Her thoughts were interrupted as a couple of people staggered through the open door. A man was holding a woman up, his arm around her waist. She was crying and clutching her leg, which looked in bad shape.
"Injured? Healing station's over there," a man said, pointing over to the far corner of the room.
Bess watched as the duo staggered over to the station, skipping the line completely, helped along by Edgar Bones who'd been standing with a group towards the middle of the room.
"I'm fine," Bess replied, shrugging off Sirius, who tried to push her towards the healing station, wanting to get her to join the queue of injured witches and wizards. "Really," she added in a softer tone, taking Sirius' hand in hers.
"No, you're not," Sirius replied impatiently, but he didn't try to move her again.
"I'm. Fine," she repeated in an exasperated tone as she reached up to move the hair that was falling into his eyes.
Sirius clenched his jaw but didn't say anything at her stubbornness. They both knew he'd do the same thing if confronted with a room filled with people who had bad injuries.
"Pup, I'm really fine, okay? Look over there," she said, gesturing over, "there are people who are actually hurt. If it really means that much to you, then when the healers are done with them, I'll go over, okay?"
Sirius nodded and let her hand go as he snaked his arm around her waist, tucking her under into his side. For the next fifteen minutes they stood by the entrance of the room with their friends, Sirius leaning against the wall, Bess leaning against him. As time went on, the adrenaline and sleep-filled grogginess she'd been feeling completely went. The pain potion was already beginning to wear off, and Bess began to shake from the aches in her arms and legs and the nausea she could feel in her stomach and throat.
"You okay love?" Sirius asked in a concerned tone.
"Just a bit hungry and cold," she partially lied. She really didn't think her predicament required much attention, and she really had had worse... and whatever pain she was feeling didn't stop the fact that she really was starving now, and feeling lightheaded from that, and a lack of liquids over the day.
"Soup?" he asked, and Bess shook her head.
"No, thank you. I just want to go to bed," she replied as he conjured a cup of water for her. She took it gratefully and sipped the cool liquid. "Need to warm up a bit."
"You did spent most of the day wearing tiny shorts..." Sirius whispered into her hair, and Bess tried not to smile at the fact that he'd obviously checked her out at some point over the day, as she didn't think he'd been able to see her legs properly in the park and now she was wearing the oversized joggers.
"They're not tiny, they're not even that small, you just-"
"Tiny. You couldn't fit a wand in those pockets," he whispered, and Bess looked up with a smile on her face to see him grinning down at her.
"That's what I told Moody!" she said in an excited tone, and Sirius leant in to rub his nose against hers gently.
"We'll get you home to some food and a good bed when we're done here, okay? We just have to wait for- speak of the devils," Sirius said, trailing off as Moody and Dumbledore entered the room and all conversation cut off immediately.
"Thank you all for staying, and thank you all for fighting today. I would like us to share a moment of silence for our fallen," Dumbledore said, bowing his head and clasping his hands together in front of him. Everyone followed suit, and the silence was only broken when he raised his head and spoke again. "The attack on Covent Garden wasn't random, as we suspected. I have been informed that the Death Eaters were able to remove Derrick and Erasma Grangle from their premises before we arrived."
Bess didn't know who he was talking about, and neither, it seemed, did her friends. The other Order members grimaced or winced at the names though, so Bess knew that they must have been important.
"We're lucky that Moody, Serpen and Shacklebolt were in the area already, and able to send for reinforcements within moments of the beginning of the attack," Dumbledore continued, indicating the three wizards with a wave of his hand. "Otherwise we may have lost more Muggles."
"I've never been so grateful that Moody took the long route before," Jasper called out, a giant cheeky grin on his face, and his words were met with laughter, even from Dumbledore.
"Well, today we were able to apprehend a number of Death Eaters, and we still have Aurors in the field tracking others down," Dumbledore continued. "However, as you will all know, this will not truly dampen the numbers of foes we have. They will only be replaced with more. So please, continue to be vigilant, continue to stay safe, and continue to trust wisely.
"That being said, as a result of the attack, and needing to close ranks in case any one of us has been compromised, we will be halting new Order admissions for the time being," Moody said, stepping forwards. "Any contacts you've made at the moment, put them on ice. We will be revisiting them soon, but we need time to regroup and ensure that our names and activities have remained a secret from Voldemort and his band of arseholes. Understood?"
There were nods throughout the room, but Bess, against her own better judgement and against her own feelings, asked, "Wait, what about Peter. Can he still come to the next meeting?"
Dumbledore's brow furrowed as he turned to her evidently trying to figure out why she wanted Peter to join, when they both knew that he was the future spy. "No, I'm afraid not. For now, he will be unable to join us. Please let him know that we will be in touch once we have revisited the ban."
Bess pursed her lips and frowned, looking down at the ground. A second later she flicked her eyes to Dumbledore, trying to let him know that she was just acting. He nodded ever so slightly, and she continued to try not to show her secret happiness at the news that Peter couldn't join yet, instead projecting upset for her 'friend' instead.
"It's okay, he'll understand," James whispered, placing a reassuring hand on Bess' shoulder. "He knows you're trying to get him in."
"But what if-?" she asked, trailing off and frowning at the ground again.
"He knows, Bess, he knows you're trying. He doesn't hate you," Remus replied, nudging her arm slightly.
Sirius placed a kiss to her temple and whispered, "He'll be pleased you're this upset though, you look like someone just came along and stepped on your ice cream!"
Bess let out a breath of a laugh and nodded, turning to rest her cheek on Sirius' chest as she watched Moody and Dumbledore, who were both talking to the room at large again.
"We believe that there will be more attacks this summer, and so we would ask you all to be available at a moment's notice," Dumbledore said, earning a few verbal assents, but mainly nods. "Thank you all."
"We'll be in touch regarding the next meeting. For now, heal up. I would say tomorrow's a new day, but it's already three a.m, so it's already tomorrow. Fenwick, Bones, Darljuck? You're with me in ten. Everyone else, remember this is Edgar and Beatrice's house, so get cleaned up and get out."
Laughter filled the room again as Edgar said, "Yes, please leave," in a deadpan voice.
Bess couldn't tell if he was joking or not, but from the fact that everyone else was smiling and going back to their conversations, she determined that he was, and allowed herself to laugh.
"Been to the healing station yet?" Moody asked gruffly, coming to stand next to Sirius, Bess, Remus, James and Lily.
Bess wasn't happy when she looked up and saw Dumbledore joining them as well.
She knew that the groups around them would now be trying to hear what they were saying, and was very glad that Extendable Ears weren't a thing yet.
"Have you?" she asked, raising a defiant eyebrow.
Moody narrowed his eyes. "Got the shakes yet?" he asked, and Bess tried to stop herself from moving at all for a moment.
"No," she lied, trying to stop herself from crossing her arms and pouting.
"Black?" Moody asked, his gaze flicking to Sirius' for a moment.
Sirius replied immediately, "Yeah, for a few minutes. Said she was cold and hungry."
Moody just nodded. "Kinter?" he called across the room, waiting for a deep male voice to call back. "This one's next. Shakes, lethargy, hunger, cuts and bruises."
"I'm. Fine!" Bess cried indignantly. "He should be next! He's bleeding out!" she said, gesturing towards the man who was standing with Jasper and Kingsley. He was holding onto his arm, which was bloodied, and had what looked like a large cut across the bicep.
He had short, cropped brown hair, strong, thick eyebrows sitting over his deep brown eyes, and a smattering of freckles across his nose. Broad shoulders made him look taller than he was - standing next to Jasper he was a few inches shorter so around six foot tall - and although they looked a similar age, he had a stoic presence to him.
"Don't bring me into this!" the unknown man replied with an incredulous but joy filled laugh. "D'you hear this, Kings?" he asked, laughing, elbowing Kingsley in the side. "Trying to take me down with her while I'm just minding my own business waiting for my wife? Bleeding out? Do you remember Glasgow? That was bleeding!"
"Longbottom," Moody warned, shaking his head once. "The young ones don't need to hear about that quite yet."
Bess gasped as she realised who this was - Frank Longbottom. She felt a rush tingle through her body and head as she began to remember the Longbottoms and what happened to them. Before her eyes shone, she squeezed them shut and covered her face with her hands, ducking her head down as tears sprang to her eyes while she remembered how they'd been taken from Neville and tortured into insanity.
It never ceased to amaze her what she did and didn't remember until her memory was jogged. Sometimes she wished she wouldn't remember things.
She was jolted out of her thoughts as Moody growled, "Head hurting too now? Like I said, you're next, Coulson. The after effects of the Cruciatus curse shouldn't be underplayed."
"The Cruc- you were tortured?" Sirius asked, moving round to stare down at her with wide eyes.
"For a second," she replied, shaking her head, trying to avoid his eye. She gestured to Moody and said, "he almost lost an eye."
"Half a minute from what I remember," Moody growled. "And you're exaggerating about the eye. It was just a scratch."
Bess wondered if it really had been half a minute under the curse - she hadn't thought it had.
"Half a- Bess! Half a minute! And you've been just walking around like nothing happened?" Sirius asked in a rather loud and worried voice, ducking his head to try and see her face. "Love!"
"It wasn't that bad," she said, shaking her head but still staring at the ground. "And I didn't want any fuss!"
"You really need to rest, Bess, last night, and now torture? You seriously can't keep pretending you're fine. You have to let us take care of you, you can't be so stoic all the time," Lily said with her arms crossed and a deep frown on her face, clearly angry at Bess for lying to them all.
Sirius did a doubletake between the two girls and Bess winced before he even began speaking.
"What happened last night?" he asked Lily, knowing that he wouldn't get a straight answer from Bess right now.
Bess pursed her lips as she glared at the floor, thinking that Lily shouldn't have said anything.
"She had a..." Lily started, trailing off as if unsure how to say 'a vision' without letting everyone in on the secret of Bess' occasional seer abilities.
"You had another flashback?" Dumbledore asked, saving Lily from having to find something to say.
Bess nodded, still staring at the ground.
"You were alone?" Dumbledore asked, and Bess nodded again. "Did you recognise anyone?" he asked next, and again, Bess nodded. "You will return to Hogwarts tonight and-"
Bess knew exactly what would happen next - she'd plead with Dumbledore not to make her go anywhere, she'd cry, Sirius would comfort her, and then somehow she'd end up back at Hogwarts, having lacked the mental strength to out-argue everyone around her.
So instead of letting her panic take over, she took a deep breath, tried to calm her heart and head and reminded herself that she was a twenty-one year old woman who could do whatever she wanted.
She looked Dumbledore straight in the eye and said, "No. I will see Kinter, and then I will be going home with Sirius. When I am ready, I will tell you what I remembered, but only when I'm ready. None of it matters at the moment, and I need Sirius' help to decipher part of it anyway."
Dumbledore looked as though he wanted to argue for a moment, but then he closed his mouth and nodded. "What do you need assistance with?"
Bess frowned and looked down at her bag. She checked around her and then reached in to grab the piece of parchment she'd scribbled down the star pattern on. She removed it and ignored Dumbledore's hand, which was outstretched towards her, instead handing it to Sirius.
Sirius frowned at her, but took the parchment and moved to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle and looking down at the scribbles over her shoulder.
"What is it?" he asked.
"The Black family clock I think," she whispered back, and felt him still behind her. "Or a copy," she added quickly. "It wasn't in your parent's house."
"There are only two, and I know who has the other one," he replied in an emotionless tone, and Bess could tell that he was fighting hard not to react to his memories of his parent's home.
"What does it mean?" she asked, reaching her arms behind her, her hands meeting at his lower back, giving him a backwards hug as reassurance that he was safe and with her now, and wouldn't be going back to that hellhole.
He tightened his arms around her and sighed, the air gently moving the curls at the side of her head. He replied, "I can't tell everything, I'm guessing you just wrote down what you could remember?"
Bess nodded and looked over her shoulder at Sirius, who was now frowning, his lips pressed together.
He sighed again and said, "There's no real date here, but when I left last summer this," he said, pointing to a particular mark, "was here," he pointed at another place on the parchment, "which means that the year would be... I don't know..." he shrugged. "It could be now, it could be next year. I just know it's close."
"If you could read the clock yourself, would you be able to decipher it?" Dumbledore asked quietly.
Sirius' head snapped up. "What? Yes... definitely. But how?"
"Dumbledore has a pensieve," Bess whispered loudly enough that James, Remus and Lily would hear as well. She could tell they were feeling left out of the conversation, standing in the group but not following everything that were saying.
"Merlin. That's... that's pretty cool," Sirius replied, perking up a little bit.
Bess looked to Lily, who was frowning, and then to James and Remus, who looked equally perplexed. "I'll explain later," she mumbled, and received nods and thanks in response.
"Bess, within the week I would like to see you and Mr. Black in my office. I think we need to take another look at this flashback, if you'd be willing?"
Bess nodded immediately. "As long as I have time with Sirius, and as long as he comes too, I'm happy with that."
The ghost of a smile flittered across Dumbledore's features before it left and he nodded curtly at the teens and turned around, sweeping from the room.
"I don't know many people who can talk to Albus Dumbledore like that and get away with it," Moody growled, narrowing his eyes at Bess.
She smiled and released her arms from around Sirius, raising an eyebrow at Moody. "Yeah? Well, you dobbed me in so..." She moved forwards to stand on a chair and shouted, "WHO WAS MOODY'S INITIAL BACK-UP AT COVENT GARDEN?"
Some of the people standing and sitting around looked at each other for a few moments, but then five hands raised. Bess grinned as she recognised Jasper in the mix, and he smiled back at her.
"Moody's got something to say to you all!" she called, before she jumped off the chair and gestured for Moody to step forwards, mouthing, 'don't you owe someone an apology?'
Moody glared for a moment before he smiled and then laughed outright. "Yes, fine! Shacklebolt, Serpen, Bones, Bones, and Fenwick, good job. Thanks for holding them off until I got there to save the day, as usual!" This was met with a smattering of laughs and shakes of the head, "and Longbottom, thank your wife, will you? Still don't know why such a talented witch puts up with you!"
"What is this? Not only am I injured, but I'm the cool one!" Frank called back.
Kingsley snorted and then mumbled something that Bess thought sounded like, "Yeah right," and earned himself a slap around the back of the head from Frank.
"Fuck's sake F! You got blood in my hair!" Kingsley complained, ducking and raising a hand to the back of his head, grimacing as he felt what must have been a wetness there.
"What hair? Thinning a bit, aren't we? Bet you'll be bald by forty!" Frank teased, earning himself a sharp slap to his injured arm. "You bastard!" he wheezed, clutching his bicep and glaring at Kingsley who was now laughing alongside Jasper. Within seconds his annoyance had gone and he was laughing with the others.
"All right, all right, calm down! Also, thanks to Coulson here. Reckon it's her fault I'm standing here with two normal eyes!"
Bess ducked her head and blushed as James and Sirius shook her shoulders and grinned.
"Now, Healers," Moody commanded, pointing at Bess.
Bess watched Jasper, Kingsley and Frank, who were all still laughing, as Sirius moved her towards the Healers. She knew that Kingsley would retain his humour into the next war, but would Jasper? Would she be able to save Frank?
When they reached Kinter, an older Healer with greying hair and a permanent annoyed look on his face, Sirius was dismissed back over to the other side of the room, and Bess, resigned to her fate and ready to get the healing process over and done with so she could go home and rest, moved towards a comfortable armchair in the midst of the makeshift healing station.
She made eye contact with the witch being treated for a leg injury and smiled awkwardly as she simply nodded and then went back to wincing while a green and lumpy looking cream was applied to what looked like a large burn.
"Right. Where does it hurt?" Kinter asked, and Bess shrugged and gestured vaguely about her person.
"Everywhere I guess..." she said, finally admitting the truth out loud as she sat down with a groan.
"Right, one second," he said, waving his wand around. His eyes widened slowly and he nodded.
"I'll have to see your legs and arms," he said with an apologetic look.
Bess simply nodded and stood again to remove the jogging bottoms Moody had given her, revealing her injured legs and jean shorts underneath. Next she pulled the jumper over her head and sank back down into the chair, hoping that she wasn't getting any blood on it. She didn't want to be in the doghouse with Beatrice and Edgar.
Kinter waved his wand again and eyed up her wounds before nodding to himself. He reached into a bag and asked, "Can you lift the left side of your top? Your cuts are mainly superficial but I need to check about the glass. What happened?"
"Shop windows shattered around us. I probably wasn't careful enough when I pushed Moody out the way," Bess replied, lifting up her top to reveal her left side. Her jean shorts were high waisted and so she didn't mind much about showing a little of her skin. If she told the truth, she was past caring at this point - she'd spent months in hospital showing off her scars to Healers to do their work. As long as she wasn't in her underwear in front of the entire room, she didn't mind.
"You didn't feel this?" Kinter asked as he removed a large pot from the bag and pointed to a slither of glass poking out from between one of Bess' ribs. He placed the pot on a small table in between him and the next Healer along.
Bess shook her head and frowned down at it. "No, sorry..."
"Drink this," he said, reaching into his bag to pull out a pain potion.
"I'm good, thank you though. I had one about two hours ago," she replied, shaking her head at the potion. "Is it deep?" she asked, looking down at the glass again. She didn't know how she'd not felt it.
Kinter sent her a weird look but lowered the potion back to the table. "No. Just surface, and doesn't look too bad, just need to slide it out and then I'll heal it. Same glass as Moody you say?"
Bess nodded and barely winced as he removed the glass and patched her up. He tended to her grazes next - both palms and both knees were cured with waves of a wand and some strong smelling pink cream which reminded her of TCP.
Next, he began to prod and poke her knees and upper arms. "You've got extensive bruising around here," he said, "but it doesn't look too bad at first glance."
"I don't show bruises easily. Especially deep ones," she replied, shifting slightly for him to get a better angle.
As he worked Bess breathed in and out slowly, remaining silent and staring at the floor in front of her, focussing on clearing her mind instead of the pain and discomfort she was feeling - it felt like electric shocks wherever his wand met skin.
It reminded her of when Sirius healed her bruise after Snape attacked her back in October. She wondered if he'd used the same spells as the Kinter was using now. She stayed staring at the ground for a few minutes as Kinter worked and only moved when he'd finished healing one bruise and started on the next, healing cuts and bruises on her legs, arms, side, face and...
"Right, worst 'til last. Turn around and lift your top again?" he asked.
"Makes sense," she replied, rolling her eyes and doing as instructed, straddling the chair and facing the wall. "My back's the bit that hurt the most," she added as she lifted her top.
"Merlin," Kinter whispered, and Bess almost reacted.
Almost. She knew it must be bad - she'd been feeling the aches and pains even through the pain potion - but she didn't really want to know how bad it was.
"Curable?" she asked with a yawn.
"Definitely. It's just one giant bruise with some scrapes. It'll just take me a bit longer than the others," he replied, and Bess nodded, crossed her arms and placed her forearms onto the chair back. She rested her head on her arms and stared down at her lap.
"Do you know how this happened?" he asked as Bess felt a few sharp nicks before what felt like cool water was applied.
"Uh... yeah... yeah, I was at Russell Square Station... I- I was crushed a bit trying to get out under the invisibility cloak," she replied, tripping over her words as she recalled being pushed into a wall by the multitude of people trying to get out of the station, her back scraping against the wall as she was kicked and pushed and suffocated under the invisibility cloak while people barrelled into her.
"And you didn't notice the pain?" he asked incredulously.
"Of course I did, but I've had worse and honestly, I haven't had time to feel most of the pain until I sat down," she admitted, sighing as she felt some sharp scrapes.
"You should've come straight over here," he muttered in an annoyed tone.
"Sorry, I just thought there were more important people to help first," she admitted.
"Yes, well, there's a reason your body was blocking everything out before. It's called shock," he replied, and Bess could tell he was shaking his head.
She hadn't been lying - she really hadn't felt it as much as now, and now she felt as though her whole body was simmering as it recovered from the electric like shocks which had cured her bruising, and now the scrapes and tugs and aches of whatever the Healer was doing to help cure her back.
"Can we hurry this up? I'm really tired," she said, yawning again. She was so done with it all and just wanted to be in bed.
Kinter didn't reply, but five minutes later let Bess leave after she'd drunk a potion to help with the after effects of the torture curse, and with the promise that she'd down another pain potion if she needed it, have a good nights' rest, and see him at the next meeting for a check-up.
"Right. Home? Honestly, I'm exhausted," she groaned, holding Sirius' hand.
"Well that didn't look like, 'not that bad.' What did Kinter say?" he asked, his jaw clenched as he wrapped his arms around her. She relayed the messages and he nodded slowly, kissing her on the forehead. "Okay, we'll apparate home then. James, Lily and Remus just left, they're going to pick up some dinner from Ma's for us all. Hopefully they'll be back before us. Edgar said I can leave the bike here tonight so I'll come and pick it up in the morning," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, leading her towards the door.
She waved at Jasper as they left the room, and noticed that no one in his group was laughing anymore. It wouldn't be until the next morning that she'd wake up and realise that everyone in the room had been able to see her scars and injuries as Kinter healed them, not just Sirius.
When they reached the front door, Sirius pulled out a small piece of paper and handed it to her, saying, "Memorise this, love."
Sirius Black's residence can be found at 49B Grosvenor Square, London
Bess turned to look at Sirius, her eyes wide and her eyebrow raised, handing the note back.
"What?" he asked, taking the piece of paper from her and setting it alight with the tip of his wand.
"I knew you had money now, but I didn't realise you had money! How did it never come up in conversation that your flat is in super rich land?"
"It's our flat, and it's not that impressive..." he muttered. "It's still full of Uncle Alph's stuff. It'll take years to get to the second floor... And you can't say anything, you grew up in London too."
"Uh, no. I grew up in outer London, that's different, and cheaper. You grew up in a multi-storey house in the middle of London... rich boy," she replied, rolling her eyes, sending him a teasing smile.
"Yeah, yeah, how about we just get you home, eh?" he asked with a laugh, pulling her closer to him. "Ready?"
"I've been ready for months," she replied, and Sirius leant down, rubbed his nose against hers, and then shifted away from her, turning on the spot.
xXx
A/N:
*dances* it's the flat time! Which means a bit of fflluuffff!
Also, I can't believe this, but I've got over 300 reviews, over 300 people following the story, and I'm going to cross 300,000 words next chapter, which will be the 60th chapter since I started this story in January. Absolutely crazy to me, thank you all so much for sticking with me and the story!
Thank you to everyone reading, reviewing, following and favouriting, especially my lovely reviewers for last chapter, AvalonRivers, CharlotteGryffindor, Ghost Claw 001, HorseGirl16, and BlueHairedRaven - (thank you so much! I'm so glad you like it! I aim for at least a chapter every week, but often post more. I had a lull of two or three weeks when I didn't post, but on average since I started, I've posted every 3 days I think... Some chapters like the last two only take me a few hours to write, whereas ones like this one take me a few days, so it's variable, but yeah, should hopefully only be another few days before I have another chapter for you.)