They arrived with a small pop in a hallway. Well, Bess was sure it could be called a hallway, but it was grander - there was a gigantic staircase which wound round, snaking downstairs in large loops, down at least three floors before it hit the bottom floor.
The top of the staircase ended and the hallway led to the door which they were standing in front of.
Bess' good mood vanished when her eyes fell on to the freshly painted red double door with golden handles, knockers, letterbox and number.
They were stood on a doormat, Bess realised when she looked down, which said, Welcome to the Dog House. She was sure that she'd find it funny soon, but at that moment she just didn't have the mental capacity to laugh at it.
"James got it for me," Sirius muttered, rolling his eyes at the mat. "We can change it."
"No, no, it's very fitting. And it's not like I'll see it anyway," Bess replied, yawning and covering her mouth with her hand as she tried and failed to hide her apprehension.
"Well..." Sirius replied, looking sheepish, "I guess this is it..."
Bess nodded and rubbed her face roughly. They both knew that the moment Bess set foot inside the flat she wouldn't leave until they either went out to an Order meeting, Greyback and Delbert were no longer an issue, or they were headed back to Hogwarts.
"I'm so-" Sirius began.
"Don't. Please?" Bess asked, staring at the large gold 49B on the door, her eyes tracing the numbers and letter as if trying to commit them to memory. "Let's just go in and get it over with. I want to go to bed, so I'll deal with the finality of it all in the morning."
"Okay," Sirius replied, taking in a deep breath. "Uh- okay, so I just need to give you official access," he said, waving his wand. "Put your hand on the door?" he asked, and Bess placed her palm on the painted wood.
The double door glowed for a moment, emitting a soft blue light, and then settled back to normal.
"There. Now if you want to you can come and-"
"I really appreciate this, but can we just go in?" she asked somewhat impatiently, immediately regretting her tone.
Sirius just nodded and opened one of the doors, swinging it open to reveal a long hallway with multiple doors leading off it. It seemed to lead into a room at the end of it. They stepped over the threshold and he closed the door behind them.
"Sorry," Bess whispered, stepping closer to Sirius. "I'm just... I'm just exhausted and everywhere aches, and..."
"Love, you don't need to explain. I saw the... I saw your injuries..." he sighed and looked down at the ground before his eyes trailed over the hallway. "I just hope I've done a good enough job so far and you like it here... I've tried to brighten it up a bit, and got some bits you might... Merlin, it's pretty shit, isn't it? I didn't think about it until I got back here earlier and... You're going to be in here for over eight weeks..."
Bess placed a calming hand on his forearm. "Pup, you're here, so I love it already."
Sirius smiled, though it didn't stop the sadness in his eyes. He sighed and held her hand in his. "Do you want the tour now?"
"Not... Not tonight?" she asked with a grimace. She couldn't think of anything worse right now than a long tour when she just wanted to be asleep.
"Okay, then do you want a shower or something before everyone else gets here?" he asked, frowning. "We were thinking we could all eat together?"
"No. No, I'm not hungry," she replied, shaking her head and sighing. She removed her hand from his arm and absentmindedly scratched her left forearm.
"Hey," Sirius said, pulling her hand back into his, stopping her from continuing her nervous habit. Bess bit her lip instead and stared at the ground. "Love, you're starving."
"I just need to sleep," she replied, shaking her head and yawning yet again.
Closing her eyes, she leant against the wall and raised a hand to her brow, rubbing her forehead. Still holding onto her other hand, Sirius gently rubbed his thumb over her palm.
"Okay... how about I make you a big breakfast in the morning?" he asked in a softer tone. "I'll stay up to make sure everyone gets here in one piece and then I'll join you?"
"Yeah. If that's okay with you?" she asked, unable to hold in yet another yawn.
"'course. Come with me," he replied, gently pulling her along the hallway.
Bess kept her eyes closed, not wanting to see the flat properly until the morning, and allowed Sirius to lead her to their bedroom. Finally, she heard a door click closed and Sirius stopped her.
"Here, love," Sirius said, and Bess opened her eyes to see him holding out a hair tie to her. She took it gratefully and Sirius turned away to arrange the covers on the bed.
She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and slipped off her bag, top and shorts, leaving her clad in her underwear. She moved forwards and gently tugged at the bottom of Sirius' t-shirt.
"Can I wear this please?" she asked sleepily, as she moved the bottom of his t-shirt up to his chest, her eyes already closing again.
She heard Sirius chuckle and smiled to herself, her eyes still closed, as she heard the rustle of fabric and then felt the warm t-shirt pulled over her head. She slipped her arms through the holes and then reached up to her back to undo her bra and slid the loops off her arms. She let the bra fall to the floor as she stumbled towards the bed and sank into it.
"You should've been in your family house," she murmured groggily, hugging her 'wonderful, perfect' pillow.
"What? Why?" Sirius asked, alarm evident in his voice.
"Because-" Bess replied, yawning again and snuggling into the pillows. She forgot what she was going to say.
"Bess? Love? Why?" he asked again, rubbing her back to try and keep her awake enough to answer.
"Because then-" she said, falling asleep before she finished her thought or sentence.
"Bess!" Sirius asked again, this time more insistent, worry evident in his voice.
"Oh, sorry, because then you could say 'nice bed, mind if I slither in?'" she whispered, trailing off at the end and beginning to succumb to sleep once more. "Get it?"
"Oh love, that was awful and you almost gave me a heart attack," he sighed, obviously not impressed with her pun. Still, he pulled the cover up over her, all the way to her neck.
"Thank you, Sirius. I love you," she whispered, falling asleep before she heard his answer.
She woke a few times in the next few hours to see an empty bed and hoped that he was eating something with the others.
Then, when she woke again at around seven to the sun streaming through the windows, she realised she was on her back and could feel the weight of a strong arm across her stomach, Sirius' head on her shoulder.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, kissed the top of his head, and fell asleep again.
When she woke next, Sirius had his arms wrapped around her tightly, and she was lying across his chest this time. She yawned and stretched her legs, checking the time - 11.30 - before trying to move from his embrace.
She smiled and tried not to laugh as Sirius' response was simply to pull her closer to him. She felt like a giant teddy bear.
"Pup, wake up," she laughed, gently rubbing his chest.
When that didn't work, she shook his shoulder and repeated herself.
When that didn't work, she placed a smattering of kisses on his lips, nose, forehead and cheek.
Sirius smiled, his eyes still closed, and sighed. "Now this is what I've been missing all term," he groaned, his eyes opening sleepily to look up at her.
There was a time when Sirius, freshly awake, would have stopped her in her tracks - his grey eyes a deep and swirling colour as he blinked to readjust to the light. His hair, falling across his forehead effortlessly. His lips so rosy. His half smile would have made her weak at the knees. The way his chest felt underneath her hand would have made her sigh. And it would have made her blush when she'd come to realise that he was only wearing his boxers under the covers.
But now was not one of those times.
"Pup, I really need the toilet," she said with a laugh.
Sirius rolled his eyes and let her go, pointing over to a door she hadn't seen last night. Though, truth be told, she hadn't really taken anything in last night.
Their bedroom was smaller than the one at the Potters' she'd stayed in over Christmas, but still marginally bigger than any of her bedrooms before. She and Sirius were on what looked like a king-sized bed with a grey headboard and gold coloured sheets.
The walls, which were a soft white, reflected the light which flowed in through three large windows on the opposite wall to the door leading to the en-suite. Each window had a set of light gold curtains which were hanging open.
There was a long grey bench at the end of the bed, a white door leading to the hallway, another leading to the en-suite, and then another. Bess wanted to ask where that led, but she didn't. Not just yet. Instead, she kept her mouth shut and only once she'd tip toed into the en-suite and closed the door did she give herself the chance to be excited.
She squealed and jumped up and down, spinning in a circle. She stopped in the middle of the bathroom and took it all in - the roll top bath, the walk in shower, the double sink with what looked like white marble - and Bess didn't for a second doubt that it really was marble.
She gave herself another moment before she went to the loo. The smile only dropped off her face when she was washing her hands and the mirror told her she looked nice today, 'if nice means dragged through a hedge backwards! Have a shower! Brush your teeth! Get dressed! Lazy!'. She shook her head as she finally escaped the taunts and walked out into the bedroom.
Crawling back into bed, she lay down next to Sirius again, hovering over him. She placed a hand on his chest, the other ran through his hair as she stared down at him.
Now was the time that she allowed herself to really take him in, really watch his eyes, his lips, his face, as he woke again. Now was the time to enjoy him.
"What?" he asked when his eyes had adjusted to the light again.
"You're so handsome," she whispered, leaning down to place a soft kiss on the tip of his nose.
"You're blind," he chuckled, nudging her until she rolled onto her back. He moved over her and gently placed himself on top of her, her thighs either side of his hips. "But I love you."
"I love you too, pup," she whispered, and smiled up at him.
Something had changed to her psyche and mood, just by sleeping next to Sirius.
She'd been waiting for this moment for months - the waking up with no distractions, no war, no worries, just them.
And now she had it. And it was like a switch was flipped, and she felt the happiest and most care free she had in months. In fact, she felt like she did when she'd just joined Hogwarts, running through the halls with Sirius to escape from Filch. And so she told Sirius that.
For a second she thought that maybe her mood wouldn't last that long, and that maybe she wouldn't be happy for the whole summer, but she shook that away. She'd promised herself she'd try to look on the bright side of everything and try to have at least one happy moment every day.
And it seemed as though Sirius was thinking the same thing.
They stayed there for long, wonderful minutes, kissing and chatting about nothing important - the train ride, their last week at Hogwarts - avoiding Bess' vision and the attacks the previous day. Just enjoying being together again.
They only stopped when they heard a distant thump, a shout, and then silence.
"Come on," Bess said, leaning up to rub her nose against Sirius'. "We should go and check on that."
"Ugh," Sirius groaned. "Do we have to?"
"Mmm, I guess not," Bess replied with a sigh when he buried his face in her neck and began to kiss his way to her collarbone.
"How're your aches this morning?" he asked when he got to her shoulder and pulled the t-shirt she'd stolen from him the night before to the side so that he could kiss her there.
Bess flinched in pain and looked down as Sirius pulled back to hover over her.
"Fine," she said, frowning down at her shoulder. She could see a slight colour change there, and realised it was a large bruise. "I don't remember this one..." she muttered, moving her hand from Sirius' back to her shoulder.
Sirius beat her to it and lightly traced the mark with his fingertips. Bess almost sighed at the care and love he was showing.
"Must've missed it..." he muttered, so quietly that Bess thought he must have been talking to himself. He whispered something unintelligible.
"Pup?" she asked as he frowned at her shoulder.
"Sorry... just trying to work out if it's shallow or deep... you don't normally show bruising this much. Reminds me of that curse back in October. D'you remember?" he asked, still staring at the injury.
Bess nodded, trying not to cry.
"I'll heal it for you if you want?" he asked, looking up at her, a worried look on his face. "Love?"
Bess smiled and lifted her thumb to his forehead, rubbing and easing the wrinkle between his eyebrows. "It's okay, pup, Kinter was bound to have missed one."
"But you're crying..."
"No, no... it's not the pain. It's... sorry," she said, turning her head slightly to the side to wipe away a tear. "I just... you know how I bruise, and you can see it."
"Of course I do. I know you," he replied, still frowning. "And it's obvious, isn't it? Look, it's all blue and yellow."
"I... I know. I don't... I don't know how to explain it... I just... it means a lot to me that you can see it and that you noticed," she said, thinking of all of the times when her bruising had gone unnoticed because of her skin tone and the way her skin and muscles showed her injuries. She couldn't express in words how much it meant to her and made her heart ache that he knew so much about her that he was able to tell she was injured from the smallest of flinches and the smallest of colour changes.
He'd said it was like the one back in October, but it wasn't. That one had been massive, and black and blue. This one was barely discernible.
She shook her head to rid her mind of her negative thoughts and accepted a long, deep kiss from Sirius.
"But it doesn't hurt?" he asked, as he pulled away, reaching over to take his wand from the bedside table.
Bess shook her head and whispered, "No, not that much. It was just when you touched it."
Sirius had to stretch a little bit to reach the table and Bess giggled when he cursed and shuffled almost out of her embrace to stretch further. Finally, he returned with his wand, sat up on his knees and, with a face of concentration, began to heal the bruise.
Bess grimaced as she felt the electric shocks again.
"Sorry love, it'll be over in a minute, okay?" Sirius asked, his voice full of concern as he continued to concentrate on healing her.
"There," he said finally, dropping his wand to the bed. "All done."
He leant down to place a long kiss on her shoulder and Bess couldn't help the shiver that ran down her spine.
She felt his chuckle before she heard it, and she pursed her lips, trying not to smile as she shoved him slightly. From the look on his face, he knew that he'd been kissing a particularly sensitive spot.
"It's not my fault you're so predictable," he murmured, falling back on top of her and moving his kisses to her neck again, over her jaw, kissing away her tears before coming to a stop at her lips. He braced himself on his forearm, his other hand coming up to gently rub his thumb over her jaw to her chin. "But if you want, we could always..." he whispered, leaning in to rub his nose against hers.
"What about breakfast?" she asked as he drew back to stare down at her again.
She bit her lip as she stared into his eyes which were now almost black, one of her hands placed flat on his chest, the other rubbing up and down his back.
Sirius smiled and his gaze flickered from hers, to her lips, and back. "We could-"
They were interrupted by yet another thump and shout this time accompanied by a scream, and then silence.
"It's like... I very much don't want to go and find out what's going on, but I'm also so curious... but then I want to continue this..." Bess said with a playful grimace, wriggling her nose when she finished speaking.
"It's fine," Sirius replied with a groan, rolling off her and shuffling to the side of the bed to stand up. "I'll kill them if they're just messing around, but you're right. If we don't check on them then something could be killing them for me."
"Jesus! What did Uncle Alph leave in here?" Bess asked with wide eyes as she sat up, sitting cross legged, watching Sirius walk over to the third unknown door.
He opened it to reveal a walk in wardrobe. Well, Bess assumed it was a walk in wardrobe, since Sirius disappeared inside it and she heard a few drawers open and shut.
"Dunno, he was a bit private," Sirius called. "Always came to us when he wanted to visit. Not that Mother would have set foot in this flat. Too close to Muggles. Which is hilarious considering she lives in a Muggle area... Fair warning though, I said there're only four bedrooms because on the will notes it said the second floor was a bit of a hoarders paradise. James and I had a little look at Easter and I think it'll take me years to go through everything down there..."
He emerged wearing a pair of pyjama trousers and slippers, and he was holding a small pile of clothes which he chucked at Bess before stalking into the en-suite.
She smiled when she looked down to find a pair of linen shorts, a t-shirt, and a matching pair of underwear - it meant that he'd unpacked her trunk for her already.
She got dressed in a flash and bounced over to the door to wait for Sirius. When they stepped out into the hallway he wrapped his arms around her from behind and placed his chin on her shoulder as they 'waddled' slowly down the passageway together.
"I love how light it all is," she whispered with a content sigh, taking in the walls, which were painted in a pale grey and had white and oak picture frames dotted along them, with more white doors leading off the hall.
"Good. Ma and Pa took pity on me and helped finish off the painting while we were at school. They also did the kitchen, our bathroom, and got some new furniture in if we couldn't salvage any of Uncle Alph's bits... Merlin, I really owe them one," he replied. "Is the grey okay?" he asked, and Bess nodded enthusiastically, leaning over her shoulder to kiss him on the cheek. "I wanted to leave things a bit blank so you could put your mark on the place. You know, since it's your flat too."
"Wait, so the mirror was yours? It's so rude!" Bess said, gasping in mock-shock.
Sirius let out a breath of a laugh and shook his head. "No, I just can't seem to get that off. Think Uncle Alph used a permanent sticking charm or something. There're booby traps all over the flat. He may have left all this to me, but he was a Black through and through. My family love to shove their legacy, attitudes and thoughts down my throat."
Bess held his arms around her when he tried to pull back, and he barked out a laugh.
"Don't worry, eight weeks of constant cuddles starting now..." she whispered, earning herself a kiss on the cheek.
It was only when they heard another shout and thump that they moved apart and Sirius walked ahead of Bess, pulling out his wand. Bess groaned as she realised she'd left hers in her bag which was still somewhere in their room, until Sirius pulled it from his pocket and handed it to her.
"Thanks," she whispered as she took her wand from him, the magic instantly making her feel warm, cosy and even more safe. She was so touched that he'd found it for her.
Her eyes widened as they moved through a large living room, and she stopped in the middle to take everything in - the fireplace, a couple of blue and white sofas and matching armchairs, and... a grand piano in the corner of the room. Windows lined one wall, bathing the open plan living area in the midday light. The view would be wonderful, she knew - they were facing the park, so even though they were on the top floor, she could see greenery from the trees, white buildings, and the bright blue sky outside.
She looked to Sirius, who was standing by another hallway, just watching her, and smiled. Her gaze swept past him and she realised that it felt massive because it was an open plan living area which fed straight into the kitchen and dining areas.
The kitchen had what looked like white marble countertops, black cabinets, open shelving, and an island with seating at it, and there was a twelve seater dark oak dining table and chairs behind the island.
"Is it okay?" Sirius asked apprehensively, and Bess shook her head.
"It's not. It's perfect," she replied, and sent him a brilliant smile. He grinned back.
The spell was broken by more thumps and noises, much closer this time. Sirius grabbed her hand and pulled her quickly into another hallway, following the sounds of laughter.
"I think they're in the study," he said, frowning as he pushed open a door. "For Merlin's sake! What ARE you doing?" he asked in an annoyed tone, standing in the doorway.
Bess ducked around him and took in the sight of Remus and James, who were in a tangled heap on the floor. Lily was standing by a heap of twigs, the smile falling from her face as she looked at Sirius. All were still wearing their pyjamas, which made Bess feel a lot better about wearing slouchy clothes, and about Sirius wearing just his pyjama trousers and slippers.
"Oh shit, did we wake you?" James asked, scrambling up.
As he helped Remus up, Bess took the opportunity to look around the study. It looked like a mini-library with books crammed into every space available. From floor to ceiling, bookcases covered three walls, even the windows, and was lit by magic. The room looked rather untouched by Sirius' decoration - it felt dark and imposing, with mahogany, black, deep greens, and an intricate embroidered rug. There was a large desk in the middle of the room, and behind it rested a straight backed chair with carved serpents snaking their way around each arm. She was reminded of her vision of the Malfoy Manor library. Maybe older Pureblood families have similar tastes... she thought to herself.
Bess tore her eyes away from the desk and chair and raised an eyebrow at Lily, who grimaced and went a little red.
Bess tried not to laugh when she realised that James and Remus were now stood lined up next to Lily, making them look like little kids who Sirius was telling off.
"Well... James thought that-" Lily began.
"Hey hey hey! No! Don't blame all this on me! We were exploring downstairs and we found these brooms," James explained, pointing to three broomsticks, two of which looked broken, and Bess realised that the pile of twigs was a fourth broken broom. "And I said that Lily and Remus were boring because they didn't want to try them out, and then Lily said she wasn't boring and came up with indoor Quidditch. So we came up here, and then-"
Remus cut over the end of James' speech and said in a rather more calm tone, "And then James fell off his broom and we waited to make sure we hadn't woken you. Then we tried again with those three brooms but Lily's one broke and she screamed so we waited again. Sorry, by the way," he said, nodding to Bess, who smiled and shook her head.
"S'okay," she said, smiling at the scene in front of her.
"Well, then we realised that James and I hadn't fallen, the brooms were cursed," Lily said, still blushing. "But then he-"
"Okay, okay, I'll own up for this one," James said, staring at Sirius, who seemed quite annoyed and, to Bess, maybe even angry. "I said it wasn't cursed, they were just shit fliers, and, well... turns out Lily was right. Ended up on top of Remus..."
"Are you really mad?" Lily whispered, looking up at Sirius.
Sirius turned and walked out of the door.
"You're angry they didn't wait for you and you didn't get to experience the fun of riding on a cursed broom, aren't you?" Bess called after him.
"They're my brooms! I should get to have a go!" Sirius yelled back from further down the hall.
"He's probably going to start breakfast. Shall we?" Bess asked, laughing at the look on everyone's faces.
"How'd you know that?" James asked. "I thought he was actually miffed!"
"Oh please. An adventure with you? Sirius wouldn't miss that for the world. And what's the point of inheriting a whole flat and belongings that aren't yours if you can't break stuff with your friends?" she asked, following Sirius into the hall.
She followed the bangs and clashes of pans and walked back into the open plan kitchen and living room.
"Stop sulking," she said, smiling as she sat down on a stool over the other side of the kitchen island to Sirius, who was stood with his back to a large triple oven range cooker.
She watched a still moody Sirius pull out bacon, eggs, sausages, mushrooms, beans, cutlery and jugs of juice and water. When he placed a large bowl of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and sliced banana onto the table, she caught his eye, raised her eyebrow and smiled again. He sighed and rolled his eyes, picking up a large bread knife, wooden cutting board, and a large loaf of bread which he handed to her. By the time she'd finished cutting three slices, he was no longer annoyed, and James, Lily and Remus were sneaking into the kitchen.
"Coast is clear," Bess called, smirking at Sirius who sent her a mock glare.
"Oh good. Though... Pads... could you put something on before you start cooking? Don't really want to have to look up how to heal burns..." Remus said, gesturing towards Sirius' bare chest as he took the seat next to Bess.
"That's okay, I'd take care of him," Bess replied, winking at Sirius, who raised an eyebrow.
"Don't tempt me, love," he replied with a half smile as he reached over to pick up a packet of bacon.
"We're here too, you know," James said, grimacing and pretending to throw up on the island next to where Sirius stood. When he was 'finished', he began to help Sirius with the prep.
"You're cooking the Muggle way?" Bess asked, realising that they weren't using magic when Sirius continued to separate pieces of bacon onto a giant baking tray.
"I've got to practice for when I meet Mr and Mrs Evans properly," James said, slicing mushrooms and so missing Lily's look of adoration. "I'm staying over in a couple of weeks, and Lily said the best way to her dad's heart is through a fry up."
"Is that because he'll have a heart attack from the grease?" Bess asked, leaning forwards to look at Lily around Remus.
Lily just rolled her eyes and shook her head, replying, "He's got a good, strong heart. He'll be fine. But yeah..."
"That's so exciting though! Meeting the parents in a private setting... staying over!" Bess squealed, clapping her hands together.
"On the sofa," James replied with a nod, indicating Bess with the large knife he was wielding. He went back to slicing mushrooms and said, "James, you've got to be respectful and don't do anything stupid,"he added, putting on a high pitched voice.
"Was that meant to be me?" Lily asked, and Bess laughed as the expression on James' face.
"Yeah, we've got to make a good impression, don't we, Pads?" Remus teased.
Bess tried to hide her smile when James' head snapped up and he stared between his two laughing friends. He said, "We went over this! You're not coming!"
"Oh calm down, Prongs, we're just joking," Remus said, winking at Sirius, who hovered a finger by his lips to say 'shh' before casting a spell to wash his hands.
James continued to stare between the two and waved his knife at them both as he said, "I'm being serious. If either of you two ruin this for me, I'll come after you. Evans is endgame."
Bess grinned. She'd been the person who'd told him that he and Lily were endgame, all the way back in October, as they'd walked back to the common room on her birthday.
"Ooh, I'm so scared! A deer coming after a wolf and a dog?" Remus teased, and Sirius almost doubled over as he roared with laughter.
"I'M A STAG! AND I HAVE HORNS!" James shouted incredulously, slamming the knife down onto the island and jumping over to put Sirius in a headlock.
"Lily! Help! Your horny boyfriend's trying to stab me with his deer sticks!" Sirius shouted, and Bess couldn't help the giggle that escaped.
"THEY'RE ANTLERS!" James roared, jumping onto Sirius' back.
Lily simply rolled her eyes and poured herself a glass of juice as she waited for James to release Sirius.
When he did, she asked, "Speaking of animals, when's Wormy getting here?"
"Tomorrow. His mum wanted to have some time with him before he ran off for a week," Remus replied immediately, reaching for a strawberry.
Bess stilled, the knife over the loaf of bread, and looked up at Sirius, who was shaking his head frantically at his friends.
"A week?" Bess asked, breaking the now tense silence in the kitchen.
"Uh... yeah, he's coming here tomorrow, and then everyone's staying until after the full moon... so that Lily can be with you during the moon and we can all go from here... I was going to tell you later... that's okay, right?" Sirius asked with the look of someone who was faced with a rabid animal.
Bess and Sirius proceeded to have a silent argument using only their eyes, facial expressions, and motioning with their hands.
Bess lost, since Sirius had already invited Peter, she had made him promise that he'd be with Remus at the full moon and that Lily would stay with her while Sirius was away, and neither of them wanted to argue in front of their friends anymore.
So she simply sighed, sent him a look which said that he owed her a lot, and went back to cutting bread.
When she thought about it properly, she really didn't mind too much - she enjoyed everyone's company, and having woken up in a good mood she knew that it would be fun to explore the rooms Sirius hadn't managed to clear yet.
The gigantic upside was that it was an adventure which would take her mind off having to be in a flat all day and all night, and she could throw herself into hosting duties.
The downside would be having less time with Sirius for a week... and Peter staying... but she could handle that since it wouldn't just be the two of them alone...
And she couldn't forget that this was Sirius' flat, and his friends, and his summer. She wanted him to spend time with his friends and be happy.
She raised her head and said, "I get full rights to just walk off to be by myself whenever I want without anyone thinking I'm rude."
"Whenever you want, love," Sirius repeated, nodding.
"And I want you to buy me a television and VHS player, and whatever films I want to watch so I can set up a mini cinema room," she added, tilting her head to the side.
"Done."
"And a kiss," she said, narrowing her eyes at him and leaning forwards in her seat.
Sirius groaned and threw his head back. "It was all going so well... Don't know if I can do that last one..." he teased, before he grinned and walked around the island to peck her on the lips. "Thanks love," he whispered, before walking back to stand next to James.
She heard three long sighs from Lily, Remus and James, who had been holding their breath.
"So... are we staying?" James asked, looking between the couple.
Bess nodded. "Yeah. You're all welcome to stay for the week. For the moon, you can go to the forest or shack from here, and then you'll leave a few days after Remus is recovered."
"Oh, that's okay," Remus said in a worried voice, "really. I'll just go home when the moon's passed."
"Non-negotiable," Bess said, whipping round to face Remus.
At the exact same time, Sirius looked up at his friend and said, "You're coming back here."
Remus tried again. "But I might get hurt, and-"
Bess glared at him and said, "Non. Negotiable."
At the same time, Sirius repeated himself, saying, "Coming. Back. Here."
"Merlin. How d'you treat guests you don't want?" James asked, breaking the tension in the room and making everyone laugh.
In fact, Bess fell off her stool, and, due to that, didn't stop laughing for over five minutes.
They made it through breakfast, or as Lily pointed out, lunch, and one full game of exploding snap before anyone brought up the previous days' events.
A/N: Before anyone has a go at me about the way Sirius was cooking bacon, try it! If you grill the bacon in the oven it actually stops your whole house smelling like bacon!
As requested, this chapter is full of cuddly romantic Berius fluff. Hope it was enough for now. More incoming soon. Good luck in your finals, themugglepadme24!
Thanks to everyone reading, following, favouriting, and to my reviewers: themugglepadme24, Ghost Claw 001, CharlotteGryffindor, HorseGirl16, AvalonRivers and BlueHairedRaven.