When she woke, Bess' head felt as though it was going to split open. She felt nauseous, and didn't feel able to move properly. Her only saving grace was that the headache wasn't increasing in intensity or moving from one part of her skull to the other, so she was sure that she wasn't about to have a vision.
When she tried to shout to get someone's attention - the bedroom door was open just a touch, indicating that Sirius was planning on coming back shortly - she groaned at the noise which reverberated around the room and her skull. Thumping back onto the pillows, one arm across her eyes to shield her from the painful sunlight, she stayed in pain until Sirius came in with a tray of breakfast and rushed to her aid.
She spent the rest of the day tucked up in bed, with the curtains drawn and a strong pain potion masking her main symptoms. Occasionally Sirius or Lily would check on her, bringing water and snacks, but otherwise she was undisturbed (James once came to check but was unceremoniously thrown from the room because his 'quiet' was loudly banging the door open and then asking in a normal voice if Bess fancied a tea.)
It took her an entire day and a half to recover from the migraine. She hated feeling like a burden for Sirius and the others, but none of them would allow her to do anything more strenuous than lying on the sofa. She felt awful at first, until she found out that James and Peter had ventured out to the square for two hours to 'walk their dog' and when they'd returned, Lily and Remus had gone into Muggle London to check out Barnes and Noble.
Then, she didn't feel so bad when she made them get her take away for dinner and spent that evening propped up on pillows next to Lily, watching James, Sirius, Remus and Peter act out the time when Filch caught them pilfering crystal balls.
She woke in the middle of the night on Tuesday feeling infinitely better but, now unable to sleep any more, she left Sirius in their bed and went on a little mission. Originally she'd wanted to get a glass of water the Muggle way, but had soon found herself in Uncle Alphard's study surrounded by books and notes which she'd found in his desk drawers.
When she'd first seen his large wooden desk chair she'd assumed it to be uncomfortable, but she'd been pleasantly surprised that it was actually incredibly comfy, almost moulding to her back, with what felt like a pillow soft cushioning charm on the seat.
She pulled her legs up, her knees under her chin, and sped read through piles and piles of rubbish and incoherent notes on different fauna, recipes, potions and ideas, and scanned through the titles and contents of numerous books on the shelves until she was disturbed by the door being pushed open and Sirius' worried face popping into view.
He sighed deeply at her expression of surprise and guilt at being caught going through his Uncle's things, and shook his head. "I should've checked here first. Where do bookworms live?" he asked himself. He raised his voice and called out, "found her!"
A moment later he was joined in the doorway by James, who had his hands on his hips and was sending Bess a glare that McGonagall would have been proud of. "We've been looking for you for twenty minutes, young lady!"
Bess chuckled and arched her back, throwing her arms out to stretch. "Sorry," she yawned, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. "Got carried away. What time is it?"
"Nine," Sirius replied, coming over to kiss her on the forehead. His worried expression had turned to exasperated and now was merely curious. "What're you doing?"
"Reading," she said simply, shrugging and looking down at the notes again. "Alph did an itemised breakdown of each of the rooms. We just have to find each one. In fact... I think there's a room with some Gubraithian Fire downstairs."
"Interesting..." James said, walking round to Bess' other side to read over her shoulder. He pulled the notebook out of her hands and proclaimed, "I think we've found our task for today then! I think we should start with..."
He turned the book towards Sirius and pointed to something that Bess couldn't read from her seated position.
"What would we use it for?" Sirius asked, rubbing his chin and looking at James.
James shrugged and replied, "First prank of term?"
"Maybe..." Sirius nodded his head to the side and grimaced for a moment. He let out a sigh and said, "I don't know if-"
Bess had already had enough. She held up a hand and said, "Take it elsewhere, please? Don't want to be an accomplice, remember?" before picking up another page of notes. She heard the boys laugh and move towards the exit.
"Coming, love?" Sirius asked when he and James reached the door. "James is making breakfast."
"I think I'll sit this one out..." she mumbled, now staring down at the cover of an unnamed book. "Don't really fancy another fry up right now, and I think I should read this..."
"What's it about?" Sirius asked in a concerned tone as he stepped back into the room.
She scanned the contents page and then replied, "Uh... Magical communication devices... Like... howlers, and two-way... two-way mirrors... that sounds cool... and... spells and stuff."
"Should we tell her?" James asked, shooting an amused look to Sirius.
Bess raised her head and narrowed her eyes. "Tell me what?"
Sirius shrugged, a small smile playing on his lips, and replied, "James and I have a two-way mirror. We use it to talk during detentions..."
Bess sat back in her chair and frowned. She remembered that Harry had one... rolling her eyes, she hit herself on the forehead. She knew about the two-way mirror, she just hadn't thought about the amount of times Sirius would have had it on his person in this era. She let out a groan of annoyance and said, "That time in the trophy room when I said James' name and then he replied...?"
"Mirror. Sorry love," Sirius replied, shooting her a charming smile.
"That explains a lot," she said, rolling her eyes and returning to her book.
She was glad when Remus and Lily joined her after breakfast. She much preferred their company when she was reading or learning. They understood how she got lost in texts and didn't want to be interrupted - they did the same.
The trio spent a couple of hours going through the books on offer, Remus and Lily speaking in hushed tones as they sorted through a shelf which contained information on dark magic - they'd taken it upon themselves to try and work out how to undo most of Uncle Alphard's 'protections', though they hadn't made it that far yet.
Before she knew it, Bess had grown bored of the book on magical communication, and was back to searching through the drawers of Alphard's desk. She thought she'd emptied the entire desk, when she noticed a small drawer hidden at the top of another one. If she hadn't have been groping around to see if there was anything she'd missed, she wouldn't have found it.
She glanced at Lily and Remus for a moment, wondering if it really would be the safest thing to do, but then shook her head. The whole point of her summer was to do things like this - take chances and see if they paid off. And with her friends in the room, if something went wrong, she'd be okay, wouldn't she?
Before she could think any more, she gently pushed the drawer upwards, and it popped open in her hand, the contents of the hidden shelf falling into her now open palm silently. She sent her friends another look to make sure they were engrossed in their task, and then carefully pulled her hand out of the drawer.
She frowned down at what looked like a wrapped roll of something... she wasn't sure what though. There was a slight tear in the wrapping at the top, and she could see that underneath, the object seemed to be made of solid gold. She carefully replaced the paper over the gold, making sure not to let it touch her hand, just in case.
Her eyes were drawn to the paper, which was decorated with elegant hand painted runes in green ink. She traced her fingertips over the markings and moved her closer to the object, the ink shimmering as she stared. She felt a gently hum of energy. She ran her thumb over the tear in the wrapping and-
"Bess, love?"
She snapped her head up at her name and let the gold fall to her lap when she saw Sirius standing in the doorway.
"Did you hear what I said?" he asked, tilting his head to the side, an amused look on his face. When Bess opened and closed her mouth, unsure what to say, he simply laughed and said, "Of course you're still engrossed in books. I asked if you're ready for lunch. Wormy, Prongs and I were going to head to Chinatown for takeaway, if that sounds good? Or we could pop to Hogsmeade? I'm sure Ros wouldn't mind whipping up a few steaks to go?"
Bess, incredibly relieved that he hadn't seen the object, smiled and replied, "No, chinese food sounds perfect. Thanks, pup."
Sirius beamed proudly and turned to Lily and Remus to find out what they wanted to add to the collective order - he already knew Bess' favourite dishes.
Unwilling to be caught with the new object again, Bess carefully stowed it back in its hidden place and quietly shut the drawer, keeping an eye on Remus and Lily while she did.
She wasn't sure what possessed her, but she decided in that instant not to mention her findings to anyone. Not until she knew what it was at least.
xXx
Peter left (reluctantly) that evening after dinner, and the following afternoon Bess, Sirius, James, Lily and Remus found themselves standing in the alleyway just down the road from the flat. Jasper had sent instructions on where to meet via owl, and the five teens had traipsed to the front door where they'd apparated in pairs (or in Sirius' case, alone), down to the alley to wait for his arrival.
When they got there, Bess threw her arms out and head back, closed her eyes in ecstasy, and breathed in fresh, gloriously fresh air for the first time in over a week. The dominant part of her wanted to go for a long walk now. She'd been denied that for days - that simplest of pleasures and her main form of relaxation, and it was only when she stood there, breathing in the summer air that she realised just how much she needed this. She'd even take a run, though she still found those a lot less enjoyable than walking.
"Can you smell that?" she asked, a serene smile on her face. She could feel her friends' gazes on her, but she didn't open her eyes.
"Yeah... I think it's the bins..." James replied in a disgusted voice.
Bess let her arms drop to her sides as she opened her eyes to glare at the sky and sighed deeply. "I was talking about how amazing this is..."
"To be stood by a giant bin waiting for Moody?" James asked, still completely oblivious.
"No," Bess replied, sighing again and shoving her hands into her pockets. She clenched her jaw and stared at the large black bin that James had been indicating. "Freedom. I was talking about the smell of freedom."
"Pfft," James replied before anyone could stop him. "You need to get out more."
Bess raised an eyebrow and kept her face as neutral as she could - she wondered how long she could pretend that she was offended. In truth, she found his words funny. But she didn't want him to know that. Not when pretending would mean that he'd probably apparate to Hogsmeade to get her some Honeyduke's later.
She watched as Lily, Remus and Sirius either shut their eyes, tensed away from James, or clapped their hand to their head. James opened and closed his mouth multiple times, trying to find the words which seemed to be escaping him.
Finally, after what felt like hours but could only have been a few moments of James' embarrassment, Jasper, Moody and Kingsley apparated in front of the teens.
"Interrupting something?" Jasper asked, after the Aurors had confirmed their identities via Bess and Jasper's password.
He raised an eyebrow at James, who shook his head. "Just me being a pillock," James winced, nodding hello to the newcomers.
"Well, as long as you didn't mention that Bess has been holed up for ages, you'll be alright," Jasper said happily, and Bess almost lost her composure.
"You're with me," Moody said gruffly, pointing to James and Lily.
"Lupin, Black, you're with me," Kingsley said, moving forwards.
Bess just about heard the start of Sirius' complaint that he wasn't travelling with her when she felt a hand on her upper arm, followed by the darkness and suffocating tightness of side-along apparation. She had her apparition license now, but it didn't stop the discomfort of a sudden uncontrollable teleportation.
The terrible feeling left her and she looked around to see that they were in another alley, "Just down the road from the meeting place," Jasper explained.
She heard two more pops as the other six appeared and smiled, reaching out for Sirius' hand - she wanted his comfort and protection for the walk ahead, unsure what would be waiting for them. She knew that Delbert wouldn't know where she was - Moody's anti-trace spells seemed to be working - but she didn't know if that would cover anyone else who had unsavoury intentions.
She closed her eyes and sighed happily when Sirius kissed her on the forehead, and looked up at him a moment later, a serene smile playing on her lips.
Sirius grinned back and whispered, "You'll take care of me if anything happens, right?"
Bess giggled. "I was hoping you'd do the protecting."
"Please! You helped Moody take out four Death Eaters. In the real world. I'm taking your lead on anyone who comes our way..." he said.
She ducked her head in embarrassment but when she looked up at him again she saw that he wasn't joking. They stared at each other for another moment before he winked and said, "Trust me to pick the badass girlfriend."
Bess blushed.
"Merlin. I thought living together would've sorted out the googly eyes..." Moody quipped. "Swap with Potter and Evans. Don't want Dumbledore getting into a tizzy that we lost four teenagers because they were too busy snogging to see an attack coming."
She heard Jasper and Kingsley chuckle and sent them glares. "Remus is here too, you know?" she said moodily.
Moody, who was checking that the street was empty, whispered back, "Maybe, but he's my favourite so he can get away with it."
"You've only met him once!" Bess replied, and Jasper leant forwards.
"Twice. And he really proved himself. I think him staying at headquarters last week was the best thing. Margot's the only one with a problem with him still. Everyone else wants to protect him at all costs. I think Fabian even mentioned something about introducing him to his sister, Molly... said she could knit him a fancy cardigan..." he trailed off, "and if he was a little older, I'm pretty sure both Dorcas and Gideon would try and jump him."
"Gideon?" Bess asked, her eyes widening as she looked at Remus, who had joined Moody in staring out onto the street to see if the coast was clear. Now that she thought about it, she'd never stopped to ask who Remus was attracted to. She made a mental note to see if she'd accidentally assumed that he was heterosexual. But she didn't want to bring it up right now, and definitely didn't want to offend him with the question.
"Alright, less chitter chatter. Let's go," Moody called, and the group walked cautiously up the street.
Moody walked at the front, followed by Lily and Bess who had decided to hold hands. Then came James and Sirius, who, in an effort to mock the girls, were also holding hands, and then Remus, who looked quite at home chatting and walking with two active Aurors walking next to him.
Within a minute they came to a non-descript looking Muggle house, which had a large sign in the window saying, 'NO SOLICITING!' There was another crudely drawn sign on the door which read, "GO AWAY!"
"Hmm, seems legit," Bess muttered, and Lily placed her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing.
Moody sent Bess a glare over his shoulder before he walked up to the door and wrapped on it three times in quick succession, followed by four slower knocks, then two quick knocks.
The door immediately swung open to reveal what looked like a derelict front room. Bess turned up her nose at the smell eminating from the house, and grimaced.
"Get in here," Moody growled, walking inside the house. The moment he passed the front step, he vanished.
Bess gasped as Lily stepped forwards and also vanished, followed by James.
"You alright, love?" Sirius asked, his breath tickling the side of Bess' ear - her hair was tied back into two pigtails today, her fringe having grown long enough to pin back now.
"It's... it's like magic..."
"You're such a Muggle," he replied, pushing her gently in the lower back.
She smiled and went with his motions. When she stepped up onto the step she shivered, feeling the wards accepting her into their midst for the first time.
It was like there had been darkness and now the lights were turned on. Suddenly, the house wasn't derelict - it was painted in vibrant colours, and the large entrance room was decked out with chairs and tables which were laden with parchment - maps, diagrams, scribbles adorning each page - and it was bustling with people standing, sitting, walking, and talking over each other.
"Oi! Liability!" called a voice from the far corner, and Bess grinned over at Gideon and Fabian who were lounging on two out-of-place armchairs. She wondered if they'd conjured them themselves to protest against the spindly wooden chairs everyone else seemed to be propped up on. She waved over to the brothers who beckoned her over.
"What'd'you fancy? Armchair?" Fabian (well, who she assumed was Fabian from his pocket watch which was resting on his knee - it had a piece of spellotape on it, with an inked 'F'.
"Throne?" Gideon asked.
"Could do a crown to go along with that," Fabian replied, nodding to his brother.
"Yeah! And a cape if you want one?"
"It's the middle of the summer!" Bess replied, rolling her eyes at Gideon's suggestion.
"So it's a no the cloak but a yes to the crown and throne?" Fabian asked.
Bess rolled her eyes as the two men sat forwards and pulled out their wands. "No," she replied, "it's a no to everything. It's nice to be ordinary sometimes."
"True," Gideon replied, a glint in his eye. "Though I don't believe for one moment you're ordinary."
"What d'you mean?" Bess asked, tilting her head.
Before they could reply, she felt a guiding hand on her lower back, and waved to the two redheads as Sirius lead her over to her seat, which was once again, towards the top of the table. This time, however, when she sat down on the third seat from the top, Sirius was able to precure a spot on her left, the other five 'generals' as Jasper had referred to them, sitting in front of her and to her right.
Looking around, she noticed that Margot was missing, thank god, and that Jasper was once again sat with Frank and Kingsley, only this time they were joined by a beautiful woman. She had short, cropped brown hair which suited her faceshape down to a t. She was wearing a vibrant red lipstick, and Bess noticed that she had a nose piercing and multiple earrings, which were in direct contrast to her black Auror robes. Just as Bess thought that, the woman stood and pulled off her robes to reveal a minidress, chucked the uniform unceremoniously over the back of her chair, crossed one leg over the other, and rolled her eyes dramatically at something Kingsley said. Frank threw his arm across the back of her chair, and that confirmed it - Alice Longbottom was cooler than Bess could ever have imagined from her few mentions in the books.
She must've been staring for longer than she'd realised, because Frank nudged Alice, whispered something to her, and then Alice looked her way.
"Hiya!" she called, waving over at Bess, who blushed and pursed her lips. "Don't worry, the ministry and my mother-in-law hate the jewellery too."
Bess shook her head immediately. "No! I love it! I wish I could pull all of that off," she said, gesturing to Alice's entire outfit. "I don't think I have the bodytype though."
"Nothing to do with that, trust me. Wear whatever you want. I think it's the 'don't give a crap' attitude that really sells it," Alice replied with a wink.
"So you're Alice Longbottom?" Bess asked, pretending that she didn't already know.
"Pfft! For-" Alice began.
"Fortescue-Longbottom if you please!" cried Frank, Kingsley, Jasper, and three other people wearing black Auror robes who Bess hadn't met before.
"Oh shut up you lot! You're just jealous 'cos I got Biscus and Stems last week while you were tending to your wounds," Alice replied with a huff.
"I was bleeding out!" Frank replied indignantly, sending a wink in Bess' direction.
"Oh please! It was a scratch and you know it. Glasgow was bloody bleeding!" Alice replied and there was a smattering of laughter around the room. Alice turned back to Bess with a more caring look and said, "I heard about yours though. How're you holding up?"
"Fine. I think I have to see Kinter after the meeting but bruising's almost gone," she said with a shrug. She wanted to move on the conversation as quickly as possible. She suddenly felt weird and could feel multiple eyes staring at her.
"You're with Black, right?" Frank asked, nodding to Sirius.
"I'm not with-" Bess began, but she didn't have the chance to finish her sentence because Alice shook her head with a laugh.
Bess stopped talking and frowned as Frank addressed Sirius. "Welcome to the club, mate. Other halves like ours, they seem to normal at first and then by the time you realise they're stronger and cooler than you it's too late. She'll be sending back your food at restaurants before you can say 'it's fine, I don't mind tomatoes.'"
"You hate tomatoes and you know it," Alice replied with a laugh. She looked as though she wanted to say something else but silence filled the room as Moody walked to the front. Instead of standing as Dumbledore had done, Moody called the meeting to order from his normal seat, and chaired the meeting from there as well.
"All right. First thing's first - updates," Moody growled.
The first hour of the meeting flew by as people all around the room gave updates on movements, raids, plans, allies and information gathering. Bess and her friends listened intently to the information, but a lot of it went over her head, as she didn't know most of the people they were referencing. There were frequent moments where she would look up to find Moody looking at her, as if waiting for her to add in any information. She, however, had nothing for him. She felt useless.
Sometime later - Bess had stopped watching the clock - someone stood to give their update, saying, "There was an attack on Friday night. Four adults, two kids. Think it was a pack, but I'm waiting for confirmation. All in St. Mungo's at the moment thankfully, and starting to respond well to treatment, but they haven't woken up yet to tell us what happened. The Ministry thinks it was targeted, but I smell a rat there."
"Why?" Moody asked, frowning at the man who was standing, holding a quill and a piece of parchment.
"Hold on, I'm getting to it," he muttered, turning the parchment over. "Right," he said when he found the information, "I got it out of my contact who's been tracking Greyback and his pack - they're the most loyal to You-Know-Who and probably who he's been using as lackies-"
Moody's eyes shot to Bess' and she nodded to confirm that Greyback was with Voldemort. She couldn't quite believe they hadn't known that definitively before. Her eyes flickered to Remus, who was staring at the table, his jaw clenched, his skin as white as a sheet.
"-but they've crossed over into Germany now. Greyback's got a meeting with a pack leader called Mondsohn this month, though after what happened in Prague with Jungtier, it's probably more of an attempted takeover than anything."
"What happened in Prague?" someone from the back asked.
"The pack leader, Jungtier, said no to joining You-Know-Who. Well... it seems that Greyback didn't like that. Dumbledore said the pack was gone by the time he tracked down their camp," the man replied, and Bess' eyes widened when he mentioned Dumbledore's name.
"Why was Dumbledore there?" someone else asked, and Bess sat forwards in her chair.
The man shrugged. "He was already in the country so I asked him to check it out and confirm my contact's info. He sent me a reply confirming the news, but said that he's moved out of central Europe now," he replied. "But if Greyback and his pack are in Europe then they're not the ones who attacked that Family at the full moon. So it might not have been a planned attack, might've just been a right time, right place situation for the werewolf."
"Right. Well, keep digging," Moody growled. "And don't stop looking into Greyback either. If he's recruiting in Europe we might have an influx soon. Find Jungtier and his pack and see if you can find out what he knows before he tries to turn you. Now-"
"No, I don't think you understand..." the man replied, his face twisted. "The pack was gone. As in everyone was dead."
There were whispers around the room, and James said, "Merlin..."
Bess' eyes flickered to the side of Remus' head again for a moment before she looked away. She was sure everyone else was shooting him looks as well, but he wouldn't appreciate them, whether they were checking on him to make sure he was okay, or not.
"Right... well I'll follow up with you on that one later, Mendleson, thanks for that," Moody ordered. "Now, start of September we'll be asking for more help since it's the ramp up to Christmas, and if there's something those bastards love more than Voldemort, it's attacking people during bloody turkey and gravy season. Everyone with contacts on ice, start warming them up again. We'll allow submissions from mid-September and we'll confirm in October. And not before then," he growled, narrowing his eyes at James and Sirius who had opened their mouths to complain that that would be too late for Peter to join. "Class dismissed."
Once the meeting had ended and people began to leave, Moody stalked over to her and told her under no uncertain terms that she was not to do anything stupid until he'd confirmed the intel, and to sit tight and not get her hopes up.
It was like he knew that she couldn't help thinking that if Greyback was abroad for the next full moon... she had more time. Sirius must have been thinking the same thing, as he squeezed her hand and sent her a hopeful look when their eyes met. She tried to hide the smile which came over her face. This was the news she'd been hoping for (not what Greyback was doing, but that he wasn't in the country, wasn't after her yet, and that she had more time to be happy).
She was still thinking over his words when Jasper approached her, a beaming smile on his face, and asked if she was ready to fight. He laughed at Bess' groan and said, "Well, you'll definitely be sorry if you haven't been practicing this past week... Alice said she needs a bit of duelling practice and you and Lily look like you do too. So Kings, Frank and Alice'll be joining us. Black, Potter, Lupin, you too."
"Kinter first?" Bess asked, trying to stall. She hadn't thought about the fact that it had been over a week since she'd exercised properly, and more than a month since she'd last duelled (the attack at Covent Garden where she'd mainly used shield spells and disarmament charms notwithstanding).
Jasper nodded and Bess turned to see Kinter in the corner setting up an mini-aid station. She sighed and made her way over to him.
xXx
Hi guys, so sorry it's such a rubbish chapter. I've been going backwards and forwards on it, but I need to get it out there so I can overcome my writing block! It's like I know that we're so close to the end of the book that I'm finding it harder and harder to write. Hopefully you'll allow me this one and I'll get back on it with the next, which will, of course, be duelling practice, and some Jasper time!
Thanks to everyone reading, favouriting, following and reviewing, including: Ghost Claw 001, KEZZ 1, CharlotteGryffindor, BlueHairedRaven - (thank you so much for your wonderful review! I'm a hopeless romantic as well!), themugglepadme24, and Page of Pentacles.