Chapter 31

The sun was bright in the sky as Bea walked down the hallway during the second week of February. She felt as though the school year was going in terribly quickly and it didn't feel like over a month ago that she started returning to classes.

Though, with classes - she had to study a little more than the others to fully catch up, and as much as she hated it. It was always a distraction.

She had to plan, she had to organise and, so she organised what she did to study. She studied with James mostly, but sometimes it was easier to study charms with Beau and potions with Lily and Violet. She studied astronomy with Sirius who had given her his notes from his fifth year, just like Lily did with Potions and Remus did with charms. She already had the transfigurations notes from James and she was sure her life was much easier with them.

She studied in her gallery for two hours every night, firstly working on homework she had within the hours and then working on her paintings. It was nice to have something to do, and she was constantly busy between working and painting and her friends but her favourite part of the day was curling up to James and talking about what she did.

It was so familiar to be with him again, and lying in her bed beside him made her feel safer than before that he was ready to move his stuff into the Hufflepuff dorm just so he didn't need to leave. But she liked his dorm too - and she liked staying there too, with him and her boys because it was like a giant sleepover and sometimes she liked to tell all the boys about her day and not just James.

She was currently walking through the courtyard, strolling through the breeze on the early Saturday morning. She had gotten up early because she knew on Saturdays at an early hour was when Sprout tended to the Chinese chomping cabbage.

The air was still cold, and she had James' thick jumper over her arms to shield her, he had groaned with loud protest when she had gotten out of bed that morning, and his arm lurched out for her so quickly that she found herself back on the bed in seconds.

His words of protest were sleepy mumbling into her cheek of how she should stay and never leave him and that he loved her because of course him professing his love was always an easy route to go in order to persuade her.

"I'll be back in an hour at the most," she had giggled, capturing his lips on her own, "go back to sleep, Prongs."

"I love when you call me that," was all he said as his eyes fluttered closed and he clutched the pillow as an alternative to her.

She had an urge to jump in one of the puddles on her walk, the rain had fallen through the night which left the wonderful after smell that she could spend hours in, but she was sure if she really did do that then she would catch a cold, and quickly hurried her way down to the greenhouses.

A smile made Its way to her lips as she leaned against the door, her hands stuffed in the front pocket of the jumper in order to heat them up in anyway that she could, and with a small voice so as not to scare the woman, Bea said, "Professor?"

She watched the woman jump from her concentration ever so slightly, eyes lifting with furrowed brows until she caught sight of the Hufflepuff leaning against the door and beamed, "Bea! Oh, it's nice to see you...I was meaning to talk to you. How did that night you planned go?"

"Oh, it was lovely," Bea nodded, "It was nice to have more people to listen to. I've already gone to Professor Dumbledore with those who need the help, and he's looking into it."

"That's wonderful," Sprout said, "and you are too, Bea, what you did for those kids - and helping yourself like that. I think anyone would be out of their mind if they didn't think you were inspiring."

Bea grinned, "thank you, Professor, you're too kind!"

Sprout laughed, picking up her box of tools, "so what can I do for you, Bea? Do you need help with anything? I heard you're going to all your classes again, and I'm very proud of you for it - but if it's too much for you then please come and talk to me!"

"Oh no, classes are great actually. My friends have been a wonderful help to me," she sighed, "and my boyfriend...James has been incredible, with everything."

"I heard that too," Sprout smirked, "I'll always take pride in such a wonderful thing as love."

Bea couldn't help but giggle, "you're such a hopeless romantic, Professor!"

"That I am!" she couldn't help but agree, "now I've just sent us completely off topic! What do you need, Bea?"

"Well I was wondering...if you have any more topics for me. I need a new plant to study on...and I think an essay is calling me."

Professor Sprout was silent, and Bea almost jumped when the clang of her tools fell to the ground from her limp hands, and as though she had processed every word more than a few times, she found herself nodding and soon said with more enthusiasm than before, "oh yes, yes! I have just the topic!"

The woman was frantic as she rushed around the greenhouse, grabbing parchment and a quill dripping ink as she scribbled her signature down. She wrote the books for Bea to take too, just so she would know where to look and with a topic Bea was excited about, she took the parchment from the woman's hand after she had bid her a nice goodbye.

"Professor?" Bea had said, halting in her steps on her way out of the door and soon turning to the woman.

"Yes, Bea?"

She took a deep breath, forcing a small smile and trying to ignore her burning eyes as she said, "thank you...thank you for saving me."

❁

Saturdays where her day off from studying, though it didn't feel like school work to study on the plants that she had gotten for her essay topic. She was more than excited, because whilst the species of plant was - sort of - only hypothetical, more of a plant that was thought to exist, there was a very detailed description of what it was thought to look like.

And Bea was so quick to want to paint it.

She had brought out the paints that James had gotten her, she did intend to paint him...and her, maybe not in the way James teased her about but she wanted a portrait of him, she wanted to paint him, she just didn't know how to start - and she was sure it would be rather difficult to paint him without him there, but she wanted it to be a surprise.

She was itching to paint, practically scribbling words so quickly that she could hardly read a word, but she knew what it said. She knew the plant inside out from the books she had read all day on it - it was simply fascinating, and she had added the rainforest in which it was thought to be located on the imaginary list of places she wished to travel.

She could see the flower in her head, on how she would paint it and the colours she would use to bring out the detail she could for it. It was described as beautiful and it grew on trees, and it gave her memories of that dream she still thought of sometimes - the one that was so real and that morning she didn't want to wake up.

She flipped through the books, all of which didn't have any true evidence because it was hardly thought to be real but of course it had to be. Her essays on hypothetical plants never touched on the subject of them being hypothetical, they were real until proven otherwise and, so she would write about them as such.

Her scribbling was loud on the parchment she was writing on and she hardly heard the knock on the door from being too caught up in her on concentration, though when she finally looked up she wasn't exactly surprised to see Peter, what did surprise her though was the look of utter terror on his face.

She nodded her head for him to enter, and the charm that made sure they weren't allowed to come in quickly fell away when she gave her own approval, smiling at the boy and moving from the one seat in the room to make sure he was alright.

"You look like you're going to throw up your insides," she laughed, patting his back and making him sit down on the table behind him.

"I think I might just do that," he trailed off, running his hands over his face, "she talked to me."

"Who- oh! Isla?!"

"Yes, Isla!" he exclaimed, wide-eyed, "she talked to me...like again!"

"That's a good thing, Pete!" her arms flailed, "she likes to talk to you...she's going to talk to you if she likes you!"

"Yes, but why the fuck does she like me?!" she could see those insecurities of his and her shoulders slumped, moving over and taking the seat beside her.

"Because you are wonderful, Peter. You are kind, you are sweet and funny - you make me cry laughing sometimes with the things you say. And your smile is brighter than the stars in the sky, because your eyes crinkle with delight when you're truly happy, and you look like you could take on the world.

You're handsome-" she cut herself off when he snorted.

"I'm fat, Bea, not Handsome."

"Excuse me?" she frowned, "you may be chubby, yes, you have chubby cheeks and a big stomach and big arms and yes the word for that is fat but the presence of it on your body does not diminish the fact that you are handsome, Peter. In this world, Peter, the way i'm built i'm seen as small because of my height but look at me!

I have thighs that touch and they're much bigger than Violet's and Lily's and for a while I was quite self conscious about that but now i've actually been quite disappointed because they're getting smaller but that's only because I haven't been eating what I should, and i'm disappointed because they're my thighs and I love them. My arms jiggle when i lift them and if you look at me from weird angles then you'll see my very lovely double chin. Sometimes it's a triple chin if I eat too much chocolate cake at dinner but it's a very fine price to pay I think.

I have a baby face, like you do. We both have the same chubby cheeks and I love mine and I see no reason as to why you shouldn't love yours. You're wonderful Peter, weight and all."

"I just...I don't see what she could see in me," his head bowed, "and I know you're right. Being fat doesn't mean I'm ugly, it's not that - I just...I don't see myself as handsome, no one has ever thought that about me."

"Are you sure?" she asked, "or do you think maybe it's your own insecurities telling you that no one feels that way about you? Peter, you are wonderful, you're incredible and my best friend - you're my brother, and I love you with all of my heart. I want you to be happy, and Merlin when you talk about this girl, you are happier than I have ever seen you in my life.

You can't let yourself hold you back from someone who likes you. I know it's scary to feel like you're not worth it, but you are so worth it," he leaned his head on her shoulder and she wrapped her arm around him, softly running her hand through his hair, "you are worth more than you think and I know it's way easier said than done but the sooner you realise just how incredible you are, the happier you will be with yourself and the more confident you will become."

"I'm so embarrassing, Bea," Peter whispered, "she said...do you want to go to Hogsmeade. She asked me out, she asked me out and I...I screamed yes in her face then ran here."

"You did wh- Peter!" Bea exclaimed, covering her hand over her mouth whilst Peter groaned, "well...at least she knows that you want to go."

"Oh yes," Peter grumbled with a glare in her direction as she let a few of her giggles slip, "she knows I want to go but I think now the real question is if she wants to go."

"Well like I said before if she doesn't then it's her loss," Bea waved him off, "and if she ever hurts you - I don't care if the boys want to prank her, I'll be there first with even worst things up my sleeve."

"I don't doubt that for a second, Bea."