[a/n before you correct me, I added the facts on the Bowtruckles in this chapter from my head. I know it's not entirely true, but for the sake of the book...I made it up lmao]

Chapter 38

As far as rumours go, there was a lot circling about Bea.

After her Newt that happened just two weeks ago, she had been the talk of the school - some called her brave for what she did, some didn't even know what she did because of the rumours that had spiralled way out of control, but she hardly cared for them.

She had decided to name the Bowtruckle Gerald, researching for hours and hours the proper ways to care for them. She had read up on their attachment to humans - if a human was kind enough, tended and cared for the little creatures then their trust could fully attach onto that human, but if that human gifted them with a tree, then they would protect the tree for the human.

The pet she now had would hardly leave her sight unless she placed him on the tree, and then she could watch him for hours. It was rather funny, she had to admit - hilarious actually - when James had entered her dormitory and Gerald had decided to break off a branch and throw it at him.

That dived Bea into another session of research on how to show Bowtruckles that someone was friendly, and well, after the incident - James wasn't entirely fond of Gerald. She had found that Bowtruckles very much liked Fairy eggs and woodlice, and she had found some woodlice in the greenhouses.

James wasn't very fond of holding the creatures, but he was rather thankful that Gerald finally liked him when he offered them to him, and currently, Gerald was with the boy. The last Bea had seen of the two was Gerald making a nest in James' hair, something he did when he was very fond of a person.

Currently, Bea was tangled on the couch in the Gryffindor common room with Violet in front of her. She had just finished a particularly good book and was now ranting to Bea about the ending being absolutely terrible.

"Well it wasn't terrible!" she huffed, arms flailing, "but she died! Well, all of them died - Bea I cried so hard it was so unfair. I wanted to throw the book out of the window...I didn't though, but I wanted to!"

Bea giggled, covering her mouth when Violet's eyes narrowed to slits, "sorry, Vi, but I told you the book would hurt you. You just didn't listen!"

"Well it seemed like a good idea at the time," she frowned, her shoulders slumping and a sigh tumbling from her lips, "I still need to read the next one."

"Well of course!" Bea exclaimed, "you can't just read the first one and leave out the series!"

"I know. I know! I just have to wait till summer," she trailed off, shifting and finally she lifted her eyes to look at Bea, "...I know you want to ask me."

Bea frowned, taking a deep breath and finally spoke, "why didn't you tell me?"

"We were young...Bea. It was the summer going into second year, I had just met you and we were just babies. I didn't know about you back then - that you had been through pain too, and so I didn't know if you would understand.

I didn't want to put you through something like that without knowing how you would react, and I couldn't lose you...I didn't want to lose you, so I kept it to myself.

I couldn't bear to think that the only friend I had could have left me if she ever found out what happened. With Remus in the year above us...and your relationship - I always thought things were great for you, that your life was incredible, and I didn't want to ruin that.

I didn't want you thinking you had a fucked up best friend with a horrible life, so I just...didn't say anything. It got too late after that, the years went on and I still thought of it, but I learned to be happy with just dad.

Course you knew bits of my life at home, you knew my mum was a fucking arse and that she was gone but I couldn't bring myself to tell you anything else. When I got the message about the meeting, that I could have a chance to talk about what happened to me...I didn't know you would be there.

It was an anonymous message so who would be there wasn't what I knew but it stayed with me for a full week. I wondered if it was the right thing to go, to talk about what happened because I wasn't sure. I was just scared of it all and scared that maybe someone who didn't like me would tell everyone.

It's a secret I've kept for so long, no one knew, and I wanted you to know. I wanted to tell you, but this year wasn't the right year to do it - I just...when I saw you there I thought it was a sign. I knew I needed to get it off my chest and the fact that you were there made it easier...because I knew that if anyone said anything about it.

I still had you," she took a deep breath and Bea had gripped her hand so tightly, lacing their fingers together and pulling her over just so she could throw her arms around her.

"Good Godric, Vi," she whispered quietly, "you know...I'm always going to be here. I'm not going anywhere, I don't care what happens. I'm here for you forever, and I know you're there for me because you always have been."

"That's not true, Bea," Violet frowned, looking away, "I wasn't there for you last year and I almost lost you because of it."

"But you didn't," Bea whispered, squeezing her hand, "and we've grown since then, and you have me."

❁

"Gerald loves me so much more than you," James said as he and Bea leaned against a tree near the black lake. She had been having the worst day in months, ignoring everyone and keeping herself locked in her gallery with no means to come out.

James, though, knew that her worst days become even worse when he realised she had been counting on some of the flowers in her gallery to bloom, and yet there was still over ten that stayed tightly curled up.

"No, he doesn't," she muttered. She wasn't in the mood for his teasing, or him winding her up like she usually was and both of them knew that her dungarees were far too warm for such weather, but she was much too stubborn to change, "I'm his mum."

"I'm his dad!" James exclaimed. He watched her intently, and he was almost positive she was holding back the smile tugging at her lips at his insisting of being her pet's dad, it was cute - she couldn't deny that, but she wasn't sure that smiling was on her agenda.

"I'm sorry," she soon whispered, eyes on the grass that Gerald was walking around in close to them.

When the Professors had finally found out that she had - stolen - Gerald, they were very much wary of it. Of course, the right to take a Bowtruckle wasn't exactly something a student was able to do, but when they tried to take the little creature off of her...well, he got violent.

She had multiple trees set up in different areas for him, one in her dorm which was his most common tree that he loved dearly. There was also one in the boy's dormitory - one that she had set up almost identical to the one in her dorm but when she woke up one morning, Gerald had completely rearranged it.

Then the last one was her gallery, and she wasn't sure if that one was the one he spent most of his time in, but he loved it, all the same. It was the largest and she had the seedlings ready to take home with her for a tree in her bedroom.

Her parent's letters had indicated a change when she and Remus got home and neither of them knew what it was, she was just terrified to face her room, she was sure she would set the tree up in Remus' bedroom instead.

When the Professors asked her why she was so insistent to keep Gerald she had fought her case well, reminding them multiple times that she didn't have a pet - that her owl was a family owl so not technically hers and also that Gerald was a creature she had raised from infancy.

She had to stop to take a very large breath when she was done, and whilst speechless, the Professors couldn't exactly say no. she was technically Gerald's rightful owner, considering she was the one to raise him.

"What are you sorry for, baby girl?" James asked, wrapping his arm around her and slowly running his fingers through her hair.

"For my mood," she said, turning her head to stare at him, "I'm so down...and it's unfair for you - it's unfair to everyone. You're always just there, you always try and cheer me up and make me feel better and it's not your job, but you do it anyway!

It's not fair for you to run after me."

"Bumble as your boyfriend it is my rightful duty to make sure you are happy-"

"James-"

"No, I mean it. You have been to fucking hell and back, and just because you have been getting better and you're happier doesn't mean that you're fully happy. The least I can do is be there for you," he kissed her temple, pulling her to his side and she sighed, "you're the love of my life. You're the reason I even want to get up in the morning and I couldn't picture my life without you."

"I don't want to picture my life without you," she whispered quietly, turning to kiss him, "what are we doing during summer?"

He smiled, "what do you want to do?"

"I want to...go to the beach." She had to think for a moment, "not just us - I mean I want us to have plenty of days alone, but I want to go to the beach with everyone. With Remus and Sirius...Peter and maybe Isla if he can work up the courage to even ask her. With Vi and Bertie and Lily and Beau, just a best friend's day out."

"I think that sounds wonderful," he whispered, kissing her ear, "I think we should start planning that. I don't want to do it with someone busy, we should make sure all of us can definitely go."

"You're right," she nodded, "I want everyone there. I need to go shopping."

"Swimsuit shopping?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows and she pushed him away, finally cracking a smile which he couldn't help but cheer for, throwing his arms around her and pulling her into him as he kissed every inch of her face.

"Yes, swimsuit shopping." She rolled her eyes, "...I could always use some help picking favourites."

"I am very much up to that task, Bumble," he mumbled against her cheek, "I am so up to that task, actually, that I'll organise that too, to make sure it's a full day of just staring at you."

"Just staring?" she asked, eyebrows raised, and his smirk couldn't have possibly widened.

"You know if I didn't know any better I'd say you have gotten cheekier."

"Me?!" she gasped, clasping a hand over her heart, "how dare you, James Potter, I'll have you know I am nothing but innocent."

"Yes, I'm sure that's what you still tell Remus," James snorted, dipping his head to her neck whilst she let her gasp tumble, "but as your very educated boyfriend on you, I know for a fact that you are not as innocent as you let people believe."

"Well," she breathed out, leaning further into him and subtly tilting her head so he had better access to her skin, "you would know."