WHO: Bess Fawcett and Chester Scabior
WHAT: Bess and Chester's final confrontation.
WHERE: Puddlemere Stadium and beyond
WHEN: During the Puddlemere vs. Pride match!
The past week had been terrible. Bess had done her absolute best to stay in the house and keep any public excursions to a minimum. She still had not figured out how the hell to deal with Chester’s threats, but she hadn’t helped herself by throwing hot tea in his face. Maybe he’d died, and that was why he’d left her alone. Or, as she was more willing to bet on, he was biding his time and going to pop out of a dark corner when she least expected it.
At least she had quidditch to distract her. Family of the team got to go through separate entrances, so once Bess was in her seat, her children having voted on spending the match with their Aunt Veronica, because she was more fun (Sadie’s words, not Bess’, obviously), she felt like she could breathe. Her eyes watched the players warming up high above the, allowing the noise of the crowd drown out her own thoughts.
Frowning as she stared at the league scoreboard across the pitch, her eyes dropped down to the stairs leading up to her section. She spotted Penny and waved, but the smile at the appearance of her sister-in-law had brought to her face quickly faded as she took in the person walking right behind her. Bess froze, recalling that Penny had mentioned she was bringing a friend, that Tripp was going to accompany her tonight. Tripp was---Tripp had been part of Penny’s life for so long, he was---it was----
Bess stood, knocking her bag of popcorn to the ground. She jumped out of her row, starting up the stairs, knowing that she needed to alert the pitch security that Chester Scabior was here that---he wasn’t supposed to be here!
Chester had been simmering ever since he had wiped the hot tea from his face in hair, slowly calculating his next move. He really hoped Bess was pleased with that little stunt because now, he wasn’t holding anything back. If she wanted to fight dirty, well then by all means. It was far past time to show her just how far he had infiltrated her perfect little safe life.
It didn’t take much to convince Penelope to take him to the game. Just a little bit of wheedling and dropping the hint that he’d never been to a game before. Such a sweet girl, really. He was sure that had he asked her, she would have given him the money no questions asked. Shame that the amount he needed exceeded what she was likely to have access too. He grinned smugly at Bess over Penny’s shoulder, waving his fingers gently.
He never felt so pleased as he did watching the panic spread across her face and the popcorn spill to the floor. It wasn’t until he heard the soft concerned ‘oh’ from the girl standing next to him. Right. Penelope. He could waste time making up some believable excuse or-- “Excuse me for a moment.” he said quickly once he realized that Bess was most likely going to security. He didn’t bother waiting for her reply as he followed Bess down the stairs.
It didn’t take him long to catch up Bess, and he got to her way before she got close to Security.
“What’s the matter, Bess?” he called after her taking long strides closing the gap between them. “You ran off before sweet Penelope could introduce you to her friend. Such a darling girl, did you know she’s been helping me cope with my poor wife’s death? Would do almost anything for her friends.”
Her breaths were deep as she tried to quicken her pace. She couldn’t look back, she couldn’t give in to his taunts, she just had to get to the back offices! Why did it seem like everyone in the bloody stadium had decided to go watch practice? Or--no, those were the introduction announcements she heard in the distance. The match was starting, so everyone would be focused, everyone would be---
Feeling desperate, as now she was at a full sprint (thank god she’d gone for comfort and had worn her flats), Bess flung out her wand and shot a few heavy equipment containers over her shoulder. Hopefully they slammed straight into Chester, hopefully they at least made some noise and caused someone to find her and help her.
Bess turned a corner and skidded to a halt, finding that she---she must’ve missed the turn, she must have turned too soon, it---she was cornered. She spun around, hair wild around her head and wand up.
“Stay back!” Bess shouted, shooting some defensive hexes. Her hand shook violently and they bounced off the floor and walls. “Scabior, stay back!”
Chester laughed as Bess starting shooting hexes at him. Defensive hexes and she couldn’t even hit her mark. What was she going to do next, send a jelly leg jinx his way? He raised his wand to disarm her when a sharp pain cut him off mid laugh. He reached up to touch his cheek bone just below his right eye and pulled his hand back to find blood coating his fingers. Somewhere along the line she had moved off the defensive.
“Now, now Bess. That isn’t nice. How would poor Penelope feel if she found out you were using such spells on her friends.” He moved swiftly and grabbed her wrist tightly in his hand, hoping that his blood stained her skin. Chester had grown tired of this game. So bloody tired and angry. Furious, even, that Bess has managed to land a curse that may end up scaring his face. Forced side along apperation always had a higher chance of splinching but at this point he could care less. Bess could lose a limb for all he cared, they just needed to get out of the stadium.
He shoved her hard into a shelf once the room stopped spinning and they were standing in the shop.
“Why must you make everything so difficult” he shouted wiping again at the blood streaming from the cut on his face. “I always give you the opportunity to do things the easy way and you always spit in my face.” He shot a hex at her, exploding the bottle that was next to her head. Chester had never really had the desire to kill Bess. Not that he actually cared about her, but unlike other people in his life, he didn’t exactly want her dead. But she certainly made his life bloody difficult, didn’t she know the chances he was giving her were gifts? That he could easily just take what he wanted without even bothering to ask first.
“You bring this on yourself. On your family. If you would just listen, do you even know the things that could have been avoided? The pain you could have spared Penelope.” He punctuated his statement with another hex, his temper running away now that it was released. “One last chance, are you going to reconsider or not?”
Bess was terrified. Her hands clenched onto random objects on the shelf behind her to keep her from shaking and falling to the floor.
While the world whirled and spiraled around her, it seemed like she became more focused. She jumped at the appropriate times, screaming as Chester’s hexes hit so close that she could feel the heat of them burning her cheeks. Her breaths were heavy, but she kept her eyes focused on him, on her...she had no idea what to even call him anymore. If she didn’t have Sadie as evidence, Bess would have forced herself to wipe any memories of ever being with him.
There had been a time, it felt like so long ago. Bess could faintly remember the butterflies this tormentor of a man had given her, the stolen kisses in the corridor, and the way her heart had swelled at the sight of him. Life had seemed like it was going somewhere positive, that she’d finally found some sort of direction. Chester had been her first real love. But, as history shows, things did not go that way. Poor decisions were made and that love was lost.
Bess had been hurt too many times to let it happen again. She’d grown, she was in control of her life and if she wanted to protect her family she needed to make a choice. She couldn’t keep pushing Chester away and under the rug, hoping he’d stay away. Sadie deserved better, Drystan deserved better, her boys, Penny. Bess was the only one that could stop this madness, and her shoulders dropped at the realization
“You’re right,” she said quietly, the panic in her voice gone. Bess didn’t drop her gaze as she stepped toward Chester, one hand out in a pleading manner. Her chest heaved heavily, and she batted her eyes to control her tears. “You’re absolutely right. I’ve made some terrible choices.”
She stopped less than a foot away from him, eyes wide as she stared up at Chester. Even after all these years, she’d always found him so handsome. Her hand hesitated, hovering between their forms for a few heavy seconds. Taking a sharp breath, Bess placed her palm on his chest.
“Please forgive me,” her voice was low and full of longing.
Chester stopped at her words. Almost froze as she said you’re right. It had to be a ploy, almost everything in him screamed that it was some sort of trap. He watched her carefully as she edged closer to him not daring to move until she was touching him. Asking for forgiveness.
Finally. A sense of relief pushed aside any feeling of mistrust. Finally Bess had seen that everything would just be easier if she just listened. If she just agreed. There was a moment that the silence between them seemed to stretch on forever. He leaned into her touch as he lifted his hand to gently tilt her chin up so he could look into her eyes. Bess was never any good at hiding things from him. In the end Chester could always read her emotions well.
“Now, was that so difficult?” he asked softly tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Standing here, this close, it reminded him of their time together back at school. Before everything got so convoluted. It was easy to remember now, how he spent his entire seventh year enticed by this one witch standing in front of him. There was a time, he vaguely recalled, he would have done anything for her. Who knows how differently things would have gone if only she hadn’t gotten pregnant.
“For you Bess, I suppose there is always room for forgiveness.” Chester allowed leaning in closer, cupping her cheek in his hand. The temptation was too great for him to stop himself from bending down and stealing a kiss. He found himself tangling his free hand into her hair as he pulled Bess closer to him. She was going to be the end of him, Chester was sure of it, as much as she drove him crazy, but for now he was going to take what he could get.
Bess’ eyes widened as Chester’s pull on her hair became too tight, though she shut them quickly to hide her shock that she’d managed to convince him of her resignation. Every vein in her body turned to ice as he deepened his kiss and she couldn’t stop his force as they moved across the floor of his shop. Bess held on to the front of his shirt to keep her balance, thinking to herself that she was strong, she was brave, she could do this.
When her back hit the shelving, she knew that she couldn’t waste anymore time. Bess pulled her face away from Chester’s, seemingly to gather a breath, and the terrified gasp she let out as his lips dropped to her neck could be mistaken for lust. Lust. She wanted to vomit, she was ready to collapse right there in his arms, but she couldn’t!
Her free hand gripped around the round, heavy object she’d been hiding behind her back. Fabian Prewett came to mind as she pulled her arm back to build all her strength. With as poor as she was with her wand work, he’d always repeated the same mantra when attempting to give her defensive lessons during the war: ‘When in doubt, hit ‘em with something heavy!’
Her lips curled into a snarl and with as much force as she could muster, Bess punched Chester in the side of the head.
It felt like the whole world exploded.
As soon as Bess’ hand connected with the side of Chester’s head, the loudest BANG she’d ever heard filled her ears and if she hadn’t closed her eyes she was sure she would have been blinded by the enormous burst of light. She was literally thrown off her feet and propelled away from Chester. All the air in her lungs was knocked out of her as she hit the shelf and Bess’ eyes shot open. The entire shop seemed to be spinning on a tilted axis and in the center of its floor was Chester---Chester’s body. Bess wobbled forward, her equilibrium completely gone. She hovered over his body, a shrill sound piercing her ears. He was, he was---
Bess covered her ears with her hands, realizing that the sound was that of her own screams. She had--she’d---
She pulled her hands away from her ears and stared, horrified at the blood dripping between her fingers. Large parts of the ceiling had begun to tumble down around her as if the shop was collapsing into itself. Bess felt like---like she was---he was---she had---Choking on her own breath, Bess disapparated with a loud crack.
