A/N: HI! it's the sequel to A Subtle Touch Unseen, guys! (if you haven't read ASTU, please do so before you read this story to prevent major degrees of confusion. haha.) i'm so excited! though, i am sad that Alec isn't...you know. here. with me. now, i'm not gonna bore you with my long-arse author's notes today. but... THANK YOU: to Des, Elizabeth, marIssa, and Amandarrr! they're awesome! and Addison. Molly Raesly. you = my host, my everything...me. haha. thanks so much for help throughout this entire series, making my banners (whose links are on my author's page), giving me titles, putting up with my stupidness and lack of ability to title anything i do! love you! love all of you! sorry for that lie at the beginning of my author's note about its length. now. ENJOY!

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Chapter 1: "His name is Ian Hayes."

I took in my surroundings, trying to figure out where exactly I was. I was in a room with poorly painted walls, two ugly doors, three chairs scattered around, a metal framed bed, and a 19-year-old boy who had total custody of my heart, but had not a single memory of receiving it.

I didn't remember ordering it to, but I felt my legs start to retreat backwards. I tried to force my eyes away from his confused face, but they wouldn't comply. Worry began to cross his face.

His deep voice broke through the steady beeping of his heartbeat that echoed off of the walls and the voices of the nurses still struggling to get the door open. "Hey, are you alright?"

The pain that pulsed through me caused a reaction of tears running agonizingly slowly down my already moist cheeks. I shut my eyes in a vain attempt to calm myself enough to reply to him. It was a lot harder to speak to him than I thought it would be. I didn't even know what to say.

The only words that came out of my mouth were, "Forget it." Ironic.

The nurses – and now my father – had finally countered my spells on the door and were only stopped by the chair under the knob, now. I only had a few more seconds. That was all I could take, anyway. I took my last seconds staring into his eyes, willing him to remember. To remember me. It seemed like luck didn't feel like backing me up this time.

With a last sniff and a muttered goodbye at the empty face that I'd never see again, I Apparated back to the entrance gate of Hogwarts.

The freezing cold wind bit at my wet cheeks as I trudged my way up to the castle, through the snow on the ground. Halfway through my journey, my legs decided they couldn't take it any more than my mind could, and broke down from underneath me. My knees landed in the snow while I sobbed into my hands.

How could he not remember? Just because it was his spirit who had met me, and not his body, didn't mean he wouldn't have any memory of me whatsoever, right? How could he have forgotten every single memory of me and our time together? We spent practically every day together for an entire month! How could every memory from the past 33 days vanish, just like that? Every spoken word, every meaningful glance, every subtle touch: gone. How could he forget?

He promised not to forget.

I don't know how long I sat there crying in the middle of the snowy school grounds. It was just about when I thought I was going to get frost bite when I felt strong, comforting arms around me. I hadn't even heard footsteps approaching me, prior to the wrapping of the person's arms around my shivering torso.

By the sound of his hushing tones, I could tell who it was. "Jenyse," a very concerned Remus whispered, "what are you doing out here?" It was too difficult for me to speak, because of my trembling from my sobs and the freezing air and snow all around me.

Through chattering teeth, I managed to say, "N-nothing. Wh-what are you d-doing out h-here?" into the front of his cloak.

"I was in the Entrance Hall when I saw you collapse out here. I ran over to see if you were okay. What's wrong, Jenyse? And don't tell me that nothing is wrong, because I won't buy it. You haven't been yourself lately and you've got everybody worried."

I pulled my head back to look at him through my tears. All of a sudden, guilt joined my sadness. I could see the worry and confusion in his face as though the words were written in green across his forehead. I shouldn't be shutting all my friends out when my problems aren't even their fault. It wasn't right. The right thing to do would be to apologize to Remus – and everyone else – and explain to them my situation. I should explain what was wrong with me and let them understand that I knew my behavior toward and around them was wrong.

I looked straight into Remus's eyes and opened my mouth to reply honestly, this time…but the words wouldn't come out. It was like my vocal chords decided to give up on me just then. A big shiver ran down my spine when I realized why.

Remus, who had been ready to hear out my full confession, lost a little interest in what I had to say and became more worried about my physical state. He looked down at my clothes. Finding that I had barely anything warm on, he took off his cloak and wrapped it around me. I shook my head in protest – he didn't have anything warm on either – but he ignored it and helped me stand up. He kept me tucked under his arm, and I snuggled into his side as he led me to the castle.

Even if I didn't have the guts to apologize for my recent behavior, I wanted to at least apologize for not being able to explain everything to him and the rest of my friends. I felt horrible for them having to deal with me. They didn't deserve it at all.

Walking through the halls, up to the seventh floor, the two of us got weirded-out and confused looks shot at us by every bystander we passed. When the whispers started, the moment we stepped into the Entrance Hall, Remus's arm grew protectively tighter around me. I was glad that even though he was probably incredibly pissed off at me, he still loved me enough to want to protect me from the pitiless gossiping students of our school.

When we finally got to the top of the staircase on the seventh floor, I untangled myself from Remus. I was pretty sure he understood that I didn't want to face any other Marauders or Travis or Lily. I gave his cloak back. I gave him a thankful then an apologizing glance. Remus sighed, stepped forward to give me a hug and a kiss on the top of my head, then headed to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

I turned and headed to the Room of Requirement. I made the room just like I usually did. The way we usually did. I stepped into the room, and suddenly it wasn't as comforting as it used to be. No, not without him there. The lack of solace from the normally comforting room made the feeling of loneliness intensify inside of me.

I curled up on the familiar couch where so many memories had been created. I couldn't help but be sadly reminded that I was the only person who would ever have knowledge of those once-shared memories.

Every part of me ached for him. My eyes ached to see his smile. My ears ached to hear his laugh. My nose ached to smell his distinct scent. My arms ached to wrap around and hold him. My lips ached to be pressed against his. My heart ached to have him back in my presence.

I always used to think it was completely stupid when a girl in a book or a film said they couldn't live without the guy they supposedly loved. And now just look at me. I don't think there had ever been a greater form of hypocrisy than mine.

I knew I was acting as though he actually had died, but to me, it was verging on being almost the same thing. I knew I would never get the chance to see him again. If I wasn't ever going to see him, how could I ever get the chance to rebuild the relationship I had with his spirit – his soul? All I could do now was be happy that he was alive and could live a life undoubtedly better than one where only one person in the world could see you.

I bet I would have stayed trapped in that room, wallowing away, and eventually drown myself in my tears that were still flowing like the Atlantic, if I hadn't come to one grounding realization. It was silly to cry my life away in the Room of Requirement…

…when the room couldn't give me the sole thing I required.

I got up and left the room without looking back. I walked slowly toward the common room, thinking of how I was going to avoid James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Travis, and Lily. As much as I knew they didn't deserve my behavior towards them and as much as I kept telling myself that I was a horrible friend to be treating them that way, I still just couldn't tell them anything.

I kept trying to convince myself that I wasn't explaining myself to all of my friends because I knew that they wouldn't understand and that I didn't want their meaningless pity. But deep down, I knew that the real reason behind my vow of silence was because I was sure that if I said it out loud, it would be true; real.

I couldn't let it be real.

For days I lived in denial. Denial became my friend. Denial was my own form of comfort. No one and nothing else could provide me with comfort, as hard as they tried. Pranks and jokes came from James, Sirius, and Peter, pep-talks came from Remus, hugs came from Travis, girl-talks came from Lily (like that would ever work), and coffee came from the Room of Requirement. Still, my denial kept my spirit the highest – well, as high as it could go in my situation, anyway.

But eventually, Denial couldn't hold me up much longer. Denial turned into Doubt. The doubt flooded through me and numbed me. Unlike Denial, who brought hopeful, alternative possibilities, Doubt caused hopeless, ambiguous questions to arise.

What if none of it had happened? What if all of it was just my imagination running wild? Did I create a dream? Was he a fantasy? How could I even be sure that any of it was real? There was no solid proof that any of it had occurred. There was no solid proof that he even existed.

But then, Denial came back to rub in my face that the letters he had left me, hidden in my trunk – along with that first outfit that he had seen me in – were clear enough proof that he had indeed existed. But that didn't mean that the last events in my memory of him were real. No. It couldn't be true.

And so, for the next whole month, I spoke not a word about the reasons for my mood to my friends. Throughout that entire month, Denial and Doubt fought back and forth, battling for dominance.

~*~

"Come on, Jenyse! That's the fourth goal you've missed and we're only half an hour into practice!" James yelled across the Quidditch field. He flew over to me and put his hands on either side of my face, forcing me to look at him. "Jenyse, focus for me. Please."

I sighed. What the hell was wrong with me? "You're right. I'm sorry, James." I took a deep breath and gave him a small reassuring smile.

"So, you good?"

"Mmhmm." I nodded.

He smiled and patted my cheek lightly. "Good. I mean, I know you haven't been feeling well lately, but…you don't want to lose to Hufflepuff, do you?"

For the first time in a month, I let out a real laugh. All other laughs that came out of me had been forced. It felt good to really laugh again.

James flew away from me after shooting me one last smirk. I took a deep breath and gave my all to focus on what we were practicing. To my great relief – and the whole team's, too – I managed to remember all of the new plays James taught us and even make the shots I took. It took a lot of my power to focus solely on Quidditch, but I did it. I even had some laughs while doing so. Sirius almost hit James with a Bludger, at one point during practice, and James flipped out on him. His yelling speech included witty insults at Hufflepuff and dramatic inquiries like, "What if I got injured? How would you expect to win against those cheerful, idiotic, yellow wankers?"

By the time practice was over, I had a genuine smile resting comfortably on my lips. For the first time, I was comforted by my friends. I guess it was pretty clear, because James and Sirius noticed and walked with their arms around me to the Great Hall for dinner.

I watched as Remus's head snapped up to look at us walk in, joking around and laughing. The hugest of smiles spread across his face and he got up to give me an enormous hug.

I reveled in the feeling of happiness around me from my friends. I missed it so much. I don't know what triggered the better mood in me, but it was like someone just flipped a switch in me. Of course, the pain was still there. It was just on the backburner now. And I felt good about it. Just a month had passed. Imagine how much I would recover after even more months. All of a sudden, hope sparked in me. Even if I couldn't have exactly what I wanted – no, needed – at least I could still be considerably happy in the company of my friends.

Later that night, when we got to the Common Room, I ran into Travis's arms with that smile still plastered on my face. He laughed heartily and kissed the top of my head. He also whispered, "It's good to have my best friend back."

Finally, things were seeming to get bearable, if not better.

~*~

"You are so stupid, the word special comes to mind," I said, chuckling at Sirius's stupidity.

He shoved me a little away from him, scowling. "Hey! How was I supposed to know that the poor thing would turn into a pair of granny knickers if I put the accent on the wrong syllable of the incantation? And that's not a very nice thing to say, Sylly."

I shrugged with a smirk. "Some days you're the dog, some days you're the hydrant." I doubled over with laughter at the unintentional double meaning of that statement.

Sirius tore his eyes away from the knickers laying on the table in front of us to glare at me. I tried to stop laughing, but only because of the glare I was also getting from McGonagall. I put my hand over my mouth, which only sent all the air from laughing to my nose, causing me to snort every few seconds.

Sirius didn't bother to lower his voice much when he said, "You know, I bet Minnie keeps these knickers and uses them, just so she has a memory of me." McGonagall shot another glare in our direction. I'm not sure that she actually heard what Sirius had said. Then again, I could be wrong….

I did my best to ignore his use of the word, 'memory.' "Pfft, tchyeah…right. Like she'd ever let any property of yours touch her down there – or anywhere, for that matter – whether it be a part of you or not."

"Hey!" Sirius retorted. "She loves me, and she knows it. She's just living in denial."

I closed my eyes at that word. Ignore it, Jenyse. "Sure she is, Sirius," I sighed.

"Oh, I know. Dumbledore's got nothing on me!" he exclaimed, standing up and making a show of flexing his muscles. It wasn't hard to notice every girl in the class sigh at the sight of him.

I rolled my eyes and pulled him back down, into his seat, before McGonagall could turn around and blow up at us. As Sirius plopped back into his seat, there was a knock on the door of the classroom. All heads turned to the back of the room.

The door creaked open and revealed the one and only Dumbledore behind it.

I snorted loudly at the coincidence and at the look on Sirius's face. It seemed he took back what he said just a moment ago. Oh, Sirius.

"Yes, Headmaster?" McGonagall asked.

"Minerva, I'm terribly sorry to interrupt, but may I extract Ms. Baccari from your class, please?"

All heads turned to me, probably all wondering the same as me: what would Dumbledore want with me?

"Absolutely. Ms. Baccari, please get the assignment from a classmate later today."

I nodded and gathered my things. As I walked down the aisle, I heard each of the Marauders let out a "dun dun dun." I made a face back at them and left the room.

Dumbledore thanked McGonagall and closed the door behind me. He turned to me and smiled reassuringly. "No worries, Jenyse. You're certainly not in trouble." I sighed in slight relief. I didn't think I had done anything wrong. He started walking and motioned for me to follow him. "I suppose I should fill you in on our way down to the Entrance Hall. Your father is here–"

"My dad's here?" I cut him off, completely caught off guard. What would my father be doing here, right now?

"Yes, he is." Dumbledore seemed to read my mind – I wouldn't be surprised if he actually did – when he said, "Don't worry. Nothing's wrong. Your family and everything is fine."

Pure relief flooded through me. Thank Merlin, everything was okay. So, what the hell was my father doing at Hogwarts?

I voiced that question – minus the minor swear – to Dumbledore. I was incredibly confused.

By now, we had already reached the top of the staircase leading into the empty Entrance Hall, other than my father. Like all other times, seeing him made me realize how much I missed him.

"Ah, maybe you can just ask him yourself," Dumbledore suggested.

I ran down the rest of the stairs, to my dad, who engulfed me in a huge hug.

"Hey, Jeneesy! How are you?" he greeted me, ruffling up my curly hair, which I had gotten from him.

"Alright." So it was a slight lie; sue me. "What are you doing here?"

He moved his hands to hold either side of my upper arms and looked down at me carefully. "Alright, so, I need you to do me a favor, Jenyse."

My eyebrows drew together. "Yeah, sure. Couldn't you have just asked me in a letter or something?"

His eyes darted quickly to the side then back at me. "Well, uh, no. It's a bit more complicated than that." He pulled me a little ways away from Dumbledore and the student – huh…funny; I hadn't noticed another student in the room – I heard him quietly talking to. I ignored them completely, focusing on my dad. "You see, one of my patients goes to school here, and he's a little disoriented."

My eyes snapped wide open at what my father just said. No. It couldn't be. Begging Merlin for it not to be what I thought, I slowly turned my head in the direction of Dumbledore and the student he was talking to.

I vaguely heard my father say the exact words I was dreading he would say.

"He just came out of his coma of two years last month. His name is Ian Hayes."

That was all I could bear to hear. I blocked out all of the noises in the room, not even sure if my dad was saying anything else.

My eyes finally settled on a pair of painfully familiar hazel-green eyes.

At the moment my eyes fell on him, that well-known son of a bitch called pain returned to its residence in all of me. Any wounds that I had managed to heal over the past month burst open with a new full force. I was frozen and numbed with pain.

It was Ian Hayes. There was no doubt about it. He looked a little different from how he looked at the hospital, but it was unmistakably him. His hair was cut to how Alec's was and he looked more…alive than when he first woke up. But those deep, hazel-green eyes and that unforgettable smile of his were just as they always were.

A shake from my father brought me back around.

"Jenyse, are you okay?" my dad asked, concerned.

I full-out lied this time, and nodded, unable to speak.

"Good. Now, let me introduce the two of you before I fill you in on the details."

There was no possible way I could back out of it. I was trapped; trapped between the pain, my father, and Ian Hayes.

"Ian, come over here and meet my daughter."

My eyes grew even larger at the memory of the kiss I gave him when he woke up. What if he remembered? Would he call me out on it? What would my dad think if he found out that I was the one who had locked the door to his room? What if he had already told him? Oh, no.

If he had told my father, neither of them showed any sign of it.

Ian finally reached us and my dad put one of his hands on his shoulder. "Ian, this is my youngest daughter, Jenyse. Jenyse, this is my former coma-patient."

I tried to smile, but I think it may have come out as a grimace. Seeing Alec's smile on Ian's face was just too much. I looked away from him, unable to take it any longer.

It was a short, awkward silence before my dad finally said, "Alright, well, Ian. Why don't you and Professor Dumbledore go check out your dorm? When you come back, we'll just settle the last-minute things."

"Sure thing, Healer B."

The pain pulsed through me at the sound of his voice. It was exactly the same as Alec's.

Ian and Dumbledore headed to Ravenclaw Tower, leaving me alone with my father.

"Dad, why is he here? Isn't he a little too old to be going to school?" I asked, desperate to get myself out of this particular situation in any way possible.

"He got into his coma on Christmas Day of his seventh year. He never got to finish the rest of the year or graduate. He told me he wants to be a professional Quidditch player, but I told him that he should finish school anyway, just so he can get another job if that one doesn't work out."

Wait a minute. No he doesn't! He wants to be a Healer! Like my dad!

…No. Alec wants to be a Healer. Not Ian.

"So, Jenyse. I need you to be his…buddy, sort of." This couldn't be happening. "Normally, it would have taken months for him to recover from the effects of the coma, even with the use of magic and potions. We think that his quick recovery was due to the fact that he had gotten into a coma while in freezing cold water. Muggle and wizard studies have shown that cooling of the body can help preserve the brain functions and give you a higher percent of recovery. That's why we never…pulled the magic plug, if you will. He has no family, so everything was our call."

I tried to absorb all of this information that he was throwing at me. It was almost too much to take in.

"His body had already sort of shut down and preserved its vital body and brain functions. Over the past month, we've just been giving him a few potions for healing and strength. He's still got a month or two left of potion taking. I've talked to Madam Pomfrey and Professor Slughorn about the potions he needs."

"Dad, why are you telling me all of this?" I asked, not believing that this could be real.

Ian Hayes. Here. At Hogwarts? Right now? And for the duration of the rest of the year? No. Impossible.

I had been so convinced that the day at the hospital was going to be the last time I was ever going to see him.

Impossible.

My dad looked a little uncomfortable before he spoke again. "I, uh, just need you to keep an eye on him for me. I've already talked to Dumbledore. Ian is going to be in all of your classes. It would really be a big help if you walked with him to each class, just in case something happens."

That was just going too far. I'd have to see him every single day. There was no way of avoiding it.

"And Dumbledore is also going to have James tutor Ian for a little while so he can catch up. He's a month behind."

"James? As in my James?" No bloody way.

"Yes, Jenyse. James Potter. He's Head Boy. Who else would be better to tutor him? Well, other than Lily Evans; but I think James and Ian would get along well."

This could not be happening.

"Now, Jenyse," he eyed me carefully and nervously, "this is the biggest favor of them all."

Uh-oh.

"I need you to give Ian weekly check-ups."

My eyes grew huge with fear. That was the one thing that could make this situation even worse. Check-ups would mean only the two of us in a room. That was more than I could handle.

"Oh, Jenyse, don't give me that look. There won't be any blood involved. I promise."

Oh, no. I hadn't even taken blood into account. I opened my mouth to retort, but he cut me off with a stern look.

"Please, Jenyse. I need you to do this for me. And no, Madam Pomfrey can't just do it. I don't want Ian to have to go to the Hospital Wing all the time, and Madam Pomfrey can't leave the Wing, either. I want him to live a life that's as normal as possible. This way, if you do it, he'll be more comfortable and it won't feel like he's being trapped in a hospital bed 24/7, like he's been for the past two years." He paused to pull out a roll of parchment from the inside of his robes. "I've written down all of the things I want you to do at each check-up and what to record. Just follow what I wrote and owl me your recordings after each check-up. And, Jenyse?" I looked up at him, preparing for the worst. "There's no way for you to back out of this."

Great. I tried to keep my cool as I took the parchment from him, but my hand was shaking too much for me to pass as nonchalant.

"Thank you, Jenyse. And even with his quick recovery, he will still have a few of the effects. He's not exactly fully recovered. He's already gotten over his very small difficulty of speech. He's just going to have a little trouble with physical things. Two years is a very long time to not use your muscles. He's getting better quickly, but the struggle is still there. You'll have to let him take his time walking around and going up and down stairs. You might want to help him with his books, too, sometimes. Jenyse," he added in a tone of warning at the look of incredulity on my face. "And, Jenyse, he'll have trouble remembering things, for a while."

I looked up at him, finally interested in something my dad said. "What types of things will he have trouble remembering? Names? People? Places?" Everything affiliated with me? Ding ding ding! Give the girl a prize.

I mentally rolled my eyes. There was no need for me to be snarky at myself.

Again, he eyed me carefully and maybe even worriedly. "Don't worry, Jenyse. He's not a mental patient or anything. His short term memory is pretty consistent. You won't have to repeat things constantly. The worst it could be would be his forgetting assignments or lessons. Just try to be patient – which, for you, will be quite a task, I know."

I didn't bother getting angry at that comment. Not only was I used to my dad's playful insults, but there were more important matters to talk about than my patience – or lack thereof. "What about his long term memory? Will he ever remember the things that happened a long time ago? You know, before his coma?" I watched my dad, hopeful.

The hope sank when he sighed heavily. A sad look came across his face. "He suffered a head trauma, Jenyse. Most people…well, most people don't ever recover from that. It's thanks to Merlin that he even survived at all. Magic can only go so far. "

"So, he might never remember what happened before the coma?"

My poor father. He was probably totally flabbergasted at all my sudden inquiries. His tone turned comforting. "There's always a chance. But only just."

I looked up at him. "How big of a chance?"

My father looked back down at my eager and hopeful eyes for a while, pondering on what was best to say. Finally, he took a deep breath and said, "Jenyse, I think it's best for that boy to focus on the present instead of the past. He's been through a lot. Ian's a nice guy – and not too shabby in the looks department, either. Who knows? Maybe my little Jeneesy will end up liking him." He nudged me playfully in the ribs.

Shot to the heart. I hung my head down, avoiding his eyes. "I dunno, Dad. How can I be with a guy who might not even remember me one day?"

"Hey," he reprimanded as he ruffled up my hair, "be nice."

I sighed. "The fact that I'm actually agreeing to this is proof that I'm always nice."

A smile graced my father's tired face. "Thank you, Jenyse." He embraced me lovingly and murmured, "I owe you. Remember that."

I let out a humorless laugh. "Course I'll remember, Dad."

After all, now, remembering is all that I can do.

~*~
A/N: REVIEW PLEASE!