Two days had passed, and John still hadn't heard a word from Lexi. He paced around his bedroom, too confused to begin to think straight, and too nervous about what was keeping Lexi away to confront her about it. In his frustration to know what was going on, he went to the only person he seemed to be able to trust.

John knocked on Patricia's door. She answered quickly, looking surprised to see him.

"John?"

"Hey, Tricia. Can I come in?"

"Sure." She stood aside to allow him entrance. John perched himself on her couch. Something was obviously bothering him, and she had a pretty good idea it had something to do with Lexi and Cedric. "What's up?"

"Is Lexi ignoring me?" he asked, looking down at his hands.

Patricia frowned as she sat next to him. "I don't think so. Has she not told you what happened?"

"What?! Something happened?" John panicked, almost lifting himself off the couch before Patricia sat him back down.

"It's okay, John." she tried to calm him. "Normally, I would say Lexi needs to tell you this, but she has enough on her plate as it is."

"Just tell me what happened."

There was no point holding out the suspense. Short and blunt was best. "Cedric is alive."

John was dumbfounded. "That's impossible."

"Apparently, it's not. There was an accident in the Department of Mysteries, and they found Cedric, alive."

"But… Lexi?"

"Lexi has already seen him."

"Is she… with… him?"

"Cedric doesn't remember her."

"Where is she? Is she okay?"

"She's fine, John. Right now she's out with Kateri."

"She's fine?" John repeated in disbelief. "Is she wanting to just start all over with Cedric?"

"I don't know what she's going to do."

"What about me? She doesn't tell me anything, and she expects everything to be 'fine'?!" he felt his anger bubbling up inside of him. This was so typical of Lexi.

"John, please listen to me. I know what you're going throu -"

"You don't know what I'm going through, Tricia. Sorry, but you don't." John countered, shoving a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Will you shut up!" Patricia blew up. John was once again dumbfounded. "I was just dating a guy for a month, only to find out he was using me to cheat on his girlfriend! Don't tell me I don't know!"

John didn't know what to say. All he could think of was, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Patricia sighed to calm down. "It's okay. But I do understand, John. I know what it feels like to be considered only second best. Like you're good, but not good enough. And it feels awful, doesn't it?"

John nodded, still unable to say anything after Patricia's outburst. But he was relieved he had finally found someone who understood him and his pain.

"But sometimes," Patricia continued, "you have to know when to stop trying. When the fight's not worth it."

"She is worth it." John muttered.

"Lexi is my best friend. As much as I want to take your side on this, I can't." Patricia put her hand lightly on his shoulder. "He's everything to her, John. You're fighting a pointless battle because at the end of the day Lexi will always choose Cedric."

"But he doesn't know her."

"That really doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does. It means I still have a chance."

"Why are you so set on this, John?"

"Because I love her."

Patricia really wanted to wring his neck. "No, you don't."

John looked at her like she was insane. "I think I know how I feel."

"No. You don't. You think you love her because you can't stand being second best, so you're grasping on to any way to not be in that position."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Fine, John. If you want to be stubborn about this, then fight for her, but don't come crying to me when you get hurt."

"I need to talk to her. Now."

"I agree." Patricia bit her lip. "But wait until tonight, and let me talk to her first. Is that okay with you?"

John shrugged. "I guess so."

"Good." Patricia lead him back to the front door. "Go to Lexi's place at around 8:00 tonight."

John nodded and disapparated. He returned to his flat not knowing what to do until 8:00. He was still way too nervous, but at least he knew what he was nervous about. That was one relief.

To pass the time, he collapsed on his bed and tried to take a nap. But sleep seemed to hate him, he couldn't even close his eyes. All he could do was think about the probability of Lexi choosing him over Cedric. He had to admit, the odds were definitely against him. But what if, just what if, Cedric met someone else before he reciprocated any feelings to Lexi? What if another love triangle was added to their already crazy one? Lexi would have to run to him, John, for comfort. He knew she would, not only for herself, but for Kateri also. Kateri was another thing. What if Cedric didn't want to be responsible for Kateri? The little girl meant more to Lexi than her own self. She would surely return to John if it was best for Kateri.

Those were the comforting thoughts that calmed his nerves as he apparated to Lexi's flat. It had started raining, typical London, and John was soaked to the bone by the time he made it to the steps leading up to Lexi's door. He expected the rain.

What he didn't expect was a figure already sitting on the steps. As John approached, he could definitely tell it was a man, and a tall man at that. Who else had business with Lexi?

--

Cedric felt good when he left his house that morning to meet the girl from his memories. Amos had managed to find Cho Chang's address, and now he had a lunch date with her.

Healer Ford had insisted that he not try apparation yet, so Cedric was forced to take the Knight Bus. He fell out of his seat once, and had a throbbing bump on his head by the time he made it to Cho's flat. Rubbing his head, he knocked on the door.

Not two seconds later, the door was thrown open and a pretty girl with raven black hair stood before him, beaming.

"Cedric!" she threw her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. It took Cedric off guard, he didn't feel comfortable with the touchy familiarity she exuded.

Cho took hold of his hand and lead him into her living room. "So, how have you been?"

"I guess I've been fine." he replied. She sat down next to him on the couch. Right next to him. He felt an intense urge to push her to the other side of the couch. Damn his manners.

"That's good." she nodded. "Would you like anything to drink?"

"Er, no thanks. I'm fine."

"What did you want to do today?" she smiled at him. He saw that the smile must have been plastered to her face, she didn't seem to have another expression.

"I don't know. Lunch. Talk."

"After all these years, I bet it feels good to talk. Don't worry, I can talk for ages."

He chuckled politely at her joke, and he felt her sidle closer to him. Then she put her hand on his thigh.

"Cedric, I hope you know that I will always be here if you need someone to talk to." she sounded sincere. At least she wasn't smiling obnoxiously anymore. But her hand was still on his leg.

"About that drink." he made the quickest excuse he could think of. "I am kinda thirsty."

"Well, why don't we go eat?" Cho suggested. The smile was back.

They got up, and Cho brought him to her favorite restaurant in the neighborhood. It was a coffee shop that served nice deli sandwiches as well. She didn't stop chattering while they ate. Cedric was surprised that she managed to finish her food before he did.

But her endless chatter gave him plenty of time to think. Somehow, Cedric knew Cho was not part of the blackness in his memories. He remembered the feeling he got when the blackness would appear. As odd as it was, his heart would pick up speed and tingles would run through him, giving him a blissful feeling. He quickly connected the bliss with the memories that were supposed to be there - the memories were good, they gave him happiness. The woman across the table from him did not stir those emotions. In fact she had the opposite effect. He was repulsed, and he didn't know why. She seemed like a perfectly decent person when she wasn't trying too hard.

By the time Cho and Cedric returned to Cho's apartment, she had already suckered him into a second date, and Cedric was trying to think of a nice way to get out of it. At least it was nearing 5:00, so he had an excuse to leave her company for now.

"I really should be going." Cedric told her as he headed to the door.

"Alright. I'll floo you tomorrow with details for next weekend."

He gave her a cordial nod and opened the door.

"Cedric?" she called to him before he could leave. He looked back at her. "I just wanted to tell you how much it means to me that you finally chose me over Lexi."

Cedric felt his stomach plummet. "Lexi?"

She took his surprise the wrong way. "Yes. I mean with all of our history from school, I was sure you would go straight to her, but I was so happy when I got your call. Thank you."

His thoughts were everywhere: the blackness, the day painting the door, his feeling towards Cho, and Lexi. "You know what, Cho? Don't bother flooing tomorrow, and just forget about next weekend. I really don't want to go out with you, so forget about it."

He had a slight twinge of guilt as he slammed her door in her stunned face, because she had just spilled her heart out to him. But the guilt was quickly taken over by the frustration of the enigmatic blackness in his memories. It was Lexi. It had to be. Everything he felt when he was with her was the same feeling of bliss that exuded from the blackness.

Thank God his parents had decided to go out that night. The only thing Cedric could do when he got home was look for any trace of her. If he and Lexi had been involved, which he suspected they had been, there must be something in his old belongings that indicated just that. He deduced that since his parents, and Lexi for that matter, had hidden her identity from him, they must have also hidden the traces of her.

Cedric practically tore his room apart, digging through his old school trunk and his closet. There was nothing. Next he went to the attic. The dust and cobwebs were thick, but Cedric continued. He knew that it would be a newly packed box, which meant no cobwebs around it. He dug through the boxes that were closer to the entrance. Nothing. Then he went to the closet in the guest bedroom, which he always remembered as his mother's studio. There he found plenty of baby items, such as toys and a size reduced crib, that were too knew to have belonged to him when he was a baby.

That's when another truth dawned upon him. Lexi had said she got pregnant at the age of seventeen. If they had been involved… But he had to keep looking.

The hall closet was similarly void of any trace of his past. Then it hit him. It was the one place where parents always kept things that they wanted to hide from their kids, all the birthday and Christmas presents that the kids pretended not to know about. Their bedroom closet. Cedric went to his parents' bedroom and threw open the closet door. There it was, he knew it immediately: a shoe box on the top shelf that had a t-shirt thrown casually over it. Cedric took it off the shelf and brought it to his own room before opening it.

There wasn't much in the box, but its contents did surprise him. On top was a stack of photos. He flipped through them. Most of them were of Lexi, beautiful of course. Some where of the two of them together. Cho came up in one or two, as well as some people he recognized as his Hufflepuff friends. He lingered on the photos of him and Lexi, trying to put the images in his memory. They looked so happy together, which explained the blissful feeling. But no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't connect image to memory. It was unnerving.

It was what was at the bottom of the box that surprised him, and was even more unnerving: bright red, lacey underwear. There was only one reason why any man would have ladies underwear in his possession unless he were a pervert, which Cedric was not.

And the baby furniture in the guest room closet.

He had to talk to Lexi. Now.

He held out his wand hand when he got to the street and waited for the Knight Bus impatiently, again. He was getting tired of depending on public transportation. Cedric was prepared this time, so when he walked out into the rainy evening in front of Lexi's flat he did not have a headache. Fifteen minutes later, Cedric found himself sitting on the steps leading up to her apartment, getting drenched by the rain.

The rain was refreshing. It was like all the elusiveness that he had been feeling was being washed away once and for all.

Then he heard a pop, and saw a new shadow linger towards him in the darkness.

"Hi." Cedric greeted him cordially when the man came right up to Lexi's flat.

"Are you here to see Lexi?" the man asked him. Cedric couldn't see his expression, but his voice was filled with confusion.

"Yeah." Cedric replied. "Do you happen to know when she'll be back?"

"Are you Cedric?" the man asked with a hint of disdain in his voice.

"Yeah." he smiled. "Who are you?"

"I'm her boyfriend! Stay the hell away from her!" he shouted. And a fist connected with Cedric's jaw.

The pain of the punch didn't even compare to the pain of the word 'boyfriend,' something Lexi had definitely failed to mention when she was flirting with him the other day while painting the door. He felt like such an idiot, and hated feeling that way.