And here's the second chapter. Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, favourited and followed this story. Here's hoping I won't be disappointing you :)
Chapter 2 – Blank Slate
As soon as his feet touched solid ground, Sirius checked the woman in his arms. She looked paler than ever; a trickle of blood was dripping down her forehead.
He carefully set her on his bed, and began looking for her wounds. He had learnt a few healing spells, and he set to work at once. Her right sleeve was drenched in blood; he drew it back and hissed. Her creamy white arm was covered with a criss-cross of deep cuts, from which blood was flowing almost freely. It looked as if someone had used her as a knife-sharpener.
Sirius wanted nothing more than to search out and murder the culprit in the most brutal way possible, but unfortunately there was no way he could do it. Firstly, he did not know who Lily's attacker had been, although he strongly suspected it to be his cousin Bellatrix; it seemed just like her piece of work. He remembered how she had once slashed open his arm because he had been talking to a muggle, enjoying how the blood had dripped from his wound and how he had yelped in pain. Besides, he needed to tend to Lily.
Focusing on that purpose, he calmed himself with an effort, and concentrated on healing her wounds. A few minutes later, Lily's arm was healed, all traces of the injury gone. He looked for further wounds; there were a few burns and bruises scattered over her body, which he healed with touches of his wand. He was glad that he had learnt the healing spells; they had originally been mastered for the purpose of healing himself and James after full moon nights (Peter hardly ever suffered injuries, as he was, after all, a rat, and stayed out of the wolf's grasp), but they had proved useful to him on several occasions. He wiped off the congealed blood from Lily's forehead, and finally when it seemed that she was completely healed, he got up and threw off his shirt, which had blood all over it.
He had barely turned his back to her, when he heard a faint moan. Lily was stirring. He rushed over to her and kneeled by her side. After a few seconds, her eyes fluttered open.
"Lily!" he said softly. "Are you all right? Thank Merlin, I thought you were never going to wake up."
"I – I am okay," she said slowly, green eyes full of confusion. "Where am I?"
"This is my flat, Lils. You were hurt, and this was the first place I thought of."
She nodded, still looking confused. She tried to sit up, but winced slightly as she straightened.
"Careful there," Sirius said, and helped her up. "Does it hurt?"
"A bit, but it's okay. Er –" she was teetering on the verge of saying something, but seemed hesitant to say it out loud.
"What is it, Flower? Tell me," he prompted.
"Well," she began with uncharacteristic shyness. "Thank you for everything you've done... You seem to know me well, but if you don't mind, could you tell me, er – who are you?"
Sirius could feel his jaw drop.
"What?" he asked faintly. She blushed and looked at her feet. "I am sorry, I didn't mean to –"
"No, Lily, it's all right," he said with a forced smile, though things were far from all right. "I am Sirius Black. I am your housemate at Hogwarts, in the same year. You remember Hogwarts, right?"
She nodded, but her confusion did not abate. "In the same year as me? But Sirius –" she paused for a fraction of a second to confirm his name, "– how can this be possible? I haven't started Hogwarts as yet."
This second shock hit him like a tidal wave.
"Lily," he almost whispered. "What is today's date?"
She appeared to be puzzled at this sudden question. "The twenty first of August, 1971, isn't it?"
Sirius didn't know whether he was having a nightmare or not. He desperately hoped that he was, and that he would wake up to find that it was eight thirty, and hurry off to meet Lily. He blinked a couple of times, even pinched himself, but the confused young woman before his eyes didn't disappear.
"No, Lily," he said. "It's twenty first December, 1977."
Her eyes widened in disbelief. As a proof, Sirius took up a mirror and held it before her.
"See, you are seventeen, not eleven."
She nodded in agreement, but her eyes were filled with shock and insecurity.
"But I d-don't remember – anything," she stammered. "Wh-what will I do, Sirius?"
Sirius took a few deep breaths. They needed a plan. Finally, after managing to calm himself a little, he addressed Lily.
"Okay, Lily," he said. "Sit down and calm down. Don't worry; we will find a way out of this."
Lily nodded, looking slightly reassured. He seated himself beside her. "Now, tell me what you remember."
She began. "Well, I remember everything till twenty first of August, 1971, as I told you. I remember my parents, my home at Cokeworth. I also remember getting my Hogwarts letter. As far as I can recall, last day, my parents and I went to Diagon Alley to do my shopping for Hogwarts. I don't remember anything onwards."
"So you don't remember anything about your life at Hogwarts?"
She shook her head. Sirius began thinking out a plan. The first thing that came into his mind was admitting her to St. Mungo's. He rose out of his seat and opened his mouth to tell her of his idea, but an old memory which stirred in the depths of his mind made him clamp his jaw shut.
He was only eight when he had gone with Uncle Alphard to visit an old great-aunt, who was down with dragon pox, at St. Mungo's. After his fidgeting by the sickbed for about fifteen minutes, Alphard turned to him.
"Sit quietly for a while, Sirius," he said, although he looked amused at his nephew's antics.
"Can't I go around and explore the place?" he moaned. "This is boring."
"All right, you can go grab a snack from the cafe, but only if you promise not to disturb others."
"Promise!" he squealed and ran out, crying "Thanks, uncle!" in his wake.
He followed the instructions given on the board to locate the cafeteria. He was only a floor below his destination, when he saw a woman peering at him with a strange expression.
"Er – what...?" he approached her apprehensively, when she suddenly she pounced on him with a cry and enveloped him in a bone crushing hug.
"Oh, my son!" she cried. "I have been looking for you everywhere! Why did you leave your poor mother alone?"
"Leggo...am not...son..." he gasped, choking from the lack of oxygen.
Suddenly, a voice rang in the corridor, "Belinda, Belinda are you there?" A motherly looking healer appeared at the place.
"Oh, Belinda, you naughty girl, what are you assaulting this poor boy for?" she reprimanded. The strange woman released Sirius from her death grip, and turned to the healer.
"This is my son!" she announced, with a manic grin on her face. The healer looked surprised.
"You are?" she enquired.
"No!" he replied hurriedly. "I don't even know her."
The healer nodded understandingly, and then began ushering the patient into a ward named 'Janus Thickey ward for permanent spell damage'. After the protests of the woman had died down and she had been safely put to bed, the healer turned to a very shaken Sirius.
"Sorry about that, dear. But she has lost her mind, poor lass. She does gather her bearings sometimes, but half of them are all wrong." she shook her head sadly.
"Can't – can't you do a spell to heal her?" Sirius asked.
"No, son. Such damages don't have any cure...we have to wait till the persons recall their past, get back their sanity or heal from whatever damage has been done to them. Some can do it, others can't. They have to stay here forever."
Sirius stared into the ward with undisguised horror. Beds were lined up along the walls, and were occupied by witches and wizards. Some were covered in strange warts or hairs; others were babbling to themselves or just staring at the ceiling. It was to say the least, a sad sight.
"See that young lass over there?" the healer pointed at a young woman at a corner. She was around twenty five, and was very beautiful. She was staring at her hands with a blank expression. Sirius nodded.
"She was very talented, was about to marry a good lad. But then she got hurt in an accident, and lost much of her memory," she said sadly.
"So...she will stay here forever?" Sirius whispered. The healer nodded.
"She is recovering, but her progress is too slow. I don't know if she will ever make it out of here. All we can do is let her live here, and see if she can naturally recall her past."
Sirius jerked himself out of the terrible memory. He imagined Lily in place of the girl, her life ruined, left alone to fend off her time. No, he could not send her to St. Mungo's. They would lock her up and do nothing. That could not be done.
He thought of calling James, but a thought of how devastated he would be to find that the girl whom he had finally won over after so many efforts had no recollections of him, made him change his mind. He finally came to the conclusion that it would be best that she stay with him in the flat for the time being. Perhaps her memories would return if he told her about the days that were now missing from her mind.
"Er – Lily?" he said tentatively. She had been staring at her feet with an expression which reminded him with a pang of the young patient. At his voice, she jumped and looked up.
"Yes?"
"Would you mind staying with me for the rest of your holidays? I could try to help you recall your memories."
She nodded and said with a small smile, "That would be nice. Thanks."
He got up and pulled out a shirt from his wardrobe. He turned, and found her staring at his bare torso. She looked down and blushed when he caught her looking.
"See something you like, Evans?" he smirked, bracing himself for the regular, "Shut up, Black." He looked at her, surprised, when it did not come. She was still looking at the floor, her cheeks pink. He sighed. He missed the old Lily Evans.
"So, er – I am going to your parents to get your stuff."
She simply nodded.
"Don't fall out of the window, okay?" he teased as he turned to leave.
Her eyes narrowed. "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. And if my presence bothers you then perhaps I should –"
He just laughed and shook his head. Perhaps she hadn't changed so much after all.
"Take care. I will be back soon," he said, and turned on the spot.
Soon he was standing at the doorstep of the Evans' household. Hoping that he looked presentable, he forced a smile on his lips, and rang the doorbell. The door opened, revealing Mrs. Evans.
"Ah, Sirius!" she smiled. "How nice of you to drop by. Isn't Lily with you?"
Sirius tried to look nonchalant. "Actually, that's what I came here for, Mrs. Evans. I am terribly lonely in my apartment; you know, all my friends are out, so would it be all right if Lily stayed with me for the rest of the Christmas holidays?"
He expected her to decline, but her reply surprised him.
"Oh, thank God you asked, Sirius! Of course you can take her."
His surprise must have shown on his face, because she hastened to explain, "It's not that I don't want her to be with us for Christmas; in fact, that's what I had been planning, but she and Petunia quarrelled all day long yesterday, and Vernon's presence doesn't help, either. Now Petunia has declared that if Lily stays here at Christmas, she will leave. I really love Lily, and I want her to be at Christmas, but Petunia will no longer stay with us after next summer, so I can't possibly send her away, can I?"
Her eyes beseeched him to understand her, and she sounded almost tearful now. Sirius put on his best smile and said gently, "It's okay, Mrs. Evans, I understand. You don't have any option, after all. Of course it is not your fault."
Mrs. Evans gave him a sudden hug.
"Thanks," she murmured. "You need to take her stuff, isn't it? It's upstairs, in her room."
He followed her onto the house. Vernon was sitting at the dining table; he was every bit as huge as Lily had described. Sirius had a sudden urge to chuck a dungbomb at him, but keeping in mind the gravity of his situation, he stopped himself. After taking Lily's trunk and other necessities, he thanked Mrs. Evans and disapparated to his flat.