Evelyn was having the strangest day of her life. First off, she had gotten lost on her way home. Secondly, she had no idea where she was coming home from and lastly, her clothes were dirty and torn and she felt sore all over. Her head felt foggy and strangely empty and she wondered if some terrible thing had happened to her and to save her own sanity, she forgot it. But that was silly what sort of horrible thing could have happened to her?

When Evelyn walked into her house, her mother was there waiting for her.

"Hi mum," She said cheerfully, just happy that she had finally made it home.

Evelyn's mother looked unsure of what to say. "Hello," She said cautiously. "I guess things with that boy went okay,"

"What boy?" Evelyn asked confused.

"Oh. I suppose we're not going to talk about this then." Said Evelyn's mother shortly.

"I reckon we won't, considering I don't know what you're talking about." Said Evelyn with half a laugh.

"I suppose you think I deserve this. That this is your little way of rebelling?"

Evelyn's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Rebelling against what? What boy was she talking about? But before Evelyn could ask, her mother said:

"Never mind. Go wash, you looked filthier than you did before. "

"Okay." Evelyn said obediently but as she walked towards the bathroom, something caught her eye and she stopped. "Mum, the calendar is wrong."

"What?"

"It's June not August," Evelyn laughed as she flipped the pages back, noticing that there were things written and crossed out, as if already accomplished throughout August and July.

Evelyn's mother stared at her daughter and then comprehended the situation. "I see. You're going to pretend that the boy never existed and whatever you did this past summer never happened? Fine. Go bathe."

Evelyn turned back towards the bathroom and muttered: "Well she's acting rather odd."

When Evelyn woke up the next morning, she felt better. Less sore and less confused. Of course it wasn't June. In June, Evelyn had gotten her job as a waitress and of course that was nearly two months ago. But Evelyn could only remember working a handful of times. She had flashes of serving coffee or food or refilling sugar bowls but that was it.

She set up in bed thinking things through when she noticed something in the corner of her room. A guitar. But how had a guitar gotten there? Was it hers? She couldn't ever remember in her life having the urge to play an instrument. Before she could ponder this, there was a knock at the door. Jessica poked her head inside.

"I can't believe you're still asleep."

"Why? What time is it?"

"Somewhere between lunch and dinner," Jessica said with a smile. "I came over because I got some pictures developed from the other night."

"What night?"

"Beth's birthday party." Jessica said slowly, as if it were obvious.

"Oh." Evelyn said slowly, still unsure. She knew Beth from Equestrian lessons but couldn't remember any party. As far as she knew, Beth would never invite her to a party.

"Don't worry, I don't remember much of that night either," Jessica laughed. "Anyway, I wanted to give you this one."

Evelyn took the photo that Jessica was holding and the first thing that she noticed was herself. The Evelyn in the photo was smiling and looking upwards at the person next to her. Evelyn was sure she had never seen that look on her own face before, it was a sort of content certainty and with a jolt Evelyn realized that the boy next to her was giving her the same look. He was handsome, tall with dark hair, and grinned with an easy-goingness that Evelyn envied.

"He's cute," Evelyn whispered, she had the peculiar feeling that she had walked in on a very private moment made all the worse by the fact that she was the one experiencing it in the photograph. "But I don't know him."

Jessica stared at Evelyn a moment, taking in her friend's honest face, how pale and weak she looked, the fact that she was still asleep in mid-afternoon.

"Oh," Jessica said finally. "You're sleeping in and you..." She hesitated. "I guess that means it's done...I get it. I'll never mention it again."

Evelyn was only half-listening. She looked at the photo again and had the sudden urge to cry. Who was this boy and why was she staring at him like that? Why was he staring at her like that?

"Do you want to talk?" Jessica asked kindly. She noticed that Evelyn was being quieter then usual and the Evelyn she knew, would never get teary-eyed from staring at a picture.

"Do you ever feel like...you don't know who you are?" Evelyn asked nervously.

"Only every day." Jessica responded.

"I mean I don't know where time has gone or where I've been or where I'm going. I feel like I lost track of my entire summer and of...people."

Jessica pondered this for a moment. "Well isn't that the whole being a teenager thing? We supposedly have thousands of hormones running through us and one morning we wake up and we're a brand new person and we're confused and angry and whatever else."

"But does it happen all at once like that? You actually just wake up and you're suddenly completely different?" Evelyn asked with such intensity that it scared Jessica.

"That's what they say," Jessica said trying to laugh and failing because Evelyn was making her nervous.

Evelyn just nodded and looked back at the photo, her eyes poring over it as if to find secret messages within the paper. Jessica muttered something about having to go and Evelyn continued to stare at the photo, trying to figure herself out. Trying to figure out who the boy was or where her summer had gone. Was this the same boy that her mother had mentioned? If he had been such a big part of her life, then why couldn't she remember a thing about him?

"Have you gone daft?" James asked Sirius with a slightly angry expression on his face. "You just left?"

James had been the ideal audience up to this point. He let Sirius tell his story, knowing he could probably only get it out once. And now that Sirius's steady, nearly emotionless account had been interrupted, the emotions came rushing over him and he was almost sure he'd never be able to speak again. He stared at the Quidditch poster on James's bedroom wall and tried to concentrate on it and it alone.

"Wouldn't you?" Sirius stuttered out. "You saw how my family is."

James waved his hand impatiently. "Of course. I don't know why you didn't run away ages ago. But you just left Evelyn there? "

"What was I supposed to do? I...I tried. tried to get my mum to undo it but she wouldn't."

"And your mum is the only witch in London? St. Mungos is in London! That crazy old wizard who lives where you built your bike lives in London!"

"She's a muggle. St. Mungos wouldn't have exactly helped now would it?" Sirius said defensively, he had his reasons for why he didn't do anything but it wasn't something he wanted to share with James.

"They probably would have made an exception. It was spell damage, after all."

"She didn't bloody know who I was!" Sirius snapped. "It's not like she would have followed me anyway."

"You could have done something."

"She was terrified of me, James." It had finally exploded out of Sirius. "When she still knew who I was. She was terrified. You would have left too if, say Lily, looked at you like that."

James looked as if he was about to make a joke but thought better of it. Finally after a few seconds he said, "She was probably just scared of what was happening to her. Not of you, mate."

"I don't want to talk about it anymore." Sirius said, knowing deep down that James was right. "Or ever again, for that matter."

"You might have to talk about it once or twice more," James said with an apologetic smile. Sirius just stared at him. "I thought Moony and Wormtail could help cheer you up." James shrugged.

Sirius was slightly cheered at the thought of seeing his friends after their long summer apart. At least he had them. He didn't have a family anymore and he didn't have Evelyn but at least his friends were there for him when he needed them most.

After the arrival of Remus and Peter, Sirius told his story once again but this time with the help of James. When they concluded, the four boys sat in silence for a moment. Finally, Peter was the one who spoke first:

"What was it like watching her, Sirius? I mean to see the Cruciatus curse?" For a moment, Sirius thought he heard awe in his friend's voice.

"What do you think it was like?" Sirius asked irritated. "It was horrible."

James threw Peter a reproachful look and then said: "I still think there is something we could do."

"Like what?" Sirius asked not daring to get his hopes up. He had been thinking it over and he realized he had made a terrible mistake when he had just left her. It was probably too late to do anything.

"I don't know, " Peter said quietly. "Bellatrix is really strong. They say she's right behind you-know-who."

"We don't care about that." James said sternly. "All the more reason to fix this. What do you think, Lupin?"

"Well," He said slowly, looking at Sirius and then looking away. "I think maybe Regulus had a point."

"What?" James and Sirius asked together.

"Well it could have been much worse and let's just think about this for a moment. If you remodify her memory again, That's a lot of modification. It could lead to some sort of permanent damage. Even if nothing is just going to remember being tortured and then you're going to have to explain about what you are and she may not accept that."

"Why wouldn't she?" James asked.

Remus gave a small, sad smile. "Because people are usually scared about what they don't know and not everyone is accepting as you three, trust me on that."

"So I'm just supposed to forget that this ever happened? Just go on and leave her to be some shell of the person she once was?" Sirius asked furiously.

"If she's as strong as you say she is, there's a chance she'll regain some of her memory. Just think of all that the poor girl would have to find out in order to fully understand and then what? We go back to school in a couple of weeks. Sometimes people are just better off not knowing the whole truth, especially when it comes to protecting them."

"Are you sure you're still talking about Evelyn here or are you talking about being a werewolf?" Sirius snapped.

"Well are you sure you want her memory back for her benefit or is it for yours?" Lupin retorted.

There was one tense moment and then Remus looked up sheepishly and said: "I'm sorry I didn't mean that. And if you have a plan then I'll help."

"Good," Sirius said gruffly. "And I'm sorry too. I shouldn't use the werewolf thing against you."

After a few minutes of a heavy silence, James finally asked the questions on all their minds: "So what are you-we going to do?"

Sirius took a deep breathe and not looking up an barely raising his voice, he said: " I think that there really isn't much I can do for her. So I guess I'll just leave things the way they are now."

Sirius got up and left the room after he said it. He had been fighting tears for days and finally one escaped him now. He wiped it away hastily and thought about Evelyn. About what she was doing and how she was feeling. With a feeling like an anvil falling into his stomach, Sirius realized that whatever she was thinking of, it wasn't him. She wasn't heartbroken at all. Her life could go on without any hesitation or worry. She was free of him and all the excess baggage that came with emotions and Sirius could not help but to feel envy for her condition at that very moment.

Author's Note: Hopefully, that last chapter didn't scare some of you dear readers away and you're still here reading this one. If you are, thanks! And hopefully you continue to read because there is still more to this story. Intrigued? Good.