Even the moon has a dark side -- Spring 1999

I smiled at him and rolled my eyes.  "I'm not going to do all the little flips and whatnot, though," I said to him lamely as I knew where his mind went as I told him all about them in the Muggle world.  "But seriously.  You do need someone like me around to keep you more upbeat about yourself than upset with yourself."

I shook my head at Maisie.  "You may have a point -- and I'm sure my mum would probably agree with you there, too," I said, knowing that Mum was always concerned about me as much as any mother would be worried about their child.  It made me feel so great... it was kind of an odd feeling that I was not entirely used to by any means.

I smirked, rather pleased that he grouped me with his mum.  "You've come a long way, Ev," I said to him gently.  "There's no reason to beat yourself up so much about stupid mistakes.  We all do daft things sometimes."

I shook my head at her.  "Yeah, well, daft isn't the same as cruel," I pointed out, "and I've done many cruel things.  There's a big difference."

I sighed, wishing that Evan was not so hard on himself.  "We've all done horrible things. We just need to forgive ourselves," I said to him slowly.

I shook my head.  "I don't think I can do that, Maisie," I admitted, not looking at her.  "I was horrible.  There is no way that I can easily just forgive myself.'