See You Again

-𝕀𝕀-

She'd been in the hospital wing enough times to know that she was currently lying in one of the beds. She could feel the sunlight streaming through the window, resting on her face, which told her she was on the right side. Hmm. She'd never been on the right side before. Is it bad if she misses her old hospital bed on the far left side? It was always perfectly shaded in the corner and farthest from the door.

"You know it's creepy to watch someone as they sleep," she mumbled, sensing Dumbledore's magical presence once again at the end of her bed. She opened her eyes just in time to see him startle a little, which pleased her greatly. Pulling herself up into a sitting position as Dumbledore walked towards the chair on her right, she quickly poured herself a glass of water to soothe her throat.

"How are you feeling?" he asked in his perfected tone, sounding like a concerned grandfather figure, here to help her through all her troubles.

"Like I fought a bus and the bus won," she mumbled, staring at her glass of water in her hands.

"Do you know where you are?" he questioned.

Of course she knew where she was. But as she lay in bed, with him staring at her creepily, she realized the safest way to get out of this mess was to put it all down to memory loss. "N-no," she whispered.

"Do you know how you got here?"

She pursed her lips and put on an expression of confusion before answering, "No sir, I don't remember."

"Is there anything you do remember that could help us?" he questioned gently, and she had to resist rolling her eyes.

"M-my name... I think... Ara... Ara Lovella." Obviously, she couldn't give her real name; Adhara Potter would raise too many red flags. So, she went with her nickname, Ara, and her middle name, Lovella. Something she could easily remember and it technically wasn't a lie, so, bonus points. Hooray!

"Ara Lovella. Hmm... can't say I'm familiar with the name. Anything else?"

"I-I don't... I'm sorry. I don't remember... j-just my name and... pain. A lot of pain." She gave him the saddest and most scared look she could muster, for which someone should give her an award because damn, why did she never realize she could act this well before?

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Madam Pomfrey came bustling in before Dumbledore could ask another question and instantly came right to Ara, where she proceeded to do several scans. Then Dumbledore and she went off to the side, whispering to each other, as they occasionally glanced towards her every now and then. Unfortunately for them, she happened to be a werewolf now..., so her hearing was very good.

It appeared she had slept longer than she had thought. Two days, to be exact. And they had come to the conclusion that she was an abused magical child. They suspected she had experienced a rare occurrence of accidental magic for her age, leading to her apparating to a place of safety (Hogwarts), and now she was suffering from a form of amnesia due to the trauma of the abuse or a head wound. But then they questioned why she had never come to Hogwarts in the first place, or if she had received a letter. But seeing as they couldn't ask her, they eventually settled on the possibility that she did get her letter, but whoever her guardian was wrote back saying she would not be attending Hogwarts. They also decided that she must be a half-blood because a Muggle-born would have had a teacher sent to them, which Ara clearly didn't get.

ϟϟϟ

The next hour was filled with Dumbledore explaining all about Hogwarts and such, while Madam Pomfrey fed her potion after potion and ran scan after scan.

Boy! Did she have to fight off her surprise when she realized that she was suddenly de-aged to fifteen, which means OWL's year. Bloody hell! She got to eat and shower before changing into a new Hogwarts uniform, which she got due to Dumbledore sending an elf to get her some clothes and school supplies from Diagon Alley. He left momentarily before returning after lunch with the sorting hat and her wand.

He didn't want to overwhelm her, so luckily, she didn't have to be sorted in front of everyone. She suspects he probably had her wand looked at and inspected by Ollivander to see if it was one of his creations. Which it wasn't, so she has nothing to worry about there. At least she now knows where it came from, but it still shocked her that it returned as if nothing had ever happened to it. Though considering it is the elder wand, yes, her wand is in fact, the actual Deathly Hallow and not Dumbledore's. At least his wand hasn't been since the moment she was born. But since she went back in time and her wand returned to her, she could safely assume that that means it's still the elder wand and not Dumbledore's. Thank you Death!

It seems the magic in the wand still had some sort of power over him, because he seemed very reluctant to part with it as he handed her wand over. Which appeared to have made Dumbledore a little suspicious, considering he tried to look into her head, sucks for him because that won't work no more. One of the perks of being who she is.

Then came the sorting... She thought a lot about this, she decided to go to Hufflepuff as naturally, she could fly under the radar. But it seems the hat had other ideas. Sitting there for five minutes arguing with the hat in her head, who thought to make her life harder by putting her back in Gryffindor! The nerve of him! He's lucky he gets locked up in Dumbledore's office because the next time she gets her hands on him, she's gonna set him on bloody fire! How is she supposed to join the house her father!? Remus!? Sirius!? And fuck! Even Lily and Peter! Are in, and act completely normal. And he laughed! The bloody hat had the damn nerve to laugh at her predicament! Saying it was for the best.

So, with a strained smile as her uniform changed to Gryffindor, she followed Dumbledore as he led her to Gryffindor tower. 

ϟϟϟ

Reaching the portrait of the "Pink Lady" because she never has and never will call her the "Fat Lady" – that's just rude. Dumbledore spoke the password and wished her luck after handing over her class schedule and promptly left (Good thing it was Saturday). Taking a deep breath as the portrait swung open, she proceeded to walk to her doom.

Nostalgia. She was hit with a wave of nostalgia the second she stepped foot into the common room. The red tapestry that hung on the walls, covered in portraits of witches and wizards from other times, the cozy carpet that matched the red tapestry, the plush couches and armchairs that sat in front of the fireplace perfectly. She was home, and the small smile that made its way onto her face was genuine as she looked around.

'Wonderful, isn't it?' She startled as a voice cut off her nostalgic admiration of the common room. Looking to her left, before promptly freezing, was a boy with wild black hair, forest green eyes, a beaming smile, and could be none other than James Potter himself. Just her bleeding luck!

'James Potter, you?' he asked with a smile as he held out his hand.

Her brain must've shut off because that was the only logical explanation as she stood there, looking like a goldfish gasping for breath. By some miracle, she finally managed to splutter out a reply, 'A-Ara, Ara Lovella.'

His smile faltered for a split second, and he tilted his head as his hand lowered back down to his side, as if shocked that was what she had said. She swallowed the lump in her throat before she quickly mumbled out, 'Nice meeting you. I'm gonna go check out my dorm.' And promptly escaped as fast as she possibly could.

'Way to scare her off, Prongsy!' Sirius said as he popped out from his strategic spot of hiding from her view to eavesdrop. James just glared at him in response before they both turned their heads and watched as the new girl hurried her way up the stairs.

Sirius narrowed his winter gray eyes and ruffled up his curly black locks with one hand before asking the question on both their minds, 'Why do you think she lied about her name?'