APOV
I was kept in the room I woke up in for three additional days. During those three days I was visited by everyone that had been there when I awoke, except the red-haired man. They all seemed very distraught over my memory loss; in fact, it appeared I was least worried out of all of them. This seemed to worry them most of all. When asked I responded that I didn't know what I was missing so how could I miss it? In response, everyone started telling me as much as possible about my past, answering all of my questions eagerly.
So, three days after waking up learned that my name was Allyssa Claire Ashburn, my parents' names were Matt and Nelle Ashburn, and my brothers were Tony and Jeremy. Jeremy was the middle child, and Tony the youngest. I learned that the girl with the curly, brown hair, Hermione Granger, was my roommate and best friend; Professor Snape, the dour-looking man in black, was my potions' professor and has been looking out for me while I'm away from home. The nurse that was treating me was Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse.
All of that information had been volunteered, but no one bothered to mention the important stuff: where I was, what school they were talking about, why I was studying potions (for some reason that sounded a little odd), where home was, or – most importantly – how I'd lost my memory. I tried to ask Hermione these questions the day after I woke up, only for her to go pale and rush off. No one else came to visit me that afternoon.
The next morning I woke up to find my mom sitting in the free chair at my bedside; the other chair was still occupied by the big, black cat. (I'd learned that it was a panther named Nitro. They said he wasn't my pet, but they wouldn't tell me who he belonged to.)
"Morning," I said as I slowly woke myself up.
"Good morning, sweetheart. How are you feeling?" she asked as she raised her hand to run her fingers through my hair.
"Okay," I answered as I tried to, subtly, lean away from her hand. As her hand returned to her lap, she gave me a wry look that told me she'd expected nothing less.
"That's good. Madam Pomfrey says you'll be released tomorrow, are you excited?"
I shrugged. No, I wasn't excited, I was terrified. What if I didn't remember everything I was supposed to? What if I don't recognize any of my friends, or my teachers? What if I accidently remember a teacher's first name, but not their last name, and use it in class? What if…? My list went on and on.
My mom sighed. "I know this is hard for you, it's hard for all of us, but, Ally, you're going to be fine. Sweetheart, you've got so many people here that care for you . . ." Mom blinked rapidly as if suppressing tears.
"Now," Mom said, her demeanor brightening as if she'd shaken off a dark cloud, "Hermione tells me you have some questions. Allyssa, I want you to just lay there and listen while I try to answer them as best I can, alright?"
She didn't wait for a response, she just started talking. She started telling me this ludicrous story about how I was witch, a spell-casting, broom-riding witch; how we were in my school, Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, a magic school where they taught Potions and Charms instead of Chemistry and Literature. On and on she went, telling me about my life, and I almost believed her, until she got to the part about me being engaged.
"Ally, just before you started school here there was a war in the Wizarding World; your friend Hermione fought in it, along with many other witches and wizards, and many died. To my understanding, however, the wizarding population had already started its decline before the war, but, obviously, the war did not help matters.
"The point in all of my rambling is: Allyssa, you're engaged-"
I burst out laughing. Here I'd been taking all this talk of wizards and witches seriously, how easy am I?
"Allyssa, this is not laughing matter!"
"Yes, of course, you're right," I said, trying to put on a serious face. "You still haven't gotten to the part about the aerodynamic pigs or the musically inclined, over-weight woman," this, of course, set me off again.
"Look at your hand! If you don't believe me, all you have to do is look at your hand," my mother exclaimed.
My hand? "What does-" There was an engagement ring on my left hand.
I closed my eyes and let my head fall back against the pillows. I was wearing an engagement ring. "Who?" I asked without opening my eyes.
"His name is Charlie Weasley. You've met him, he was here when you woke up," Mom told me, cautious.
I opened my eyes to look at her I tried to remember everyone that was there that night. Mom, Dad, Tony, Jeremy, Hermione, Madam – "Wait. You mean the big, red-haired guy? That's who I'm engaged to?"
"Yes, that's Char-"
I cut her off, "Then why couldn't I remember his name? I remembered Hermione's and Snape's, why not his?"
"I don't know, sweetie. No one's been able to make much sense of what you can and can't remember. Severus-"
Again, I cut her off, "What did the population statistics have to do with my engagement?"
My mom sighed, exasperated. "The only reason we're letting you go through with this crazy marriage is because the Ministry, the governing body of the British Wizarding World, has enacted a Marriage Law. The Law states that witches and wizards age 17 to 55 have to marry. There's something in there about how pure-bloods can't marry other pure-bloods, but that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me, or apply to you."
I let my eyes fall closed. "Is that the only reason?"
"What do you mean?"
I sat up and opened my eyes to find my vision blurred. "It's just a marriage of convenience, right? It's not real?"
"No, Ally, of course-"
"Then why hasn't he been back? If he cared for me, wouldn't he be here trying to get me to remember him?" I demanded as I blinked away my own tears.
"He wants to be, Ally, I swear, he does, but he can't," my mom assured me.
"Why not?"
"Because – because he works here. He's a professor; he's one of your professors."
CPOV
"Do I know you?"
The words echoed in my head over and over, so many times until I wanted to scream. Instead, I immersed myself in my work: I gave my lectures with so much enthusiasm someone started a rumor that I'm on drugs; I returned homework everyone had given up hope of ever seeing again; and, when my eyes were too tired to focus on the barely-legible essays in front of me, I set to work on cleaning my rooms. When I finally stopped and called it a night in the wee hours of the morning, I was so exhausted I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
The next morning found me bleary-eyed, scruffy and ready to do it all over again.
I was fine, up until the end of third period when an owl started pecking at my classroom window. Expecting the worst, I jumped over my newly cleared desk – earning applause from my class – in order to get to the window and rip open the letter, which simply stated:
Mr. Weasley,
Please come to my office at your earliest convenience. We have much to discuss.
My thanks,
Headmistress of Hogwarts
Minerva McGonagall
I let out a sigh of relief and leaned my fore head against the cool glass, completely forgetting the class full of students behind me.
"Is- is everything alright, Professor Weasley?" a first year Ravenclaw asked, breaking the silence.
I turned around and smiled at my class. "Yep, everything's great." Except for the fact that your fiancée doesn't even know who you are, yeah everything's just peachy, a snide voice corrected me.
The bell rang fifteen minutes later, dismissing everyone for lunch. I started making my way to the headmistress's office five minutes later. I didn't spare a glance for the students congesting the hallways, too preoccupied with my own thoughts to notice to notice any of the rule breaking going on around me.
As I was riding the staircase up it occurred to me that Allyssa may not want to stay in the Wizarding World, not if it meant having to marry a man she knew absolutely nothing about. It wasn't as if she had any real reason to stay, not anymore; with all her memories of her school years gone, so went her ties to Wizarding Britain.
"Ah, Mr. Weasley," Minerva greeted me, "thank you for answering my summons so promptly. I'm afraid that Miss Ashburn's situation is rather . . . delicate. We've decided to meet and discuss how to proceed."
Looking around the room I came to realize that "we" meant just about everyone involved, except Allyssa herself. Mr. and Mrs. Ashburn sat on one of the couches, Hermione occupied an armchair, Snape stood off to the side behind the Ashburns, and, of course, Minerva sat behind her desk. "Proceed with what, exactly?" I asked as I took the armchair across from Hermione.
"With your marriage, of course. Not to mention Miss Ashburn's schooling," the headmistress answered, surprised I had to ask.
"We are going through with it, then?" I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. "What about the matter is up for discussion?"
It was Mr. Ashburn that answered me. "When the marriage is to take place is the biggest issue." He paused before continuing, "We're going to continue – with the wedding, I mean – because if we don't then Allyssa can't stay here, and she loved it here. She didn't talk about it much and I think that might show just how much she cared for this place."
"Mr. and Mrs. Ashburn want to postpone the wedding, give you two additional time to get to know one another; however, the opposite has also been proposed for much the same reason," Minerva informed me.
I was silent for a moment, thinking. "Does she even know we're engaged?" I asked rather suddenly.
"Yes," Mrs. Ashburn said softly, "I told her this morning."
"Then why isn't she here? Why isn't she here, helping make the decisions that will affect no one's life more than hers? Why do all of you get a say when she has none?"
"Because she won't talk to me!" Mrs. Ashburn exclaimed as she burst into tears. "I told her about the engagement; I explained the Marriage Law; I told her about you, but all she did was turn her back to me and tell me to go away. I sat there for an hour trying to get her to listen to me but I got no response," Mrs. Ashburn said through tears.
I didn't know what to say. Mrs. Ashburn was sitting there, crying, and I couldn't think of a damn thing to say. Luckily, Hermione could, "I'm sure she was just shocked. It's a lot to take in: losing your memory and finding out you're engaged – to a professor no less – all in one week, but she'll be fine."
"Well said Miss Granger." Minerva sat in silence for a moment before returning to the subject at hand, "So, Mr. Weasley, do you have a preference?"
"I don't – I just – Hermione, what do you think is best?" I stammered.
"A later wedding would give you two time to renew your friendship, get back to where you were before this happened, but it would also allow Allyssa to see you as her professor again. An earlier wedding would allow you to adjust to one another as husband and wife, but it would be awkward at first. I'm sorry, Charlie, but both plans have too many draw back, without knowing how Allyssa reacts to seeing you in person now that she knows the two of you are engaged, I don't see how I can pick one," Hermione said, regretfully.
I nodded. "I'll visit her after dinner and have the decision to you tomorrow morning at the latest, then." I started to get up and leave, but paused to asked, "What are your plans for Allyssa's studies?"
"We were planning on testing her to see how much knowledge she's retained. The possibility that she might have to sit out the rest of the school year had come up, why?" Minerva answered.
"When were you planning on testing her?" I asked, ignoring her question completely.
"Tomorrow afternoon, after Poppy releases her. Why do you ask, Mr. Weasley?" Minerva demanded.
I shrugged. "Curious. You'll let me know what the tests show?"
"If you wish," Minerva granted with a puzzled look on her wizened face.
And with that I made my way to the Great Hall for lunch, my thoughts already centered on my visit with Allyssa for that evening.
"Do I know you?"
AN: Yay! Another chapter down, an unknown number to go. So, umm, if you haven't figured it out by now, I really don't have a concrete plan for this story – or a plan at all, for that matter. So, what I want to know is if Charlie and Allyssa should get married sooner or later, just like the characters were discussing in McGonagall's office. It would be best if you left your opinion in a review because I probably won't hear it if you scream it at your computer. ; ) Whether you want to cast a vote or not, though, please leave a review.
P.S. In this chapter I said the ages for the Marriage Law were 17-55, in a previous chapter I have it as 17-40, I will go back and change the ages in the other chapter . . . at some point.