Until The Moon Rises

The next few days seemed to move through in a blur. Hope slept through most of it but would wake long enough for Madam Florence to help her eat. It was a bland-looking porridge that, at first, Hope cringed at thinking it would have the same flavorless and gel consistency of the oats and water slime balls. 

To her wonderful surprise, it was the best thing she'd ever remember tasting. While Madam Florence apologized for giving her such bland food for the time being, Hope's mouth salivated over the taste of cinnamon and apples. This was something she could eat for a couple of weeks without protest.

Most of her time in the hospital wing those first few days was spent eating and performing small exercises, and occasionally, she had a visitor or two. Newt and Albus. Newt visited her much more often than Albus and sometimes even brought things to her. Books and board games mostly, but she never tired of having something new sitting on her nightstand when she woke next. 

Each day that passed, she felt a little stronger. A little more energized, until on the fourth day, Madam Florence instructed her to sit on the floor with her Wizards Chess set Newt had brought one evening. Something about building core strength while she sent for more ingredients to help her rehabilitate her health. Sometimes, if Hope focused enough, she could hear Madam Florence muttering to herself in the hallway. 

Things that made Hope worry and wonder…was there something genuinely wrong with her?

Something that wasn't a result of neglect and abuse?

Madam Florence seemed puzzled by something regarding Hope's healing process, yet she would never voice these concerns directly to her. 

Right now, Hope sat on the hospital wing floor - as instructed - and played solitary Wizards Chess. It was an easy enough game, though a part of her wondered if she somehow already knew how to play. The rules came quickly, and moving the pieces felt natural. Like she'd done it a million times before. 

The door at the entrance of the room slowly creaked open, and Hope looked up, expecting Madam Florence to waltz in, but it wasn't Madam Florence.

Newt smiled crookedly as he softly closed the door behind him and walked toward her, sitting on the floor opposite her and her game.

"Madam Florence has told me you're feeling better?" He smiled, "I'm glad to hear it."

Hope nodded slowly, tapping one of the pieces with her fingers, not yet telling the knight where to go. "I…suppose I do, but from what I've heard from her, I didn't think I was."

Newt frowned now, brows furrowing. "What would make you think that?"

Giving a slight shrug, she bit her lip, mauling over the answer. "I've not been sleeping as much. I can eat more, but sometimes I hear her outside the door saying something doesn't make sense. That the potions aren't working as well as they should."

Newt paused, staring at her for a long moment. "You heard her say that? Just outside the door?"

Nodding, she looked up from the chessboard. "Yeah, why?"

"No reason…" he seemed to force a small smile. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you more about things you might remember. I know Madam Florence says you don't have much memory. Has any of it been coming back the past couple of days?"

Thinking back, Hope tried to remember any specific life-altering details about her past, but nothing seemed to surface. She was sure she'd had dreams or, perhaps it was nightmares, but by the time Hope had woken, she'd forgotten all about them. "Well, not memories, I guess. But sometimes I feel like…" She paused, trying to form the feeling into words. "Sometimes I feel like something is familiar. Like this," she gestured to the chess set, "I feel like I've played something similar. Still, I can't actually remember doing it. Like knowing how to breathe but not remembering your first breath."

Newt nodded slowly. "Professor Dumbledore seems to think you may have had a memory charm used against you. A complicated one."

Grinning, she tilted her head to the side. "I thought he said for you to call him Albus."

With a laugh and a nod, he sighed. "Force of a habit. Albus…" he smiled, "seems to think perhaps the Poachers somehow took away your memories."

Hope frowned. As much as she wanted to believe there was a quick answer to all of this, she sensed there wasn't. A part of her knew this was the start of something bigger than she could fathom.

"If they did, they did a good job of it. I don't remember anything before being with them. Only my first name. Everything else I've had to learn along the way."

They sat in a momentary silence before Newt moved on. "Well, one thing is for sure. Whatever happened didn't happen here."

"What do you mean?" Hope asked, perplexed.

"The way you speak. You sound American."

Hope raised her eyebrows and nodded slowly. "I guess I never thought about that." She would have thought if all her memories were gone, then she'd only have her environment to influence her; that would make the most sense, wouldn't it? Yet she spoke differently from any of the Poachers and spectators she'd been around.

Hope started to rub her temples as she tried to remember. Tried to think back to a time before the cage.

"Hey…" Newt murmured, reaching forward and pressing a hand against her knee. "We can think about it later, yeah?" She met his green eyes, which held such comforting softness that she immediately felt some stress melt away.

She nodded with a small smile, though she knew she couldn't stop thinking about the greatest mystery ahead. 

Who was she, and where did she come from?

"Yeah," she finally answered with an additional nod.

"May I join in on a game?" Newt asked, a smile brightening as he gestured to the chess set.

Hope nodded eagerly, and they played Wizards Chess until the moon was rising. Eventually, Madam Florence shooed Newt away so she could eat and get some more rest.