These Memories Aren't Mine

-Your POV-

It didn't take long for Y/N to notice that something was off. She hadn't seen Draco at breakfast and when she sat with Helena during Charms class, he didn't look at her once.

At first she thought that maybe he needed more space or was busy with his thoughts but once he continued to ignore her during lunch and Potions as well, she got a really bad feeling.

After the last class had ended, she finally managed to catch up to him and grabbed his arm.

"Draco!"

He shook her off and continued walking.

"Why are you ignoring me? Did I do something?"

"I don't feel like being lied to."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

"Why don't you tell me?"

"Sorry, I don't read thoughts."

She followed him out into the court-yard.

"Draco, stop acting like a child and tell me what's wrong!" Her voice was quite loud and firm and a few heads turned around but Y/N didn't care.

The boy stopped and looked at her. His face was freezing cold.

"I thought I could trust you."

"You can trust me."

He snorted. "Oh yes? Then tell me the truth. Why did you lie?"

Y/N felt desperation growing as she tried to figure out what he was hinting at. "What did I lie about?"

"I don't know, probably everything."

"Draco! Just tell me!"

He grabbed her roughly and pulled Y/N behind a pillar, away from the other students.

He looked at her for a second.

"You never went to Ilvermorny, am I right?"

"What?" Y/N really didn't understand what was going on. "Of course I did, I told you!"

"I know that you're lying. At least admit it."

She shook her head. "No! It's the truth! Who told you that?"

He bit his lip. "I overheard a conversation. Granger did some research and found that Ilvermorny never had a student with your name. Which means that you lied to everyone. Or did you happen to change your name?"

"No I…that can't be."

Y/N leaned against the stone as her heart started beating faster.

She never changed her name, she was sure of that. And Ilvermorny…

She saw the school in front of her eyes. It was foggy.

"But…I remember it."

"Then what were your professors' names?"

Y/N clenched the sleeves of her coat. "I don't know," she whispered.

"What were your friends' names?"

She shook her head as tears crawled up into her eyes.

Draco sighed. "You're not even trying to cover it up."

"I'm telling you the truth. I don't remember anything from Ilvermorny but I know that I…went to school there. Why would I lie about that?"

"Then how do you explain what Granger said?"

She shrugged. "I…don't know."

"Well, you better figure it out. Until then, don't talk to me."

Draco simply turned around and walked away.

Y/N finally let out the tears and cried silently as she gave up controlling the panic inside of her.

What was she supposed to do?

*****

She had managed to calm down a bit and made sure that Helena didn't notice that something was wrong. During dinner, she gave her best to chit chat like always as she forced down the food.

Once the Great Hall started clearing again, she got up.

"I'll see you later, okay?"

"Hopefully, I need to copy your homework."

"Yeah, alright."

Y/N left her friend alone and hurried out into the hallway.

She looked around until she spotted the girl and ran after her. "Hermione!"

The Gryffindor turned around surprised but when she saw Y/N, her expression darkened.

"I'm busy."

"Please, it's important!"

"I don't have time for-"

"I know what you found out about Ilvermorny."

The girl stopped and looked at her with narrowed eyes. "You lied to us."

"I didn't. Can we please talk?"

Hermione hesitated but then she sighed. "Let's go to the library."

*****

The library was packed. It felt like half of Hogwarts was cramped into one room but they managed to find a table with two empty chairs.

Once they had sat down, Y/N leaned forward and lowered her voice.

"Why do you think that I never went to Ilvermorny?"

"If you want to doubt my research skills-"

"No, I'm curious. Please tell me."

Hermione sighed. "I thought that if I find out more about you, maybe I could help. But it turns out that you are pretty much non existent. Is Y/N your real name?"

"Yes."

"Then you never went there."

Y/N rubbed her eyes as she tried to sort her thoughts.

"Everything is so messy."

"What do you mean?

"I…" She swallowed. "My memory. Most of it is gone, just wiped out. But there are some…scraps. Like my name for example or…spells. Some things are clearer than others. With Ilvermorny for example, I know what the school looks like and I just know that I went there but I don't remember at all what it was like to study there. It doesn't make sense."

Hermione looked at her quietly. She had her arms folded and now leaned back in her chair as she thought about Y/N's words.

Y/N waited for her to say something. Finally, the Gryffindor spoke up.

"There are three possible explanations I can see. First, you're lying. It's possible because I don't know you that well. Second, my information is incorrect. I'm very thorough with any research I do so I would put this at the bottom of the list based on its probability. Third…you think you're saying the truth but you're not."

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows. "What are you trying to say?"

Hermione leaned forward.

"You know," she mumbled, "one can delete another person's memory. But they can also…plant false memories."

"What?"

"Somebody could have planted your memory of going to Ilvermorny. But they weren't completely successful which is why you only remember a bit of it."

Y/N felt her heart beating faster. Was everything she knew a lie?

"Why would someone…?"

"Before we answer that question, we need to know if that's even the case. Like I said, I don't know if you're lying. So I want to test you first. Once I know that you're trustworthy, we'll discuss further steps."

"How will you test me?"

Hermione looked at her. "I won't tell you. Meet me in Myrtle's bathroom tomorrow before breakfast."

"Okay. But Hermione?"

"Yes?"

Y/N fumbled with her fingers below the table.

"Can I please bring Draco? He doesn't believe me. I want him to see that I'm telling the truth."

Hermioned breathed in through her nose sharply. "Is that really necessary?"

"Yes. Please," she begged.

The Gryffindor just sighed. "7 a.m. Don't be late."