Find What's Been Lost

The nostalgic feeling he got walking down the streets of London made him think that he was in the right place. He had to have been here at least once before in his life, but feeling nothing more than nostalgia was not helping him at all. It seemed he was on the right track but he wasn't remembering anything about maybe having lived anywhere in the area or constantly having to come here to visit on someone or some place he might have liked. He had to stay hopeful though, that the place he was being taken to was going to help him figure something out.

Coming to London would not have been Kaiden's first choice, however when he had finally decided to search for clues about who he was Madeline, the woman who had helped him when he'd ended up in Greece after the storm he'd been caught up in, had suggested that he should try coming here first. She had been going based off of his accent for the most part but her reasoning was that he'd probably lived here for a long time if he even had an English accent. Her choice could have gone either way but Kaiden had taken her advice and he'd gotten help from one of Madeline's neighbors who constantly traveled to England who agreed to take him with her the next time she went.

"Where should I go once we're there?"

"If you want to find out about yourself, my best guess would be to go to The Prophet and ask for help there."

"The Prophet?"

"Oh right. The Daily Prophet, a really well known newspaper there that most, if not all, witches and wizards read. I'm sure they can help you by putting up an article or something for you to help you learn who exactly you are."

"Okay, do you know how to get there though?"

"I do. I'll drop you off there."

Kaiden would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous about the whole thing. What if no one ended up knowing him and the article was pointless? After all, there is a chance that he wasn't even in the right place. He shook his head, he had to stop being so pessimistic someone was bound to be able to help him. After he was dropped off at the Prophet's office he stood in front of the door for a second, hesitating on what he should actually do. He knew he needed help but he wasn't even sure on how he should start asking for it, he really wished that this had never happened to him. "Alright, I need to suck it up and go in." he murmured to himself as he took a deep breath and opened the door to walk in.

"Hello?' he inquired in a meek voice. "Can I get some help, please?"

Gilbert was starting to drive his staff crazy, apparently. Adrienne, for one, was actually fine with it, but he had a habit of scaring her these days. He had set up an intercom system of the Muggle variety, giving him direct access to talk to people in different offices. As one who went out of his way to avoid magic, living in a world built upon the very thing made it difficult. So he was refusing to contact his reporters via anything else.

He had just finished talking to the apprentice sat at the front desk and lifted his finger from the com button when it turned back on. "Sir, there's a man here asking for help. Should I send him to see you?"

Gil frowned, and told the boy that he would just come out for a second. So he lifted from his chair and walked out into the entryway of the Prophet's building, looking around for the man in question. Upon seeing a confused and lost looking bloke standing there, Gil had to temper his curious expression.

"Hi," he offered, extending a hand. "Gilbert Prichard. I'm the lead editor for the paper. I have a meeting in a few minutes, so is it alright if I pass you off to one of my reporters? She can look into anything you need. If that doesn't work, I can make an appointment with you for later today?"

Kaiden stood awkwardly in front of the desk as the man sat there pushed a button on a device on the desk that allowed him to speak to someone else. He looked at the device, quickly being overcome with curiosity as to what it was. He knew that he couldn't get distracted, though, not right now as he heard the other man's voice saying that he would meet with him shortly.

His curiosity quickly became nervousness and Kaiden found himself shifting his weight awkwardly, trying to stand straight as he waited for the man to come out to speak to him. What exactly was he going to start his conversation with? Maybe he should have put more thought into what he was going to say before he came into the office. But that wasn't exactly something that he would totally prepare himself for. It was hard to ask for help with these types of things and he had actually surprised himself when he agreed with the woman who had taken him there that going to the Prophet was the first thing he should do.

"Kaiden. Nice to meet you," he took the other man's extended hand and shook it. "The sooner I can get this done, the better, if I'm honest with you so any one I can talk to right now would be great." His voice shook as he spoke and he could tell his nervousness was getting the better of him but he couldn't do anything to stop it.

For some reason, being this nervous made him angry at himself. He felt like it was because of his personality, though he didn't remember what exactly he was like the way he was acting right now, all meek and nervous made him think that that wasn't what he was really like. For the past year that he had spent in Greece, Kaiden hadn't been in many situations that made him nervous or uncomfortable, so he couldn't really tell if the way he had acted then and now were the same or if e was an almost completely different person.

Gilbert nodded seriously in response, understanding immediately that whatever needed to be discussed was quite important. So he conceded, gesturing towards the hallway before taking the lead in that direction. "Then I'll leave you with one of our reporters. Most are out today, covering things, but she should be in editing copy for the publication this weekend."

Gil was quite sure that she was there, of course, as he had talked to her earlier. So when he knocked, the door swung open on its own and he walked in to find the brunette up on her toes, reaching for a file on the top of her cabinet.

"Yes?" She asked without turning around, huffing as she nearly got hold of it.

"I have someone here to talk to you. His name is Kaiden, and he needs some help."

She dropped the file to the floor, turning slowly and staring at the two men in her doorway. Gilbert gave her a thoroughly confused look but she nodded and he felt that it might be best if he left her to deal with it. He had other things to do, after all.

On her part, Adrienne was dumbstruck. Why would he come to her after what his parents had said? It didn't make sense. He didn't want her in a serious, romantic way, apparently, which was fine. Children, of course, we the key. But it just felt wrong as she looked at him now. He hadn't been like that in school, but his parents were particularly persuasive.

"Kaiden," she began slowly, not trusting him to begin the probable confrontation. Bizarrely, she was usually able to ramble her way through conversations, but now she felt tongue-tied. "Um. What's the matter? I haven't heard from you, in- in ages."

"Great, thank you." Kaiden responded as he began following Gilbert down the hallway he had indicated toward and began walking himself. In his head he kept thinking of how lucky he was that there just happened to be someone who could help him now, there. Maybe if he'd come in at another time he would have had to come back or something of the sort. He hadn't wanted to have to come back because that would leave him to wander about London, without a clue as to what he was supposed to do.

Surely he could have found something to do, but it was awkward to walk around in an area that seemed so new to you, like you'd never been there before. Which, to Kaiden right now, was the case since he since he didn't really remember anything about the place which could potentially be where he was from.

He peeked in through the door that had opened for them and as he saw a feminine figure turned away from them, he couldn't help but think that hearing his name was why she'd dropped the file she had been reaching for, the timing was almost perfect. Though, it could have also been her height..

"In ages..?" Kaiden echoed her words, wondering what she meant. The way she spoke to him made him think that he was already acquainted with her in some way, that was even better than having them just put anything in the newspaper. "Wait, y-you know who I am?" he inquired a little awkwardly.

He noticed that he'd started to stare at her and he couldn't help but think that she did seem slightly familiar.

To say Adrienne was skeptical would be a complete understatement. Kaiden looked confused and perhaps a be frightened by the situation they had just found themselves in, and a large part of her didn't trust him. And that wasn't strictly his fault so much as his parents' fault. But she still felt a wave of paranoia coming up behind the shock.

At first, she thought his confusion was brought about by her choice of words rather than-- well, whatever he apparently was thinking. Was this a joke? Surely Selwyn or someone had put him up to this now that she had promised not to try and fit whatever image of her that she thought he needed or wanted.

And now this. What in Merlin's name...?

A frown clouded her face as she set her hands on her hips. "What are you on about, Kaiden? Of course it's been ages. I left long before the paperwork was filed. If this is your idea of a good way to make fun of me, I'm not amused."

Unfortunately for Adrienne, her voice cracked a little at the end and she had to look down at her feet, her hands gripping her sides tightly.

"Why are you here?" She asked finally, sounding almost desperate. Her eyes lifted back to him and she couldn't help how her eyebrows pulled together expressively, even if she tried to hide it.

"Wait, make fun of you?" he sounded confused, probably because he was. "Why would I do that? I came here for help, not to make fun of you. I don't really understand why you would think that, especially since I've never met you." Surely his words would make her understand that he was being serious about needing help. After all, he was being serious. He was in a situation that he couldn't joke about, even if he had wanted to.

"I don't really understand what's going on, but you seem to know about me, so please. Can you, or will you, help me?" he began to plead. She had to know who he was, otherwise she wouldn't be reacting the way she was to him. That had to mean something, and her familiarity to him couldn't be coincidence. They had to have met before, he was practically certain of it.

"Look, you seem really familiar to me. But I can't place where I could have met you. I don't know who I am, honestly. All I know is that my name is Kaiden. I had an accident, apparently, and I ended up in Greece. I was there for a little over a year, I need this. I need to know who I was, who I am. Please, just.. help me." He had to have seemed pretty pathetic, pleading the way he was. At this point though, he didn't care about how he seemed. He had to get some kind of help.

"I never asked," he looked up after having glanced down at his hands, "What's your name?"

It was a joke. A lie. It had to be. Kaiden didn't remember her? Kaiden? No. It wasn't possible. But he kept talking and it started seeming more and more likely and she didn't understand. Despite all of the stress and confusion of the past few months, it was the first time she wanted to break down and cry.

By the time he finished, she knew how she would approach this. Telling him things but not all of the pieces would ensure that, if he suddenly remembered something she hadn't told him, she could catch him out in a lie. She didn't even register that the same moment might mean that he was getting better, but that was mainly to do with the fact that he was a Poliakoff and she wasn't anymore.

She licked her lips, trying to hide how awkward she felt and failing. "My name is Adrienne, but most people just call me Addie. It's easier. And you're Kaiden Poliakoff. The heir to your family. You were.. In Slytherin house at Hogwarts, but you graduated a few years back. We were in the same year, so we had class together a lot when we were kids.

"You don't... None of this sounds familiar to you?"

He was trusting her. And somehow, it felt like he'd done that before, a lot. She was a stranger to him now, but he felt as though it wasn't always this way. She began to speak and his eyes remaine don her face, searching, wanting to know the answers he seeked. She started off normal enough, with the basics. Her name, his last name, his being an heir - wait. He was the heir to his family? But no one had looked for him?

He stared at her, shocked, that he hadn't been searched for when he was someone so seemingly important. "I.. It doesn't, not really, and it doesn't make sense to me." He responded. "You said I was the heir to my family, but if I was that important, wouldn't they have looked for me?" There was a slight crack in his voice. He began to wonder if she was telling him the truth. "A family couldn't just leave their heir behind if he went missing could they? They'd search, and they'd be able to find him if they searched hard enough." He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his already messy hair.

He felt something weird well up inside of him as he thought about the fact that no one seemed to search for him after he went missing. It was a strange emotion that he hadn't felt in the year he was in Greece, but then again he didn't really feel many other emotions while he was there. He was mostly at peace, like nothing could go wrong, and right now he wished he'd never left. Maybe he was in over his head, coming back but he couldn't let his curiosity go unfed. "You said we were in the same year, and had class together, were we friends.. At all? Or just classmates?"

Adrienne flummoxed, her lips parting without a sound coming out. When he finally asked the big question, the one she was afraid of, she broke.

"Just-- Just classmates?" She burst, unable to help herself. "Kai, your family, they--"

She had to shake herself and take a deep breath, turning away towards the window. Her hand flew to her wrist, scrambling for the tie she could put her hair up with, collecting it in a mass on top of her head and twisting it into a rather messy bun.

"Ages ago," she began finally, crossing her arms over her stomach and turning back to look at him, "the Ministry created a law. There was an illness that affected purebloods in particular, and the death rate was too high. The birthrate too low. They needed... Well. I imagine that might be obvious. So they paired people together, forced them to marry under threat of Azkaban, but they made it all that much worse by commanding people to have children within the first two years. With whoever it was they got stuck with. No pureblood could end up with another.

"We were about to graduate," she explained. "I was under the impression that you cared about me. Arguably we got off to a rough start. You-- punched a wall, and I healed your hand. I don't even remember why you did it, now. But then I was on the way to my meeting to find out who I'd been stuck with and you knew how dangerous it could be. A requirement that I have someone's child who I may not even like?" She tilted her head pointedly, lifting her eyebrows. "That wouldn't do."

She cracked a smile but it was a weak, almost watery one.

"So you said we had something we could try. We could tell the woman matching us up that... we were already engaged. And you were a pureblood and I wasn't so she wouldn't be able to argue it. And it worked. You disappeared a few months after the wedding. And when you came back, you weren't the same. Your parents wanted me to-- do what the Ministry wanted. And I couldn't. Not with that version of you. So I told them I wanted out. They probably wanted a pureblood instead of me anyway, after the law was taken back. So we got an annulment, though not without a fair amount of anxiety given to me from your family, by the way."

She shuddered, turning her chin away again. "I don't know what you think happened to you. I don't know if they took your memories or if they had someone take your place.. I don't know. But I do know that, now, everything is different.