Frail ❃ Albus Potter

Seventeen

Heartbroken Piper, as it turned out, was a busy Piper.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Piper completed every piece of homework she was set by the night it was given out. Her test scores got better by almost twenty percent.

Anything she had to do, she worked at with a single-minded determination that Rose commented on several times.

'It's almost scary,' Rose mused as they sat by the fire one night. Rose was drinking hot chocolate and reading, and Piper was working on their Transfiguration homework, which was due in in two weeks and had been given out that afternoon. 'I mean, it's good. You're really improving in school. But at the same time, you look exhausted.'

It was true. Piper had dark bags under her eyes, and had already almost fallen asleep on her homework twice. 'I can't get to sleep at night,' Piper said quietly, looking up from the parchment she was writing on. 'I don't know why. I'm doing fine. It's got nothing to do with my studies, I swear.'

Rose snorted. 'And everything to do with Albus, am I right? I'm not dumb, Pipes. I know you're keeping busy to avoid talking to him or even thinking about him.'

Piper scowled at her paper viciously and scribbled out a line she'd just written. 'I wouldn't avoid him if he'd just said we could still be friends. I would be perfectly happy talking to him, but he's made it clear he doesn't want me anywhere near him!'

In truth, Piper wasn't sure she could manage being near him even if he wanted her there. Every time she saw him, she got that feeling in her stomach... Butterflies, maybe, it butterflies had wings made of knives.

Rose held up her hands in defeat, and looked back down at her book. 'Okay. But I'm worried about you. Maybe you should see Madame Pomfrey.'

Watching Rose turn a page in her book, Piper considered. Then she saw that Rose's eyes weren't moving at all. She was just pretending to read, pretending that Piper's sleep loss was nothing. 'Are you actually worried about this?' Piper asked in disbelief. 'I'm heartbroken over a boy. It happens. It'll pass, I'm sure.'

The lie tasted like poison on Piper's lips.

Rose dropped her book on her lap, abandoning all pretence of indifference. 'Please, Piper. You look really sick. You're scaring me.'

Piper looked at Rose, and opened her mouth to say something, but as she was going to, the door to the boy's dormitory opened, and Albus walked down the staircase, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He was dressed in his favourite blue pyjamas, hair ruffled and messy, as always, glasses askew. He had a toothpaste stain on his lip, and as he reached up to his eyes, his t-shirt rode up, showing off an inch of bare tanned skin.

For a second, Piper was frozen, her breath caught in her chest. Rose didn't move either, her mouth hanging slightly open.

'I heard raised voices,' Albus said, looking up. His face dropped when he saw who is was, and he tugged on his ear uncomfortably. 'Erm.'

Suddenly, Piper felt tears prick at her eyes. She gathered up her work in her arms and furiously stalked past Rose on her way out, not even glancing back at Albus, even as she longed to. 'Goodnight,' Piper said sharply, her shoes clicking on the staircase as she made her way up. She didn't miss the murmured sounds of voices below her as she reached the hallway to the girls' dormitory, and didn't miss the concerned notes in both Rose's and Albus' voices.

She lay awake that night in bed, her mind spinning desperately. I am fine, she thought to herself. It'll pass. It's just heartbreak over a boy, right?

Right?