The next morning at breakfast was the worst.

Rose was sitting with some of her other friends, Marie Brown, Iris Finnegan, and her cousin, Lily. Albus' sister.

Piper stayed away. Lily was lovely, but for some reason she absolutely hated Piper. She didn't know why, or when it had started....

Lily was glaring daggers at Piper as she sat down on the Hufflepuff table, next to Sara Longbottom. Sara was known all over the school for her sunny, bright personality, and her complete inability to remember anything, a habit she'd picked up from her dad, Neville.

Piper and Sara weren't close, but Sara got along with anyone and everyone. Besides, Piper needed a bit of positivity in her life, and Sara was the best place to get that.

"Hi, Sara," Piper said, smiling as best as she could. "How are you?"

Sara grinned at Piper over her porridge, her long plaited hair falling over her shoulder. "Hi, Piper! I'm good, thank you. Are you alright? You look a little tired."

Piper was about to reply when she spotted a familiar face at the Slytherin table. A very familiar face... Albus'.

He was sitting right next to Scorpius Malfoy. Piper's heart contracted painfully as he took a bite out of Scorpius' toast, then set it down again, laughing as Scorpius hit him playfully.

I used to do that to Albus all the time, Piper thought, her stomach clenching. Oh, God.

She felt like she might be sick.

"Piper?" Sara peered at Piper with concern written all over her plump face. "Are you feeling alright? You look very pale."

Piper pushed her plate of untouched bacon away and stood up, her head pounding. Maybe she'd been wrong. Maybe what she needed wasn't positivity after all... Maybe she should take Rose's advice after all and go to the Hospital Wing.

A good night's sleep would do her good, even if it was potion-induced.

But the world was spinning. Sara's face had started to distort, looming large in Piper's vision and then shrinking until it was the size of a Knut. Her voice, too, kept getting louder and louder, and then decreasing in volume to the sound of a whisper. Piper's head spun.

Everything's so hot, suddenly, she thought, and then, suddenly-

Her legs crumpled, and she fell backwards, right over the bench. Her body folded over it, and Piper felt a sharp pain in her head as it hit the stone floor of the Great Hall....

Then everything vanished.