My heart's too big for my body.

P I P E R

Piper woke up a week before the end of the school year feeling pretty great.

It had been a few weeks since her talk with Rose, and Albus and her's friendship had almost gotten back to where it had used to be. Apart from, of course, the face that Piper was now hyped-aware of his lips, and sometimes woke up from dreams- memories- of that day in the snow...

Well, those dreams were better than the ones of her and Albus yelling at each other.

Anything was better than that.

She came down for breakfast, still in a good mood, but that good mood quickly vanished when she spotted Tommy sitting on one of the long tables in the Great Hall.

She hadn't really talked to him after their kind-of date in Hogsmede. It had gone well enough, but there just hadn't been any... spark.

Besides, Piper had spent the entire date half in a fog of Albus.

Her stomach twisted with guilt, and she stepped in the opposite direction... and then changed her mind.

She owed him an apology, after all.

The ceiling of the Great Hall was bright and sunny as Piper approached Tommy, making it seem like he was shrouded in the golden light. He looked up as she approached, and Piper was taken back to the day by the trees with Albus, him standing, telling them they should just be friends, silhouetted just like Tommy was now.

"Hi," Piper began, trying and probably failing to not sound awkward. "Um."

Tommy's face, usually open and friendly, was closed and gloomy. "Hi, Piper."

Piper's stomach twisted. "Look," she blurted. "I'm really really sorry."

He raised one dark eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yes," Piper said, the words tumbling out of her. "I completely abandoned you after our date, and didn't talk to you again. I should have, I know, but I-" she hesitated. "Well, there's this guy, and it's all very complicated. It was unfair of me to bring you into it when my head- and my heart- were still so..." she couldn't think of a way to describe it that captured the past few months of pain and heartbreak. "Messy," she settled with. "So, I'm sorry."

"That was a very pretty apology," Tommy said, frowning down at the toast on his plate. "Thank you for that." He looked up at her, his dark eyes searching. "Most people would have just left me hanging. So thanks. And your boy... Albus Potter, if I'm not mistaken?"

Piper felt herself flush. Apparently the past few months of fighting hadn't been as subtle as she'd hoped. "Yeah."

"He's staring at us talking right now," Tommy smiled a little. "From an outsider's perspective... it doesn't seem very complicated at all. It just seems like you two care for each other a lot; maybe a little too much. Maybe that's your problem."

Piper glanced over at where Tommy was looking, and saw, by the entrance of the Great Hall, a lone figure with a head full of curly hair. Albus.

Her heart contracted painfully in her chest as she saw him, and then she knew. She just knew.

It hit her like a ton of bricks- Tommy was right. Rose had been right.

It wasn't complicated at all.

It was blindingly simple.

She loved him; and that was all that mattered.