When I wake up,
I'm afraid somebody else might take my place.

P I P E R

Piper woke up to the sound of yelling.

It was very loud yelling.

"My patient!" Piper heard. "My patient! Did it not occur to you to check on her when you were with her?"

"She rolled over!" A very familiar voice yelled back. "She rolled over in her sleep! How was I supposed to stop her from falling?"

Piper cracked one eye open. She was lying in the Hospital Wing, and there were empty beds on either side of her. Someone had placed a small vase of yellow flowers on her nightstand, and there was a half eaten bar of chocolate there too.

There were also several chairs by the side of the bed. One was occupied by-

Piper closed her eyes quickly and tried to make her breathing even, to make it seem like she asleep.

"Responsibility!" Someone shrieked. Now that Piper was more awake, she recognised the voice as Madame Pomfrey. "Did your mother teach you nothing about responsibility, Miss Weasley? She was one of the brightest witches of her age- saved the wizarding world- she would be ashamed!"

"What was I supposed to do?" Rose's raised voice was clearly heard, although muffled slightly. Madame Pomfrey had probably taken her into her office, which was always a bad sign. You were only allowed there if you were dying or in serious, serious trouble.

"If your cousin hadn't caught her, she could have hit her head and died!" Madame Pomfrey cried shrilly. "Your best friend, Rose Weasley!"

Piper froze. If your cousin hadn't caught her?

That made sense, she supposed. After all, Albus was here. What Piper wanted to know was why he'd turned up in the first place.

He'd said to her they couldn't be friends, after all, and then he'd gone off and started dating freaking Scorpius Malfoy.

Scorpius Malfoy.

"Piper?"

It was Albus' voice, exactly as she remembered it. Soft, kind, rich, deep...

And it provoked the exact same reaction from Piper. She felt safe.

There was a rusting noise, and then he spoke again. "Piper, I know you're awake."

Shoot.

Piper opened her eyes tentatively, and almost instantly saw Albus' green ones staring back at her.

The look was enough to make her catch her breath; she'd forgotten just how intoxicating those eyes were.

He has a boyfriend, Piper reminded herself. Fuck, Piper, he has a boyfriend!

"What are you doing here?" Piper asked sharply. The words came out softer than she'd meant them to, but she couldn't help it. Her heart remembered Albus as safe and kind and wonderful, even if her head was screaming he broke me, he hurt me, make him leave, go away.

Albus blinked, twisting his hands around and around in his lap. "I came to check on you. You scared me."

Piper bit down on her lip hard to stop herself from... well, she wasn't sure if she wanted to scream, or cry, or laugh, or do all three. "You came to check on me? Albus, you told me you didn't want to be friends with me anymore- you left me- and now you waltz back in here, saying I scared you! Merlin, Albus! What makes you think I want you here?"

As soon as the words came out Piper regretted them. They rang around the suddenly silent Hospital Wing, and as Piper watched, Albus' face went through four stages. Confusion, dawning realisation, hurt, and then a blank mask. "I-" he shook his head. "I don't know what I thought. I just wanted to see you, but I guess..." he swallowed, hard. "I guess you don't want to see me."

Then he stood up, gazing at Piper with an unreadable expression on his face, and walked out, his footsteps ringing on the cold stone floor with a sickening finality.

Spam of updates. I've planned the rest of the chapters out and if everything goes according to that plan (it probably won't though) this book will have 38 chapters. Or 37 + an epilogue.