▬▬▬▬

WHEN ALBANY WOKE one morning in March, she was greeted with the sudden urge to throw up as soon as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. A rushed trip to the bathroom resulted in nothing but dry heaving and a lingering stomach ache, and she attributed her illness to whatever she had eaten the previous night and her growing anxiety.

She was frustrated, to say the least. She had no reason to feel nervous whatsoever; granted, Merlin and Arthur hadn't reached out in a few days and she still hadn't closed the curtains on her situation with George, but she was sure neither of those issues were considerable enough to be nauseating. No, deep down, she had a gut feeling that something wasn't quite right. Something about the present left her nervous about the future — but what that was, she had no idea. And yet the anxiety remained.

She decided to write to her parents, given the bit of extra time her sudden awakening had granted her that morning. Not that writing to her dear mother and father ever provided peace of mind, but guilt was eating at her that she hadn't contacted them in some time despite the effort they were making to keep up to date with her this year. She knew they hated seeing her in danger almost as much as she did; and they hadn't even been present to see the tasks in person. Nor the effect they were having on their daughter.

"Faith's disappeared again this morning," Phylis remarked conversationally as Albany pondered the next line of her letter. The blonde had sat down beside Albany as Zoe and Viola crowded the bathroom, and was swinging her legs on the edge of the bed. How she felt so comfortable to do so with an acquaintance, Albany had no clue. "I never see her anymore outside class."

"Yeah," Albany agreed vaguely, chewing on the tip of her sugar quill. Planned words forgotten, she sighed, giving up on the letter for a moment. "Me neither."

"I mean, I'm a morning person, but she's gone mad the past month," Phylis giggled. "I guess she does go to bed early."

"I see her with Moody all the time," Viola added, words muffled by the toothbrush in her mouth as she leaned against the bathroom door. She waggled her eyebrows. "You don't think—?"

"Ew, Vi, no!" Phylis laughed, making a face. "He's like sixty, that's gross!"

Zoe peered out over Viola's shoulder, frowning. "I am worried about her, though," she murmured. "I wish she would talk to us. She looks like she's having a rough time."

Albany swallowed hard, guilt rising like bile in her already sensitive stomach. Faith had reached out to her, and she'd passed her off to Moody. She got to her feet, suddenly antsy.

"Albany?" Phylis questioned.

"Gonna go to breakfast," Albany mumbled. She threw her bag over her shoulder and hurried out of the dorm.

Despite the excuse, the thought of breakfast made her stomach churn with discomfort. She opted to skip the meal instead, and to avoid questions from her friends if they noticed she wasn't eating, she headed outside.

The spring wind was cold against her face, and grateful for the magical scarf Fred had gifted her, she pulled it up over her neck. George's necklace too lay beneath her robes, the charm in snake form this morning.

She had Care of Magical Creatures that morning, though as friendly of a teacher as Hagrid was, she'd rather not show up early and force an awkward conversation with the half-giant. Instead, she found a dry boulder to seat herself on atop the steep hill overlooking the Forbidden Forest. Alone in the chilly air, she had to acknowledge how surreal her life was, especially in the recent past. With old magic, and Freya, and Merlin and Arthur... George....

"Bronwen?"

She flinched out of her daze and whipped around, surprised by the voice. Harry stood a little ways behind her, hands stuffed into the pockets of his robes. He looked a little embarrassed, or perhaps guilty, not quite meeting her gaze.

"Potter," she greeted in response, turning around on her rock to fully acknowledge him. "Um... nice morning, isn't it?"

Harry shrugged, hands unmoving from his robes. "Yeah, it's nice," he remarked, before glancing up at her. "What are you doing out here?"

Albany was a little caught off guard by the question, phrased as though she were being interrogated. She had a feeling she'd interrupted him in the middle of doing something he didn't really want to be seen doing. She raised an eyebrow.

"Could ask you the same thing," she said, and then her gaze was drawn past the boy.

A large, scruffy-looking black dog had emerged from the bushes behind Harry, its snout in the air and sniffing vigorously. When it noticed Albany's presence, it froze momentarily, and Albany's heart skipped a nervous beat — but then it relaxed and stumbled over, tongue lolling happily.

Harry laughed nervously. "Um — feeding Snuffles," he finally answered, and pulled two breakfast sandwiches from his pockets with a sheepish grin.

Albany couldn't help but smile in puzzled amusement. "I didn't know you had a dog," she remarked, and giggled as said dog sniffed her hands curiously. She scratched behind its ears and Snuffles closed his eyes in content.

"He's — er — a stray," Harry explained, fidgeting anxiously. "I've seen him around Hogsmeade... um... and he comes by the castle sometimes."

"He's cute," Albany said, and Harry turned considerably redder. She fetched her Polaroid camera from her bag and snapped a picture of the canine with a soft smile.

The three stood in silence for a while as Harry awkwardly fed Snuffles pieces of sandwich. Albany's stomach growled at the sight of the food, though she merely wrapped her arms around herself and ignored the sound. It was an unfriendly reminder of the uncomfortable anxiety that had brought her outside in the first place.

"What do you think the last task will be?" Harry muttered after another minute, gingerly sitting on the boulder next to her.

Albany bit her cheek, staring blankly at Snuffles to avoid eye contact with the boy. "No idea," she admitted. "With the current track record, probably sword-fighting a herd of centaurs, but only they have the swords."

Harry managed a snort of amusement, and Snuffles' tail wagged. "I hope not," he said.

"Yeah, me too." Albany patted the dog again, thoughts tangling together in her mind. Too many to comprehend. "At least it's the last one."

Harry nodded silently, and Albany glanced sideways to him. He opened his mouth, and then closed it again wordlessly, conflicted — and finally decided to speak. "I... have a bad feeling about it."

Albany swallowed hard, unsure whether to be even more nervous or relieved that she wasn't the only one freaking out. "Me too." Snuffles blinked up at her curiously, and she stared back, slouching.

"Okay," Harry breathed, a nervous sort of laughter escaping his mouth. "Good to know I'm not the only one going crazy."

Albany chuckled before he could take back his remark, looking nervous. "Definitely not. I'm always going crazy."

Harry cracked a small smile, and then looked at her. "Hey, um... thanks for helping me, back in the lake."

Albany froze, panic-stricken — he hadn't seen her using old magic, surely, not while they'd been underwater—

"I dunno what you did," Harry continued, and she forced herself to relax, "but I think I would've been screwed if you didn't."

Albany shrugged. "Least I could do when you would've saved all four of the hostages given the chance," she murmured in amusement.

"Merfolk were giving me a bit of a rough time over that," Harry agreed.

"Not the friendliest creatures."

Silence fell between them again, and Albany hugged herself a little closer, torn between her hunger and her nausea. She was lost in her thoughts again when Harry spoke up, and took a second to register his words.

"Ron's okay with you and George, by the way," he was saying, as if in a hurry. "He was a little weird after that thing Skeeter published about you, but I think we all know how horrible she is, and he's okay with it now."

"What?"

Harry blinked at her in confusion. Albany stared back, struggling to catch up with the conversation.

"You — you and George," Harry emphasised. "Uh, I don't think Ginny minds either—"

"What?" Albany echoed, dumbstruck.

Snuffles whined, nudging Harry's hands before trotting off. Harry shot the dog a pained glance, leaning forward as if to follow him, but then sighed. He turned back to Albany awkwardly.

"I — uh, just thought I'd let you know," he mumbled. "Just in case you didn't know, or were wondering, because — I think we both have enough on our plates already with the tournament."

Albany blinked, suddenly aware of her pulse throbbing in her neck. "Yeah," she said blankly. She didn't have the heart to explain the situation to Harry. She couldn't even explain it to herself. "Thanks...."

Harry stood up then, his discomfort evident in the fidgeting of his hands. He nodded once. "Um. I'm gonna go, then—"

"Yeah," Albany agreed, standing up herself. "Me too."

"Bye, then, uh — Bronwen."

"See you around, Potter."

As the day slowly passed and her classes with it, Albany gradually shook off the feeling of unease she'd been enduring since that morning. Though she was still fatigued as she headed to the evening's last activity — apparition lessons — her mood had considerably improved. If two redheaded Weasleys had anything to do with this, she'd never give them the satisfaction of knowing.

"You might as well take your test and get your licence right now," Albany joked, shaking her head in disbelief as she watched George apparate in rapid succession back and forth across the hall.

"That wouldn't be very fair," George laughed, nudging her. "Since we're gonna get our licences together."

Albany felt her face warm and glanced away, folding her arms. "Yeah, maybe if I could actually apparate."

"Course you can," George chuckled. "Everyone can."

"Starting to doubt that, personally."

George had remained her unofficial partner for the lessons ever since the first one, and as much as Albany silently despised their instructor and the lessons as a whole, they were one of her favourite times of the week. Despite her consistent failures, and despite all the other students in the hall, it was a moment for just her and George.

George, who liked her.

Her mind never failed to remind her. And the longer the thought lingered, the more difficult it became to deny her own feelings towards the boy. The idea of commitment was a terrifying one, but if it involved George, how bad would it be, really? George, whose laugh was the sweetest sound her ears had ever been blessed with; George, who caught her without fail every time she tripped over her own feet; George, whose smile was as warm as a summer's day, and kind, and soft... and she had been staring at his lips a little too long now. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she felt a wave of heat flood her face as she glanced away.

As much as she adored her time with George, since the lake, she couldn't stop overthinking it.

Couldn't stop thinking that she really did like him — the way he liked her. Couldn't stop thinking about how happy he made her feel, and whether moving their relationship in that direction would make her even happier. That if he was this fun to joke with and prank with... would he be fun to hold hands with? To cuddle up to on the couch in the Gryffindor common room? To kiss?

Stop.

The concept was as terrifying as it was thrilling. She couldn't take that risk. She wasn't that brave.

"I wonder if you felt what it was like to apparate, would that make it easier to do on your own?" George was saying, and she tuned in again, flustered by her own head.

"I don't think you're allowed to apparate with anyone until you get your licence," Albany pointed out, clearing her throat awkwardly. "Maybe you should get your licence right now."

George grinned. "Or... I could bend the rules a little bit—"

Albany shook her head with a grin. "How are you still in school?"

"Dumbledore loves me and Fred," George laughed. "We're entertaining. He could never expel us."

You're entertaining, all right. Albany's eyes widened a little. She needed to stop thinking. Shut up.

"So what do you say?" George pressed, raising an eyebrow at her. He nodded his head in their instructor's direction, where Wilkie Twycross was giving out to Miles Bletchley and Charles Machin for messing around. "He's busy, see? He won't notice."

"We'll get in trouble if he does," Albany warned him, stomach fluttering with nerves at the thought of apparating. "And it's not allowed for a reason, George, what if I get splinched?"

"I wouldn't let you get splinched," George argued good-naturedly. He grinned. "Besides, what's life without a little risk?"

Albany sighed as the redhead held out his arm in offering. She wasn't a risk-taker; not in any aspect of her life. She was just a—

"Lionheart?" George piped up in her silence, nudging her. She met his gaze, and he smiled, hazel irises glittering. "You trust me?"

Lionheart.

No, she wasn't a risk-taker. But she was brave. And she trusted George with her entire heart.

"I do."

She took his arm, bracing herself, and stifled a gasp as he disapparated, pulling her along. It felt as though her body had been forced rapidly through a very narrow tube, yanked through only by her elbow where it linked with George's. It barely lasted a second before she was standing with weak knees on the opposite side of the hall.

"See, that wasn't so bad!" George exclaimed excitedly, grinning with his success. "You made it all in one piece!"

Albany swallowed hard, popping her ears. Her head was still spinning rapidly, and as she went to take a step forward, she nearly toppled. George's arms were quick to secure themselves around her waist, and he straightened her with a soft smile.

"Steady there, Al."

Albany managed a small smile up at the boy in return. He brushed a piece of hair from her face, and she glanced away, flustered.

"That felt horrible."

"Come on, it wasn't too bad!" George laughed, finally releasing her as she found her balance again. "Now you'll know what to expect!"

She was about to hit him back with a witty remark when she noticed his face fall as he stared at her. Immediately she felt her heart drop in fear.

"What is it?"

George chuckled nervously. "Um... well—"

"Weasley...."

"You may — or may not — be missing your eyebrows?"

Albany's jaw dropped in horror, and she instantly brought her hands to her forehead, which felt far too smooth for her liking.

"No...."

George smiled awkwardly. "Will I bring you to Madam Pomfrey?"

Albany was still struggling to comprehend that she was missing her eyebrows. She shot George a fierce glare, hiding her forehead from the public with a spare hand.

"Sure thing, if you survive to make the trip," she threatened, and nearly laughed at the panic in the boy's face. She kept her composure and took a slow step forward. "Would you like to start running, or will I?"

George shot her a lopsided grin. "For the record, I'm sorry," he said, and bolted for the door, Albany hot on his heels.

Despite her lack of eyebrows, Albany couldn't help the bubbly laughter that escaped her as the pair ran through the castle. Somehow, even the worst situations were made tolerable with George, and the scariest risks made worth it. Even when the world felt as though it was falling apart around her, he made it a little easier to breathe. And her thoughts would never shut up about him.

▬▬▬▬

❃ a/n:

hey all! it's been a little while since i've updated and i'd like to apologise to you all for that — if you missed the announcement on my page, i've been struggling a lot with my mental health recently and i had to take some time off to reevaluate my priorities and take care of myself. i'm doing well for those wondering, and i'm going to do my best to get back into a regular updating schedule <3 i'm also hoping to visit the doctor as soon as i can to see if i can figure some things out to help my mental health, but it's a little difficult with quarantine.

on another note, we've hit 300k reads on this book which is absolutely blowing my mind — i will literally never get used to all the support!! but i appreciate it so so much, and i appreciate every one of you so much <3 it's really difficult to respond to as many comments as i used to, so if i miss yours, i'm sorry! i still read most of them and i love hearing your reactions and feedback etc.

hope you're all doing well! <3

- A x