Unfortunately for myself, I shan't ever own Harry Potter.

How can I convince you what you see is real?

Who am I to blame you for doubting what you feel?

I was always reachin', you were just a girl I knew

I took for granted the friend I have in you

I was living for a dream, loving for a moment

Taking on the world, that was just my style

Now I look into your eyes I can see forever, the search is over

You were with me all the while

-The Search is Over by Survivor

Izzy's POV:

Al looked at me incredulously.

"'Hey?'" he repeated, his voice almost angry. "'Hey?' You've been unconscious for three days, you almost died, and all you have to say is 'hey?'"

"What?" I was shocked by this news. "Al, what are you talking about? 'Almost died?' What is this?"

He picked up my hands. "What do you remember?" he asked softly.

I thought about it. Bits and pieces came back to me, but mostly…"Pain." I looked at Albus. "Excruciating pain. I remember falling, then everything hurt terribly." My eyes started to water. "Oh, Albus, I just wanted to be dead."

I leaned up to him and he wrapped his strong arms around me, holding me close to him. Here, with Al, I was safe.

I pulled back to look up at him again. "What happened?"

He stared at me for a bit, then said, "I'm not really sure. I heard you screaming, and I looked over. You were lying on the steps, face down, and that fat git was hurting you." He paused. "I stopped him, but I think you had blacked out by then." Looking at me, he continued. "What were you doing? You and Fred just started running to the house."

Then I remembered. Roxanne and Hugo yelling for help, I ran across the yard, and a there had been strong impact on my back that knocked me down. Then the pain.

"Roxy," I said hoarsely. "Roxy and Hugo were…wait. Where are they? Are they okay?" I panicked. Someone had been trying to get to them, and that was why I had tried to get to the house.

Al winced as I said their names. "They'll be okay…Roxy's leg is broken. They were going to use Skele-Gro, but it was from a curse. The Healer said potions couldn't do anything to help, but he did his best."

I grimaced. "Hugo?" I inquired.

"Bruised, scarred, but nothing really bad," he told me.

"So they'll be okay?"

"Merlin, Izzy!" Al exclaimed and threw his arms up. "You almost died, and you want to know about two eleven-year-olds that you've only met this year?" he bellowed.

I was honestly a little bit shocked. "Well, I'm obviously fine. I'm awake, aren't I?" I retorted.

"I'm sorry, Izzy," he sighed and took my hands again. "You just really had me scared. I was so worried about you."

The sincerity was clear in his words, and I was touched. I raised my hand to push the hair off of my face, and my fingers brushed across something rough and jagged on my forehead. I held my hand there, then realized it was a scar. I traced it with my fingertips across my head. Looking up at Albus, I asked, "Is it bad?"

He put his hand on my cheek, carefully caressing my face. "Not at all," he said gently. "You're still beautiful."

I was shocked by the compliment, and I felt my face heating up. "Oh. Er…thanks," I muttered incomprehensibly. He sat there, staring at me. Not smiling, but not upset. He seemed to be studying my features. "Er…you okay?" I questioned.

"What? Oh, yeah. Fine," he murmured, pulling from his trance. "Like I said, I was worried."

"So…" I started awkwardly. Then, something occurred to me. "Al?"

"Hm?"

"What happened to Dúnmharú?" I asked cautiously, afraid of the answer.

"When the help got there, he chickened out and the git was about to disapparate off, but a stray spell knocked him out. Which was surprising, seeing as he appeared to have a pretty strong shield around him," he told me. I opened my mouth to speak again, but Al must have known what was coming. "No one was seriously hurt." He thought for a moment. "Really, it was just you." He faked a small smile at this, and I flashed him a cheeky grin in return.

Then the door creaked open, and we both looked up to see the Healer coming to my bed.

"I see you've woken up," he said cheerily. "Well, you took quite a beating there. Gave us all a scare."

I looked around confusedly, glancing at Al for help.

He chuckled, but it was strained. "Told you."

I turned back to the Healer for conformation, and explained. "Someone hit you in the back with a spell that pushed you forward with quite a bit of force. You fell on the steps, giving yourself a nasty gash on you forehead and successfully breaking three ribs," he informed me brightly. I vaguely felt my mouth fall open in shock.

I turned around to the dark-haired boy beside me. "You weren't kidding."

"That's not all," the Healer continued. I spun back to him, slightly taken aback. "You were tortured with the Cruciatus Curse and Sectumsempra, and by then you were also losing quite a bit of blood in your head." He turned his attention to Albus. "Now, from what I understand, this young man very well may have saved your life."

Albus blushed when I turned to look at him, but the Healer kept talking.

"Took down the man who was attacking you, if I heard that part correctly. Not only were you having terrible blood loss, but those three ribs must have also been making it quite painful to breathe."

Albus picked up from here. "Dad's help didn't get there for about another 20 minutes, so I brought you into the house…well, I tried to do a couple of spells to get the bleeding to stop, but they weren't very effective…" he trailed off lamely. "We didn't get you help for another half hour or so."

I sat in stunned silence, staring at my best friend. "You are freaking incredible," I stated simply, which caused Al to blush even more.

"Well, not really…"

"If you don't mind, Mr. Potter," the Healer cut back in, "we have to fix up these scars. We didn't want to do anything to you, Isabelle, before you had woken up. Just a bit too risky," he informed us. "It would be quite a bit of help, young man, if you would inform Miss McCallum's family that she has awoken."

"Of course," Al replied, his eyes never leaving my own. He gave my hand one final squeeze before he turned and went out of the door.

"All right, now let's see here…"

The Healer's words were drowned out by my own thoughts. I would have to get the rest of the story from Rose or Lily. Albus was obviously being too modest.

Al's POV:

I must've had the biggest grin on my face as I left Izzy's room, because all of my family and Izzy's looked up and watched me expectantly. A couple people asked things like, "Is she okay?" or "Has she woken up?" I stood there, then after a moment, Fred broke the short silence.

"Bloody hell, mate! Just tell us what's happened!"

I looked over everyone, then spoke. "She's woken up."

Lily squealed in delight as most of the adults let out long sighs of relief.

My little sister flew at me, attacking me with a hug. "Can we see her? Pleeeeaase?" she begged, staring up at me with her puppy dog eyes.

I sighed. "No, Lil. The Healers have to do some work, and then we'll be able to go in." I pried the 14-year-old off of myself, then turned to the McCallums, who were sitting in a daze of happiness. "I think that they'd like her family in there, though," I told them.

Mr. McCallum nodded curtly, then took his family towards his daughter's room. When they passed by my father, Dad cleared his throat.

"I'm terribly sorry about this," he apologized. "Izzy was in our care, and we should have been much more careful."

Izzy's dad seemed unsure of how to reply, so his wife took over.

"It's quite all right. As long as Isabelle is safe now, we'll be fine." She smiled kindly and continued. "Some things just have to happen. And now, that awful man has been caught and he shan't ever hurt anyone else."

My father nodded carefully as Mrs. McCallum pulled her husband and son along behind her.

I glanced around the room, taking in everyone's reassured expressions.

Speaking quietly to no one in particular, I muttered, "She'll make it."

Saying these words seemed to lift the weight from my shoulders.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to see James looking at me. We stood together in silence before he spoke.

"Did you think about it?"

I gave a small, unsure nod in reply, and a smile played on his face before he returned to Celeste.

Sooo…how'd you like it? Albus is starting to change how he acts towards Izzy… 3

Well, as usual, read and review! You'll be, like, my most favorite-est person ever!

Oh, thanks to my AMAZING reviewers!

hppjdragpncode: Thanks so much! I love Albus too, even though he's changed a lot. About Rose, that was my mistake. Oops. She's a Gryffindor, but she is Ron's daughter ,too, so she can't be quite as smart as Hermione...And I like Scorpius as being a nice guy, too!

non-member: Nice name. And thanks for your input, I'll try to put more detail!

Stag and Doe: Haha, don't I feel foolish! I completely forgot Rose and Lily's houses in this story, so I kinda screwed up...Lily's in Gryffindor. Thank you for pointing that out, I think I've got it fixed!

Alistriona: Aww, thank you so much! I was really worried about that 'cause I didn't want to seem like some pathetic writer who couldn't find their own ideas.

hplvr235: Glad you like it!

a bit of slytherin: Okay. So basically, that was my best review EVER. You're my favorite! I've always loved the name Isabelle and I thought Izzy was kinda cute. And I freaking love Starkid! I like Rose and Scorpius together, I think it's sweet. And how could I not have my two favorite HP characters as professors?

If you've got any ideas or predictions, I'd love to hear them! I just finished chapter 20 and I'm soooo excited to put it up! Unfortunately for you, I'm restraining myself. You'll just have to wait!

So…review?