But if I should break, if I should fall away
What am I to do?
I need someone to take a little of the weight
Or I'll fall through
You're just the one that I've been waiting for
I'll give you all that I have to give and more
But don't let me

-Don't Let Me Fall by Lenka

Izzy's POV:

I stood stiffly and silently while Rose held me in place.

"Izzy, you're killing the poor boy," she said. I remained silent. "He wouldn't talk to anyone about it until just a couple of hours ago when I pulled it out of him. He's really beating himself up over this. You wouldn't believe how upset he's gotten; he hates that you're acting like this, and he's blaming himself."

"It is his fault, Rose," I pointed out.

"Yes, it mostly is, but you could help by talking to him. If you don't, you really will lose him forever."

Here it was. She had pinpointed the exact thing that scared me so badly: I was losing touch with Albus. "If we do talk about it, I'll lose him because I don't think I feel that way about him; if I never say anything to him again, I'm going to lose him there, too. I can't win either way."

She released my arm now. "That may be true, but you'll have a better chance of keeping him if you try to work things out…" she pondered for a moment, then resumed. "Are you really sure that you don't like him as more than a friend?"

I had gotten this question so many times, so I tried to tell her that the notion was positively ridiculous, but the words stuck in my throat. When I did speak, it felt like someone else was controlling me. "I don't know anymore."

Rose nodded then said, "Sleep on it. You don't have to speak with him tomorrow, necessarily, but do it when you're ready. He needs you, Izzy."

Those words shook me from my trance that had trapped me for the past month. I knew, right then, how much I needed Albus.

And I was the only one who could fix this.

When Rose and I got up to our dorm, we both stayed silent. I was still deep in thought when I dropped down on my bed, trying to figure out what I could ever say to him. How could I ever fix this? I had hurt us both by running away that day, and I might have even broken his heart. I stayed up most of the night, going over speeches in my head. I finally fell into a restless sleep, my head filled with troubled thoughts.

I became less focused in my classes. Even with exams looming nearer, I stopped paying attention and let my mind wander. Almost always, I ended up thinking about Albus: what I could say to him, when I could get to him, how I could ever make this up to him. I even caught myself staring at him once, and I only jerked my head forwards when his eyes met mine. His wonderful, emerald eyes. I hadn't actually ever looked at Al in that way, but when I thought about it, he was pretty good looking. His vibrant green eyes sparkled under his tousled black hair, which was messy in a cute, sort of attractive way. He wasn't too terribly tall, about 5 foot 10 inches, but he had a strong build from Quidditch. His muscles were neatly toned, but not too prominent to the point where it was just weird. His face was pleasant and he already had very light wrinkles starting to appear from smiling so often. In short, he looked like a healthier copy of his father in the photographs that I'd seen.

I suddenly realized what I was thinking: I found Albus Severus Potter slightly attractive. Could Rose have been right? I trusted this boy more than anyone. He'd been my closest friend since we were eleven and he knew me better than my own family. I had just recently realized how much I needed him, and now I was sitting in class thinking that he was attractive. I started to believe Rose's accusation.

In reality, he would be the best guy for me to be with. He was the best friend I'd ever had in my life. He knew everything almost everything about me. Most of all, he'd always loved me. Not necessarily romantically, but it was a friendly, almost brotherly kind of love. But now…he did like me romantically…

Even if I did like him, I wasn't sure that I could do this…yes, I trusted him, but I trusted him with secrets and things like that. How could I trust that he wouldn't hurt me? I knew he wouldn't do anything to me on purpose, but it still frightened me.

"We're waiting, Miss McCallum."

I jolted in my seat. Professor McIlroy was watching me darkly, rapping his fingers against his desk impatiently.

Realizing that he had called on me, I looked down at my open Potions textbook for an answer. Unfortunately, there was nothing that helped me.

"Um…right…well…"

"If you could hurry up with an answer, Isabelle," the man said irritably.

"Of course…I believe it's-"

A whisper came from the next table over.

"Essence of murtlap."

I glanced swiftly to look at Albus, but he was staring resolutely forward.

"Erm…it's essence of murtlap, isn't it?" I said warily.

McIlroy looked faintly crestfallen, but nodded anyways. I gave him an innocent smile before slipping back into my own thoughts.

The next day, I finally pulled myself from the library (or, rather, Rose and Lily did) and found a quiet spot next to the lake. I pulled out my book, sat down against a thick oak tree, and started reading. My spot was well hidden from most points of view, so I was slightly surprised when I heard footsteps crunching the leaves behind me. I closed my book to see who had found me, and my heart skipped a beat.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

I suppressed my strange and sudden urge to laugh, then forced myself to speak with a calm and level voice.

"No, come sit." Al looked startled. "We need to talk, Albus."

Cautiously, he plodded over and sat down quietly next to me. We stayed there in silence for a few moments while I relished the feeling of being close to him.

"I didn't mean what I said."

"I shouldn't have run off."

We spoke at the same time and looked abruptly at each other. We sat in awkwardness, each waiting for the other to speak. Unfortunately, my giggles got the best of me.

Al looked at me in panic. "What? Did I do something wrong?" The frightened expression only encouraged my uncontrollable laughing, and he stood up. "I'm sorry, I should go. I guess you-"

I grabbed his arm and yanked him back down beside me. Calming myself, I said, "I'm sorry, Al. I'm not laughing at you… Just our situation, I guess." Another embarrassed silence hung between us before I spoke up again. "So…you didn't mean it?" I was slightly disappointed now that I realized that I might have feelings for him.

Al sensed the distress in my voice and became confused. "Well, I don't really know…I s'pose you might have been right about me being worried and whatnot, but I honestly can't tell you what I'm feeling because I'm awfully confused about it myself, though you were probably onto something when you said that I was-"

"Albus."

"only upset and that I didn't want to lose you again a-"

"Albus."

He remembered that I was still there and stopped. His face turned bright red and he mumbled at the ground. "Sorry."

This all made me even more distraught. "Albus, what's happened to us? We used to be so close. We talked and laughed and poked fun at each other, but recently - I mean, even before this whole mess - nothing's been the same."

"Would you like me to make fun of you, because I'm sure I could find something wrong with you right now." His usual quirky smile was finding its way back onto his handsome face, and I giggled again.

"Sorry, Al, but now's not the time. We'll take care of that later." We were suddenly slipping back into our comforting familiarity, which was strange after the last weeks of silence. I took advantage of this. "Right now, we really need to talk seriously. I promise that this is the only time I'll ever make you act your age." I smiled coyly at him.

"I know we do…but I'll hold you to your promise, Izzy." I chuckled. "Now…"

"Well, I think I understood what you were trying to get across earlier, when you started rambling. I…well, just answer this for me, okay? Did you mean what you said that day?" I asked my question softly.

"I think so, Izzy," he responded quietly yet confidently.

"Oh…"

"I'm sorry, we can put that behind us. I'll get over it…"

The last part stung me; I had only discovered my slight feelings for him. If we did try to make this work, would he just "get over it" and move onto someone else? "Well, okay…but it's just that…" Albus was now looking at me in minor disbelief, but he said nothing. "Well…I, with your lovely cousin's help, realized that I might have started developing those same feelings for you…but I'm not entirely sure either." I paused to gauge his reaction. His face was blank. "I'd give into those feelings, but…I don't think I can yet…"

He pressed his lips together. "Is it about Finn?"

I stared at him sadly. "A little bit…" He appeared to be hurt by my words. "Oh, Al, no. I know you're better than him and you'd never do anything to hurt me on purpose, but what if you do something on accident? You wouldn't do or say anything to harm me, but…what if something went wrong?"

"Izzy," he grabbed my hands, "no matter who you're with, you'll always have problems. You'll always end up being hurt in some way by whoever it is. You can't let those things stop you; you've got to talk to people when they hurt you. It wouldn't only be with me that you could get harmed. Anyone can do that to you."

I soaked in his words. "You're right. You're right, but what if something does happen? What if we try to talk it out, but it doesn't work? Then…I'll have lost you forever." For the first time ever, I voiced my thoughts. I'd never realized that it would feel this good to get everything out.

"I worry about that, too. I couldn't even begin to imagine my life without you. I wouldn't be able to go on if I lost you, but if we really do want to be together…then that's a chance we'll have to take," he told me gently as he looked into my eyes.

"I don't know if I can take any chances." It was true. Taking those kinds of risks could cause things to end up badly. "I've lost too much." Tears started to come with my words. "Shit," I mumbled, angry at myself for looking so weak.

Albus laughed quietly. "Izzy, first off, you need to understand this: it's okay for you to cry. You don't need to pretend that you're strong enough to keep all of this in. No one should ever have to lose someone so close to them, almost be killed themselves, very nearly lose their best friend, and stay as strong as you've been." He smiled. "You're so very tough, but not that tough."

I took a deep breath and nodded. I felt a tear roll slowly down my cheek, but Albus affectionately brushed it off. He scooted closer to me and wrapped his arms around me, and I let myself lean into him as he continued. "Secondly, your whole life will be filled with decisions and possibilities like this. You'll never be able to escape that, so you'll just have to learn how to deal with these things."

I nodded, my head still pressed against his torso. "I know. I guess I've always known that. I just never wanted to have to face it."

He ran his fingers gently through my hair. "It's not easy. I can't know everything that you're feeling right now, but I know this much." He pulled my chin up, forcing me to look at him. "You're scared. You're afraid of losing something else in your life. You don't know if you can learn to trust again. You have completely good reasons for all of those things, but they can always be overcome if you'll simply ask for help."

I became angry now. Was he trying to get me to go see some nut job about my problems? To make me talk to some stranger, try to make them feel bad for me and tell me what I already know? "I'm not crazy or unstable," I told him impatiently. "I won't go to see some therapist about any of this. I refuse to put out all of my personal life to some nutter!"

He shook his head. "I know. That's not what I'm suggesting, but I think you need to talk to someone. Talk about it with Trent, Rose, Lily, your parents, even me. We're all ready and willing to listen."

I considered all of this. Everything was so overwhelming right now, and I wasn't entirely sure what to think. I knew that Albus was right about most of what he said, though.

"Al, this is the most sense you've ever made in one day," I teased.

He shook his head and wiped at his forehead. "Isabelle, I'm going to tell you that it was not easy at all. Took far too much thinking for me to say anything else meaningful for the rest of the week." The cheerful glimmer was back in his emerald green eyes, and happiness bubbled up inside of me.

"I guess we could try this," I said, and Al looked positively radiant. He was practically glowing with excitement, but I spoke again before he did anything rash. "You have to promise me two things, though."

The smile never left his face. "Anything."

"If we don't work out, which I sincerely hope we do, promise me that we'll still stay close. I need my best friend."

Without missing a beat, he responded enthusiastically. "Of course. And I'll need my best friend, too."

I grinned, then continued. "The other thing is…I want to take this slowly, okay? It's my first real relationship and I don't want it to be ruined because we were too eager." I also didn't want things to move too quickly and end up getting hurt worse because we got in so deep, but I could tell that I didn't even need to say this for Al to understand.

"I know, Izzy. We'll take this at our own pace so we don't get too caught up in everything," he said reassuringly. I nodded gratefully, and he stood up. Offering his hand to me, he said with much grandeur, "This way, milady."

I took his arm. "Why thank you, my kind sir."

"Shall we be off to the Tower of Gryffindor, then?"

"If you please."

"Well, then, let us make our way up. It's been increasingly difficult to understand the Potions material without someone like yourself to aid me. I'm afraid Lady Rose tried to assist me, which was very kind indeed, but she got upset and left in a huff yesterday. As you can imagine, that was rather unfortunate for myself…"

I sighed. "Yes, Albus. I'll help you study for your Potions exams."

"Man, Izzy. You're the best," he declared, pulling me into a one armed hug and pecking me on the cheek.

"Oh, Merlin. Al, if this is the only reason you convinced me to go out with you…"

"No," he said. "I just have an extremely intelligent girlfriend."

I patted his arm. "You'd never make it without me."

"Would, too…" he muttered defensively.

I laughed. "No you wouldn't, Al."

He crossed his arms, and we continued to the school in companionable silence. Everything was right now; I had Albus back and we still had all that we did before, but now, we had just that much more.

Yay! They got together, so here's to all of the readers who kept asking for romance. I've kind of been in a slump lately, but when I got into Pottermore early (yay!), I decided to celebrate by updating.

I'm sooooo sorry it took me so long to update. Please forgive me?

This was a really difficult chapter, and if you don't ever review ever again (which I sincerely hope is not the case), you should definitely tell me how this one was.