Wires
Ron still couldn't sleep, even though it was the first time in months that the trio had had an actual house to sleep in, the Horcruxes were still on his mind. He looked over at Harry's sleeping figure and whenever Ron tried to get to sleep all he could hear were Hermione's screams and the sound of the nearby ocean. He gently eased his self out of his bed and left the room, he walked down the corridor towards the stairs passing Hermione's room. Although the door was shut he could hear whimpering that broke his heart. She had barely spoken once they had buried Dobby. She quickly took herself of to her room and nobody had heard from her since. The only reason he knew she was still alive was because he heard the shower turn on about a half hour ago. He gently knocked on the door hoping that she would finally let somebody in,
"Come in..." a strangled voice managed as Ron quietly opened the door. She was sitting on her bed in a short sleeved top and her flannel Pyjama bottoms, she had some cotton wool in her right hand like she was trying to clean a wound "Hi..." she said quietly as another tear fell down her cheek and onto the bed.
"Hey..." he said standing awkwardly in the door way not quite sure what to say.
"You can sit down you know?" Hermione said shuffling over so that there was more room on her bed.
"Are you ok?" He asked worriedly catching sight of her arm, he hadn't seen Bellatrix's work and he felt rather sickened looking at it.
"Well I've been better..." She said shrugging as she tucked her damp hair behind her ear.
"Stupid question." Ron said annoyed at his self.
"No, it's not. I'm glad you care," Hermione said lightly placing her hand on his forearm. She quickly took it away as she went back to trying to clean her wound. Ron looked over and saw her wincing as she tried to do it at such an awkward angle.
"Here," he said lightly taking the cotton wool, "Let me."
"Thanks..." Hermione said quietly as she brushed away a few more tears.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Ron asked after a few minutes of silence as he tried to gently wipe away the dirt.
"I don't know what to say..." She whispered once he was done. She reached over for the bandage that she had grabbed out of her bag and Ron immediately took it off her so that he could look after her for once instead of vice versa. "I can't really remember much of it to be honest." She said as Ron wrapped the bandage around her arm. "Did you know the brain blacks out traumatic experiences to try and stop Post Traumatic Distress?" She said quickly.
"No... No I didn't know that." Ron replied intrigued by the fact, "But that's good right? I mean it should help prevent nightmares shouldn't it?" He asked as he secured the bandage, before he lost his courage and before Hermione took her arm away, he grabbed her hand with his own so that she wouldn't feel alone.
"I hope so... But I'm really scared." She managed to get out whilst giving Ron's hand a gentle squeeze, "I mean what if I told her that we were looking for Horcruxes? Or what if I told her where my parents are? Or what if I to-" She said as her breathing increased and her throat closed up so tight that she wasn't able to finish. A small sob came from her and Ron instinctively wrapped her into a hug so that she was crying on his shoulder.
"Shhh." He said as he stroked her hair as he tried to calm her down, he could feel her hands clutching onto him as if she was terrified that he was going to leave. "You didn't say any of those things. You're brilliant you are, you're so brilliant that you wouldn't have said that, and even if you did I wouldn't blame you I wouldn't have done much better off. You're a star Hermione so even if you did say any of those things nobody is going to blame you." He said quietly as another sob came from her shaking figure.
"I'm just so scared..." She said pulling away, "I'm scared that what if we don't win? What if we just end up killing everyone?"
"We won't. We're going to win." He said pulling her back into another hug. "We're going to be alright okay?" he said stroking her back to try and calm her crying. It seemed to have worked because after a while her breathing softened and she seemed to relax.
"What time is it?" She said as she pulled away and looked around for a clock.
"It's about 2.30 am." Ron said trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes.
"It's 11.30 am where Mum and Dad are now..." She said with a sad smile, "I miss them..."
"I miss Mum and Dad too... even Fred and George." Ron said giving Hermione's hand a squeeze to let her know he understood. Not in the sense that he knew what it was like to have your parents forget about you but in the sense that he missed his family.
"Have you spoken to them?" She asked curiously, she had thought multiple times about picking up a phone and phoning her Mum just to hear her voice again but dismissed the idea quickly.
"No... I almost did at Christmas though." He said with a for longed expression on his face, "I didn't want to risk it though. I did get a letter from Ginny though so that's something."
"Really what did it say?" Hermione said stifling a yawn.
"That the DA has started up again and that she knew I couldn't reply but they all miss me, my family I mean." He said yawning his self. "I should probably go you look tired..." He said standing up but Hermione still held on to his hand.
"Please stay... I don't want nightmares..." She said softly. "I know it sounds silly but I'm scared she's going to be in my dreams..."
"Are you sure?" Ron said with wide eyes.
"Yes, just because I don't remember what happened it doesn't mean I want to remember." She replied quietly.
"Okay..." Ron said as she rested her head against the pillows. He awkwardly lay down next to her their hands still intertwined between the 2 teens.
"You can get comfortable you know?" Hermione said raising her eyebrows at her best friend.
"Right, okay." Ron said adjusting his position so that he was lying on his side facing Hermione who was mirroring his position.
"Thank you." She whispered before her eyelids fluttered to a close and her breathing deepened.
"You're welcome Hermione." He said softly into the dark as sleep caught up with him.
Not sure If I'm going to make this into a series of oneshots or not yet so let me know what you guys think and thanks for reading!