A/N: Don't own anything. Hope you guys enjoy!

"Mr. Bradley, your appointment with Mr. DiLaura from Barrington Incorporated has been canceled. His wife went into labor earlier this morning and he said he will be unavailable for the next week." Jean rattled off as she paced in front of Mr. Bradley's desk.

Mr. James Bradley was the CEO of Phoenix Unlimited and Jean had the privilege of being his assistant. Bradley was a lot nicer and easier to deal with than the other CEOs, CFOs, and COOs. He was a relatively young man whose face bore no appearance of running a large conglomerate like Phoenix. He had dark brown hair, light brown eyes, and always wore a black or blue suit. His light caramel skin seemed to bring out his eyes and gave the feeling of being watched like a hawk.

"Remind me to send flowers and a card. She wasn't due for another three weeks." he commented softly as he peered through the stack of mostly signed paperwork Jean brought for him to complete. She'd done as much as she'd been able to do in order to lessen Bradley's work load.

"Yes, of course, sir. Also, Mr. Addison from logistics has a request for transfer that needs to be signed and processed within the next week or so." Jean continued to rattle off the many things the CEO of Phoenix Unlimited needed to get around to and it felt like she was talking for more than an hour.

"Ms. Black?" Bradley interrupted softly, his eyes searching her face carefully.

Jean paused mid-sentence and glanced over at Mr. Bradley. "Yes, sir?"

He frowned at her before standing from his desk to walk in front of her. He stood still, examining her face more closely. "How long has it been since you've last slept?"

Jean felt her face fall and she quickly looked away. "Last night, sir."

There was no way she would tell her boss she hadn't had a decent night's sleep for as long as she could remember. The last six months had been filled with nightmares and plain old dreams with people that felt familiar to her but were strangers.

"Don't lie to me, Ms. Black. I know sleep deprivation when I see it."

Jean answered this with silence and began tugging on her bottom lip, praying to anything and everything that Bradley wouldn't fire her today. So what if she was sleep deprived? Coffee had done wonders to keep her awake at work and it wasn't even affecting how she did her work. She hadn't thought anyone, let alone Bradley, would have noticed. A feeling of annoyance and relief simultaneously filled her.

"I'm quite fine, sir." Jean replied steadily.

Bradley sighed and stepped back. "Jean, I'm sorry, but I believe it would be in your best interest if you took the rest of the week off. Its only Wednesday so you'll only miss two days. Come back on Monday feeling better, yeah?"

Jean was stunned. "But, sir, your appointments and-"

"I'll be fine, Jean. I can make it for two days without you." He smiled softly and escorted her out to her desk giving her strict instructions not to worry.

Jean sighed as she gathered her purse and put the top on her portable coffee cup. Maybe Bradley was right. Taking a few days off would be good for her. She could stop off at the pharmacy on the way back to her apartment and get some sleeping aids. Maybe those would help her get a night of restful sleep.

Soon, she was back at her apartment with sleeping aids, pizza, and a large tub of ice cream. There was no way she wouldn't get good rest with these on hand. She smiled to herself as she went to put the ice cream in the freezer. Just then, a stabbing pain bloomed across her forehead and the ice cream tumbled to the floor as she did.

Everything was blurry. People were moving all around her. Colored lights were everywhere and she couldn't breathe. Where had he gone? They were supposed to meet and yet she saw no sign of him in all the madness. All he had to do was hurry to her and they could be gone. So, what was taking so long? Had something gone wrong?

She spun around in circles, her hair whipping at her face, but saw no sign of him amongst all the people battling each other. Tears sprung to her eyes as the inevitable sunk in. He probably was dead. Then, she knew what she had to do. She had to run.

The Time-Turner in her pocket felt heavier and heavier as she tried to reach the apparation point. She thought she was running pretty fast but every step felt far too slow and she knew she had to hurry. Suddenly, her foot hit something relatively soft and she looked down as she feel. It was a body.

Jean's eyes shot open and tears she hadn't felt were streaming down her face silently. She was shaking and her head felt like someone had stepped on it. She tried to stand and walk to her room but found that her legs were shaking too hard to do so. She opted for the sofa instead.

She pulled herself up onto the sofa, breathing heavily as she yanked the blanket that always occupied the end of the sofa toward her. The shaking was subsiding, though instead of feeling warm, she felt a cold that had nothing to do with the temperature. Pulling the blanket all the way up to her chin, Jean began to stare intently at the ceiling, as if it could provide answers for her.

Then she began to sob.

Her dreams weren't making an ounce of sense to her. She always remembered the general idea of what happened in her dreams but could never seem to recall anything too specific to put together. It drove her absolutely insane. She wished she didn't feel so alone, but she had no family and no real friends. Sure, she got on with her coworkers but they weren't people Jean would consider friends.

At the moment, a sadness and longing filled her heart, making her chest hurt. She was missing something (or someone?) and she didn't even know why, who, or what it was she was missing. Somewhere in her mind, Jean knew that she hadn't always been this...lonely. She had friends growing up, friends she knew cared about her. But now, where were they? All grown up and living their lives and starting families, not bothering to even ask how she was doing or if she needed anything. There was no one.

Jean Black cried and cried until she couldn't even remember what made her cry in the first place. She cried herself into an exhausted sleep as the last rays of the day exited her living room.

"How's it been?" Bradley asked the guests in his office the next day as he poured himself a glass of fire whiskey.

"She's having nightmares. What about, I have no idea. But I do believe she needs to know the truth. We have to tell her sometime soon." his guest replied.

Bradley sighed and took a long drink from his glass. "I sent her home for two days. There's your window of opportunity, Harry."

Harry chose to drank the glass of fire whiskey in front of him. Ron took that chance to speak. "I've heard tell of dementors not far from here. Perhaps if we could lure one over near her apartment..."

Harry and Bradley gave a sharp glare in Ron's direction. "You can't possibly." Bradley said incredulously.

Ron shrugged. "It would save us from having to explain each and everything. For all we know, that might make her remember some things."

The three of them were silent as they contemplated that thought. Finally, Bradley spoke again. "As the minister for magic in the United States of America, I must tell you that what you are suggesting is absolutely illegal. We do things differently here than in the United Kingdom. I am not just some puppet. I could have you imprisoned in Alcatraz."

Ron paled. "Alcatraz? The muggle prison?"

Bradley smiled humorlessly. "No longer. We converted it to a wizard prison the same year it closed, in 1963. Of course the wards around it make the muggles believe its abandoned and haunted."

"No dementors then." Harry answered shortly, his jaw twitching,

Bradley turned around from the window he was staring out of and gave the men a curious look. "I'm sure if one of you happened to find a dementor and lead it on a chase near her apartment...well, that's different."

Harry stared in disbelief at Bradley. "You can't be serious!"

"I see no other way." Ron replied, looking between Bradley and Harry.

Harry sighed and stood up. "There is. We show up to her apartment and just tell her the truth. She'll believe us. She's desperate. She's going to want an explanation for the nightmares she's having. For all we know, her nightmares could just be repressed memories."

Ron looked over at Bradley who nodded thoughtfully. After a long while, Bradley cleared his throat. "Fine. Tell her. But leave me out of it. I don't want her to know who I really am just yet. I'd rather tell her myself."

Harry shook Bradley's hand firmly as he and Ron began to leave. "Thanks, Jim. We really appreciate you looking after her since she's been here."

Bradley smiled at Harry. "Hey, now, you set me up with Victoria Emerson from your DMLE, so it's the least I can do. Just promise me you'll update me when you're back in the UK with her."

Harry and Ron nodded and apparated to Jean's apartment.