Rating: T
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Hermione/Remus/Sirius
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em - not making any money off 'em. Dern it.
Word Count: 580

Notes:

30 Day OT3 Competition/Challenge: Day 21 - Sunday Morning

Pokemon Trading Card Collection Challenge: Arcanine - Platinum - Write about someone grovelling.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: Defense Against the Dark Arts - Task 2b - Write about a mental disability. This can be a mental illness that the character has lived with their whole life, a newly developing mental illness, or something as temporary as stress or test anxiety. Prompt - (word) shake

Hermione didn't get out of bed on Sunday morning. It was an important thing to take note because despite everything she felt, she made sure to get out of bed every morning, even if she had to force herself to do it.

"Hermione?" Remus asked.

No answer.

"Hermione," Sirius stated firmly.

Still no answer.

Sirius wanted to shake her. He would do anything to bring some life back into her eyes. The dullness scared him, made him fear there was no one in there.

"Please say something. Please," Remus groveled as he got on his knees on the bed.

Sirius moved to her other side and laid a hand on her shoulder.

She flinched, but other than that, there was no visible reaction.

"Just talk to us," Sirius ordered.

And once again, there was no answer.

Remus and Sirius moved away from the bed to talk even though they didn't think Hermione would hear them if they had the conversation right there next to her.

"I'm scared," Remus muttered.

"Me too," Sirius agreed. "I knew something was weird when the news of her parents didn't seem to have a visible effect. She was trying way too hard to make it seem as if she was okay."

Remus nodded. "I know. Her parents are never going to remember her, and she acted as if it was some ordinary news. But now..."

"Now she's letting herself feel. Maybe we should just let her be..."

"Maybe," Remus replied.

"We'll give it a couple of days," Sirius decided.

"A couple of days," Remus echoed.

A couple of days didn't change anything. In fact, she got worse. She wouldn't get up to eat or even shower. All she did was lie in bed and cry.

Sirius and Remus were heartbroken as they watched someone they love suffer so much. They wanted to help her, but neither of them knew how to. They both lost people they were close to—friends that were like siblings—but that was nothing in comparison to parents, especially when the parents were alive. In some ways, they thought Mr. and Mrs. Granger being alive and not remembering was worse than them dying. Now, they were so close, but still, Hermione would never be able to talk to them, or hug them, or kiss them.

They wanted to help her, but every time they talked to her, all she did was cry harder. If they were making it worse, they should probably stay away from her, right?

"We can't stay away from her," Remus announced. "I know we're scared we're hurting her more than helping her, but she needs to know she isn't alone in this, that she has us to depend on. We need to be there for her, even if she doesn't want us to be."

Sirius didn't verbalize his agreement, but he made the first move towards the bed. Remus followed him. Sirius sat on one side, and Remus sat on the other.

Neither of them talked. They simply laid down, sandwiching her between them. They wrapped gentle arms around her, not squeezing her tightly, but just allowing their limbs to be a solid presence on her body.

She still cried, her body shook with the emotion, but she also did something else. Hermione leaned into Sirius. It wasn't a lot, but it was something.

At least she knew they were there for her, and they would keep being there for her, no matter how long it was.