Written for Houses Competition, Slytherin. Prefect Entry. Category: Additional. / Prompt: [Emotion] Platonic Love/ Word Count: 690.

AU

oOo

Coping with mental illness

Hermione wrapped her fingers around the large mug, and just let the warmth settle her whirling mind. When Harry reached over and covered her hands with his, she felt tears welling up behind her eyes and she blinked them away furiously, not able to look at him and see the disappointment she knew had to be written all over his face. She was supposed to be the one with all of her shit together.

"Talk to me, 'Mione. I can see you're struggling." Harry said gently, ducking his head a little to catch her gaze. "You know you can always tell me anything."

"I know, I just…you have so much to worry about," she gave the excuse, no matter how weak it sounded to her ears.

"Hey, you're my best friend, and if I want to worry about you I will." He gave her a small smile. "Kings fire-called me and said you'd just quit, and I know how much that job meant to you. So, just tell me what's really going on. I know I'm a little thick, but I'm a good listener."

Hermione swallowed and looked down into her coffee mug again. She loved Harry, not in a mushy hearts and flowers kind of way, but it was a deep friendship forged from everything they'd faced together. He was closer than a brother, and their bond was deeper than any other one in her life. Of all the people in the world, he was probably the only one who wouldn't judge her for this, who might possibly understand.

"I'm not doing well," she managed to say, her walls crumbling a little under the stress of having to be so strong for so long. "I'm not doing very well at all." It broke something inside her to admit it, but maybe she needed to talk about this.

"No matter what's going on, I'll always be here for you." Harry gently squeezed her hands, prompting her to continue.

"You know that I've always had pretty rough nightmares from the war," she started, needing to tell him. "I started taking potions to help me sleep, but eventually they stopped working. Once you develop a resistance to those potions, it's easy to overdose. So I started looking for other methods, and ended up self-medicating…with alcohol." She paused and closed her eyes. "I quit because I need to get some control back, and I can't do that and function at work too. I can't keep living like this…" She'd woken up three days ago in a flat she didn't recognize, with some man she didn't know. Thankfully, he'd been unconscious and she'd been able to slip out unseen, but she had absolutely no recollection of how she'd gotten there. She'd gotten home, and in a whirlwind thrown out all the booze and then penned her resignation. She needed to change everything if she was going to beat this, she had to. On average, she worked sixty hours a week, and then crawled into a bottle when she wasn't at the Ministry. It wasn't just alcohol she'd become addicted to. If she wanted to break her dependence on liquor, she knew that she needed to walk away from the Ministry for a while too. It made sense in her mind at least.

Harry got up, and moved over to her side of the booth and pulled her into his arms. "Hey…we'll get you through this, I promise." He whispered into her hair.

Hermione clung to him, unable to keep the tears from spilling down her face. Over the last two years she'd been pushing everyone away, just through a steady stream of excuses about being 'too busy'…but somehow, Harry was still here. "I don't know if I can do this."

"You're the strongest person I know, we'll get through this together." Harry whispered. "You would have gone with me that night, and I've never forgotten it. I'll stand with you through all of this, no matter what."

Hermione just let him hold her, and for just a few minutes she didn't have to be strong all on her own. They'd get through this, together.