A week had passed since Hermione had woken Fred, George, Harry, and Ginny with her nitghmare-induced screams. Afraid of what would happen if she were to allow herself to fall back into her nightmares, Hermione had spent all the next morning brewing herself a two week's worth supply of Potion For a Dreamless Sleep. It took all day to brew the large quantity of potion; she ignored the worried looks of the others as she did so.

Thankfully, the members of the Weasley family who were only staying briefly, had all returned back to their own homes, meaning that there were less people Hermione had to worry about waking up in the middle of the night. However, that did not stop her from continuing to take the potion every night.

Now she had a week's worth left. She knew she would soon have to go out and collect more ingredients in order to be able to brew another batch of the potion. However, Hermione had barely left the Burrow since arriving there, and, if she was being honest, she was afraid to leave the house alone.

Deciding she would ask Harry to accompany her, she left left her's and Ginny's room (having spent the majority of her time there since the 'incident') and walked down the hall to Ron's and Harry's shared room. She knocked timidly on the door before hearing a voice telling her she could come in. She opened the door to reveal her two best friends lounging on the floor playing Wizard's Chess.

"Hi, Hermione," said Harry cheerfully.

Ron turned to look in her direction. A smile spred across his face when he saw her. "Whatcha doing, love?" he asked kindly.

"I was just wondering if Harry wanted to come with to Diagon Alley, seeing as the both of us are a bit short on a number of things," Hermione replied, coming up with an excuse quickly.

It wasn't a complete lie. Both her and Harry were lacking several needed items. The year they had spent on the run was a time when they had to learn to go without certain luxuries. They each had less than a week's worth of clothing and they both needed new shoes, as they were extremely worn out.

"Oh," replied Ron. "Well, I can come with you if you'd like." A look of glumness was slightly present on his face.

Hermione tried to keep from laughing. She knew Ron despised shopping, but she thought it very sweet of him for offering to come along.

Of course, he was still completely oblivious of her recent episode, and it would surely look suspicious to him if he saw her buying specific potion ingredients. Therefore, Hermione decided to play it off as though she were sparing him the torment of accompanying Harry and her shopping. "Oh, that's all right, Ronald. Harry and I will be just fine," she said, flashing him a genuine smile.

"Thank Merlin!" Ron exclaimed in relief. He maneuvered his gaze in Harry's direction. "We'll finish our game later, then?"

Harry nodded as he rose from his spot on the floor. He plucked up a jacket from his bed and slipped it on before making his way towards Hermione. The two clasped hands and gave Ron a cheery wave before disapparating to Diagon Alley.

oOo

Hermione shut her eyes tightly as she felt herself being jerked. Once the uncomfortable sensation was over, she opened her eyes and was relieved to find herself standing in front of Slug and Jiggers Apothecary. She took a step forward, but was unable to move as she was being held back by Harry, whom was still clasping her hand. He furrowed his brow and fixed her with a questioning look.

"I thought you said we were going shopping for clothes and stuff?" he asked her, confused.

"And we will," Hermione replied. "I promise that we won't be here long. The minute we're done, we'll go straight to Madam Malkin's."

Harry only nodded. They let go of each other's hands and made their way inside.

Hermione drew out a list from her pocket with the following heading at the top: Ingredients for Dreamless Sleep Potion. She was completely unaware of Harry reading the list over her shoulder. Before she could comprehend what was going on, he snatched it from her hands.

"Harry Potter, you give that back this instant!" she yelled at him, causing several heads to turn in their direction at the mention of Harry.

"Hermione," Harry began, speaking much quieter than what she had moments before, "you can't just keep drinking this stuff every night."

"Mind your own business," she hissed.

"They're just dreams, Hermione. They can't hurt you. I know it's easier to say that than it is to believe it, but it's true."

Hermione's lip began to quiver as she felt hot tears begin to sting her eyes. God, not here, she thought. I can't be having a nervous breakdownhere. Oh, I should have just stayed home! The tears were now flowing freely from her eyes and her breathing had become ragged.

"I can't, Harry. I-I can't," she gasped out between sobs. "It's... It's like reliving the whole thing again and...and again. I can't do it!"

She was crying so hard now that it was becoming very difficult for her to breathe properly. It was beginning to scare Harry. He knew he had to get her out of there; however, she was in no condition to apparate. He took her hand and led her out of the store. They walked down the cobbled streets until they reached a familiar store. Harry led Hermione inside and they were quickly greeted by Fred Weasley.

"Harry! What can I do for you, mate?" he asked cheerfully. Before Harry could answer, Fred's gaze shifted over to a blubbering Hermione. His entire demeanor changed instantly from cheery to worried. "Blimey, Hermione! What's wrong?"

She was unable to answer due to her continuous hysterical sobbing, so Harry answered for her. "She's having a bit of a rough day," he said, looping an arm around her shoulders as an attempted source of comfort. "D'you mind if we wait in the back room until she calms down enough for me to apparate her home?"

"Not at all," Fred replied instantly. "I'll just let George, Lee, and Varity know you're back there so they won't disturb you." He looked down at Hermione, frowning slightly. "Hope you feel better soon, Mione. See the two of you around."

Harry nodded his thanks. He led Hermione to the back, leaving Fred to tend the shop.

Upon entering the back room of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, Harry helped Hermione sit on a worn sofa that was against one of the walls. He sat next to her and enveloped her in a hug.

All he did for several minutes was hold her and let her cry. Every now and then, he would remind her that she needed to breathe, and he would inhale and exhale by means of guiding her through it.

Even after Hermione had stopped crying, Harry and her still sat silently with each other's arms wrapped around one another. They sat this way for several minutes, neither seemed to want to break the silence.

Hermione's head hurt from crying so hard and she was rather tired. She wanted nothing more than to take a nap, but was afraid to do so at the same time. She was afraid that if she were to fall asleep, she would once again be trapped in Malfoy Manor where she would be tortured mercilessly by Bellatrix. So, she forced herself to keep her eyes open. Thankfully, Harry chose this moment to speak. A bit of conversation would be the perfect distraction to her drowsiness.

"Hermione," Harry began, drawing back from her embrace. "What else is wrong?"

She was about to play it off that he was mistaking. That there was nothing else wrong, but he would surely be able to see right through that. Harry Potter might be oblivious about several things, but not when it came to his friends' well being. She sighed. "Everything, Harry. Everything just seems to be wrong nowadays."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Just look at me. I'm terrified of my own memories. How silly does that sound?! And that's not even the worst bit. I'm even scared to leave the house by myself." She paused. She was waiting for some sort of reaction from Harry, but he did nothing. She continued. "It's like I'm afraid of my own shadow. Merlin! I'm even afraid to break up with Ron." At these words, Harry raised an eyebrow.

"You want to break up with Ron?" he asked, surprised. She nodded. "Wait," he said grinning slightly. "You, Hermione Granger, want to break up with Ron Weasley, the boy you've been pining for since, like, third year?"

"It's not funny, Harry," she scolded. "I don't want to hurt him, but I see him more as a brother. I wish I had realized it sooner. That would have saved us both the heartache."

"Y'know," Harry started thoughtfully, "I think he feels the same way. I think it's just that everyone expected you two to end up together that you both felt like you owed it to them to make an effort."

Hermione's eyes widened at those words. Never had she heard something so wise leave her best friend's mouth. "You really are all grown up, Harry," she said smiling at him.

He smiled back at her. "Well, are you ready to go home?" he asked her.

"What about our new clothes?"

"We'll worry about it some other day. Let's just get you home."

"Okay, but I want to say good-bye to Fred first."

"Yeah, he looked really worried about you earlier."

Hermione felt herself blush. She wasn't quite sure why that was, but she quickly brushed it off. "I'll be right back," she told Harry as she made her way out of the back room.

She looked around the shop frantically. It was not nearly as busy as it was when she and Harry had first arrived, but there was still a decent amount of people. Finally, her eyes landed on Fred, who appeared to have just finished putting up a display. Even from this distance she could tell it was him (she prided herself for being one of the few people who could always tell the Weasley twins apart).

"Fred," she called, running up to him.

He looked over in her direction and smiled when he saw her. "Feeling better, are we?"

"Much," she said, returning his smile. "I just wanted to say thanks."

"Oh, it was nothing," he said sheepishly.

"Well, it meant a lot to me," she told him, and before he could reply, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Thanks for everything, Fred," she whispered. Before she herself could even register what she was doing, she placed a kiss upon his cheek before releasing him of her embrace. "Bye." She then made her way back to Harry.

She had not noticed, but Fred had turned a startling shade of scarlet. He brought a hand up and touched his cheek where she had kissed him. "Bye, Mione," he whispered after her.

AN: Okay so here's yet another chapter. I've decided to write Hermione as someone who is experiencing PTSD. I never had personal experience with that, so I apologize if it isn't accurately portrayed. Any who, I don't own Harry Potter (unfortunately). The only thing I own is the story line. Please leave a review and let me know what you think.