Author's note: Enjoy!

Hogwarts: Assignment 10, Healer Studies, Task #2: Write about repairing something that is broken (can be something physical or metaphorical - eg broken heart).

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

Warnings: Panic attack; PTSD

Fighting Surprises With Promises

This… Harry had not expected.

"Ginny," he said. He looked around him, slightly panicked that someone would find them like this. "Ginny, it's alright—I'm alright. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you like that."

Ginny's room door remained closed and there was no sign from Ginny herself.

"Ginny?" he asked. With his good hand, the one not in a cast, he knocked on the door.

When it had last been open, Ginny had taken one look at him and then slammed the door after seeing his bandaged arm and hearing his 'I'm fine.' It had been closed at least five minutes now.

But Ginny didn't play mind games when she was serious and not just trying to taunt someone—she didn't shun, she didn't play the silence game, she didn't shy away from confrontation…

"Ginny," he asked again, slightly anxious now. He knocked again and then realized that he could hear the sound of her breathing, heavy and uneven, through the door. He called her name again, slightly more panicked now. Finally he just charmed the lock open and shouldered the door open. He had no idea what he'd been expecting to find, but he hadn't imagined…

"Ginny?" he asked, his adrenaline leaking out of his body just as his panic spiked. Crying. She was burrowed in the back of the room, wedged between her bed and the cot Molly had installed for Hermione, since they were all spending Christmas at the Burrow. She was hugging her knees to her chest and her eyes were wide with panic and wet with shed tears. Her breathing was erratic.

"Ginny," he said, rushing to kneel by her. "Ginny, you need to breathe… You're okay, we're alright, but you need to breathe; in and out, in and out—slower darling, slower— in and… there you are. You've got it."

As Ginny's breathing slowed, she rested her head on her knees. Harry's good hand combed through her hair. Eventually she pulled away and looked up, wiping at her eyes quickly before speaking.

"Don't…" she said. "Don't get hurt and surprise me like that."

"I'm sorry," Harry said. He pulled down the sleeve of his burgundy sweater to hide his cast, even if it may stretch the sleeve. "Ron and I just got home from St-Mungo's—they couldn't mend my bones right away because of a dragon pox outbreak, but they'll come by the Auror office to fix me tomorrow. It's really not that bad. I was coming straight to tell you."

"I saw you dead, Harry Potter," Ginny said firmly. "I saw you dead and the fact that you popped back to life doesn't make having seen that any easier."

Guilt that he couldn't do much about and that he knew Ginny wouldn't endorse bubbled in the pit of his stomach.

"I'm sorry," Harry said. "I can't imagine…"

"Don't make me imagine more," Ginny said. Her fingers touched his cast, shaking. Harry put his free hand over hers.

"Okay," he said. He met her eyes with his and nodded. "I… I can't imagine, but I get it. I'll be more careful."

Ginny nodded as if this was a satisfying outcome, but she still didn't look him in the eye.

"Gin?" Harry asked. "Have you been having… have you been having panic attacks like this… you know, before today."

She wiped at her eyes some more. She was about to open her mouth to say something snarky—he could tell by the shape of her mouth—when she sighed.

"I… I figured it was just because I was back in the castle," Ginny said. "I'm only there for another year so I figured I shouldn't bother Madam Pomfrey because she's got so much to do and so many things to deal with and..."

"Ginny, you…" Harry squeezed her hand and then cupped her face between his hands. "Ginny, love, this isn't good. Even if you only have moments like these once a decade, you deserve to have help managing it. You don't deserve to suffer and feel that."

Ginny looked away and he realized that she was trying to blink away tears again.

"I'll go see Madam Pomfrey after the holidays," Ginny said.

"Okay," Harry said, kissing the top of her head. "And I promise that if you're careful with yourself, I'll be careful too."

"Bit of a deal with the devil, isn't that?" Ginny asked.

Harry laughed and scooped her up in his arms.

Stacked with: Hogwarts; Shipping War

Word Count: 736