Disclaimer- I do not own the Harry Potter series

Ginny woke with a start. She didn't know what had woken her but one look at the sleeping boy told her. Harry was tossing and turning and thrashing about in the throes of a terrible nightmare. She knew he had been haunted by them for as long as she could remember she had just hoped that maybe since Voldemort was gone then they would stop, she was wrong.

When realizing that Harry was having a nightmare she quickly tried to get him to wake up. She called his name and shook his shoulders but it was no use.

"Harry! Harry! Harry, wake up!" she shouted at him. She only got an agonizing scream in reply. That scared her more than the nightmare did. What would make him scream like that?

"Harry, you need to wake up! You're okay, it's me, Ginny!"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Harry shouted before shooting up hitting Ginny in the face who had been leaning over him. His eyes shot opened and his breathing was in quick gasps.

"Harry, Harry, Harry?" Ginny called to him rubbing her face. Harry looked at her with a blank look on his face but his eyes showed something she had never seen in them before. Fear.

Ginny, Hermione, and Ron were all sharing worried looks as they sat by Harry's bed. His two best friends had just come down to the hospital wing to visit and had found Ginny there with tears in her eyes and a concerned look on her face. Harry had been knocked out cold and from what Ginny had told them it was from a dreamless sleep potion.

"What exactly happened, Ginny?" Hermione asked kindly reaching for her hand.

Ginny didn't really know what to say. One moment she had been in a wonderful dream but was suddenly wrenched from it with Harry screaming and finally coming awake with fear in his eyes after, obviously, someone had been killed. She wasn't shocked about the nightmare it was the look in Harry's eyes that chilled her to her bone. He had never looked that way to her before, never so much raw emotion and...Fear. Ginny had never seen Harry that afraid. Sure he's scared of things but that was just frightening.

"Ginny?" Hermione said again reminding her that they were waiting for an answer.

"Well, I sort of fell asleep here and-"

"What!" Ron shouted causing the other people in the room to look their way.

"Ron, let her finish. You know they wouldn't do anything," Hermione said and turning to Ginny nodded her head for her to continue.

"Well, we had fallen asleep and I woke with a start because Harry was having a nightmare. I tried to wake him up as best I could but it was impossible. Then he started shouting stuff and the last thing he said was the killing curse..." Hermione gasped. She knew Harry had really bad nightmares but it was another to be there witnessing his pain and hearing the words.

"You should have seen his face. It was just this blank look and i didn't know what to do. He just looked at me and his eyes, his eyes, Hermione they were terrified!" Ginny said a few tears trickling down her face.

"Oh Ginny, that probably scared you half to death," Hermione exclaimed pulling her friend into a hug.

"Madam Pomfrey must have heard him because shortly after she came and gave him a dreamless sleep potion," Ginny finished.

"And he's been like this ever since?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, but he should wake up anytime though, but I don't know if he will remember anything," Ginny said unsure.

"Ginny, if there's one thing I know about Harry is that he can pretty much take anything thrown at him. Even if it takes a little bit more time than usual, he makes it through," Hermione said reassuringly. Ron nodded along but didn't say anything. He was wondering what really had happened in the forest. He had no idea if his assumptions were correct but knowing Harry they probably were. He would give up everything, even his own life, to save the people he loved. Ron was interrupted from his musings by a groan coming from the bed.

"Bought time you woke up, mate," Ron said acting like everything was cool.

"Well, it's kind of hard when someone is breathing so loud," Harry said throwing a pillow at Ron who immediately caught it and threw it back which then started a full blown pillow fight.

Hermione turned to Ginny and said "Boys," just shaking her head. Ginny then picked up her own pillow and threw it at Hermione.

"Oh no you don't!" Hermione shouted after the red headed girl and proceeded to loud up on pillows herself.

When the pillow fight finally died down they turned to more serious business.

"Harry-" Hermione began.

"Hermione, I know what you're going to say but don't worry about it I'm fine," Harry said trying to avoid the subject and looking out the window, not meeting her gaze.

"Harry, you are not fine," Hermione persisted. "I know something is bothering you, and it's that terrible nightmare you had last night. So you mind as well just tell us now or else we are going to have to force it out of you."

"It was nothing," Harry grumbled now looking at his hands in his lap since Hermione had marched right in front of his gaze towards the window.

"Come on, Harry, just tell us about it," Ginny said taking his hand in hers. Harry turned to look at her and seemed to read something in her eyes that made him resign his argument.

"Fine," he sighed. "I had a nightmare about Bellatrix." They sat in silence expecting more but seeing that, that was all Harry was going to say Hermione, of course, had to speak up.

"And..." she prodded. Harry didn't say anything he just looked at his arms and fingered the knife mark that ran along his jaw. Then it just clicked in Hermione's mind. "Harry, did Bellatrix do that to you?" she asked tentatively. Instead of answering Harry turned away ignoring the fact that she had guessed exactly what had been bothering him.