Delicate

Her nightmares have always been bad. Even as a little girl, they were always so vivid and full of fear. After the war, it only got worse. After her memories were restored, she refused to sleep most nights. She preferred to burry her nights in a book or in the past were the memories were good. Now, as she shot up in bed, terror gripping her heart and a scream falling from her lips, now all she wanted to do was sleep and never wake. She wanted it all to end. Her parents were safe, and now that Harry had his family back, he didn't need her anymore. She wasn't needed anymore, and that left a hole behind that couldn't be filled by anything. A knock sounded on the door before it cracked open, she was desperately trying to calm down, but was unable to. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and was happy that that was the case, since she heard a familiar deep voice in her ear. Charlie wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. She listened to his steady heartbeat, as he whispered soothing words into her ear. When she finally calmed down, she kept her eyes closed, but her tense body loosened just enough to relax completely against him.

"How did you know?" She whispered, shifting her head against his chest but not looking up.

"Even at the Burrow I knew you were having terrible night terrors. I know you went through a lot during the war, and now that I know why you've been avoiding us I can only imagine they only got worse from there. I came to check on you, I had it cracked when you screamed." He whispered back, gently rocking her. 

She sighed softly, she wasn't sure how to respond to this. It was usually her doing the comforting, not the other way around. So she sat there, leaning against Charlie and willing the lingering fear to go away. As her eyes fluttered closed, a warmth filling her as Charlie held her, she began to drift back to sleep. "Thank you, Charlie." She whispered before sleep claimed her once more.

~~~

When she woke the next morning, she knew something was off. The first thing being that she actually felt well rested. The second being that both Sirius and Charlie were seated in chairs next to her bed. Her brows furrowed when she looked at Charlie and the normal knee jerk reaction didn't appear. Instead, a warmth filled her. She smiled softly at the two of them. 

"Good morning, kitten." Sirius whispered, moving to sit next to her on the bed and held her hand.

"Morning, Sirius, Charlie." She whispered softly.

"How do you feel today?" Charlie asked gently.

"Honestly? Better than I have in a while." 

Slowly, Hermione moved to sit up, using Sirius as leverage. The two men smiled at her, also taking in her lack of sleeves and seeing the gruesome cuts on her arms. They didn't comment on them, simply keeping their gaze on her face instead. Hermione flicked her wrist and her rob floated into her waiting hand, where she slipped it on and tied it around her waist, before getting out of bed. She began her routine, making more food, coffee, and tea to accommodate Charlie and Sirius. It was during breakfast that an owl pecked at the window. Charlie opened it and the owl flew directly to Hermione. Untying the letter, and handing the owl a strip of bacon, she turned her attention to the envelope. She recognized the scratchy handwriting immediately. With a deep breath, she opened it.

Dear Hermione,

I hope you're well, but I wanted you to know that I took your advice. Ginny and I are in Saint Mungo's for treatment. We should be done later today, and I wanted to give you a heads up that our first stop will be your place. They flushed all the potions out of our system last night (there was a lot of vomiting involved), and will be working on our memories later this morning. According to the healers our memories haven't been tampered with that much so we should be fine to leave later today. Unless something drastic occurs, we should be fine to leave later today. If not we will see you tomorrow. 

Fleur stopped by yesterday. She said that there was something big waiting for us when we got out. Do you know what she's talking about? Anyways, I wanted to give you a heads up on us stopping by later. I also wanted to tell you that I'm not mad at you for any of this. Not even you pulling away from me. I understand, and when I get my memories fixed, I still won't be mad. I will be pressing charges against Molly and Ron, and the other Weasley's that are involved. Ginny also has a suspicion that Arthur is under some form of potion or charm as well. So, whichever Weasley you still trust, you should tell them that so they can start planning for when Ginny gets out. 

Hermione, please for all things that Merlin loved and created, please talk to me about what happened when I come see you. You're not alone in this, and I want to make sure your ok. I want to help you recover. And there aren't any more reasons on why I shouldn't push this. You are family, Hermione. Sirius considered you family. I consider you family. And I know for a fact that the Twins consider you family. So please don't push us away anymore.
I'll see you soon.

Love,

Harry

Hermione sucked in a deep breath and looked up to see Sirius and Charlie watching her. 

"It's a letter from Harry. He and Ginny will be by after their released from Mungo's. He said that the healer doesn't think their memory tampering isn't too bad, and should be done later today." She said, taking a deep drink from her coffee. Her heart felt full from Harry's kind words, and hesitant to even believe them. But at the mention of Sirius in the letter, she wasn't sure what to think. She took a deep breath and looked at Charlie. "Ginny thinks your dad may have some potions or charms on him. She wants to plan for him seeing a healer soon to get him checked over. If that's the case, I suggest having Bill take you guys to a Goblin Healer. If his mind and emotions have been tampered with, it has been done under a long period of time, and he will need more powerful magic than what the healers at Mungo's can give you. If you don't think that's right, you can also talk to Andy. She might know more on the subject than me." Hermione picked at her cuticles, looking down at her breakfast.

"No, you're right Hermione. I'll talk to Bill and Ginny about it later. It's gonna be a long day when they come over and see what you found yesterday. I'll owl Andy and ask them to come over soon so we can prep. When do you want Lily and James to come over?" Charlie spoke softly.

She looked over at Sirius, raising her eyebrow slightly in a silent question. He shrugged his shoulders.

"It's your flat, kitten. It's gonna be hard enough explaining everything to Harry when he gets here and sees me. But if you're gonna talk about everything that's happened over the last couple years, it's up to you when you decide to tell him his parents are alive." He said.

She groaned and banged her head into an open section of the table. She was getting tired just thinking about everything. She knew she had a couple hours before Harry and Ginny were stopping by. Charlie gently rubbed her shoulders, and as Sirius chuckled.

"They can come over after Harry and I talk. Besides, he'll want you, Sirius, there to help acclimate them. Besides, once Harry sees how Lily, James, and I are currently interacting he's going to be torn. He needs to put getting to know his parents above whatever is going on between us." She sighed, tilting her head a little so Charlies magic hands could get to a particular knot in her neck. Sirius grabbed her a cup of coffee and they went back to silence. Sirius would slowly breach the topic of what has happened since he died. She told him snippets, the summery of the remaining Hogwarts years, and the little bits from the following year, before she finally arrived to the the year before last. Just as she finished talking, skimming over most of it, the floo flared to life and the shaggy, black hair of her best friend stumbled through. He took one look at her before he rushed over, pulled her from her seat, and crushed her in his arms. He muttered apologies into her hair, and kissed her forehead. The floo flared again, another red head joining the fray, as she rushed over and joined her two friends in a group hug. Hermione violently flinched from all the contact, especially the sudden invasion of red hair from the corner of her eyes, as the tears began to fall. Her arms wrapped around Harry's waist, holding him tightly as her tears silently fell and soaked his shirt. The guilt festering once more and flowing into her silent cries. His grip tightened around her, as his own guilt flowed through him and into the hug. 
Hermione pulled back and looked into Harry's green eyes and smiled sadly at him, before turning to the her crying friend. She forced the flinch down, and wrapped her arms around Ginny. Soothingly running her fingers through her hair and muttering softly under her breath, hoping the red haired girl would stop crying. When Ginny pulled away, the two girls wiping away the others tears and chuckling softly under their breaths. Harry pulled them both into his side, and they let him. 

"Remus found me, when I was little." Harry whispered. "We went into hiding and everything. Then Dumbledore showed up, wiped both of our memories and stuck me back at the Dursleys."

Hermione and Ginny squeezed him tightly, understanding just how hard that must have been to relive those memories. Finally, Hermione took a deep breath and stepped away from the two. "There's something you need to know, specifically you Harry." Hermione took a deep breath before beginning her explanation on the pieces of paper in the children's book Dumbledore left her. How she pieced the incantations and the location together. And her discovery when she arrived.

"They-You're saying-" Harry stuttered out, only for Hermione to place a gentle hand on his arm, and nod in the direction behind him.

"They're alive." She whispered.

Harry slowly turned around, tears gathered in his eyes as he spotted the shaggy, black haired man that stood before him. "Sirius." He breathed.

"Hey, pup. You're looking old, aren't you." Sirius grinned at his godson.

Harry, a soft sob slipping past his lips, rushed over and threw his arms around his godfather. His shoulders shook as Sirius held him tightly. Hermione grinned, linking her arm with Ginny and grinning at her. It was going to be a rocky road, she was shattered beyond what people think is imaginable, but seeing those two reunite was worth it. There was one thing Hermione knew, Harry having a family was worth whatever storm Lily wanted to stir up.