A/N: A reasonably short chapter, but in record time so... Also- this one may or may not have a follow up part two sort of thing. Who knows? (also, I stated last chapter that this one would be 'short and fluffy'... it turns out I lied, sorry.)

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and all that jazz

Hermione eyed the broom wearily. It wasn't that she was particularly scared of flying per se, more the general height from atop a broom. And, alright, maybe the whole falling off bit played a factor too.

But a promise was a promise, and Hermione Granger was a person of her word. When she'd offered to go flying in exchange for him being nice to Crookshanks, she'd never expected Ron to follow through with the deal. Besides, the sight of her beloved pet in her boyfriend's arms was almost worth what she was about to endure. Almost.

She watched as Ron mounted the broom, gently lifting off the ground and flying a circle before landing again. "See? Perfectly safe." He rose up and circled around her again in demonstration of the broom's apparent 'safety'.

Hermione's doubt must have shown on her face, for his expression softened, "I'd never let you fall Hermione. You know that, yeah?"

"What if you can't help it?" The question escaped her lips before she could stop it.

"We'll go slowly okay?" He gave her a reassuring smile and she nodded in return. It was only a broomstick. She'd conquered her biggest fears and helped save the wizarding world before, she could do this one tiny thing.

Ron patted the small space on the broom behind him and Hermione took a deep breath to calm her nerves before mounting. Wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, she squeezed her eyes shut and waited.

"Ready?" Ron asked, and Hermione recognised her last chance to back out. If she said no now, she had no doubt that he would let her off without a second thought. But did she really want that? Admitting defeat would make her vulnerable, and Hermione hated being vulnerable. Even if it was only in front of Ron, she'd also be letting herself down. It'd be another failure.

Her fear of flying was ridiculous, really. When you put it into perspective, it was almost laughable. Completely irrational. What reason did she have to be afraid of flying? Ron was right: he wouldn't let her fall. She was being silly. Just get over it Hermione, she told herself firmly, and nodded her head against Ron's back in confirmation.

"Okay then, on three. 1, 2, 3!" Ron gently lifted the broom off of the ground and into the air. Hermione felt her heart drop into her stomach and chastised herself for her reaction almost immediately. They were only a few feet off the ground, and he was hovering slowly as promised.

"You okay?" Ron asked her softly.

"Fine." she replied immediately, and was startled to realise that it was partly true. This wasn't so bad. Granted, they were stationary, but it was a comfort all the same. If they moved slowly it couldn't be much worse, could it?

Ron urged the broom forward, and whilst she expected to feel a huge jerk, the motion was completely smooth. Hermione began to relax into Ron's back and gave a small sigh of relief. This, she could deal with. This wasn't too bad.

For the next few minutes, Hermione closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel lost in the movement. After a trial of nothing but flying in a straight line, Ron had gradually became more adventurous- first trying gentle turns and then small climbs of height. She honestly couldn't understand what she had been so afraid of. She felt safe, but what surprised her most was that she actually felt comfortable. Up here, there was nothing but Ron and the small breeze generated by their movement.

It was almost therapeutic, really. Although she'd never admit it, Hermione found herself thoroughly enjoying herself.

That was, until she opened her eyes.

She hadn't realised how high they'd actually climbed, but it made her queasy to think about. They were flying just next to the left goal hoop, the ground now seemed an unreachable distance. Despite herself, she felt the familiar panic rise in her chest, the knots in her stomach doubling. Hermione tightened her arms around Ron's waist and screwed her eyes shut once more. Maybe if she forgot how high up they were, she could go back to enjoying the flight.

Concentrating on Ron, his scent, and the wholeness of him beneath her fingertips, she almost succeeded. Then, almost imperceptibly, a gust of strong wind blew the broom slightly to the left and her eyes popped straight back open. Ron cursed under his breath and muttered a quick "Sorry."

Hermione made the mistake of looking down again. She wanted to tell Ron to stop, that they'd gone high enough. But she couldn't. Her throat felt tight, and the words struggled to come out.

It happened suddenly, but the next time Hermione looked down, there was no quidditch pitch. In it's place, a blue body of water surrounded by mountainous green hills took over her vision. Hermione cried out when she realised she wasn't on Ron's broom anymore, rather, sat atop white scaly flesh. The dragon gave a sonorous roar, and their height dropped dramatically. Hermione screamed and then Harry's voice was shouting for them to jump. A wave of panic rose inside her, crashing down in waves when she felt herself falling.

Hermione closed her eyes tight and prepared herself for the impact of hitting the water, but it never came. Instead, she felt the pressure of being slowly lowered down on to hard ground and the gentle yet hesitant grip of strong arms.

Her name was being called, softly, but with an edge of urgency and worry. Something in her desperately wanted to know who's voice it was, but she dared not open her eyes. Reality was slowly coming back to Hermione, and she wanted to preserve her current state of calmness before it turned overwhelming.

She felt the unmistakeable pressure of lips against her forehead, and her eyes popped open of their own accord. Ron. She noticed the red hair first, and then the tender gaze of concern from his bright blue eyes. Quickly scanning the surrounding area, she let out a shaky breath and settled further into his arms. It hadn't been real.

Well of course it wasn't real, she admonished herself, how could it have been?

She felt relieved, grateful that it had all occurred only in her head, but deeper than that lied shame. She should've known it wasn't real. The very fact that she had been so convinced of its authenticity terrified her. She hadn't experienced flashbacks since those early months following the war; lately she'd always been able to tell what was real and what was not. She thought it'd been getting better but this- this felt like a step backwards.

Burying her head further into Ron's chest, she tried to focus on his unfaltering words of comfort instead of the berating voice inside her own head, but it was hard. Half of her knew recovery wasn't linear; that she was bound to fall back sometimes, but the other part (the more consuming part) told her she was stupid and naive for falling into one of her mind's old tricks again.

Hermione lifted her head up, needing her eyes to meet Ron's, craving the reassurance they gave. Ron's eyes had always been incredibly telling- it was one of the things she loved about him. The unfiltered emotion on display to her made it possible to know exactly what he was feeling, and her heart seemed to stop when she read the guilt in his expression.

"Are you okay?" he asked delicately, moving his hand to caress her cheek.

"I'm fine," she nodded against the motion and attempted a weak smile.

Ron raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything to contradict her. "What exactly... happened up there?" it was a tentatively spoken question, as if he were afraid of startling her with intrusiveness.

"I just..." Hermione trailed off. There was no point in trying to downplay what had just happened; Ron would know. There was just something about admitting it out loud that made her uncomfortable. "I just... saw how high up we were and... I guess I sort of lost it for a second or two." She bit at her lip whilst Ron surveyed her.

"You were screaming your head off, Hermione. I thought you were going to throw yourself off of the broom, you were completely freaking out." He said it calmly enough, but the way his hands were shaking as they held her conveyed just how deeply she'd scared him.

She tried going over what she could remember in her mind: the steep decline must have been Ron's reaction to her screaming, as he hurried back to the ground. But the other things- the change in scenery, Harry's voice, and the dragon must have been in her head.

"It was the dragon. From Gringotts. I don't know what happened but I couldn't stop thinking about how high up we were, and when I looked down it was like being back there, on the dragon. And I- it just seemed so real, I just-" She made a flapping gesture with her hands, as if they could articulate what her mouth couldn't.

"A flashback, then?" Ron suggested gently, after a telling pause. Hermione nodded and wrung her hands together distressfully. She didn't want Ron to worry about her, but she also didn't want him to feel like what had happened was his fault. "I thought... I thought those had stopped?" his voice was quiet, and Hermione recognised the way he was treading carefully around her. It both angered and warmed her.

"I thought so too but..." She tried to bring forth the facts from her brain, the only comfort she could think to properly assuage her fears. "I read that flashbacks can appear to diminish in quantity over a quick period of time, but that there can be occasional triggers that could still cause them. Especially if the person in question is off guard or unaware." she said all this rather quickly, and in what Ron would call her 'teacher voice'.

Ron nodded, and Hermione could've sworn she saw the hint of a smile playing on his lips before it disappeared altogether. "I'm sorry." he said suddenly. She wanted to ask what for, but the twisting feeling in her stomach told her she already knew. "I didn't know your thing with flying and heights was that bad. I shouldn't have pushed you. I'm sorry."

He turned his head away from her, avoiding eye contact. Hermione desperately wanted to reach out in reassurance, but a stronger part of her felt like shouting. How dare he blame himself? This was entirely her fault for overestimating her limits. She'd had multiple chances to back out (chances that he'd given her) yet she hadn't. Why? Because she was too proud to admit it might've been something she couldn't handle.

Acting out in misdirected anger, Hermione pushed herself out of his arms and re-settled on the floor. Ron looked up, hurt, and his eyes met hers again. She knew she had to say something, but at the same time, she had no idea what to say. "Please don't blame yourself for this, Ron. I can't bear it if you do."

"But it was my fault Hermione! It was selfish in the first place to even make that bet knowing you didn't-"

"Ron, please. I don't want to talk about this anymore." Hermione interrupted harshly. She watched as his expression fell even more, but the additional pang of guilt it sent to her chest was uneffective. "Can't we just go back to the castle?"

She saw a number of things in his eyes right then: frustration, confusion, sadness, and then defeat. "Sure, yeah, whatever. Let's go."

He stood up in one quick motion and offered her his hand. She debated not taking it, but banished the idea quickly. The gesture was like a lifeline, so she allowed herself to be helped up.

Ron gathered up his broom and then they set off for the castle in silence. It was like they had lapsed into a stalemate, neither willing to speak first. Hermione felt detached from him, the reassuring warmth from earlier was gone, replaced by a cold subtlety despite how close they were walking.

Her and Ron were supposed to have gotten better at resolving arguments. They were supposed to talk about things. Hermione guessed it was quite ironic really. She'd been the one to implore that they open up more, yet she was the one refusing to speak about what had just happened. It was counter productive, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She felt tired and defeated and all she really wanted to do was go back to her dorm and lay down.

Somewhere in the silence, their hands found each other and held on. Hermione felt as though it acted rather like a tether; keeping them from drifting too far apart. She understood Ron's wanting to help her (after all, she'd insist on the same if their positions were reversed) but she also felt she wasn't being fair to him. The more shaken she appeared, the more blame he'd place on himself.

They arrived back at the castle and continued walking to the commonroom, neither one speaking or attempting to communicate in any way. Their joined hands were the only thing that indicated any sort of connection between them at all. Hermione glanced at Ron from the corner of her eye, but his expression was untelling. she wasn't sure she wanted to know what he was feeling. Seeing the pain in his features earlier was about as much as she could handle.

Upon entering the Gryffindor commonroom, Hermione let go of Ron's hand to climb through the portrait hole. She made no effort to reclaim it and they both came to a stand in the middle of the room.

She wanted to disappear alone straight away, but how was she supposed to convey that to Ron without making their current frangible state worse? She didn't want him to get the wrong idea, but she was afraid she'd hurt them both if she was around his company for much longer in her current mood.

Were they arguing? Hermione didn't know for sure, but one thing was clear: this wasn't something they could put behind them and pretend never happened. That may have been how things were dealt with in the past, but they'd both grown a lot since then. If you ignore something instead of confronting it, the problem eats away at you. Unresolved issues were the main obstacle in her and Ron's initial getting together, and Hermione hated to be the one that turned them back into who they were before.

We can talk about it tomorrow, Hermione convinced herself. "I'm going to head up to bed now, alright?"

Ron looked up, startled. "Bed? Hermione, it's only just gone lunch! You can't go to bed now- what about dinner?"

Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes, settling instead for a halfhearted shrug. "I'm just really tired. And I'm not hungry anyway."

"Not hungry? Maybe you're not hungry now but give it a few hours..."

"If I get hungry I'll go down to the kitchens and make myself something, okay?" Hermione really didn't want to be caught up in another argument with him, she didn't have the energy, so she humoured his concerned requests.

"Hermione are you okay? If it's anything I've said I'm-"

"I'm fine!" she cut him off with something close to a shriek, her voice a little louder than necessary. She didn't think she could take it if he apologised once more. I don't want to talk about this, seemed to be the only coherent thing she could process, stuck on repeat in her brain. "Really, I'm fine. And it's nothing to do with you, I'm just a little overwhelmed and I think a little rest would do me good. I promise I'll get something to eat when I wake up, but I'm fine." With all the strength she could muster, Hermione gave him her most convincing smile.

Ron looked like he wanted to say more, but held himself back. He studied her face carefully, before offering a smile like her own: soft, reassuring, and slightly broken. "Okay, that's... yeah. I'll see you... whenever, I guess. I love you."

Hermione willed her voice not to crack as she repeated the words back to him. "I love you too."

The she turned and walked away, leaving Ron stood alone in the commonroom.

A/N: They can't all be fluffy chapters, right? (Although the next one probably will be because you know I can't leave them like this for too long.) Harry and Ginny should hopefully also make an appearance too.

(I did some research on PTSD and flashbacks and the information seemed to fit exactly with what I already had written out for this chapter but I wanted to make sure it was an accurate depiction and not offensive or harmful in any way. I don't know if I got it right so if there's any problem at all just leave it in the comments or somewhere and I'll try change it accordingly.)