Harry Potter One Shots

breathe gentle // f.w.

warnings / panic attack? (aftermath of the nightmare) (very minimal detail), memories of the war, ptsd, alcohol (wine), I mean.. nudity? very intimate but no smut.

disclaimer / I do not, in any way, shape, or form, want to romanticize panic attacks, ptsd, trauma, or any mental illness. this fic is about comfort between two lovers after a traumatic experience.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Flashes of green filled his vision, rubble flying from the walls of Hogwarts, bodies dropping one another another. Fred gripped his wand tightly in his hand, feeling the indentation of the wood in his palm from clutching it so tightly.

He saw Bill and Fleur, back to back, throwing spells and casting hexes at death eaters approaching them from all directions. The sky was darkened with ash, glooming over the war. Every face he saw he recognized, friends he went to class with, teachers he served detention for, children below him in his final years at hogwarts. His chest was heaving, his lungs burning and begging for clear air.

Across from him, Fred saw Y/N alongside George, they were cornered. George lunged forward at a death eater approaching them quickly, firing the stupefy curse and sending the man flying backwards. More rubble fell as the man crashed into the half-standing wall behind him.

Fred's eyes returned to Y/N, his breath caught in his throat as her feet fell out from under her, sending her back to lean against the wall. Fred's heart stopped, the death eater casted a curse, sending the heavy, stone wall crashing down.

With all the adrenaline in his body, Fred lunged forward towards her. He felt the smaller pieces of rubble slam onto his back as his hands reached her hips, and with his last burst of energy, he pushed her out of the way and fell to the ground underneath the stone wall.

A strangled scream tore from Fred's throat as he lunged forward in his sleep, startling him awake. He was covered in sweat, coating his forehead and causing stray strands of ginger hair to stick messily. He felt the pain in his legs return, a phantom pain, one that he no longer physically felt, but one that ached when the painful memories returned.

He had tugged off his tee shirt and tossed it on the floor, hoping it would cool his chest and calm his nerves. His eyes hadn't adjusted to his dark bedroom, leaving him panicked, rapidly blinking his eyes to try and find something to focus his attention on. He wiped his sweaty palms over his pajama clad thighs and swung his legs off the side of the bed, he hadn't even noticed as Y/N had woken from her sleep and rushed to sit kneel before him.

"Hey, hey," She spoke softly, "I'm here, s'alright, baby."

He felt the sharp cool hair hit his throat as he inhaled, his breath hitching when he finally saw her face. His hands lifted to cup her cheeks and he choked out a sob, breathing heavily while a few tears rolled down his cheeks. He pulled her towards him and pressed a long kiss to her forehead.

It broke Y/N's heart to see her fiance like this, broken and scared. She had nightmares too, vivid dreams of watching the wall crash on his body, hearing the scream that left her lips echo in her ears. Reliving the trauma through nightmares was almost as bad as experiencing it the first time, because no matter how hard she fought, she couldn't do anything.

She never really got rid of the guilt that sat in her heart. Truthfully, she knew she had nothing to be sorry for, it was in the heat of battle and Fred acted out of love. But, in the back of her mind she still felt him pushing her out of the way and the drop of her heart when the wall crashed down.