Picture Perfect

Picture Perfect

"I'm not hungry," Ginny says, pushing her almost full plate away from her. She slips away, leaving her worried friends behind her.

A little ways down, Ron frowns into his pudding as he sees his sister leaving the hall early again. He mutters something unintelligible. Hermione asks him to repeat it.

"I said she better not be going off to snog some guy," he says darkly. Harry laughs lightly at his friend's overprotective-ness, but Hermione sniffs.

"Ginny's old enough to snog anyone she wants to, Ron." Instead of rising to the bait, Ron looks thoughtful for a moment.

"I wonder if it's that James Chesney guy..." he says to himself.

Ginny goes up to her bed and lays on it listlessly. She's so tired lately, but she can't stop. Even the sight of food makes her sick, now. It's all she can do to eat enough to keep from starving. Every time she takes a bite, she can feel the fat leaving the food and spreading through her body... even if it's just a glass of juice. She knows there's something wrong with her, at times like these. Fighting back tears, she goes to the full-length mirror on the wall and strips to her underwear and bra. For the first time in a week, she looks at herself.

She's gotten fatter.

Some small, still rational part of her says that no, she's skinny, too skinny, but she pushes it away. She's not skinny, she's gaining weight and she wants to lose it. From now on, she'll just skip meals altogether and survive on gum and water.

Or maybe not gum. Gum has calories, she reminds herself. No gum, then.

Quidditch practise in an hour. Can she make it that far? No, she will fake being sick and get some sleep. That's really all that's wrong. Just some sleep, and she'll be better. And then she can concentrate on making herself picture perfect.

Hermione goes up to the dorms to get Ginny. Harry has sent her up here because this is the third practise in a row that Ginny has missed. Since she hasn't been coming to meals, he hasn't been able to talk to her there. Ron is almost frantic with worry.

She finds Ginny asleep again. Ginny's always sleeping these days. Hermione wonders if she's sick. She shakes the younger girl awake, and Ginny looks up at her blearily. She certainly looks sick. She's too thin and pale.

"Ginny, Harry needs to talk to you. You've been missing too many practises," Hermione says, feeling vaguely uneasy. Ginny nods and climbs out of bed, fully dressed already. Hermione goes down to the common room, and Ginny follows at a much slower pace. She's so tired.

Preparing to scold her, Harry waits at the foot of the stairs leading to the girl's dormitory. He's shocked at just how pale and thin she looks. But she should have at least told him if she was too sick to come to practise.

He watches in slow motion as she trips and falls, too weak to catch herself. His heart jumps to his throat and he feels sick as she lands in a heap at the foot of the stairs, unconscious. He jumps to her aid, and behind him Hermione and Ron sprint towards them. He picks her up, and she's too light. Far too light. Tight-lipped, he heads towards the hospital wing at a near-run, Ron and Hermione following quickly.

Madame Pomfrey takes care of Ginny and decides to keep her in the hospital wing overnight. Ron and Hermione head back to the common room, but Harry stays behind to talk to Madame Pomfrey. She frowns at him when she sees him still in the room.

"I thought I told you three to go back to your dormitory. Miss Weasely will be fine," she says, scolding him. He doesn't flinch.

"I have to tell you something. I think she's been starving herself," he says quietly, not knowing Ginny has awoken. At his words she lets out a strangled sob. Shocked, he turns to see tears streaming down her pallid face.

Ginny can't help herself. She finally gets him to notice her, but it's not the way she wanted. Still, she's surprised when he walks over and hugs her, letting her cry on his shoulder. She wonders if he surprised himself?

She cries for nearly ten minutes before she can stop herself. The whole time, he holds her, comforting her. This is what she has always wanted, but she hadn't wanted it like this. Finally, she has stopped crying enough to talk to Madame Pomfrey, who is waiting for an explanation.

"Is what Mr. Potter says true?" she asks gently. Ginny nods, and Harry thinks she must be about to burst into tears. Without quite knowing why, he takes her hand and squeezes it gently. It seems to reassure her.

"Why?" Madame Pomfrey wants to know, looking at Ginny. Ginny hangs her head in shame.

"I... I wanted Ha- someone to notice me. I thought that if I was prettier, skinnier, he would like me better." She refuses to look at Harry, and he realizes that she is talking about him. He is hit with an overflowing of guilt, because he has liked her ever since the summer, but was scared of Ron's reaction. Instead, he had started distancing himself from her. He wonders if that was a factor in her anorexia. The thought isn't a pretty one, and he mentally kills himself over and over. Ginny is crying again, silent, hot tears that almost burn when they land on his hand. Impulsively, he wipes away her tears and takes her back into his arms. Madame Pomfrey, sensing that her presence would only be a hindrance to Ginny's recovery at this point, leaves the room. Harry and Ginny hardly notice.

"Why did you think that I didn't notice you?" he asks softly. Ginny pulls away in surprise, her eyes wide.

"You mean-?" Harry nods slowly, wondering what reaction she will have. Instead of opening up, as he had hoped, she pulls back into herself. He lifts her chin up to look at him, and her eyes are filled with tears.

"You must think I'm pretty stupid, huh?" she asks quietly, looking down so that her eyes don't meet his anymore. She is surprised when he shakes his head, but he still doesn't say anything. Instead, he leans towards her and he's kissing her, a soft, chaste kiss. She smiles a little, but it is quickly replaced by doubt. What if he is just kissing her out of pity? She looks down again, but he forces her to meet his eyes.

"Ginny," he says firmly, "I've liked you since this summer. That wasn't just a pity kiss." His eyes don't lie, and it's like he is reading her mind.

"I'll help you get through this, Ginny. I promise." She is crying again, and this time it's out of happiness. Finally, things are going to be okay again.

Everything will be picture perfect.

FIN