Hell Above

CHAPTER THREE

The next day, Hermione awoke with the headache she knew so well. She stumbled to the bathroom holding onto every wall so she wouldn't fall down. That has happened many times before and she has the bruises to prove it. She drew herself a bath which was something she didn't do too often. She could hardly stand to look at her own body.

As she pulled off her sweater she looked down at her forearm. Words that formed a fresh scar tattooed her skin forever. "Mudblood." she never understood why that was her brand. She did nothing to deserve it. She couldn't wait for the day it would fade. She ran her fingers over it making every memory rush back to her brain. Why didn't he save her?

She finished getting undressed and stepped into her hot tub. The steaming water burned her skin but she didn't mind. It was nice to feel something again. She lowered herself until the water was up to her chin. She tried to meditate all of the bad thoughts out of her head. Maybe she could resist again today. She knew how important it was to Harry for her to sober up. She knew how desperately he wanted things to go back to normal. Maybe he would go back to the burrow and he would rekindle things with Ginny. She let him go when things started getting bad. That only made things worse.

Hermione opened her eyes and looked down at her body. She was skinny. Drinks were more important to her than food was. She could see her ribs poking out of her side. Her hip bones faced the ceiling and made her stomach sink deep into her gut. Her legs reminded her of a skeleton with skin. She remembered why she didn't like to bathe.

She sunk down and held her breath as she went under the water. With the last bit of energy she had left she let out a muffled scream. Anything to let the anger out. She never hated herself like this before. She knew it was her fault and hers only. She couldn't blame anyone else.

Once she emerged she coughed as she caught her breath. She wiped her eyes and regained focus. Once her vision came back she noticed a bottle laying by the toilet. Her first instinct was to grab it and indulge until the drink was drained. Her stomach got hot and her brain got fuzzy. That was her new favorite feeling.

She sunk back down into the tub and closed her eyes. She escaped into a dreamless sleep. She prayed that she would accidentally drown herself in her sleep. Everything would be over.
She woke up from the sound of a knock at the front door. She was disappointed she was still breathing. She thought it was the press again trying to get any juicy gossip they could for the daily prophet. If she ignored them long enough they would usually go away. This time they didn't. The knocking continued until the sound pounded her head. She decided she would go down and tell them off.

She hopped out of the tub trying to ignore the rush of blood to her head. She was dehydrated and has falled down many times from her lightheadedness. Once the feeling went away she dried herself off and put her clothes back on.

She pulled some gray cotton shorts around her waist and put her arms through a dark green sweater she had borrowed from Ron. It was too big on her. She looked as if she were drowning in a sea of green fabric. She dried her hair with a towel but didn't bother to brush it. That was a chore she didn't have the energy for right now.

She made her way to the front door but stopped at Ron's room to check in on him. He was sleeping and looked terrible. She worried about him a lot. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose a sibling. She went to the kitchen ignoring the person who was still knocking at the door. She filled a glass of water for Ron and grabbed a couple pills that would ease the pain she knew he would be in when he woke up. She went back upstairs and placed it on his night stand.

When she returned to the living room she saw Harry was already awake. He was sitting on the couch reading a charms book from fourth year. There was another knock on the door.