Dear Thea // Cedric Diggory

03

TW: slight mention of body dysmorphia

Althea;

I awoke to the dim, emerald glow of the Black Lake's water creating rippling shadows on my dorm walls. The sounds of flowing water and Jade's faint snoring filled my ears while I pulled the quilted covers off of my freezing body. Quickly throwing on a school hoodie over my tank top and pajama shorts, I groggily made my way to Jade's bed. I pushed her only slightly, too tired to put in maximum effort. Her deep sleep continued.

"Jade, wake up," she didn't move an inch, "c'mon we're gonna be late for class" I groaned.

She still hadn't woken up, so I resorted to the only thing that I knew would pull her out of her sleep; taking one of the pillows off my bed, I smacked the cushion down on her head. She imminently snapped up, still half asleep and confused.

"Hey! What was that, what just happened?" she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, looking around the room.

"What's happening is that we've already missed breakfast, now up! I'm getting in the shower, you better not still be asleep by the time I get out."

I grinned at her, pleased that she had finally awakened.

Jade rolled her eyes and huddled back into her bed, pulling the plush covers over her head.

"Ugh fine, five more minutes then and I'll be up and ready."

Satisfied with her response, I grabbed my clothes and hopped into the bathroom. Twisting the shower handle to the right, the hot water that rushed out created a blanket of steam as it was met with the cold air of my dorm.

As I pulled off my pajamas, I couldn't help but stare at my body in the mirror. I scanned up and down my naked self, my stare immediately going straight to all of my imperfections and insecurities. I turned around to see my backside, catching the faint outline of purple stretch marks that spread across my butt and thighs. I gently traced the dips that sunk into the sides of my hips and the red blemishes that were dotted across my shoulders. It took me only an instant to be completely consumed with everything that I couldn't stand about myself, but I knew that if I didn't get in the shower now I could be sitting here looking at my body's flaws for hours.

Feeling almost defeated, I let out a deep sigh and jumped into the shower. The water crashed down upon my head, and the sudden warmth helped me snap out of my daze. I quickly washed my hair and body, dried myself off, got dressed, and did my makeup for the day.

As soon as I was finished, I whipped open the door and rushed out to find Jade how she promised she would be: up and ready to go. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, reading with her school bag close. Jade looked up from the page of the Daily Prophet she was reading. She always made sure to have the latest edition, not because she loves to keep up with the news, but because she wants to be a journalist someday. Jade doesn't believe it, but I know how great of a writer she is.

As she starts to fix her shoes on, she says, "you took forever in there, we got to start heading to class, what's the time?"

I looked down at my watch, my eyes growing wide in horror as I saw what it read, "fuck, class starts in five minutes!"

/

The bell for the first class of the day had already rung as Jade and I hurried to the Transfiguration classroom, our robes and book bags almost falling off our shoulders as we ran.