Let Memories Unfold

Chapter 3

When Harry awoke the following morning, his stomach immediately wanted to expel the little he had in it. Harry practically launched himself up from his bed and to the bathroom, where bile and water came up as he kneeled in-front of the toilet. Coughing, he sat back and groaned lightly. The day has only just started and it's dipped into the negatives.

Sighing and cleaning his face after flushing the toilet, he decided to just shower altogether to get rid of the grime that had accumulated. Whilst in the shower, the motions of cleaning distracted his mind from the evening to come. A part of him hoped he was simply overthinking it, and it wouldn't be that bad. The pessimistic, nay, realistic side of him disagreed heartily, and it brought his spirits right back down.

Finishing up in the shower, he brushed his teeth and looked himself in the mirror and grimaced around his toothbrush. The bags under his eyes had increased, and it looked like he had lost a little weight, his jawline more visible and the skin around his knuckles tightened. It was a sight for sore eyes, and sore his eyes were.

He got dressed in his school robes, scabby as they were. He ought to get some new ones, he had the money but he didn't like spending it or being flashy with it. Ron never seemed happy when Harry had his money out, or spent it on frivolous things like completely new robes and the likes, so Harry refrained from doing so. Though, now that Ron wasn't talking to him, he wondered if he should take the jump and buy some new school robes. Would it make Ron angrier though? He didn't want to lose the friendship completely, and he was holding out that Ron would come to his senses eventually.

Pushing the thought aside, he scrammed the rest of his schoolbooks that lay scattered on his bedside table into his school bag and grabbed a quill that sat absentmindedly next to his pillow. He smiled to himself, wondering how he pulled that off. Slinging his bag around his shoulder, he set off down to the Great Hall to see Hermione.

*

Hermione greeted him warmly when he sat down and shoved his bag under the table, and he picked up some tea to sip on as Hermione spooned her porridge and blueberries, drizzled with honey. She always had that for breakfast, ever since first year, and it made Harry smile when the trend continued throughout the years.

She pushed at him to eat, but he only shook his head and muttered about nerves. He didn't mention the fact he threw up that morning, as he reckoned she would fuss over him non stop and he quite simply didn't want to deal with that. Yes, it was sweet he had a friend who cared so deeply but sometimes it was a little overbearing. He would never tell her that though.

It was only a short day, classes wise. With double DADA in the morning, followed by a small lesson of Herbology to check up on their current projects. The afternoon commenced with double Charms, and it ended there. The walk to DADA was nice enough, with Hermione by his side chatting quietly and the birds tweeting overhead as they took the long route when time allowed so.

They entered the class and sat by each other, and for the first time in awhile, Harry had a pleasant time. Professor Moody was as eccentric and intimidating as ever, but the lesson on curses was truly interesting. A lot better than the unforgiveables, by a long shot.

He wrote as much as he could down, what with his head uncomfortably filled and stomach still lightly churning on the chamomile tea he had that morning. The notes are legible, so he deemed the class a success. Herbology was quick, and he and Dean checked over their plant project and wrote a few notes down, with Dean still looking over at Harry regularly like he did the previous day.

As lunch progressed, with Harry picking at the small helping he allowed himself. He knew he could eat more if he wanted to, but he found that choosing how much he could eat gave him back a little bit of control in his life. It was almost throwing it back in the Dursley's face, as if to say 'I can eat however little or however much I can and you don't control me.' The line of logic would never follow with anyone else, but it wasn't like Harry was intending to let anyone else know what he was doing. He could feel that Hermione was grasping the lightest of straws of what he was attempting to do though, and he didn't want that to go further. He just didn't know how to get her to stop worrying, it was like it was built in for her. It made it near impossible for Harry to get away with any self-destructive behaviour, whether he knew he was doing them or not.