sparks~drarry

Care for You: Part Two

Description: a continuation of Care for You: Part One, where Draco realizes Harry is not all that he initially appears to be.

Warnings: mental illness such as eating disorders

Song: Technicolour Beat by Oh Wonder

Length: 1.9k words

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Draco's POV

THE EATING

My stomach growls, and though my hunger is of the body, it is not of the mind. The plastic-looking food looks so unappetizing that, when I look up at my mother, I am baffled by how she is carefully eating her golden rice. She catches my gaze.

"Draco, you need to eat," she says quietly. I resist the urge to shoot her daggers.

I make a little humming noise to show that I heard her, then I push my plate of food away with a trembling hand. "I'm done," I announce, and my mother scowls.

"No, you're not. Eat the chicken, at least."

When I glance at the chicken, I want to throw up. It drips with grease, the heavy, creamy sauce pooling beneath the meat. The skin glistens like oily glass.

"No, thank you," I murmur.

"This isn't a question of what you want to do, Draco," she snaps, and I fall silent, unused to her anger.

She began to show the crimson rage, as I like to call it, when I was first put into the hospital. At first, it was little outbursts; the occasional snap, a harsh word sent my way, a prickle at the back of my neck. But then, it got worse. I remember watching her fists ball beside her hips, the knuckles white with pressure, her eyes smoldering. She scares me, sometimes.

"I know."

"Then just eat the chicken, okay?"

I am quiet for a moment. "Okay."

But I just end up throwing it all up anyway.

THE WEIGHING

This time, the slip Harry gives me is a pale red that could almost pass as pink. It's less transparent than the other one, like fogged glass, so that only the slightest suggestion of my legs is visible.

As I wait for Harry, I pinch at the inside of my leg and sigh. Sometimes I wish I could just eat, especially one of those organic mangoes my mother used to buy for the family, but then I recall the slippery feel of fruit against my tongue and want to gag.

"Please drop the top of your slip." Harry's voice is unusually quiet.

I startle at the sound of it, and glance up at the CareBot, my eyes wide. It tilts its head, and frowns slightly.

"I apologize, did I startle you?" it asks kindly, and I want to scoff.

"No, you didn't," I grumble. Since when was I jumpy?

However, right as I begin to grab at my slip, I hesitate, and glance up at Harry. "You... you wouldn't happen to have one of those pills that you had before, would you?"

It cocks its head. "Unless you need it, I will not give it to you."

I purse my lips, and try to take off my slip, but an uncontrollable shock that runs through my body makes me halt. When I exhale, my breath shakes.

When I look back at Harry, the simple pill is in his palm. I grab it quickly and swallow, sighing as the honey high envelops me. The robot pinches at my skin. I jiggle my foot, trying not to squirm as the CareBot's warm - warm, how unusual for a robot! - hands skate across my skin.