Harry Potter One Shots

Full Moon

Warning: involves an eating disorder

It was always strange reading magazines these days, because there was a high chance he'd find his girlfriend on one of the glossy pages. Casey had never read many before, aside from occasionally flicking through one in a waiting room, though now he felt obliged too. He doubted Lily would mind much if he didn't read the magazines she was featured in, even the ones she'd been on the cover of. She didn't seem to mind much what he did at all, as long as he was there in the background, fading into the glaring lights and camera flashes that flooded her life.

He was outside her apartment now, fishing through his bag for the set of keys she'd given him. They had only been dating for a month when she'd presented him with a shiny silver set, freshly cut.

"I'm out a lot anyway, at shoots and stuff, so I usually give guys keys pretty early on. I hope that's okay."

Despite her words, which seemed careless, Casey could detect a certain anxiety, almost as though behind the casual reference to past relationships, she didn't want to lose him. She wanted him in her life for a little bit longer.

Sighing, he slipped the key into the lock and was surprised to find the door already open. He'd got so used to Lily always being out that his face lit up and he restrained from throwing his arms around her when he found her pacing back and forth across the cream carpet, a phone pressed to her ear. With a tired but happy smile, she blew him a kiss and gestured for him to sit down on the red velvet sofa, which looked a lot fancier than it actually was. She took a seat behind him, sweeping her long red hair over one shoulder. Still nodding along to whoever was on the other end of the phone and making occasional noises of agreement, she pressed her lips to his neck and kept them there for several long, agonising seconds. Then, she hung up and looked at him through heavily lidded eyes.

"How was your day?" She murmured, trailing her lips slowly up his neck, pressing hot kisses along his jawline.

"Good," he replied huskily, finding her thigh with his hand.

As her lips found his, the fingers wrapped around her thigh tightened, and Lily noticeably stiffened. Casey tried stroking her inner thigh lightly, to relax her, and kissed her more gently, worried she had felt pressured or trapped. But Lily pulled away and gave him an uncomfortable smile.

"Are you thirsty? I have beer somewhere, if you want some," she said, not meeting his eye.

"Yeah, sure," he answered, even though he was really not a beer kind of guy, something he'd told her multiple times in the 5 months they'd been together.

She went in to the kitchen, leaving him sitting in confusion on the couch. He didn't understand why she had stopped kissing him so suddenly. It'd been weeks since they'd done anything, and he'd been very pleased when she initiated some action - but to stop when they'd only just started? That wasn't like Lily at all. She'd been so enthusiastic when she'd first sat down beside him- or had she? If he thought about it properly, her kisses had been rushed, almost forced, and her voice had been hollow. Something was wrong.

"Lily?" He called.

"Coming." Did he imagine the break in her voice?

Puzzled and more than a little embarrassed, Casey took the drink Lily offered him and had a huge gulp before facing her. The redhead was staring determinedly into her drink, which was plain water. This confused Casey even further, as Lily always had alcohol after work, almost every day. She said it helped with the stress, but Lily never seemed stressed. She came home tired, but happy, because she loved her job. Except lately, something had been off. Casey just didn't know what it was.