Chapter Four
"I don't care if it hurts.
I want to have control.
I want a perfect body.
I want a perfect soul."
Radiohead - Creep
Oh dear, Merlin… Out of all people, I get Blaise Zabini. He's no Draco Malfoy, but he's no Dean Thomas, either. At least I didn't get stuck with ferret boy like Colin did. Guess what? The sixth years have to work with the seventh years again. This is some really stupid tradition Dumbledore has to help the sixth years learn more about the wizarding community, house unity and all that rubbish.
"So…" Blaise drawled, dragging his manicured finger along my arm. "Shall we begin?"
I grabbed his finger and twisted it. He yelped.
"Ladies first," I smirked.
He pouted innocently before giving me a feral grin. Bastard.
"So… What exactly are we supposed to do?" I asked.
"Weren't you listening? Tsk, tsk, little Weaslette." Insert nasty glare here. "We have different projects to do each week. Some are muggle. This means no magic. Other projects will be allowed to have magic."
"And we're doing what this week?"
"We're baking a cake this week. No magic. We give it to Snape when we're done."
That sounded easy enough. I was a wiz in the kitchen.
"Alright. I'll give it in by this week."
"What do you mean, you?"
"What? You actually expect us to work together?"
I snorted at the ludicrous thought. He put his hand above where I think was supposed to be his heart and gave a heartbroken sigh.
"You don't want to work with me?"
Silence.
"Oh, come on. It'll be fine. Let's say I meet you in Hogsmeade this week to pick up the supplies and we'll go from there."
"Dumbledore didn't announce a Hogsmeade- Wait a minute. We're going to go anyway, aren't we?"
He nodded. I rolled my eyes and nodded resolutely.
"Fabulous. I'll meet you outside the Slytherin dorms by 9 to make a clean getaway on Saturday."
I agreed. What have I gotten myself into?
**********
I strolled down the winding corridors until I reached the painting of a knight. Ha ha… A knight… The irony. I stood by the side, waiting. The portrait swung open. Out comes the devil in the flesh.
"Weasley? What are you doing here? The Gryffindor commons are on the opposite side of the castle," Draco smirked.
"I know that, you stupid twat. I'm waiting for Zabini."
Something flashed through his face. I don't know what it is, but I sure didn't like it.
"What? Are you two going to traipse off and shag like bunnies?" he cackled.
I paused for a second.
"Maybe," was my simple reply.
At that moment, the portrait swung open again. Enter sandman.
"Morning, Weaslette. Shall we go?"
"Lead the way."
**********
We eventually reached Hogsmeade and headed straight to the little muggle-esque grocery store. We bought a load of crap, which he was stubbornly paying for. I offered, but he declined politely. Then we got into a heated argument. Somehow, I lost. We hung around until lunchtime.
"Are you hungry?" he asked.
I shook my head `no'. My stomach betrayed me by grumbling. His facial features told me he knew I was lying. He pulled me by the arm to a small diner café and we were seated immediately. The waiter gave us our menus.
"I said I wasn't hungry, you know," I mumbled.
"You're lying," he answered.
"I'm not."
"Are to."
"Am not."
"Are to!"
"Am not! I ate breakfast!"
Sure, I lied, but it wasn't that big of a deal. I was just going on a fast for a few days.
"Breakfast was a long time ago. You're surely hungry by now," he said reasonably.
"I don't want to eat," I half pleaded.
"If you don't eat, you're going to blow away when the wind picks up, little girl. I'll force feed you if I have to," he warned.
I buried my face in my hands, expressing my sheer frustration to the boy in front of me.
"I really don't want to."
"Too fucking bad," he smirked.
"Bastard."
I couldn't contain my grin. His mirth was too contagious.
"Comes with the territory."
In the end, I ordered a salad and he `helped' me order a grilled chicken while he ordered a fish filet for himself. I picked at the chicken, breaking it into small pieces and pushing it around. I eventually learned that Blaise didn't make idle threats. He literally force-fed me half of it until I promised that I could eat it myself. And I did.
**********
We headed back to Hogwarts after we finished lunch. He dropped me off in front of the Fat Lady and told me to meet him tomorrow, same time, same place. We would work on our little cake tomorrow. Yippee.
I went to the girl's lavatory. I felt horrible. All of a sudden, I ran to the bathroom and purged up all I had eaten that afternoon. The bile tasted terrible and I spat it out. Tears were streaming down my face and my nose was stuffed. Wiping my mouth on the toilet paper so no one would be any wiser, I went to a sink and washed my face. I looked myself in the mirror. I saw a round face. I saw ugly. I hated what I saw. I weighed myself on the scale. 135.47586 pounds. Inspiration struck like a bolt of lightening. If I puked after every meal, I wouldn't gain any weight. I gave myself a malicious smile as I got ready to face the world.
I went back to my room that I shared with five other girls and pulled out an empty book. I had already tried writing in it and no one wrote back, which is always good. I opened it to a fresh new page and lied down on my bed. I pulled out a quill and a bottle of ink. I scrawled down the date. I wrote out my weight, notwithstanding the numbers coming after the decimal. I also jogged down my intake for the day and my new exercise regime that I would have to do. I closed it and cast a few charms on it before stuffing it under my bed.
Immediately, I began to start my sit ups. I planned to get down to 110 by the end of the year. If only I had the will and the self-control. Determination wouldn't hurt either…
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