A/N: Sorry this update is so late. School has been pretty crazy for me lately. The next chapter will come soon, I promise.
"Hermione. Please, Hermione, wake up," A soft voice roused me from my deep sleep. I didn't want to open my eyes; I was so comfortable. A sharp squeeze to my hand startled me enough to open my eyes.
"Miss Granger, I'm glad you're awake," Madam Pomfrey said from my right side. I turned to my left where Harry sat, holding my hand. He had a serious look on his face and I could tell that he was worried. Ron sat at the end of my bed, also concerned, but currently distracted with the chocolate frog card he had just discovered.
"What happened?" I asked, not understanding why everyone was so solemn.
"Miss Granger, you passed out. Your blood sugar level was extremely low when Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley brought you in. Do you know why that could be?" Madam Pomfrey fixed me with a steely glare. I knew if I told her the truth, I wouldn't be out of the hospital wing until March, and I couldn't afford to miss classes and everything else that would entail.
"I skipped breakfast this morning; I wanted to get some extra studying done before I went to Hogsmeade," I made up a very believable excuse for me. "I was so rushed while we were in Hogsmeade, I just didn't think about eating."
Unfortunately, Harry refuted my claim. "Hermione, we offered to go to the Three Broomsticks and Honeyduke's. If you were hungry, why didn't you tell us?"
As Harry stared at me, confused, a light bulb went on in my head. "I don't have any money," I lied, trying to sound upset. "I didn't want you to know." I was amazed at my acting skills; Harry, Ron and Madam Pomfrey were buying it! Ron even had a look of empathy, something that surprised me.
"I'm so sorry," Harry murmured.
"That's why I was going to go shopping. I didn't think you would follow me. I was just trying to avoid being surrounded by all that food." Harry, luckily, did not remember my purchase of the flossing string mints for my parents.
"Well, I'm sorry about your financial situation, Miss Granger, but I feel it's best to keep you here overnight. I think you need a couple well-balanced meals." Madam Pomfrey stared pointedly at my mid-section. Even she could see the extra weight I was carrying around, and she thought I wasn't eating right. She then shooed Harry and Ron out of the room, telling them I needed to rest.
I managed to swallow a few bites of the chicken and green beans Madam Pomfrey had set in front of me, but not enough to satisfy her. I stuffed the rest in my napkin to throw away when she wasn't looking. When she went to the end of the wing to grab some pajamas for me, I quietly banished the full napkin to the nearest wastebasket. I didn't want her to come back and see that my meal was barely eaten. She returned in a few minutes and looked satisfied at the empty plate.
"Just a few good square meals, and you'll be good as new," she commented as she took the plate away and left me alone to change. As I stood there with nothing but my underwear on, I couldn't stand to see the fat and rolls that erupted from my stomach. I threw on the clothes as quickly as possible to hide the ugly sight.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next morning, Madame Pomfrey let me go after feeding me a full plate of eggs, bacon, and several pancakes. This time, she had given me a plate that kept refilling itself, so I didn't even have to pretend to eat the food. I just let her think that it had given me too much, and thereby didn't have to eat a bite of the fattening foods. I rushed out of there as quickly as possible when she said I could go, and headed off to the Gryffindor Common Room, eager to catch up on the studying I had missed the night before. Though I wasn't able to reach it before I ran straight into Malfoy.
"Watch where you're going you Mudblood. What's wrong, you're running off those extra pounds you gained at breakfast this morning? You trying to be thin?" Malfoy sneered at me. With the jab that hit so close to home, I struggled not to allow Malfoy to see how much he hurt me.
"Just shove off Malfoy," I replied, then continued my dash to the tower. Again, my progress was stopped, this time more pleasantly.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" Harry asked, noticing the tears that had escaped from my eyes.
"Nothing, I… I just ran into Malfoy. He was just rude, like normal," I replied. Harry gave me a pitying look.
"Well, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of studying to get done," I explained, then tried to push past Harry. He, however, grabbed my arm to stop me. He let go quickly, a horrified look on his face.
"Hermione, I think we need to talk. What are you doing to yourself?" Harry fixed me with a steely glare.
"What are you talking about? I was just going to go study," I said, trying to play off what was happening. I knew that Harry had let go of my arm because he had felt the flabby flesh there that I had tried unsuccessfully to get rid of.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. I've noticed a lot more than you think I have, and I can't take another minute of it. Hermione, whatever you're doing this for, it's not worth it!" Harry stared at me and blocked my escape route by pinning me against the wall with his hands.
"Let go of me Harry!" I yelled at my friend. When he did not respond, I stomped hard on his foot. He let go, and I ran up to my dormitory, knowing he couldn't follow me there.
Once safely inside my dormitory, I threw myself onto my bed. I allowed the tears that Malfoy and Harry had caused to flow freely. Everyone I knew recognized how fat I was, and wanted to point it out at all times. Even Ron was beginning to look at me differently.
"Hermione, Harry's in the Common Room yelling for you to come down," Lavender said as she walked into the room.
"I'm not talking to him. He's a jerk that just needs to go away!" I yelled, just wanting everyone to leave me alone. I was doing all that I could, but nothing was working to get rid of those extra pounds.
"Hermione, if you don't get down here this instant, I will find a way to come up there!" Harry's voice rose from the Common Room. I ignored the threat, and buried my head deeper into my pillow.
"Hermione, I think you should go down there. Everyone's gathering to see what all the fuss is about," Ginny advised, her voice coming from outside the door.
I turned away from the door, stubbornly ignoring all the noise that was erupting around me. A few moments later, my head came up as I stared at the wide-open door to my room, and Harry standing in the doorway, his Firebolt sitting on his shoulder.