Disclaimer: Yes, this story is centered around an eating disorder. If it's a subject you are uncomfortable with/don't like then don't read obviously. There will also most likely be alcohol and sexual references. The story will be canon to the books (It is set during Ginny's fifth year, Half-Blood Prince). Anything you recognize I don't own, however the rest of the plot I do yadda yadda yadda. I hope you enjoy, let me know what you think!

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The fierce, dark eyes stared back at her. They were repulsed, horrified. Angry, unsatisfied. The urge to scream engulfed her as she turned away from the mirror. She longed to scream and never stop. She picked up her clothes, covering her body, her nails scratching her skin in her haste. She didn't notice, didn't care, she was too livid at herself, her body, her life. Failure.

Six months earlier

Ginny smiled hugely as she walked into the bustle of King's Cross. It had been a sad summer; gloom had descended over The Burrow in the aftermath of Sirius's death. She was glad to be getting away from it and took comfort in the bustle of the busy station.

An hour later and the Hogwarts Express was racing on its journey, twisting among green fields under a blue sky. Ginny was snuggled up in a compartment, reunited with Dean. He was prattling on about the Muggle world, things Ginny only vaguely understood from Muggle Studies. She didn't mind, she just listened to his soothing voice dreamily…

She found herself being shaken awake gently by Dean.

"Hey you," he cooed, Ginny grimaced and rubbed her eyes. "You fell asleep, silly! I'm going to find the trolley, you want anything?"

"I'll go, stretch my legs." She smiled before sorting out money and what Dean wanted before setting off. She found the trolley and was returning to Dean, her arms laden with Pumpkin Pasties and Chocolate Frogs when she looked up to find Lavender and Parvati standing out in the corridor staring at her before giggling and returning to their compartment.

After the journey (and the bizarre incident of being invited into Slughorn's compartment) Ginny made her way into the Great Hall once more. A feeling of warmth and comfort spread through her body, she was glad to be here. After the Sorting she dug in gratefully to her dinner, despite eating with Dean and then again with Slughorn, she was starving. Not to be outdone by her brothers, she was used to eating a lot, and she piled her plate high. Halfway through eating her dinner she looked up to find Lavender and Parvati staring at her again. Ugh, probably desperate to hear about the Department of Mysteries. Then again, Ron, Harry and Neville had all been there too… She glanced at the girls curiously again; they were shooting looks at Ginny's plate and whispering. Ginny frowned uncomfortably, seeing that on their plates they only had some chicken and vegetables, which they were pushing around their plates unenthusiastically. Weird. She returned to her conversation with Dean, helping herself to substantial portions of the desserts now causing the table to groan.

That night she got ready for bed in the bathroom, and caught a glimpse of herself nude in the mirror. In the Burrow, there were always so many people it was always in and out of the bathroom as quickly as humanly possible. Now she took a good look at herself. Her stomach was holding a definite bulge. Probably the feast, she thought. Her face also seemed rounder when she looked; she smiled at her reflection and recoiled in horror when chubby cheeks appeared. She gazed at the mirror in dismay, inspecting her thighs. I must have put on weight over the holidays, she thought with growing alarm. Has nobody noticed? Suddenly the image of Parvati and Lavender looking at her and whispering passed through her head. She groaned and quickly put on her pyjamas and climbed into her bed, resolving to drop a few pounds as she dozed off.

The next morning she awoke late as usual and went to shower. She took a deep breath and turned to the corner where the scales resided. Stepping on, the figure stopped at 145*. She gulped, that was an increase of 15 whole pounds since June. For her 5'7" frame, this was well within healthy boundaries but Ginny didn't know that, or feel it. She showered before brushing her teeth, mulling it over in her head. She had always been skinny as a child – she remembered clearly years of being teased mercilessly by her brothers. Always active, taking part in the village's Muggle activities along with walks with her family throughout the countryside and playing Quidditch. Over the last four years away from home, however, she realized if she had been upset, lonely or homesick she had comfort ate. It didn't happen often – her brother's were always around after all, and her parents just an owl away. However, if she was overwhelmed she would head to the kitchens, greedily eating what the house elves gave her whilst they listened to her problems, which were usually pretty trivial.

It looked like the house elves' cooking and well, her own laziness had added up. She didn't find time to exercise, she always had homework. Over the summer Molly Weasley had taken extra care with her cookery, often making more than needed to comfort the group after their ordeal. And although her ankle had been healed in seconds by Madam Pomfrey it still pained her on occasion, particularly if she was taking part in strenuous activity and thus she hadn't been helping around the house as much, taking to lying on her bed reading and eating Chocolate Frogs all summer.

Pulling on her shirt she observed it was noticeably tighter, the buttons strained. She glared at it and pulled her jumper over it, again the jumper was skin tight. She looked in the mirror, the clothes clinging tightly to her curves, it looked revolting. She threw her robes on hurriedly and returned to the mirror to do her hair. She tried smiling again, her lips strained against her teeth and her face looked agonized. She sighed and turned away, picking up her bag and heading down to breakfast.

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*Sorry if you are used to weight in stones or kilograms but despite being from the UK myself I'm more familiar with just pounds. Bear with me! Maths is good for you anyway, keep the brain young and that. :]

I hope you liked the first chapter, let me know what you think. I know it obviously won't be everyone's cup of tea, be honest. Don't sugarcoat it, but don't flame either. Constructive criticism is always welcome.