The group silently made their way to their new common room. The portrait guarding their room was a Selkie just starting to remove her seal skin. Theo muttered "unity" and they all followed him in.
The room was gorgeous. Straight ahead a large hearth dominated the space with a roaring fire. On either side there were deep window seats covered in plush cushions. Walking closer Hermione saw the quidditch pitch and lake in the moonlight. The room was filled with long couches, extra wide armchairs, and fluffy rugs. Every place to sit looked like the perfect place to curl up with a nice book and read. It was all done in shades of blue, green, and grey to match the Scottish Highlands outside.
Each of the side walls had a door marked "Witches" or "Wizards" so she assumed these led to the dorms. Behind the seating area it looked like a few library tables, perfect for doing homework Everyone was standing around awkwardly avoiding eye contact.
"This is ridiculous" Theo said. "This year is going to be awkward unless we're friends. I brought Firewhisky; anyone else want to take some shots and get to know each other?"
Neville smiled "I like you already Theo. Grab your bottle and I'll conjure some glasses."
"Should we really be getting drunk when we have classes tomorrow?" Hermione asked. She noticed Hannah nodding.
"Still have that stick in your ass Granger?" Blaise sneered at her.
"Maybe I just don't want to be hungover tomorrow" she shot back.
"You can have one of my hangover potions."
Hermione looked around because Blaise hadn't said that. "Excuse me?"
Draco cleared his throat "I said you can have one of my hangover potions. I brought a fair few with me because Theo likes to drink and never brews his own."
"Hey!" Theo yelled as he came back into the room "I brew my.. alright I don't. That's why I keep you around Draco" he laughed.
"Thank you Malfoy. That's nice of you." Hermione was confused on why he was being nice to her but tried to remember what McGonagall said about starting over.
The eight of them moved towards the seating area and sat on the ground around the coffee table as Theo filled the glasses.
"Are we playing 'Never Have I Ever' or Truth or Dare'?" Neville asked.
"Really Longbottom, drinking games? What are we Fifth years?" Daphne asked
"We could play 'Two Truths and a Lie'" Hannah said. "It's a great way to get to know each other. Take a shot for every person that guesses your lie?"
"I like it Abbott." Daphne smiled at her.
Hannah timidly cleared her throat. "I think we should use reach other's first names. You don't call friends by their last name."
"Unless they're being a dick like Zabini." Millicent said on a deadpan manner.
The room broke out into giggles.
"You got me Millie. Sorry I'm being an arse everyone. My mom married her next dead husband last night and it always puts me in a bad mood. So who goes first?"
Hermione woke up the next morning with her head pounding. Her alarm was buzzing but it was hard to find the energy to reach over and turn it off. Finally rolling over she hit the button and that's when she noticed Malfoy's (wait, it's Draco now) hangover potion. Quickly downing it she instantly felt better. Merlin bless that man and his brewing skills.
Getting out of bed she headed into her attached bathroom. It wasn't luxurious, but it was nice to have her own shower and not have to take a toiletry bag with her every time. She stood naked in front of the full length mirror and sighed. Her hip bones still stuck out too far and her thigh gap was too big. And were her boobs ever going to come back? One day at a time she told herself.
After the shower she got dressed and applied her daily glamours. She wasn't ready for the world to see the word carved into her arm, or how sickly she still looked. Only Ginny, the boys, and a private healer had seen her without the glamours. The healer had her taking daily vitamin potions, but said the healthiest thing was to gradually gain the weight back.
Walking into their common room she saw the other 3 girls eating breakfast at one of the tables. "McGonagall said we don't have to go to the Great Hall everyday for breakfast. She wanted the girls to stay back today so she could drop off our timetables" Millie told her as she sat down. Millie looked at her shyly, and Hermione could tell she wanted to ask her something.
"What is is Mille? I can tell you want to ask me something."
"We weren't talking about you in a bad way or anything,"
"Yeah, we were just worried about you," Hannah interjected.
"We wanted to make sure you weren't, um," Daphne looked at Millicent for help.
"Bulimic or anything"Millicent said without hesitation. "We noticed you running to the bathroom last night during the feast. It is okay if you are. Well, it isn't okay; it's not healthy. I just mean, Daph and I have gone through similar things as well and we are all here to help you. Having an eating disorder is nothing to be ashamed of-" she drifted off as she saw the tears in Hermione's eyes. "Mi, I'm sorry, we didn't mean to offend-"
"Oh, you didn't offend me. Sorry for crying. I am not used to having females my age beyond Ginny and Luna look out for me. It means a lot to me" she hiccuped. Hermione was overwhelmed by their concern. She was honest when she said she wasn't used to it. "I honestly don't have an eating disorder. When I was on the run with Harry and Ron it wasn't always easy to get food. We would sometimes go days with just a few berries or mushrooms to eat. My healer said my body is similar to someone who was anorexic. I take potions everyday to help me with it. Sometimes I get sick when I eat especially if the foods are too rich or if I eat too fast or too much."
"I am so sorry, Mi." Daphne looked at her closely. "You must have recovered pretty quickly, you don't look like you are malnourished."
"You really don't" Hannah agreed.
"I wear a glamour everyday." Pausing she she looked at them and cleared her throat, "it makes people uncomfortable to see the way my body really looks. I already get enough attention as it is, I don't want anymore." Hermione was starting to feel uncomfortable with their staring.
"A glamour? Is it really that bad? You know we won't judge you." Hannah gave her a sweet smile.
"The guys won't judge you either, I promise you Mi. I don't know Neville, but Slytherin boys have seen a lot of their mom's go through struggles with body image issues and they are really supportive. Being a witch in Pureblood society isn't always easy" Daphne told her.
"She is right" Millicent agreed. "I haven't told many people this, but I was bulimic for most of our 3rd and 4th years; well you remember what I looked like. It was really hard for me to be so big around all the skinny bitches like Daphne." She winked at her best friend. "Draco was really sweet about it. He took me aside one day right before the end of our 4th year and told me I wasn't fooling anyone. Said it was time to accept who I was and if I wanted to lose weight I needed to stop throwing up and do it the healthy way. He checked up on me all summer and still does actually.
"That's one of the reasons I am no longer overweight. He helped me the last few years with healthy eating, fun physical activities like swimming and flying. Up until the Dark Lord moved in with them that is. But he still helped me create and stick to healthy habits."
Hermione felt so supported by her new roommates. It was so different than what she had experienced with Lavender and Parvati. Maybe being back this year without the boys wouldn't be as bad as she thought it would be.
"I am not sure I am ready to remove my glamour yet, but thank you all for letting me know what wonderful women you are" Hermione smiled at them through her tears.
"So," Daphne smirked, "Are you excited for the dance?"
A/N Thank you for all for all the reviews, follows, and favorites on the last chapter. Talk about an ego boost :)
