Chapter 2

The next morning, my last night's dreads were confirmed. It was the first day of classes, and breakfast was served at seven in the morning. I didn't come downstairs until almost eight. Class didn't start for half an hour. I rubbed my eyes and sat down across from Wendy. She was quietly sitting at the table and not eating anything.

"Wendy, aren't you going to eat something?" Erica said. She offered her a piece of toast from where she sat.

"No, I'm not hungry," she answered evasively, not meeting her eyes. I sensed that this conversation had happened before. Wendy took a piece of toast and nibbled on it, but she didn't seem to enjoy it. The Gryffindor table was generally quiet, with some murmured conversation here and there. Some of the students had taken advantage of the early hour and went over their schedules. I assumed that they were either extremely eager, or that they were first years anxious to start the day. They were small and nervously looking around themselves every few seconds, as if expecting someone to come up behind and attack. I left Wendy to her troubles and walked up to the two boys some distance away.

"Hi there!" I said in the friendliest voice that I had. One of them shrieked and jumped about a foot in the air. The other cowered and whimpered behind an empty plate.

"P-please…don't hurt us! We'll do anything!" he cried. I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I wouldn't hurt anybody," I reassured the small student. The two first years began to relax slightly, but remained slightly wary of me.

"Where are those Slytherin bullies?" asked the boy who had screamed earlier. At that moment, the bell rang for class to start, and I didn't see Fredrick anywhere. I called for him, and he appeared at my side.

"Fredrick, I'm worried about Wendy. Do you know what's wrong with her?" I asked him as we walked to Charms. He shook his head, looking unconcerned.

"There's no need to worry. It's none of our business," he replied, staring straight ahead.

"But, Fredrick-" He grabbed my wrist and twisted it. I cried out in pain as I looked into his eyes. They flashed in anger, and seemed to be an off-black rather than their usual blue-green.

"I said," he growled, "there's no need to worry, Wendy." I gasped, and nodded in understanding. He let go at once, and I rubbed my wrist as I sat down in my seat. Nobody had seen what had just happened. Erica sat next to me, and Wendy was nowhere to be seen.

"Wendy has Charms with us today right?" I whispered to her. Fredrick was hanging on to my every word. She pulled a piece of parchment out of her bag and started writing. Her hand flew across the page, barely stopping for punctuation and to move to the next line. Her quill was a blur of blue and gray feathers. As Professor Flitwick started the class with a general review from last year, she finished at last and passed the sheet of paper to me. I kept it out of Fredrick's sight. I scanned the parchment quickly, in case Professor Flitwick came by to take it away.

I've been watching Wendy over the summer, and I'm more worried than ever about her. She's had some issues at home. And then she began obsessing over her weight. She was never fat to begin with, but that's what she started to think. I tried changing her way of thinking, but by then it was too late. She starved herself all the time, and exercised at the gym at least an hour a day. I took her to a Healer, but he could do nothing to help. Magic and potions weren't things to fix this problem. She's wasting away, and she's hurting herself. Don't you see? That's why I'm with her all the time. I'm sorry that I've been ignoring you, but I have been trying to help Wendy this whole time. I think there's only one chance left for her…I'm going to the Headmaster.

My eyes widened as I took in this new information. Wendy, obsessing over her weight? Starving herself? Exercising all the time? It sounded like something I had read about a long time ago, a week before I started my third year at Hogwarts…

"Cassie, look what it says in this magazine," Erica said. She handed the article to me. I read it slowly, my mouth falling open with shock as I took in each horrifying fact. It was a young girl's story on some weird disease called anorexia. The worst part was, it wasn't a disease of the body, but of the mind.

I thought about the symptoms I had read in the article, and looked back to Erica's note. They were nearly identical. Horror swept through me as I realized what this meant. Wendy was anorexic, and she needed help. Before it was too late. I quickly glanced at Fredrick, and put the parchment away before he asked to see it. I bumped my wrist on the table, and sucked in a breath as it made it hurt worse than it already did. It was starting to throb; a bruise had formed there already. I settled further into my seat and paid attention to the lecture.

"Now class," Professor Flitwick was saying," Who can tell me where Miss Doadad is? I was sure she would be here on the first day. She's listed in the register…" He leaned over a long sheet of paper, and toppled over when he had accidently leaned too far. He got back to his feet and climbed back up his stack of books to see everybody. Normally, I would have laughed at this, but his mentioning Wendy made me resist the temptation. I looked around to see if they knew the answer to his question, but all I got in return were confused faces and questioning eyes.

Where are you, Wendy? I thought. Erica raised her hand.

"I think I know where she is, Professor," she called out. He looked at her.

"Yes, Miss…?"

"Wutherheimer," she said.

"Very well. Miss Vandwell, you may accompany her to wherever Miss Doadad may be located." Erica and I left the classroom in search of her. I was so busy listening to Professor Flitwick that I didn't notice we were being followed. But Erica did.

"Cassie, I don't think your boyfriend was invited to come along," she stated in an undertone. I turned around to see Fredrick had been following us this whole time.

"Cassie, come here for a minute," he called. I skipped to his side at once. He stared into my eyes for a few minutes, saying nothing at first. I started to say something, but he interrupted me.

"What did I say about this?" he asked, becoming angry. I watched as his eyes darkened again, and he snatched my other wrist. He squeezed it harder than the right one, prolonging the torture. I gritted my teeth, refusing to cry. At last, he let go of me, and I let my other hurt wrist hang like deadweight at my side. Erica appeared to have noticed nothing, so I ventured over to where she waited.

"What was that all about?" she interrogated when Fredrick was out of earshot, and out of sight. I shrugged, and we continued on our way. Erica lead me through corridor after corridor, turning at random spots and occasionally taking the stairs. Up and up we went, until I became so dizzy that I had to rest for a minute on the fourth floor.

"Let's check the hospital wing. She might be in there," she suggested when I was ready to move again. It didn't take long to find the place, its white sheets and metal beds were hard to miss. The room was completely empty except for the one at the very end to the right. Erica approached the bed surrounded by curtains. I followed her, afraid of what we might find. She yanked the curtains back to find…nothing. The bed was empty. I swore under my breath.

"Where is she? I can't be responsible for her all the time!" Erica stormed out of the room in a huff.

"Erica, she's my friend too. I'm also supposed to watch out for her."

"I know, but if you have any idea the things we have been through over the summer, you'd understand." Erica walked away, leaving me with that. At that time, I was thinking about how tired Wendy was that morning, the fact she had never followed us to class, and was thin and bony enough to be knocked over by the lightest of winds.

"Oh God," I said, and ran for the Great Hall. I ran up to the doors to find out that they were locked. I pulled out my wand.

"Alohamara!" I yelled. Nothing happened. I cried out in frustration and slammed my hand against the door. I tried again, and heard a click. The door swung open. I burst through to find Wendy unconscious on the floor, barely breathing. My eyes filled up with tears. She looked so weak…

"Help! Somebody help!" I shouted, tears streaming down my face. Nobody had heard me. I yelled again, all to no avail. I broke down into tears, just as I felt a hand on my shoulder.