Going Overboard…

Katie rested her chin in her palms. She couldn't pay attention to anything that was coming out of the professor's mouth. No matter how many times she told herself to listen to him and looked in his direction her eyes would always travel back to George. He didn't seem to have much life in him anymore and she didn't know if it was because he was sick or because he couldn't play Quidditch. Either way, it was sad to see him that upset and not letting Fred into his life.

For the past couple of days the two didn't even sit next to each other, let alone acknowledge of the other's existence. George would sit with Lee or Alicia and Fred would always sit with Angelina, as if the others were blocking them from having to interact with each other. If Katie weren't in some advanced classes she wouldn't have realized how badly things were turning out.

After George returned to the Common Room from the Hospital Wing and the Quidditch match against Slytherin he had a scowl so deep she thought it would be embedded on his face forever. He didn't look at anyone or talked to anyone at all. He walked past them and acted as if he were the only thing in the room, or like he was off in his own world where no one could bother him. And when they tried he would fix them with a glare so strong Katie was pleasantly surprised they hadn't withered up and died right on the spot. It didn't take too long for him to finally get fed up with being around people and leave the room.

Now she felt as if their group of friends were divided right down the middle, George on one side with herself and Alicia while Fred was on the other with Angelina and Lee. That wasn't how things were supposed to turn out. They were supposed to make it through graduation together (or as much as they could fulfill such a dream with Katie being a year below them). At this rate she would be surprised if they were able to get through the next couple of days without one blowing up at the other. But it was odd, Fred and George were fine a couple of days prior and all of a sudden they were on the outs again. Katie wanted to ask what happened but she decided to hold her tongue; getting information out of them was nearly impossible sometimes. They were known to jump around the point, adding in jokes here and there. It was frustrating.

As soon as the class ended the group split up with Katie and George heading towards the library to get some studying in. It was a shock to Katie as well that George wanted to study but who was she to turn down spending time with him? Maybe now she could get to the bottom of everything and figure out at way to repair their broken friendship and brotherhood. She did not want to be in the crossfire of their glares much longer.

Once reaching the library Katie gathered up the books they would need to prepare for their Charms essays that were to be due soon. Hers, being a sixth year, was to cover the topic of the Aguamenti charm and his was to cover the Imperturbable Charm, Imperturbare. She did not know why she was bothering, though, for she knew that he wouldn't put much effort into the essay. Not as the days slowly dragged by. The more time passed the more he spoke about not wanting to work anymore and just leave and experience what the world had to offer. However everyone else was probably on the same page as him ever since Umbridge came under ruling.

"George, what're you doing?" Katie asked as she came back to the table, peering over the top of her tall stack of books. George looked up and shoved an item into his bag as Katie staggered forward. George stood and easily lifted the stack of books out of her arms and set them down on the table. "What were you doing?"

"Eating," George responded while picking up the book from the top of the stack. He leaned back in his chair, stretching out his long legs underneath the table, and let out a long breath. The ruffling pages temporarily displaced his short red hair.

Katie looked around. "You know Madam Pince doesn't like it when there's food around the books."

"Madam Pince doesn't like it when someone looks at a book funny," George responded evenly. "Besides, it's only Bertie Bott's Beans. Nothing to get worked up over. It's practically mess proof." He reached back into his bag and pulled out a handful of beans, dropping them into his mouth. He bit down on all of them at once and made a slight face at the strange concoction of flavor that exploded in his mouth. But he sucked on every one in turn until it was soft enough to be swallowed whole. He learned long ago that it was easier to swallow than to chew, less of the flavors were released that way. Good and bad ones.

Closing the book with a small snap he went onto the next one. Katie sat back and watched as his light brown eyes moved across the page at high speeds. She wondered briefly if he was even taking in what he was reading, his movements almost seemed robotic. Katie's eyes swooped down to his arm whenever he reached into his bag for candy. Compared to the shirt he was wearing his arm looked so thin, like a stick.

It was scary.

George's eyes seemed sunken into the sockets, faint circles had begun to form around them and he looked so frail and sickly now. Not as he was before, healthy and muscular… Katie ducked her head behind her book as her cheeks warmed. She peered at him over the top of her book again before letting her eyes drop back down to the words on the page. But they swam before her. She just couldn't focus when her friend sitting before her looked like a living skeleton.

"I know I'm devilishly handsome but you can stop staring," George commented with a kind smile. Katie shook her head behind her book and let out a soft chuckle. "What is it?" He asked while drawing in a breath.

"It's just…" Katie slowly set her book down on the table and crossed her arms on top of it. "I don't understand what's going on, George. You and Fred…things were fine before the Quidditch match and now you're on the outs again. We don't like seeing you two like this."

George scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You think I do? If only he'd keep his nose out of my business." He picked up his quill and began to scribble something on his parchment with so much fury she was surprised that it didn't rip a hole in his paper. A few seconds later and slammed the feathered writing implement down. "You all would do best to drop this whole thing. There is nothing wrong with me, I'm fine!"

"George, you're not," Katie said patiently while tugging on the end of her plait. Really all she wanted to do was take him by the shoulders and shake him until some sense and clarity fell into his head. According to Ron, that would take a few centuries worth of shakes.

"But I am! You lot are starting to make me barmy," George said while rubbing at his eyes with his hands. He had the feeling that he would end up regretting spending time with Katie and now he knew why. He should have seen this coming but he did not for he thought he could trust that Katie would not bring it up. "I'm eating fine. I just…changed my diet a little bit. I finally…no one…" He let out a frustrated growl and started shoving his things into his bag.

"Wait, George, where are you going?" Katie asked frantically. He couldn't leave but she didn't know what else to say to keep him there.

"I need some air," he mumbled and slung his bag over his shoulder. "I'll see you later." Before Katie could move or utter a sound he stalked off. A slight smirk fell onto his lips at Madam Pince's sudden explosion from behind him: "You dare to bring teeth-rotting filth into this library, around these books?" It was almost enough for him to forget about their conversation and focus on the mental state, or lack thereof, of the elderly library patron.

Almost.

He was just so tired of it, of people worrying about him. He was finally happy. Well, happier than he was before. He had the body he wanted and he felt great! And yet, no one else could see that, all they could see that he was sick. George shook his head. If he wanted to get them off his back he'd have to make them think nothing was wrong.

And that was what he did.

Any time someone was in his line of sight he would make sure he was eating something: sweets, biscuits nicked from breakfast, sandwiches from lunch, apples, anything he could get his hands on. All he did was eat and eat and eat. He couldn't do anything else besides study and do homework, two things that he felt there was no such point in doing anymore. He was a seventh year, grades didn't matter much anymore. Neither did the idea of a diploma matter to him, he just wanted to get out and go. To be able to live his life without having anyone to answer to. Without the accusing stares and looks of pity. Without feeling like he was slowly suffocating in a school that he once loved but now felt like was his own personal prison.

He didn't give himself time to speak to anyone, what was there to talk about now? All of the conversations ended up turning back to him and that was a topic he wanted to stay away from. He tried speaking to Fred about his ideas of creating a new type of firework, an enchanted one, but Fred wouldn't hear of it. It felt as if all of the plans they had made didn't matter to his twin anymore and that frustrated George the most out of the whole thing.

One night George had found himself in the Great Hall. He had arrived late for dinner and he swore he could feel many eyes on him as she walked in between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables to get to his seat beside Katie. He checked his nose and his clothes just in case something was there but found nothing. He hadn't pulled a prank so why were they all looking at him?

"A new DA meeting is coming soon," Angelina was saying as George sat down. Almost immediately his golden plate filled itself and his goblet held the common orange colored drink of Pumpkin Juice. "What do you think we're going to learn this time?"

"Hopefully something that can drive Umbridge out," Lee grumbled while stabbing his fork at his food. He held a grudge against the toad-resembling woman because she had taken points away from the Gryffindor house simply because he had brought an "unauthorized" book with him to his Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

"I'm sure she'd catch onto that idea quickly," Alicia commented. "What with the Slytherin spies she has all around the castle now. Matter of fact I saw Montague interrogating Edgecombe the other day just because she looked at him sideways." She shook her head, her dark ponytail swishing this way and that with every turn. "Made me want to jinx him but that'd only end up with me in detention and I'm not in the mood to see her face longer than I need to."

That made the group of friends snicker. Alicia was known as the sweet one of the group, never having a bad thing to say about anyone. But when she did it came out more funny than intimidating. Much like seeing a baby kitten trying to get angry. It didn't help that she had a baby face which no one could take seriously.

As the situation changed to what spells they would learn from Harry in the upcoming meeting George only have listened as he timed when to take a bite of food and when to take a drink. The longer he practiced this regime the more his stomach began to hurt and clench but he pushed on with it. He cut his food into little pieces and began to eat slower, but he didn't stop eating completely. He wanted to let the others know that there was nothing wrong with him and, as soon as this dinner was over, they would.

Finally the bell rang throughout the castle signaling the end of the dinner period. George put a hand to his distended stomach as he stood. He felt nauseous and full and most of all he felt fat. Disgusting. He mentally yelled at himself. How could he stuff so much inside of him? He was undoing everything he worked hard in accomplishing.

"Georgie—get your head out of the clouds!" George blinked and looked at Fred who was waving a hand in his face. "Ah, there we go. Lee and I were saying that we need to have a meeting, to discuss a more…concealed way of pushing our products. Are you coming?"

George slowly nodded his head. "Yeah, I just have to…return a book to the library first. I'll meet you in the Common Room."

"Careful, don't spend too much time there. You'll go nutty."

George let out a laugh while following his brother out of the Great Hall, but made a different turn in the direction of the library. Once he was out of sight of the others he made a beeline for the washrooms. He checked to make sure every stall was closed before going into one and began his normal yet secret routine. It took a few tries for him to empty his stomach and by then his throat was hurting as if the acids in his stomach were stripping it raw.

But he felt lighter and that made him smile.

A/N: Here we are again, back for another chapter. Yes, I took a bit of time getting this one out, even after I promised a few readers a sooner update but I, simply, did not want to update with a chapter that was lacking. I wanted to be sure that I felt like this chapter was worth it and I feel that I have finally reached that point. Thank you to all those that are still sticking around. I really appreciate it. Please read and review!

~C.M.