An Unhealthy Escape

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters used in this story. Harry Potter owns to J K Rowling.

A/N; Hello! I am so sorry it has been way too long! This should have been up over a week ago, but I have been quite busy with school and a number of other things I have been working on. I would go on but it's mostly just silly excuses. Anyway, here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy! Milo.

Chapter 8

Shrill, high pitched screams pierced the still air in Grimmauld Place, waking several people from their peaceful oblivion. This, unfortunately, had become a rather common occurrence at number 12. Harry heaved himself out of his bed, and hurried across the hall to Ginny Weasley's bedroom. This also had become quite ordinary. Ronald opened his eyes at the sound of heavy, tired feet thumping against the wooden floors before rolling over and putting a pillow over his head to block out the wailing and sobbing now coming from his sister's bedroom. It wasn't as effective as he had hoped.

It wasn't that he didn't care; Ginny was his sister, of course he cared. But Harry seemed to be the only person who could get through to her when she was upset. No one else dared approach her for fear of experiencing firsthand the incredible strength of her infamous Bat-bogey hex. The three Weasley brother's present at Grimmauld Place had thought Harry was mad when he tried to talk to her one morning when she had been in a particularly foul mood. To their extreme surprise, she didn't try to hex him, or yell at him; she actually accepted his help getting her breakfast and sat down next to him at the table. Even Molly and Arthur had marveled at the boy's skill.

Sirius and Remus had been noticeably subdued for the past few days. Harry had asked them about why one morning to no avail. He was getting quite concerned. He grew even more so when he saw the heavy, weighted glance they exchanged as he left Ginny's room after sitting and talking to her about her nightmare. He waited until she was asleep once again before retiring back to his room.

As much as Harry tried, he just could not get back to sleep. His mind didn't seem to want to give him the pleasure of sleep that night. Frustrated, Harry leapt out of his bed and stomped angrily towards the bathroom. 'Stupid brain,' he thought to himself. He quite looked like a stubborn five year old, stomping around the house with an annoyed scowl on his face. He was acting quite like a stubborn five year old too, but Harry didn't much care at that moment.

He slammed the bathroom door behind him, wincing as he had underestimated the amount of noise this action would create. He really hoped Sirius and Remus didn't come storming in. he really did not need to deal with their 'worried guardian' crap right at this minute.

He knew that they knew he was still cutting, and their apparent lack of concern was making him more than a little suspicious. He had been confronted by the two Marauders several times and forced to show his arms. They grew more and more panicked each time they saw his battered arm. But a few days ago, after his talk with Ginny, they had stopped talking to him about it. That had been almost a week ago. Little did he know, the two in question were sitting in the kitchen discussing him at that very moment.

+HPGWHPGWHPGWHPGW+

"Should we floo Dumbledore? We've put it off now for almost a week." Sirius sat at the table looking dejected, his head resting in his tired hands.

"We need to talk to Arthur and Molly first," Remus said firmly. "They have a right to know about this before we take it to Dumbledore." Sirius had to admit, he did raise a fairly good point. But did they really want to tell Molly? Sirius didn't want to imagine the amount of fuss the old Weasley matriarch would make if she were to be made aware of the scars on her daughter's arms. But Remus was right, and he knew it. He sighed in defeat.

"Let's go see if they're awake. I don't want to put this off anymore," Sirius steeled himself in anticipation of what was sure to be a very long, tedious and emotional conversation.

When Sirius reached the top floor where Molly and Arthur were staying, he knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

"Come in!" we heard someone call. Sirius entered the room to find Molly and Arthur sitting at the desk in the corner talking in hushed voices. They immediately broke off their conversation when Sirius and Remus walked into the room.

"Hello dears, what can I do for you at this hour? It's quite late, we were just about to head to bed," Molly said to the two Marauders.

"Molly, we need to talk to you about something that we discovered last night," Sirius said, getting straight to the point. Molly and Arthur didn't hear the warning Remus hissed in his ear, telling him to be nice. Sirius tended to be a little blunt when it came to things like this. Remus knew from experience.

"Well the thing is, Ginny is-," Remus cut him off before he could finish that particular sentence.

"We found out something about Ginny that we thought you ought to know about." Remus glared at Sirius. Remus thought that Sirius had the emotional range of a teaspoon, something he had often heard Hermione yell at Ron during one of their many yelling matches. It was quite accurate for both of them, he decided. They could start a club.

"Well Remus?" Arthur was looking very concerned at Remus' silence.

"Oh, sorry… erm," Remus shook his head to clear it. "We think that Ginny may have… we think she might… we think she's-," This time it was Sirius who cut Remus off.

"We think that Ginny may be self-harming… no we know that she is and we know that Harry is as well," Sirius stated. His voice betrayed little emotion, but the small spark in his eyes gave him away. Molly was a mother, a wizarding mother whose children had dealt with more hardship that many others put together. She recognized that spark that shone behind his cold indifferent Black mask. She recognized it in Ginny's eyes too.

Molly raised her hands to her mouth and closed her eyes. Arthur slowly put an arm around his wife, as much to steady himself as it was to comfort her. He couldn't believe it; his baby girl.

Sirius and Remus were Harry's father figures, mainly Sirius. They were worried sick about Harry. But it was different for Arthur. He was Ginny's real father; he had raised her since the day she was born. He had healed scrapes and wiped away tears after childish nightmares in the middle of the night. Then after Ginny's first year he had wiped away tears from dark and horrifying nightmares no child should ever witness, let alone experience in real life. He had been there for her every step of the way, watched her grow into a beautiful young woman. She was his baby girl, his only daughter in a houseful of sons. Words could not possibly describe how much he loved her, and how much this announcement hurt him. He didn't even want to imagine how Molly was feeling.

Molly had been there throughout Ginny's entire life, day in, day out while Arthur worked and the boys excluded her because she was a little girl. Ginny was her only daughter; sometimes the only thing that kept her sane in her crazy house of men. Ginny had always been close to molly. Molly was Ginny's best friend. She talked to her about everything; petty fights with friends, boys, classes and anything else you could possibly think of. The only time she had ever hidden something from her was in her first year, the whole diary ordeal. That had tortured Molly. This was worse.

Her baby, her child, was hurting herself. Deliberately taking a blade to her arm, drawing her own blood, intentionally causing herself terrible pain. And Harry… well she considered Harry another one of her sons. She couldn't believe that he was doing this to himself. He was such a strong little boy – no young man. He was no longer a small, scrawny, neglected eleven year old who knew nothing about the world he lived in. And this perhaps is what had destroyed him.

The fact that he now had to deal with these things on his own, by himself. Things that grown adults should never have to deal with; he had, to use the common cliché, the weight of the world on his shoulders.

They sat in silence for another few minutes. Sirius, of course, was the one to break the silence. Not because he was insensitive to the situation, but because he did not like silence. There had been too much silence in the 'Most Noble House of Black,' and he strived to make everything as noisy and fun as possible. Although, in his situation, fun might not really be the best word to use.

"We need to tell Dumbledore about Harry. It's getting out of control, he told us he had stopped but we know he hasn't. He's still suffering nightmares almost every night, often several times a night. He needs help. We've tried, but there is nothing we can do that will help him," Sirius spoke in a very businesslike and detached voice. He was good at masking emotions. One of the many traits that almost had him places in the dirty house of snakes, as Sirius thought of it.

Molly and Arthur did not move after this announcement.

"We think we should tell him about Ginny, with your help of course. You can talk to her first if you wish, but we think the two could help each other. They were already becoming quite close before this happened. And, quite frankly, we are getting desperate. We don't know what to do. If you have any suggestions please tell us, because we've run out of ideas," Remus spoke in a similar manner to Sirius. Arthur looked at Molly, who was now shaking with suppressed sobs, her head tilted down.

"We'll talk to Ginny in the morning," Arthur promised. "We'll come with you to Dumbledore after we've spoken with her." Sirius and Remus nodded before silently leaving the room.

"Well that was uncomfortable," Sirius mumbled to Remus as they walked down the stairs. Remus cuffed his stupid friend upside the head and stormed back to his room, leaving Sirius wondering what on earth he'd done this time. Insensitive prat, Remus thought as he slammed his door.

+HPSBRLHPSBRL+

"Harry, you need to stop this. You can't keep doing this to yourself," Ginny whispered as she forced an uncooperative Harry to hold his injured arm under the steady stream of water coming from the silver tap.

Harry was mentally cursing himself. He had been caught, again, by Ginny. Her mother had asked her to collect laundry and she had seen the blood on his shirt. Harry knew that he should just be thankful it was Ginny collecting the laundry and not anyone else. He shuddered at the thought of what could have happened if Remus or Mrs. Weasley had happened to pick up his shirt. He knew that Sirius was aware that he was still hurting himself, but he didn't think Remus knew.

"Harry, are you listening to me?" Ginny's irritated voice woke Harry from his thoughts. To be honest he hadn't even realized that she was still speaking. Odd.

"Harry, you have to stop this. I want you to give me your blade! Now!" Ginny had fire in her eyes as she turned on Harry, looking at him with firm expectation. Harry just looked at her incredulously. She didn't really mean that… did she? She couldn't possibly be serious. This was his one escape. He couldn't survive without cutting. How would he get through the day without having a complete mental breakdown? Harry wasn't sure, but if was sure about anything it was that there was no way he could stop cutting.

Ginny raised an eyebrow at Harry's lack of action. He was still standing there, a ridiculous shocked expression on his handsome face. Ginny had to stop herself from laughing as she looked at him. If it weren't for the dark reason behind that look, she might find it quite amusing.

Harry seemed to realize as he looked into Ginny's eyes that there was no way he could possibly win against the firecracker standing in front of him when he wasn't allowed to defend himself with his wand. He wasn't sure he could beat her even with his wand if he was being perfectly honest with himself. His expression turned to one of fierce determination, a look that almost rivaled Ginny's current look. Almost.

"Fine," he told her, "but only if you give me your blade. We'll get rid of them together." Now it was Ginny's turn to look shocked. No one knew she still cut. She had never stopped. She had just found more discreet places scar; her thighs, hips, waist and ribcage had been assaulted by her sharp metal knife once she decided that her wrist was too obvious, and it was a pain to wear long sleeves in the summer when she couldn't cover it with a concealment charm.

"Oh don't look at me like that, what do think I am stupid?" Harry asked her raising an eyebrow. "I know you never stopped, I can see it when I look at you. I know you have your blade and you still use it to hurt yourself."

Ginny looked suddenly angry. "Of course I don't, here look!" Ginny pulled up her sleeve so forcefully Harry was surprised she didn't rip the long sleeve purple tank top that she wore to bed. Harry looked down at her wrist and then back up at her face, eyebrow still raise and a condescending smirk on his face.

"Ginny your wrist isn't the only place that you could cut. Do you know how I know you still cut?"

"How?" Ginny asked, desperately wanting to know how he had seen through her perfectly crafted façade.

"There's blood on your pants, right above your thigh," Harry replied, looking down at her long flannel pants. Ginny looked down and cursed. Harry's smirk grew at the sight of the young flustered red head muttering a string of curse words that would shock even his Uncle Vernon.

Ginny looked back up at Harry, her expression annoyed. "Fine. I'll give up my blade, you give up yours, deal?"

"Deal," Harry replied, sounding very nervous. Ginny's hard gaze softened as she saw his face. "Don't be scared. I'll help you through this. We'll help each other through this," She whispered to him. Harry smiled and nodded.

"Always," he whispered back. And he meant it.

A/N: Hello! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, I know that it is a bit boring. Sorry it hasn't been updated for so long, I had this chapter finished but the internet has been playing up so I couldn't post it. Currently working on the next chapter! Enjoy! Milo.