Chapter 17
The next morning as Lily was getting ready she realised it had been 3 days since she weighed herself.
She looked in the mirror reluctantly.
She had a sudden fear in her stomach that the number might have stayed the same as last time.
She took a deep breath and stepped up.
108lbs .
Read the scale
Lily was shocked had she really lost 8lbs already? In three weeks?
It certainly didn't look that way to her. As she inspected her body carefully in the mirror she saw no differences. In fact if possible she looked even chubbier than she remembered. But the feeling of seeing the numbers drop like that satisfied something in her. It felt like getting better results back on a test than she expected.
But it wasn't enough. Lily wanted to be able to see the changes she worked so hard for.
Maybe there was a better way to do this.
A way to drop the weight faster.
Lily thought about the diet tips in Mary's magazine.
She was a little ashamed to admit she had read the list.
According to the tabloid she would have to:
Move around for an hour everyday, consider smoking, stop snacking, not give into temptations, chew gum when hungry and most importantly pay attention to calories.
Some of this wasn't exactly applicable.
Lily had never considered cigarettes before but even if she wanted to there was no where to get them.
The part on calories interested her though she had never heard much about them and she wanted to do more research.
She resolved to skip lunch and head down to the library instead maybe there were some books on nutrition there.
Defence against the dark arts was the last class before lunch it was near enough to the library too.
Lily felt distracted during the class she kept meeting James's eyes across the room. It was the second class of the day yet he didn't look half as tired as the other students. By this point he had been awake nearly 6 hours that was probably why.
He looked put together in his own chaotic sort if way. Clean shaven but his hair still messy as always.
Uniform neat but unbuttoned at the collar and sleeves rolled. Highlighting the outline of his arms in the school jumper. And round glasses shining, but still slipping down on his nosebridge. Giving a clearer look into his dark brown eyes.
He was looking at her in a way she never thought he had before.
The class was about how to fend off Legilimency charms. But the way James was there staring at her it's like he was trying to read her mind all on his own no charms at all. It felt like it was just them in the class and despite him being on the other side of the room it felt strangley intimate.
Lily broke her stare and turned her gaze down. Face flushed.
As the bell rang Lily stuffed her books into her bag to avoid being ambushed by her friends to go to lunch.
She made her way out of class first and started to head towards the library.
Unfortunately Molly Prewitt was just as fast to leave.
"You're in a rush." She said laughing.
"Yeah I'm looking to study a bit in the library." Lily half lied without thinking.
It wasn't exactly untrue. She was going there to study just not her subjects.
"Skipping lunch?" Molly asked.
"Yeah not really hungry. " now this was definitely a lie. Lily could feel the nausea of her empty stomach begging for lunch.
"Oh fair enough." Molly shrugged
"I wish I could skip lunch but I can't seem to skip meals without feeling like I'm starved." She laughed.
"Whatever works for you I guess. I have to say you look great Lil. I'll see you later anyways. " With that Molly nodded with a smile and made the turn towards the great hall.
The smell of the feast prepared inside teased Lily's nostrils with the promise of food. But she kept walking determined to not let her other friends see her not heading to the hall.
What did Molly mean by that "you look great".
Surely Molly could see her chubby cheeks and how big she'd gotten.
Must be a joke.' She must be trying to make you feel better. ' She said to herself internally.
Lily walked along the corridor toward the library.
It looked entirely empty inside.
Lily was hit with the smell of old books and dust as she entered.
It was honestly one of her favourite smells.
The librarian Irma Prince.
A small ancient lady with a permanent look of disgust on her face.
Showed the briefest ghost of a smile as she saw Lily come in.
Lily Evans was one of few students that the old librarian actually tolerated. As she was a frequent visitor ,always quite, tidy and returned books on time in perfect condition.
Lily smiled pleasantly at Mrs Prince as she headed toward the first row of books.
She wasn't exactly sure what to look for.
She came across the books on food and nutrition and was faced with several cookbooks.
"How to cook with mandrake roots".
"Baking with Bertie Bot." "Best muggle recipes to try."
No luck.
She carefully scanned the shelves till she saw something she could use.
"Nutritional index of food." Lily picked up the enormous book and flicked through the pages.
It has lists of all the foods she'd ever heard of. Next to the names of the food were 4 collunms 'fat' 'protein' 'carbs' and last but not least 'calories'.
Lily started to read it carefully try to memorise what she could before going back to class. After a few minutes she picked up the book to drop it back at her dorm. Before she could pack up she heard someone move behind her. Lily jumped a little as if she has been caught with a murder weapon.
"I know a charm for that."
The voice came from Emmeline Vance.
A Ravenclaw 5th year. Emmeline Vance was a tall girl ,she was very slim with dark blue eyes and black waves of hair.
She had a very delicate features yet she seemed more mature than 16. She had smudged eyeliner lightly around her eyes highlighting their colour. She wore her uniform messily. Tie loosed and jumper off. The top 2 buttons of her shirt undone. Showing the slightest peak of her sharp collar bones.
Lily remembered being friends with Emmeline in first year. She was tall for a girl even then and a little on the chubbier side though not drastically. She was a quite girl in first year. Always anxious about something or another. Lily remembers finding her crying in the library because she missed home and befriending her after this.
Though Snape was never kind to Emmeline when Lily invited her to join them.
He would tease her for being a crybaby or Snigger at her and "mispronounce" her surname as " Emmeline Vast".
He never relented until eventually Emmeline started to avoid him
and even Lily.
Emmeline looked so different now though there was no resemblance to that crying girl in 1st year.
From what she had heard of her the same went for her personality.
Girls would gossip frequently about Emmeline Vance. How she would miss school terms and come back looking different. How she'd be so high on something or another she'd pass out in halls. How she would skip periods to smoke out her dorm window. Lily had even heard that Emmeline was on heroine like the American rock stars and that's why she looked so thin.
"What?" Lily said confused and embarrassed of her reading material.
"For reading calories I mean." Emmeline said " I know a charm."
casually. "It would look weird if you just carried that book around or read it before bed you know."
Lily was shocked. Why did Emmeline know that charm it wasn't as if she needed to lose weight. She was very slim.
Lily felt a pang of jealousy at this.
"How,Why do you know-" Lily started.
"Cause I didn't want to carry that big ass book around." She said as if it was clear.
"But you don't need to lose weight?" Lily was shocked surely Emmeline realised this.
Emmeline just shook her head like there was something Lily wasn't understanding.
"Maybe not to you." She said plainly after a second or two.
"When did you get back?" Lily asked. Although she hadn't considered her a friend in a while Lily still worried about Emmeline hearing everything she did.
"Last week. I wanted to be out by the start if term but they wouldn't let me."
Lily had heard through the grape vine that Emmeline had been sent to Rehab for her drug addiction. It was a relatively new form of treatment, but supposedly, it was intense.
"Did it help." Lily said, concerned.
Emmeline gestured toward the book on calories on the library table. Then, she waved a hand toward the bookshelf. "Well considering I'm not in the Hall right now I guess not." She said sarcastically.
"What?!" Lily hushed her voice "Emmeline were you , using in the library?" She said clearly worried.
Emmeline snorted.
Lily didn't see what was funny.
Maybe she was laughing because she was high?
"Lily ,"she said when she stopped laughing
"I'm not a junkie ."
"Oh I'm so sorry Emmeline." She said embarrassed. "It's just I heard people saying you were in rehab again."
"I guess you could call it that."
"But you aren't an addict?"
"Nope."
"Than why were you there?" Lily was so confused by this conversation.
"It was a clinic. For eating disorders."
"They sent me there to fatten me up again. Clearly" She gestured at her skinny body.
Lily had heard about those before. When girls don't eat for weeks to get sickly thin.
Poor Emmeline she thought.
No wonder she looked so different.
She came back in 3rd year an entirely different girl and was in and out since.
Hearing about her brother Lily assumed it was family problems. Then with all the rumours she thought addiction. But this was just as shocking.
Emmeline was beautiful. In Lily's opinion her body was perfect she really didn't see why she wanted to lose more weight.
I mean she understood herself wanting to lose a few. It was pretty clear she was podgy.
But Emmeline was flawless if a little too thin.
Lily guessed whatever Emmeline did. It worked. And Lily Evans was nothing if not determined.
"Do you have that charm?" Lily asked looking at Emmeline hopefully.
"You sure you want it ?"
Lily looked down at herself then back up to Emmeline.
"Yes."
..............................................
hi everybody. Thank you for reading this far ♡♡. I added Emmeline Vance as a sort of parallel to Lily in this chapter. I'd love to get some feedback because I'm not really sure how I feel about it.