*Harry Potter AU. OCs in Harry Potter Universe.*
One
“Oooh!” He moaned. “It hurts, it hurts!”
His bulging belly was red and hot. He didn’t remember exactly why he felt sick, he just knew that it was terrible. He tried curling up in a ball but that just sent spasms of pain through his already aching middle. Then he laid on his back but that just stretched out his stomach even more and made it hurt worse. Eventually, he just scrunched up on the couch with his knees near his chest and his arms cradling his belly protectively. Slowly, he drifted into fitful slumber.
He was woken by a cool touch on his forehead. He looked up to see the face of another boy in Ravenclaw house, though it wasn’t one he recognized.
“Ben, you’re burning up. Why are you down in the common room and not in bed?”
Ben was confused. Why was he here? Why hadn’t he gone to bed? “I don’t know.” He shook his head and then wished he hadn’t. A bubble of nausea rose in his stomach. He looked down at himself and realized his shirt had ridden up a little, exposing a sliver of his swollen belly. Guiltily, he pulled it down, glancing up at the other boy to make sure he hadn’t seen.
He noticed that, although this boy seemed familiar to him, he wasn’t exactly sure of his name. He didn’t think they’d been formerly introduced, although the boy obviously knew him.
“Um,” he said shyly, “What’s your name?”
“I’m Sam. Sam Gillespie.”
“Ben Killinger. But you seem to know that already.”
All of a sudden, Ben felt like he was going to be sick. He must have looked a little green because Sam asked if he was ok. Ben shook his head no, right before throwing up on the carpet in front of him. Which also happened to be where Sam was standing.
He puked all over Sam’s shoes. Sam would have been mad, but Ben was clutching his middle and he looked really awful. He was sort of hunched over and just… well… y’know. Really pitiful, the poor thing.
Sam rubbed Ben’s back until he thought the worst of it was over. “Do you think you can stand up?” he asked Ben.
“I’m not sure,” the sick boy replied, coughing slightly. “I’m sorry. I got sick on your shoes.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sam said gently. “They’re just shoes.” With a wave of his wand he got the sick out of the carpet and the worst of it off his shoes. He would deal with them later.
“Can you stand up?” he asked again.
Ben tried to get into a sitting position but even from where Sam was standing he could hear Ben’s stomach fiercely protesting. Ben attempted standing, but he gasped sharply, putting a hand to his middle and then sitting down abruptly again.
“I guess that’s a no, then,” Sam sighed. Ben nodded miserably, his stomach gurgling angrily at him.
“Do you want me to get Madam Pomfrey? I’m sure she has a potion that could soothe your stomach.”
Ben shook his head. “I doubt I could keep anything down at the moment. Oww!” He tried to hold back a whimper as another cramp hit.
“Well, we can’t leave you here. The other students may be unsettled. Do you mind rooming with me for a while?”
Ben made some sort of consensual noise and then rapidly gestured he was about to be sick again. Sam kindly conjured a bucket.
About ten minutes later, Ben’s second puking episode was complete. Sam got rid of the bucket. “Since you can’t stand, I’ll have to carry you,” he said, matter of factly.
Ben looked skeptical. Sam was a skinny boy with a small frame, most well known for studying through meal times. Ben on the other hand was a stocky, tallish boy who happened to have a gut full of who knows what at the moment.
“Don’t you think I can do it?” Sam’s brown eyes looked down into Ben’s green ones. “Here, put your arm around my neck like this.” He proceeded to pick Ben up bridal style. “Tell me and I’ll put you down whenever you need.” Ben was not light, especially not now. Sam was surprised that he was able to hold this much weight in his arms.
Carefully, he navigated his way up the stairs and into his room, trying to walk as smoothly as possible, so as not to jostle his unhealthy burden. Gently, he laid Ben on the bed. “Try to get some sleep, if you can. There’s a bucket here for you if you need it.” Sam dimmed the lights and then tried to get comfortable on the floor.
Ben’s stomach was surprisingly loud but Sam had heard stories about the snoring. There was none of that. He had nearly drifted off to sleep when he heard a quiet noise. Not the unhappy noises of Ben’s stomach, but something more human. He lay quiet until he heard it again. A small whimper.
He crawled closer to the bed. It was definitely Sam. He stood up, still hiding in the shadow. A little moonlight shone through his closed window onto the bed. Ben was there, his shirt pulled up and boxers down quite a ways. Now Sam could see the uncomfortably large bulge of his friend’s belly. Ben grimaced and twisted his fists in the sheets as another spasm of pain skittered across his middle. Sam could see the sheen of sweat all over him and hear the quiet moans escaping his mouth.
Sam climbed onto the bed and Ben tensed. “I’m sorry. Did I wake you?” he whispered.
Sam ignored the question. “How much does it hurt?”
“I’m ok, really,” the boy answered.
Sam lightly rested his hand on Ben’s stomach. It was radiating heat and Ben was shaking all over. Sam could feel him pulling away from his touch.
“How much does it hurt?” he asked again.
“K-kind of a lot,” Ben stuttered. “Please stop.” Ben clenched his fists in the sheets and squeezed his eyes shut as another shot of pain stabbed through his middle. Sam felt Ben’s stomach become almost rigidly hard as he tensed from the pain.
“Please… Stop.” The boy whimpered as he slowly relaxed. “Hurts…”
Sam thought he might have seen a tear in the poor boy’s eye.
Gently he ran a finger over the tight, hot skin. Ben shivered and moaned. Sam placed both hands on the round bulge, lightly rubbing circles on it. While Ben was glad of the coolness, he was very hot, the pressure was getting increasingly uncomfortable.
Quickly he pushed Sam’s hands away and leaned over the bucket, barely making it in time. Sam rubbed his back instead, removing his sweat soaked shirt entirely. Ben found this more comforting. When he had finished, however, Sam wouldn’t move so he could lay down again.
“If this is the only thing that you can do to relieve the pressure, it would be wise to get it all out at once.”
Ben moaned but he didn’t really have much choice. Once Sam’s hands started kneading his poor stomach, there was no going back.
It was nearly three by the time nothing else would come out. Ben’s stomach was very uncomfortable but he felt a little better. Suddenly, he was very dizzy and very tired. He leaned back against Sam. “Thank you,” he whispered, before falling asleep completely.
“Anytime,” Sam whispered into Ben’s sweat soaked hair. He kissed the sleeping boy, before falling asleep in the bed beside him.
Being up so late didn’t seem to affect sam’s schedule. He was up at five, studying for a test in care of magical creatures. After doing his morning calisthenics, he took a shower, then went back to studying until classes began. He came back to the dorm around lunchtime to check on Ben.
This wasn’t a regular episode, he was sure. That amount of swelling wasn’t typical for food poisoning and the food in the great hall was never bad. though he didn’t have much experience eating it, he knew that much. Maybe Ben had contracted some disease. Sam wasn’t sure, but as Ben was his patient it was his duty to take care of him.
Ben was still sleeping and Sam hated to wake him but it was necessary. He shook Ben gently.
Ben rolled over and snuffled into the pillows. “Five more minutes. Please?”
“Nope. I need to assess your condition. You don’t even have to get out of bed, just sit up.”
“Fine,” Ben muttered. He pulled himself into a sitting position, wincing at the movement. His messy brown curls were in disarray, and the creases of the sheets were imprinted on his cheek.
“How are you feeling?” Sam asked him.
“Sleepy.” Ben yawned grumpily.
“It still hurts but I’m not feeling nauseous or throwing up anymore so that’s a plus.”
Sam put a glass of pumpkin juice on the bedside table. “Speaking of throwing up…”
Ben groaned. “I can’t drink anything right now. It’ll make me sick again.”
“You need to replenish your fluids. do you have any idea how much you actually threw up?”
“I don’t want to think about it”
Sam ignored him. “A gallon and a half. How did you even fit that much in your stomach to begin with?”
“Wait, we’re you trying to?”
Ben looked away. “Maybe.”
Ben looked like he was going to say something but then he just shook his head. “no reason. Probably a dare. There was the trip to hogsmeade yesterday, and a big dinner, and then the elves brought me a snack and… I don’t remember after that.”
“Just feeling really awful and you bringing me up here and making me puke my guts out. Thank you by the way.”
“You’re welcome. Now drink.”
“Damn. I was hoping you’d forget about that.”
“I have an exceedingly good memory.”
Ben downed the drink far faster than Sam had intended him to, then wrapped his arms around his tortured middle, a pained expression on his face. “I told you it would make me sick.” His stomach gurgled unhappily.
“You weren’t supposed to chug it, Ben.”
“How was I supposed to know that?”
“I assumed it was common knowledge. When feeding an upset stomach, do it slowly, with light food and drink, or you may have a relapse of the previous episode.”
“You’re telling me,” Ben replied, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. It was obvious the pain was at least as bad as last time, if not worse.
Sam climbed onto the bed and reached for ben’s belly but Ben pulled away. “I’m done puking for the day. Don’t do what you did last time.”
“This time it should have a different effect. Hopefully the motion of my hand will soothe your pain.”
Ben sighed and let Sam massage his stomach. At first it hurt more but after a few minutes the pain began to subside and the feeling became more enjoyable. Ben didn’t tell him to stop so Sam didn’t even though he could feel ben’s muscles relaxing as the tension eased. Eventually, the signal came that lunch hour was over and Sam had to go to class. Ben whined as sam removed his hands. “Don’t stop. That feels so good.”
“I have to go to Potions now but I’ll come back around dinner. You should go back to sleep.”
Ben pouted but stayed in the bed, curling up inside the blankets like a caterpillar in a cocoon. Sam blushed at his thoughts. Some part of him wanted to cuddle with the cute, chubby boy. Ben drifted into a fitful slumber.
Ben shoved the last chocolate bunny into his mouth chewing furiously. His stomach was so swollen that his shirt wasn’t even trying to cover it and there was chocolate all over his sticky hand and face. “You can do it,” Garrett cheered him on. “You’ve got ten seconds.”
Ben swallowed the last bit of the bunny and opened his mouth, showing Garrett that there wasn’t anything else. Garrett slammed the button on the stopwatch. “Great job. you've got five seconds to spare.”
Ben flashed a chocolatey grin and let out a long breath, his huge gut sagging into his lap. “Just under ten minutes. My best time yet.”
Garrett looked appreciatively from Ben’s bulging stomach to the empty Easter basket, previously filled with ten pounds of candy sent by ben's great aunt. “I definitely couldn’t eat that much.”
Ben was having a little trouble breathing, as his stomach was now crushing his lungs, so he just nodded.
At that moment, the door swung open and ben’s parents walked in. They were pompous, proud people, the kind you always see walking around with their noses in the air. His mother had long, blonde hair and his father was balding, with strict black glasses perched precariously on his long nose.
“What is the meaning of this?” His father thundered.
“Aunt Jemima said specifically to share. This does not look like sharing to me,” his mother said disgustedly.
“I will not have a fat pig for a son,” his father roared jabbing a finger into ben's bloated belly. “Get thin or get out.”
“And this friend of yours, he was encouraging you. I don’t think that’s a very healthy relationship to have. We’ll be escorting him out now and not back ever.”
Ben sat, stunned for minute. He knew his parents didn’t approve of him but he had no idea how much they hated him.
They left the room, dragging Garrett with them. Ben sat on his chair, staring into space, trying to understand what had just happened. He looked down at himself. He was a gross, disgusting mess, with chocolate and spun sugar dripping down off his chin into the folds of his gut. He gripped the rolls of fat all over him and shook them, willing them to go away. He was fat and worthless and he deserved the treatment he was receiving from his parents. Obviously he should be shunned. No one would ever want to be caught dead in the company of a monster like him. His weight suddenly made the chair collapse underneath him. He began to cry, quietly so his parents wouldn’t hear. He was a disgrace to humankind. He should just kill himself and get it over with.
He heard a knocking on his window. He knew it was Garrett. Whenever either of them were grounded from seeing each other, Garrett would always leave politely and then climb up the trellis to ben’s bedroom window, where Ben was usually confined. Ben got up and opened the window, hoping that since Garrett had seen him at his worst, he wouldn’t be too horrified by his current state.
Garrett climbed through the window, then looked him up and down. “You’re a mess, you know that? Let’s get you cleaned up.”
Ben was basically helpless, too overcome by tears to do much of anything so Garrett led him into the bathroom and set up a shower for him. He helped Ben take of his clothes and then started talking through the curtain as Ben washed himself.
“Listen, I know you’re parents can be strict and they don’t understand you but I think they see being overweight as a serious health issue.”
“THey just hate me. And I deserve it,” Ben blubbered from behind the curtain.
“Nobody hates you. It’s gonna be alright,” Garrett tried to assure him.
“No it’s not. I’m fat and ugly and stupid and I should just kill myself.”
“Don’t say that. What would I do without you? Life would be very boring if I didn’t have a friend.” Garrett was getting concerned. He knew Ben sometimes had depressive episodes but he’d never seen anything like this. Were Ben’s parents really that hard on him or was this him being hard on himself?
The shower turned off. “I’m done. Could you go out while I dry off? Just for some privacy?”
“Sure,” Garrett said, as he grabbed all the things that Ben would have been able to harm himself with. “I’m out now.” He closed the door but stood nearby, concerned for anything Ben might try.
Ben looked at himself in the full length mirror. His curly hair dripped on his chubby cheeks. A thick neck led down to broad shoulders that sagged with the weight of heavy arms. Man boobs hung over several rolls of fat that stuck out over th edge of his boxers. His thighs were so huge he could see the multiple ripples when he tapped them. Pudgy feet looked red and swollen from holding up the weight of his bulbous body. There had to be some way to make himself less hideous.
Maybe he could get rid of the food inside him. He knelt in front of the toilet and stuck his fingers down his throat. Nothing happened at first so he tried again and nearly choked as a chunk of barely digested chocolate plopped into the toilet bowl. He could still tell what part of the rabbit it had been. It was disgusting, like he had pooped out his mouth and his throat burned with the acid. His stomach convulsed as it brought up more of his meal. The experience was uncomfortable but it got the job done. He didn’t realize quite how much he had eaten. It took a long time to get it all out.
Garrett could hear him puking from outside but he thought that Ben didn’t need to be more embarrassed by his presence. “Are you ok?” He called through the door.
“Um,” a wave of puke came out of his mouth before he could answer. “The sugar isn’t agreeing with me, I guess.”
Garrett really wasn’t surprised. That experience would have made anyone sick. He was feeling a little queasy himself, thinking about how Ben was getting in trouble for something that had been his idea all along.
After about a half hour, Ben thought he was done. He flushed and washed his hand, which was dripping with bile and saliva, and then opened the door while he brushed his teeth. “That was really gross,” he said through a mouthful of toothpaste.
“Yeah,” Garrett agreed. “Are you feeling any better?”
“Not really,” Ben admitted after rinsing and spitting. “I’ve got a headache and my throat is sore and my stomach hurts.”
“Well, then a nap is just what the doctor ordered.”
Ben just nodded, suddenly feeling exhausted. He climbed into bed and Garrett pulled the covers up to his chin. “Sweet dreams.”
But Ben didn’t have sweet dreams. He had nightmares about being chased around his house by all the food in the fridge. Finally he decided to eat it so it would leave him alone but it just kept coming. he ate until he was suffocating from being buried under a pile of his own fat. Then it started to jiggle and he was woken up by Garrett shaking him.
It was the next morning, although it had been barely midday when they’d last seen each other. “You were screaming. Are you ok?”
Ben nodded. “It was just a nightmare.”
“Are you feeling any better today? I brought you some soup.”
Bens stomach clenched at the thought of eating something. “Sorry, I don’t think I’m feeling up to it right now. My tummy’s still feeling a little tender.” He rubbed his belly, trying to ease the cramp and inadvertently running his hands over his rolls.
Garrett noticed the movement. “It’s been a while since you ate and you really need to get something in your system. If I rub your belly for you, will you eat some of this?”
“I’ll try” he would do anything to make everything stop hurting so terribly.
GArrett got in the bed and rubbed his stomach until he felt better. “Time to hold up your end of the deal.”
Ben managed to eat a few bites before his stomach loudly protested and he had to run the bathroom, barely making it. Not much came up but he dry heaved for a while until Garrett came in to try and calm him down. “It’s ok. You don’t have to finish it or eat anymore.”
“I don’t think I could if I wanted to.”
“Are you sure this is you feeling sick still or do you just not want to eat anything?”
“Why would you think I don’t want to eat anything?”
“Did you make yourself throw up yesterday?”
“A warm shower should have calmed your stomach down, not made it worse, and while excessive crying can induce vomit, you were in the state of mind where it’s would be common for you to do it yourself.”
“Oh.” Ben looked down. “Well, I didn’t do it on purpose this time.”
“Physically, no. Emotionally, probably.”
Ben was getting annoyed with Garrett’s scientific talk. “So what if I don’t wanna eat anything? Being ‘clinically overweight’ is unhealthy. You said so yourself. Maybe I’m just trying to be healthy.”
“Not eating isn’t a good way to lose weight. Eating smaller portions and things like salad and doing lots of exercising is a good way.”
“So I’m not even good enough for you now, huh? Fuck off.” Ben was pissed. He got on his bed and wouldn’t speak to Garrett until he left, even though Garrett assured him that he didn’t hate him and his actions were perfectly understandable under the circumstances. Eventually Garrett climbed out the window and Ben cried himself to sleep. He kept waking up every few hours, shaking from one nightmare or another, though usually it was the original one about food. Garrett came back a couple times everyday with a bowl of soup. He tried to comfort Ben while he was there but Ben still wouldn’t speak to him. He left the bowl of soup there every time. Soon there was a row of bowls of cold soup under the window. Ben’s parents had gone on a business trip so they weren’t home for any of this.
At the end of the week, Garrett was climbing out the window when he fell. The window was several stories up so Ben knew he was dead. He was devastated. He didn’t eat anything before the funeral and he nearly passed out during it from all the standing up and sitting down. Everyone was mad at him and blaming him for Garrett’s death, as it was obvious how he had died. Ben blamed himself too.
When they got home, he retreated to his room, which was no surprise to his parents, as they basically ignored him. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Ben sobbed into his bed. His eye caught the row of soup bowls. “All you ever did was try to help me.”
He drank the first bowl, and then, not having eaten for a week and a half , he proceeded to eat the rest of them. In this starved, wild state, he didn’t even taste it so it was only on the last bowl, where a skin had covered over the congealed soup, that he realized most of these had gone bad. He finished the last one anyway and then proceeded to the bathroom. He stuck his finger down his throat and puked everything up. Then he sat in the tub and cried, whispering, “I’m so, so sorry” for hours.
Sam entered his room around dinner time. He needed to do more exercises. He had skipped his lunch time session in favor of taking care of Ben, but he really needed to do it now. Not having it done was making him feel anxious and jumpy.
He glanced fondly at the lump that he knew was Ben. The poor kid was still sleeping. He wondered what had put such a strange notion inside the kid’s head. Eating till he puked didn’t sound like a great form of entertainment to him. Then again, eating at all wasn’t a great form of entertainment.
He heard a whimpering from the bed and frowned, Ben's stomach shouldn’t still be hurting him unless something was very wrong. He walked over the the side of the bed closest to the lump, trying to see his face. Tears flowed down the curly haired boy’s cheeks. He was whispering, “I’m sorry,” over and over.
Sam shook him gently. “Wake up. It's alright. You’re ok.” He tried to sooth the panicked boy, who seemed to think he was someone named Garrett. “It’s Sam. Remember me? You’re in my bed at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You had a nasty stomach ache last night but you’re feeling better now, I hope.”
Ben calmed down enough to remember where he was but he was still crying and very upset. “You just had a dream. That’s all it was. A dream.”
“It wasn’t just a dream.” Ben kept shaking his head. “It wasn’t.”
Sam realized that this situation had become something too difficult for him to handle so he quickly apparated them to Madam Pomfrey at the hospital wing. She put Ben into a bed to look at later, as she had some more serious cases to attend to first. “Why aren’t you down at dinner, Sam? You need to get some meat on your bones. Go there now.”
“Yes ma’am,” he replied, jogging out the infirmary and back to his dorm. As he began on his many set of crunches, push ups, jumping jacks, candlesticks, and the like he thought about adding a jog to every session. He needed to be stronger if he ever had to carry Ben somewhere again, which he feared would happen soon.
Since it was already so late, Ben stayed in the infirmary overnight. Sam got up extra early so he could go see him before class. Ben was still sleeping so he asked madam pomfrey how he was doing. “He’ll be fine soon. He’d just had a bad dream about an old friend who died and was nearing hysterics. I gave him a sedative which should keep him out for a while. He was very dehydrated as well, so I’m using an iv to give him more fluids.”
“I’m so sorry. I forgot to mention that yesterday. Wednesday night he overdid it a little in the eating department and had a rough next day, which is why he wasn’t in any of his classes. I’m sure you understand and this should explain the dehydration.”
“That makes a lot of sense, dear. So you were nursing him through that? I hope you didn’t neglect any of your studies.”
“No ma’am, I’ve been very attentive in all my lessons.”
“You should be more attentive at meal time. I have a mind to make you get on a scale-“
He interrupted her. “Could I have a stomach soother? I’ve been feeling a tad under the weather myself and if I don’t use it, I’m sure Ben will.”
“Oh, are you two rooming together now? I’ll have all of Ben’s things moved to your dorm then.”
Before sam could protest, he had to dash off to class, or he would be late. This would be an interesting experience that he was not looking forward to.
At lunch, Sam returned to his room, eager to begin his routine. When he arrived he saw Ben, nearly finished unpacking. They’d even brought him his own bed. This made the room sizably smaller but sam would have to deal with that for now. He began doing jumping jacks with squats, as Ben put his clothes into a dresser. “How are you doing?” Ben asked between breaths.
“Pretty well, actually. Madam Pomfrey gave me a stomach soother as well so you don’t have to share yours. I’m going down to lunch in a minute. Care to join me?”
Sam grimaced at the thought but tried to pass it off as a cough. He had moved on to alternating sit ups and push ups. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’ve got a lot of work to catch up on. I’ll see you around, though.”
Ben made a skeptical face. “Is that sweat till you drop workout routine all you’re busy with? I wouldn't be able to keep that up for ten minutes.”
“No, it’s not. I have some studying to catch up on as well. You go on down and I’ll see you later.”
“Alright then. Want me to bring you anything from lunch?”
“No thanks. Actually, could you get me half an orange?”
“Just that? Do you ever eat?”
“Food doesn’t really agree with me. When I’m forced to eat, like today, I get some stomach soother off Madam Pomfrey. If I don’t take it when I eat, I’m like you yesterday morning with the juice. It’s not comfortable and it makes learning hard so I skip eating whenever possible.”
“Wow.” Ben shook his head. “I hope you get over that habit before you starve to death. See you ‘round.”
Sam nodded and after finishing his set of candlesticks moved on to burpees. They were harder which meant they would make him stronger.
Ben headed down to the great hall for lunch. The smell of food hit his nostrils and he took a deep breath. Half of him felt nauseated and half wanted to eat everything in sight, but he knew how to keep himself in check. The days after binges were the hardest, but all he had to do was stay in control and he’d be fine. He got his smile on and went up to his friends table.
“Where did you go?” Kinda asked. She was as close to a girlfriend as he was ever going to get and half the time she ignored him.
“As my new roomie, sam, would say, I was indisposed.”
“Sam? Who is he? Are you leaving me for a complete stranger?” Ben's old roommate, a tubby redhead named Gem, shoveled potatoes into his mouth as he spoke. He didn’t have ben's problem, he just really liked food. On desperate nights, ben would go through his trunk. That was something he wouldn’t be able to count on now.
“Sam Gillespie, the recluse who barely talks to people, never eats, and always gets the highest marks.” This came from violet, the smartest one at their table. Her hair was in strict black pigtails and because of her short stature, she was often mistaken for adorable.
“Actually, he asked me to get him an orange,” Ben interjected.
“The boy who eats nothing and the boy who eats everything. That will make a cute couple.” Flynn, a dark eyed Slytherin, snickered from his table directly behind them. He started to lead the slytherin table in a chorus of
‘jack sprat could eat no fat. His wife would eat no lean. And so between them both you see, they licked the platter clean.’
Ben started to feel sick again. He played with the eggs on his plate, which didn’t look so appetizing now. Flynn leaned over and whispered in his ear, “You eat no lean. That means you’re the wife.” Then he burst into laughter shouting, “Ben Killinger is a girl. Ben killinger is a girl.”
Ben got up and left the lunchroom, grabbing an orange for Sam on the way out. Gem caught up to him on the stairs. “Don’t take it so hard, Ben. You know they’re only teasing. I’m a lot heavier than you are.”
“I know Gem. I’m just… you know how I get when people call me fat. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright. Don’t let them get to you. I brought you some chips so you can eat in your room.” Gem handed Ben a package of french fries drizzled in cinnamon roll frosting. It was Ben's favorite snack.
“Thanks Gem.” Ben grinned.
“I knew that would get a smile on your face.”
Gem went back to the great hall and ben climbed up the stairs to his room. He opened the door to find Sam sprawled across the bed with his nose in a book. Literally, he had fallen asleep. Sam tapped his the dark haired boy on the shoulder. He woke with a startled snort. “Professor Flitwick. Of course I know what happened in the war of 1822.”
Ben laughed. “You fell asleep. Here, I brought you your orange.”
Sam looked agitated. “How long was I out? How much time did I waste?” He was so jittery, he dropped the orange, which rolled away. “Would you mind peeling that for me? I’d hate to get my books sticky.”
Ben quietly obliged as Sam concentrated extremely hard on learning whatever lessons he needed to learn. Ben absentmindedly ate a slice of orange before remembering it wasn’t for him. “Here.” He poked Sam in the cheek with another piece. Without taking his eyes off the book, Sam opened his mouth. It was small and pink and very cute. Ben almost dropped his slice of orange but managed to maneuver it into Sam's mouth. Sam made a face but chewed and swallowed obediently. Ben ate a few handfuls of his chips, getting his hands thoroughly messy, before feeding Sam another piece of orange. They continued in this way, Sam reluctantly eating his orange and Ben enthusiastically eating his chips and frosting. When the orange was gone, Ben put his finger in Sam’s mouth, jokingly.
Sam hadn’t tasted sugar in so long it sent a jolt to his brain and before either of them knew it, sam had licked all of Ben’s fingers clean. He sucked seductively on Ben’s pinky, looking into his eyes for the first time. They stared at each other, unblinking, until an unhappy noise came from Sam’s midsection and he curled up in a ball on the bed.
Ben was concerned. This happened to him all the time but it wasn’t supposed to happen to other people. Especially not from just eating an orange. Sam moaned, wrapping his arms around himself as tightly as he could.
“Where did you put your stomach soother?” Ben asked, trying to think of something he could do to help.
“Don’t remember.” Sam’s stomach gurgled and he could feel it churning inside him. This was way too much food. How had he eaten that much?
“You can just use mine,” Ben said, rummaging through his trunk as fast as he could. “Here. Do you know how much to take?”
Sam grabbed the bottle and chugged nearly half of it. “I’m very sure that was more than the recommended dose,” Ben said, as his friend turned a decidedly ill shade of green.
Sam just groaned and tried very, very hard not to throw up. He hadn’t done it for a while and the prospect was not an enjoyable one, especially considering the past few days.
Ben knew how to deal with puke, even if he didn’t know what to do with anything else. He propped Sam, who was disturbingly light, into a sitting position and conjured a bucket to sit between his knees. All Sam did was moan and clutch at his loudly complaining stomach.
“I didn’t expect just an orange to do this to you,” Ben said, surprised.
“A whole fucking orange?” Sam let out a sick sounding burp. If he was going to throw up, he would do it soon. “I said bring me half. I only ever eat two or three slices and then only when I have to. And never,” there was another, wetter burp here, “ever, sugar.” A thin stream of bluish orange vomit came out of Sam’s mouth. It landed in the bucket, thankfully. There was a lot of dry heaving but not much actual puke. Ben tried to rub Sam’s back, like sam had done for him but sam jerked away every time he came close.
The signal for classes beginning went off and sam pushed the bucket away, still coughing. He got up and gathered his books feverishly, knowing that he’d already be late. Ben tried to get him back to bed but sam said, “I can’t afford to miss my classes-ow!” He had tried to straighten up all the way but his stomach was cramping so hard he had to walk slightly hunched over to get anywhere at all.
“You’re not healthy in so many ways but right now you are not fit for class.” Ben started towards Sam, determining that he really would be miserable if he tried to continue his regular schedule. He would carry Sam back to the bed and tie him down if he had to.
“Don’t touch me,” Sam shouted, and apparated to his next class. Thankfully Ben had caught hold of Sam’s robe by now and was there to catch him when he passed out.
It was really sad how light the boy was. He couldn’t have been over ninety pounds but he was probably much less. Ben started to cry a little as he carried sam up to Madam Pomfrey. Why did everyone he was friends with have to do dumb shit that could kill them? He was tired of everyone being dead.
“Oh dear,” Madam Pomfrey said, as she looked down at Sam’s pale, pinched face. “He doesn’t look good. I knew this was going to happen someday. That boy never eats.” Ben nodded sadly as he placed the tiny frame on a bed.
He went down to dinner with his friends but he barely ate anything and he wouldn’t talk to any of them.
Ben wanted to visit Sam but he was afraid of what he might find. At the same time, Sam didn’t really have any other friends. He’d be alone in there. While fat shaming was more of a thing, thin shaming still existed, especially within the male community. Seeing as the ward was mainly divided by gender, at least for those bedridden, it couldn’t be enjoyable.
Gem seemed to be able to read his mind. “You care about him and you’re worried. That’s ok. It’s what friends do. Just like I’m your friend and i care about you and i’m worried because you’ve been acting weird for a while.”
Ben didn’t remember telling Gem about his problem but maybe he had found out? Either way, now was not a good time to talk about it. “You’re right. I think i will go see Sam,” he replied, avoiding the questioning look in his friend’s eyes.
The infirmary was all white and gray. Very monotonous. Ben actually enjoyed being in the infirmary. Even though he didn’t really enjoy being around other people when they were ill, the concept of diseases and medical science fascinated him. Whenever he was ill, and aware enough of his surroundings, he would pester the nurses who attended him with questions, not only about his condition and the tools they used, but other diseases that he read about in books. The workers humored him and his face had become both familiar and welcome there.
“Ben Killinger, here to see Sam Gillespie,” he told the woman at the door.
“I’m sorry, but that patient isn’t receiving visitors at this time.” The woman spoke in a slightly haughty tone.
“Um, is there a time that I could come back when he would be available?” The woman, who was a nurse that he was slightly familiar with, took pity on him and dropped her professional persona.
“To be honest, we have had very few cases like him. His weight is extremely low. Madame pomfrey has confined him to bed rest, but he wouldn’t comply, so they’ve strapped him in, and he’s not allowed any visitors until he eats something.”
“No offense to madame pomfrey’s judgement, but Sam isn’t the kind of person to whom friends are much of an influence. He doesn’t have many.”
“Well, you’re his friend, aren’t you?”
Ben stared at the nurse’s shoes sadly. “I was. We were roommates. But i’m technically the reason he’s trapped in there now. He probably hates me.”
“What do you mean, the reason?”
Sam related the stripped down basics of the previous day’s episode, leaving out any emotional parts that may have been there.
“An orange made him sick?” the nurse was incredulous.
“I saw it with my own eyes.”
“If that’s true, then you were right to bring him here. If all he eats is one orange every week or so, he’s on an elevator to death and the cables are broken.”
This line of thought did not encourage Ben in the least and he refused the lollipop the nurse offered.
He didn’t want to talk to Gem but he didn’t have anyone else to talk to. Gem was always there. Ben told Gem what the nurse had said. “Your friend must be really sick then, huh.”
“Yea. i hope they can figure out a way to help him get better.”
“I think you’re right about their method of getting him to eat. It’s not going to work. They need to try something else.”
“I don’t know. What makes you want to eat?”
Ben thought about it. Not much. Food was there. He was bored. It was a habit. He was a gross, disgusting pig. He had to remember not to say that last part. Ummmmm….
Gem handed him a chocolate frog. “Have some brain food.”
“No thanks.” Ben casually refused it. Gem made a face.
“Ben, you’ve eaten hardly anything since you moved in with Sam. Is he having some sort of bad influence on you?”
“Well, for the first day, i was sick, and since then i haven’t been hungry.” that wasn’t a lie. Also, he usually fasted a little after binging, whether he purged or not. This time he’d just done it without thinking.
“You may be telling the truth but this isn’t the only time it’s happened. I was your roommate for the past year and a half. You think i didn’t notice things?”
“Like when you stole food from my trunk. Like when you didn’t come to bed for hours after lights out. Like when you knew the kitchen elves by name and had long conversations with them during home ec. Like when you always smell like mouthwash except when you forget and then you smell like vomit.”
Sam was frozen. He thought he’d always been so good about hiding it, so sneaky. He never purged directly after a meal with his friends. He tried to make sure everyone was asleep when he came back to the dorms. He must have been getting sloppy to be smelling like vomit though. Those must have been really bad days.
Well, all the accusations were true. So what did gem want him to do about it? “I’ll pay you back for the stuff in your trunk.”
“I don’t want your money, although donations are appreciated. This isn’t about that.”
“You’re sick, Ben. You’re sick too. Maybe not the same kind of sickness as Sam, but definitely not healthy.”
“You know and you don’t care? Don’t you want to be better?”
“Honestly, i don’t know.” Ben laid back on the bed, staring up at the red canopy above him.
“Knowing you, you’ve probably already diagnosed yourself, haven’t you.”
“An eating disorder,” Ben said in a bored tone. He’d gone over it so many times. He wished it was something else. Something easier. “Generally categorized as EDNOS but if you had to pick one of the big three, bulimia, brought on by childhood trauma and emotional abuse.”
“Wow. Sounds super scientific, Mr. Psychiatrist. If you know what it is, why don’t you just take the pill and make it go away.”
Ben laughed humorlessly. “You make it sound so simple. Of course i would take a pill, if there was one.”
“Well then a tonic, tincture, salve, spell…” Gem listed things until Ben said quietly, “Gem, there is no cure.”
“What?”
“There is no cure!” Sam yelled angrily, sitting up. “Don’t you think if there was a pill i would have popped it as soon as i found out? It’s not like i enjoy dissolving my esophagus and teeth with the acid from my stomach. Or feeling like shit 100% of the time.”
Gem was speechless, staring after Ben as he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Normally, when ben was upset, he would binge. But since that’s what he was upset about right now, he didn’t know what to do. Crying, he made his way to a class that he thought he was supposed to be in. on finding out that he was completely wrong and was in one on the other side of the building, ben gave up. He wandered wherever his feet would take him, ending up outside of the infirmary. The nurse at the desk was about to tell him to shoo, like she did with all the other gawkers, but then she saw it was Ben. “Are you ok, honey?” she asked concerned.
“Yeah,” he muttered. “I just wanna see Sam. is there any way you could sneak me in, just for a minute?”
“I think the doctors are giving up on their plan. If he doesn’t get something in his system within 96 hours, he has a very high risk of heart failure. I can try to get you in.”
“Thanks.” Ben tried to flash the nurse a weak smile, failing miserably.
The nurse checked for other doctors, then dragged Ben over to a curtained of area of the infirmary. “In here.” She shoved him inside.
On a wheeled bed lay Sam, although he hardly looked like himself. In the pastel striped hospital gown he looked unnaturally thin. His black hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. When he saw Ben standing there, he turned away from him. Shifting the thin sheet that covered his legs seemed to take an immense amount of effort. He was so pale now that Ben could see the blue veins in his face.
“I don’t want to see you.” sam’s voice was rough.
“Please. The nurses say that you… you might die.”
“Don’t you think people will miss you?”
“It’s not like i have parents. Or friends. Or relatives of any kind.”
“That’s why they can’t put a feeding tube in me. They don’t need my consent, but they need the consent of my guardian and i don't have one. So we’re in a stalemate.”
“Until you have a heart attack.”
A look of fear flitted across Sam’s face. “That’s what they said?”
“Along those lines, yea…. Sam, i know you hate me right now, but i’m your friend. I don’t want you to die. I wouldn’t have put you in this situation if i didn’t think it would help you in some way.”
“They can’t make me eat, Ben. the nurse’s can’t. You know that right?”
“They’re just using the wrong incentive. I know that, secretly, you do care about other people way more than you’re willing to let on. I know you care about me. You took care of me when you barely knew me, even if it was in a very professional way. We still don’t know each other very well, but that just means i get to return the favor.”
Sam was touched by the way Ben spoke. Most people didn’t take an interest in him as a person, only in his ‘fantastic brain’ that won him top grades in every class. And also seated him with this lovely little devil.
“What are you going to do?”
“I will eat only whatever you eat.”
“But you’re fat.”
“To be honest, in the weight department, it will probably help me. But in the organ efficiency, and greater risk of heart failure, not so much.”
At that moment, both boys froze, as the sound of heeled shoes tapped past. Ben got under the bed. “I’ll be safe here as long as they don’t take you anywhere. And i’m not leaving until you eat, so we’ll both be hungry for a few days i guess.”
Every three hours, on the hour, a nurse came in with a glass of water. Sam didn’t get a choice about being hydrated. When he’d finish, she would ask if he wanted something to eat. For the first day, he said no every time. When the nurse left, he could hear Ben’s stomach rumbling. He felt slightly guilty, but since Ben wasn’t drinking any water either, he didn’t pity him. Water could be very filling.
About midnight, however, he heard quiet moaning beneath him. “Ben, are you ok?”
“Just experiencing a little thing called pain. *pant* Nothing i haven’t handled before. *ah!*”
This made Sam worry a tiny bit more. “Where does it hurt?” he whispered.
“Oh, just everywhere. The usual.” a few more moans and then silence. Sam knew what this was. The body would give it up after a little while, no longer than five hours. He checked in with ben again, three hours later. “You’ve been pretty quiet.”
At this point, eating wouldn’t make one feel any better. The pain just had to be endured. But when Sam heard muffled crying, he couldn’t do it anymore. “If i eat something now, you won’t feel any better, but i’ll eat something when everyone wakes up, ok?”
“Ok.” Sam could almost hear Ben smiling.
The next time the nurse made her rounds, Sam said that he was hungry. He asked for some corn, a low calorie, light food he thought his stomach would be able to handle. Overwhelmed at the amount of kernels, he only ate twenty, then handed the rest below. Keeping his promise, however, ben only at twenty as well. He noticed that Sam’s version of the problem was much easier to maintain than his, at least from underneath a bed. After the first long pain that encompassed his whole abdomen in pain and made him want to rip out his lungs, the regular hunger pangs were easy to ignore. Eating increased them but he wouldn’t have to worry about that much under here.
Having food in his stomach felt very weird and uncomfortable to Sam. it didn’t hurt, though, and that was his main concern. As long as he stuck to small amounts of low calorie stuff, he should be able to convince them to let him go soon. At least, that’s what he told himself.
Every time the nurse came in, he would have a little more corn. By the end of the day, he’d eaten a whole ear himself. The other one Ben had eaten, but he didn’t tell him that.
After a steady regimen of green beans, peas, cooked carrots, and more corn for a week, they asked him to eat fruit. Fruit was high in sugar, so before noon he only ate celery and after ate strawberries. They gave him a whole banana one day and he tried to eat it all at once but it made him sick and he was more wary.
The nurses discovered Ben when he kept sneaking out to use the facilities and was reported not coming to a lot of his classes, although that was a common occurrence anyway. Sam refused to eat if Ben didn’t stay with him, so they got Ben a chair and allowed him to work on schoolwork in the infirmary. Nobody knew about the real deal that was going down. Slowly but surely, Sam was gaining weight. He knew this but he didn’t know how much and it was bothering him immensely. On the other hand, Ben was losing weight fairly rapidly, eating only a sixth of what he had before. When the nurses weren’t looking, he would hop on the scale, proud of his new achievement.
Eventually somebody noticed their practiced symbiosis and put Ben in a bed. They then recovered together. They missed the rest of the school year but since neither had parents who cared, it didn’t bother them.
The end