Draco's head whipped towards the door as he heard, "DRACO?" echo through the marble chamber. It was Harry. Draco jumped to his feet the moment he saw who it was. Padma squealed and struggled to cover herself with a towel.
"Bloody hell, Malfoy," Harry said, shielding his eyes in disgust. "Get a sodding tan will you? You've blinded me."
"What the fuck are you doing here? Get out," Draco mumbled, picking up a towel to cover himself. "You're not even a fucking prefect." He was right; Harry wasn't a prefect. Ever since Cedric had shown him the Prefect's bathroom during the Triwizard tournament in his 4th year, Harry had been using it. Harry didn't respond. "You're not allowed to be in here," Draco said when Harry remained silent.
"And what you two were doing is allowed?" Harry shot back. He was right too. Harry being in there was just as illegal as what Draco and Padma were doing. Draco sneered.
"Whatever, just get out," he spat. Harry let out a sigh of disgust and walked out of the room. Padma put her head in her hands, muttering about how embarrassing it was for him to have seen them.
Draco turned around, throwing his towel down in annoyance at the rude intrusion. Padma quickly gathered her clothes, looking up at Draco with red cheeks. "I...better go," she mumbled quietly. Draco nodded as she stood up. She stood there for a moment, wondering whether to say goodbye or to kiss him or what. Draco decided that matter for her by turning away and picking up a towel, ignoring her completely. She quickly left the room, leaving Draco to himself. He set the towel down next to the tub, slowly slipping himself back into the hot water with a sigh. He rested his head back against the towel he had put up against the edge and closed his eyes.
Harry left the bathroom, wandering back up the halls to the common room. He had planned on relaxing for a while in the tub, but obviously those plans weren't going to work so well. The party was still going on, but he had decided to leave and go to sleep. He and Shani had been getting along well until Hermione had come along, shitfaced as hell. If ever it wasn't obvious that Hermione wanted Harry for herself, this was not one of those times. Harry had wisely taken quick leave of the situation, making an excuse and running away.
He stumbled up to his room, flopping onto his bed. As he settled his head into his pillow, he heard a series of strange noises coming from across the room. He looked over to see that Ron's drapes were drawn, and that the noises were definitely coming from within. Harry smirked, wondering what silly girl was within those drapes this time. Hopefully not another 3rd year. Harry drew his own drapes, pondering about who it could be.
The next day, Hogwarts was like a Ghost town compared to it's usually bustling halls. The majority of the students had returned to their homes for Christmas by now. Harry rolled out of bed, thrilled to not have to go to class finally. He put on some of his clothes and walked down to the common room. It was unnaturally quiet with all of the students gone. Harry heard a strange grumble from across the room and turned to see Ron crumpled up on a couch, mumbling in his sleep.
"Ron?" Harry said aloud, walking to his friend. Ron leapt out of the chair at the noise, stumbling over his pant leg and only just catching himself on the arm of the chair.
"Wha? What's happening?" Ron slurred, looking around. Harry laughed.
"You git, go take a sodding shower. You smell like complete asshole," Harry snorted, crinkling up his face. It was true. Ron looked and smelled pretty bad. It was obvious that he hadn't changed out of his clothes and that he had done quite a bit of drinking. Ron looked at himself sleepily before heading off to the showers. Harry chuckled to himself, only then remembering about the strange noises he had heard last night. Suddenly he heard a loud noise coming from somewhere downstairs, followed by people screaming. Harry pulled out his wand, rushing out of the door. He ran down the stairs, making his way toward the commotion. His ears were met by a new noise as it sounded like thousands of people running through the halls. A few of the remaining students were running past Harry, fleeing from whatever was coming. Harry paused as the noise got closer and closer. Suddenly, he saw it.
