The Potter Twins and the Goblet of Fire {4}

24. Where Our Voices Sound

"Because lately we've been all about our privacy, but we're not as alone as we would like to be" ~ Perfect Score, State Champs

Harry was quite angry with me after I told him about the clue Cedric gave me about the egg; told me that I should have told him earlier ('little bit hard when even hearing Cedric's name made you sulky, Harry') and after a few hours of arguing, we began planning our excursion.

Very reluctant to accept favours from Cedric, it takes some convincing before Harry agrees on using the Prefect's bathrooms; but finally, he agrees to it, and we decide to go at night so we have all the time we want to figure it out.

We planned it out very carefully, for we've been caught out of bed by Filch before, and it wasn't at all an experience either of us want to relive. The Invisibility Cloak, of course, is essential, and as an added precaution, we take the Marauder's Map, too.

On Thursday night, I sneak up to Harry's dormitory, and together we creep back downstairs underneath the cloak and begin the walk to the bathrooms.

It's rather awkward moving under the cloak tonight; it easily fits over Harry and I, but with the heavy egg and the open map, movement is made clunky and slow. Thankfully, however, the moonlit corridors are empty and silent.

When we reach the statue of Borris the Bewildered, a lost-looking wizard with his gloves on the wrong hands, I locate the right door, lean in close and whisper the password, "Pine-fresh" just as Cedric instructed.

The door creaks open and we slip inside, hurriedly shutting the door behind us before pulling off the cloak.

My immediate reaction is that it would be worth becoming a Prefect just to have access to this bathroom. It is softly lit by a splendid, candle filled chandelier, and everything is made of white marble, including what looks like an empty rectangular swimming pool in the middle of the floor. About a hundred golden taps stand all around the pool's edges, each with different coloured jewels set into the handles. There's also a diving board.

Long white linen curtains hang at the windows; a large pile of fluffy white towels sit in a corner, and there is a single golden-frame painting of the wall. It features a blonde mermaid, whose fast asleep on her rock.

We amuse ourselves for a while by playing with the taps, squirting each other and threatening to push each other in, before I make a move for one of the stalls.

"Hold on, just let me put on swimsuit on," I tell him. "You put yours on out here, yeah?"

"Swimsuit? Haylee, it's a bath," Harry deadpans.

"And you're my big brother; I'm not getting in there if you're not wearing - wearing - well, anything," I tell him, "we're close, but not that close, Harry."

"What do you propose I wear, then?"

"Your boxers?" I call out from the stall, beginning to change into my costume. And sure enough, when I return Harry is shirtless and has a white fluffy towel wrapped around his waist.

"I reckon Cedric's having you on," he states, as I turn on a series of taps to fill the pool.

"Pessimist," I shoot back darkly. "What are you doing?" I question, giggling as he stands up and walks across the room to me. "Oi! You shit!"

He shoves me straight into the bath, and I surface in a flurry of bubbles and curse words. Harry soon joins me, laughing hysterically, and quickly challenges me to a race up and down the pool.

I beat him, but only by latching onto his ankle and pulling him back.

"Did you just pull a 'Draco Malfoy'?" Harry questions, referring to Draco's foul in the Quidditch final last year, in which he held the end of Harry's broom in order to keep up. "He's a bad influence on you, I swear to God."