The Bathroom Experiences
Disclaimer: Everything related to the Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I'm just having fun on the playground she set up for us.
This is my first fanfic in years, I hope I haven't forgotten how to write and my English is still decent enough… Harry Potter is my favourite fandom now, so enjoy this story… unfortunately I have no beta reader, so I hope there aren't too many mistakes in it. Reviews are welcome!
So you heard everything about Harry Potter's exciting life in the last years… but who ever questioned me about mine? Me - poor, forgotten, toilet-dwelling Myrtle. Nobody ever comes visiting me, except for potion-brewing, book-throwing or just to cry their hearts out…and I really would have wanted the blonde boy to stay with me… he at least seemed to understand what grief really was, not like Harry, who always promised to come back, but never did.
And none of them died at last… what a pity. No boyfriend for Myrtle in sight.
Well, then I will have to continue my sad existence alone… the other ghosts of Hogwarts are nice, though, but way too old for me.
So I have only my memories… memories of things I have seen… things they didn't tell you in the oh-so-glorious tales about Harry's years at Hogwarts.
But I, Myrtle, have seen so much inside these walls...
So let me tell you a story, and while nobody is interested in my living and dying, I am sure you will be interested in the secrets I witnessed during my after-death-dwelling inside these ancient walls… so follow me back in time, many years ago, let's leave my dreary toilet and move straight – into the prefect's bathroom…
It's been long time ago when this happened… it was one cold, rainy day in autumn. Nearly the whole school was out on the Quidditch Pitch to watch one of these boring matches. I had been flushed down the toilet several times this day and found myself every time in the lake, where the Giant Squid, which seemed to be in a very sullen mood, tried to chase me away with it's tentacles… not, that I'd wanted to be there, anyway. But all this injustice made me weary of my toilet and so I was looking for the warmth of a cosier place… the prefect's bathroom.
Nobody was in there when I arrived, which made me feel a bit lonely and unwanted, for the mermaid in the painting on the wall always used to ignore me. But it was not a bad place to be, and so I floated through the room, humming a little melody to myself. Just when I started to get bored with it, the door opened and a pretty young redhead entered the room, drawing a lean, pale boy with greasy black hair after her.
"Come on, Severus, you just need a hot bath" she moaned. When she had managed to tug him into the room, she slammed the door shut and cast a spell to lock it. "Take a rest and relax. No one will get here for hours, everyone is just out for the match, so take your time".
They hadn't noticed me so far, and I, pleased of this scene that promised to be a diversity of my monotonous everyday life, hid in the shadows and went on watching them, hoping that the boy wouldn't spoil it to soon, for he looked like he didn't fancy being here with her very much.
He struggled out of her grip and snorted furiously. "Why the hell can't you just leave me alone? I don't need you clucking me like a brood-hen! It would be better for you if you'd stay with the rest of your Gryffindor bunch!"
She made two steps backwards, watching him with an expression on her face that seemed both offended and hurt.
"Severus… I am your friend. I really am, but the longer I know you the more you make it difficult for me to like you. It would make me awfully sad if you don't want to be my friend anymore, but if it is that what you want, then tell it!"
His expression softened a little bit. "No, it's not what I want. But…"
But he wasn't able to finish the sentence, because a smile had broadened on her face that seemed to take his breath away as soon as the word "no" had slipped out between his teeth.
"I am very relieved to hear you say that", she breathed, and before he knew what was going on, the red-haired girl's lips brushed his cheek, placing a gentle kiss on it. Even from my hideaway I could recognize that he looked thunderstruck. Didn't happen often to him, being kissed by a girl, obviously.
While he stood there, looking at her as if she was someone he'd never seen before, the girl was still beaming at him.
"Fine!" She clapped her hands and turned to the pool in the middle of the room. "And now for the bath." Her hands were soon occupied turning the taps on, and different kinds of bubble bath began to flow. The boy named Severus had not moved, and when she turned to him again, he opened his mouth as if wanting to speak, but no sound came out.
"Ok", she clapped her hands, "so this will be fine for you. Oh, I love this room… it's good to be a prefect just because of being allowed to come here."
"Lily…" he managed to say at least, "Lily… stay with me."
"Erm…" she seemed to be unsure for a moment. "You mean…" her cheeks became slightly red, "Well… but you musn't look when I turn off my clothes. I promise not to look, either." Now it was his turn to flush - obviously, he hadn't thought of such facts like taking clothes off for taking a bath - and she giggled. And that look he cast on her… oh man, this guy had definitely a huge crush on the red-haired girl. But she didn't seem to notice.
I sat there in my hideaway and wished there would be a possibility I could come back to life and make a man look at me that way. This Severus boy wasn't really good-looking, but for that way he looked at her, I would have let him share my toilet, if he had died in that moment.
Meanwhile, Lily had told him to turn around, and while she was undressing, he stood there, his face turned in my direction. So I could watch the emotions on his face, that he didn't suppress then, believing himself unseen. There was so much written in this face… fret, shame, anxiety, and yet desire, and something nearly tender… I was awestruck, for I had never seen so many different feelings in one human face.
Sometimes it seemed he struggled with himself if he should say something or not, but he didn't manage to bring out one word.
Finally, Lily immersed her body into the foamy pool water and called: "OK, it's your turn now." When Severus turned around, he found her sitting with her back to him, her hands raised to her face to cover her eyes. He turned deep red again, hesitated, and then began to unbutton his robes with trembling hands.
I was excited beyond any measure… never before had I've got the opportunity to see a man naked. If I had still been alive, I wouldn't have dared to breathe for it would have been so loud they had surely heard it… the first time I was lucky for being dead.
When he had everything off except his shorts (which were a bit shabby, to be honest) he hesitated and looked at the girl. She still sat there with here hands over her eyes, only her head poked out of the water, bubbles floating all around her.
His hand slid to his underpants… my excitement grew immeasurably… and then he hesitated again, looked around… until his gaze fell in my direction. Then he began to move towards my hideaway. I startled… had he noticed me after all? He came nearer and nearer, then he stretched out his hand… and took a towel from a large pile that was placed on the bank after which I was hidden.
Recreating from the shock, I watched him wrap the towel around his hips, then drawing the shorts carefully down his legs, always looking around as if he expected to catch someone watching him. My former petrification turned into anger… I had been soo excited to see him naked, and what was he doing? Climbing into the pool with the towel on his hips, and not until he had placed himself in the warm water, he removed it and threw the wet thing on the fringe. How demure could someone be? Was he expecting to be watched by… ghosts or what? I was really disappointed.
Anyway, his mistrust couldn't be directed towards the girl, because she was still sitting there honestly, with her hands over her eyes. And she didn't remove them until he whispered: "You can look now."
Carefully, she removed her hands from her face and blinked. When she recognized him, sitting opposite her, she smiled and leaned back, placing her head on the edge of the pool, sighing pleasantly. "It's so cosy in here, isn't it? Aren't you glad that I brought you here?"
And faintly, he replied: "I would be glad anywhere if you were with me. Even on that stupid Quidditch Pitch."
She looked at him mindfully, and there was so much affection in her gaze when she said: "Oh Severus… I was so sad when I recognized our friendship did weaken more and more. But tonight, it is as if that had never happened… it's like the first time we ever met, on that playground, do you remember?"
From my point of view, I could see both of their faces, and so I was amazed to see that he was smiling… scarcely perceptible at first, but then the smile broadened over his whole face and he looked so happy and so different, it seemed to me he had been transfigured into another person. That smile changed his face so much, it made him almost attractive. And giving her that breathtaking smile, he whispered: "How could I ever forget?"
The look of his face seemed to capture her as well, she stared at him, fascinated, and her voice also turned into a whisper when she answered: "It's so wonderful to see you smile. You should do it more often, really."
And the smile deepened in his face, and he said softly: "Then you should make me do it more often."
Now she was smiling too, and suddenly, she crossed the distance between them, crawling on all fours, only her head and her shoulders protruding out of the water. She came to a halt short before him, gazing deep into his eyes, taking his face in her hands and saying with a regretting undertone in her voice: "Oh Sev… why did we diverge from each other so much?" He closed his eyes under her touch, taking a deep breath, then he looked at her, raised his torso a bit and placed his hands at her shoulders. "Don't speak, Lily. Don't speak now." His face was merely away from hers as wide as a finger.
And then, slowly, carefully feeling their way, their lips found each other. The kiss seemed to be so soft and gentle, it caused a strange prickling sensation in my stomach… this was eerie, because I was dead and although my mind and emotional status hadn't changed, all my bodily perception had vanished, but watching this inflicted me so much as a nearly physically reaction.
They deepened the kiss, and it seemed to last eternally. Finally, they came loose from each other, breathing hard, eyes half closed, and as soon as they both had regained composure, their looks searched for the other one, until the green eyes found the black. Closemouthed, they stared at each other in amazement.
Then again, they came together, this time more courageously, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and she grabbed his waist with both hands, and so they stayed for a long time, immersed in each other.
And one could think that this was the beginning of growing love, two people, fond of each other, who had just found the one to spend the rest of their lifes with… or at least the remaining school year. But the way my own life ended had taught me that things can be over very soon, sometimes just before they begin properly.
And so it had to happen… they had kissed, they had shot longing glances at each other in between, and now they sat together in the warm water, bubbles floating around them, her head placed on his shoulder, his arms wrapped around her. He was whispering in her ear, I couldn't understand the words, but his voice was full of warmth and affection.
After a while, she wriggled out of his embrace, stretched and said with an regretful undertone: "We have to go." He didn't look too delighted at this statement, but said: "I guess we have to." He was looking to the windows – it was already late afternoon, and the daylight began to fade.
She climbed out of the water, reached for a towel and began to dry herself. He remained inside, watching her. "When will I see you again?" he asked her, his voice sounding a little hoarse.
"Severus!" She laughed heartily. "Every day, I assume?"
"You know what I mean… you alone. Not with your foolish little Gryffindor friends around you."
She stopped laughing. "My friends are not foolish." she replied sharply. He remained silent, obviously he was aware that he had made a mistake. But he didn't apologize, either.
In Silence she continued her drying. Severus still didn't show the slightest inclination to come out of the water.
She grabbed her clothes, darting a short glance at him, whereupon he squintes his eyes hastily, and asked icily: "Are you planning to stay here overnight?"
He made the attempt to get up, but refrained then and asked her for a towel. She threw it at him rather ungently.
Wrapping it around his waist, Severus came out of the basin at last. Reluctantly, he moved towards Lily, who kept on pretending she didn't recognize him. Only when he stopped closely in front of her, the redhead raised her eyes. "I don't want you to be angry with me."
She sighed. "I don't want to be angry with you as well. But sometimes, you make it really hard for me to get along with you. Sometimes I ask myself why I even try to do so."
He looked abashed, red stains appeared on his cheeks. She looked in the opposite direction of my hiding place, and an unpleasant tension filled the room like the forerunner of an approaching storm.
"I wanted to ask you if you would like to come with me to Hogsmead next weekend" he whispered, barely audible, as if he himself did not believe Lily would agree to do so. "We could spend the whole day together, we could… do whatever you want." His voice held back at the end of the sentence.
Lily looked startled. "I think I'll never understand you… one moment, you are trying to offend me, next moment, you're asking me for kind of a date… because that's what it sounds like… you are the most peculiar guy I've ever met, you really are!"
He lifted his head, probably full of hope that she would be in a more placable mood now…
"But I'm sorry, I cannot go to Hogsmead next weekend. I've volunteered for this tutorial program that Professor McGonagall launched for those who have difficulties in different subjects, and it's my turn next weekend to help some Third Years with their spellwork."
Severus appeared to be disappointed, but not angry, and rolled his eyes when he heard the word "spellwork", what caused her to giggle.
"Yes, that's my weekend then – a bunch of third years and James Potter." And now she was rolling her eyes, obviously expecting him not to be seriously upset, while his face turned to stone as soon as the other guy's name had deserted from her lips.
"Ah. James Potter." He spat out the name with so much loathing and disdain that it made me quiver in my hideout. Lily felt visibly uncomfortable, too, she struggled to look in his face, but managed to keep her voice steady. "Yes. We're both told off to do the tutorials this weekend. It's not a pleasure for me to spend my free time with this jerk, I can tell you. He'll be full of mischief, as usual, and he won't teach anybody something sensible. I wonder how McGonagall hit the idea to let him do the tutorial, anyway." She said all this resentfully, but the anger in Severus' face did not vanish.
"It's always that Potter git", he ejaculated between clenched teeth. "When it comes to you, he is always around and he will always stand between us. He considers you being his prey, his little toy, and he won't rest until he gets what he wants…"
Whatever he had yet planned to say, the words never left his throat, because Lily had finished her hasty dressing and turned to him resolutely, one of her hands stretched out with spreaded fingers, a non-verbal way to say "stop" better than every word, because he silenced immediately.
While she struggled for words, tears broke their way, out of those remarkable green eyes down next to her nose and then over her cheeks, she fought for air and then squeezed out of her throat: "It's enough. I can't stand it any longer. There are those wonderful moments, like in the basin just some minutes ago… there is no one in the whole world I'd like to spend such moments rather than with you. And then… suddenly… you turn into a nasty and mischievous guy I don't want to know. I have always hoped you would relax over time, but it seems to get worse instead. And I don't want to spend so much time with such a two-faced person anymore. So don't ask me to see you soon… I don't know when I'll be able to see you again."
And she grabbed her things and ran out of the bathroom, leaving him behind. And he remained there for hours, staring into the empty basin, staring at the water and the coloured bubbles that floated through the air with an expression of self-loathing and dull exasperation.
Some weeks later, I heard from Nearly Headless Nick that he had called her Mudblood while she wanted to rescue him from Potter and his companions, and that was the ultimate breaking-off between them.
I think you all know how the story continued, but I sometimes remember this scene in the bathroom and I wonder what could have been… I think Lily has been happy in her short life, but Severus? A rather tragic hero, if you ask me. Although, not as tragic as me, naturally.