"Oh, it's you two again," Myrtle said aloud. This time she wasn't crying. She looked more curious as to why the twins kept their promise to visit her. Classes had just ended for the day, and she assumed that the students would be too busy with homework to be wandering the halls let alone make themselves present in her bathroom.
"Hello Myrtle!" the twins said with gusto. They began to set up their cauldron in the middle of the floor. Just like they had hoped, the loo was deserted- save Myrtle.
Fred began speaking to George, "What if we keep the supplies over near the window? It's colder and the breeze will keep the ingredients fresh."
"Yes I suppose so, but I'm just nervous that if someone walks in here they'll see them."
Myrtle's head swivelled back and forth between each twin and looked on at the equipment that they had brought into her abode. The boys seemed oblivious to her increasingly distraught nature.
"What are you doing?!" Myrtle shrieked at the redheads. "This is MY room and I will not have it be infested by the likes of you two! You're boys! And are obviously up to no good."
The twins stopped what they were doing and stared at her. Obviously it was going to take some charm and persuasion to get Myrtle to agree to their presence in her "room".
"Excuse us madam, for we only wished to keep you company while finishing up our work," Fred ended with a bow. George followed suit.
The ghost was taken aback, albeit felt a little suspicious. The twins could tell that this was new for her. Probably no one had ever willingly visited her.
"Why would you want to keep me company? Nobody likes me, least of all…" Myrtle flushed, "...attractive boys like yourselves."
The boys shared looks of glee. They had Myrtle right where they wanted her.
"Don't be silly my lady! Your presence is but a ray of sunshine compared to the other wenches we're around all day!" George complimented.
Myrtle giggled. Some color even seemed to appear in her translucent complexion. "Well alright then. You're welcome to stay," she conceded.
The boys spent rest of the afternoon huddled over a cauldron. Myrtle was surprisingly good company. She was helpful if nothing else. She was able to give them a few pointers on their potion.
"So, why are you brewing polyjuice potion anyways?" Myrtle finally asked when the twins began packing up for the day. It was almost curfew and Fred had just put a stasis spell over the concoction. They had made good progress and everything was the way it should be.
"Good question for another day Myrtle. We shall be back tomorrow. Don't let anyone in this bathroom, got it?" George instructed. "We trust you to watch over the potion. Do anything you have to do to keep people from entering."
The ghost took his word for it and nodded her head in consent.
Satisfied with her response, the boys headed towards the door.
"Thanks again Myrtle, see ya tomorrow!" said Fred.
For the first time in the history of Hogwarts, Myrtle smiled.
~.~
"T? You must be joking professor!" Fred whined.
George glanced down at his own returned Transfiguration essay and grimaced. His was no better than Fred's.
"I'm not joking, , your essay was an abomination," McGonagall lectured. "I suggest you spend more time studying and less time goofing off."
The old woman turned away and headed to the front of the room. George motioned to his paper so that Fred could see his score. Fred's frown only eased up a little bit when he discovered his brother's grade was just as terrible.
"We've got to spend more time thinking about school," Fred said during passing period. The people walking by turned at this and started laughing.
"Sheesh, it's like they've never seen us try to be good students before," Fred growled.
"That's probably because they haven't," George declared.
A few more minutes passed in brooding silence as the twins went down the hall to their next class, Herbology. Outside the castle they bumped into Seamus and Dean.
"Hey guys!" Seamus greeted. "Go on ahead Dean, I'll meet you at class."
Dean stopped and shot suspicious looks at the trio before moving on. Seamus grabbed the twins and pulled them into an alcove between a pillar and the castle wall.
"How's the potion coming along?" Seamus inquired.
"It's alright. Myrtle has weirdly been a big help, I'm glad we decided to brew in there," answered George.
"Has Dumbledore mentioned anything about us being in Myrtle's loo?" Fred asked.
"At first he didn't mention anything. But now that you've spent the past week with her, Dumbledore asked me to find out what was going on." At the twins' expectant looks, Seamus continued, "I told him that you guys made friends with Myrtle and he seemed fine with that answer."
"Good," George said. "And to keep up appearances we need to continue pranking random people."
"Those poor people," Fred added.
Seamus nodded slyly, "Anyways, I better go before I'm late to class." The brunette ran off into the castle.
The twins trekked down to the greenhouse. They were late.
~.~
~.~