It all started with a little phrase. You know the prefect's bathroom on the fifth floor? One little overheard phrase. Not a bad place for a bath. And it was just Harry's luck that the sweet Slytherin girl who just asked him to the Yule Ball was still in earshot. She heard the words. Also saw how the colour rush to Harry's cheeks - though he protested that it was due to the cold - and caught the suggestive wink that Cedric gave Harry as they parted ways.
That was why Harry was now burrowed under 4 quits, refusing Ron's objections for him to miss out on ANOTHER dinner.
"Harry, come on" Ron protested, digging down through the blankets to find his best friend's arm to drag him out of the common room.
"It's only a rumour" Ron re-iterated for the 73rd time that week. "It'll pass"
"Ron's right Harry," Hermione chipped in. "This'll all blow over in a couple of days" she handed him a plate of food and gave him a sympathetic smile. "If it's all the same to you, Cedric has been bombarded with catcalls every time he walks into class late" she consoled and left Harry to mope over his dinner.
He was startled out of his moping by a paper ball hitting his head and falling onto his late, narrowly missing the puddle of gravy. He unfurled the ball and blushed furiously at the crude message.
My dearest Harry-kins,
I whomp my willow thinking about you every night. Join me in the bathroom later?
Cedric xx
Cheeks burning red, he shot a glance over his shoulder to see the elder Hufflepuff in mention aggressively hitting the arm of his friend with a book. After Cedric deemed his friend has received enough punishment, he caught Harry's eye and mouthed 'sorry'. Harry shrugged in response and turned back to this plate, burning the page with a quick spell, but he couldn't quite work out why the conversation had quietened to a whisper, nor could he work out why people were watching him furtively.
"Harry?" a soft, familiar voice spoke behind him. He turned to see Cedric standing there, a blush fading fast on his cheeks as he hitched his book bag a little higher on his shoulder. "Can I talk to you for a sec?". Harry nodded mutely and followed him out of the hall, studiously ignoring the whispers that ripped around the Great Hall, keeping his head low as he left the warmth of the room and into the dim coolness of the corridor.
"What's up?" Harry asked, taking of his outer robe and folding it over one arm. Cedric looked mildly confused, looking at him with wide grey eyes. "You asked if you could talk to me?"
"Oh" Cedric gasped, his mouth forming a little 'o' before huffing slightly. "You looked like you needed a break. I needed one at any rate" he smiled and adjusted his bag once more. "Care to join me for a walk?"
Harry fell into step beside him and adjusted his outer robe, shrinking it so he could stuff it into a pocket and walked silently beside Cedric. The silence was welcomed by Harry, their soft footfalls echoing in the empty hallways a pleasant change to the gossip-mongering that had been following the pair of them around. They took the stairs up to the fifth floor, and Harry realised where they were heading.
"Have you had a chance to go to the bathroom yet?" Cedric asked as he paused by the stature of Boris the Bewildered and cocked his head. "The password changed today and people will still be at dinner for at least another hour and a half."
"I haven't..." Harry began slowly, "but I don't have my egg with me" he finished. Pointing with his nose in the general direction of the Gryffindor Tower.
But it was a good as opportunity as any, so Harry and Cedric traversed the to the Tower and back, where Cedric stood in front of the correct door and whispered something that sounded very much like 'Lavenders Blue'. There was a distinct clicking noise and Cedric twisted the handle, leading the way into the dim bathroom.
The bath itself took up most of the room, a pool-like structure sunken into the ground. It was the most gorgeous room Harry had ever seen, almost worth becoming a prefect just to use the facility. The candle chandelier made the white marble softly glow with the flickering light and the diving board at one end of the pool shined dimly. White curtains adorned the large windows, and fluffy towels sat in a shelving cabinet in one corner. A large painting in a gold frame hung above the pool on one wall, depicting a beautiful mermaid on a rock who lay elegantly on a rock, her hair shifting every time she took a breath. She appeared to be sleeping, and Harry made the unconscious decision to whisper in the quiet room.
"It's amazing" he breathed, turning to find Cedric setting down his bookbag and taking off his outer robe.
"It's pretty cool isn't it. I love to come here and relax." he picked up a pair what looked like black swimming trunks, "put these on". He ducked behind a heavy waxcloth curtain that formed little changing cubicles, so Harry quickly changed into the bathers and folded his clothes onto a nearby stool. Cedric stepped out in a matching pair of trunks and Harry couldn't help but stare out of the corner of his eye.
Cedric's skin was paler than he thought, certainly paler than his face and hands, but what can you expect from someone who spends their days in the sun playing Quidditch. Like most Seekers - and like Harry himself - he was thin but had a well-defined torso and arms; you need to, to be a Seeker. Cedric caught Harry looking and winked, laughing as he started to turn on taps. "Getting a bit caught up in the rumours, are you?" he smiled, letting the air fill with the scent of freshly baked chocolate cookies, wood and leather. Harry scoffed.
"Yeah, I'm totally infatuated with you and your sparkly eyes'" he grinned and hefted the egg up. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
Cedric slipped into the pool and ducked under the water for a few moments, before extending a hand to Harry. "Come on in" he motioned before swimming out into the centre of the pool while Harry tested the temperature of the water. It was very warm, toeing the fine line of being too hot fantastically well, and he slid in with a sigh. Harry hadn't realised how sore he'd been lately, and the hot water soothed the kinks in his muscles right away. "It's good, isn't". Harry hadn't realised he had groaned out loud and sheepishly smiled at the Hufflepuff.
"It's so good" he agreed and collected the Golden egg from the side of the pool. "Now what?"
Cedric swam over and tread water in front of him, gently pushing the egg down below the foam and underwater. "Hold your breath and follow me"
Harry gasped in a breath and sunk underwater, opening his eyes to see Cedric twisting the gold leaf clasp so the edges of the egg fell over. Cringing away, he expected a blood-curdling shriek, but when none came, he looked over at the trophy. Its centre was gently glowing and golden bubbles rose from within. He looked at Cedric who tapped his ear then pointed to the egg. Harry tilted one ear towards the glowing egg, and he hear a clear melodic voice drift out from the golden bubbles
Come see us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this;
We've taken what you'll sorely missm
An hour long you'll have to look,
And recover what we took,
But past an hour - the prospect's black,
To late, its gone, it won't come back