The first week passed relatively slowly. It was a hard few days for
everyone, trying to adjust to life at Hogwarts. Anya had almost forgotten
how hard teaching was, especially due to the fact that the Ministry had
added extra syllabus to be taught this year. On Friday evening, she felt
ready to fall into bed and sleep forever. But she had a better plan.
Hermione had told her that there was a Prefects meeting on, expected to go
quite late. She had also given up the password to the Prefect bathroom, a
place Anya had always loved. She remembered as a student at Hogwarts, using
the luxurious bath as often as possible. Sinking into a fragrant, warm bath
would be just the thing to help her recover from her week.
At nine o'clock, Anya gathered up her wand, and her fluffy pink bathrobe. She made her way to the entrance of the bathroom. Upon announcing the password (Lemony scent) the painting (or statue I can't remember) swung open, revealing the Prefects bathroom in all it's glory. The massive bath with the glowing, gold fixtures. Pointing her wand at the entrance, Anya used a locking spell that she knew wasn't taught in school. She pinned back her hair and turned the taps on. Warm water flowed out, quickly filling the bath. Flicking another golden tap, Anya added vanilla scented foam to the water. Masses of dense, creamy bubbles spilled out of the tap, floating on the water. Anya quickly shed her clothing and lowered herself into the awaiting bath.
She allowed her head to rest on a curved edge of the bath. Closing her eyes, she drifted into a state of semi-sleep. The scent of the vanilla swirled around her, teasing her taste and nasal buds. The thick steam almost tasted sweet. Anya didn't know how long she'd been lying there, when she heard a noise at the doorway.
"There's someone in here!" she called out, sinking lower into the bath, just in case.
"I know," came the deep reply. Anya groaned inwardly at she saw Sirius walk into the room with a mischievous glint in his eye.
"What are you doing here?" she asked him, willing the bubbles around her not to burst.
"Same as you," he said, stripping off his robes. Anya looked away, but noticed he was wearing something underneath. Taking off his shirt, Sirius took in his surroundings. His sharp eye noticed Anya's wand lying with her clothes. He was still half-naked, with only his pants to come off. He looked at Anya, not saying anything. When his hand reached to undo his button, she looked away, studying the mermaid painting intensely. When she felt ripples in the water, she dared to look in his direction again. Sirius was sitting at the other end of the bath, he knew his limits. He didn't approach her in the water, instead lazily making patterns in the foam with his fingers, letting them trail along the surface.
They sat in silence, Anya not daring to move, in case the bubbles around her popped or floated away. Sirius, however, continued to collect the foam and try to create it into shapes. When he had finished, he blew on them, so the bubbles would float off everywhere. After making one particularly large foam duck, Sirius blew it to pieces with gusto. Foam shot up into the air, landing all over the bathroom. A large clump of bubbles landed on Anya's head. Sirius snorted with laughter, meanwhile Anya was collecting bubbles to throw back at him. She let loose with some bubble balls that stuck to Sirius' head, ear, nose and shoulder.
"Ha!" Anya retorted. Sirius simply raised an eyebrow and flicked some foam in her direction, this time getting her squarely between the eyes. She let out a frustrated squeal, and carefully covering herself with bubbles, she reached over to the tap, again turning it on. Picking up a handful of the dense bubbles, she flung it in Sirius's direction. He proceeded to do the same, and an all-out bubble war broke out. Sirius and Anya advanced closer and closer into the middle of the bath, trying to aim better, and further bubble-ise the opposition. No-one really noticed that the tap had stopped spewing bubbles, and the remaining foam in the bath was starting to break down. When Anya skimmed around for a handful of foam, and only came up with water, she immediately found her way back to her end of the bath.
"I say we declare that a tie," she announced. Sirius appeared to be thinking this over. He grinned. "Alright, but only because you look so cute with bubble covering your ears!" he said cockily. Anya smirked back at him. A silence fell upon them, but it wasn't particularly uncomfortable. Anya's mind has started to analyse the situation, but she put it down to harmless flirtation. Nothing more.
"Oh, Anya, I forgot. Remus sent me here with a message for you to go and see him straight away!" Sirius suddenly announced, doing a very good impression of suddenly remembering something important. Anya glowered at him.
"And you decide to tell me now, when I'm covered in foam?!" she asked incredulously. He shrugged, not offering an explanation. When Anya remained seated in the bath, Sirius looked puzzled.
"I mean it. He did want to see you right away!" he said. Anya smiled at him.
"I can't get out of the bath with you here can I?" she said, the situation dawning on her.
"I'm not stopping you," he said, grinning in what he thought was a charming way. Anya grumbled under her breath. She was in a very messy predicament. She couldn't let Sirius see her get out of the bath, and she wasn't sure if he'd even look away if she did. What she needed was to cast a temporary blindness spell on him, but her wand was lying well out of reach. She cursed to herself.
"What was that lovely language you were using?" Sirius asked sweetly. Thinking quickly, Anya splashed water straight into Sirius' eyes, causing him to lose his vision for a few crucial seconds. She quickly exited the bath, and wrapped herself in her bathrobe. Sirius quickly regained his vision, and noticing she was not in the water anymore, looked around quickly for her. She was standing near the edge of the pool-sized bath, robe belted tightly around her waist, and wand sticking out of her pocket.
"Oh, leaving so soon?" Sirius asked. She whirled away to pick up her dirty robes. Sirius chuckled softly, and laid his head back, shutting his eyes. Anya picked up the dirty clothes from the floor, and angrily stormed out. She knew this was all one big game to him. And as if he could read her thoughts, Sirius drew a tally up in the air.
"Sirius one, Anya none" he stated. Walking back to her chambers, Anya was seething. Upon knocking on Remus's door, she had been politely informed that no, Remus had never given a message to Sirius to tell her to meet him. When this little piece of information had registered, tonight's events fell together like a puzzle. Sirius had been trying to outsmart her all evening. Trying to play with her mind. It truly was a game to him, and he was playing dirty. He had wanted to embarrass her in the Prefect's bathroom. The whole bubble war took place on purpose. He had it all planned. He was trying to mess with her mind, like he'd done when they were younger. Anya lifted her chin, resolutely. She would NOT let this happen to her. She could outsmart Sirius Black any day of the year.
"He's not going to know what hit him!" she said, a cheerful beat returning to her step. Pausing outside the Prefect's bathroom, Anya wondered how Sirius had managed to escape without anyone seeing him. After all, she was holding his clothes and wand. Anya hurried her step toward her room. Approaching the door, she noticed Sirius several metres away, trying to get into his room, which he'd apparently locked. He was clad only in a fluffy pink towel. Anya snorted loudly with laughter, causing him to look in her direction. He tried to advance on her, but modesty got the better of him. The towel was dangerously close to falling off. She cheerfully waved his clothes in the air in front of her, and then held up his wand. He now walking quickly in her direction, clutching to towel with one hand. She slipped into her own chambers as he got to the door. She locked it, and waited, laughing while he banged on the door. After a few minutes of pounding, she heard a large group of giggles. She opened the door a crack, and saw the large group of Prefects laughing as Sirius stalked off down the hall toward his room. Along side him was Harry, who had promised to unlock the door. Anya laughed softly, and shut the door again.
"One all!" she said to herself.
At nine o'clock, Anya gathered up her wand, and her fluffy pink bathrobe. She made her way to the entrance of the bathroom. Upon announcing the password (Lemony scent) the painting (or statue I can't remember) swung open, revealing the Prefects bathroom in all it's glory. The massive bath with the glowing, gold fixtures. Pointing her wand at the entrance, Anya used a locking spell that she knew wasn't taught in school. She pinned back her hair and turned the taps on. Warm water flowed out, quickly filling the bath. Flicking another golden tap, Anya added vanilla scented foam to the water. Masses of dense, creamy bubbles spilled out of the tap, floating on the water. Anya quickly shed her clothing and lowered herself into the awaiting bath.
She allowed her head to rest on a curved edge of the bath. Closing her eyes, she drifted into a state of semi-sleep. The scent of the vanilla swirled around her, teasing her taste and nasal buds. The thick steam almost tasted sweet. Anya didn't know how long she'd been lying there, when she heard a noise at the doorway.
"There's someone in here!" she called out, sinking lower into the bath, just in case.
"I know," came the deep reply. Anya groaned inwardly at she saw Sirius walk into the room with a mischievous glint in his eye.
"What are you doing here?" she asked him, willing the bubbles around her not to burst.
"Same as you," he said, stripping off his robes. Anya looked away, but noticed he was wearing something underneath. Taking off his shirt, Sirius took in his surroundings. His sharp eye noticed Anya's wand lying with her clothes. He was still half-naked, with only his pants to come off. He looked at Anya, not saying anything. When his hand reached to undo his button, she looked away, studying the mermaid painting intensely. When she felt ripples in the water, she dared to look in his direction again. Sirius was sitting at the other end of the bath, he knew his limits. He didn't approach her in the water, instead lazily making patterns in the foam with his fingers, letting them trail along the surface.
They sat in silence, Anya not daring to move, in case the bubbles around her popped or floated away. Sirius, however, continued to collect the foam and try to create it into shapes. When he had finished, he blew on them, so the bubbles would float off everywhere. After making one particularly large foam duck, Sirius blew it to pieces with gusto. Foam shot up into the air, landing all over the bathroom. A large clump of bubbles landed on Anya's head. Sirius snorted with laughter, meanwhile Anya was collecting bubbles to throw back at him. She let loose with some bubble balls that stuck to Sirius' head, ear, nose and shoulder.
"Ha!" Anya retorted. Sirius simply raised an eyebrow and flicked some foam in her direction, this time getting her squarely between the eyes. She let out a frustrated squeal, and carefully covering herself with bubbles, she reached over to the tap, again turning it on. Picking up a handful of the dense bubbles, she flung it in Sirius's direction. He proceeded to do the same, and an all-out bubble war broke out. Sirius and Anya advanced closer and closer into the middle of the bath, trying to aim better, and further bubble-ise the opposition. No-one really noticed that the tap had stopped spewing bubbles, and the remaining foam in the bath was starting to break down. When Anya skimmed around for a handful of foam, and only came up with water, she immediately found her way back to her end of the bath.
"I say we declare that a tie," she announced. Sirius appeared to be thinking this over. He grinned. "Alright, but only because you look so cute with bubble covering your ears!" he said cockily. Anya smirked back at him. A silence fell upon them, but it wasn't particularly uncomfortable. Anya's mind has started to analyse the situation, but she put it down to harmless flirtation. Nothing more.
"Oh, Anya, I forgot. Remus sent me here with a message for you to go and see him straight away!" Sirius suddenly announced, doing a very good impression of suddenly remembering something important. Anya glowered at him.
"And you decide to tell me now, when I'm covered in foam?!" she asked incredulously. He shrugged, not offering an explanation. When Anya remained seated in the bath, Sirius looked puzzled.
"I mean it. He did want to see you right away!" he said. Anya smiled at him.
"I can't get out of the bath with you here can I?" she said, the situation dawning on her.
"I'm not stopping you," he said, grinning in what he thought was a charming way. Anya grumbled under her breath. She was in a very messy predicament. She couldn't let Sirius see her get out of the bath, and she wasn't sure if he'd even look away if she did. What she needed was to cast a temporary blindness spell on him, but her wand was lying well out of reach. She cursed to herself.
"What was that lovely language you were using?" Sirius asked sweetly. Thinking quickly, Anya splashed water straight into Sirius' eyes, causing him to lose his vision for a few crucial seconds. She quickly exited the bath, and wrapped herself in her bathrobe. Sirius quickly regained his vision, and noticing she was not in the water anymore, looked around quickly for her. She was standing near the edge of the pool-sized bath, robe belted tightly around her waist, and wand sticking out of her pocket.
"Oh, leaving so soon?" Sirius asked. She whirled away to pick up her dirty robes. Sirius chuckled softly, and laid his head back, shutting his eyes. Anya picked up the dirty clothes from the floor, and angrily stormed out. She knew this was all one big game to him. And as if he could read her thoughts, Sirius drew a tally up in the air.
"Sirius one, Anya none" he stated. Walking back to her chambers, Anya was seething. Upon knocking on Remus's door, she had been politely informed that no, Remus had never given a message to Sirius to tell her to meet him. When this little piece of information had registered, tonight's events fell together like a puzzle. Sirius had been trying to outsmart her all evening. Trying to play with her mind. It truly was a game to him, and he was playing dirty. He had wanted to embarrass her in the Prefect's bathroom. The whole bubble war took place on purpose. He had it all planned. He was trying to mess with her mind, like he'd done when they were younger. Anya lifted her chin, resolutely. She would NOT let this happen to her. She could outsmart Sirius Black any day of the year.
"He's not going to know what hit him!" she said, a cheerful beat returning to her step. Pausing outside the Prefect's bathroom, Anya wondered how Sirius had managed to escape without anyone seeing him. After all, she was holding his clothes and wand. Anya hurried her step toward her room. Approaching the door, she noticed Sirius several metres away, trying to get into his room, which he'd apparently locked. He was clad only in a fluffy pink towel. Anya snorted loudly with laughter, causing him to look in her direction. He tried to advance on her, but modesty got the better of him. The towel was dangerously close to falling off. She cheerfully waved his clothes in the air in front of her, and then held up his wand. He now walking quickly in her direction, clutching to towel with one hand. She slipped into her own chambers as he got to the door. She locked it, and waited, laughing while he banged on the door. After a few minutes of pounding, she heard a large group of giggles. She opened the door a crack, and saw the large group of Prefects laughing as Sirius stalked off down the hall toward his room. Along side him was Harry, who had promised to unlock the door. Anya laughed softly, and shut the door again.
"One all!" she said to herself.