Chapter 4: Splish Splash I was Takin' a Bath

The next week, Harry had recovered from the embarrassment he felt Christmas night, and all of his attention went to finding out what the egg had to say about the second task. Harry waited until it was dark before heading off towards the prefects' bathroom, and took his invisibility cloak and Marauder's map with him to be safe.

"Pine fresh," he whispered as the bathroom door slowly creaked open. Harry walked in and was surprised to see how beautifully the room was designed. A chandelier showered the white marble room with a romantic golden glow. All along the walls were great flowing linen curtains and heaps of fluffy, soft white towels. In the middle of the room was a great rectangular shaped pool with hundreds of golden taps encrusted with jewels.

"It's divine…" whispered Harry to himself, "absolutely fabulous!" He began turning some of the taps on—some were just clear warm water, whereas others released different colors of foams and bubbles. After the pool was nearly full, Harry turned the taps off, undressed, and jumped in allowing the warm liquid to envelope his body.

"Ahhhh," Harry sighed. He had never felt so relaxed in his life. This unfortunately didn't last long. He heard somebody giggling. It was a girl. He distinctly heard a girl giggling! But who was it?

"Hi Harry," squeaked a ghost with pigtails and glasses.

"Myrtle! How long have you been here? I'm not wearing anything!"

"Don't worry," she giggled, "I didn't look when you were getting in."

Harry swam over to an area where the bubbles and foam were denser.

"Have you tried putting the egg in the water yet?" asked Myrtle.

The egg. He had completely forgotten about it!

"Oh, right," Harry muttered as he grabbed the egg and put it under water. The egg wasn't screaming like it was before, but producing audible speech.

"Put your head underwater!" Myrtle commanded Harry. He followed her orders and listened to the message.

"So it's merpeople then?" asked Harry as he came up out of the water.

"That's what Cedric Diggory thought anyway," Myrtle replied.

"Have you been spying on him as well?" Harry questioned in outrage.

"Heehee, of course I have. It's rather entertaining really; he sits in the bath for hours just talking to himself."

"About…" Harry reluctantly began, "I mean, what else does he talk about besides the Triwizard tournament?"

"Oh, he talks about the homework he has to do, about how Cho is too clingy, and…oh of course, how could I forget? He talks about you quite a lot," she said as she winked and adjusted her thick glasses.

"Me?" Harry's stomach tightened. "W—what does he say about…about me?"

"Well, he—" Myrtle stopped mid-sentence, "Somebody's coming!"

Harry quickly swam over to the side of the pool and reached for the Marauder's map. Cedric was walking down the hall towards the prefects' bathroom.

"What should I do?" Harry panicked.

"Hiiiide!" screeched Myrtle. Hide? Harry thought to himself, why should he hide? Cedric said it was ok if Harry used the bathroom. If he came in, he would see Harry using the bath, apologize and leave. Right? Then he looked around himself at the water in the pool. The bubbles and foam had subsided and the water was practically clear. If Cedric came in, he would see Harry naked! He immediately jumped out of the water without thinking about covering himself with a towel (which sent Myrtle off into hysterics) threw the invisibility cloak over himself, and ran over to a pile of towels.

"Pine fresh," Harry heard Cedric say clearly. He was coming in, Harry thought to himself. Why was Cedric taking a bath in the middle of the night? He had already figured out the egg!

Harry held his breath as Cedric walked in, and then gasped as he realized his clothes and map were lying next to the pool in plain sight.

"I must have left my necklace in here somewhere," muttered Cedric to himself, "It has to be—"

He paused in front of the pile of Harry's clothes and noticed that the bath was full of water.

"H—Hello…" Cedric said, his voice echoing throughout the room. "Is anybody in here?" He waited for a few seconds, shrugged and then began looking for his necklace. Harry was filled with relief. Cedric would just look for his necklace, and then leave. Everything would be ok. Or not, Harry thought as he began to hold his breath again. Cedric was going through the pile of towels, just inches away from Harry. If I could only move over a little bit, Harry thought to himself. Suddenly, Cedric's hand brushed against the invisibility cloak. That's it, Harry thought, he's found me. But Cedric continued to look through the pile of towels. After about five minutes, Cedric gave up, and to Harry's relief, left the bathroom.

"Oh!" Harry exclaimed in exasperation, "I never thought he would leave!"

Myrtle came out of one of the taps laughing hysterically.

"Ha, ha," Harry said sarcastically (he had wrapped the invisibility cloak around his waist and became a floating upper-body) "Yes, Myrtle, the situation is very funny, ha, ha," he threw Myrtle a dirty look which immediately shut her up.

"Oh, please don't be angry with me!" Myrtle shrieked, on the verge of tears, "I like you, and I want you to like me…" She gave Harry a suggestive look.

"Listen Myrtle," Harry began as he dressed, "First of all, you're a ghost, and second of all…" he hesitated to finish.

"Yes?" Myrtle asked as tears began to flow down her face.

"You're…you're a girl, and I'm gay!" There. He said it. So he hadn't really told a real person, but hey, she used to be one.

"Oh." Myrtle said as she abruptly stopped crying. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Well that sort of thing usually doesn't come up in everyday conversation now does it? And I'm…I'm kind of embarrassed about it really" Harry said. "No one else knows," he continued, "only you."

"Oh!" shrieked Myrtle, "I feel so special!"

"Well, I better go now," mumbled Harry as he headed towards the door with his egg.

"Harry," Myrtle said with a smile as Harry turned towards her, "There's nothing wrong with being gay, it's absolutely natural—just compare the hypothalamus in the brain of a straight wizard's brain to that of a gay wizard's brain—They are completely different!" she exclaimed, "And…and, although I'm not against being exclusively gay or straight, I think the ideal should be to be capable of loving any human being--a woman or a man, without feeling fear, restraint, or obligation. You have the natural right to love whoever you want!"

"Th—Thanks," Harry whispered, utterly speechless, "Err, that's really deep…"

He walked out of the bathroom feeling oddly enlightened. So what if it came from a mentally unsound ghost, what she said was so true. He shouldn't be ashamed of anything, and he would love Cedric if he was a man OR a woman. Or would he…

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