"M-myrtle…?" piper's lips quivered. The ghost didn't say anything. "I know what you've been through… I- I understand…" "Do you really?" Myrtle's fingers loosened around her ears, which Piper guessed would be bright red if she were alive. The question wasn't actually a question. More like a retort. Or however she meant it, it was not about to open up any heart-felt conversation. And Piper had said it so that Myrtle might loosen up, and maybe part of her had believed it. But looking now at this mentally and emotionally beaten girl she realized that she did not. Imagine being bullied all your life, with no one to go to except an empty bathroom. Imagine being taunted, backstabbed, teased, pushed around, thrown down stairs, beaten up, tormented, and even blackmailed all your life. Then, imagine going to the bathroom one day to cry like you have for the past 4 years and then getting killed by a giant snake, and being stuck in the bathroom, your prison of scarring memories, for the rest of eternity. And still the bullying and the loneliness don't stop.

Wow. "I guess I don't," said Piper. "I may never understand what you have gone through or feel the things you've felt or walked in your shoes." The talking had stopped, and they were both just thinking. "Don't th-thhink I've forgiven you" Myrtle shuddered. Piper sighed like she had done so often recently. She hadn't expected her to. "It was a very rotten thing to say to someone. Someone I thought was your friend." "Oh Myrtle you are my friend!" No reply.

So they just sat there. In the cold bathroom. While the rest of the school was in the Great Hall safely hidden from a fugitive of Azkaban who has come to their school. It wasn't the perfect scene, but they were together.

Piper wondered if the Professors had noticed she was gone yet. They probably would soon, but she didn't care.

"So what's your favorite color?" Piper asked, out of the blue. After a few moments, she heard a soft "What?" "Your favorite color. Purple? Blue? Green?" "You're just t-trying to-to change the subject…" muttered Myrtle. "Oh I'm just wondering. Honest." Myrtle gave a hmpff and didn't say anything. Piper didn't know if she would answer or not, but she gave her the chance. She counted all the windows in the room. There were 8, 6 up on the ledge, and 2 looking out the tower. They were too dusty to see through though. There were 6 stalls. 7 sinks (6 around the pillar, and 1 at the side). 2 doors. 4 mirrors. 12 lights. 6 working lights. 1- "Purple". Piper stared, wide-eyed. "I like purple." Myrtle was staring up in to one of the lights on the ceiling. "Oh… purple's… pretty" Then, after a few seconds, "I like green." She hadn't really thought about her own favorite color, but come to think of it it was green. Maybe because of her tie and her robes that she wore every day. But she thought it suited her. "What color eyes did you have?" Piper asked gently, she wanted to be careful when approaching the topic of Myrtle being deceased. "I had green eyes," she said. "Just like you".

A leak had opened somewhere in the ceiling, starting a light tapping noise. "I miss colors…" Drip, drip, drip. "Can you not see them?" Piper asked, but immediately saw that it was a silly question. "Oh I can see, it's just that my bathroom is so… plain. Colorless." Her voice was beginning to ease up, but when she flicked her eyes to Piper she hunched down a little more and looked away. Piper felt guilty. And hatred. She crossed her arms over her chest as if to protect her from herself. Drip, drip, drip. Piper stood up and turned on the tap. She covered her hand in water then walked to the windows. Myrtle was watching her. "What are you doing?" she asked, but regretted it and shrunk away. Piper hated that Myrtle couldn't bare to look at her. She felt so ashamed. Her hand met the cool glass, and she wiped it in a circle. The dust blew away, allowing her to look out. She saw the lake. And, well, dementors, but the lake was pretty. "I say, what do you think is in that lake?" she asked curiously. "I've been flushed down there a few times, to the bottom. This made Piper excited. "Will you tell me? Oh please, I've been dying to know." 'Oops' she thought. She winced and expected Myrtle to start crying. She probably shouldn't have used that term. But, shockingly, Myrtle remained calm. But that didn't mean she said anything. "Oh please?" Again, nothing.

"There are Merpeople".

'Oh good' Piper thought. 'Like the kind I've read in books!' But it was as if Myrtle read her mind.

"But no like mermaids. These creatures are not kind. They have wild hair, sharp teeth, and pointy objects"

"What else?" Piper asked. Myrtle let out a breath.

"There's a large squid, VERY large. He scares me."

Myrtle turned in to Piper a bit, getting swept away thinking about the wonders of the deep lake. "And there are all sorts of plants".

"Like what, for example?"

"Oh, slimy ones. Wavy ones. Scabrous ones. Some very pointy, and some very smooth. I've always wondered if any of the do anything once eaten"

Piper giggled. She had always been fascinated by the possibility of the creatures that loomed in the water. Myrtle had been too, though she had no one to tell. "Oh, and I mustn't forget about the Grindylows!"

"The Grindylows?"

"They're these rather ugly squid-like things" said Myrtle.

"Eww, what do they look like?"

The dripping had stopped. Or at least, they didn't hear it. "They look like a mix between a baby and a squid. And they're fat" Piper laughed. She had never met this Myrtle, the humorous one. She wondered what she had been like back when she was alive and had friends. "I'd like to know more about Grindylows…"

Suddenly the lights flickered. "Does that happen often?" Piper asked. Myrtle gazed up. "Not really, no." "Do you think it's… him?"

There was silence. "I'm trying to imagine him in the basement pulling at the light switches for fun." Said Myrtle. Again, Piper laughed. She thought of a mad-man grabbing wires and yanking them out of the machines in the deep underground of the school, laughing diabolically. "Scandalous" Piper thought aloud. She hadn't meant to say it, but it made Myrtle give off a small smile.

"Do you think it's actually him?" "I… can't be sure" replied Myrtle. The light shut out. "When I was little, we used to have power outages at my house. I always thought they were fun. I would take my blankets upstairs to the attic and my brother and I would play a game." Piper paused. "What's your brother like?" Myrtle asked. "He's old now, 20. He works as a referee for Quidditch. He could never play himself, with his fear of heights. But he loved the sport." "Good for him" Myrtle said. "What was his name?" Piper hesitated. "Peter," she answered. Myrtle grinned. "Peter Piper?" "Don't laugh!" cried Piper, but she was chuckling herself. "I won't, I won't" she promised, keeping a straight face. But her eyes held mischief. Piper rolled her eyes. "Do you ever miss him?" she asked, the glee rolling off her face, replaced by a somewhat serious expression. "Yeah sometimes it gets lonely…" "I'm sorry" Myrtle empathized. Piper bolted up. "Don't YOU be sorry! I'm the one who should be sorry! I- I mean, I'm the one who IS sorry!" Myrtle looked away but didn't say anything. Clearly it wasn't time to go back to that topic.

"Um," Piper started, "did you have any siblings?" Myrtle let out a breath and floated up to the high windowsills. Piper was shocked. It was the most movement she'd made in half an hour. She sat down and gazed solemnly out the window. Piper was silent, waiting for her to respond. She understood that Myrtle held the power of when silence would come and when chatter would come today. It was only fair. "No."

"Oh."

It was starting to drizzle outside. Piper could see it through her little hole in the glass. Drip, drip, drip. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"PIPER SHAY!" a voice cried, making both the girls jump. "I guess they've noticed" Myrtle said, averting her eyes from the window. "PIPER SHAY, YOU COME HERE RIGHT NOW!" Piper laughed at the déjà vu. Someone (most likely Professor McGonagall) was storming down the hall for her. Piper panicked. She didn't want to leave myrtle. Quickly she looked around and remembered, 2 doors. One was the entrance to the bathroom, and the other was w wooden door to the side of the sinks. It was most likely a storage cabinet. She sprinted towards the second door. "PIPER SHAY YOU GAVE US A FRIGHT! COME HERE RIGHT NOW!" Piper closed the door behind her and prayed that the Professor wouldn't check the closet. She bumped into something and gasped just as it hit the ground. She heard a smack and stood rooted to her spot.

"PIPER?!" It was, of course, McGonagall. "WHERE ARE YOU? I KNOW YOU'RE I HERE. IS SHE?" Then, the voice of Myrtle replied smoothly. "No. I haven't seen her. Why? What happened?" Piper smiled at the ease of which Myrtle lied. "Are you sure?" She could imagine the Professor raising one eyebrow. "Yes ma'am", and, to add a touch of realism, she burst into sobs. "I haven't seen her in weeks! Maybe she doesn't like me anymore!" "Stop, stop, calm down dear. You do know, when we find her, she'll be in big trouble if we know that she was hiding from us, purposefully." She paused. "In other words, if you know where she is, tell us now."

'No, no, please don't give me away' Piper thought, squeezing her eyes shut and preparing for what Myrtle would say next.

"I'm sorry Professor, but I don't know where she is". She heard the door open and close and footsteps fade away. Then, she opened the closet and beamed at Myrtle. "Don't think that this means I've forgiven you", she said, but as she turned away Piper saw a smile.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading, if you would like to leave a review that would be great! I think my chapters are getting better, what do you think? Please give me any of your thoughts! Bye -Eliza