41
Evie
The castle was empty by the time the moon had risen, hidden by empty clouds. There were more students than usual but still not many. It would have been sad but the remaining kids took advantage of the holiday. Curfew was pointless, the kitchens were open, and house dormitories were open for all.
I sat in Olivia's dormitory on Christmas Eve with Olivia herself, Rhys, a Hufflepuff who was slightly more intimidating than Olivia, and Maggie. We were an odd bunch, that's for sure. It felt right to talk about how weird it all was but we didn't. Sometimes you just have to accept the oddness of it all.
I had never been in the Slytherin common room, much less the dormitories. They were a lot warmer than I imagined. I don't know why I assumed that the Slytherins lived in the dark and cold, but I was terribly wrong. Despite being in the dungeon, it was cozy and welcoming with emerald green decor and large warm fires. The dormitories were the same way and I almost liked them more than the Ravenclaw ones.
"I still can't believe Wes just gave up like that." Olivia said as soon as she reentered the room with stacks of food in her arms. Rhys was trailing behind her with double the food in her arms.
"Thanks for the help, Liv." Rhys wheezed, dropping the food onto the floor with a sigh.
"I mean, he was the one that came up with the Potter Generation in the first place. He was the reason I joined. He was so excited and there was so much promise." Olivia grabbed a roll from one of the plates and chewed thoughtfully. "I really thought this was going to work out."
"Oh, I didn't." Maggie said, picking a chocolate chip cookie. We all stared at her like she was crazy and she shrugged. "Wes has these epiphanies all the time and he gets so excited and it seems like everything will work out and it will. The problem is he doesn't have the motivation you all do. One little problem comes along and all of sudden, it's impossible. He has no sense."
"I guess that makes sense." I said. "He just needs a shove. Something to get him back on track."
"I would tell you not to bother, but honestly I'd like to see this documentary work out. It has promise. And it would cause a small chaos which would be extremely enjoyable." Maggie said with a wicked smile.
"Chaos? I'm in." Rhys said. We all laughed a little bit and for once there seemed to be just a smidge of hope that something would come out of this.
"We should go skinny dipping." Rhys announced when all of the food was gone and we were laying on our backs trying not to throw up. People underestimated how much four girls could eat.
"It's winter." Olivia said, rubbing her stomach.
"Season means nothing." Maggie replied and Rhys gave her a fist bump.
"I'd prefer not to get hypothermia." I put in. Honestly, I just wanted to lay there for as long as possible. The carpet was soft and the ceiling had designs on it that I could trace with my eyes. It was very soothing.
"We have to do something fun." Rhys complained. "It's Christmas Eve, no one's here and we're at Hogwarts. It's the most magical place on earth."
"I thought that was Disney." I said and Maggie snorted.
"Second most magical place on earth."
"We could stay right here and fall asleep." Olivia suggested.
"I vote yes on that one." I said, raising my hand.
Rhys got up then and Maggie followed. They looked down on us like generals looking at their army. I had a bad feeling about this.
"Alright ladies, it's skinny dipping time." Rhys said, putting her hands on her hips.
"Rhys." Olivia groaned. "It's cold."
"We aren't going in the lake, idiot." Rhys said, pulling us both to our feet. I blinked spots from my eyes.
"What other body of water is there?" I asked, brushing crumbs from my clothes.
"You'll see." Rhys said with a devilish smile and a look to Maggie. They had a plan without even having to communicate and all I could think was, friendship goals. Then I thought of getting in trouble as we were dragged out of the warm dormitory to go skinny dipping.
"Oh no." Olivia said once we had reached the seventh floor. The floor famous for holding the Room of Requirement. I suddenly realized what was happening.
"Oh yes." Maggie laughed, stopping in front of a large door that had appeared out of nowhere. She pushed without hesitation and we walked into an indoor lake.
It was more like springs actually. It was dim, lit only by colored orbs that floated around the ceiling. There were crystal stalactites hanging down above countless pools. Some were big enough to hold our entire year and others were small enough to fit only one person. Steam rose off of them and different smells came from each one. It reminded me of the bath bomb store, Lush. The different colors were dizzying.
"Holy shit." Olivia muttered, were widening into the size of plates. Even Maggie and Rhys looked shocked and they were the ones that thought of it. But of course, you could never expect the Room of Requirement. It was always a surprise.
"Alright ladies." Rhys said once again, a look of pride on her face. "Let's get naked."
I had never skinny dipped before. That was something I could check off my none existent bucket list. It was amazing to say the least. The water was warm and smelled wonderful and didn't even compare to the swimming pool in my backyard. This was a new kind of swimming. There were yards and yards of water to explore and to experience and I had three giggling girls with me to do it.
After a long time that no one could keep track of, we ended in a little pool, the size of a hot tub. The water was as black as onyx and had sparkles floating through it. It was so dark, you couldn't even see through it and it was hot enough to be scalding at first. I could have fallen asleep.
"Can you believe this?" I said after a long silence that was so comfortable I could have forgotten there were people around me. "Us. So fucking different sitting in some weird ass bath bomb pool naked. How did this happen?"
"It's called friendship." Olivia said with a soft smile. So not like a Slytherin.
"Yeah. Fucking friendship." Rhys agreed with a razor sharp smile. So not like Hufflepuff.
These were the kind of people that the documentary helped. The kids that didn't stay in their assigned boxes. The special snowflakes. Harry Potter could fuck himself. This was our story.