Summary: Myrtle does what she does best: Meddle in those who dare enter her bathroom.

Rated: K

Genre: General; Friendship

Competition/Challenge Block
Written For: Monthly Challenges for All (Year 6); Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry 2.0 (Term 2); Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition (Season 11)

Quidditch: Wigtown Wanderers; Beater 2 - R4 (Write about someone making a promise they don't intend to keep. Additional Requirement: Main Character must be a ghost.) [Word] Haunt; [Emotion] Suspicious; [Object] Lantern

Hogwarts: n/a

MC4A: TrB (4D-Unexpected Partners); SpB (1B-Bracelet/Anklet); Ship (5D-Everyone Knew)

Word Count: 1,827 (1,811 without epigraph)

Warning Tag: Implied/Referenced Bullying; Gossip

Author's Note: Who doesn't love a good Myrtle and Draco relationship? Especially when gossip is involved.

Meddling Myrtle

.oOo.

She's like so whatever
You could do so much better

- Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne

.oOo.

Myrtle hoped that this school year would be the same as most were: Boring, quiet, cold, dark, and dreary. She would make sure that all of the new students did not even dare set foot into her bathroom, of course. The threat to haunt them usually was more than enough to keep them away.

Most of the time they were predictable. New first years would get curious about the castle, explore, need the loo, and wander into her bathroom. She would watch them under the dim lantern light until they were washing up before giving them quite the scare. She always reveled in the blood curdling screams echoing through the space as they ran out of the bathroom.

Except for that one time when Harry Potter and his friends were hiding out in her bathroom their second year. They were completely unbothered by her presence and even brewed a complex (and likely) forbidden potion concoction. Myrtle never told anyone about it because Harry was so kind to her and simply asked if she would keep their plotting quiet. He even asked about herself and listened to what she had to say.

Had the bushy-haired girl or the ginger-haired boy asked she would've ratted them out immediately. She loathed girls, especially the haughty or know-it-all ones. They were the worst of the bunch. Boys, on the other hand… the handsome ones were sometimes mean to her, but the rest tended to ignore her. If it meant she got to oogle them when they teased her, she could mostly shrug it off, except that one time...

However, it seemed that this school year wasn't going to be normal after all when she witnessed a boy with white-blond hair entering her space. She scowled at his presence from the top of the stalls, away from the lanterns lazily flickering to life for him so she couldn't be spotted. The last time a boy entered here she died, so she was hesitant to confront him right away.

He went to the taps and splashed the cold water that groaned out of the old pipes. Myrtle knew he was dousing hot tears from his eyes, she had done that several times before. It was an unusual sight to see a boy crying, a pretty boy to boot, but it was intriguing enough for her to investigate.

"Hello," she said, slowly drifting down towards the taps to not startle him. "Are you alright?"

It was peculiar that the boy didn't appear frightened by her sudden appearance, but Myrtle simply adjusted her glasses and observed his reaction. His eyes were wide, scared. His face was pale but she assumed that was normal, but his features looked sallow. He looked exhausted.

It was a strange encounter, that was certain, but Myrtle instantly felt sympathetic for Draco and was glad he entertained the conversation long enough for introductions and a vague idea of what was going on. Someone was clearly upsetting him.

"You can come here anytime you need to," Myrtle offered, already smitten with him because he spoke nicely to her (Being easy on the eyes helped, too.). "I won't mind. No one else ever comes in here because I chase them away."

He seemed grateful for the open invitation, nodding in reply.

"I won't tell anyone," she assured, sensing his doubt based on his demeanor and tense stance. "I promise."

"Okay," Draco stammered, adjusting his appearance in the mirror before making a quick exit. "I… I have to go now."

Myrtle watched him leave and the lanterns flicker out once the living presence disappeared. She wondered if he would ever come back. Harry hadn't…

It was only a few days later that two girls entered her bathroom. Myrtle spied on them from above the toilet stalls and away from the lanterns again, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"You do know the best way to go about all of this and ease your mind is to simply just ask him, you know," the white-blonde haired girl with a song-like voice said to the much darker blonde-haired girl beside her. "The worst he could do is say no. Then you would know, right?"

"Yes but…" The one girl sighed. "Is it really so simple, Luna?"

"Yes," the one called Luna replied. "You overthink everything way too much, Astoria."

Well, Myrtle knew their stupid names now. Squinting through her glasses, she saw that Luna the white-blonde wore blue-hemmed robes and the other wore the same.

'Ugh, of course Ravenclaws,' the ghost thought nastily.

Yes, it was her House, but the worst of her bullies were under the same banner.

"But what about the DA?" Astoria asked. "I could be risking them if I got involved with Draco, wouldn't I?"

"Only if you tell him of your involvement," Luna said, "but I thought this was about inviting him to Slughorn's party?"

Myrtle swooped in at Draco's name.

"Who are you two?" she snapped, glaring down at them over the taps. "Are you the ones giving Draco trouble? Hmm!"

"Oh, you must be Myrtle," Luna said, completely unfazed by the surprise verbal assault. "I'm Luna. It is nice to meet you."

Myrtle was taken aback at the response. Astoria, however, was white as a sheet in shock. Luna turned to her at that moment.

"Did I forget to mention that Myrtle haunts this bathroom?" she asked. "She is part of Ravenclaw. Her story is quite sad."

Myrtle narrowed her eyes. "And what's that have to do with you? You've come to mock me about it?"

Luna shook her head. "No. Why would I do that?"

Myrtle wasn't expecting that response.

Astoria took a breath and gave a shaky wave. "H-Hello, Myrtle. I'm Astoria. Sorry if we've bothered you. I didn't know—"

"I don't need your sympathy!" Myrtle snapped. "What do you want? Why are you here?"

"We just needed somewhere private to talk," Luna explained. "We hope you don't mind."

"Wait," Astoria said, glancing at Luna before looking back at Myrtle. "What about Draco? You've talked to him? Is he okay?"

Myrtle's eyes widened some, accidentally revealing that she had talked to him recently. These two didn't have to know, though.

She folded her arms across her chest, sticking her nose in the air. "I don't know who you are talking about."

Astoria rolled her eyes. "Okay. Fine. Will you at least keep the conversation you heard quiet, please?"

"Why?"

"Astoria likes Draco," Luna said. "She was trying to figure out the right way to ask him to a party. Do you have any suggestions for her, maybe?"

"Luna!" Astoria hissed.

"What? She is in our House. What is wrong with getting a third opinion?" Luna reasoned.

Luna looked at Myrtle with a friendly smile. No one has asked her for advice before, but that didn't mean anything to her. Everyone had a reason for something, and usually it meant she'd be hurt by it in the end.

Myrtle looked at Astoria for a moment, a flare of jealousy spiked in her nonliving form. She wasn't even that pretty, nothing like Draco was. She pursed her lips in thought.

"Well, I've never been good at conversation," she said.

"I noticed," Astoria remarked under her breath, which Myrtle glared at her for.

"Fine, I won't offer any help. You two can leave now so I can be alone with my own tragedies!"

"Gosh, you are so rude!" Astoria snapped back, turning to leave.

"Likewise!"

"Thank you anyway, Myrtle," Luna said, waving goodbye. The bracelets on her wrist gave a little jingle at the motion. "Maybe you can write a letter and I'll deliver it to him?"

"That's weird—"

Myrtle heard their voices be cut off by the door. The lantern near her flickered off, leaving wisps of smoke behind. What she wasn't going to keep quiet about was the entire thing because that girl was a nightmare. How funny would it be if she ruined her entire plans by telling Draco about it?

If he showed up again. Myrtle sighed, waving a hand through the smoke from the lantern, making a silent wish...

Which came true the very next night. Draco looked like a mess again when he came through the door. Myrtle was startled from her daydreaming by his sudden entrance. She watched as he went to the taps and washed his face before navigating over to a dressing stall that had the least lantern light illuminating it to hole up in.

Myrtle moved over to the front of the door. She would knock but…

"Do you want company?" she asked gently.

"Not really," Draco said quickly.

"Oh. I thought I could help cheer you up with some interesting stuff I heard the other day," she offered, still hovering at the door.

She heard him sigh and shift around, but she didn't enter. "Do you know this Astoria girl? Ravenclaw, a bit of a brat, not that pretty?"

"...Yes. What about her?" his tone was filled with annoyance.

"Well, she came waltzing in like she owned the place yesterday, prattling on about the DA and wanting to ask you to some party—"

"The DA?" Draco interrupted. "That bloody club is still around? But of course it is… Potter is the head of it…"

Myrtle quirked a brow at the mini rant. "Anyway, this girl I guess likes you or something because she had the gall to ask me for advice on how to ask you to the party, but I didn't like her attitude. Not one bit. She denies it, but I am certain she is the one who has been harassing you. Why else would she want to trick you into going to a party only to humiliate you?

"Am I right? Is she the one bothering you?" she pressed on, hoping she had found the answer. "If so I will haunt her for the rest of her school days."

She heard Draco let out a laugh that bordered on hysteria at her question. She didn't like it.

"You don't have to be so mean. I'm trying to help you," Myrtle whine. "I don't want you to be hurt by her."

"If only you really knew what was going on in my life, Myrtle," Draco said, sounding defeated. "Girls are the very least of my problems."

"Alright then," she huffed, folding her arms across her chest. "You can stay, but don't come asking me for anything."

She went to perch over the taps by the lanterns to watch the doors but paused when Draco spoke again.

"Do you mind telling me more about this party Astoria was wanting to invite me to? And the DA?" he asked. "I need to tell someone that dumb club is still running amok in the school…"

Myrtle smiled, she liked getting other people into trouble. Tagging Astoria would be a delightful outcome. "Sure. I would love to."