Pine-fresh

Pine-fresh

Harry made his way through dark corridors, up deserted staircases, towards the Prefects' bathroom. In spite of the fact that he was wearing his Invisibility Cloak, he felt rather vulnerable without the Marauder's Map, and more than once an unexpected noise made him jump with fright.

He knew he shouldn't be out here, alone, at night, but lately the endless worrying over the Tournament's second task was seriously getting to him. He still didn't have any idea how to survive underwater for a whole hour in the Lake, and was hoping that maybe in the Prefects' bathroom he'd be able to think of a way to pull it off. The pool was deep enough to simulate a dive, but not deep enough to drown in if he was a bit careful. More importantly, even though he didn't admit it to himself, Harry longed to just relax in the pool's bubble bath and forget the second task for a few blissful hours.

Thus, he determinedly kept up his pace, sighing with relief the moment the statue of Boris the Bewildered came into view. He faced the narrow door next to it and muttered, "Pine-fresh", desperately hoping that the password hadn't been changed since the last time he'd been here.

The door creaked open, and Harry slipped inside soundlessly, pulling off his Invisibility cloak once he'd closed the door behind himself again.

He noticed something wasn't right even before he turned around. A musky odor was filling the room. When he whipped his head around, nothing seemed out of order at first glance. The chandelier was blazing with candles, as it had last time. The marble was still shimmering, and glorious, and the mermaid waved cheerfully at him from the picture on the wall.

Then he saw it. The pool was full of water. Somebody was in here already.

Cursing inwardly, Harry backed off towards the door. If only he'd had the Marauder's Map with him; he would have been able to avoid this fix! Maybe the someone in the pool hadn't noticed him yet, and he could make a quick and graceful retreat still.

Just when he had turned around and began to slowly move towards the exit, a sneering voice rang out from behind him.

"Come to scrub my back, Potter?"

Harry turned around and faced his arch enemy, trying not show his frustration over finding the other boy here. "Malfoy. Have you turned Prefect over night? Or could it be that you have absolutely no business being here at all?"

"No more than you do, I'd say," Draco replied, smiling. "So unless you want me to report your untimely little stroll through the castle, you'd better turn around and walk right out of that door again."

"Report me and admit you've been out after hours as well?" Harry gave back coolly, unwilling to back off. He'd been looking forward to this bath all day; if he wanted to use the pool that night not even Malfoy would be able to stop him, he decided stubbornly. "You've had your fun long enough now, get out of there and leave me alone."

"Like hell I will!" Draco played with one of the tabs, filling the pool with bubbles of various colors that gave a metallic ping when they imploded. "I was here first!"

"Oh, right," Harry replied dryly and began to unbutton his robes. "Why don't you try to sound even more like a spoiled little brat, that's going to make me change my mind for sure."

Draco watched Harry fold his robes and put them on the floor carefully, his expression changing from one of boredom to barely controlled anger. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm getting in there," Harry replied matter-of-factly, even though he didn't feel quite as confident as he wanted Draco to believe. "I came here to take a bath and that's what I intend to do."

"Of course, I forgot," Draco shot back, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "If Harry Potter, School Champion and Boy Who Unfortunately Lived, sets his mind on something, everybody else is supposed to get out of his way, and quick."

Harry did his best to ignore Draco and took off his pajama's top and pants. He realized bathing with his boxers on would be rather uncomfortable, but getting naked in front of Draco Malfoy was not an option. When he looked up again he saw that Draco's lips had curled into a smile.

"Prudish, aren't we? Do you always take a bath with your clothes on? What is this, some sort of weird Muggle ritual?"

"Just shut up," Harry answered between clenched teeth. "The pool's big enough for both of us."

He walked to the pool's brink and slowly climbed inside. The hot water engulfing him made all of his nerves tingle pleasantly, and he couldn't suppress a small sigh. The only thing disturbing his bliss was the other boy with him in the pool. Harry had been hoping that Draco would get bored with the situation soon and leave then, but right now it didn't look that way at all. Draco was lazily doing the backstroke, making a point of splashing Harry every time he passed him.

"Can't look too well with those specs of yours now, can you Potter?" Draco snickered. "Maybe you should better leave and just take a shower. In your boxers, of course."

"I'm not leaving," Harry replied angrily, trying to remember the water-repellent spell Hermione had once used on his glasses.

"Have it your way then," Draco said carelessly and sent another splash of water Harry's way, who was getting thoroughly annoyed with the obnoxious Slytherin by now.

"Leave it be, Malfoy, or you'll be sorry," he said irritably, but Draco only snorted.

"Or what? You're going to drown me? Fling your underwear at me?"

"Just get away from me," Harry snapped, waving his hand dismissively at the other boy, only the gesture didn't come out as condescending and cool as he had intended it to, but rather like a very mishapen attempt at splashing Draco himself.

"That's the best you can do?" Draco snickered, and Harry had the very urgent desire to take up Draco's suggestion and drown him.

"Shut up," he grumbled, which seemed only to spur the Slytherin's mirth. Draco laughed and laughed until his face was turning red. Then suddenly he sank underwater.

Harry's heart leapt with hope at the thought that maybe Draco had suffered a seizure or something likewise unhealthy, but as the minutes ticked by and the other boy didn't resurface he started to get nervous.

"Malfoy? That's not funny. Not one bit."

Nothing happened, and Harry grew even more uncomfortable. What if really something had happened to Draco? What if this wasn't just some trick to make fun of him?

"I'm worried, okay? You have me worried. Very amusing. Now come back up here!"

The pool remained still, and no Draco came up sneering at Harry, who was beginning to sweat right now. How long could people survive without oxygen? And how long exactly had Draco been under water? It felt like ages to Harry. Maybe he had passed out from laughing, and was floating unconsciously beneath the foam... It seemed that Harry had no option but to dive down there and check.

He tried to ignore the slight wave of nausea that threatened to take hold of him at the mere thought. His swimming was clumsy at its best, and he had even less experience at diving. But as the seconds dragged on and Draco still hadn't come up yet, Harry decided to give it a shot. Anything seemed better now than to have to call for help and explain to the one coming why he was in the prefects' bathroom in the middle of the night. With Draco Malfoy, of all people.

Harry blanched when he realized how the situation must look to anyone walking in on them. He and his arch enemy, bathing together. To dive and possibly drown in the process seemed so much more inviting at this moment.

He took a deep breath and dove beneath the bubbles, awkwardly holding his glasses with one hand. He saw Draco lie on the pool's far end, his eyes closed. Harry swam over to him, cursing inwardly all the time for not checking on the other boy sooner. It felt like eons until he had finally reached Draco. His heart was hammering against his ribs as he leaned over the pale figure.

*Wait a sec. If he's unconscious, isn't he supposed to be floating?* Just when this thought crossed Harry's mind, Draco suddenly opened his eyes. They were sparkling with glee, and Harry felt the blood rush into his ears, whether from the fact that he was short on air, or from the humiliation of seeing Draco laugh at him silently, he didn't know. Harry closed his eyes and kicked himself off the ground, greedily gulping in the air when he broke through the water's surface.

Draco swam up to him, his expression one of malicious delight. "Potter, you're truly a hero."

Coughing up some water that had gotten into his windpipe, Harry managed to glare at Draco. "Damn you, Malfoy."

"Took you a bit to come after me though, did you hope I had finally snuffed it?" Draco asked grinning, in no way holding back his amusement.

"I should have left you down there to rot," Harry said bitterly, and took off his glasses, which were impossible to see through at the moment. However, when he found he had nothing to wipe them dry on, he put them back on his nose, even more frustrated. Then something occurred to him.

"How did you do it?"