First night

It had been an experiment.

Harry had come to the prefect's bathroom on whim, turning for some reason at the stairs, and making his way on that only too recent path to the forbidden bathroom. Speaking the password, he entered the room, oddly feeling as if he were meant to be there, not as he had the night before, when his senses would perk up at a single sound, jittery with the feeling as if he ought not to be here.

But tonight was different. Harry entered the bathroom with a quiet mind; he was not consciously thinking, but that the night was rather beautiful, and to waste it would be a pity. Then he saw that the bathroom was occupied. It was a wild fear that gripped him for nearly three seconds, as he realized that he had forgotten to think, that it made perfect sense that someone would be bathing at this hour. He quickly turned to leave, nerves now on edge.

And it was Cedric. Cedric Diggory, his rival, emerged from the large bathtub and with a single word, brought Harry's feet to rest.

"Wait."

Lost, as there was no routine answer to such a request, Harry had no choice but to turn around, for the boy's voice was so full of untouched innocence and a hint of mystery. He turned, and nearly sat down hard on the tiles, for Cedric was unmodestly naked--of course he was naked, he was taking a bath--but it was the simple way he stood there, on the third rung of the ladder leading into the pool, that made Harry's head swim and turn it upsidedown. Harry's mind went blank, and he stared in awe at the handsome boy before him, submerged from waist down but whose torso was glistening with water droplets, hair tousled and mussed yet all the more alluring.

The fact that their encounter was unspoken but for the single word by which it was initiated only heightened and italicized the sensuality of it.

This was a discovery, Harry's stunned mind thought as he moved closer to the edge of the pool. Cedric never moved, but clung to the rails of the ladder, even as the Gryffindor approached him to the point that their faces nearly touched. The room was warm (Harry did not quite recall it being so hot when he had entered), and for a second the two boys just looked into one another's eyes, all need for spoken conversation gone.

(to be continued...)