Myrtle hummed to herself, flowing through the pipes of the Hogwarts plumbing system along with a bit of water. The effect of humming in the pipes was almost like singing in the shower, she reflected; her voice echoed a bit and made her sound like a much better singer than she really was.
Without warning, a surge of bubbles cascaded through the pipes. Myrtle smirked thoughtfully. So someone was taking a bath in the prefects’ bathroom, hmm? This might call for inspection. Maybe it was a good-looking boy. Lately her experience with those had been a little limited. Well, she did haunt a girl’s bathroom.
Myrtle ducked down the correct pipe”she knew them all like the back of her translucent hand”and halted just before the water carried her out of the tap. Cautiously, she peered out.
It was a boy. An extraordinarily handsome one, standing waist deep in the bath. His dark blond hair was wet and plastered over his forehead, almost concealing the worry line that was there.
Myrtle settled down to watch, a distantly smug smile on her face. She was fairly sure she knew who this one was”one of the Hogwarts Triwizard champions, Cedric Diggory. She’d heard a gaggle of Ravenclaws grilling this one’s girlfriend in her bathroom the other day. Asking if he was a good kisser. Cho Chang, the lucky girl, had said dreamily that yes, he was.
She saw that Cedric had the golden egg task clue with him. Perhaps he’d taken to carrying it around for some strange reason. But this mystery was instantly solved, for Cedric muttered to himself, “Moody said to put it underwater....”
Ah. So that new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had tipped him off. Cheating? Naughty, naughty, Golden Boy, she thought. She’d expect better of the Hufflepuff prefect, but it seemed everyone had another side....
Myrtle, amused, eyed Cedric as he lifted the golden egg. Then, something seemed to occur to him, and he came toward the taps full of bubble bath”including the one Myrtle hid in.
“Can’t get soap in my eyes,” he murmured to himself. He seemed to have a habit of talking to himself. Myrtle could sympathize. Her eyes widened as he came closer and reached to shut off her tap first.
Ooooh, his chest looked even better when bubbly water wasn’t flowing continuously through her eyes. He must be a Quidditch player to get that kind of muscles. Myrtle continued to stare in fascination as Cedric turned off the other taps. She sighed dreamily, then clapped her hand over her (invisible) mouth as Cedric looked around. He seemed to decide he’d been hearing things, and waded to the edge of the bath for the egg again.
He carefully pried the halves apart. A horrible wailing sound screeched out”Myrtle recognized it as Mermish. Then, grimacing, he lowered it into the water, where the wail was transformed immediately into song.
Cedric ducked under, and Myrtle mourned her loss of scenery, but only for a few moments. He popped back up, wiping water out of his eyes, and then repeated what must be the song’s words.
“Come seek us where our voices sound/We cannot sing above the ground/And while you’re searching, ponder this/We’ve taken what you’ll sorely miss/An hour long you’ll have to look/And to recover what we took/But past an hour the prospect’s black/Too late, it’s gone, it won’t come back.”
Myrtle understood immediately. The task would be to recover something from the merpeople, at the bottom of the lake. Something, apparently, that the champions would miss very much. But this didn’t sink into Cedric’s brain.
“Where our voices sound.” He stared at the egg. “Inside the egg? No, that’s ridiculous, I can’t shrink myself and search in an egg. Besides, there’s nothing in there but noise.”
The painting of the mermaid”whom Myrtle had never liked, on account of her being extremely beautiful and flirtatious, whereas Myrtle was neither”giggled at Cedric and splashed painted water with her fins. Cedric gave her his trademark easygoing grin, which made even the brazen mermaid blush. Myrtle nearly fell out of the tap. This guy was a charmer, all right.
But not very bright. “Don’t suppose you could help me?” he asked the painting.
The mermaid shook her head coyly.
Cedric grinned again. “Didn’t think so.” He turned his attention back to the still-singing egg. “We cannot sing above the ground. Perhaps underground then? Or even....” He lifted the egg out, then dunked it back in to avoid its screechy song. “Underwater! Of course”the lake!”
About time, Myrtle thought. It didn’t escape her notice that the bubbles were disappearing.
“So who,” Cedric said to himself, “could steal something of mine and take it underwater?” He stared pensively at the mermaid. “Grindylows? Nah, they’re too stupid. The giant squid? But it says ‘we’ and there’s only one giant squid...at least, I hope, if I have to dive into the lake.”
The mermaid looked at him through her lashes. Cedric scratched his chin, not getting it. Myrtle was sorely tempted to yell the answer at him, but she didn’t.
Then the mermaid decided to show off a bit, and dove neatly into the painted sea, rising moments later and scraping her hair out of her face. Then she did it again, this time leaping out of the sea in a perfect arc.
This wasn’t lost on Cedric. “You're very talented,” he said to the painting. The mermaid blushed and giggled.
It was then that it hit him”Myrtle saw it happen, almost like a tangible lightning bolt. “Merpeople!” he shouted triumphantly. “That’s it! It has to be! And I bet that screeching is what they sound like aboveground. I’m right, aren’t I?” he added to the painting.
The mermaid smirked at him.
Cedric snapped the egg shut and rolled it onto the edge of the bath. Then, with his back to Myrtle, he climbed out and wrapped his towel around himself. Myrtle blushed. He had an admirable rear end, and she wished she could tell him so, but she had the feeling he wouldn’t appreciate it if he knew she’d been watching him this whole time.
After toweling his hair, the boy dressed”to Myrtle’s guilty disappointment”and headed for the door. With his hand on the doorknob he turned back to the mermaid painting. “Thanks for your help,” he said to it.
Myrtle couldn’t help herself. She murmured, “Well done, Cedric.” The words echoed clearly around the bathroom.
Cedric’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline. The mermaid hadn’t appeared to speak. He hesitated for a moment before bowing toward the painting. “Thank you,” he said.
From Myrtle’s point of view, it seemed that he bowed to her and spoke to her. And that was enough to keep her giggling all the way back through the pipes to her own toilet.
It would be several days before she could bring herself to have another tantrum. And even though she later told Harry about the clue, she promised herself that she’d never tell anyone else how nice Cedric’s chest was.
Transparent by Argelfraster
Chapter Notes: Well, I thought this story was done, but then I rediscovered my love/obsession for Cedric while watching GoF again, and this second Cedric/Myrtle oneshot got written. I have to admit, I still giggle at Myrtle's comments on Cedric's chest. :D Unfortunately we didn't actually get to see it in the movie... drat it...
Oh, BTW, the part where Cedric recites the egg clue is a direct quote from GoF. And I don't own it, I'm just borrowing it. (Can't have people suing me.)