InsaneJournal

Who: Padma Patil and Anthony Goldstein
What: Study Break
When: Not long after Padma wrote this in her journal.
Where: Ravenclaw Common Room / Prefect’s Bathroom - Hogwarts
Warnings: None

Padma rolled her eyes as she shut her journal, wondering if trying to get the other Ravenclaw girls to relax was a complete waste of time. She’d expected a more enthusiastic response to her suggestion about a late night of candy and relaxation, and she was beginning to wonder if it would even happen. She could just picture everyone else falling asleep on their books while waiting for Hermione to get back from patrol.

Pushing that thought out of her mind, she headed down to the common room, hoping Anthony or Terry would be there. They, at least, would be willing to take a study break with her without fretting the whole time that they would fail their NEWTs because they weren’t focused on coursework (or Quidditch) for five minutes.

The big, cushy, wingback chair beside the fireplace was one of the most coveted spots in the Common Room, even when the temperature was mild and there wasn’t a need for a warm fire billowing in the hearth. There was always a race after dinner to be the first one to claim it as theirs, and this evening, Anthony was the victor. With his legs curled up and his Transfiguration book perched open on his knee, Anthony was far from studying. Instead, he was staring off into space, idly bobbing his quill up and down by rolling his fingers. He thought he was alone, but the moment he heard somebody’s feet padding upon the stone floor, Anthony broke out of his daydream in a blink of his eyes, and tried focusing upon the words on the page. A few moments later, he happened to glance up to see who had arrived. “Hey, Padma. Want to go over some Transfig notes, together?”

“Nope.” Padma perched on the arm of the chair and closed Anthony’s book. “We’re going to take a break from studying. Come on, let’s go somewhere else.” Everyone in the Ravenclaw common room was studying something tonight, and while Padma absolutely appreciated the need for revisions, she’d done enough tonight. It was time for a break, especially since she wasn’t sure that she was going to get the break she’d hoped for on Friday. “Let’s go sit by the lake, or something.”

A quick glance over to the clock ticking on the wall told him the time. “We have less than an hour before curfew. By the time we reach the lake, we won’t have long to sit around before we have to start going back in, again.” Anthony’s eyebrows rose and his voice mocked her by sounding scandalized. “Unless you mean to break some rules! GASP! Padma! Whatever will Hermione say?!”

“What Hermione doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” Padma smirked at Anthony. “And, more importantly, it won’t hurt us. Besides, you know I’m not a stickler for the rules.” Yes, she was studious and she loved learning for the sake of learning, but she had enough in common with her twin that she also had the Gryffindor recklessness. She just wasn’t as brave about it. “Now come on. Let’s go somewhere that isn’t study-central.”

The smile on Anthony’s face revealed that he agreed with Padma on all accounts. He’d been studying so intensely since they’d returned from Spring Break, that he felt his brain was full and couldn’t contain any more knowledge. Sure, he loved knowledge just like any Ravenclaw, but there came a certain point where it became ridiculous.

“Well, luckily for you, I can always flash my Prefect badge. I can say you’re helping me with some important Prefect business or something.” He closed the book and thought for a moment. “Actually. I have an idea. Do you have a bathing suit, by any chance?”

“Yes…” Padma dragged out the word, unsure where Anthony was going with this. It was a bit cold to go swimming in the lake, and they hardly had time for that anyway. “Why? What did you have in mind?” If he had a plan and was willing to flash his prefect badge, it would make things easier. Of all the prefects, Anthony was the one she was most willing to show how she snuck between the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor dorms after hours, but she really wanted to keep that to herself.

“Do you want me to tell you, or would you rather trust me and be surprised?” The smile on Anthony’s face suggested that what he had planned would be worth her while.

Padma looked at Anthony for a minute, then stood. “This had better be a good surprise.” She hurried up to the seventh year girls’ dorm and quickly changed into her bathing suit, pulling her clothes back on over it. Whatever Anthony had planned, she was sure it would be easier to get wherever they were going if it looked like they were dressed normally.

When she was done, she scurried back down to the common room and met Anthony. “All right. Surprise me.”

Anthony wasn’t sure if Padma was going to buy it, so he was pleased when she scurried off. While she was getting ready, Anthony set his book upon the top of the mantle to collect later, and put on his outer, school robes, which had been tossed over the back of the chair. He was making sure his Prefect’s badge was in place just as Padma returned. “Oh, I think you’ll like it. Follow me, and stay cool.”

Together, they slipped through the door and went down the long set of stairs, away from Ravenclaw Tower. Passing some students along the way, Anthony maintained an air of authority, and even threatened to take House Points away from some Gryffindor First Years unless they didn’t hurry back to their own dorm. They seemed to be heading toward the Hospital Wing, but then made a turn down a corridor which Padma probably hadn’t frequented much, before. In front of the statue of Boris the Bewildered, Anthony first looked around to make sure there weren’t any witnesses, then said the password, “Stronger than dirt.”

The statue moved aside and Anthony held a single finger up to Padma to silently tell her to wait a moment while he went inside to check if nobody else was in the room before returning to tell her, “Come in, quickly.”

The statue closed off the entrance behind them. “Welcome to the Prefect’s bathroom,” Anthony proudly announced.

Padma looked around the bathroom and let out a low whistle. “Wow. This has to be the biggest perk of being a prefect.” As she slipped off her clothes, she looked at Anthony skeptically. Did you put on your bathing suit? ‘Cause it didn’t look like you left the common room.”

“I’m a Prefect,” Anthony replied, hand upon his chest. “My bathing suit is in the changing room. I’ll be right out. If you see Moaning Myrtle, tell her to slough off.” He smiled and stepped into a side room where the lockers were kept. “Don’t touch anything!”

Padma stripped down to just her bathing suit, folded her clothes, and laid them in the corner. She felt awkward alone in the room with a giant bathtub, like she should leave or do something, but Anthony had told her not to touch anything, so she stood there, her hands folded in front of her as she wondered what came out of each of the taps that surrounded the tub.

“Right!” Anthony returned wearing his suit, clapping his hands together to intentionally startle Padma. He also brought a pair of towels with which they could dry themselves off, later. “Tell me, what’s your favorite soapy scent? Or your favorite color?”

Padma jumped and squeaked. “Anthony Goldstein! You can’t... “ She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. He was trying to help her relax, she shouldn't yell at him. “Um. My favorite color is purple.” She’d never thought about her favorite soap scent. Usually, she just went with whatever Parvati had picked out. Vati cared about that sort of thing a lot more than she did. “I like fruity scents, I guess.”

The reaction he got from Padma was exactly what Anthony wanted and he laughed. He was delighted to show off what was reserved only to a very small percentage of students at Hogwarts. “Okay, see that nozzle with the large purple gem on top? Near the bright blue one? Turn that on. And also the light green one, a few nozzles down.” Anthony had already tested all of them out before, and knew exactly which combination would give the desired results.

Padma bit her lip when Anthony cackled. He didn’t mean anything by it, she knew, but she was wound so tight from her conversations earlier that it stung a little. Instead of saying anything, she focused on breathing as she walked over to the taps he’d indicated and turned them. Dark purple water flowed out of one the one with the turquoise gem and clear water that smelled like apples came out of the other. As they mixed in the tub, it created a lovely light purple color with an amazing scent. “Wow.”

The tub filled faster than she expected it would, and soon it was high enough that she could have jumped in without risk of injuring herself. Still, she just stood at the edge, watching the tub fill, not willing to make the first move.

“CANON BALL!” Anthony didn’t wait for the water to stop filling - he knew it was deep enough for him to dive in. Not just dive, but to take a running start and jump into the center, pulling his limbs in tight and close to create an enormous SPLASH!

Padma shrieked and jumped backward as the wave washed over her, leaving her dripping wet and pools of water on the tiles. “Anthony Goldstein! You are going to pay for that!” Nevermind that she’d come here expecting to get wet--the suit had been a clue even when she had no idea where they were going. Nevermind that he obviously knew what they could get away with in here. Nevermind that his antics were making her feel a little less frustrated with everything.

He was still going to pay.

She walked around the pool to the other side where the tile was still dry, got a running start, and dove into the pool. She sliced through the water like a knife, hardly creating a splash at all, but stayed under, using her momentum to propel her quickly toward Anthony. She reached him in seconds, grabbed his legs, and yanked down hard, pulling him under without warning.

Anthony was pretty proud of himself for getting Padma drenched, and he laughed at his own cleverness, treading water in the deep end of the tub. He watched her dive and though she was under the water and might not be able to hear, he lifted an arm to punch the air and cheered. “Olympic gold! A perfect score!” The next thing he knew we was tugged with a “Oomph!”

Surprised, but not so caught off guard that he didn’t have time to gasp for air before finding himself beneath the water, he attempted to shake his leg to kick himself free from Padma’s grasp without hurting her, and once loose, he propelled himself forward to grasp her around the waist and bring them both up for a breath and a joyful laugh.

Padma squirmed free of Anthony as soon as they reached the surface and stretched out on her back. The water rocked her gently as she floated, and she let out a deep sigh as she relaxed more. She could practically feel the stress melting away. “This place is amazing, Anthony. I bet stress levels would be a lot lower if all seventh years could come to places like this.”

“Yeah,” Anthony reluctantly began. “But can you imagine? If everybody came, they’d never want to leave.” He was trying to be funny, but really, he liked the elitist aspect of the Prefect’s bathroom. Sure, it was cool to sneak a friend in, once in a while, but if it was open to all the students, then it would lose its special appeal, and being a Prefect would be a little less special. “Maybe we can convince Flitwick to Charm us a jacuzzi for Ravenclaw Tower? Hell, between the two of us, we could do it on our own.”

“I didn’t say this place, just places like this. Places we can actually relax.” Padma kicked lightly, sending herself floating down the length of the pool. The ceiling was as gorgeous as the rest of the room, and as she floated, Padma tried to take in all the details. “I don’t think a jacuzzi would be a good idea. Can you imagine what sort of trouble the first years would get into? Or some of the less-mature boys?” She wrinkled her nose at the thought. She could only imagine what would happen if the Ravenclaw dorms had a jacuzzi when Seamus snuck in using polyjuice.

“You don’t find the Common Room relaxing enough?” Anthony teased. “How about jacuzzi privileges for fifth and seventh years, only? To help deal with their OWLs and NEWTs? Now that I think about it, just having a ping-pong table or a foosball game would be cool. Why haven’t I thought about this before? We’ll be leaving in a few weeks, and we won’t be able to play foosball!”

Padma stopped floating and righted herself so she could look at Anthony quizzically. “What’s foosball? Is that a Muggle thing? How would we play any sort of ball in the common room?” She had no idea what “foos” was, but all the Muggle ball games she’d heard of involved lots of throwing or kicking and would cause a lot of damage in the dorms.

“Oh, sorry. Yeah, it’s a Muggle thing. A game played on a special table. Are you familiar with Muggle football? Kicking around a ball on a pitch? That’s what foosball is like, except with little plastic men you manipulate with metal rods.”

“I… see.” Actually, she didn’t see at all. Plastic men with metal rods playing Muggle football on a table made absolutely no sense. She could no more imagine it than flying on a Muggle airplane. “I’m sure you can find a foosball… table after we graduate.” She laid back again and let herself float some more. “I don’t think I’d find it very relaxing. But this is. This is great.”

“Naaaaaw.” Antonin propelled himself through the water to get to the edge of the tub where he leaned an arm over the side, treading water with his legs. “Playing foosball at Hogwarts when you’re supposed to be studying is much better than owning your own when you’re an adult.” He thought for a moment. “Wow. We’re going to be adults, soon. I don’t think I’m ready for that.”

Just the idea of being a responsible adult was enough to make Padma tense. She sunk a few inches before she consciously relaxed her muscles and bobbed back up to the surface. “I don’t think I am either. Do you have a job or anything lined up for after school?” From talking to people, she had the impression that she was one of the few people who knew what she was doing… and one of the few who wasn’t going to have some sort of break after school ended. At least she had something lined up, though, since Mr. Snape had been nice enough to arrange a position for her at Arsenic and Old Lace.

“Not if I can help it,” Anthony confessed. “My parents have it all planned out for me, either go straight into training to become a Healer, or take up an entry level position with the Wizangamot office. I don’t want to do either, so I’m planning to skip both options and go backpacking across Europe. I’ll have plenty of time to be responsible, later.” There was something in Anthony’s voice that didn’t sound as convincing as he’d like. “What about yourself? Want to go backpacking with me?”

“I wish.” She really did, too. She was jealous of Seamus and Dean’s portkey adventure, and even envious of the trips she’d heard a few of the Slytherin girls mention when she walked by their table in the Great Hall. “I’m starting at Arsenic and Old Lace, though, and I don’t think new apprentices get that much time off.”

“Pft,” Anthony made a dismissive noise. “You can always become an apprentice later. Why are you rushing into responsibility. Straight from Hogwarts with the rules and revisions, to an apprenticeship. Before you know it, you’ll be too busy to experience life! Live a little, before life swallows you.”

“I’m not rushing into anything, Anthony.” Merlin, sometimes she felt like the only person who knew what she wanted to do with her life. “I’m going to have a couple of weeks between leaving school and starting work, but not enough time to backpack all over Europe! I’m going to spend time with my family before I start.” It wasn’t as though she could just not show up. She’d already committed and she wasn’t going to give up the chance to work with someone like Mr. Snape.

Anthony really hoped somebody would come with him on his tour - he was determined to have fun, but it would be even better if he had somebody with whom he could share his experience. But only people he liked, people who were friends. Padma was top on that list. But he could tell she wasn’t into it, so feeling a bit disappointed, he decided not to push the matter any further. “Alright,” he said, “I’ll send you postcards, instead. You’ll just have to travel vicariously through me.”

That sounded fantastic, and Padma told Anthony so. “We’ll have to get together when you get back so you can tell me all about it, too. I’ll tell you all about the fantastic potions I’m learning to make.”

To Anthony, it didn’t sound like Padma would be having much fun, but he shrugged internally. To each their own, right?

“Deal.”