Sponge.

Millie’s little Herbology patch had kept her from mealtimes most days and so more often than not at twilight she found herself wandering back up from the grounds and heading towards the portrait that covered the entrance to the kitchens. She’d tickle the pear, though not before making sure there were no prefects about, and slipped in through the doorway that was revealed to her. It was now Friday; a whole two weeks after the first late night trip to the kitchens had begun. With her bag on her shoulder, her school clothes in a disarray, Millie made her way up the staircase from the ground floor entrance from the Herbology greenhouses. She was weary and covered in dirt. She was undone, somewhat, but had spent a lovely evening with the Herbology professor who she’d shared cheese and biscuits with before heading back up into the castle. Millie knew now that she needed to feed herself at least one square meal plus dessert. She’d not seen food, unless you counted the cheese, -- okay. She’d not seen a proper meal since breakfast and now, even with the cheese, she was starved.

Each step was a little laboured but in the end she made it and after tickling the pear, Millie entered the kitchens where the three House Elves she’d befriended were waiting ready to take her things. Millie accepted their help and immediately deposited her bag and robes into their arms. The third she noticed held at set of spotty pyjamas that Millie was tempted to refuse but the Elf was adamant she take them and so she did, also thanking another elf that had set a jug and a basin of warm water down on one of the tables. Clearly they all thought her messy and so Millie had no other choice but to allow them to help her clean up. Well, they didn’t help her - that would’ve been mortifying - but they did equip her so she could do it herself and so Millie set the pyjamas down on the table top before grabbing her muddy jumper and pulling it up over her head and tossing it onto the bench.

Millie tugged her tie off and let it join the pile and soon enough the rest of her clothes had followed suit until she was as naked as the day she’d been born - probably dirtier, but just as starkers. Millie took her hair out of the clip she’d used to keep it up and placed that down before picking up the jug and filling the basin with warm water. Then, once it was full, she stepped onto the towel the elves had set out to catch any water and picked up the soft sponge that they’d left by the side. She dropped it into the basin and stood, mesmerised by the way it sank - pausing for a moment as if she wasn’t stood naked in the kitchens. She was merely interested in the sponge and so stared at it, making no move as of yet to pick it up out of the basin.

Judd had drawn the short quill. He, Foster, and Ellie had all been sitting on his bed as they did every Friday night since they had started going to Hogwarts- quite a feat, since they had all just about doubled in size since they were first years, in Foster’s case, tripled. Still, they had compiled their Honeydukes candy when Foster decided a real feast was in order. They had all drawn sugar quills, and of course, Judd had picked the one that had been broken in half on the journey from Honeydukes to Hogwarts.

His faithful friends had thrown their hands up and whooped in glee. “Lazy prats. I’m going to stay nice and trim. I hope you two get fat.” They made faces at him but continued to whoop and celebrate. He pulled on his robe over his pajamas and slipped his slippers onto his feet. He headed out, hearing their catcalls follow him. He turned and shouted, “Piss off, then.”

But when he turned around, he was smiling. He really did love his friends and he never really got legitimately angry with them. Sure, they irritated the hell out of him, but he never actually got upset with them. They were too stupid to know any better.

He headed down the towers, jogging down the stairs the best he could without kicking off his slippers by accident. He headed down the familiar path to the kitchens, compiling a list in his mind of the foods he planned on bringing back to his dorm. When he opened the door to the kitchen, however, he got more than a view of food. He spotted what appeared to be… a naked good. His eyes widened and he momentarily mouthed like a trout.

“Sorry!” he finally spouted out. He whipped around, closing the door, and closing himself out. He had not expected that.

The water was far warmer than it would have been in the bathroom in the dorm, the other girls having used all of the hot jets. Millie was glad of the basin the House Elves had supplied and as she let the water wash the dirt away, she could have sworn it left the smell of lavender behind it. She looked up to see the House Elves hovering above her with another basin and closed her eyes just in time for the water to splash over her head and clean her entire body. The Elves didn’t seem to mind her naked form in their kitchens. Much of the water was contained by a quick use of spells and a tiny bit of Elvin magic later and her hair was dry once more, fluffed by the tangible magic crackling in the air. She smiled to herself, enjoying the warmth that was spreading through her bones, and reopened her eyes. It was then that she saw the person in the doorway. Millie froze and tipped her head to the side, a small smile dancing across her lips as she regarded the boy in the doorway that, upon regaining his countenance, left the room in a hurried state of embarrassment. Millie, however, remained where she was, her smile widening and her eyes glistening with mirth at the boy’s reaction to her. It was only after a moment that she put down the sponge and decided she had better look for him.

Reaching for her wand, Millie cast a spell that dried her body of water. Once dried, she reached for the dotty cotton pyjamas and was amused to find a pair of frilly pink pants underneath the jacket. Millie shrugged on the jacket, not bothering to do up the buttons, and slipped into the pants, pulling them up her long, newly dried legs, before pulling her hair up into a half pony-tail. She waited for a moment to see if the boy would enter the room again and upon finding that he didn’t, she crossed the room and headed for the portrait door. Millie opened it up and peered out, finding the boy had his back to her. She leaned forward, placing her chin on his shoulder, and smiled cheekily before blowing on his earlobe.

“Sorry.” She echoed his spluttered apology in a much more level voice. “Why don’t you come inside? I’m somewhat decent now.” And with that, Millie turned around, traipsing back into the kitchens with a self-satisfied smile on her lips.

Judd was content to just wait there, rocking awkwardly on his heels as he tried to rid his mind of all thoughts. As a Ravenclaw, he had a hard time believing that an empty mind was a good mind, but he had never been presented with such a strange situation either. So there he stood. It crossed his mind that maybe he should just turn and run (yes, literally run) back to the common room. But Ellie and Foster would have far more questions than answers he would care to supply. God, if they found out, he could never live it down.

He suddenly felt a pressure on his shoulder and he felt the joints in his spine stiffen as he stood up about an inch taller. Air rushed into his ear and his head involuntarily snapped away, and he felt his body thrust itself away from the newcomer to his comfort bubble. He recognized it as the girl belonging to the great, bare form- er, he recognized the girl as a younger Gryffindor, but this was the extent of their interaction.

Perfect.

“It’s alright,” he said, trying to keep the blush from his cheeks and only just succeeding. He was not ashamed of the female form, he had had a few girlfriends after all, he was just not used to… stumbling upon it in such an abrupt fashion. “My fault, really. Should have knocked, you know. Um, right. Yeah. I need to get… to get some stuff so.” CALM DOWN MAN! He braced himself and gathered his wits… and his words. “Yeah, okay.” He followed her inside.

The hesitance in the boy made Millie smile though she would have rather been conversing with someone a little more confident and certainly a lot less fearful of the female form as this young man seemed to be. Millie had seen a fair few in her time and she could claim to be fairly used to them now. She merely led the way back into the kitchens, deciding that he could probably deal with the underwear and the shirt. She could hardly be classed as decent but she was a lot more clothed than she had been mere moments before when he’d stumbled across her. Millie could hide her amusement, though. Her eyes were alight with mirth, shining their glorious blue in the light of the torches on the walls.

Millie returned to her table, finding that the basin had been replaced by a bowl of tomato soup and crusty bread on a plate beside it. Millie smiled and took her seat beside the trousers she still had yet to put on. She picked up her spoon and looked about the kitchens, tipping her head to the side and observing the boy before bringing some of the soup to her lips on the spoon. It was warm, but not to the point where it would burn her tongue. She smiled as the taste of the tomato spread over it and looked over at the boy again, her curiosity jumping from nought to one hundred in an instant.

“What are you doing here so late?” She asked, even though it was probably a question better suited to her rather than him.

The girl seemed a little too pleased with how flustered he had become over her little display he had walked in on, and he felt his own worth had taken a hit. He was the older between the two- he did not recall having classes with her and as he was the highest year, he knew she was not his age or older- and here she was with this smug little look, thinking she was more mature or experienced than her. This fuelled his own need to prove himself (to who, he was not sure, for her did not care for a stranger’s opinion), but he hitched up his pajama pants and strode in, standing taller and tightening his jaw. He ignored the fact that she was half dressed and did not even have to remind himself to keep his eyes on her face- he had the self control to do it naturally. He was not some pubescent fool out of touch with his body. He could handle this.

It had just shocked him, was all.

He walked in and one of the elves rushed forward, the one they dealt with. “Hello, Gabby. Can I get the Friday usual?” Gabby took his hand and pumped it, nodding eagerly. “Yessir, of course sir. Anything for Master Judd.” He patted her head and let go of her hand, and she ran off, babbling to a few other elves who went about putting together the meal. He glanced back at the girl who had addressed him. He raised an eyebrow in an indifferent fashion, walking over to a table and pushing himself up to sit on the top of one of the tables that were replicas of the ones that stood in the Great Hall, only one floor above their heads.

“My friends and I always have a little end-of-the-week hang out mini-feast on Friday nights,” he said, shrugging. “We’ve been doing it since first year. Makes all seven.” He tried not to make this statement too pointed, but he wanted it clear that he was older. “I could ask you the same thing.”

A quick glance at her watch which she’d laid it down on the table told Millie that it really was far earlier than she was used to. The clouds had rolled in far quicker than usual and though the lamps on the walls were soon ablaze, Millie decided it best to turn in for the night, though not before heading to the kitchens. It was because of her ignorance of the time that she now found herself in the company of the Ravenclaw that was only ever so slightly older than her. Millie didn’t really see him as much of a threat to her as he was only a Ravenclaw and he certainly didn’t look familiar as she knew all of the Prefects due to more than a number of points being deducted by them from her. They were friends. Well, not really...but they were close! Peas in a pod, even. Erm. Still, not really. But that wasn’t the point! The point was that he didn’t really bother Millie all that much and so she idly began to eat her soup. She couldn’t help but smirk at what the Elf called him and most definitely failed to suppress the snort. Judd. What a stupid name.

“Mmmhmm,” Millie hummed, pretending to sound interested before adding. “I’m eating. What does it look like I’m doing here? Pretty self-explanatory. Oh wait, you mean...just now? Oh, Elfies like watching girls wash. I don’t fail to give them a show. They love it. What about you?” Millie smirked.

Judd was beginning to think that he did not like this girl very much, though he would keep an open mind until he had a definitive reason not to, as Judd had never much appreciated the overly judgmental nature of his generation and his peers. The snort she released at his name came him reason for discomfort in her presence, and he could not ignore the snide way she had originally treated him- as though she had the upper hand- she; who was younger than him! She had a mysterious aura about her that he typically found very appealing on others as it gave him something to explore in them. In her, however, it was foreboding and ominous, the sort of mystery that surrounded a snake. A very attractive, sweet-faced snake, he would at least admit to that. What she had going for him was that she was a new person, something he always appreciated, and, well, okay. She was attractive and had a great body. He really found no point in denying it.

She responded rather rudely- any hint of a joke or jest was lost in her impolite address to him. But Judd was not want to get down so easily, so he responded, "Should have known, how could I have missed it? Eating." He jokingly hit himself upside the head. Her tease threw him off guard, though, so he said, "You should tell the elves to find their own entertainment; I'm sure you are much to busy to cater to them."