Art Museum...? No. Just a Bathroom. Finished

<sub>Emile had somehow gotten into the abandoned toilets. He didn't know exactly how or why his body had decided to take him here, but he was exploring, and now here he was. He pushed his black hair out his eyes and walked into the bathroom. It was his first time in this place, though he had heard many stories about it. It felt a bit creepy in here. He felt a chill as soon as he walked into the area in the middle of the bathrooms.


For some reason, even though it felt creepy, Emile enjoyed being in the place. It felt curious. Strange and mysterious. Being a kid who wanted to write a book, strange feelings were the best type of feelings. He took out his notebook immediately and started to write everything he felt and saw down. He wrote about the cracked mirrors, and the grimy walls. How the faucets probably wouldn't work, and how the floor was also a bit cracked. This could be good material for a horror novel if he chose to do that in the future. He slipped his small leather notebook back into the pocket of his robes, and really looked around the place for the first time. "Yikes..creepy." He said to himself. He felt lucky that he had come here though. This could actually be good material!

Whilst in his thinking state and looking around the room, he spotted something he absolutely did not expect on the wall of the Abandoned Toilets. It was a painting of a sunset. The colors were vibrant. Reds, yellows, oranges, purples, pinks! It wasn't the most perfect painting, but Emile still felt like it was a needle in a haystack. An idea popped into his head and he scribbled it down in his notebook. "Portal...in bathroom..." He said out-loud as he wrote. Hey, you never know when in a book a portal could appear, and maybe a bathroom would be a strange place for it to do so! His main goal was to entertain the readers, so why not? Then he put it away and stared at the drawing again. He then noticed another thing that was a bit unordinary. There were paint brushes and paint bottles lying around. The paint looked a bit wet. Someone had been in here recently.

He then turned around to spot another start of a painting. This time it was extremely green and there was some brown as well. A forest is what he assumed it was. He tilted his head and studied it. Who had been in here recently painting on the Abandoned Toilet walls? To him, this would be someone he'd like to meet. Whoever did that seemed like they would be quite a fun person to talk to. "Uh..is anyone there?" Emile said quietly, turning to the stalls. "Sorry if I disturbed your painting session, if anyone is there." Emile said.

Emile headed closer to the stalls. Did this person maybe think he was a teacher? Was there even anyone in the toilets? He wasn't quite sure, but now he was curious. All memories of his grandparents telling him that curiosity killed the cat shot out of his brain, and he wanted to know more about who had painted. He looked at the bottoms of the stalls to see if there were feet. Maybe this person was standing on the toilet. He hoped that he hadn't disturbed them. "I'm not a teacher, I promise." Anyone could tell from his voice that he was obviously not a teacher, but he just said that to make sure the person knew.</sub>

<sub>While searching for anyone who might have been in the stalls, Emile heard a splash, and then the clanking of what seemed to be a toilet seat. "You have got to be joking!" His head whipped around to one of the stalls he had looked at before. His theory had been right, whoever was in here was standing on the toilet seat to be out of sight. He probably seemed either like a teacher, a prefect, or someone creepy looking around the abandoned toilets. Or maybe not the last one, but to himself that's what he felt like. His eyes looked for the stall where someone was, and he found one with the toilet seat on the ground. He stood outside of it. 

A girl stepped out of the stall, and he backed up a bit seeing as she was a bit wet, and he didn't really feel like getting wet. Then maybe he seemed rude! He searched his endless pockets for something he might have to help her dry off. Wait a second, what had made her wet? Had she fallen into the toilet bowl? Gracious, he felt awful for her. Somehow, maybe a miracle, he found a towel in his pocket! It was very small, only a bit larger than a handkerchief, but it was still something. He handed it to her. "Sorry..this is all I have." He said, his face looking like he felt bad, which he did. "I can go and run and get you a bigger towel if you like..or maybe you want to use my robes?" He started firing off options when he saw that she was shivering. Sometimes when he saw someone who had something bad happen to them, his mind started racing at things he could do to help, and sometimes it got the best of him. Like now. He took a deep breath and looked back at her, his face turning a bit red. "Sorry. I need to calm down." He muttered. 

"Uhm.. Hello." The girl said after he had had a mini freak out. She had bright red hair, and she seemed to be a Gryffindor from her robes and tie, just like him! Though, he had never seen her around the common room. He made a mental note to socialize more. "Hello..can I ask exactly what happened here?" He questioned. "And I didn't ask this earlier..but are you alright? Sorry I got caught up in my own mind." Said Emile, scratching the back of his neck nervously. 

"What's your name?" She asked, and Emile looked up at her and smiled. "Ah, I'm a Emile. Emile Yorke. A first year Gryffindor, as you can see." He said gesturing to his robes. "And you? What's your name?" He asked in return. "Oh..and another thing? Did you draw these? The ones on the wall." He said, pointing to them. In the end, he couldn't stand to see her shivering while he was quite warm and took of his robes, then handed them to her. "Sorry, I don't want you to catch a cold." He explained.</sub>

<sub>Emile watched her curiously for a moment as he dug through his pockets. Did she think he was going to pull up his hand and punch her or something? Well, he knew he wasn't going to do that. When he gave her the towel, she seemed to ease up a bit, and plastered a smile on her face. "No, no! It's completely fine," She said, dabbing her Mary Junes, which had be ruined from the toilet water. "Oh..your poor shoes." Emile said with a sigh. He hoped she might have another pair, but of course he couldn't be sure. He appreciated the fact that she hadn't thought he was creepy or something. He had been walking around the abandoned toilets. 

"You've already given me a towel n'all, I hope you know that you aren't obligated to help me, I appreciate it though..." She then said, fiddling with a rusty necklace she had. Emile smiled at her and waved his hands a bit. "Ah no! I'm just the type of person who'll start trying to help. Even though sometimes people don't want it or something. Anyway, I'm happy to run and get you a towel.." He said. She then said that she did have extra robes, so that was a worry out of his mind. 

"Well, I got a bit bored, and my uncle gave me some paint for Christmas that I didn't even open, so I used it over here," The Gryffindor explained, giving a small laugh. Emile could see that she was very red, and probably embarrassed. He knew the feeling all too well unfortunately. "And then I heard you open the door and I assumed the worst so I just hid in the stall. I stood on the toilet seat which was super wobbly and I just...Uhm... Fell in?" She finished, looking like she had just seen someone have the worst fall ever. Definitely a cringy thing. 

"Well, if it were me I probably also would have freaked out. I wouldn't want to get caught. Who wants to get caught, right?" Emile said, giving her a thumbs up. "I'm glad you didn't fall on your head or something instead of into toilet water. Better dirty than injured right?" He said with a smile, trying to lighten the situation. "And I don't think it's stupid you wanted to paint here. Why not make one of the creepiest places in the castle the most colorful? I think it's a pleasant surprise to see paintings in a place like this. It could lighten up anyone's day, don't you think?" He said, a big smile on his face. 

"Marla Quinlan, also a first year Gryffindor," She said in repsonse to him asking what her name was. She also did a little cutesy, and Emile couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. He bowed in return to keep the joke going. "I'm very sorry that you had to witness that, please pretend that did not happen." She then said, and held her hand out. He took it and gave it a shake, then let go, his hand going back to resting at his side.

After Marla had confirmed that she, in fact, had been the one drawing, it was her turn to ask him a question. "And I'm a bit curious, what were you doing in the abandoned bathroom? Because I know for a fact that nobody in hell would actually use the toilets in here." She said.

Emile scratched the back of his neck nervously and his face turned a bit red. Since he was so pale he already looked almost like a tomato. "Well..when I go exploring, if you call it that, sometimes I just go..places? I don't know how exactly I got here, but I just got here. Maybe that makes no sense." Emile explained. Suddenly, he had an urge to write in his notebook and quickly pulled it out, scribbling at what looked to be the speed of light. It was just his bad handwriting. After finishing, he quickly put it back in his pocket, not wanting to seem rude. "Sorry about that.." He said.

"If you'd like, we can paint together, if you have nothing to do... I mean, I have potions soon but I asked a few friends that already went and all we're doing is making forgetfulness potions, not really worth going." Marla then said, and Emile beamed and nodded excitedly.

"I'm not the best at painting, but if you would help me I'd love to!" Emile said, walking over to where the paint bottles were.</sub> 

<sub>"Yeah, I guess. And really? You don't exactly seem like the freak out type." Marla said, and Emile couldn't really tell if it was a joke or not. He titled his head a bit. "Really? Even if that was a joke, that's pretty sweet." Internally, if something went wrong, his mind started to race. Actually, that was an understatement. His mind would go at the speed of light if anything went wrong. It was one of his downfalls, and sadly he was still trying to figure out a way to get over it. He shook his head slightly at himself to get out of his thoughts and back into reality. He was in the middle of a conversation, after all. He had to stop going into his daydreams all the time too. He had a lot of things to work on. 

"Ugh, I'm filthy..." Marla said, shaking a bit of the gross...things off of her. Emile stepped back a bit. He didn't mean to seem rude, but he also didn't really want to get toilet water on himself. He wanted to keep talking to Marla, but he also wanted to get a towel for her. He felt bad standing there clean as a whistle while she was covered in filth. "I..man. I'll be right back, I can't stand this." Emile said, and jogged out of the toilets, quickly running to the nearest classroom. Luckily, the classroom had a box of tissues and a small towel on one of the desks, and he grabbed it and ran back. "I found this, if you want to use it. It might help a bit more." Maybe he had seemed a bit standoffish for randomly running away, but he felt better being able to give her something that might help a bit more. 

When he got back, she started to talk about how creepy the infirmary was, which Emile definitely agreed with. "Yep. Glad it's just water and not a broken nose or something. Mostly because the infirmary gives me the creeps. I read an old newspaper a few months ago and I found this story on a few kids who got petrified in the 90's from a snake monster thing, and if you looked in its eyes you would die. It's just weird to think those kids were laying in the same beds as I would be in. Eugh." Marla said, and Emile also felt a chill down his spine. "Agreed. I went to the Hospital Wing after I fell down the stairs, and there's something about that place that creeps me the heck out." Emile said, making a grossed out face. 

"It makes complete sense! How could anyone resist not exploring a magical school with god knows what hidden inside? I mean, I heard there are secret passages that lead to Hogsmeade, how crazy is that? And on the grounds in the forest we aren't supposed to go in, apparently there's a bunch of super dangerous creatures that live there." Marla said, her face lighting up as she talked about the adventures. Emile also looked extremely excited as she talked about it. He appreciated a good adventure as much as the next student did, and he was very happy that Marla didn't seem to think his explanation on exploring was that strange, as some people (most people) did. They didn't really understand why anyone would want to go out of their way to look at something. Stick to the norm, and don't go out of line. That was how a lot of people in his life thought, but Emile was different from that obviously. 

"You apologize a lot. I really don't mind, it's actually really cool that you write your thoughts down. Wish I had a notebook to do that with." Marla said. Emile smiled brightly at her. "Sorry. I mean, not sorry. You know what I mean." Emile said, shaking his head and breathing out with a weak laugh. She didn't have any idea how much it meant that she thought it was cool that he wrote everything down. 

"I don't know if I can teach you, this is my first time ever painting. Look, I don't even have brushes, but I can try. And as long as you're having fun with it, you're probably doing it right." Marla said, resuming her painting of the forest. Emile walked over to her and picked up some white paint. "Do you mind if I draw some daisies on the ground? Maybe the flowers might make it more naturey." Emile said, giving a somewhat ironic thumbs up.</sub> 

After telling Emile that he didn't look like the freak out type, he said that Marla was pretty sweet, though it didn't seem like he believed her. The boy did seem like a calm person, calm enough at least. Especially for a Gryffindor.
"No, I wasn't joking. You seem like one of those really quick thinkers, like in the movies." She explained. Even if Marla was joking about him seeming like a calm person, she wouldn't lie to him. However, he did seem very out of it, like he was zoning in and out in a way.

"Are you alright? You seem a little out of it" She mentioned, it was better to be blunt than leave him to deal with everything on his own, right? After all, Marla knew how it felt to bottle things up, and it was absolute hell. The girl wouldn't want to leave Emile feeling the same way, especially since they were... Friends now? Was that okay to say? They met only a few minutes ago. But she did feel like she could be (somewhat) herself around him so far, and that's a pretty good sign. Before she could even mention it, Marla shook her robes a little and mumbled something about being filthy. Right after, Emile apologized for no apparent reason and immediately scurried outside of the bathroom. She tilted her head, confused, and before she knew it, he was back with a new towel and some tissues.

"I found this, if you want to use it. It might help a bit more." He offered, handing the two objects to Marla. She grinned and gave him a grateful look.
"You didn't have to... But then again, you're kind of my favorite person right now for this." It was her own... Strange way of saying thank you, already drying herself off. "Ok, the robes are done for, so.." Marla took off her robes since she was wearing a t-shirt under them anyway, there was no use in wearing gross floppy robes if she could take them off. She scrunched the soggy, sad excuse for a piece of clothing and tossed onto the floor.

After a few moments of silence, Emile and Marla both started ranting about how damned eerie it was in the infirmary. It was like a horror movie. It smelled like old people and hospital at the same time (for reference, it was, in fact, not a good combination), and it was scarily quiet.
"Agreed. I went to the Hospital Wing after I fell down the stairs, and there's something about that place that creeps me the heck out." Emile added.
"I know! Whenever I'm there I feel like someone's watching me... And yikes, you fell down the stairs? Sounds painful..." She said with a grimace. Normally, falling down the stairs wasn't that bad, but Hogwarts stairs? That's a death sentence. Afterward, Emile started to talk about how a lot of people thought it was weird that he explored the castle. That was ridiculous though! Who would ridicule or judge someone over exploring a ginormous castle? It's a given that at least a few people were going to do exactly that. With rumors of secret passageways and the forbidden forest... Who could resist? And as Marla rambled on about exploring Hogwarts, she couldn't help but smile when she noticed Emile's face lighting up too. It was really relieving to know that she wasn't the only one exploring the castle.

Before she knew it, Marla and Emile were sitting down and resuming the painting of a forest she'd started earlier. It was a questionable mess of different shades of green, but at least it was fun to make...
"Do you mind if I draw some daisies on the ground? Maybe the flowers might make it more naturey." Emile asked with white paint in his hand.
"Of course not. You don't need permission to draw, y'know. Where's the fun in that? Marla squirted some yellow paint out onto the tile and mixed it with orange, putting the new color in the corner of the drawing for the sun. "Hey, I just realized something... Your last name is Yorke, right?" She paused before speaking again,"And are your parents authors? Because I read some books by some people with the last name Yorke and they were a-maze-ing."

<sub>"No, I wasn't joking. You seem like one of those really quick thinkers, like in the movies." Marla told Emile, and Emile thought she might not be lying. He smiled at her, his eyes showing a bit of uncertainty. Him? A quick thinker? Sure, he might be able to make quick decisions..but a thinker? That was the first he heard of that. Usually he heard he decided to fast without thinking. This made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside in the least cringey way possible. It was kind of the first time someone was almost telling him they thought he was cool, like people in movies. "Thank you, that's very kind." Emile said, not deciding to share how happy he felt with her. Maybe he would seem uncool, or something. His mind was kind of strange. 

"Are you alright? You seem a little out of it." The redhead said, noticing that he was daydreaming. Emile shook his head a bit and looked at her, his head tilted a bit. Emile smiled a bit weakly and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Yes, I'm okay. I just...daydream a lot, if that's the right word. I don't know, my train of thought can leave the station at any random moment, even though that sounds cheesy. It's like..I'll think about one thing..and another..and another, you know? I don't know. It's hard to explain." Emile finished, giving Marla a small smile. "And along with that I start to rant a lot, as just happened." He added.

After he had come back with the extra towel, Marla looked genuinely grateful. Emile felt good that he was able to help her, even if it was just a little bit. "You didn't have to... But then again, you're kind of my favorite person right now for this." Marla said, wiping herself off a bit more. Emile smiled brightly at her. "I couldn't stand being dry and clean while you were standing in toilet water, sorry if it seemed rude when I randomly ran off." He told her. "I'm everyone's favorite person, of course." Said Emile jokingly. He felt like Marla was the type of person you could joke around with, and so far he had quite liked her company!

Soon, the conversation had changed from talk of soggy robes to the hospital wing, and their experiences there. "I know! Whenever I'm there I feel like someone's watching me... And yikes, you fell down the stairs? Sounds painful..." Marla said, her voice sounding like it almost winced. He laughed and nodded, trying to make light on the subject of falling down stairs and being watched. "Yeah..it was..painful, to say the least. But it was an experience I could use in a novel if I wanted to, so I guess not all was lost. It..definitely hurt, though. Hogwarts stairs are not to be messed with." Emile said, laughing again. 

After, they walked over to the wall and began to paint again, and so far Emile was enjoying himself, even if he didn't know how to paint, and even if he didn't really know what the heck he was doing. Not knowing could be good sometimes. He asked about the daisies, to which Marla answered, "Of course not. You don't need permission to draw, y'know. Where's the fun in that?" Emile smiled at this and got some white paint. He found a paintbrush that seemed to be a good size and used it, drawing little streaks of white for petals, and adding yellow circles on the middle. 

"Hey, I just realized something... Your last name is Yorke, right? And are your parents authors? Because I read some books by some people with the last name Yorke and they were a-maze-ing." Marla said suddenly, which almost caught Emile off guard. Sure, his parents had a couple of books that were well-known, but usually most kids didn't really take the time to ask about it. Now that he thought about it, this was the first time anyone had asked. "Oh, yeah that's my last name..." He said, also pausing for a moment. "And..yeah, those are my parents." His voice seemed a bit cold, but still with some love? It was bittersweet, to but it the short way. "Which did you read? My mom does horror novels, and my dad does fantasy novels, if you remember the names." Asked Emile.</sub>