You'll be the Death of Me

Chapter 55

Draco stared glassy-eyed at the taps in the shower as he tried to muster up energy to turn them on. He was so tired. He had never in his life been as tired as he was right now. Night and day he worked on his project. He barely ate and he sure as hell didn't sleep. His mind started to blur his day together and he didn't stop working until he was so tired that the world no longer made sense. He felt like he was drunk without the added benefit of being relaxed.

He wanted to go to sleep, but at the same time he wanted to shower. It had been almost a week. His skin and hair were so oily that his eyes burned from it. He didn't know how Snape could stand this feeling day in and day out. He felt nauseated being this dirty. It made it so he couldn't even sleep well because he ended up obsessing over how gross he was.

He was just about to give up on his notion of being cleansed when the taps turned on. The shock of the water woke Draco out of his zombie-like state and he looked around the shower to see who it was that had aided him.

"Hello, Myrtle," Draco smiled after a few moments.

The young ghost sheepishly emerged from the ceiling above him. Draco offered her a small smile through the cascading water them before he started washing the days away. He was aware that Myrtle was watching him. While before he may have been offended or disgusted, now he no longer cared.

Myrtle was odd and annoying, but she was also sad. She was the youngest ghost in Hogwarts. Not only had she died much too young, but she had died here in a place where the others like her were mature and from centuries before her. She had no one to relate to, no one that she could talk to day in and day out. She was at a standstill watching children her age socialize, learn, experience all life had to offer and then leave. It had to be lonely. And now that Draco realized he may share the same fate, that Graces may share it he couldn't find it in himself to be anything but friendly towards her. It's what he would want if it was Graces.

"You're not going to tell me to leave?" Myrtle asked hesitantly.

"Would you have actually left?" Draco asked skeptically, taking some soap and lathering it across his chest and neck. He let Myrtle's silence answer the question. "Exactly. I figured I would just save myself the breath."

There was a long silence and Draco wondered if Myrtle had maybe left. He took advantage of the quiet though to wash his hair. The water hadn't been adjusted to be warm, but he didn't care. The cold water seemed to be the only thing keeping him up and he didn't want to waste any energy on adjusting it to be comfortable.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

No," Draco laughed tiredly. "No girlfriend. I don't exactly have the time these days to be courting anyone." Draco peeked up at the ghost for a brief second before smiling at his toes. Myrtle seemed quite pleased with his answer. "What about you, Myrtle? Any men in your afterlife?"

"Don't tease me."

"I'm not teasing. I'm bantering," Draco corrected, turning around to get his back.

"Bantering," Myrtle repeated confused.

"Flirting," Draco clarified, looking up and winking. Draco had to hold his breath from laughing at Myrtle's expression. He had no idea ghosts could blush.

"You're not flirting with me," Myrtle grumbled, apparently seeing his smile.

"Myrtle, I am naked in the shower and talking to you," Draco pointed out patiently as he turned the taps off. "At this point everything I say to you that isn't telling you to get out is flirting."

"Why would you flirt with me?" Myrtle asked coyly, moving with Draco as he left the stall.

"I'm a bit of a tease," Draco admitted, taking a towel and covering his bottom half. "I like attention."