It shouldn't have surprised Ron that capitulating on Tuesday meant that Harry and Cedric would corner him again before the end of the week. Wednesday was really impossible, of course, because of the Astronomy examination that night and an early morning appointment with Blast-Ended Skrewts the following morning, but on Thursday, the last night before the Third Task, both Harry and Cedric were far too edgy to accept Ron's suggestion that they wait until after they'd finished with the maze and have a private party for three to celebrate.

Against his better judgment, therefore, Ron allowed Harry to lead him back to the fifth floor on Thursday night, where they found the prefect's bathroom empty and quiet.

It never particularly occurred to Ron to wait for Cedric's arrival before they got started. He went directly to a row of taps and started turning them, letting the tub start filling up with a rainbow of enormous, foamy bubbles. When he looked back at Harry, he was standing there, fully dressed, clearly waiting for Ron's attention. As Ron watched, he loosened his tie slowly, tossed it into the air and waved his wand so it was transfigured into a small milksnake. With a few words of Parseltongue, Harry sent the snake winding up Ron's leg so that it ghosted slowly between his legs; once it reached his torso, Harry transfigured it back so it fell limply to the marble floor. By then, Harry was slowly unbuttoning his shirt, taking his time, fixing his gaze on Ron. He was sliding the sleeves down over his wrists when the door opened and Cedric came in.

"A strip tease, eh? Brilliant!" he said when he saw what Harry was doing. He quickly dropped his robes and kicked off his shoes, then moved around behind Ron while they both kept their eyes riveted to Harry.

Harry grinned and began to unbutton his trousers, and Ron felt Cedric's fingers mimicking the action on Ron's clothing. Slowly, and in perfect unison, Harry continued to strip for his audience while Cedric divested Ron of his garments. When they had finished and Harry was completely naked, Ron was still incongruously dressed in only his tie and shirt, and Cedric remained fully clothed. Ron turned and Harry stepped around so they both could go to work on getting Cedric naked; when they were almost done, on an impulse, Ron pulled off his own tie and used it to cover Cedric's eyes, and seeing what he was doing, Harry used Cedric's own tie to bind his hands, and Harry's tie to tie his feet.

"What's this about, then?" asked Cedric, but he was laughing and clearly getting excited by the turn of events. Harry Summoned a couple of folded towels and placed them at Cedric's feet, and he and Ron worked together to lower Cedric gently to his knees on top of them. Ron leaned down to take Cedric's face in both of his hands and snog him deeply and thoroughly, and Harry moved around behind Ron and reached around to grip him gently, pressing his crotch against Ron's arse in exactly the way Ron loved.

Cedric was moaning and smiling under Ron's mouth, arching his back and groaning when he found nothing but air before his hips. Ron quickly stepped forward, out of Harry's hands, stood up fully, and guided Cedric's mouth onto him. Cedric hummed around him, making Ron twitch gratefully, and began to suck greedily, pressing tightly with his tongue. Harry, meanwhile, Summoned another stack of towels and lay on his side beneath Ron's feet so he could reach to start sucking at Cedric, who moaned again and began bucking slowly against Harry's mouth. When Ron's knees gave out, he pushed Cedric onto his back - gently, being careful not to twist his legs uncomfortably or crush his bound hands - and straddled his chest on his knees so that Cedric could continue his ministrations. Behind him, Harry was stretched out on his stomach, still working on Cedric, and grinding himself into the cold, marble floor.

The naughty business with the ties was fun, but it was keeping Cedric from being flexible enough that someone would be doing something more for Harry, so Ron pulled the Hufflepuff tie from Cedric's wrists and the Gryffindor one from his eyes. Harry, catching on to what he was doing, pulled his own tie off Cedric's ankles and quickly spread Cedric's legs so he could stroke the insides of his thighs. Unblinded, Cedric looked up into Ron's eyes and moaned again around him, and the combination was enough to send Ron over the edge, so that he fell forward onto his hands, pulsing and bucking and crying out.

Under him, he heard Cedric cry out, too, and could feel the soft crown of Harry's head moving faster and faster against his bare arse, then go still as Harry swallowed. Ron rolled off Cedric and lay on his back for at least half a minute, panting and staring up at the vaulted, marble ceiling. Beside him, he could hear and sort of see Harry crawl up onto Cedric and begin kissing him, and Cedric's arms pull tight against Harry, holding him close. He supposed he might have felt a pang of jealousy, except that the sight was so beautiful (once he turned his head to look) that it made his heart glad to watch it.

Smiling, Ron slid himself into the hot, bubbly bath, still watching Cedric and Harry snog. Harry's small, perfect arse was clenching and unclenching as he began to thrust down against Cedric's hips, and Cedric's hands found their way to grasp it and guide it for a better angle. Harry looked up then, met Ron's eyes, and grinned, and that was all it took for Ron to go hard again. Still watching him, Harry began to buck faster, stretching his neck to make room for Cedric's lapping tongue. Cedric's hands looked bigger and stronger than ever against Harry's thin form, and when they gripped Harry's cheeks, Ron had to take hold of himself and begin stroking. Harry was calling out in pleasure, now, grinding harder and faster and spreading his legs to maximise the contact between his body and Cedric's, but he was staring at Ron, moaning Ron's name, reaching one hand out toward him as he yelled and tensed up. Before Cedric could even finish, Harry was dragging himself toward the water, dunking a hand in and swatting Ron's own away. Ron braced his hands against the edge of the bath and thrust freely into Harry's hand. Over Harry's shoulder, he met Cedric's frustrated expression and gestured with his head that he should join them in the water. Cedric grinned and scrambled to dive in, swimming up behind Ron and sliding himself between Ron's legs, where he thrust and pound himself, his hipbones bumping against Ron's arse, making Ron unable to decide whether he wanted to buck forward into Harry's hand or backward against Cedric's firm lower belly. Soon, it didn't matter, as his vision greyed out and he was only vaguely aware of swinging his hips wildly forward and back to make the best of both types of contact, and then the world went white around the edges and his head fell back onto Cedric's shoulder, and Cedric held him up as Harry finished him off with a tight, slick grip.

Cedric dragged Harry into the water, after that, and the three of them continued kissing, licking, biting, stroking, thrusting, moaning and gasping until they were all thoroughly exhausted, breathless, happy, and very, very satisfied. They found themselves, somehow, at a corner were there was a small set of stairs, where they lounged and leaned on one another, idly stroking or kissing from time to time, but too knackered to put any urgency into it.

"So, the maze," said Cedric to Harry. "Wha'd'you reckon?"

Harry shrugged and raked his fingers through Cedric's wet hair. "Dunno," he said, almost offhandedly, although Ron knew how much he wanted to win, how nervous he was. "I suppose we'll find out tomorrow, yeah?"

Cedric grinned and preened a little under his touch, giving Ron's shoulder a squeeze at the same time. "Well, whatever happens, whoever wins, maybe we can still do this ... I mean, if you both want."

Ron caught Harry's eyes and grinned. He knew this three-way arrangement couldn't last forever, but he wasn't in any hurry to see it end. Harry nodded and said, "Yeah, I think it's safe to say that we both want." And to emphasise his point, he tackled them both back into the water for one more go.