Note: Alternative Universe Story
Whatever became of Moaning Myrtle?
Scene takes place after the fourth book ended and before the fifth book began:
Chapter One
Hermione Granger felt annoyed because she needed to meet with her friends Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley when she should be studying. She normally spent her spare time in the library doing a bit of extra credit for her classes, but since it was only the first day back from Christmas Feast, Hermione could spare a few minutes to talk to her friends.
When Harry had caught up with her in one of the hallways earlier he'd spoken urgently and something inside his tone made her want to listen with more attentiveness. She'd looked at him with interest when he said, "I need to talk to you Hermione, meet me and Ron in the common room during your free hour; it's important."
She approached Harry now, holding a few books in her arms and she noticed that Ron was sitting on the sofa in front of the fire as well. She swallowed nervously as she caught Ron's gaze and looked quickly away paying particular attention instead, to the environment around her. There were several students occupying the room, and many of them sat in small clusters of groups laughing and spending time with their friends before they were required to go back to their classes.
Hermione felt the comfortable atmosphere, and with the warmth of the fire so near, she was able to let go of some of the tension which always seemed to linger inside of her. "Alright Harry, what is the problem that simply couldn't wait until later, when I am not busy writing notes for my classes?"
"She's always busy writing notes for something," said Ron rolling his eyes and shaking his head at Harry. He directed his gaze to Hermione and asked her, "Why can't you put your time to good use and write some extra notes for me? I could use some help with Herbology and you know I always say thank you, whenever you lend me a hand."
Hermione sighed, "Honestly, if you would take the time to write your own notes Ronald…"
"Then I wouldn't have you to depend upon," supplied Ron looking at her with a deceptively agreeable smile. He added, "But I thought you liked the thought of my needing you?"
Hermione sighed as she reached inside one of her books and took out several stacks of notes she'd already prepared and handed them to him, "Here," she said. "Take them."
"Ah Hermione, you're so good to me. Have I told you how incredibly sweet you can be?"
"Only whenever you need something, like extra notes for Herbology class," Hermione rolled her eyes and cleared her throat before she finally looked over at Harry.
"You never said what the problem was Harry?"
"What's my problem? Do you really want to know?" Harry looked at Hermione with irritation clearly etched on his features, although Hermione noticed immediately that the emotion wasn't directed at her.
Harry turned around and Hermione gasped as a ghost suddenly flew from behind the sofa and stayed suspended in the air directly above them. Hermione recognized her in an instant. "It's Moaning Myrtle."
The ghost had long, drab hair and she wore pearl rimmed glasses which did nothing to enhance the color or the shape of her eyes. Moaning Myrtle did not like Hermione because she had overheard her speaking about her during their second year at Hogwarts and she took offense to her words. Moaning Myrtle looked at Hermione now with suspicion, "What is she doing here Harry? I thought we were going to spend some time together, isn't that what you wanted?"
"Myrtle, look I'm not…" Harry tried to explain he wasn't interested in Moaning Myrtle as anything except a friend but the words were lodged in his throat.
Hermione tried to hide a smile when she saw how at odds Harry appeared to be; then the ghost settled next to him and Ron on the sofa and laid her head on Harry's shoulder. She was looking at him with adoring eyes as if she had some sort of crush on him. Hermione didn't think Moaning Myrtle had it in her and was pleasantly surprised at the idea of the ghost liking Harry in a romantic way.
When Ron tried pushing Myrtle off the sofa, his hands predictably went straight through her. Ron's annoyance was palpable; he looked as if he wanted to do more than push the ghost from her seat. Moaning Myrtle turned to Ron and suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs, "Sure just push your hands clear through me! Why should it matter if you hurt the ghost's feelings? Who cares that I do nothing except cry all day in the bathroom stalls? It's only Ugly Moaning Myrtle, whoever thinks about her?"
Ron looked startled to say the least and Hermione intervened saying, "Look, Myrtle I don't think he meant to push you out of the way. He was simply trying to-"
She flashed her eyes at Hermione and cried out, "I didn't ask for your opinion did I? You are the one who was making fun of me behind my back! Why should you feel sorry for me? After all, I am only a ghost? It's not like I'm a real person!"
When Myrtle finished yelling at Hermione she screeched and wailed so loudly that most of the students around them covered their ears and winced. Hermione watched as Moaning Myrtle paused before she turned to Harry saying in a soft voice, "Oh by the way Harry, if you'd like to take a bath anytime in the lavatory again, you could use my bathroom. I'll share it with you."
"Erm, thanks Myrtle. But I'm fine," Harry exhaled slowly when she departed and all three friends looked at the empty space where she'd only recently been.
"That was strange," said Hermione.
"Strange," scoffed Ron, "If by strange you mean completely mental then, yeah. It was strange."
"No," said Hermione shaking her head when she said. "Moaning Myrtle never comes into the common room. She mostly sticks to the bathrooms and wanders through the plumbing, but she very rarely leaves her usual places."
"This is what you think of after that just happened?" Harry looked at her with a grudging smile before he grew tired and said, "What am I going to do Hermione? She won't leave me alone. She follows me everywhere!"
"And when he says everywhere," snickered Ron. "He means everywhere. She even followed him into the boy's lavatory the other day."
"I'll bet that was an awkward moment," said Hermione smiling with amusement in spite of the situation. She settled down however, when Harry gave her a pained expression as if he were truly vexed with the ghost and had no idea how to get rid of her.
"When did she first start following you around Harry?"
"About a week after she helped me with the egg clue during the Goblet of Fire competition," Harry didn't look at either Ron or Hermione when he mentioned this news. "She's been fixated on me ever since and I can't shake her no matter what I say to her. I've even told her to leave me alone a few times and it's like she doesn't even hear me even though I know she's listening."
Hermione frowned but then she said, "I feel bad about what is happening to you Harry, but what do you think I can do about it?"
"Well you're a girl." Ron laughed at this small comment and muttered something unintelligible beneath his breath but Harry ignored him while Hermione tossed him a quick glare before Harry asked her. "So, can you go talk to her? Maybe you can find out why she's suddenly grown attached to me?"
"I suppose I could," Hermione sighed and added, "but it's not going to be easy. Moaning Myrtle isn't exactly the most approachable ghost around."
"Thanks Hermione," Harry looked relieved when he said, "I'll owe you for this one."
Hermione nodded and said to her friend, "Yeah Harry. You will."
Hermione knew something was terribly wrong when she heard news that Moaning Myrtle's bathroom had been flooded by the ghost. The facility had been flooded only once before when the ghost had been hit in the head by Tom Riddle's book. She had planned to visit Moaning Myrtle later on that day, but had been delayed by having to take an extra test in one of her classes. So now, she headed toward the headmaster's office in order to meet with Albus Dumbledore for more information. Hermione wanted to see if she could find out more answers about the girl, not only in order to help Harry with his dilemma, but to help the ghost as well.
When Hermione entered the headmaster's office she noticed him sitting in his chair busy writing in the air on an invisible chalk board. The words on the invisible board appeared in large angular shapes and Hermione could only see the beginning of a list being prepared. She saw his short little quill move around in the air as if it had a mind of its own and noticed also that the quill looked to be no bigger than the size of her pinky finger. She smiled at Dumbledore when she approached him and before she could say anything he turned to face her.
"Hermione Granger," his voice softened as he said, "I trust you are doing well with your extra classes you had requested a few weeks ago?"
"Yes," Hermione nodded enthusiastically at the reminder, "I've been busy studying for them all, especially Transformation of Small Creatures. I find that it's very interesting to turn a Mouse into a bird, and a turtle into a giraffe. I wanted to see if I could add about three more classes next term…"
"But this is not why you are here now, is it?"
Since he was the most powerful wizard in magic history, Hermione wasn't surprised that Dumbledore had already come to this synopsis. She shook her head, "No, it isn't. Sir," she hedged around her question before she bit the bullet and said, "I went to the first floor and it looks like the girl's bathroom is flooded again. Do you know why Moaning Myrtle has decided to plug up all of the sinks and turn the faucets onto full blast today? I only ask this because…"
She shrugged and Dumbledore finished her sentence for her with a caring smile and a nod in her direction. "You only wanted to see if you could help her with whatever difficult time she may be going through?"
"Difficult time, Sir," Hermione looked at him enquiringly, "But she is only a ghost, what kind of challenges can she experience?"
"The kind that only rests within her own memories," Dumbledore went over to a glass case which looked decidedly majestic with crystal spikes spearing from the case. He reached over to open the glass door encased in gold trimming and Hermione held in her breath when she noticed the glass vials inside.
Dumbledore held up one of the vials and asked her, "Do you know what this object is Hermione?"
"Yes," excitedly Hermione interjected, "It's a vial containing a person's memory, but who does the memory belong to?"
"It belongs to Moaning Myrtle. After she had been killed, she allowed me to extract a few memories from her. It's not a very common practice to take memories from ghosts, but in this case I took my wand and pulled them from her." He took out one particular vial and glanced over at Hermione, "Would you like to take a look at it? I think you may find what you are looking for if you search within her memories."
With wide eyes Hermione retrieved the vial from Dumbledore and went over to the magical bowl and poured the silvery mist inside. Since she'd already studied how these memory vials worked she knew exactly what to do; Hermione took one look over her shoulder and watched as Dumbledore left the room. Then she dunked her head into the bowl filled with liquid mist and fell into a world of Moaning Myrtle, and her unrevealed memories.