Written for The Houses Competition
Head of House Hufflepuff
Category: Standard
Prompt: [Character] Tom Riddle
Requirement: Love Conquers All
Word count: 1,126
Beta: Magi Silverwolf
The boy was beautiful, she thought. She knew that he would never consider her but, then again, there was always hope. There were rumours circulating the school that Tom Riddle was not a pureblood. Maybe he could find it in himself to stoop and meet her at her level. But there were other rumours going through Hogwarts. Rumours that were completely true for once and the bane of her existence.
She could have gone forever without Olive Hornby finding out about her crush on the suave Slytherin Tom Riddle. It had been enough when Olive bullied her mercilessly about her glasses, but this? This hurt far more than someone thinking her glasses were ugly. This was attacking the emotions that belonged to her and only to her. It should have been something kept safe and hidden until such a time as she was sure that it was safe to reveal.
Myrtle Warren was sure now that Tom Riddle would pay no attention to her. Not now that the school knew that she loved him. Not now that the eyes of the school would be on his reaction and he couldn't afford to break his mask of uncaring just because her feelings were in jeopardy. Myrtle could see behind the mask; she knew that behind it was a boy just like her. He was scared of being bullied and everyone knew that if you were anything but powerful or a pureblood in Slytherin House, you were sure to become the House's lackey.
So Myrtle hid instead. She hid in bathrooms, in abandoned classrooms and in broom closets. She found many hidden places within Hogwarts where she could stay out of the public eye and avoid Olive Hornby's horrid bullying. As she hid, she watched. She watched as Tom Riddle grew more and more agitated. She watched as he continued to rise in power within Slytherin House and how the rumours regarding his pedigree died down into non-existence.
She hid, and watched, and waited. At some point, she knew, Tom would be ready for her. Until then, she would stay in the background and wait. She would let him come to her. She knew he knew she loved him; it was rather impossible not to know now thanks to Olive's big mouth and cruel nature that caused her to invade Myrtle's diary.
Myrtle Warren would love Tom Riddle until Tom Riddle could love himself. She would love him past that. She would give Tom enough love that even if he never loved her, there would be enough love in their lives just from her. She would make sure that Tom Riddle wanted for nothing. She would love him until she died and maybe after that. Love was the most powerful magic in the world, and she knew that if she just loved Tom Riddle enough, he could be happy. They could be happy together and there would be no more horrid Olive Hornby.
Myrtle sniffled a little bit as she remembered Olive's latest passing remark. It had been about her glasses again and Myrtle found herself unable to handle it today. So she ran and hid in the girl's bathroom on the second floor. There weren't many who went to the second floor bathrooms as it was often easier to go to the third or first floor bathrooms.
Suddenly, she heard the door open and she stilled, trying to hold in the sobs she had been letting out previously. She waited for them to leave, listening with an intent ear to see which cubicle they went into and whether or not she would be able to sneak out while they were busy. But they didn't go into any cubicle. Instead they started talking. Or, at least, it sounded like talking. Myrtle couldn't understand what they were saying. The noises the person was making sounded like a bunch of hisses to her.
Curiosity got the better of her and she also wanted to tell this person to leave her in peace, so she could finish crying before heading to Transfiguration. She stopped when she exited and saw who had entered the bathroom.
"Tom," she whispered and Tom Riddle whirled around to face her, shock clear on his face.
Myrtle wondered what he was doing in the girl's bathroom and blushed as the thought that he might have come in here for her, to comfort her after Olive's words crossed her mind. Tom sneered at her.
"Warren," he said before turning back to the sink he was standing in front of and continuing to hiss. Myrtle watched in fascination as the sink sank into the ground and left a hole in the middle of the rotunda of sinks.
Carefully, she stepped forward, not noticing Tom's closed eyes or how he had stepped back slightly. She was just about to peer into the hole when a giant something burst out and yellow eyes fell on her. She didn't even have time to scream as the deadly gaze of a basilisk slew her where she stood.
Years later, almost fifty by her reckoning, a girl came into the bathroom and hissed the same language she had heard before. She watched her, comparing her to the boy she had known before and finding the girl lacking. When Harry who reminded her so much of her Tom asked her how she died, well, she didn't tell him the whole truth. She didn't want to get Tom in trouble after all.
While she haunted the bathroom she had died in, Myrtle had given great thought to her death. She knew why Tom had killed her; he couldn't afford attachments and had fallen for her so much he couldn't bear it anymore. That was okay though, she forgave him for that ages ago. Love was powerful, but it was also scary.
Myrtle couldn't blame Tom Riddle for being scared of love. She had been scared as well. When Tom next appeared in her bathroom, Myrtle would tell him and then she would pass on. She had remained a ghost just so that she could one day tell Tom that he was forgiven. That she loved him just as much as she always had.
'Til death do us part, she thought wryly. Yes, Myrtle was a ghost and yes, she still loved her killer. But what was love if not all-consuming? How could she possibly hold any hate in her heart for the same person she loved with all of it? She learned of Tom's death later, after Hogwarts had been rebuilt from the battle that she had taken no interest in. With one final wail, she left Hogwarts and set off for the afterlife. Perhaps there, she could let Tom Riddle know she still loved him.