~*T*~

"Let's go see Myrtle," Amy said, holding Tom-the-Jade, "I'm sure she could use some love, too."

Lisa nodded from her place in Taylor's lap, "What are ghost-kisses like?"

"Let's go find out!"

~*i*~

"Well," Professor Sprout said, "They know the theory, all of them, and Potter's very good at the practical. I think they'd do just fine in Second or Third year."

"Have you met Miss Lovegood's pet rock, Tom?"

"Yes, I have," Quirrell said, "I'd never met an angry rock before."

"Is he a danger?"

"No, he leaks emotion everywhere when he's not being held, but even in the week since I first saw Luna's pet rock he's tamed down a lot. I really think he just needs to be loved."

"What do you mean?" Dumbledore asked, kindly.

"I mean, have you ever caught a snake for a pet?"

Dumbledore nodded, as did McGonagall. Everyone else shook their heads.

"When you catch them they are fiesty, they hiss and they bite and they try to escape all the time. As you hold them and feed them, they become docile, even a little affectionate. They learn their new routines, and adapt to them.

"Luna's angry rock is like that, he wants to bite and scratch and fight, but he also wants to be held, hugged and loved. He in no way understands how to accept that, much less admit it, so it is good that he's a rock. As a rock his ability to hurt is limited."

"He hurts a lot," McGonagall said, "Luna asked me to give him a kiss. He is so angry, but so ashamed, so scared, as well."

"Her rock is the third they've encountered, and the other two were laid to rest," Quirrell said, "Exposed to the love between those girls, and loved for what they were, without romanticizing or excuses."

"What do you mean?"

"You love a doll because it is a doll, or a pet scorpion because it is a scorpion. You don't love your doll, but want it to be a man, or your scorpion a puppy. An angry rock is a very difficult pet, but that is why you love it, because it needs love so badly."

"Laid to rest?"

"Loved until its pain no longer bound it, until it could forgive."

Dumbledore stroked his beard, "Very interesting, but we have drifted from our topic, do we want to bump these three to a different year?"

~*i*~

"Myrtle?" Taylor said, "Are you here?"

"What? More ickle firsties here to pick on spotty, creepy, cry-y Moaning Myrtle?"

"No," Lisa said, "We are not going to pick on you."

"You really are just adorable," Amy said, and walked forward slowly, one hand outstretched.

"I am not!" Myrtle said firmly, backing away.

"You are," Taylor said, "That's a big part of why Olive picked on you, did you know?"

"What? That's not true."

"Tom interrogated her after, about why you were in the bathroom at all," Taylor sighed, "She thought you were the cutest, and thought the boys paid more attention to you than to her, and that you were paying more attention to them than her."

"The boys were such a bother, that's why they needed so much attention. She should remember that I didn't haunt any of them!"

"I think you were being pretty mean when you were haunting Olive."

"I was very upset! Of course I was a little mean, I'da gotten over it in a few months."

"A few months with a mean ghost is too many for most people. Maybe if you'd kissed her before you died she'd have been been willing to put up with you being upset for longer."

"Maybe. Or she'da been even meaner while I was alive."

"She said she should have kissed you."

"Piss in a bottle!"

"Yeah. Tom was sorry you saw the Basilisk, but didn't have any way to fix that. He also thought you were cute."

"Tom? Prefect Tom? Thought plain little Myrtle was cute?"

"Yup."

"How do you know? You're just teasing me, aren't you."

"He left a bit of his soul in my scar, when he tried to kill me," Taylor said, touching the scar, "And until we convinced him he was loved, he radiated his anger and pain to everyone around me. When he gave up fighting everything, he properly became a part of me."

"Oh? Can you prove that?"

"Amy had a piece of him, too, the piece that broke off when you died," Lisa said, "And this piece was in Professor Quirrell, before we convinced it to be a rock," she held out Tom-the-Jade.

"He is really angry," Myrtle said, looking at the rock closely, "Would a kiss help him be happier?"

"I don't know, but I doubt it would hurt."

Myrtle leaned forward, and planted a quick peck on the rock, "I forgive you. You didn't know I was here. You could have been more careful, but you did not kill me because you were bad. You are not bad, even if you did bad things."

Suddenly Myrtle burst into sobs, and dove into one of the toilets with a splash.

"He escaped!" Lisa cried, "My pet Dark Lord escaped!"

"What?"

"He totally surrendered to Myrtle!"

"Huh," Amy said, "Is he going to be a danger?"

"No, but I want another pet," Lisa pouted.

"Maybe if you hadn't teased him so much he would have surrendered to you instead."

"I had no idea he was so close to giving up," Lisa sighed, "But Myrtle will keep him out of trouble."

"Shall we go to the room of lost things, then?" Amy held out an arm.

"Let's," Taylor agreed, taking her arm.

Lisa latched onto Taylor's other arm, "Lead on."

~*T*~