[a/n0] So from Vukk's review I was waiting with baited breath for alix33 to ding me for Susan 'Boones' :)
[a/n]Dedicated to Mason Oury's review of HDD#180 which, just recently, led to me rereading those reviews, especially magitech's which said Maybe Myrtle will move on once she's told th Basilisk is dead,
Harry Does Different CCCLIII
The Assumption of Myrtle
"Ron? Do you have the feeling we've forgot to do something?" asked Harry, after, for the second year in a row Gryffindor House had won the House Cup. Better yet, it was also for the second year in a row, due to some last minute points coming from Dumbledore. He was the hero!
His redheaded fellow Second Year looked around the Hall, and began ticking off his fingers "Hermione, unpetrified. Creevey, unpetrified. That Puff… err… Fychee, was it? Unpetrified. Slytherin's monster, dead. The Chamber of Secrets, solved. Riddle's book, fanged. My sister, alive and well. Thanks for that, bytheway. No. Can't thing of a thing. Not even a trifle."
"Chamber?" the bespectacled wizard cogitated "Yeah something about that. Can't think of it. Noooo not there." He paused and slapped the table.
Hermione and Seamus Finnegan, sitting on either side of him, jumped and complained "No banging on the table!" "Trying to eat here!"
"That's it!" he ignored them both "Ron? What about Myrtle?"
Everyone in audio-range looked confused. They all knew OF Moaning Myrtle, but what could he be talking about? All she did was whine and spill water everywhere.
"Myrtle Henderson…" Harry paused on the name for emphasis "was the first person a teenage Voldemort murdered." He rolled his eyes at the flinching "Here. At Hogwarts. In THAT loo. I think she deserves to know the monster that killed her…that petrified Hermione, Justin and Colin…it's dead."
Curiosity seekers followed the group. Ginny, near the front, with a couple of her dormmates trailing. Justin and a few Hufflepuffs were there. No on noticed when the Headmaster seemed to disappear from the Hall and no one saw him among the followers.
Abcij
"Anyone think going into a girls' loo is creepy?" Fred Weasley wanted to know.
With a shrug Susan Bones replied dryly "I don't."
"What are all you people doing in MY BATHROOM!" Moaning Myrtle screeched in a preternaturally loud voice.
The dozen or so onlookers flinched, but neither Harry, Ron nor Hermione. "Hello Myrtle."
"Teehehehe" tittered the ghost, looking bashful more than anything else. But then she frowned "You didn't die, did you? You're not here to share my toidy, are you? What do you want?"
Hermione looked offended for her friend's sake and Ron postured rather threateningly. Harry merely smiled "No, Myrtle, I didn't die down there. But there is good news. You told me you heard a made up language then big yellow eyes. What you heard was parseltongue, or snake language. I'm a parselmouth and what killed you was a basilisk controlled by Tom Riddle. Remember him?"
"But Tom was Head Boy. Headmaster Dippet's favorite." Argued Myrtle, if she wasn't a ghost she would be blushing.
Some of the older onlookers found that amusing. Tom was apparently popular with the females of Myrtle's era.
Ginny took great offense, snarling "Tom was Voldemort!" She blushed a bit when Harry favored her with a nod and smile.
"Myrtle, I want you to believe this." Harry spoke seriously "Even when he was a student, Tom was evil. He was controlling the basilisk that killed you. Think about it, big yellow eyes, just like you said. This is the entry to Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets. I was able to get in because I'm also a parselmouth and I killed the basilisk. But I couldn't have done it without help from people like my friends Ron and Hermione, and you."
The ghost floated down to him with spectral tears in her eyes "Sweet Tommy murdered me? Why?"
"Sorry, other than just because he was evil, I don't know. It was long ago." Was his honest answer. He suppressed a shiver when she leaned her head on his shoulder.
Myrtle cuddled him and grinned "But you said the monster is dead? Tommy too? And I helped too?"
"M-most definitely." Said Harry with total conviction, but he was uneasy with the closeness of the spirit.
It was Susan Bones who noticed it first. She pointed and exclaimed "Look! What's happening to her!"
"Thank you Harry." Myrtle said sincerely. Her voice no longer had an echoey quality that ghosts tended to have. The form, too, lost its ghostly appearance. The typical greenish-blue glow became full-color living and she lost that see-through appearance of ghosts. She hugged and kissed the daylights out of her hero and repeated "Thank you Harry!"
The embrace reminded him of the nice, but rather suffocating, one from Mrs. Weasley. The kiss was something the Second Year had never experienced. He nearly gagged when the no-longer-ghostly girl's tongue invaded his mouth. But then he wrapped an arm around her waist and cupped his hand behind the girl's head. It lasted for two solid minutes, during which the bathroom filled with cheers and catcalls.
Myrtle stepped away with a happy grin, licking her lips while eyeing the boy a little lecherously "That was SOME kiss Harry." A stream of lights appeared in the ceiling above them. It didn't seem to have anything to do with the solid stone of the castle. Myrtle looked up and despite her apparent solidity, walked into it. Her last words were heard after she disappeared "Goodbye Harry. I'll always love you."
"In my over 100 years" Dumbledore allowed himself to become visible "I have never seen something so remarkable. Some may wish to see this as killing a beloved figure. This view is to be discouraged by all you who have witnessed. Young Myrtle went happily into the next great adventure. I remember her as a most sad story."
Harry added, that is after recovering from being snogged "Myrtle told us she was crying after being teased by someone called Hornby."
"No sense going over that, Harry." Dumbledore interrupted firmly "Suffice it to say a troubled soul finally has peace. Everyone, please, let your friends know that. Now you all need to get ready for the Express."
Fred and George wore identical smirks, slapped Harry's shoulders and asked "How was the snog? Got tongue?"
"Dumbledore said we need to leave." Said Harry without answering.
Hermione scolded them "A gentleman doesn't tell."
"Aww…what's it" began Fred
George continued "matter Granger?"
F: "She's"
G: "dead."
Hermione rolled her eyes, didn't say a word, just walked off waving her arms in frustration.
My Catholic School education clearly impacted this one. The imagery for Myrtle's crossover in my mind was mostly from Patrick Swayze's Ghost.
