THC, Year 7, Round 5, Slytherin, HoH, Drabble.

Prompt: [Character] Myrtle Elizabeth Warren (Moaning Myrtle).

Hogwarts, Assignment 5, Hufflepuff.

Prompt: Women's History, Task 2 - Write a fic that includes a minor female character as a main character.

Word Count: 670

Beta(s): CupCakeyyy, Butterflies765, Aya, Hope.

Safe

The shadows on the ground disappeared when the clouds rolled in, darkening Hogwarts and threatening to send the rain plummeting down on the already sodden grounds and forest. Dirty mud splashed up the legs of the young first-year as she ran out into the gloomy evening and towards the Forbidden Forest.

Her tears fell down like the storm bursting from the sky. Relentless. Endless.

Skidding to a sudden stop, Myrtle almost crashed into a tree, clinging to it as though her life depended on it. While she was in the Forbidden Forest, she felt safe. It didn't matter whether she could still see the castle behind her. Here, she was safe: safe where she'd be protected by the sharp branches, screeching creatures, and creepy sounds; safe away from the hurtful words, the intentional bumps, the violent threats.

Myrtle jumped as a gust of cold wind blew past her and dishevelled her hair. Turning around, her eyes searched the surroundings for danger, for other students. There wasn't anybody there. No other person in sight. Just the light drops of rain beginning to fall.

Shaking from fear and the cold, Myrtle slid down the tree, crouching on the still relatively dry earth, and wrapped her arms around her legs.

Shivers went down her spine as she sat there, breathing. Why was outside in the cold the safest place for her? Why couldn't it be in her dormitory? Or her Common Room? Anywhere in the castle would be better than under the dark grey clouds.

Her head dropped down to her knees in resignation. Hogwarts was supposed to be her safe haven, where she could finally make friends and feel like she belonged. It had been her dream. Her passion. Her overwhelming interest.

Now it was her nightmare.

A sound behind her alerted her to somebody else's presence. Snapping her head around, she stared wide-eyed at an older boy. "What do you want?" she asked forcefully, holding back the rest of her tears to glare at the Slytherin.

The black-haired boy tilted his head. "Not you."

Myrtle sniffed. "Nobody wants me. I might as well just stay here forever."

He shrugged and walked past her a few steps. "If you stay here much longer, you might. You hate your life that much?"

She looked up at him. He didn't look interested in finding out anything about her, more courteous, like he thought he should ask. But there was a sense of curiosity. "Everybody hates me. I shouldn't have even come to this stupid school."

He looked at her. His gaze made her feel noticed, and it almost scared her. What if he turned on her like everybody else around her, too? "Was there another option? Hogwarts is the only Wizarding School in the United Kingdom unless you travel abroad."

Sighing, Myrtle looked down. "Life was simpler when I didn't know I was a witch."

"You're a Mudblood?"

Her eyes snapped up, anger bubbling up inside her instinctively, though he wasn't wrong. She nodded. "I wish I weren't! I wish I never came to this stupid school or became a witch."

"Everyone has a purpose. Maybe you haven't found yours yet." He turned away again and walked straight out into the storm that had recently fallen upon Hogwarts. "Oh, and if you find yourself crying again, try the girls' bathroom on the second floor; you'll find a use for it one day."

"What?" she muttered as she watched him step through the sludgy mud. "Wait! Who are you?"

With an evil glint in his eyes, he replied, "Tom Riddle, for now."

Confusion struck her, but she didn't have the chance to question him further as he disappeared in the heavy rain towards the school.

Myrtle shivered and looked around. This was her safe space. One that hadn't been corrupted by bullies yet, but it was getting increasingly colder, and didn't keep her safe from what was beyond these trees this time.

Next time she'd try the bathroom—that would be safer. It had to be.