Taking Over Me

Chapter 10 - Year 5 - 1943

"Myrtle why do you wear such ugly glasses? Is it to hide your even more ugly face?" Olive Hornby teased.

Myrtle's bottom lip quivered and I stormed through the open door towards Olive. "What do you think you're doing?"

Olive blanched when she saw me. I'd already stopped her picking on Myrtle more times than I cared to count and the last time I'd caught her, I'd warned Olive that I'd tell Professor Flitwick.

The O.W.L. exams were finally over and I was looking forward to a few days of relaxation before I had to return home to my mother's socialite friends and my father's funeral. I'd long since run out of patience for Olive Hornby.

"Well don't you have anything to say for yourself, Hornby?" I asked.

"What's the matter Warren, you need to get a fifth year to fight your battles for you? You really are pathetic," Olive leaned around me to glare at Myrtle.

Myrtle hiccuped, trying to hold back a sob I think. I couldn't tell because my back was to her while I fought off Hornby.

"I bet you think you're so clever, making friends with the smartest Ravenclaw just so you can get her to fight your battles for you. Or is it that you're too afraid to fight me yourself? Is that it? Do you think you can't beat me?" Olive laughed, a loud barking shriek.

"Did I not tell you to leave her alone?" I shouted, raging towards Olive.

"Stop it Mari, can't you see you're just making things worse?" Myrtle burst into tears and  tore out of the common room as Ronnie opened the door to enter.

Ronnie leaped out of the way as Myrtle raced past. "What's going on here?"

I turned to Olive. "Go apologize to her right now."

Olive snorted. "Why should I? She deserves what she got. I didn't lie, I just told her the truth of the situation."

"If you call that the truth then I'd hate to see what you call a lie. I'm only going to say this once more, after that you can take it up with a professor. Go apologize to Myrtle right now."

"No," Olive crossed her arms and stomped her foot like a child.

"That's it," I cried. I grabbed Olive by the arm and dragged her out of the common rooms. I tugged her through the school hallways until I found the Charms classroom. Professor Flitwick was just finishing a lecture and I shoved Olive inside as the other students filed out. We got several strange gazes and I heard a few whispers, but I didn't care.

"Professor Flitwick, do you recall how I mentioned that Olive Hornby was bullying several of her fellow Ravenclaw students?"

Professor Flitwick looked startled, but he regained his composure. "I do recall you saying something about that in our last meeting. What is the problem now?"

"Olive here thought it would be funny to torment Myrtle Warren. The poor girl's missing, but I didn't want Olive to get off without any punishment."

The professor glared at Olive. "Do you find it amusing to pick on people who are different Miss Hornby? Perhaps you'd like to try your hand with me?"

Olive balked. "No sir, I would never, I could never, I swear I-"

"Enough," barked Professor Flitwick. "Miss Shay, why don't you go and look for Miss Warren while Miss Hornby and I have a very serious talk."

I nodded, shot one last glare to Olive and jogged out of the classroom. I stopped outside, realizing that I had no idea where Myrtle would have gone. The school was huge and I knew of at least one secret passageway, but there could be dozens more. I decided to start at the Ravenclaw Tower and ask anyone around if they'd seen which direction Myrtle had gone.

There wasn't anyone near to the tower so I began asking the paintings on the walls. There were thrilled to be of service and pointed me in the right direction.  Eventually the paintings I passed hadn't seen Myrtle and I had to backtrack.

It was getting late, almost dinnertime, and I still hadn't found Myrtle. I was begin to worry. I knew that she had to be somewhere on the first floor since no one on the second floor had seen her, but I'd been searching here for over two hours. Maybe she was waiting until dinner started to reappear.

Part of me wanted to stop searching for her. I was getting tired and my stomach was starting to complain about the lack of a lunch. I shook my head. I didn't know how Myrtle felt being bullied, since it had never happened to me, but I refused to leave her crying in some dark corner of the school. At times when you are at your weakest, it's best to have the people who build you up, my father used to say. I needed to be there for Myrtle like she'd been there for me when my father died.

With renewed energy, I jogged through the mazes of hallways listening for any sound of her. I was at the last corridor of the first floor. If she wasn't here, I'd have to find a teacher and get their help. Professor Dumbledore seemed like a good choice since Professor Flitwick was probably still with Olive. I'd searched every classroom and normal hiding place I could think of. I'd even ventured into the darkest corners of the first floor.

My hands were caked with cobwebs and dirt. I groaned and went into the bathroom to wash the grime off of my hands. I stood at the sink and scrubbed at my hands with a bar of soap. I heard a slight sniffling come from the stalls, then there was some kind of scratching noise. I clutched my wet hands to my ears as stone grated on stone. It screeched and I yelped, cringing.

The sniffling was the only sound I heard when I uncovered my ears. I dried my hands on my robes and slowly made my way over to the stalls, recognizing the crying. "Myrtle is that you? Thank god you're alright, I've been looking all over for you." I rounded the corner and saw the stalls. Myrtle was lying face down on the floor and there was someone standing over her body.

"Hey what-" I broke off with a scream.

Myrtle turned around to face me after inspecting her own body.  "Mari, is that you? You've found me! Listen, I think there's something wrong with me, I can't seem to move my body, but I'm right here." She hovered closer to me.

I screamed. Myrtle started shrieking too and the toilets began to spurt out water. I shrieked, avoiding the water, and stopped screaming.

Myrtle began to whimper. "Mari, what happened to me?"

Author's Note:

I'm truly sorry that I haven't updated for quite a while. I'm going to work on updating more frequently. Also thank you all so much for over 80 reads. It really makes me happy to know that you are interested in Mari's story. I know that Riddle hasn't been around for a bit, and i apologize. I really needed to show Myrtle's death and Riddle can't be anywhere close-by for fear that he'll be implicated in the murder. He will make an appearance in a few chapters.

Pleas feel free to comment on this story. I want to hear what you like and dislike. I'd appreciate your input on what I could change to make the story better. I want to know what you think will happen with Riddle and Mari.

Thanks,

Jinx