For the Greater Good || Tom Riddle ||

Chapter Ten: Stone Cold

The next morning, pounding footsteps and panicky voices awoke Gwen from her slumber.

"How could this have happened?" Ruth exclaimed in her shrill voice, tossing rollers out of her hair.

Gwen sat up and rubbed her eyes. Camila was frantically pacing the room, pulling at the strands of her vibrant red hair. Across the dormitory, even the quiet Lucille seemed to be distraught.

"What's wrong?" Gwen asked, thoroughly concerned at the sight of all the girls looking bothered. She got out of bed in a flourish.

"It's Jane," Ruth cried. "She's been petrified!"

Gwen immediately went stiff. "Jane?" she asked bewildered. The voices outside the dormitory grew louder and only then did Gwen realize that the Head of Ravenclaw House, Professor Hollingshead, was standing in the middle of the Common Room surrounded by students. She looked extremely troubled as she tried to calm the children down.

"She didn't return after her prefect duty last night. Professor Kettleburn found her on the first floor, just lying there as still as a brick!" Camila explained, obviously flustered.

"How did this happen?" Gwen asked. She was now fully alert. Her heart thumped rapidly in her chest.

"No one knows," Lucille sighed sadly. She picked at the tassels that were attached to the blanket on her bed. She did not make eye contact. Gwen thought that her eyes looked red and watery.

"They found her with a copy of the N.E.W.T. Level Potions book and a magnifying glass," said Ruth. "Nothing else was out of the ordinary."

Gwen furrowed her brow. Quickly, she walked down the short flight of stairs and into the Common Room. Immediately, she saw Simon. He was sitting in one of the blue leather chairs all by himself with his head resting in his hands. He looked terrible.

"Simon! Is she in the Hospital Wing?"

Simon looked up. His eyes flashed with dark realization when he saw Gwen approaching.

He seemed very bleary. "Yes, she's frozen there. They're not sure that she'll wake."

Gwen took a seat across from him and remained silent.

"She had her Frog Choir audition this weekend," he breathed quietly. "Now, she won't be able to try out. They've tried healing her with traditional magic, wands and such, but it didn't work." He slumped in his chair. Sorrow nearly rolled off of him in waves.

Gwen didn't know what to say. She wanted to comfort him, but her hands remained folded in her lap. A heavy, awkward and painful silence enveloped them.

"Gwen," he whispered. His large brown eyes glistened with tears as he looked up. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have separated from her during prefect duty."

"Simon," Gwen began, "don't say that. It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is!" he spat in a low voice. "I left her side. I returned to the Common Room without her."

"Well, you wouldn't have done that if it hadn't been for me," Gwen countered.

Simon did not reply. He just sat there. Gwen could tell that a million thoughts were running through his head. Suddenly, he spoke.

"Why were you really downstairs last night?"

Gwen straightened her back and was caught off guard. She slowly let the question sink in.

"Simon, are you suspicious of me?"

He threw his back against the chair and took off his glasses. With a big sigh he said, "Gwen, I don't know. I'm sorry. It's just that you were on the first floor last night. You had an invisibility cloak on! What am I supposed to think?"