For the Greater Good || Tom Riddle ||

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Scarves and Snow

Gwen woke up feeling utterly isolated. As soon as she slipped out of the numbing slumber, she wished she could return to her state of sleep, for while her eyes were closed, she did not feel any of the pangs of perpetual dread that she was experiencing now. Surely as soon as she showed her face down in the Great Hall, rumors would sprout around the school about how she was a Parselmouth.

The winter sun had not yet risen in the sky, and the rest of the Ravenclaw girls were peacefully snoring. As Gwen began to stir, she looked at the cuckoo clock on the wall that featured a carved wooden eagle, and found that it was nearing dawn. Darkness still shrouded the grounds of Hogwarts.

Gwen pulled herself out of bed and released herself from the clutches of the covers. The smell of smoke still clung to her. Its putrid odor saturated her curly mess of hair like a perfume, seeped into the strands like an invisible ghost but troublesome presence. The small burns on her cheeks had healed and scabbed over during the night, now only faint pink traces on her skin. Her eyelids were heavy with exhaustion; although she did not dream, Gwen found no relief during her rest. The events of the night before seemed have taken their toll on her.

The dormitory was an icebox in comparison to the warmth of her canopy bed. Gwen's toes curled when they came in contact with the cold floor, and she hurriedly put on a pair of slippers. She grabbed her robes, and threw on a thick housecoat that covered her nightdress before she quietly made her way out of the dormitory and down the stairs to the Ravenclaw Common Room.

Not a soul stirred as she snuck her way down the winding stairs of Ravenclaw Tower. She wanted nothing more than to rid herself of the horrible feeling that sat on her skin, and she knew no better way of getting rid of it than cleansing herself with some steaming water and a bar of soap. Only after she could scrub the remnants of smoke and grime off of her skin would she be able to free herself of her inward angst.

Professor Dippet had informed Gwen when she first became the temporary Prefect for Ravenclaw that she had access to the Prefect's bathroom on the fifth floor. It was reserved for the Head Boy and Girl, Prefects, and Quidditch Captains exclusively.

Gwen tiredly padded up the stone staircases of the castle until she finally reached the fifth floor and came across the fourth door to the left of the statue of Boris the Bewildered that belonged to the Prefect's bathroom.

"Dragon's egg," Gwen said as she repeated the password that Simon had told her once.

The door to the bathroom opened without a sound, and before Gwen slipped inside, she took out her wand and placed a hex on the door so that anyone who tried to impede on her bath would be sprayed in the face by an unwelcoming jet of ink. The locking charm was apparently discouraged by Dippet as there were still toilets and other facilities that could be of use. The Headmaster had apparently gotten complaints that the female Gryffindor Prefects had monopolized the bathroom. Simon had told Gwen some other more interesting stories involving the Hufflepuff Head Girl and the Ravenclaw Head Boy too—although Armando Dippet would never come out and say it.

As she entered the bright space of hygiene, Gwen couldn't help but let out a sigh of contentment. Beautiful stained glass windows not yet illuminated by light instantly caught her eye. The bathroom was irradiated with a sort of golden rosy glow of freshness that made Gwen want to spend the rest of her day inside of its haven.

Her eyes scanned the grandeur, and she found that on one side of the room there were stalls with toilets inside. Porcelain bowl sinks lined the walls. Her doe-eyes widened with surprise as she finally caught sight of the large, swimming pool-like tub with hundreds of taps surrounding it. The pool-like bath was sunk into the ground and was completely surrounded by slabs of the finest white granite.