Draught of Living Death (T.R.)

one

Gwen's limbs were aching. She had awoken in the chamber of secrets, expecting to see Tom awaiting her with open arms and an ecstatic face, instead, she awoke to unfamiliar sights. The chamber which she and Tom and kept in pristine condition was now a decaying sewer. The crystal clear blue waters had turned into a murky green, littered with bones, and filled with algae. The statue of Salazar Slytherin, once a beautiful polished marble looked grey and cracked, chunks of his face had cracked and fallen into the waters below, leaving him portrayed as a deformed monstrosity. But most shocking was the large skeleton lying on the chamber floor. Sitting in the middle of the chamber was the basilisk; what was left of her. All of its flesh had rotted away, leaving behind only its decayed flesh, teeth, and bones. Guinevere felt her mouth open in shock. How long had she been asleep? And where was Tom?

She looked around the chamber once more. How had it gotten to this state? This space had been a beloved hide away once. A refuge from the wars in the world above.
She began walking on her shaky legs, slowly making her way to the entrance of the chamber. She paused, seeing a large pile of rubble where a part of the chamber had presumably caved in. Luckily enough, a hole had been cleared through the rubble, small, but still large enough for her to fit through with a little extra digging.

After digging until her fingers were rubbed raw and her nails were chipped away at, Gwen determined it was a safe enough passageway to climb through. She squirmed her way through the tiny crevice, breathing a sigh of relief when she made it to the other side. She looked up, the entrance to the bathroom was nearly a hundred feet up.
Back when she and Tom came down to visit the basilisk, they could simply ride their way back up on her back. Without the basilisk, it was more tiresome, but Salazar Slytherin had installed a failsafe for a reason. She removed her wand from her boot, and leaned down, looking at a barely noticeable brick protruding from the bottom of the wall. She pressed the tip of the wand to the brick and whispered, "Emergo!"

She grimaced in pain. Her voice had come out as scratchy and hoarse, having not been in use for an ungodly amount of time. Nevertheless, her spell had worked, and out from the wall sprang a series of small steps that circled around the exit.

She grinned in satisfaction. Gwen began the tiresome walk up the flight of stairs. Her legs ached and she was breathing heavily from overexertion, but she needed to make it out of the chamber. If she wasn't able to get out, she would be trapped in the chamber of secrets forever, as only she and Tom knew how to get in. And seeing as Tom hadn't been there to wake her from her slumber, she had to have been awoken on accident, meaning no one would know she was awake; And no one would be coming to get her.

Tom not being in the chamber frightened her. He had said he would retrieve her when the war was over. When it would be safe for both of them. If she had been awoken now... Had something happened to Tom?
She didn't want to think about it.

Gwen pushed past her negative thoughts. She needed to focus on her task ahead of her, taking two last laborious steps before finally making it to the top, and the sink began to open. She pushed herself onto the floor of the girl's lavatory, breathing heavily. Thank Merlin no one was in the lavatory, Gwen wasn't sure she had the mental ability to confund or obliviate anyone at the moment. She leaned against the sink, which had sealed itself shut, and panted, trying to catch her breath. After a few minutes of laying against the sink, she stood up again.

Gwen wasn't feeling too sure of herself. She felt tired. Her limbs were numb and her vision was spotty. Not to mention she had a pounding headache, it felt worse than the mornings she spent hungover after a Slytherin party. She frowned and took a staggering step forward.
Am I swaying? Between her spotty vision and questionable stability, she saw a girl enter the lavatory. As the girl came closer, Gwen recognized her and a feeling of relief washed over her.