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Chapter Text

Everyone's in the Great Hall for the Annual Halloween feast, and twelve-year-old Tom Riddle watches everyone eat the sweets without a care in the world. He's about to take a Cauldron Cake when suddenly he senses something.

Its dark, and cold - the kind of cold that seeps into your very bones, no matter what you do to try and prevent it from happening, and stays there - with an undercurrent of what feels like electricity running through it, and…its getting stronger. If Tom didn't know any better, he'd say…something or someone was coming.

But that's imp- nevermind, its perfectly possible despite being in the middle of Hogwarts and buried under all its Wards that are supposed to be impenetrable.

Because all the candles suddenly went out at the exact same time, and even the Charm on the ceiling went dark as that electric coldness got a hundred times stronger. Strong enough for even the other students to feel it and shiver.

Tom, however, is long past shivering, more like frozen in place - there's something in that darkness, something he can feel drawing closer.

So much for Hogwarts being so safe.

He figures nobody's going to come out of this alive, considering how powerful this feels. Powerful, and Dark, and incredibly alluring - if he weren't frozen to his seat in anticipation and no small amount of fear, he'd want to know more about it. He doesn't even have to look at the professors' table to know Dumbledore's gaze is on him suspiciously, but then everything goes pitch-black suddenly and he doesn't have to worry about meeting the old fool's gaze.

There's several shrieks from the First-Years across the hall, and even more when there's a sound a lot like a gunshot Tom once heard - unsurprisingly, resulting in screams across the entire hall from what sounds like all seven years - and the coldness and electricity spikes hard for a moment before starting to fade.

As the darkness lightens, everyone's looking around in fear - wondering when the other shoe is going to drop, most likely. Right up until a Ravenclaw Third-Year shrieks once more, drawing everyone's attention as she grabs at the person next to her frantically. Similar reactions from the Hufflepuff table tell him that they've found the other shoe and its already hit the floor - and that its bad.

Then there's an unfamiliar groan, and gasps of 'She's awake!' 'Bloody Merlin!' and 'How is she even alive?!' coming from everyone that's in eyesight of…this girl, apparently.

Even the Slytherins are trying to see the newcomer, and Tom just manages to get a glimpse of raven-black hair that seems to suck in the light and pale skin - though, the latter is hard to see, since there's more injuries and blood than skin to see. And then she gives a wet, rattling cough that makes a splattering sound on the ground that has Tom almost wincing - he knows what that's like, coughing up blood.

Although, he can't say he's ever been cursed as much as he's sensing on her. His magic-sense, better than most anyone else's in the school, actually has him feeling something like sympathy for this girl - he's never sensed anything so dark before, and its all coming from her. It can't be particularly healthy…or even painless, for that matter.

And then she elicits several shrieks, gasps, and a few retches when she grabs her right shoulder and…pops it back into place.

Now THAT is some impressive pain tolerance. Even he has to admit, and reluctantly admire that level of endurance. He's seen someone pass out from a finger getting popped back into place, after all.

And then Albus Dumbledore is coming down the aisle, wand in hand and saying "Now, children, don't crowd her. Let me through, please."

The Gryffindors that had managed to gather around to see what's going on move out of the way, making an opening for him - and then, taking everyone by surprise, the girl yells "No, stay away from me! Stay away!"

Tom gets a moment's warning as the same power that brought this strange girl into the Great Hall builds up inside her quickly before being unleashed, and he gets treated to the sight of Dumbledore going flying backwards, landing back behind the professors' table on his backside. Its an incredible sight, truth be told.

Everyone scrambles away from her at that, giving Tom his first clear view of her - she's in what looks like Muggle clothing, her hair is wildly messed up…she looks like someone was trying to kill her and nearly succeeded. Her clothing is burned - scorched black, actually, unless it was already black to begin with - along with a good portion of her right arm that's pressed to her abdomen - broken rib, at least one of them - and there's blood rapidly pooling underneath her. Still, what really catches his attention is bright green eyes, almost like they're glowing with magic. He's sure that they're the greenest eyes he's ever seen.

And then they meet his, and a torrent of emotions crashes into him that can collectively be summed up as 'oh fuck.'

Before anything else happens, those bright green eyes roll up in her head, her body violently shudders, and she's unconscious before she hits the ground with a sickening cracking sound that can be heard all the way to the Professors' table and has most of the hall looking horrified in her direction.

Unfortunately, he really wants to ask her quite a few questions - because he swears he felt recognition, of all things, in her feelings the split second he had to analyze them.

Evelynn groans as she opens her eyes, only to find herself back in Limbo once more. "You've gotta be kidding me…"

Death, or Thanatos as he said to call him, appears and says "Afraid so, Mistress."

Evelynn looks at the angelic-looking being, her own personal Guardian Angel so to speak - as he's actually an Angel of Death - and asks "They actually killed me? After twelve years?"

He nods, and says "If it makes you feel any better, you gave them quite the fight."

"I hope so. Hope I took those bloody backstabbing traitors to their graves before…what happened, anyway? I recognized exactly two people before blacking out. Fucking Albus My-Middle-Name-Is-Manipulative Dumbledore, and a twelve-year-old Tom Riddle."

Thanatos chuckles, and says "You're in 1939, on Halloween night to be exact."

Evelynn groans at once, and says "Wonderful. They attacked me on Halloween, I ended up on Halloween in a lot of pain - more than I was in before for some reason, why is that? Also…why is it always Halloween?!"

Thanatos laughs, full-out laughs, and says "You arrived on Halloween, or Samhain - the first Day of the Dead - because it is when I, and the power of the Hallows as they're connected to me, am strongest. As for why something always tends to happen to you on Halloween…I haven't got a clue, darling. I really don't. I've never seen anyone have something bad happen on the same day every year for so long."

"So, why did my body hurt so much more after the time travel?" Honestly, when you find out your entire life was a lie and the man you trusted as a grandfather wanted you dead - and that you're the Master of Death - you tend to take things in stride after a while. Learning she's just time-traveled isn't nearly the craziest thing she's heard. Actually, she can guess as to some of why she hurt so much more - her body was absolutely shot by the time she was finally cornered. Her nerves were destroyed, she couldn't really feel anything, and she's convinced it's only because of her own magic that she could still use her limbs. 

If something happened to change that...

Thanatos just grins, saying "All in due time. As for right now, I'd suggest using the name Peverell, instead of Potter. I'll work out all the details for you, just give them an edited version of your original history. The Peverells went abroad, and the Ministry lost track of them, hence why nobody knows about you. Your parents died when you were a baby in one of Grindelwald's attacks. And the same has just happened with your aunt, uncle, and cousin, but this time it was Fiendfyre that killed them, leaving barely any trace of them and severely injuring you in the rest of the attack."

"Yeah…Ron did catch me with that curse, among others. Even if it was just a brush on my arm that really connected. I can't believe he used Fiendfyre on me! Fiendfyre! So much for being paragons of the Light." She grimaces, remembering all the Curses they'd flung at her - none of which were even remotely Light. Relatively few actually landed on her, but the ones that did were nasty - and lethal. Were she not the Master of Death…well, she'd be dead. She should be dead, really -even though the Fienfyre only brushed her arm before she starved it of oxygen and heat, though that alone should've done her in. The Bone-Breaker she took to the chest alone should've ensured that - hell, she's pretty sure it punctured a lung with one of her ribs - and there were others that landed. "So…how did I end up back in time anyway?"

"Do you remember your last thought?"

Evelynn nods, then says "If that was how Tom Riddle was treated…that's how? All I had to do was think about this time?"

"No, all you had to do was think about him. You pictured the eleven-year-old in your mind, and thought about his treatment at Hogwarts. That's all it took. Time is meaningless to Death, and now to you as well. Well, once you recover, that is. It'll take a while for you to be able to travel in time once more, if you choose to do so. On the other hand, you could stay here for a while and change things."

"Like…keeping Albus I've-Got-Too-Many-Names Dumbledore from getting so much influence? Or keeping Tom from going so Dark?"

Thanatos grins, and says "Precisely, darling."

Abraxas stares at Tom Riddle in surprise, and asks "You want us to what? Come again?"

Tom resists the urge to Curse the Malfoy Heir, as he's not questioning him directly and is a rather important ally to keep on his side, and repeats "Keep an eye on the mystery girl." He can't see why that's so hard to understand, or why they wouldn't want to on their own. Maybe because he could sense the power surrounding her better than anyone else? He doesn't know, and doesn't care.

One of the fifth years rolls his eyes, and asks "Really? Why's that?"

Tom glares at him and then Wandlessly Curses the boy for a good minute before letting up on him. He may be just a Second Year, but he's already proven he's at the top of the House of Snakes - and not just because he's a Parselmouth, one of Slytherin's descendants. "Because, if she's strong enough to Apparate through the Wards of Hogwarts while being that injured - and then send Dumbledore flying across the hall - she's strong enough to warrant attention. Or do you not remember what happened before she arrived?"

Another of the Slytherins says "There's no guarantee that she did that, though. Merlin-knows why or how it happened in the first place."

A sixth year jokingly says "Ooh, maybe it was the Deathly Hallows at work! Samhain is the first Day of the Dead after all." Therein ensues a lot of mocking laughter, jokes about how they'll find the Elder Wand and be undefeatable.

Tom just raises an eyebrow at Nott, who quietly says "The Deathly Hallows are a myth, its said Death gave the three Peverell Brothers a gift each. An unbeatable wand, a stone that can bring back shades of the dead, and an invisibility cloak. And, should someone ever unite them…they'd be the Master of Death."

For whatever reason, it strikes a chord with Tom - the Master of Death…it certainly sounds like someone that would be powerful enough to get into Hogwarts via magic.

"It's just a myth though. Antioch Peverell was killed in his sleep for the wand, the Stone was lost, and any invisibility cloak made fades over a few generations."

Still…it sure doesn't sound like someone he wants to be on the bad side of. And, even if it really is just a myth…she's still very powerful. He could practically taste her power, for Merlin's sake. Best to keep an eye on her until he knows which way the wind will blow in her case.

Here's what Evelynn...more or less looks like. At least, what I imagine she looks like after coming back. Hope you like it!

Chapter Text

Evelynn wakes up, a groan already at her lips as the pain crashes back into her consciousness - something's wrong, something's definitely wrong. Because ever since she found a Potion recipe in Snape's old textbook, one that reverses malnutrition and gives the body a growth spurt, her pain tolerance went through the roof. Of course, that particular detail could have something to do with how she withstood the Cruciatus a number of times to, as well as Bellatrix's 'girl-time' at Malfoy Manor twelve years ago - and maybe the detail that, after Bellatrix's 'girl-time' with her at Malfoy Manor, her nerves were shot. She had no feeling whatsoever in that particular arm, despite the detail that she could still move it at will, and even a broken bone barely felt like it used to.

She sits up, only to let out an indignant and horrified squeak that she'll forever deny until the end of existence itself. But…bloody Merlin, her body! She's in her twelve-year-old body! No wonder she hurts so much! Now that she knows what its like to not have a body so malnourished a stiff breeze goes right through her, after sixth year, she's acutely aware of each and every difference.

For one, she's already freezing. And she doesn't get cold anymore, not after her body adjusted to the Hallows.

For another, her body was - is, unfortunately - so weak that she physically cannot handle that much pain. Not only is this body not used to it, it isn't physically capable of bouncing back so easily - not without using a lot of her magic, another thing she won't be able to do for a while...and not just because her magic needs a few months to recover from time-traveling.

She simply didn't have the same kind of stamina as when she got through with her sixth year. A year she spent on the potion she'd found and convinced Slughorn to let her brew. It strengthened her bones, packed some meat on her frame, made her grow at least six inches in the space of a few months…to say she's getting more and more horrified as her mind lists out what Snape's miracle potion did is a big understatement.

Its only when a door opens that she realizes…she's in Hogwarts. Given the number of Curses on her, the fact that she remembers coughing up blood in the Great Hall, how she's pretty sure there was a rib in her lung - punctured her lung, but stayed there via her magic so her lung didn't collapse altogether during the fight - and how her body was practically on fire she hurt so badly…she should be in St. Mungos. Or whatever they have for a hospital in the unlikely event that it hasn't been founded yet! Her arm was burned by Fiendfyre, for Merlin's sake, that's not something a school is equipped to handle!

Its only because of the Hallows, and that its been the 'Day' of the Dead - which actually lasts from Halloween until November 2nd - that she's healed and awake. The power boost she got from the Hallows supercharged, for lack of a better term, her magic and destroyed all the Curses that were on her as she healed at an almost inhuman rate.

No, not 'almost' - it was an inhuman rate, no mortal could handle healing that much and not burn out completely.

She groans and holds her aching head, already getting a throbbing headache at the mere thought of Dumbledore and all his manipulations. Honestly, she definitely didn't want to deal with him! Certainly not this soon!

And yet, to her horror, not only is there a silent, invisible witness two beds down, Albus bloody Dumbledore walks in behind Armando Dippet.

Mark Flint, Slytherin's Sixth Year Prefect, gets back into the Common Room only to find a sea of hungry, expectant gazes locked onto him. The most noticeable being the dark gaze of Tom Marvolo Riddle - despite being a Second Year, he's stronger than half the House combined and can hold his own with absurd ease. Not unlike the girl in the Hospital Wing - Evelynn Alyssa Peverell, she called herself.

"Yes, she's awake." After around three days, only - its November 3rd, making her recovery a bloody miracle. The others had reported that its like the Curses were destroyed by her own magic, like her magic was countering and…almost decaying them on its own - how, nobody's actually sure. But she managed it somehow, waking up in an unbelievably short amount of time.

When he sits down, Abraxas Malfoy impatiently asks "Well?"

Mark pinches the bridge of his nose, then says "Its complicated. For one, I'm almost certain she lied to the Headmaster and Dumbledore."

Tom carefully asks "And what makes you say that?"

Mark levels a serious gaze at the Second Year that rules the House, and says "A number of things. First off, after she took a Dreamless Sleep right before Dumbledore came in asking if he could speak with her again, she looked over at me and grinned when the man got turned away. And said 'Too bad, manipulative old bastard.' Yes, I was under the Disillusionment Charm! I taught it to you, Malfoy, so don't even think about asking if I cast it wrong." He gets the distinct feeling she knew he was there the entire time, considering how she kept glancing over when nobody else was looking.

Tom silences the brewing argument with a wave of his hand, asking "So, what'd she say?"

Mark chuckles humorlessly, and says "She said a lot of things. How much of that was true…I don't know. Her name, or the name she's going by, is Evelynn Alyssa Peverell."

The entire Common Room all but explodes into chatter, everyone instantly debating the validity of the claim. Its a total loss of Pureblood decorum, and Tom is torn between amusement and confusion - on the one hand, its hilarious to watch the Purebloods lose their shit over a name. On the other hand, it most likely means that name is a big deal.

Tom looks to Nott curiously, and quietly asks "Peverell?"

"You remember the story about the Hallows? Well, nobody believes in the Hallows, bar a few power-obsessed nutters that think they'll become immortal and all-powerful if they can collect all three, but the Peverells themselves are another matter entirely. They were a real family, and the three brothers from the story were very real. And very famous for their roles in the story. Buried in Godric's Hollow, after they died. And, ironically enough, what happened to them lines up with the story pretty well. Antioch was murdered in his sleep, and Cadmus committed suicide after his wife died. Ignotus, the youngest brother, lived a long life and died peacefully in his sleep. But the line was thought to have died out eventually, as it disappeared centuries ago."

Tom raises an eyebrow, then asks "So…how'd she show up out of nowhere?"

Theodorus shrugs, saying "That's the mystery, isn't it? In more ways than one, at that." He knows his friend has been all but obsessing over the detail that Evelynn Peverell appeared in the Great Hall - despite all the Wards on Hogwarts. In all honesty, its a fair thing to obsess over - the Hogwarts Wards are supposed to be the strongest, most secure in the entirety of the British Isles...and Evelynn Peverell apparently cut through them like they're melting butter. While heavily injured, at that. on Death's doorstep, if he's being completely honest.

Mark says "She also seemed to really dislike Dumbledore. She never said as much, but it was there in the little things. The way she'd keep an eye on him, the way she'd give him as little or as basic information as possible. She was much…warmer with the Headmaster. Madam Pomfrey, to. Certainly less stiff, even if she didn't give much more information to them."

Malfoy asks "So, what's the story she gave them?"

The entire room's gone silent as a graveyard, and Mark swallows drily under the weight of all their stares - Tom's most of all - and says "That she was attacked by Grindelwald out in Ukraine, though she never actually said it was him. Just that a lot of people in strange dark clothes with sticks like we all use appeared out of nowhere, started shouting weird words, throwing brightly-colored lights around, and wanted her for something. Didn't say what, though, just that a blonde guy with eyes that were different colors kept asking her questions she didn't understand about a stone and a cloak but she didn't know anything. According to her, her parents were killed when she was just a baby and she got this lightning-shaped scar from the event on her forehead. After that, she went to live with her aunt and uncle, but after her eleventh birthday they started acting weird. Packed up and left, never staying anywhere more than a week or two."

Nott sucks in a sharp breath, saying "They reacted to her having magic. Badly."

"That's what it looks like. And, according to her, they didn't want her anyway. Never did, actually. Though, that information only came up when she asked why Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let her leave the bed once it was clear she wasn't dying. Apparently, its not something she's ever had experience with, people actually giving a damn about her. Her words, not mine. She's got a mouth and an attitude, and isn't afraid to use either."

Tom blinks, then says "So…she's Muggle-Raised, or claims to be, and expects to have to take care of herself. What else?" The similarities are piling up in his mind…and he's not sure what, exactly, to make of it.

Mark chuckles, and says "Sarcastic, almost to the point of being caustic with Dumbledore at times. But smart. Smart enough to put him on the spot for her being in the school Hospital Wing instead of in an actual hospital - even if she had to play being entirely confused. But, here's the biggest reason why I think she's hiding something. You couldn't sense her magic at all. Not a drop of it, compared to when she was completely out of it and the entire Hall could feel it."

Tom nods, that would be suspicious - and it makes him even more curious than ever. They all remember the description of the curses that Madam Pomfrey said Evelynn Peverell had on her that Abraxas Malfoy brought them - many of them, she'd never seen before and the Counters had to be created by a Curse Breaker and a Healer that had been called in to keep her alive. Not that they got around to the counters, since its only been three days.

The burns were from Fiendfyre, and how she managed to survive that alone was something that astounded them - the current theory is that her magic blocked most of the Fiendfyre, so she was only burned by it instead of consumed entirely. As for how she survived all the curses…sheer will, perhaps. Or stubbornness and defiance - both of which she was the spitting image of when she threw Dumbledore across the room, an event that's been preserved in a Pensieve for free viewing at anyone's request. Not to mention broken bones, one of which had pierced a lung and stayed there, Curses that were supposed to have withered her body beyond saving in only a few hours, and a few that had even the Seventh Year Slytherins gasping in horror - and that's hard to do for a number of reasons.

And there's a Curse Scar on her forehead, in the exact shape of a Lightning Bolt - how she got that, well…there's only one explanation for it, especially if she's had it for as long as she can remember. Like she said, she was attacked as a baby. The scar's long-since healed, physical proof of sorts of her story.

Avery asks "So, she gets attacked when she's a baby, goes to live with her aunt and uncle, but they don't have magic and don't particularly like her because they think she does. They see her letter to Hogwarts, freak out on her, and start moving around the country, only for Grindelwald to find them?"

Flint nods, and says "That about covers it. Why they wouldn't send her here…she wasn't big on the details, but what she did say and do gave the impression they didn't particularly care for her. At all." She said they treated her like a slave, made sure she knew to be grateful for the cupboard they so graciously threw her into, and the scraps of food they deigned to let her have from the meals she cooked for them. No, they never showed her a single moment of kindness that she can remember, and she isn't grieving their deaths.

Tom tries to keep his interest objective, keep his emotions from showing on his face…but its hard. Merlin, its hard when she's sounding more and more like him by the minute. Well, he's always been good at figuring mysteries out. He just has to hope she's Sorted into Slytherin.

And then Abraxas asks "What was she like otherwise?"

Mark raises an eyebrow, sarcastically asking "Physically?"

All of the older year boys' attentions immediately snap to the Seventh Year, making Tom roll his eyes at Theodorus - honestly, its like their minds are simply lust-filled gutters.

"Well, thin. Very thin. Quiet voice, with a lilt to it. Greenest eyes I've ever seen, though. Bets are she'd be cute if she was a normal weight. But, like I said earlier, she's not the usual kind of girl - sassy and infuriating, bets are."

Tom promptly tunes out the rest of the House at that point, more interested in what this Evelynn Peverell can do than what she looks like. After all, she Apparated straight through the Hogwarts Wards, proceeded to yell at Dumbledore and throw him across the hall, and then survived a litany of Curses and injuries that should've done her in - would've done anyone else in, at that. Made a miracle recovery in only a few days, when logically she should've been drained dry just from Apparating into Hogwarts.

Chapter Text

Albus Dumbledore internally groans as he walks through Diagon Alley with Evelynn Peverell - she refuses to look him in the eye, has been avoiding him as much as humanly possible. He doesn't understand it, yes he's been a bit curt with her but most people react exactly the opposite of this!

Perhaps I shouldn't have questioned her so much at first. She had just woken up from an attack that should've killed her. Supposedly.

In less than a week, to. A true miracle-recovery, in a world filled with everyday miracles where the standard is rather high. At least, that's what she wants them all to think - he's got his suspicions, though. There was nothing on her but the half-destroyed clothes on her back, no amulet or artifact that could've healed her, no spell responsible for her recovery that anyone could detect, but a recovery like that on her own shouldn't have been possible.

Now, despite his objections, Dippet has enrolled this mystery child into Hogwarts upon her explaining how she's never known about magic before and was attacked by who they deduced to be Grindelwald's forces.

From her description, Gellert himself was there and wanted the other two Hallows - and thought she, a Peverell, would know where they are. When she claimed not to know what he wanted, he tried to Imperious her - she didn't say as much directly, just that there was a voice whispering in her head to tell him where 'the stone and cloak' were after he said something like 'empero.' And she still claimed she didn't know what he wanted, ostensibly throwing off the Imperious Curse - through ignorance or sheer stubborn will, it doesn't matter much. She did it once, she'll be able to do it again.

And then Gellert decided to Crucio her for the information - she didn't know. He got more creative with the torture, resulting in her extensive injuries - she still didn't know.

He was talking about taking her back to his current hideout - she didn't give a name, saying she was too out-of-it to hear right - and she wished that she was somewhere safe…and then opened her eyes after feeling like she was sucked through a small straw to the Great Hall in Hogwarts, and freaked out upon seeing someone else with a wand coming towards her. Resulting in him going flying backwards like he'd been backhanded by a giant hand.

A well-crafted story, if its a lie - or a very tragic one, if its the truth. He's not sure which it is, yet.

As it turns out, there really was an attack in the Ukraine - the Aurors on the case called Dippet a mere few hours later after she awoke, and he was lucky enough to be in the room with Dippet when it happened. It didn't take long to confirm that there had been an attack by Grindelwald's forces, and that Fiendfyre had been used extensively. Almost nobody survived the attack - nobody but Evelynn Peverell, apparently. Evidence in her favor, but she could simply have been there and been sent to Hogwarts during the attack as a cover story.

Still, its good enough for Dippet. So now, despite his hesitation and suspicions about Evelynn Peverell, he's been forced by Dippet to take her shopping.

Even now, he can't sense her magic - which is, perhaps, the most disconcerting thing about her, other than the detail that she won't look him in the eye. Especially since anyone in the Hospital Wing was all but literally bombarded by her magic when she was unconscious, frozen through if they stayed in her general area for too long.

She's acting perfectly excited - if he didn't know any better, he'd think she was just another excited child - but her magic isn't spiking and flaring like that of most other children when they get excited. And, speaking of her magic…that alone makes him wary of her - however she really came to be inside Hogwarts, past the Wards, it can't be good. True Accidental Magic, or a spy sent by Grindelwald, she successfully got through the most secure Wards in the entire Isles.

There's darkness in her, he's sure of it - now he's got two threats to keep an eye on, instead of just one. Great. And he's currently helping one become armed and even more dangerous.

He heads to Ollivander's first, since he's always believed that a wand can tell you a lot about a person. Thirty minutes, about a hundred rejected wands, and a migraine later, they get to a Holly Wand that has Fawkes' other feather in it - the feather burns right through the wood upon her touching it, making a pit of dread form in the Transfiguration Professor's stomach.

No, no, this can't be happening!

Ollivander, much to Albus' dismay, takes Evelynn down into the basement where he works custom wands and keeps all his supplies - and only he and a customer that needs a custom wand are allowed in there. Because he can't keep track of multiple people and make a wand at the same time.

Ergo, he's no way of knowing which wood she's about to pick.

Evelynn looks around in shock at the hundreds of different wood pieces as well as the numerous Cores - no Veela Hair, she's guessing from his comment back in fourth year, but Thestral Tail Hair, Thunderbird feathers, Unicorn hairs, gross-looking Dragon Heartstrings…there's every wand material imaginable here, for the most part. She doesn't even have to fake her awe as she says "Wow. Quite the collection. You must come down here often…"

Ollivander chuckles, and says "Indeed, Miss Peverell. This is where I make the wands I sell. Both en masse and custom jobs such as this. Now, go around and see what calls to you. It may be a single wood, or it may be more. If your drawn to it, even by simply curiosity, pick it up and see if you feel anything."

Evelynn goes around the room, box by box, and eventually ends up with a piece of Acacia, Larch, and a Thestral Tail Hair.

"Hm, very interesting. You see, I sold the brother Wand to the one that was destroyed to a remarkable young man. Yew and Phoenix Feather, it was. Thirteen and a half inches. Something told me, then, that he'd end up doing great things, and I get the same feeling about you."

Evelynn shrugs, and says "I don't know about that, Mr. Ollivander. I'm just trying to live my life." I've had enough with 'great things' for at least a lifetime. I'm through being a bloody hero.

Ollivander chuckles, and says "That's how it always starts, Miss Peverell. That's how it always starts. Now, Acacia…it'll only cast for its chosen Witch or Wizard. Larch will withhold its greatest effects from all but its perfect match. An interesting combination on their own, equal parts picky and powerful. And Thestral Tail Hair…you need to have seen death and accepted it to truly master this Core. You, Miss Peverell, seem to be a very interesting customer." Life and Death for a twin Core, and two picky yet extraordinarily powerful woods. This is going to be nothing short of a masterpiece, and he's sure he'll be hearing great things about this young lady as well in the near future..

When they get back up, an hour later after Evelynn got her wand and made sparks fly from it - and, Merlin, it works even better than her old Holly wand did! - he charges her five Galleons and says "Should you need somewhere to put that wand, Miss Peverell, I sell Holsters as well for an extra two Galleons."

Evelynn looks at the coins she was given, seriously debating whether or not to get one, and says "I can't, I'm afraid. I need to buy my books, Mr. Ollivander." Oh well, she can just get one from the Room and Charm it herself.

Ollivander chuckles, and says "Well, once your done, come back. Whether you have enough or not. I've got a feeling about you, and I've long-since learned to trust in my instincts."

Albus frowns at the man, what is it about people being attracted to this girl?! It's the same as with Tom, apparently only he can see the danger they are! Why, oh why, is it on him alone to keep an eye on the monsters hiding in his students?

Evelynn stays quiet through the rest of the trip, getting books quickly and her robes easily since Madam Malkins is blessedly empty. Evelynn grins at the trunk she got - it looks nice enough, but it's the most basic trunk there was. A simple three-compartment trunk, no extras at all. Which is perfect, since she experimented with trunks she found lying around in the various places she stayed in the last twelve years after picking up Runes more than discretely reading Granger's notes and found a book on trunks and enchanting them the right way.

She can turn a Muggle Trunk into a five-star flat in about two hours, give or take a few minutes for organization and another few hours for protective spells. It might take her about a day if she was trying to make it really fancy, with a Potions Lab or a Ritual Room with all the protective spells that would be required to not kill herself through Potions Fumes or such...if she didn't have any interruptions or anything else to do.

She chatters to Madam Pomfrey for a few minutes, hoping to sell the image of an excited twelve-year-old being introduced to magic - well, the much-younger Pomfrey seems to buy it, at least, so she can't be doing too bad a job at it. After she shows off her Acacia-Larch wand for the Mediwitch, she takes out a book and starts pretending to read it to keep up appearances.

Hopefully, she can get Sorted soon and 'catch up' with her classmates - she just considers herself lucky she's heading into second year and not third, as something tells her there are more classes to choose from compared to her original time, and it would be a lot harder to play off picking everything up so quickly as being a fast learner.

Which means she's abso-bloody-lutely going to out-O Granger, the bloody traitor. And she'll do it without a bloody Time Turner to get to all her classes, to! What a shame the vindictive, bossy, I'm-the-best-in-class girl will never know.

That night, Madam Pomfrey helps her get ready and does her tie, saying "There, you're all set. I must say, you're looking much better with a few good meals, some Nutrient Potions, and new clothes!" And its true, Evelynn Peverell doesn't look quite as bad as she did when she woke up - and significantly better than when she arrived, though she still looks a few years younger than her medical scans show she actually is. Poppy would peg her at nine, maybe ten, if she didn't know for sure Evelynn's a twelve-year-old girl.

Not pale as an actual corpse, for one - still pale, yes, but looking like she just doesn't get out much rather than being death warmed over. The not bleeding out helps, to. The new clothes hide some of how emaciated she is, and with her hair being brushed out so its nice and full instead of wildly messed-up it hides some of just how sharp her cheekbones are along with the Curse Scar on her forehead. It makes her look rather cute, truth be told.

In truth, Death took away the most obvious Potter characteristics - the messy, untamable hair and terrible eyesight - and now, her Peverell lineage is there for everyone to see. They just have to go looking for it, and know where to look.

Not that most anyone knows, these days, since the Peverell name all but died out in history - it disappeared, taking on the names of the houses the children married into to avoid attacks exactly like Evelynn described for the Hallows. Because, back then...the Hallows were taken much more seriously back then, despite the tale being a bedtime story. Little details that make her story that much more believable, if people do any digging into the family's past.

In a few years, they'll all be thinking more about her than who her parents might be anyway. She's going to be stunning when she grows up.

Tom Riddle watches as the figure of Evelynn Peverell sits down on the stool used for Sortings and the Hat get placed on her head. And, amusingly enough, goes over her eyes. About four and a half minutes later, it calls out "SLYTHERIN!"

There's some polite clapping from the professors' table, and a spot clears itself directly in front of him for her to sit down in. The first thing he sees is those enchanting emeralds for eyes, he could swear they've darkened a bit - maybe they really were glowing with her magic when she arrived. Still, they're so very vibrantly green that he has to wonder if magic made them that green or not.

The next thing he registers is that she's almost as pale as he is. Still, significantly less pale than when she arrived.

Probably from the blood loss.

The contrast is only made more apparent by her midnight-black hair, which just brushes her shoulders in a bob cut with layered bangs. This time, she's unnervingly blank when she meets his eyes - last time, her emotions hit him with all the force of a thrown bag of bricks.

Now…nothing.

Nothing at all.

She, just like the Professors on the rare times he's accidentally looked them in the eye, can somehow keep him out of her head. Just as he's about to turn away, though, he suddenly gets the barest wisp of her emotions - amusement, and a bit of curiosity. Like she knows exactly what he was trying to do, and let him at the very end. Is she saying hello to him?!

If he hadn't been curious before, he most certainly is now.

And then she looks away, breaking the moment as she starts eating.

Well, at least she's in my House. Gives me five and a half years to figure her out.

And figure her out he will, no matter what it takes.

Chapter Text

Evelynn wakes up to see green drapes, which short-circuits her brain for a minute before she remembers everything - the last time she'd slept in a real bed, and not either the ground or an abandoned ruin of a house or manor was…eight years ago, at the very least. Probably more.

She's not really counting the time she spent in the Hospital Wing, seeing as she doesn't remember most of it.

And her conversation with Death in her dream last night…dammit, he could've told her before now! Apparently…she can bond with one person. Just one, and it can't be taken back or even consciously decided.

One person to share the Hallows with, share all the things they give her - unending life and youth, the power of the Void, the abilities of the Hallows, all of it. One person in the entire history of the universe, since she could - if she so chose, after a few months for her magic to recover fully - go back to Merlin's time and go from there, but she can't pick who it is. Its something Magic herself will decide along with her own soul, according to Death.

Once it starts, it can't be stopped either - it hasn't started yet, thankfully, as apparently she'd have to trust someone completely and them trust her just as much, they'd have to understand her.

Which puts the kibosh on ever Bonding her soul with anyone else, as she swore to herself she'd never trust anyone with her life again after her 'best friends' went and hunted her down for twelve years after everything they'd been through together. As if anyone could possibly understand her, either - a betrayed, burned time traveler that was hunted down by her former best friends after she literally died for them. Yeah, good luck with understanding that mess. Apparently, though, the human mind isn't meant to be alone forever, hence why she's even capable of bonding her soul with someone - and yet, the past thirty years of her existence has been entirely alone, when it came down to it. Its all she knows how to be, dammit!

And, apparently, it was never relevant before now since I was all alone on the run all this time!

Quickly changing the subject before she can accidentally freeze the entire room, she grabs her stuff and heads for the showers - she had at least some control of the Hallows, she's not going to claim to be able to completely control powers granted to her via Death himself, but that was in her much older and healthier body that was used to using magic. And used to the Hallows, having adjusted to them.

Her twelve-year-old body? Not so much.

One thing Death said was that she'd have to adjust to being the Master of Death once more and relearn her control - and, dammit, that took a few years before she got the hang of those abilities! And all her magic! Even if she intellectually knows how to control them, her body has to adjust to the power of the Hallows and the full force of her magic once more - ergo, she has to be careful not to freeze anything by accident or have a case of accidental magic or some such for about a year.

She's also going to need a serious amount of potions just to get to a normal height and weight, damn the Dursleys to Hell! Far as she can tell, Death just reverted her body to its twelve-year-old appearance, taking all the scars she'd acquired along the way off. Not that it leaves her as a blank slate, but at least she doesn't have 'I must not tell lies' carved into her hand anymore. That would've been hellish to explain. And the only reason she showed up injured was because they had to had some kind of proof for everyone, something that shows she was, in fact, attacked by a vicious group of people determined to kill her.

She gets into the shower, and shampoos her hair as her thoughts inadvertently return to Dumbledore and her relatives, how he made her return to them time and again.

Damn that old man and his twinkling eyes!

Knowing how he manipulated her entire life, she can easily imagine him doing the exact same to Tom Riddle. Had he not pushed the as-yet relatively innocent boy into going so Dark - no, not even Dark, Black, Black as night and Blacker than even the Black Family! - had he helped him even once…well, the hot-as-Fiendfyre sixteen-year-old she met in the Chamber of Secrets was angry at the world, but he was also bloody brilliant.

It was there for her to see easily, his brilliance - he was a bloody prodigy, she looked him up after the incident with the Chamber. Straight O's across the board, he never had so much as a detention, for Merlin's sake. Or an EE, for that matter.

Who knows where the world would've gone if even one person had reached out to Tom Marvolo Riddle, instead of taking Dumbledore's word for it that the Orphanage was perfectly acceptable and he was a lost cause. A monster in disguise, just waiting to grow into its claws.

Several shrieks suddenly resound at once, and Evelynn quickly realizes she's accidentally lost control of her magic - and that the water is now almost literally freezing cold, with the floor under her starting to frost over.

Well, its hardly a surprise since she knew it was going to happen eventually…

Tom jerks in shock, barely biting back a curse in Parseltongue when the hot water suddenly goes freezing cold - from the sounds of things, others don't have as much control over themselves.

What catches his interest, though - much more than the theories being thrown around by Carrow, Nott, and Avery about why the water is so cold - is the magic he can sense in that cold water. Evelynn Peverell's magic, and it feels…angry.

No, that doesn't begin to cover it - her magic feels like its lashing out in unbridled fury.

He hasn't told anyone he's sensitive to things like that, much like being able to read people's emotions and thoughts just by looking into their eyes - which started out as an accident, and still is on occasion - but its coming in handy now, sort of. The water has that same cold from Halloween night, with just a hint of that electric feeling in it - as opposed to when the air was practically buzzing with it, when he could practically taste freezing cold ozone on his tongue and smell it in the air in the Hospital Wing when he snuck in himself.

And then, suddenly, the magic is gone - like she reigned herself in, almost. Still, it takes several Warming Charms on the shower head before the water's even lukewarm.

At Breakfast, she's steadfastly refusing to so much as look at the Professors' table, but she's perfectly polite to Slughorn as she insists she doesn't want to sit around all day doing nothing. He'd swear she knows exactly how to play Slughorn like a bloody fiddle, because she gets him puffed up with pride and saying that if she needs to she can go back to the Common Room at any time or go to Madam Pomfrey for a Potion or two. What a coincidence - either her personality is suspiciously perfect for getting Slughorn to let her do what she wants...or she just manipulated the Head of Slytherin House without him being any wiser. Tom's leaning towards the latter conclusion, for the moment.

She makes it through Potions easily enough, spending about two minutes in the ingredients cabinet then brewing a perfect Potion without looking at either her book or the chalkboard for instructions even once in the entire time he discretely watches her. And watch her he does, he watches as she expertly prepares her ingredients, watches as she stirs them in effortlessly, watches as she prepares a perfect potion despite it being her first time in the class with them.

How very interesting. Lucky him, he's had a perfect view from directly behind her all this time - he made sure to take the seat behind her for exactly that reason, to gauge just how well she'll 'learn' the material.

Once she's bottling her Potion, he leans forward and asks "Interesting, isn't it, Peverell?"

She glances over at him, one corner of her mouth twitching as she does, and says "Very."

Tom smirks at her, feeling a bit of respect for his fellow Slytherin welling up - she can easily claim to be talking about the Potion or the class, but the look in her eyes says she's talking about anything but. "Rumor has it you were raised by magicless relatives. Your aunt and uncle."

That amusement of hers fades at once, replaced by cold indifference to the subject as she tersely asks "What of it?"

Family is a touchy subject, good to know.

"Were they right?"

Her voice is cold as ice when she says "Yes. Unfortunately."

Tom blinks, then internally curses himself for it - most people can't normally meet his gaze for more than a few moments, yet she not only did but actually made him blink first. And she isn't the least bit intimidated by him, something even the upper years in Slytherin are after last year when he cursed that Fourth Year through sheer willpower alone. "You're picking things up remarkably well for someone who only knew about magic for less than a week."

Evelynn shrugs, disinterestedly saying "I'm a quick study, always have been. Not that my aunt and uncle encouraged it."

Tom raises an eyebrow, asking "Oh? And what do you mean by that?"

She lowers her voice, quietly - angrily, he notes - saying "I mean they hated me. Made sure I knew I wasn't welcome or wanted. Made sure I knew to be bloody grateful for the roof over my head and the scraps of food I was given by my nice normal family. You want to know what conclusion I've come to? Family bloody well sucks, because every time they hurt you it cuts a little bit deeper than it would've otherwise. Because your family is supposed to look out for you, yet they considered me anything but."

Its like chips of ice coming out of her mouth, instead of words - and the very air around them is all but literally freezing. He knows its cold in the Dungeons, to preserve the Potions Ingredients, but its not usually this cold! Evelynn stalks out the door as soon as the bell rings, leaving a dumbfounded Tom Riddle behind her - he'd think she was faking it, lying about her family, but…you simply can't fake emotion like that. Not in your magic, at least - and they were all there in her magic, there for the world to sense if they could. The bitterness, the pain and anger…she's telling the truth, at least about her relatives.

Still, he's sure she's not telling the whole truth. Whatever it is she has to hide…he'll figure it out. He just needs a little time to work on her…without bringing her relatives up again. He'd like to not have ice in his hair, if he can help it, and he swore he could feel it forming as he kept pushing. In his mouth, to. He heads out after casting about five warming Charms on himself, because he's suddenly freezing cold.

Chapter Text

When Evelynn gets to Transfiguration class on her third day in classes, the first thing she notices is that Dumbledore's got Floo Powder in his beard - he was probably contacting the Aurors about her case. Unlucky for him, Death told her there really was an attack in Ukraine, where Fiendfyre really was unleashed on the place at the end of the attack. By the time Grindelwald and his forces were through with the place, there was only ashes left. Making it entirely impossible to prove she wasn't there, as she had some pretty damn good burns on her even with her magic protecting her.

Bloody Ron Weasley and his pea-brained ideas - and bloody Granger for not reigning him in! Honestly, she would've thought Weasley would've known better than to cast Fiendfyre, of all things, after they nearly died to it in the Room of Requirement! And Granger absolutely should've known!

The second thing she notices is that Dumbledore's still got his…flair for extravagance, even in this time. And by that, she means he's apparently utterly color-blind even now - that or he's still got the worst idea of style or fashion she's ever known, and that's really saying something coming from her since she was never allowed to have any kind of fashion sense as little Eve Potter, the blasted Girl-Who-Lived. Because his robes are currently neon-magenta, for Merlin's sake.

Evelynn sees Dumbledore stare at her warily for a moment before he begins his lecture on the Draconifors spell. Showing them how to turn a small rock about the size of Evelyn's hand into a small dragon, and explaining how it'll turn back into the rock if they don't fully concentrate. He then passes out a rock to each student and says the rest of the class is to turn their objects into dragons. Taking advantage of the free time, Evelynn starts mentally compiling a list of Potions she's going to have to brew - but, Merlin, she's tired! This blasted body has got to go!

She's constantly freezing cold once again, no matter how many Warming Charms she uses on her cloak and robes, she gets tired way too quickly, and just getting bumped into hurts! She never noticed the first time she had this body, but it sucks - she was amazed, after filling out at Hogwarts over the years, how good she eventually felt before it all went down the loo during the year they were in a freezing cold tent on the run with limited rations and Ronald Weasley the human black hole…but this contrast is jarring. And it's got to stop soon, she really needs to get this body fixed! Hence the Potions she's planning on sneaking in with Madam Pomfrey's prescribed Potions - a stroke of luck on her part, as all she needs to do is Charm a Vial to look like the Potions Pomfrey already has her on.

"Miss Peverell! When you are in my class, I expect that you do your assigned tasks in a timely fashion! Ten points from Slytherin!" Evelynn looks up to see Dumbledore looking irritated with her, even though nobody else has successfully managed to cast the spell - its been what, five minutes? The nerve of this man, just what is his bloody problem? Right, she's a powerful child who got Sorted into Slytherin.

Scratch that first bit, she's a Slytherin, period. She's no illusions about his views of the House - had she been Sorted into Slytherin the first time around, she's sure, she'd have been killed sometime first year. And it would've been blamed on the Troll, most likely.

Controlling her expression, she gets her two-toned Wand out and says "Draconifors." The rock sitting in front of her turns into a black version of an Antipodean Opaleye, but with glittering green eyes like emeralds instead of the opal color its named after.

Evelynn just manages to keep all sarcasm out of her voice, even if it is a bit cool as she asks "Was that satisfactory, Professor?"

Dumbledore's face twists into a grimace for a moment, before he says "Yes, three points to Slytherin."

It doesn't escape her notice that Tom immediately casts the spell, turning his into a Hungarian Horntail, but Dumbledore turns away after obviously noticing out of the corner of his eye. It makes anger burn in her veins once more, but she shoves it down for the moment before she accidentally freezes the floor underneath her again or worse. And sees Tom staring at her in curiosity - well-hidden curiosity, but she can see it in his eyes all the same. Consequence of studying insane-him for seven years out of sheer necessity, she can read this sane version of him all-too-easily. The other Slytherins are glancing at the two of them warily, like they're waiting for something to happen - her guess is that they're waiting for him to go off on her for showing him up in class.

Evelynn just raises an eyebrow at Tom, asking "Does he do that often?" She gets the feeling she already knows the answer, though, and she doesn't like it one bit.

His lips twitch into a smirk for a moment, as he drawls "Does who do what?"

She raises an eyebrow at him, asking "Your really going to make me say it?" After a moment, she glances towards Dumbledore before meeting his gaze once more.

Tom eventually nods, saying "Yes. He doesn't trust me, hasn't since the day he gave me my letter. If anything happens, he automatically suspects me."

To his surprise, Evelynn's eyes darken with anger before seeming to glow a bit - hard to tell, though, in the lit room. Less hard to tell is the way her magic flares in her anger once more for a moment before its gone, or the fury he sees in her gaze for a moment. She glares at Dumbledore's back for a moment - if looks could kill, he'd keel over instantly - while quietly hissing "That bloody lying hypocrite."

Tom raises an eyebrow, checks himself just to make sure Dumbledore isn't anywhere near them, and asks "What makes you say that?" Because he's sure she didn't actually mean to say that out loud.

Evelyn turns back to him and practically hisses "A number of things, really. Dumbledore's all about his second chances, about House unity, about making things better for Creatures like Werewolves and such. About helping those who need it. When it suits him. When he wants or needs to play the benevolent old Wizard that anyone can turn to for help. The rest of the time? His precious lions get placed before anyone else and those he doesn't like get their lives made infinitely harder. Particularly those he thinks are a threat to him, or that he wants to use."

She should probably shut the hell up, before someone hears something she can't explain away. Someone who isn't Tom Riddle, anyway, who most certainly won't go blabbing to Albus Dumbledore of all people. 

Evelynn quietly gets her mounting fury under control before another incident of freezing something happens, or she goes off on the old man who's helping her Grandfather at the moment for what she's just realized is a pack of lies he practically spoon-fed her in her Sixth Year - never suspected Tom Riddle? Really, old man?! - and takes out her Muggle Notebook to write down the list of Potions she was making earlier. Good thing its Charmed to only she can see what's actually in it, anyone else will just see notes about Potions instead of what she's writing about. A little spell Death taught her, how to use the power of the Hallows to make it so only someone with a connection to the Hallows will be able to see what's written on something. Anyone without a connection to the legendary objects will only see something they expect to see on the paper, be it in real life or viewed in a memory - in this case, Potions notes. Hence why she has the word 'Potions' on the front of the book, give everyone something for their minds to expect.

Tom keeps an eye on Evelynn Peverell as she cools down - or, perhaps, warms over - while writing in her notebook she's apparently using for Potions. When he takes a peek while she's looking away, though, its just Potions notes that she's adding a few details in - so why, for Merlin's sake, would she be concentrating so much and mumbling bits of calculations under her breath?

He puts that question to the side in favor of trying to sense the last bits of her magic in the air - Merlin, she's incredibly powerful. Whenever she gets angry, he can practically taste her magic in the air. It's a chilling cold, the kind that seeps into your bones and stays there…and its delicious, when its not aimed at you. There's just the barest hint of more underneath that chill, the tiniest undercurrent of freezing cold and electricity that could cut you straight to your very core and turn you into a block of ice in moments. He recognizes that feeling from Halloween, though it was much stronger that night.

The idea that she's holding back, that she's not showing everyone her true strength - that her true strength may well be what he sensed on Halloween…its enough to make him almost instantly obsessed. As of right now, he wouldn't stop looking for answers on her if Merlin himself told him to.

Just as class ends, Dumbledore says "Miss Peverell, come up here." When she gets over, he hands her a parchment while saying "This is a list of the assignments I've given so far. You have until Winter Break ends to complete them."

She just nods, taking the list and rolling it up, saying "Thank you, Professor."

"If you need my help, my door is always open."

Dumbledore makes an unsubtle attempt to get Evelynn to look at him, but she just turns around saying "If I need help, I'll ask, Professor." Bloody childish prick, none of the other teachers are giving me a quarter of a year's worth of work.

She heads out the door, almost immediately feeling a dark gaze on her when she exits the room. Accompanied by a smooth voice asking "So, what'd he want?"

Evelynn glances up at Tom, who's surrounded by his group of Slytherins, then says "Fourteen essays by winter break's end." An estimate that gets corrected as soon as she opens the scroll. Oh, so not just for this year...BOTH years. Bastard.

This, Evelynn guesses, is a way to make her come to him for help, forcing her to either fail or open herself to his manipulations once more...were she anyone else, if she didn't have six years of Minerva McGonagall's instruction under her belt, she'd be desperate as soon as she opened the scroll. Now, though, she's starting to plan her revenge for this move.

"Sorry, I stand corrected. Just take a look, it'll be easier than counting them out."

One of the boys she thinks is Nott takes a look at the scroll, then asks "And he expects you to get them all done?! That's...Merlin, that's insane!"

Evelynn shrugs, then says "He doesn't like Slytherins, plain and simple. Probably wants to break me or show me my place, or find out what secrets I might be hiding. Like all the other adults..." Just like Snape, actually - singling her out the very first class solely because of her last name. Except Snape tried to humiliate her, while Dumbledore just wants to control her. She can't decide which is more pathetic, honestly - a man who can't let go of a childhood rivalry and bullied a child, too obsessed with her father to see the obvious signs of abuse he of all people at Hogwarts should've noticed in a heartbeat; or a man with a pathological need to control her no matter the time period or who he knows her as and a manipulative streak a mile wide.

She glances at the parchment again, then unrolls it once more and reads for a minute. Then…gets a smile on her face. Not a particularly nice smile, though. One that makes all of them but Tom shudder, actually. A shark would either be proud of it…or also shudder in fear of it and swim away as fast as possible.

Before anyone can ask what she's thinking to get a look like that on her face, she moves past them and towards the dungeon. Something tells them, though, that Dumbledore's going to deeply regret giving her so many essays to do in such a short time. Winter Break is only a few weeks away, and she's supposed to write that many essays?!

Tom spies Evelynn Peverell sitting in a dark corner of the Common Room about two weeks later, roll after roll of parchment spread out around her and a Transfiguration book as she writes away with her wand tucked behind her ear as it produces enough light to read by. She grimaces and massages her writing hand, not surprising seeing as she's apparently on her fourth essay of the ni- wait, is that quill still writing?! It is!

He feels his eyes widen to almost comical proportions when he sees her grab ahold of the quill once more that never stopped writing on the parchment. She's simultaneously keeping up two different spells at the same time - the first being the Lumos her wand is producing, and the second being however she's writing with the quill. She's definitely no beginner when it comes to magic, no matter how good an act she may play.

She's been unfailingly polite in classes, but silent as a grave unless answering a question. She usually disappears if she's out the door first, only reappearing for meals, classes, or curfew - but, if they're in the corridor before her, she stays in sight and doesn't do anything out of the ordinary at all - which is entirely frustrating, as he'd like to know where she goes between classes. He's also halfway convinced she's pulled a few all-nighters on the weekends, since there's been a few times where she's been cranky and snappish at just about everyone on a Saturday morning.

He's just finding more and more questions to ask as he keeps observing her, including how she's shot up so fast in height - oh, he's sure she'll play it off as finally having access to good food, since she's made it no secret that her relatives hated her, but somehow he thinks its more than that. A potion, maybe? She's been seen taking some, as per Madam Pomfrey's orders, but he's not sure which ones specifically.

Still, seeing her verbally slap Dumbledore in the face with the information was rather hilarious - she was prescribed a series of Potions to take should she wear out before the day was done, something about her body not having enough stamina due to malnutrition and therefore tiring out at a much faster rate. One thing that they share in common, it seems, is giving Dumbledore trouble in subtle ways. Case in point, the same evening after Dumbledore tried to confiscate her Potion Madam Pomfrey could be found giving him a thorough reaming out.

And, if the reaming out were somehow noticed by all the Slytherins via an apparently off-hand comment by Evelynn…well, its icing on the delicious cake.

They may not know exactly what to make of Evelynn Alyssa Peverell, with her mysterious powers and how things aren't quite adding up with her, but she's certainly been an interesting and powerful addition to the House.

Chapter Text

Tom stares at Dippet in utter shock - no, he cannot be serious. He simply can't.

Evelynn doesn't have any other relatives, since her aunt and uncle were apparently the only family she's ever known, so she has to go to an Orphanage…but does it have to be Wool's?! Does it seriously have to be the one place where he's weak and helpless?! She could tell everyone what she sees! She could-

Evelynn breaks him out of his rapidly-devolving thoughts, asking "Professor, what about the war? If we're stuck in the Muggle World, then what if something happens? I know you said it's the law that kids can't stay at Hogwarts, but-"

Dippet gives her a resigned nod in agreement, and says "I know, Evelynn, I know its not ideal. Nor is it something I'd put either of you - or any of my students, for that matter - through willingly. But, the fact remains that you have no living relatives that anyone can find, or godparents."

Tom notices Evelynn go through a number of near-imperceptible reactions as Dippet says that - her face is a blank mask, but its her hands in this case that give her away. Well, her fingers. They toy with the hem of her robe sleeves for a moment at the mention of any relatives, but scrunch the fabric together at the mention of godparents before smoothing out altogether. She had a Godparent, it tells him, but not anymore. Interesting, just like so much else about her.

"So, we have to stay in the Muggle World."

"I'm afraid so, Miss Peverell. Its not ideal by any means, but Albus assures me that Wool's takes good care of their charges."

Her entire body stays perfectly still at that last revelation - that Albus Dumbledore told Dippet the Orphanage is good, that they take good care of the orphans there, its something that infuriates him more than ever, how dare that meddling old man tell Dippet such a blatant lie?! That could well be the reason why he keeps having to go back instead of Dippet finding somewhere, anywhere he could stay! - but Tom can feel the temperature in the room drop a few degrees, and he could swear there's…disbelief in the air.

Disbelief?! How could she possibly have any idea?!

And then anger gets added into the mix. Still, it isn't in her voice as she mechanically says "Yes, sir."

Dippet sighs, then says "Just remember, both of you. If your life is in danger, you can use magic. Something we aren't supposed to tell the children, but…since there's a war, I feel that rule can be overlooked given your circumstances."

Tom blinks in shock - nobody's ever told him that before! All he's ever heard was Dumbledore saying he's not allowed to use magic in the Muggle World or he'll be expelled, his wand snapped, and his magic bound! Evelynn relaxes a fraction at Dippet's words, letting a little gratitude into her voice and expression as she says "Thank you, sir." Something, perhaps the feeling in himself, tells him she's not faking that particular reaction.

As soon as they're out of the Headmaster's office and down the stairs, Tom quickly drags Evelynn into an abandoned classroom and traps her against the wall. He presses the tip of his wand into the soft spot just behind her ear, quietly hissing "You won't tell anyone what you see there. Understand? If you do, I swear to Merlin I'll-"

She cuts him off before he can even come up with an actual threat to use, saying "Tom, relax. I won't tell a soul about Wool's. I'm no stranger to keeping your living conditions outside of school a secret." She hadn't planned on it anyway, she knows enough about him and his own living situation to know that he'd never want it to come out. She can respect that, one Magical Orphan trapped in the Muggle world to another, and she wouldn't Curse him in the back like that for something he hasn't even done yet.

Tom blinks, his thought processes completely derailed for a moment, but then he tries reading her mind. Its blank for just a moment, but then she opens up her emotions to him - enough for him to know she's telling the truth about having no intention of telling anyone. Wait, maybe that's just what she wants him to think. If she can keep him out and let him in at will, who or what's to say she can't fake emotions on a whim?

Evelynn sighs a mere moment after that, and says "You still don't believe me."

Tom deadpans "Your emotions don't tell me much when you can keep me out. You could fake them, make me feel what you want me to. So how can you prove you won't tell anyone?"

"Well," she gently lowers his wand from behind her ear, "I could swear a Wizard's Oath. Slightly less lethal than an Unbreakable Vow, but I'd be almost completely incapable of breaking it. Plus, it only needs one stipulation instead of three yes or no questions and a mediator." It's no particular hardship, anyway - she had no plans on telling anyone, and if an Oath would make him relax and let her not look over her shoulder for him at every moment of the day, she gets far more out of it than he does.

Tom blinks, staring intently into emerald-green eyes for a moment and finding no deceit in them. And then his brain kicks into gear, realizing she just mentioned two things he's never heard of before. "An Unbreakable Vow?"

Evelynn shrugs, and says "You break it, you die. End of story." He's about to demand she do exactly that, when she adds "It needs a third party to officiate the Vow, though, and I doubt you want that considering your reaction just now. A Wizard's Oath, on the other hand, only needs the parties that are concerned and a wand. I could swear one right now with no hesitation, and the magic would literally bind me to whatever conditions I swear to."

Tom nods, tucking his wand away and giving her his best glare before saying "Swear it." And then he wants to know just how she knows so much about him - she had no hesitation in assuming he wouldn't want anyone to even know any details about the Vow, if that even was an assumption, and he's yet to ever be able to truly surprise her. Observant, or something else altogether? He's not sure, and its doing his head in - something she seems to have made her life's mission, confusing the hell out of him.

He'd be much more annoyed about it if it didn't make her the most fascinating thing he's ever found in his entire life.

Evelynn nods, saying "Alright, give me a minute to think up the exact wording. I don't want to talk myself into a corner here. I didn't exactly head into Dippet's office expecting that bit of news, after all."

Tom nods, more of a jerk of his head than anything else really, and impatiently waits for the green-eyed girl to swear the Oath. After a few moments, Evelynn raises her wand and says "I, Evelynn Alyssa Peverell, swear not to reveal the details of Tom Marvolo Riddle's time at Wool's Orphanage to any soul he does not explicitly approve of knowing them, so mote it be."

There's a flash of light from the tip of her wand, and he asks "What was that flash?" He's never seen it before, she could've faked everything and put a light show on for all he knows.

"The oath being accepted. Now, I can't tell anyone what happens or has happened at Wool's Orphanage unless you specifically either tell them enough details for them to guess the truth yourself or say something along the lines of 'yes, Evelynn, tell them what goes on at the Orphanage' or 'go ask Evelynn about my life outside of Hogwarts.' or some such."

Tom nods, relaxing a bit at the willingly-given Oath - which he'll have to read up on, just in case - and says "You gave yourself an out, while at the same time making it dependent on me so I'd relax. How very Slytherin of you."

Evelynn shrugs, saying "So was giving Dumbledore the homework at the staff meeting. You thought that was rather amusing when we listened in for a minute." And so did she, especially when Dippet came in when she was about halfway through taking out rolls of parchment. Slughorn was going off on Dumbledore because she had been asking for Pepper-Ups a few times, and he thought she was doing it because she stayed up late doing all that homework.

She was expanding her trunk into a house of sorts, complete with a Potions Lab, library, bedroom, and ritual room...but Slughorn definitely doesn't need to know that. Or know that one night was spent setting up all the protective spells and Wards on it either - the Slytherins suspect she's no Second Year, but she's yet to give them any actual proof as of yet.

Tom found her just as she was exiting the room, and neither could resist using an Eavesdropping Charm to listen in on the man they both loath get torn into. Just for a minute or two, but still.

Tom nods, saying "You've got to let me see that memory at some point, I'm serious." Because she was laughing about it all the way back to the Hall, doing an imitation of Slughorn - and, yes, it was very amusing. As was her description of Dumbledore - a childish, prejudiced arse. Its like, according to her, the man never grew up out of the House Rivalry - a valid theory, but not one they have any way of testing.

Evelynn nods her head, a small smile on her lips for a moment. "I will. At some point."

Tom scowls at her, but it fades away quickly enough when it only gets a chuckle out of the pale girl. She's the only person in all of Slytherin that doesn't fear him, and dammit its messing with his head more and more as the year goes on! Especially since she's nothing like literally any girl he's ever met before - Muggle or Magical, at that!

Most girls are meek and quiet, expected to stay silent unless specifically addressed - not Evelynn Peverell, she couldn't be further from that if she tried. Evelynn Peverell is a stubborn, strong-willed girl who's constantly got her nose buried in a book, doesn't take crap from anyone, no matter who they are - not even him, he suspects, not that he's tried as of yet - and if someone gave her an order he'd think she was Compelled if she actually followed it without argument or complaint.

In short, she's the exact opposite of what a girl is expected to act like…as Lestrange found out the hard way a week ago. He made a rather unfortunate comment towards her about women's place in society being as a good wife and mother. When he asked about the look she was giving him, she responded by saying she was deciding which of the six ways to Sunday she was going to Hex him first.

When Lestrange didn't believe her, laughed, and turned around thinking she wasn't serious…they all found out just how serious she was. And that she already has a rather good grasp of spellwork.

And Hexes.

And reflexes.

And then Walburga, Dorea, and Lucretia Black descended on him in a fury. Needless to say, Lestrange had to go to the Hospital Wing that night for a 'dueling accident' that somehow got serious quickly.

Lestrange never made another comment like that to her ever again, and Slytherin House at large learned to never piss Evelynn off. Ever.

Chapter Text

Tom watches as most everyone leaves for the Winter Break - very few of the Slytherins stay for the winter holidays, preferring to go back to their Manors and their parents. The thought makes the usual small flash of jealous hurt flare in his chest, but he pushes it away as usual - he's made it this long without any family, he doesn't need them now. And Evelynn's words in that first Potions class with her convinced him that much more.

"You to, huh?" Speaking of whom...

Tom glances over at Evelynn Peverell when she sits down as well, only a foot or so between them on the bench. He gives her a half-hearted glare, saying "Like you know what this is like." He then meets a cool green gaze, and immediately wants to grab those words and shove them back into his mouth. Her expression alone says 'Yes, I most certainly do know what its like to watch everyone around you go off and enjoy their holiday with friends and family.'

All Evelynn says, though, is "Never had a Christmas with family, actually. Haven't got a clue what they're in for." The Dursleys never counted, especially all she ever got to do was decorate the whole house and cook the meals and never got even a bit of wrapping paper for all her work, the Weasleys don't count anymore after Ron and Ginny hunted her down, Molly helped Potion and spell her and she doesn't know where everyone else stood in that matter, and her one Christmas with Sirius was monitored at every moment. 

Tom blinks, then says "I thought you said you lived with your nonmagical relatives."

She gives him a small nod, and says "I did. But, just because they shared blood with me doesn't mean they were family. They never wanted me to begin with, and they made sure I knew it. So, while they celebrated Christmas, I never got to join in beyond decorating every inch of the house and cooking all the food."

She keeps writing in her notebook for another few moments - which he's long-since suspected is much more than a book of Potions notes, but its all he sees in it whenever he gets a peek - then gets up and says "I'll see you in the Common Room, Tom."

She heads off down a corridor, maybe to the library? Who knows, he does know he'll never be able to follow her though. He keeps his gaze on her until she disappears, discretely keeping track of Dumbledore as he does the same. That old man has been staring at Evelynn almost nonstop since she arrived, and it's really grating on Tom's nerves - Evelynn's a mystery, but his mystery. Certainly not Dumbledore's - she hates him, even more than he does. And that is quite the feat, considering just how much he hates the old man - for Evelynn, though, it seems like it's much more personal than for Tom. Yeah, the man scared him witless when he set his wardrobe on fire - all to prove a bloody point, as if making his wand light up or transfiguring his chair into something wouldn't have worked - but Evelynn's hatred seems to have much deeper roots.

Another thing to learn about her, though he doesn't even know where to begin. Perhaps he can corner her in the Orphanage at some point, make her tell him the entire story? How he's supposed to make her do so is another mystery - she's not afraid of him or his group of acquaintances, having no need for protection since she's easily as strong as he is, and he finds he doesn't want to hurt her.

For whatever reason, be it her power or her own charisma when she uses it or even the fact that she's such an intriguing mystery, he finds he doesn't want to harm her. Why that is…is entirely beyond him, he's never hesitated before when it comes to making someone do what he wants. If intimidation doesn't work, he'll go through with his threats - except he's yet to actually threaten her either. He tried, once - the time Headmaster Dippet called them both into his office and said Evelynn would be staying at Wool's with him - but before he could even truly think up a threat for her she was already swearing a Wizard's Oath not to tell anyone anything.

She's the most confusing, mind-boggling person he's ever met, and the one person he can't figure out…and its making him all the more determined to do so. Especially since she all but teases him at times, seeming to hang a bit of that mystery out for him like a carrot on a bloody string when she makes a comment or gets into a debate about Charms with Dorea and Walburga.

When he next finds Evelynn, its about two hours later and he's sitting in front of the fireplace reading a book in the Common Room - had he not been there, he's certain he'd have no clue when she was ever getting back.

As it is, the air chills just the slightest bit and he can sense Evelynn's anticipation in it.

He just senses the hidden entrance to the Common Room reveal itself for a minute, but nobody comes in…that he can see. When he stretches his magic out, however, there's…something there.

Something elusive, trying to really sense it is like trying to grasp smoke on the wind. But…its got that same chill that Evelynn's magic has, a less-oppressive version of the power he felt that brought her to Hogwarts and healed her. Merlin, in fact its like the exact opposite of that oppressive power - you couldn't not sense it when she first arrived and made her miracle-recovery, this is all but nonexistent! He can barely detect it before its just gone.

About ten minutes later, she walks out of the girl's dorms.

At Tom's stunned expression, Evelynn gives him a confused look and asks "What?"

"Where- how- when-" This girl is unbelievable! Nobody's ever managed to surprise him like this before! To the point of being unable to form any words!

Evelynn gives him a raised eyebrow, and says "I said I'd see you in the common room."

Tom exclaims "And then you left the Great Hall, I came back here to read, and haven't seen you again until just now. When you left the Girl's dorm."

Evelynn shrugs and says "Maybe I came in and you didn't notice me." She sits down on the other end of the couch and pulls out Beedle the Bard, but Tom isn't done. No, not by far - they're alone, and he's just had another shining example of why she's such an intriguing mystery.

Merlin himself couldn't stop him from questioning her now.

Tom shuts his own book and says "I don't think so. I think I did notice when you came back, but you were hiding. I notice a lot of things, Evelynn. I noticed when you were about to arrive on Halloween, even before everything went dark and the fires all died suddenly. I noticed the air had gone cold, a cold that seeps into your bones no matter how many warming charms you cast. I noticed your own body gives off that same chill, instead of heat like literally everyone else. I noticed your magic does the same, like its hinting at that power being yours. I noticed you're the only person in the entire school who can keep up with me in terms of magic, and you do it effortlessly."

Its become something of an unspoken challenge between them, without ever having been acknowledged until now. He loves the rush, the feeling of anticipation as he wonders what she'll do next in class - bar Transfiguration, where she purposefully doesn't show off her skills to Dumbledore whatsoever, which he completely understands. And, even then, he'll get caught up in trying to outdo her when the old man isn't watching.

Usually in the Common Room, where at one point Mark Flint Conjured a bag of marbles and made a little competition between the two of them - Transfigure something that the other can't top. She beat him, or would've if he's sure she hadn't purposefully given him an idea at the last moment via her lightning-shaped scar. She brushed her bangs out of her eyes, revealing the mark on her forehead she usually keeps covered, and he got the idea for a bolt of lightning striking the ground and spreading outwards.

He's yet to say what it is he wants for beating her, but- wait. That's it. He can say he wants the truth from her, her real story. He'll build up to it though, call in the debt if it's necessary - he doesn't want it to be necessary, though. That's the thing that's confusing him the most even now. Still, he'll wait and gather more information, make a working theory before cornering her about it - if there's one thing he hates, it's being wrong. Not knowing something is also up there, but it's better than making a fool of himself by chasing after dead-ends and giving someone the opportunity to laugh at him.

Evelynn's voice brings him out of his thoughts, asking "What are you thinking about so intensely? Your boring holes into my head, Tom."

Dammit, he wasn't even a quarter of the way through the list he's all but written down of the things he's noticed about her that he's sure nobody else has. As it is, he simply says "You." And it's the truth.

Evelynn blushes for a moment, and says "I'm flattered." He'd think she was mocking him, but she adds "Never thought I'd get attention from a bloody prodigy like yourself."

Tom blinks in shock, and asks "What?" Come again? Explain that, Evelynn!

Evelynn blinks, asking "What, about you bring a prodigy? Its true, Tom. You think its normal for a child to learn to read minds all on their own? Or to learn two languages at once? You, Tom Marvolo Riddle, are the kind of child genius that's born once, maybe twice a century. Anything you put your mind to, you not only succeed at but go so far past everyone's expectations that its truly mind-blowing."

She doesn't exactly sing his praises, more like lays them out like cards on a table as if they're talking about the weather - he'd think she was trying to get close to him at last, trying to butter him up with false praises and such, but…she's not wrong. He's noticed all these things about himself and others as well - hell, he figures anyone else would've destroyed their minds trying to learn Legillimency on their own. She's also not even looking at him, gesturing with her hands as she keeps talking about how he's likely the most brilliant person born in fifty years easily, making him think this truly is how she sees him rather than her being afraid or trying to get him to accept her into his group.

It's a slightly scary - terrifying - thought, if only because he has no idea what to make of it. She sees his potential, says she can think of so many things he could do with absurd ease including becoming Minister for Magic, invent a few dozen new spells and potions, etc. and it hasn't either drawn her in or pushed her away like literally everyone else around them.

Dumbledore looks at him and sees a monster, he's sure - its plain as day when you know what to look for, the lack of any chances and the cold suspicion that's ever-present on his face when it comes to him. Setting his wardrobe on fire upon first meeting him is a pretty big giveaway to.

Slughorn sees a brilliant student, who's had a run of bad luck given to him and hasn't yet let it beat him - likely the next Merlin, he'd guess.

The Slytherins see him as a miracle, someone to follow unquestioningly.

The rest of the student body sees exactly what he wants them to see, model student, perfect manners - polite, if a bit cool and unapproachable at times.

Evelynn, though…she sees what he could do, can do, with an unsettling accuracy no less, she apparently sees so many different paths he could take that its absolutely mind-boggling in and of itself, and yet…she treats him like a normal person. It should infuriate him, should make him rage and rail against it because he's not and she's just now saying she knows perfectly well he's not, but…then again, she's treating him as though they're equals. As though he's not the monster that Dumbledore seems to be trying to paint him as.

Will he ever figure this girl out?! At this rate...never.

He barely notices when Evelynn stops talking, too lost in his own thoughts and confused feelings to respond to her - hell, he didn't even hear the rest of what she was saying! He has to wonder, though, if she truly sees him, inner darkness and violence in the mix, or just sees the brilliant student he shows the rest of the school. Something tells him its the latter, but he's not entirely sure.

He can hardly question why she knows he can read minds, she's let him see her emotions enough times to know she's perfectly aware of what he's been trying to do…and lets him anyway, the bloody tease. Never looks away, never forces him out - just keeps him confined to her emotions, letting him know exactly how she's feeling. He's yet to try and pry into her memories, for a number of reasons - he doesn't want to give her a reason to throw him out and lock the door entirely, she'd most certainly know he was doing as much...and it might hurt her. A novel experience for him, actively holding back so as not to hurt someone.

She seems to know a lot about him, but just how much is one of the mysteries surrounding her.

She's going to do his head in one of these days, he's sure of it. And he highly suspects she'll do it on purpose, to.

Tom heads to his dorm room, leaving the 'end of the year party' in the Slytherin Common Room early - he has no real desire to celebrate, despite the detail that its his birthday. And nobody knows, he hasn't told a single- why, in Merlin's name, is there a card and shrunken box on his pillow?! When he picks the note up and opens it, there's words written in it.

Nobody deserves to have their birthday overlooked, not for any reason. I have to hold off on giving you your gift until later in the year, but I think you'll like it. Happy Birthday, Tom.

What he finds in the box, after finding no trace of magic bar a shrinking Charm and then enlarging it, is…a cake. Vanilla, with chocolate frosting. How in the world?!

He checks it for spells, Potions, etc. that might be used to hurt or control him, but it comes up clean except for a stasis spell to keep it fresh. The card comes up just as free of such spells, leaving him even more confused than before - starting with who, for Merlin's sake, knows its his birthday when he hasn't told a single soul in Hogwarts.

Dumbledore certainly wouldn't give a damn enough to make him a cake and a card, and he can't think of anyone else that would know when his birthday actually is.

It's the confusion that gives him another suspect - Evelynn. Only she has ever been able to make him this confused. And it seems she knows his birthday, for Merlin's sake - how?! How could she possibly know when his birthday is when he's never told anyone since coming here?!

Though, what kind of gift she would think he'd like is an intriguing question. As confusing as Evelynn Peverell is...he's certain she'll come up with an interesting gift.

When his head hits the pillow, card safely tucked in his trunk for later comparison to Evelynn's handwriting - not that there's much need, he thinks - he blames the warmth in him on the cake that was still warm.

And he pretends not to notice the way Evelynn's eyes gleam at him or her lips twitch like she wants to smile at him the next morning.

Chapter Text

Tom's glaring out the window, the school year is already bloody over. Its too soon, its always too soon. Three months, just another three months, and I'll be back at Hogwarts. You can do it again, you did it for ten years.

The entire cabin is dead silent, after he violently Cursed a Sixth Year last year when they made the mistake of asking about his summer plans. Well, dead silent bar the scratching of a quill on parchment - Evelynn is already working on her assignments, has been since they were given.

Theodorus Nott asks "Your doing the summer work already? You already spend practically every free moment of your time buried in books. Should've been a Ravenclaw."

Evelynn shrugs, and says "The Hat considered it for me for a moment. Then decided my willingness to survive was stronger than my thirst for knowledge to do as much." She looks back down at her essay, continuing to write down information without ever looking at the book she's using to write with - Tom noticed she was doing the same kind of thing with the Transfiguration Essays, and figured she'd get Acceptable's on all of them.

No, to his shock she got O's on every single essay - that must've hurt Dumbledore, having to give a Slytherin an O. Much less so many of them all at once. Evelynn had the entire Common Room in stitches as she 'innocently' asked as much, then pretending to point out a wobble in a few of the grades. The thought makes him smirk for the briefest of moments, before he glances over towards the incredibly confusing girl sitting opposite him and writing away.

She's absentmindedly nibbling at her bottom lip as she concentrates, making it turn slightly redder as she keeps working and its- Merlin, eyes off her lips, Tom thinks to himself, they aren't that interesting. She's shot up in height since coming to Hogwarts, gaining a few inches in what seems like as many weeks - growth spurt, or the potions Pomfrey had her on for the entire rest of the year? Probably both, he decides.

She finishes the essay she's working on, with about five minutes to spare, and waves her wand over the parchment with a few murmured words to dry the ink before rolling it up and putting it in her trunk. And the trunk seems to shimmer as she touches it, cluing everyone in to the detail that she put a lot of time, effort, and energy into securing that trunk.

Avery raises an eyebrow at her trunk, and says "That's some serious Warding, Peverell. Where did you learn that?"

Evelynn flashes him that shark grin, and says "Aw, now that would be telling. Nice try." Do they think she was born yesterday? Or that, just because school is out and she's not wearing a green tie, she'd be willing to tell them her secrets?

Abraxas narrows his eyes at her, and says "You put up a convincing act in public, Peverell, but you're no Second-Year."

Evelynn's expression goes blank, and she asks "You really want to know?" Everyone leans forward at that, all eyes including Tom's locked onto her form. "I time-travelled." They finally decided to just corner me, hm?  Nobody would believe the truth, anyway.

For a moment, there's a dead silence in the compartment. Nobody even breathes, thinking she'll smirk at them and say 'Got ya! Ha!' Instead, she looks down at her trunk, shifting two of the sliding numbers to different positions.

After a moment, Abraxas clears his throat then says "Haha, very funny Peverell. Don't tell us, then. Nobody can just Time Travel without a Time Turner, and those only go back a few hours at a time."

Now Evelynn looks up at them again, a smirk in place on her lips as she says "Add to it, the detail that I didn't have one when I arrived."

"Right, and how would you have traveled in time anyway? The Deathly Hallows?"

There's a round of chuckling and laughter, but Tom's eyes are locked onto Evelynn - suggesting the Hallows as an explanation of things that are considered impossible even by magical standards and then laughing at the well-known joke is nothing new, but he's never gotten to see this particular expression on Evelynn's face. Suddenly, her smirk seems frozen on her face as she stares at the others. She leans back in her seat, and says "You never know, there's always a grain of truth in stories somewhere. Where do you think they came about anyway? Sleeping Beauty in the Muggle World happened, Prince Charming was just a Wizard with the antidote for Draught of Living Death on his lips. Cinderella's dress was Transfigured by a helpful witch, etc. So, where do you think the truth in the Deathly Hallows is?"

Everyone stares at her for a minute, then Nott says "The Peverells themselves. Antioch, Cadmus, and Ignotus were real, they have their graves and everything. They lived in Godric's Hollow, apparently."

Tom could swear Evelynn's eyes gleam for a moment, as she says "I'll have to visit at some point. You want the reason behind the Wards? I never had anything that was mine before. My loving relatives made sure of it. So, now that I have stuff that is mine, I happen to like them protected. So, I picked up a book and started reading about Wards. End of story."

Everyone's used to Evelynn's sudden mood swings by this point, her family is usually a topic that'll turn her mood sour for the rest of the day. If anyone asks about her relatives, she'll give them a caustic answer about just what her aunt and uncle thought of her. Still, that seemed different - almost like it was a test and they all failed it or something. Was she trying to gauge their reactions?

Trying to manipulate them?

Shits and giggles?

He's not sure, nothing about Evelynn Peverell is ever certain. Except for this…its going to be one hell of an interesting summer with her around.

"We're running out of room, so your just going to have to share like the rest of the children! If anything happens to your new roommate, Tom, there will be hell to pay."

Tom just nods, saying "Yes, Ma'am." He's long-since learned to keep from saying any of the retorts piling up in his head when it comes to Ms. Cole. He and Evelynn got separated at the train station, and he's assuming she's around here somewhere. He'll have to find her later, though - apparently, he's got a roommate to terrify into submission.

He really should've expected it, what with the war going on - the orphanages are taking in plenty of new kids, but he hadn't counted on the Matron actually sticking him with a roommate. A total stranger that has no clue to fear him, to stay the hell out of his way - or there'll be hell to pay alright, but he won't be the one paying it. He stalks to his room, his fury mounting with every step, and bangs the door open in a deliberate attempt to scare the shit out of his new unwanted roommate - only to find a familiar figure jerking upwards on a bed that wasn't there before and rubbing her eyes. "What are you- Evelynn?!"

The black-haired girl rubs at her eyes with the back of one hand, only to glare at it like its personally affronted her before looking up at him sleepily. "Tom? What are you- this is your room, isn't it?" Un-bloody-believable. Cole must've figured he can't scare me out. Well, she's certainly right in that respect.

Tom nods his head, more of a jerk of his head than a nod, then notices the back of her hand that's resting on her knee. Bright red, which stands out even more against her pale skin even in the weak light from the lightbulb he turned on. "What happened?" He grabs her wrist, pulling it up towards the light so he can see better.

Evelynn yanks at her hand, hissing in pain and surprise - being able to really feel pain once more still takes her by surprise, after twelve years of barely anything - he shifts his grip so he's not pressing down on the red spot, and she stops pulling her arm back to give an answer. "The switch-happy bitch that can't even pronounce a person's last name right happened." Could've been worse, though. She didn't take a belt to me, or beat me unconscious like Vernon would've.

Alright, definitely no permanent damage - Cole just got her angry, then. And, as he's learned, an angry Evelynn gets mouthy without hesitation.

Tom glances up at her, dark brown - almost black - eyes gleaming dangerously as he asks "What did you do?" It was probably her attitude, Evelynn acts nothing like a 'proper' lady - and Cole would have no qualms about jumping on the sassy, irreverent, unrepentant girl for it at once. How much does he have to curse Cole at some point in the near or distant future?

Evelynn gives a very unlady-like snort of derision, and says "Told her how to pronounce my name right. I was even polite about the whole thing. In response, she starts smacking me with a switch a good three inches thick." Tom's eyes darken, but he doesn't interrupt as she says "Its fine, I've had far worse for much less. She's just like the Dursleys, waiting to jump on me for the slightest thing. But, really, Privriell?! Seriously, did she even make an effort to get it right?!"

Tom keeps his face carefully blank of most of his emotions, resolving to go over what she just said later, and says "Cole likes putting new orphans in their place. C'mon, lets get you fixed up before dinner."

Evelynn snorts inelegantly, and says "Got that covered, Tom. I've been doing it for years now, even if I hadn't known it at first. Want to see?" He feels coldness bloom under his grip, and watches - or maybe feels would be more accurate - in amazement as Evelynn's magic spreads under her skin and numbs the pain. He pulls the chair over from his desk, and does the same with her other hand.

After he's done, Tom says "We'll have to leave the red marks. Else she might think she hadn't been strict enough."

Evelynn gives another of those derisive snorts, and says "I've got plenty of experience with that. It was the same with my relatives, they loved to see me suffer."

That's it, he's going to find out who these people were and…and he'll think of something from there. He takes her other hand, pushing a little of his magic into it just to see how well she numbed her hand - to his surprise, though it really shouldn't be, its every bit as good as his own.

Evelynn glances at Tom's face as he examines the hand she numbed, then quickly looks away before she can start blushing - she's known he was good-looking before he started making Horcruxes since that time in the Chamber, she has eyes for Merlin's sake and they were working well enough to note that even back then, but she's never seen him attentive to anything before. Completely focused on the task at hand - no pun intended.

Damn her blush, she's never been able to control it. For everything she can do, her blush has a mind all its own...and Tom Marvolo Riddle seems to have free access to it, she's just discovered.

Tom's broken from his concentration by the dinner bell, making both him and Evelynn start - he was so busy trying to sense more of Evelynn's magic that he completely tuned out the rest of the world. Seeing her nervous reaction, he says "It's just the dinner bell, c'mon. Those who don't come aren't exactly sought out. At first, anyway." And when they do, it's usually to be punished for wasting their food and money.

He takes her by the wrist to lead her out, surprising even himself by it - and explaining it away as wanting to keep the only other person with magic in the entire Orphanage nearby, wanting to learn more about her. Her ending up rooming with him seems to have been a blessing in disguise that way, then - and how it happened is entirely beyond him, since Evelynn didn't even seem to know it was his room. Probably something to do with the both of us attending the same school, he reasons, the slightest chance that I don't terrify Evelynn like everyone else. And that's not a can of Flobberworms he wants to open right now - she's never been afraid of him, Cole got that right enough.

The food they get isn't much, barely enough to feed a toddler, but the Orphanage is run on a strict budget and the war is making it harder to get food. Evelynn eats her meal in silence, glancing around every so often - and shooting rather impressive glares at the older kids that are shooting looks their way. Some hesitant, some utterly amazed, others like they want to hurt them - and some are lust-filled, which makes Tom want to rip them to pieces right then and there. Evelynn is his, dammit!

They head back to the room, and Tom asks "So, I take it this isn't all?"

Evelynn looks at him in amusement, forcing Tom to let out a huff and takeout the card he kept in his pocket. "Oh, you kept it." She'd thought he'd either toss it or burn it, maybe keep it for notes...but, for whatever reason, he kept it on him.

He looks up to see Evelynn blushing, looking at the card with an expression he can't quite put his finger on. "So, it was you. The cake and the card."

Evelynn nods, saying "I thought you'd like something for your birthday, even if you won't say as much out loud." It would've meant the world to her, if someone made her a cake and card for her birthday just because they could. Molly would send over Potion'd 'care packages' in early June, after all, and any gifts were either useless, guilt trips, or spelled to keep her under Dumbledore's thumb. 

Tom steadfastly refuses to think on that, or the warm feeling in his chest at the knowledge that she really did get him a cake somehow, make the card, and get in and out of the boy's dorm undetected. Instead, he focuses on the mystery she dangled in front of him. "You mentioned a gift…"

Evelynn grins at him mischievously, and says "Tonight. Don't want the Matron finding this."

Tom nods, realizing its probably something to do with magic. That just leaves the rest of the day to wonder what, exactly, she got him for his birthday.

His sneaky Slytherin, she seems to love making him wait in suspense, as well as confusing the hell out of him.

Chapter Text

Night couldn't possibly come slower, Tom's convinced, the minutes seeming to stretch into hours just to mock him. Evelynn refuses to even give him a hint as to what it is she's been saving for him, only that she thinks he'll like it a lot.

He takes her out to the forest after she insists on waiting until night to show him her gift, inwardly smirking as the other kids quickly move out of their way - they're all terrified of him, of what he might do. He's done enough to ensure they leave him alone, and it looks like they're getting the message to do the same with Evelynn from his hand on her back. Something he's just given up on trying to understand, for now - he doesn't usually touch anyone, most certainly doesn't let anyone touch him, but he's backburnered the mystery of why he's doing so with Evelynn for now in favor of what gift she got him.

A soft chuckle from her catches his attention, making him look over at her…to see her looking at him in amusement. "What?"

She quietly says "Nothing much, Tom. But you can catch a lot more flies with honey than vinegar, as the saying goes. Sometimes you can either be feared or hated, I know that well enough. But other times, true loyalty works so much better than ruling everyone by fear in the long run." These Muggles will never be loyal to him, but if she can turn him off the path of scaring everyone into total submission and torturing everyone for the slightest offence...well, she won't pass up the chance to give him even a slightly new direction. 

Tom raises an eyebrow at her as they get to the treeline of the woods, asking "How so?"

They head into the trees, away from the other orphans, and Evelynn says "Its all well and good to bare your fangs, so to speak, to show them you won't be pushed around. Make them fear what you'll do in retaliation, and all that. But fear only goes so far. All-encompassing fear would have even the biggest coward strike back, even if only in small ways. Not telling you a vital bit of information, hesitating when it came down to it, or not fighting hard as usual, for instance." Like Peter Pettigrew, who was killed by the silver hand Voldemort gave him when he hesitated in killing her after she reminded him he owed her. "Loyalty, though, would see them fight for you until the last. Letting them know your no pushover is fine, continuing it in the long run…that could well be your undoing."

Off the top of her head, Narcissa Malfoy lied about her still-beating heart back in the forest. Because she was terrified, and done with living as such. Because she wanted the war to end, and her 'master' to be on the losing end of it. Because Evelynn told her Draco was alive and at Hogwarts. Because her loyalty to her family was stronger than her fear of Voldemort. Plus, who knows just what kind of torture she went through, between Lucius being captured and thrown into Azkaban and Draco getting sent off on a suicide mission. She doesn't know for sure, but she can take a decent guess that Narcissa Malfoy took several Crucios for her husband's failure.

Tom crosses his arms, leaning against a tree and watching Evelynn intently - he won't admit it, but that last bit sent a spike of fear through him. Instead, he asks "The long run?"

Evelynn glances over at him in surprise, then says "You know, after Hogwarts? Even near the end of it - we do have five more years, after all. And then the rest of our lives after we graduate. And when the world stops being divided into the Houses and point systems?" Honestly, she'd truly thought Tom would have thought about that long before now - hell, she thought he had some grand life-plan in place by the time he started collecting a following. Apparently not, who knew?

Tom hums thoughtfully, moving to another tree to keep Evelynn in sight, but then gets distracted by a familiar and welcome voice. "Snake speaker, your back at last!"

As he picks the snake up, Evelynn asks "A grass snake? They're usually found by water, is there a stream or canal nearby?" And this one's a beauty, mostly green with a dark collar and markings going down its body even as it curls around Tom's arm.

Tom smirks to himself, hissing back "Yes, I got back today. Let me introduce you to my friend, Evelynn. She won't harm you." He looks up, a look of smugness on his face - one that mostly disappears at the sight of Evelynn only being surprised. Not scared, not impressed, but thoroughly surprised for a minute.

Then she recovers and takes a step closer, not wary exactly but careful to avoid scaring the snake.

"She is lovely, Speaker. Is she your mate? You've never introduced someone else, before." Evelynn promptly chokes on her own saliva, pounding herself on the sternum for a moment before glancing up and going bright red.

Tom would be blushing equally as brightly if he didn't have a much bigger revelation to go over - her reaction would suggest…she understood the Grass snake. One thing he's come to learn about Evelynn, she can't control her blush whatsoever. So that certainly can't be faked - and even if she could...she couldn't fake understanding the snake! Once Evelynn's recovered, he carefully takes a step forward himself and asks "Evelynn, did you…understand him?"

She goes an even brighter shade of red, something Tom didn't think possible, mumbling "Um…maybe."

Tom hisses "Can you understand me now?"If she can speak Parseltongue...

Evelynn nods, still refusing to meet Tom's eyes as she tries to make her blush go away. A blush Tom finds he rather likes, if he's perfectly honest with himself. "Brilliant! Why haven't I heard you speak it before?" There must be a reason, perhaps she didn't know about it before now? Or she's never seen a snake before?

Evelynn glances up at him in surprise, then says "A few reasons, actually. Its gotten me into trouble before, and I've never actually been able to control it since it all sounds like perfect English to me. Unless I'm looking at a snake or hear it first, I just speak English." She glances at the grass snake, and hisses "Hello, lovely. No, I'm not Tom's mate. Like he said, we're friends."

Now its Tom's turn to blush, shifting on his feet - speaking to each other in Parseltongue may not be the best idea after all. But, really, who knew hearing someone else speak the language would give him such a reaction?! He keeps as still as possible when she comes over to his side, holding her fingers out for the snake to scent.

Once the Grass Snake has gotten used to her scent, Evelynn scratches him under the chin, getting a pleased hiss from him."I like this new Speaker. She's nice. Ooh, over, Speaker, right there..."

It makes Evelynn smile, a look of contentment he can't say he's ever seen on her face before as she runs her fingers along the snake's scaled body as it twists and turns happily.

Dammit, what is going on with me?!

He's feeling much, much more than the usual confusion when it comes to her - nobody, not a single soul, has ever shared his fascination with snakes before. Or the language! Even the knowledge that Evelynn's hiding things from him doesn't kill these new feelings she brings out in him. Dammit, he hasn't got a clue what most of them are, only that they're warm and fuzzy-feeling. Something he'd probably have characterized as weakness, had it been anyone else that was describing it. When its him…nope, not going to dwell on that. Not in the slightest.

Then Tom gets an idea.

"You said you couldn't control it?"

Evelynn nods, saying "Yeah, I only found out I was speaking a different language after talking down an angry snake an idiot tossed into the air from biting an innocent bystander."

Tom rolls his eyes, saying "That must've gone well."

"I told the snake that, if it wanted to bite someone, bite the idiot that tossed it into the air."

Tom snorts in amusement at that - he can absolutely imagine Evelynn Alyssa Peverell saying something like that. He puts the Grass Snake on his shoulders and grabs Evelynn by the upper arms, saying "Well, I'll teach you. How to speak it at will, and how not to speak it when faced with a snake."

Evelynn nods, suddenly realizing the position they're in - she's backed up against a tree, Tom crowding her space with a look on his face she's never seen on…well, on anyone's face before. Intense, burning…and all for her. Were it anyone else, she'd think he was about to kiss her. As it is, the look on his face says he's not letting her leave his side for much more than a bathroom break while they're at the Orphanage.

It should probably scare her…so why doesn't it?

And then the Grass Snake hisses "Make her your Mate, Speaker. Your offspring will be powerful and beautiful."

This time, both of them are left sputtering out denials - no, they aren't Mates! Just friends!

Tom and Evelynn pretend to be asleep, curled up facing the walls next to their separate beds when the Matron comes in to check on them. After she leaves, Tom glances up then waits for a minute before hissing "We're good. She won't come back for a while, Evelynn." He's so glad she's a Parselmouth, Parseltongue is much quieter than English. His companion nods, quietly getting up off her own rickety bed and heading to her trunk. She clicks the dials on the front to a new setting - 463, for some reason - and then opens it up…to reveal a ladder.

Tom raises an eyebrow at her, but she just grins and says "Yeah, I did a little work on it."

Tom says "You're no second-year." Its not a question, he's been sure of it for a while now...he just hasn't had proof of it...until now. Abraxas got impatient and tried to get her to admit it on the train...but here's the proof. 

Evelynn grins at him silently, already heading down into her miniaturized house hidden in the trunk. What he finds is rather impressive all things considering - there's a Potions lab, what looks a bit like a common room but much smaller than the one in Slytherin, a kitchen, a library, and two bedrooms, one that looks like she turned it into a bit of a workroom and is filled with trunks - did she actually plan on living in here? It certainly looks like it.

Evelynn cheerfully says "Ok, so, your gift is in the kitchen. Those trunks over there are something of a hobby. I may…have stripped the Room of Hidden Things of anything potentially worthwhile. Sports equipment, books, jewelry, furniture, clothes, etc. But, uh, c'mon! This way!"

Tom follows her, asking "The Room of Hidden Things?"

Evelynn nods, saying "Yeah. Oh, you don't know about the Room yet?"

Tom shakes his head, saying "I've only been at Hogwarts two years, and most of that has been taken up with either schoolwork or searching for my family. I haven't had time to do much exploring yet." Well, he found the Chamber of Secrets after learning he's a descendent of Salazar Slytherin - but that falls squarely under the 'family' umbrella.

"Oh…" Her excitement falls off her face for a minute, but then its back with a bit more force than before. "Well…nevermind, not right now."

Tom quickly steps in her way, saying "You know something. Something about my family."

Evelynn's shoulder's slump for a moment, then she nods and says "I don't know how far along you are with information about them, but…its not good. Any of it, really." He wants to snap at her for hiding this from him, but the look on her face says it really is as bad as she's making it out to be.

Plus,a small voice in the back of his head says, you never asked if she knew.

Dammit. Touché.

When he gets into the kitchen, it looks similar to a Muggle kitchen with a stove and such. When she opens the refrigerator, though, there's got to be at least a hundred of what looks like shrunken take-out boxes stacked on top of one another - and he can sense the magic coming off each of them easily. She runs her fingers along them, until she pulls one out seemingly randomly and enlarges it. There's a stasis rune on the top of the box, but that doesn't give any indication of what's inside it. He looks at her questioningly when she takes out one for herself, right up until…she pulls food from hers.

A sandwich, a bowl of fruit, and a bottle of orange juice. She nods at his, and he eagerly opens it up to see a bowl of beef stew, a few rolls, a salad, and a bottle of pumpkin juice. Even a bloody Cauldron Cake as dessert.

"Wha- how in the name of Merlin…"

He stares up at Evelynn in shock, who just says "I'll show you where the kitchen is next year."

Tom could just about kiss Evelynn then and there, this is more than he'd ever imagined. He thought she got him a rare book or something, or maybe one for O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s...not a long-term supply of food! As it is, he's feeling a little too shocked to do much more than stare at her. After a minute, she says "Its beef stew, Tom. You always had some when it was served…"

It's the detail that Evelynn noticed something like that about him that snaps him out of his daze. "You…you noticed that?"

Evelynn smirks wryly at him, asking "You thought you were the only one who notices things? Hate to tell you, I didn't make it this far by being unobservant." Particularly after Hogwarts and the war. Hell, even when she was originally attending Hogwarts.

Tom chuckles, then says "One day, you're going to tell me everything, Evelynn." He quickly sits down at the counter nearby and starts digging into the beef stew - fresh and hot as if it just appeared on the Hogwarts table.

Evelynn watches him eat with a small smile, and asks "Well? What do you think? Good birthday present?"

Tom nods his head at once, saying "Very. Absolutely. How did I not think of this before?"

Evelynn shrugs, saying "To be fair, it took me quite a while to do so. And, I imagine you've had other things on your mind." Evelynn explains how she drew a Stasis Rune on each of the boxes, making it so that any food they put in them will stay exactly the same until they take it out and eat it.

"How did you possibly manage this?! Even with knowing where the kitchens are…"

"The House Elves love their jobs. It always strikes me as so backwards, the way the Wizarding World treats Creatures like House Elves and Goblins, considering all they do. Treat the House Elves nicely, and you'll end up buried under their loyalty. All I did was explain how I was worried that, with the war in the Muggle World going on, there wouldn't be enough to eat. They were more than happy to make some extra meals and box them up."

That was not exactly what he meant, but he lets it go for now. He'll get how she knew a Stasis Rune out of her somehow. Tom hums, then asks "And the Goblins?"

Evelynn shrugs, and says "They run the entire economy, Tom. If a House royally pisses them off, they find themselves bankrupt within a few generations between higher interest rates, cutthroat loans, and fees for services. Because, let me tell you, with all the politics and such that goes on in the Wizarding World by and large, they don't have much sense. Its all about who's going to be the strongest, who has which dead people in their ancestry. They cling to the past and their dead, never once looking towards the future and those that haven't yet been born. If Goblins weren't running the economy, there wouldn't be an economy - at least, not in Britain. I've never been to a different magical community, so I don't know what its like in the others."

Hell, she and Granger debated that 'Muggleborns' were really just descendants of cast-out Squibs, and how all the inbreeding was the root cause of so many Squibs being born while they were stuck in that tent during what was supposed to be their seventh year. While the girl herself turned out to be Dumbledore's to the very end, the debates themselves were very enlightening.

Britain - hell, the Magical Community across the world - is too small to keep the lines 'pure' much longer, and the 1990's were a reflection of that. Low birth rates, often one child to a Pureblood family - bar the Weasleys, somehow or other, Evelynn didn't get to research their family line or anything - and issues like the rumored Black Madness were cropping up more and more as the years went on while the 'normal' Purebloods tended to be weaker and weaker. Crabbe and Goyle, for instance, were nothing special when it came to magic - even combined - and she could've flattened them with a few spells had she been free of all the Bindings and such.

Low birth rates, weaker children, more and more issues...all the signs she learned about when she read a book about what happens when a small population breeds too much with itself while hiding from Dudley and his gang in the library one summer. The short, tidy version? They breed themselves to extinction. She was absolutely horrified - it piqued her interest since it reminded her of the Wizarding World, and she came away wishing it hadn't.

Tom considers her words for a minute, trying to imagine the politics of Slytherin House plastered across all of Magical Britain. And then, he can't even remotely see anyone managing to keep Magical Britain running even partially smoothly. Not without a bloody miracle, at least. Everyone's always trying to one-up each other, though its mostly all in good fun at the end of the day. So far, anyway - he knows it gets more serious as the years go up, but nobody ever tries to kill or permanently maim anyone. Politics, real-life politics, is more than likely not so clean and friendly.

"Ok, you have a point." As much as it almost physically pains him to admit it. From Evelynn's grin, she knows it.

"So, my family?"

Evelynn's relaxed expression disappears, and she quietly says "Tomorrow, Tom." When he goes to protest, she holds a hand up and says "No, we're both tired, it's the middle of the night, and we've got chores to do tomorrow. This conversation will take a while, especially since I'm sure you'll want to know how I know everything."

Tom nods, saying "You know things even I don't know, or have only just discovered." For instance, his suspicions about his father being a Muggle - because there's no records of a 'Riddle' ever attending Hogwarts before him, he's looked. Yet he gets the distinct feeling she knows.

Evelynn nods, and says "So, I'll tell you tomorrow. Everything, everything you want to know. But after we get some sleep."

He's forced to agree, it sounds far too reasonable - he isn't known for his amazing control over his temper at the best of times, and a lack of sleep considerably shortens his fuse. So…tomorrow. He'll get his answers tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Tom quite literally forces himself to be patient as the two of them do the chores for today, planting in the vegetable patch and watering them - something Evelynn seems familiar with. At his questioning gaze, she quietly says "My aunt just had to have the best flower bed in the neighborhood. Guess who was in charge of weeding it and making sure the flowers were healthy. The lawn, to."

Tom scowls at her, but doesn't say another word on the subject. She's far too casual about things like this, in his opinion. She readily admits her relatives hated her, and she hated them right back after enough time, but the things she's so casual about tend to horrify Slughorn - for instance, when he asked about her ingredient prep, she said her relatives had her cooking at age five to earn her keep, among other things. Slughorn decided, for that moment, that he didn't want to know what she meant by that. He could guess, though, from what she'd tell the other students if asked.

When they're finally done with the vegetable patch, thus done with their chores for the day, Tom drags her back to their room and shuts the door to get the full story from her - he's been patient all day, now he's got her cornered and he's getting some bloody answers.

Evelynn sits down on her bed, and Tom pulls the chair from the desk over. The look in Evelynn's eyes, though, its…to be honest, its starting to scare him a little. Not because it looks like she's thinking up lies to tell him, or because she wants to hurt him, though. Because it ages her, makes her seem so much older than her currently twelve-year-old body suggests. Because it says this isn't going to be a good story. Because it says she'd rather spare him the pain - an entirely foreign concept to Tom, one that does weird things in his chest like the food hidden in her trunk for them did.

Evelynn breaks the silence, quietly saying "I'm giving you one last chance, Tom. One last way out before I tell you everything. Because, once I tell you…that's it. You can't forget it, the cat cannot be put back in this bag."

Tom shakes his head, saying "Tell me, Evelynn."

She nods, then asks "If I could tell you everything, everything you do, everything you end up being remembered for…would you want me to tell you? Your greatest triumphs, your worst mistakes, how you die and what your legacy is?"

Tom nods his head at once, despite the dread that settles in his stomach at the thought of dying. He was certain the day Dumbledore came and said he was a Wizard - after he stopped thinking it was a ruse the Matron set up - would change his life forever, and he gets the feeling this conversation will do so as well. Perhaps even more than the one with Dumbledore. "Yes, tell me."

Evelynn closes her eyes for a minute, then opens them back up and meets his gaze straight on. She suddenly looks so tired, but her voice is steady when she says "I'll start with my beginning. Do you remember when I said I time-traveled on the train?"

Tom nods, impatiently wondering where she's going with this. Because that was a few days ago, not...the beginning.

"Well, I time traveled, I traveled a very long way. I was born in 1980, to Lily and James Potter. At the tail end of a Magical War that was being waged by the Dark Lord after Grindelwald."

She blinks, and Tom gets a cold certainty of who this Dark Lord was. "It was me, wasn't it?"

Evelynn nods, murmuring "You always were too smart for your own good, Tom. You renamed yourself Lord Voldemort, an anagram of the letters of your current name. And then you delved so deeply into the Dark Arts, into practices so evil it quite literally turned you into a monster - tore your soul and stained your magic, twisted and warped your body beyond recognition - and waged war on the Wizarding World. In the name of Blood Purity, of all things." And, knowing how smart he is right now, she believes more than ever that the Horcruxes completely obliterated his mind - he was still smart, yes, but Voldemort has nothing on the Tom Riddle in front of her right now.

Tom finds a sense of sick, twisted irony in that - he's a Halfblood, for Merlin's sake, how could he actually believe in that view?!

It must be written on his face, because Evelynn murmurs "To this day, I don't know if, in your soulless insanity, you believed in it or if you were just humoring the Purebloods for the sake of bloodshed. And then, one of your minions heard a prophecy. One that said someone would come at the end of July, with parents who had defied you three times, and they'd have the power to defeat you. Everyone took it as a baby would be born with that power, rather than someone already grown coming into the country, and I was chosen as the one because we share the same blood-status." And she's sure that Prophecy is a fake - either Trelawney or Duumbledore himself faked it, but there's too many coincidences for it to be anything but a fake prophecy. It happened in Dumbledore's brother's bar, during a school interview - who conducts a school interview in a place like the Hog's Head Inn anyway?! - when Dumbledore had already publicly said he didn't believe in prophecies and Seers. And Snape just so happened to hear only the bit that would send Voldemort after her parents. The Prophecy was a fake, she's come to realize, and he set her parents up to die so he could send her to her own personal hell.

Tom stares at her, expression completely blank as he asks "What happened next?"

Evelynn shakes herself out of her darkening memories, and says "That minion told you of the prophecy, and you came to the same conclusion Dumbledore did. Yes, the same Dumbledore that hates you, the lying hypocrite. But more on him after this bit. On Halloween of 1981, you came to Godric's Hollow, intent on killing me and ending the threat I may have posed to you. But my mother, she sacrificed herself to protect me. You told her to stand aside three times, she refused each time. Because she had a choice, and chose to give her life for me, she created sacrificial wards somehow. I'm not even sure how, nobody was. They held against the Killing Curse, rebounding it and leaving me with this." She pushes her bangs up, revealing the silvery lightning-shaped scar on her forehead. "Your body turned to ash, and what was left of your soul at the time fled…after a piece broke off, due to sheer instability and the shock of suddenly losing a body. That piece attached to me, hiding in the very scar that I'd just been given."

Tom sits on the chair, completely riveted and appalled as Evelynn keeps talking, telling him how Dumbledore looked at her and saw nothing more than a pawn to be manipulated and moved around on his imaginary chessboard, how she was sent to her Muggle Aunt and Uncle. How they hated her very existence, how they were the Muggle version of Purebloods - so obsessed with being normal that it makes him want to be physically sick.

How he'd escaped death, at least temporarily, but at a terrible, damning cost to himself in almost every aspect. He lost his body, his mind, she's very sure he lost a large portion of his magic since she never saw him do Wandless magic like she has now despite how obviously powerful he was back then, and he lost his afterlife as the soul must be whole in order to move on and be reborn.

After a moment of silence, she says "There's so much more to say, Tom, that it'll just be easier to show you instead."

He's pulled into her mind then, and its like watching a full-color movie - Merlin, but seeing her like this…it tells him beyond any doubt that she lived a while before traveling back. There's a softness to her in her memories that's not there now, something moldable and innocent in the first memories as she talks with the snake in the zoo, accidentally vanishes the glass her cousin is pressing on, as she tries and fails to get her Hogwarts letter. Ignorant, moldable, and so painfully naïve that he's torn between shaking her hard enough to maybe shake some sense into her and being horrified on her behalf when she's dumped into the deep end of the Wizarding World and expected to know how to swim.

Something he's sure, after seeing memories of her relatives, that she literally didn't or still doesn't know how to do.

Seeing himself as a parasite on the back of that teacher's head, it makes him want to either scream or be sick - something tells him it'll end up being a combination of the two before this is over. Now he gets why Evelynn kept giving him a way out. Kept asking if he was sure. The sight of him, only a few years older and Evelynn the age she is now, setting the Basilisk on the small girl - smaller than she is now, dammit, small as she was when she arrived - nearly turns his body to ice from sheer terror. And again, when all she had to work with was a sword and her wits, since the school Phoenix did its part and stood guard over the Weasley girl. And learns the version of him as a sixteen-year-old was a Horcrux, half his soul and already slightly insane from the way he spoke alone. Hidden in the background as it was, he could make the instability out - its himself, for Merlin's sake, he can see the signs clear as day.

Watching himself come out of that cauldron, now he understands what Evelynn meant by his entire being, everything he is, ending up twisted and warped by such magics - he looks like he tried a Naga ritual and failed horrendously! Unicorn blood, snake venom, so little of a soul, its little wonder he came out looking so inhuman. Still, through it all there's one other constant he can see aside from them being so tied up with one another - Dumbledore, and his bloody manipulations.

Telling Evelynn she has to go back to her 'loving' family for her own good, that her mother's wards will protect her best. Not listening when she begged the old man to let her stay, saying that even Hogwarts wouldn't be completely safe for her as they learned this year.

Setting up challenges three first years could beat - challenges that seemed designed specifically for them, at that.

Letting the rumors about Evelynn run rampant in her second year, as she's Hexed in the halls and ostracized by the school at large for - yes, exactly like she said - talking a snake down from biting a kid that had done nothing to it.

Doing nothing to protect the students from the Basilisk, as if staying in groups was the way to go! And she's very certain he knew the entire time - at least, the fifty years between the incidents - what had actually happened and how to stop it all, even if he couldn't get into the Chamber.

Not telling her anything about the supposed mass-murderer everyone thinks is out for her head. Including the detail that he was her Godfather, or that he was actually innocent. 

Letting Dementors on the school grounds, for Merlin's sake! And her reaction to them is terrifying all on its own - a lifetime of horrible memories isn't washed away by two years of Hogwarts, especially when she's had to fight for her life during those two years.

Not taking her out of that damned Tournament she was ostracized yet again and terrorized because of. The list seems endless.

Watching her walk to her death, willingly sacrificing herself so everyone else would have a chance at living - because she was so tired, he could see she didn't want to fight any longer - just about has him breaking and demanding to know how she's still alive. Is that how she came here? Is that when she travelled back?

No, she kills him - something he never thought he'd be glad for, but he was more like a rabid dog than a person at that point and such animals need to be put down for everyone's sake - and goes on with her life. He can see the thoughts that she'll finally get to live her life written all over her face after the battle.

And then he sees a new memory, one of looking at the Daily Prophet and seeing a bloody wanted poster for her, since she'd decided to go to the Muggle World for a time simply to get the thoughts of spellfire and Wizards Apparating out of nowhere at one wrong word off her mind after the war before raising her Godson full-time.

A story claiming she was going Dark, and needed to be killed before it happened. With evidence from Albus I'm-Still-Dead Dumbledore being provided by Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger in the form of memories that were viewed.

Watching her go on the run - hide out in Riddle Manor, ironically, then ruined and abandoned Manors of dead or imprisoned Death Eaters. Watching as she relearns magic, entirely Wandlessly and from the ground up, since something changed and she's now having episodes of accidental magic of an intensity and regularity that's entirely new.

Watching her meet Death the next Samhain, be told she was the Master of Death as of the moment she let that Killing Curse hit her since she'd already mastered the Hallows, and that's how she got to go back rather than some blood that was used in a ritual to restore what was left of him to a body and a sacrifice that had been spit upon and defiled until it was so weak the wards produced from it couldn't stand up to a stiff breeze.

Be told she has the abilities of all three Hallows and more, but needs to learn to access and control them. Be told she's bloody immortal.

And that's when Tom's brain decides it can't handle anymore world-shattering revelations.

Chapter Text

When Tom opens his eyes, he's lying on his bed. He hasn't got a clue how he got there, since the last thing he remembers is-

"Your awake."

Tom's not ashamed in the slightest to admit that he just about jumps out of his skin at the soft voice. Screaming, he'd be a little embarrassed of - then again, she did kill him before, and has every possible reason to do so now when he's without a doubt no threat to her. When he looks over, he meets green eyes across the room - currently darker than the Killing Curse, the color of emeralds now, but that he knows can glow the exact shade of that deadly curse when she's angered enough. He scrambles up and presses his back against the wall, asking "What now? What are you going to-"

Evelynn's expression looks resigned, but she cuts him off with a wave of her hand and says "Nothing, Tom. I'm not going to hurt you."

She is sitting on her own bed, presumably waiting for him to wake up on his own, but still... "You're the Master of Death. If you wanted to, you could kill me with just a thought." He knows so, Death said so! Not in those exact words, but still! He's not in the habit of pissing off all-powerful beings like the one that is the end of life! Or this plane's link to such a being! He rather likes being alive!

Evelynn gives him a dead-pan look, and drily says "First off, the term 'Master of Death' is a very mortal convention, and Death just found it amusing enough to let it stick. You cannot master Death, and anyone that wanted to would never have been chosen. I was told so myself. Second, if I was going to kill you, Tom, you'd be long-dead by now. I've had so many different opportunities to do as much, even at Hogwarts, and yet your still alive. Third, you're still alive, after being unconscious for the past ten minutes, and all I did was put you on the bed and wait for you to wake up." She gets up and checks the hallway, giving him a minute to process all of that.

Tom really hates how reasonable that sounds at the moment, he wants to Hex and Curse her and make her get the bloody hell away from him in case she really does want to kill him and keep that horrible future from happening - it's what he'd do, after all! Instead, he asks "Why am I on the bed?"

Evelynn says "I put you there. You fainted after seeing Death tell me I'm the immortal Master of Death, and that my body will stop aging on my twenty-first birthday." She shrugs, and adds "I suppose it was a bit much in the end, but you did want everything."

Tom swallows the lump in his throat - after a few tries - then asks "So…if you don't want to kill me…"

"Why am I here?" Tom nods his head immediately.

Evelynn sighs, then sits back down on her bed and quietly says "It was an accident. Twelve years after I went on the run, my so-called friends finally found and cornered me." A bitter, derisive laugh bubbles up as she stares at her hands, and she adds "They thought they knew me so well, but they spent eight years chasing their own tails because they never realized I wanted friends so badly I hid most of my personality from them. Even with Dumbledore's Potions and Compulsions brainwashing me." And then another four trying to follow her trail, eventually cornering her in the Forest of Dean in a twenty-person ambush.

She knows she took six of them out, people she recognized as various Order Members - Doge, Shacklebolt, Podmore, Mundungus Fletcher, Dedalus Diggle - along with several Aurors, but even with her experience she fell eventually. Mainly because Ronald Weasley, one of the biggest voices in how Dark she was even as a second-year with her Parseltongue, cast Fiendfyre and it was enough to make her freeze in shock for a brief moment. The bone-breaker to the chest from Granger came straight through the flames, hence the rib she had in her lung. 

"Right, those…" Another thing that made him sick to his stomach - Dumbledore had her drugged to her metaphorical gills with various Potions, Obedience, Loyalty, and a few Love Potions keyed specifically to Ronald Weasley being the main ones, and Compulsions that buried her self-preservation instincts, her survival skills, her will to survive, everything that would've put her in Slytherin. And, incidentally, kept her from walking to her death.

But being the Master of Death negated those potions, eventually making her sick them up a few days after the battle for Hogwarts, and dying and becoming the Master of Death broke the Compulsions and Blocks on her Core. Because of course her Core was blocked, nobody just gets that much stronger in an instant without something having happened. And she destroyed him in that last duel, the thing he'd become didn't stand a chance.

In total, it makes him want to rage and take a page from Voldemort's book to go after Dumbledore right then and there.

Except he's still too scared of what Evelynn would do…and she's a lot closer than Dumbledore. Would she help him? Stand back and let him go off on him? Kill him if she thinks he's going down that dark road once more?

Evelynn gives him a minute to think, then says "They finally caught up with me on Halloween, though. I'd spent ten years learning to control the Hallows' powers, since Death didn't exactly give an instruction manual or anything, and relearn my control. But even then, even after nearly two years of being able to use their power at will and call on the Void if necessary, I hadn't known everything I could do with them."

"Like travel through time." Evelynn nods, and Tom incredulously asks "You mean to tell me, you time traveled via accidental magic?!"

Evelynn shrugs again, saying "In essence, yes. All it took was a thought, Tom. One single thought, and there I was. My friends, the people I'd literally given my life for, the people I'd fought and killed for…they were doing their level best to kill me on Dumbledore's word. I was so injured because of what they cast at me, and that was just what had managed to connect with me. I blocked or dodged most of it, and the Fiendfyre only grazed me. Still, it was enough in the end. I was hurting, tired, and so angry - and, between all that and the power boost I get from the Days of the Dead…"

Seeing where she's going, Tom breathes out "All it needed was a catalyst. One thought for all that magic to act on." Evelynn nods, and Tom says "You said you wished you were somewhere safe. That's what Flint said you told them."

Evelynn nods, then says "I lied. I bull-faced lied to the Professors. The thought I had was…" Tom stares at her intently, and she quietly says "'If this is how Tom Riddle was treated, like he was already Evil and just hadn't acted on it, then its no wonder he went so far.'"

"And then, there you were."

Evelynn nods, and says "There I was. Sitting in the Great Hall…with Dumbledore advancing on me with his wand. And for a moment all I could think was that he'd set me up to die, to be his sacrificial lamb - literally raised me as a pig for the slaughter - once, and he was going to try again or finish the job without even realizing it. That, and I was still pissed off that he couldn't just let me have my life after I played his game, danced to his tune, and followed all his bloody rules bar the marriage contract I refused."

Tom's gaze sharpens on her at once, asking "Marriage Contract?!"

Evelynn nods, saying "Because I was entered into the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and everyone including my Magical Guardian made me compete even though it was for of-age Witches and Wizards, I was emancipated at the age of fourteen, as of the moment my hand touched the Cup, not that anyone told me as much. Dumbledore was no longer my Magical Guardian, and as such I was informed that a Marriage Contract was in the works for me. Not with who, or since when, though. I declined it. Viciously. I wasn't interested in anyone, have never been interested in anyone, and for all I knew it was with a family that would treat me like my relatives did and I'd be miserable. So, I declined it, tore it up, and burned it at Gringotts that summer when Petunia sent me to London. Effectively ending it. It was only later that I realized it was between the Weasel and I." She chuckles humorlessly, not saying a word otherwise.

Eventually, Tom asks "Do you know…do you know why…"

Evelynn looks up at him, her eyes looking lost and sad, and so fucking tired. "Why you made the Horcruxes?" Tom nods, and she sighs. "I don't. Not specifically, at least. I know you're afraid of death, possibly because of the war going on. Or because your mother died, perhaps. I know Dumbledore hates you, and is pushing you down a specific path - intentionally or not, though I'm leaning more towards intentional at this point. He keeps saying your Dark, Slytherins are all Dark, and Dark means evil…"

She shakes her head for a moment, then says "It could be the war. It could be Dumbledore. It could be bloody curiosity, desperation, or just proving you could. You could've been cursed or Compelled, for all I know. It could be any of these things, a combination of them, or none of them, I just don't know for sure. What I do know is that it destroyed you. Each one tore you apart, until what was left was a snake-like shell of a body powered by an insane fragment of your soul, something that was never meant to be torn apart. That you managed it at just sixteen shows your potential, but doing it destroyed you completely from the very first."

The more she talks, the more Tom inches forward from the wall - she certainly doesn't sound like she's on some mission to prevent that future at any cost. She sounds exhausted, really. "So, your really not going to kill me? For what I-"

And then she's suddenly gripping him by the upper arms, her green eyes glowing with magic and fury - looking like the Killing Curse from her memories - as she quietly hisses "Don't. Don't you dare say 'become' - Tom, you're a thirteen-year-old child. You've done nothing, Dumbledore has no fucking reason to look at you and judge you a monster! He has no right to look at a child and decide they're evil. Especially not him, not after all he did in his bloody youth!" 

Tom swallows, his throat suddenly dry as a bloody desert with the way she's practically nose-to-nose with him and radiating utter fury - he'll have to ask just how she moved that fast at another time, he'd swear she Apparated except there was no sound - and asks "What did he do?"

"He. Slept. With. Grindelwald." She bought one of Skeeter's books after going to talk with Aberforth, needing to know just what kind of man had been so revered. 

Tom blinks, his brain struggles to process those four words - no, she's joking right? Dumbledore, the paragon of all things Light in the future, with the Dark Lord Grindelwald?! Nope, the fury in her eyes is definitely not faked. "He…he what?!"

Evelynn nods, saying "Before I was declared the next Dark Lady in the making, I went back to Aberforth Dumbledore's place. He seemed to hate his brother when the three of us were in the Hog's Head Inn, hiding from the Death Eaters and Dementors patrolling the place. So, I went back and asked why. After learning he wanted me to die, likely didn't even take me to a Healer after what happened at Godric's Hollow, I was much less trusting of him than the last time I'd spoken to Aberforth. Given that Dumbledore was dead, he felt no obligation to hide the manipulative man's past deeds any longer."

She gives him that mind-boggling story as well, slowly releasing him and going back to the bed she abandoned so suddenly - Albus Dumbledore, hailed as the next coming of Merlin, was hiding his sister's mental impairment after some boys attacked and harmed her at the age of six and his father went to Azkaban for killing them. Scarred for life by the attack, Ariana Dumbledore refused to use magic afterwards...except when she had violent fits of accidental magic. Only Aberforth could keep her calm, could convince her to eat or talk her down from a fit. It was one such fit that killed their mother, leaving Albus the Head of the House at the age of eighteen. When he graduated from Hogwarts, he was a bitter teenager who felt his potential was wasted taking care of his 'damaged' sister and his easily-angered brother. And he got a new neighbor, in the form of Bathilda Bagshot's nephew.

Gellert Grindelwald.

The two hit it off, finding common ground in insatiable curiosity of magic and hatred of Muggles. Gellert, being expelled from Durmstrang for experimenting with the Dark Arts - and isn't that a terrifying thought, given the detail that they teach the Dark Arts there - had plenty of time to plan and plot with Dumbledore on how to subjugate the Muggles and reign over the world as two benevolent leaders. And they'd be leaders forever, being obsessed with the Deathly Hallows and becoming the Masters of Death. Everything was going great, they tracked down the Peverell lines, started looking for the Elder Wand, everything was right on track.

Right up until the argument with Aberfoth, upon the other brother discovering their plans. Ariana got killed, and Dumbledore chickened out while Grindelwald ran.

Ariana was dead, and Aberforth never forgave his brother even after so long, leaving Albus Dumbledore to stew in his guilt while Grindelwald went ahead with their plans and started waging his own war. And the Muggle War was, Evelynn's sure, just a convenient coincidence rather than planned cover - Grindelwald and Dumbledore wanted to rule the Muggles, they wouldn't have cared if the Muggles found out about them or not. Hell, they probably wanted the Muggles to find out about them eventually, before it all went to shit.

The knowledge both makes Tom want to rage and Curse Dumbledore…and rub it in his face, that he knows what the man has done and it's so much worse than anything he's condemning the teen for. What's a rabbit, or a few trips down the stairs for bullies that constantly hurt him far worse compared to world domination?! It makes something sharp and vindictive grow in his chest, makes him dearly want to do something rash - and, dare he even think it, Gryffindor-ish, appalling as the notion truly is - just to see the look on Dumbledore's bearded face.

He forces his thoughts off the topic for now, asking "So…what happens next?"

Evelynn blinks at him, asking "What?"

Tom nods at once, saying "Your immortal, or you will be once you turn twenty-one. What then?"

Evelynn shrugs, saying "Nobody knows me in this time, and I've no intention of announcing my true identity to the world. Even my looks changed slightly when I came back, though I don't know how exactly. So, I suppose…I'll just live. See the world, perhaps. Get a Charms Mastery, maybe. Or Runes. Both? Make some spells of my own? I'll have to keep from getting bored somehow." She shrugs, and adds "I've got eternity, literally."

Tom's brain instantly latches onto that last bit - to be young forever…he won't deny that he wants to live forever. He doesn't want to die, even knowing that there's an afterlife and rebirth. Doesn't want to leave this world knowing he's capable of so much.

Still…he's got the truly immortal Master of Death sitting in front of him. No Horcruxes, and the insanity that comes with them.

The memory of the night she arrived, with everyone joking about the Hallows bringing her there, goes through his head…dammit, they were so very close and they didn't even know it.

Evelynn chuckles, and says "I know that look. You're wondering if I'll share."

Tom clears his throat, then says "In essence…yes. You must know I still don't want to die, even if it is preferable to becoming that monster named Voldemort."

"Unfortunately, its not my choice."

Tom blinks, then asks "What?" Come again? How, exactly, is it not her choice?!

Evelynn says "According to Death, I have one chance. I can bind my soul to exactly one person, one other soul, and they'll get the same powers I have. But there's a catch. I don't get a choice in the matter. I don't get to decide on who it is I bond with. My soul and magic does. And it can't be forced."

Tom doubtfully asks "So…you need to find your soulmate?"

Evelynn shakes her head at once, saying "Its not set. Not predetermined. No destiny or prophecies involved this time. I have to trust them with all my being, apparently - fall in love with them, as cliché as it sounds. Trust them with my life and soul. And they have to do all of the same. And, after my last two 'friends' who turned on me at Dumbledore's word…well, let's just say I have trust issues. Death never mentioned this bit to me before coming back in time since it was never particularly relevant." She gave them everything she could, everything she was, and they went and tried to kill her - no, she's pretty sure they did kill her and that's why she was in Limbo once more after arriving. She cared about them, came as close as she could to loving them, thought they'd have each other's backs when they needed each other the most...and they hunted her down like an animal.

Ronald, in hindsight, she should've expected - after Fourth Year, and then when he left in the middle of the Horcrux Hunt - but Hermione...her betrayal hurt worse, she'd always been there. Ron was a jealous prat who could only see the scar on her head and the fame she never wanted, Hermione she'd always pegged as more mature than that.

Tom nods, he saw the adventures they went through together. Saw just how much she cared about them, how much the jumpers and books meant to her. Saw how they pushed back the darkness in her, the darkness her relatives nurtured day after day, chore after chore, insult after insult. Saw her resolve to save them when she walked into the forest. And then…they turned on her. Revealed their true colors and tried to kill her a number of times. It'd burn anyone straight down to their very soul, as it's done to Evelynn. Now that he knows what to look for…it's all so bloody obvious.

Were Binding their souls anything Tom could turn to his favor, could manipulate into happening, he'd attach himself to her side by any means necessary including a Permanent Sticking Charm. As it is, he hasn't got a clue about love, or how to feel it. Or even feel about it, for that matter.

And Evelynn…well, she's never known it either, not really. She was so focused on surviving that she entirely neglected learning about her own desires, her own preferences - she wouldn't know love if it slapped her in the face, by her own admission. And she was so oblivious, so starved of any affection by anyone that was supposed to love her, that bloody love potions didn't have any effect on her last life, an impressive feat of her magic - or extremely depressing, there was nothing for the Potion to mimic. No knowledge of how to act or what the feelings would be, even if it did affect her. That could be why she stayed friends with Weasley, instead of telling him to go fend for himself after her Fourth Year.

Chapter Text

Tom's up well into the night, still trying to process everything that Evelynn told him before going to sleep - he's focusing on his relations, just to avoid a mental breakdown at the thought of a being of myths and stories, something joked about and laughed at mockingly on a regular basis…sleeping on the other side of the room.

Right, his relatives. If he thinks on Evelynn too much at the moment, his head starts to hurt. A lot, actually - a throbbing ache that quickly convinced him to leave the subject be for now.

The Gaunts are a Pureblood family, but so inbred that they've their own version of the rumored Black Family Madness - a vein of violence and instability, if his Grandfather is anything to go by. Much like Voldemort displayed at the end of the war, actually, where he'd won and hadn't even realized it - though, he's convinced the Unicorn Blood had something to do with it and so is Evelynn. Everyone has magic at Hogwarts, even if he's got more than most, but his mind? He'd rather be dead, strange as the thought sounds to him, than turn into that rabid animal, so lost in bloodshed and power-lust that he couldn't even see he'd won. And Unicorn blood always curses those who've forcibly taken it.

Tom shudders in revulsion, physically forcing his thoughts away from that…that thing he'd become in Evelynn's original time.

His mother, Merope, was the only daughter of Marvolo Gaunt…but was abused quite similar to how Evelynn herself was, but for the opposite reason. Evelynn was hated and beaten because her relatives thought she had magic, his mother was because the other two Gaunts thought she had none. According to Evelynn, it was likely that her Core had been damaged by the treatment she received - and isn't that just a lovely thought? His mother was treated so badly, beaten and degraded so much that she became physically unable to use magic? On top of however weak she probably was from birth, due to the inbreeding?

Now he feels slightly bad for thinking she was weak all this time. And he's profoundly glad the Orphanage never found the Gaunts, and that they were in Azkaban for a while - as Evelynn pointed out, if they would do that to his mother, who was a Pureblood like them, what would the two violently unstable Pureblood fanatics have done to a helpless Halfblood baby born to the woman that was never good enough for them in the first place? With a Muggle father, to boot? A Muggle father that Morfin loved to Hex at every turn? Even if he'd gone to the Riddles, if his father hadn't been such a coward and left him here, he might not have been safe. Not a topic he wants to think about, not in the slightest.

His father on the other hand…that makes his blood boil. The man left his mother, abandoned her to fend for herself after learning she was pregnant with him! Left him to this hellhole, even after the Orphanage tried to contact him about his possible son - denied Tom was his, and left him to suffer. Even with the knowledge of the Love Potions - suspected Love Potions, his mind supplies, as Evelynn isn't one hundred percent sure and it was all speculation on Dumbledore's part as far as she knows - it doesn't make him any less furious at the man. Evelynn didn't have any kids, but he's damn certain she wouldn't have left them like Tom Riddle Snr. did!

All the proof he needs is sitting in her trunk, for Merlin's sake - she could've left him here, left him out of the loop, but no. Instead, even after everything he did to her in the future, she's helping him. He can't understand it, not one bit - the look on her face when he asked if she was going to kill him said the thought had never even crossed her mind. No, instead she stockpiles enough food to last the two of them well into the school term if necessary, plus enough Nutrient Potions for the both of them and the one she's still taking, and tells him everything about herself!

He wanted to understand her, wanted to know her story. Well, he got one out of two - he knows her story, but its making her even more of a mystery simply due to the fact that he can't see why she wouldn't look at him and see a fucking monster. Specifically, that pale, serpentine, noseless, hairless abomination she was forced to watch come out of a cauldron.

She said, giving him a serious look, that she sees him, sees his bloody brilliance - exact words - and sees endless possibilities. How the Master of Death, an immortal being that can time travel and could even go back to Merlin's time if she so chose, could look at him and see so much potential after seeing one path he so easily took…its utterly mind-blowing.

As was the detail of his mother's Wards on the place - basically the same kind of Wards Lily Potter made when she refused to get out of the way and stop shielding her daughter, only much stronger and not twisted and defiled. Not twisted into Blood Wards tied to someone that never loved him, not weakened and used to trap him - its doubtful anyone ever knew about them until Evelynn pointed them out, and Evelynn had the advantage of living under similar Wards and researching them while on the run. And then learning the ones she was under could've collapsed at the slightest push, they were so weak from lack of any kind of care.

As Evelynn explained it, Merope could've tried to use magic to save her life, but given how little she was taught - if she was taught at all, as its entirely possible they hadn't even started teaching her before deciding she must've been a Squib - it was a toss-up as to whether it would've worked, and the Ministry would've come regardless to Obliviate the Muggles and found him. Probably taken him to the Gaunts and left him there when they got out of Azkaban - though, she freely admitted that she might be somewhat pessimistic of the Ministry after her own treatment in her previous life, and its entirely possible they'd have actually done their job correctly.

Or, she could willingly give her life for him, dedicate everything she had left to see him safe. She chose the latter, hence why nobody from the Ministry ever came knocking due to the amount of magic he performed on the Muggles. Though, actually feeling his mother's magic…that was a very literal shock to the teen who'd only ever known negative feelings. Being surrounded by warmth…it's something to get used to.

Of course, so's the detail that he's descended from Cadmus Peverell, as at some point the man's line married Slytherin's - which makes him and Evelynn distant, extremely distant cousins. Since they lived in the 1200's.

They talked about other things before dinner, had dinner in silence, Evelynn told him he could just legally change his name at Gringotts - pointed out the detail that there's no other Tom's in the Magical World that he's met, while the names of all the Purebloods are recycled from the family tree at least a dozen times over, and even Merlin and Emrys were so very common in the famous Wizard's time yet they all remember just the one, 'so bloody well make your name another legend instead of a ridiculous anagram, Tom' - and then soon enough they went to sleep after sharing another hidden meal.

Leaving him stuck with his endless thoughts, thoughts that seem to delight in running laps around his head. One thing's for sure, though - he's never becoming that twisted monster, if only to prove Dumbledore wrong about him. He can learn from his mistakes, at the very least. Go down a different route. Who knows, maybe even kill Grindelwald before Dumbledore does and keep him from getting such a disgustingly-large sphere of influence he'll then use to make the entire Wizarding World his chess board.

He's pulled out of his thoughts by a soft-ish thump, and looks around to see Evelynn tossing and turning in her sleep. "I did everything. Every bloody thing he wanted…"

He gets up and moves closer, murmuring "Evelynn, it's a nightmare. Calm down…"

Instead of waking up or settling, Evelynn tosses and jerks once more, hissing "I bloody died for you people…"

Tom rolls his eyes, muttering "Yes, the single most Gryffindorish thing I know you've done to date. You walk to your death, hoping the rest of them that sat back and hoped you'd save them would get off their arses and finish the job. I'm honestly not surprised you came back, there was no way a group like that would've been able to kill Voldemort." Showing him everything, he realizes, must've set off the nightmares. He eventually settles on rubbing circles into her shoulder - thankfully, it sends her into a more peaceful sleep.

Though, it takes him a good ten minutes to untangle himself from her arms - turns out in her sleep…she's a bit clingy.

And cuddly.

And needy.

None of which he's actually ever going to mention to her, since he likes living far too much to use the prime blackmail material.

Shit, Peverell… He's just glad nobody will ever learn of the ten minutes he spends sitting beside her trying to calm her down and get her to stop clutching at his shirt like its a lifeline.

By the time he finally gets back into his own rickety bed, he's finally falling asleep. His last thoughts wondering if she's going to just up and leave, go live her life at last and try to figure out what it is she wants to do with it somewhere else, or if she'll stick around after Dumbledore's destruction. He's got no bloody idea why she told him anything, much less everything, seeing as she clearly has massive trust issues. But she did, and he's not sure what to make of it.

Does it mean she trusts him? Or, at the very least, his self-preservation instincts and brains?

She must, or she genuinely doesn't care if the world burns and the people that betrayed her so thoroughly end up dead - she gave him more than enough to track them all down sixty years in the future, after all. He's not sure which case would be preferable - on the one hand, she's something straight out of a near-literal fairytale, and he's not sure what all she can do or how powerful she truly is. As she explained it, the Void acts as an endless source of energy - energy that would easily kill anything else that came into contact with it, if it was raw, and could supercharge a spell to lethal proportions - and she can call on it in a crisis. Though, it would take a toll on her body, leave her physically exhausted at the very least - one thing she's hoping will change soon, with her body getting back to a better state. Push her physical limits back, build up some real stamina, etc.

Also, she's from the future. She knows what the people of that time, the next two generations, were like, and how they more or less thought.

Any changes she'd make, with all that in mind, would likely be long-lasting and with dire consequences for Dumbledore - because she well and truly hates that man, the puppeteer of her old life and the man that not only raised her for the slaughter and ensured she has a martyrdom mentality but had her friends and loved ones turn their backs on her and hunt her down.

On the other hand, if she were uninterested in the world and what happens in it…well, he can't say how things will go if she decides to travel the world for a hundred years or more, what she might prevent or change. Or not, so to speak.

Unsurprisingly, his dreams are filled with more of these thoughts.

Chapter Text

Tom and Evelynn are out in the forest about a week after the two of them arrived, with Tom trying to teach Evelynn how to speak Parseltongue at will - he's never tried before, and he learned to speak both at the same time! All the times he accidentally wrote in Parselscript, the written version of the language, got him made fun of, but he eventually learned to speak both at will! Evelynn only learned English, and slips into Parseltongue whenever she sees a snake or if she hears it spoken - not ideal, not if she wants to keep the ability hidden from most of the world. Hence why they're out in the forest, Evelynn practicing talking in the snake language. Once they start talking in Parseltongue, she has no problem speaking the language - its starting it that's her problem.

They hear a branch snap, and Evelynn reacts first - fast as lightning, she pulls herself and Tom back until they're pressed against a tree with his back to her and her hand over his mouth firmly. And a coolness washing over him suddenly - when he blinks, the world looks slightly hazy for some reason. Off-color, to - a washed-out gray color, and its starting to freak him out.

He starts struggling to get out of her grip - or, at the very least, get her hand off his mouth - but she tightens her grasp on him whispering "No, no, let them pass. They can't find us like this, but if I lose physical contact with you they'll see you."

Tom slowly nods his head, then grips her own wrist to indicate he wants to say something. Her hand on his mouth slackens, even as the arm around his waist tightens, and he quietly asks "Why can't they see us? A Wandless Disillusionment?"

Evelynn chuckles and says "No. You remember the Hallows? And how I said I've been granted their powers among other things?" Tom nods silently. "Well, this is the power of the Cloak. In my old life, it was practically indestructible. You couldn't hear anyone under it, and revealing spells wouldn't work either. Now, the Cloak is an ordinary Invisibility Cloak, if rather long-lasting, and the powers that Death granted it that made it his Cloak are mine to use. Hence…this."

Tom thinks for a moment, then asks "So…why are we whispering?"

Evelynn chuckles, then shrugs and says "Old habit, I suppose." Or, the detail that it took her until Fifth Year to realize Dumbledore couldn't have known she was there with it unless he had some kind of spell on it, because she went right past Umbridge and Filch and they never so much as twitched.

Getting immensely curious now, Tom asks "What else can you do? Summon the dead? Turn your wand into-"

"Yes if I want to, and already done. The instant my wand chose me, it became the new Deathstick and the Elder Wand crumbled to dust. Because the Hallows lost most, if not all their powers when I arrived in this time. The Hallows' powers themselves are easier to use anyway, as opposed to the energy of the Void." And she sincerely hopes Grindelwald freaked out about that, the Elder Wand just suddenly crumbling to dust.

Tom would turn to look at her, but given the detail that the Orphanage's biggest bullies - Billy Stubbs and his two lackeys - are only a few feet away he'd rather not risk her losing contact with him. Even still… "What else can you do? Control death? Manipulate life?"

Evelynn shakes her head at once, saying "No and no. Death can't really be controlled, the term 'Master' of Death was a mortal convention that amused him enough to call it all. Yeah, he calls me Mistress, but…its more that we're equals, according to him. Nobody that wanted to actually control Death, one way or another would've been chosen by the Hallows. Antioch was apparently a braggart, and Cadmus would've ripped his wife back into the Mortal plane forever if the Stone let him, so they died instead of being chosen. And Life…Life is outside my abilities, for the most part. Healing spells, I can do. It takes practice, hours and hours of practice, but I can heal someone like that. And I can self-heal amazingly well. But manipulating a person's life force…yeah, no. Not in my abilities. I can, however, channel the Void - its exhausting, don't get me wrong. And I've yet to do so in this younger body, since the last time I tried it years ago I passed out for a few days."

"Like when you arrived."

Evelynn nods, and says "It was, ironically, on Halloween night that year to. The first Day of the Dead. When Death, and so his Hallows, are strongest. Speaking of which, you might want to stay away from me for those three days. Not only do I get a massive power boost, which is how I self-healed from all of those curses and such in two days, but…if there's one day of the entire year that something goes wrong for me, its bloody Halloween. It's a running theme in my life, unfortunately."

Tom hums, then quietly asks "You think these pathetic idiots will leave anytime soon?" Because the three of them are spreading out, looking for them to 'teach Evelynn a lesson about hanging out with Tom.' Unfortunately, if Tom goes and takes them out one by one, Cole will come down on him worse than the three of them will. Much like Evelynn's Aunt and Uncle, back when she was little Eve Potter stuck at 4 Privet Drive.

Evelynn hums, then murmurs "We could head back and let them search for us. We can't get in trouble if they get lost out here trying to find us."

Tom grins as they start walking back, then murmurs "Such a vindictive streak the Golden Girl has…"

Evelynn promptly elbows him in the ribs sharply, and grumbles "Oh, shut it. I always hated being called that." Especially since they expected their 'Golden Girl' to do everything, and then were so happy to throw her away once they didn't need her anymore. She started going by Evelynn when they declared her the next Dark Lady in the making and she had to go on the run.

Tom chuckles, then says "Finish telling me what else you can do on the way back."

Evelynn grins, and says "Well, I can sorta control shadows and darkness and such."

Tom tries to look at her in shock, he didn't know she could do that. "Is that what that darkness was when you arrived? Why the lights went out and everything went cold?"

"Mm, probably. Maybe. I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. I don't remember much of it, you see. I can turn shadows into a…gateway, I suppose is one word for it. Or hide my presence in them, among other things. I'd tried to do it when I went down...and I suppose the Hallows super-charged it." Enough to send her back in time. It's the most plausible explanation she has at the moment, anyway.

"Really?! You can travel through shadows?!" Is it like Apparition? Can she go through Wards? Is it detectable? Can he learn it?!

Evelynn nods, saying "And, when I do, no Wards are able to stop or detect me. Dead useful, and much better than Apparition in my opinion. If only because my stomach hates Apparition."

They make it back to the Orphanage with no problems, and head back to their room until dinner. That's when the trouble starts, with the three kids that were looking for them covered in leaves and twigs approaching them with glares on their faces. They try to steal Tom and Evelynn's apples, since the two have already finished their sandwiches, and Evelynn stops Tom from retaliating with an amused glance. Tom then sends her an amused one back when Stubbs, who's holding their two apples, slips suddenly, the apples flying backwards in the air…straight back to them, where Evelynn catches them with all the skills of the Seeker she used to be.

Tom gets his apple back, then murmurs "That was hilarious." And he can't even deny it, the entire room is laughing at Billy as he turns a bright red.

Evelynn just shrugs, then says "Should've watched his step, then." She bites into the last of her apple, puts the Core into the garbage can, and she and Tom head back outside until its time for them to turn in for the night.

Unfortunately, Stubbs and his two cronies follow them out, looking for retribution for losing their apples. They ambush the two before Evelynn can hear them, an ugly look on Stubbs' face as his two cronies twist Tom and Evelynn's arms behind their backs. The look on Tom's face should legitimately send Billy six feet under when he saunters over to Evelynn, but the mean-spirited boy pays it no mind as he grips Evelynn by the jaw. "Hm, kinda cute. Just what do you think your doing, hanging out with a freak like him, newbie?"

Evelynn's expression twists into one of pure rage for a minute, and she snarls "Piss off, you pathetic loser!" Its Dudley all over again, too much of a coward to face her without backup.

Stubbs sneers at her, and backhands her while saying "Got quite a mouth on you, don't you, Newbie?"

Evelynn smirks at him, even with her sore face - though, that was nothing compared to Vernon or even Dudley when he was really trying - and says "Its a gift. Bloody coward, can't even face either of us without your backup." Which earns her another slap, making Tom kick the boy in the shin as hard as he can.

Billy punches Tom square in the face in retaliation, while the other two hold him and Evelynn in place…only for Evelynn to demonstrate what twelve years of being on the run and going through a war taught her. She smashes the back of her head into the face of the kid that's holding her from behind, then delivers a roundhouse kick to his side with her heel to knock him away. When Billy tries to hit her again, she catches him by the wrist, then the back of the neck, and throws him into the ground before planting her shoe in his stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him. And then catches the boy who was holding her, grabbing his wrist and twisting it while pressing on the pressure point there and punching him in the throat to leave him coughing and gasping for breath.

Leaving both Tom and the kid holding him from behind stunned speechless, because where did that come from?! Billy Stubbs and his crony are on the ground coughing and gasping for breath in...maybe ten seconds, if that. All without even a speck of magic. Evelynn, Tom decides, is the best thing that ever happened to to this damned place.

Evelynn glances over at him nonchalantly, asking "You gonna let Tom go on your own? Or-" That's all that needs to be said, as Tom's roughly pushed away as the kid runs.

Tom scowls, and says "He's going to get the Matron."

Evelynn hums, then says "Let him. I think Billy here will tell the truth. Won't you, Billy? And you?" The remaining two kids scramble up, nodding vigorously - the look on Evelynn's face might have something to do with it though. Because it says she's more than happy to keep going if they try anything stupid.

Tom scowls, even more so than he already would be because of the pain in his face from getting hit, and says "They'll just lie to the Matron, Evelynn. They always do."

"Mm," Evelynn's gaze never leaves Billy Stubbs' terrified face, a sharp smile on her lips that makes even Tom shiver, "I think he'll tell the truth this time."

When Ms. Cole arrives, the scene isn't what she expected to find. She was told Tom and the new girl were beating up Billy Stubbs and his friends. What she finds is the new girl brushing leaves out of Tom's hair and dirt off his face, the bridge of his nose starting to swell and bruise marks on both their wrists and faces while Billy Stubbs and his other friend are on the ground. "What happened here?" Because it looks more like the two supposed instigators got beaten up, rather than the other way around.

Evelynn turns around at once, indignantly saying "Tom and I were just minding our own business when these three came and tried to beat us up! He," she points at Billy, "was hitting Tom while the other two held us from behind! They didn't realize I'd had enough of that from my own cousin, though, and learned how to fight back." She brandishes the bruise marks she has on her wrists for emphasis, as well as gesturing to her face and Tom's, making Ms. Cole frown sharply at the boy hiding behind her.

Then she looks at Billy Stubbs and his friend equally-sharply, and snaps "Is this true?" Billy nods his head, looking down at the ground. Billy Stubbs and his friends get dragged off by an angry Matron, leaving Tom utterly amazed at how Evelynn managed that.

At his look of amazement, Evelynn asks "What?"

"She never listens to me! Ever! No matter if I've got bruises on my face or a broken nose and split lip, she never does anything!" Its usually his word against theirs, and anyone else that saw what happened is usually too intimidated by Billy to speak up!

"Speaking of which…" Evelynn tilts Tom's head gently, but the action still makes him hiss in displeasure. "Alright, my turn to get you fixed up. C'mon."

Five minutes later, Tom finds himself locked in the restroom with Evelynn, sitting on the closed toilet as she carefully wipes as much dirt and blood off his face as possible with a wet rag. At her stubborn insistence, despite him saying he can do it himself and Evelynn saying she knows he can. Tom turns his face away when she accidentally gets too close to his swelling nose, mumbling "Its fine, Evelynn…"

His face is sharply turned back towards hers, and he meets an angry green gaze as she says "No, its not. You've just had to do it yourself all this time."

He should probably be feeling embarrassed at the situation, but something tells him he could very well end up getting stuck to the seat and Immobilized while she works if he keeps protesting. Besides, he'll never admit it but…there's something oddly nice about how she insists on this. She's not doing it because she has to, or because he can't - no, it's the exact opposite. And he's not sure how to feel about it, to be perfectly honest. Or about the way her hand feels colder against his heated face.

Its probably because she had to do it herself for so long, and she's mentally old enough to be objective about it being so very wrong that a child should know how to piece themselves back together.

He was outraged on her behalf when six-year-old her was doing chores after one of her uncle's beatings, after all.

After she tosses the rag into the sink, apparently having gotten all the dirt and blood she can off his face without hurting him more, she mutters "Alright, I've got to feel your nose, Tom. It could just be swelling, or there could be a crack in the bone."

Tom mutters "Least my nose isn't crooked." Which has happened before, thanks to Stubbs. He'd said Tom had tripped and broke his nose on the ground, Cole believed him. Stubbs ended up with a broken arm after he tripped down the stairs two days later. At least Tom sat still and didn't say a word as his nose was reset, something Billy Stubbs never came close to.

Evelynn hums, then gently trails one finger along the bridge of his nose. Tom hisses, and jerks a bit, but keeps more or less still even as Evelynn winces and mutters an apology. "I'm not fantastic with proper healing spells, having self-healed without a wand or training for so long, but I can make the swelling go down some."

Thankfully, as her magic works its way into his face…his nose starts numbing. Making it much easier to hold still while she tries to figure out if his nose is actually broken or just really bruised and swollen. Finally, she pulls back slightly and says "Well, I can't feel any bumps or anything. I don't think its actually broken. Just swelling a lot from the impact."

Tom mutters "I'll make sure not to sleep face-down tonight." After a minute, he glances at Evelynn…and he can't keep a straight face anymore, one corner of his mouth tugging upwards.

Evelynn blinks, then snorts and says "What a pair we are. So used to being hurt we can make jokes about it."

Tom smirks at her, asking "Oh, you to?"

"I'll tell you a few of them back in the room. C'mon, before Cole decides we're doing something improper."

Tom smirks at her, then murmurs "I don't think I've ever seen Billy Stubbs so scared of anyone before. Including me, and everyone here is scared of me."

Evelynn sarcastically says "Haha, very funny Tom. I'm sure you could come up with something convincing if you put your mind to it." Even so, she has this look on her face that makes his heart skip a beat or two. Dear Merlin, what is it with him lately?

First he wants to rip Billy Stubbs to shreds for even looking at Evelynn, then he lets her help him with his nose - nobody helps him! He doesn't let them, even if they wanted to! Except for Evelynn, who just ignored his protests and insisted on helping him whether he wanted it or not. Time-traveling Master of Death or not...he still doesn't get why.

Why she'd help him when it was something he could do himself, that he's known how to do for years now. The last time Stubbs broke his nose, he didn't shed a tear as the doctor reset it, he's perfectly capable of toughing it out - and he gets the distinct feeling Evelynn damn well knows it, to.

And when he wakes up the next morning and sees some ugly, dark purple bruising fully bloomed on Evelynn's face...well, he gets payback for all the confusion she caused him yesterday by numbing her own face for her. At least the look on her face for a moment, one of utter confusion, matches how he felt about her helping him.

Chapter Text

About three days after the incident with Billy Stubbs, Tom and Evelynn are looking through the trunk of books she got from the Room of Hidden Things in her trunk. And there's a lot. Enough to fill up a few Mansions and then some, with plenty left over to. Books, artifacts Evelynn placed numerous Containment Wards on just to be safe - since some of them look just plain weird, and she's not sure what half of them even are - old-looking jewelry, even a few Wands. And that last one simply amazed Tom all the more, how could you lose your WAND?! Its literally the first thing he checks for, one hand going under his pillow where he keeps it out of sheer habit and paranoia.

In an effort to distract himself from multiple people's stupidity, carelessness, or circumstances of being severely outnumbered, Tom asks "So, this Room…it has just about everything?"

Evelynn nods from the trunk, glancing up from where she was digging around in the Expanded space for more interesting-looking books, and says "Everything you could possibly imagine, Tom. Well, it used to anyway. Sports equipment, jewelry, books, clothes, furniture…everything. Most of which I packed into these trunks to fix up and sell for some money. There were one or two broken artifacts that I just Banished, for instance; a broken Time-Turner that was taking this potted plant in an endless, and, frankly, creepy and slightly-terrifying cycle of coming to life and dying in a matter of moments. We might want to hold off on selling the books, though, until we know what a few of them are. Orion and Walburga would be good to ask."

Tom glances up at Evelynn, in full agreement on the looping Time-Turner, and asks "Why them?"

Evelynn pulls out a book and off-handedly says "They're the oldest Blacks, Tom. And the Blacks have one hell of a collection of books and artifacts. Biggest that I know of, in fact. The Peverells might have something bigger, but that would require finding a property they owned that hasn't basically collapsed over time, I'm not sure." Even after the war was over, she didn't exactly get to just waltz into Gringotts and learn more about her family, heritage, etc. No, she had to piece together things that had been kept from her - traditions, culture, the Pureblood side of the whole 'Blood Purity' issue, everything - while hiding out in various ruined manors. Turns out - at least, this is what she gathered from the Lestrange Manor - the Purebloods didn't reject the Muggleborns because of their blood, but their ignorance. Their apparent refusal to learn more about the world they were entering. Which actually does make a lot of sense - its entering a new culture, albeit one that's been hidden from you, and refusing to learn about it.

Not that the Muggle-raised kids had any way of learning about the culture, at the time. All the traditions, the Magical Holidays, everything...banned for years, labeled 'Dark' and ripped out of everyday life and knowledge by Albus Dumbledore once he was solidly into his role as the 'Leader of the Light' after he 'beat' Grindelwald. Knowing what she knows now...she's torn between believing he actually fought the guy and wondering if he just took credit for someone else's work. Its hardly impossible, after all - raised on lies and manipulation, and Albus Dumbledore took to it like a duck to water. Of course he'd be able to talk his way into the fame.

Tom hums, then nods and says "Good point. We'll wait on the books until then. Lets start looking through the clothes." Maybe they'll find something good in there, or that'll fit - if its already the right size, then simply changing how it looks is easy. Or maybe he can sell them to Madam Malkin or somewhere else that sells clothes, Evelynn did say he was good at what he did when he worked at Borgin and Burke's - of course, she also said he ended up buying things after talking the Owner into lowering the price somehow or other.

Evelynn grins at him, and says "I figured you'd want to go straight to the artifacts I found that weren't doing anything too weird, Tom. It was a toss-up between them and the books."

Oh, he wants to. How he wants to dive headlong into the Artifacts, many of which he and Evelynn have resolved to all but literally dissect at a later date. Runes and Charms being Evelynn's specialty, and Tom being a genius, they're fairly confident they can figure some of them out by the time the school year is up. Tom's expression turns to a mix of longing and hunger for a minute, and then he says "Can't. If any magic they do trips the Trace…" He trails off at Evelynn's confused expression, and asks "What's with the look?"

Evelynn blinks, then says "Tom, there's three things they never tell anyone about the Trace. Moody told me this after I asked about the Trace right before the whole fiasco with seven me's running around in a wild goose-chase. The first, its in the wands. Standard part of the production process since they invented it, making it possible to get every child tracked. The second, it won't register anything in places with a high concentration of magic."

"Like the Wards…or your trunk?" Evelynn nods, and then Tom's got her upper arms in a bruising grip asking "Why didn't you tell me about this before?!"

Evelynn calmly says "You never asked, Tom. Honestly, I'd thought you knew. The same way the entire Slytherin House was watching me because you had a suspicion about me and they caught on to the detail that you were right."

Tom blinks, loosening his grip slightly, and asks "You did?"

Evelynn nods, a look of utter incredulity on her face, and says "I did. Tom, you're a bloody genius - a real genius. You learned to read minds before you learned what you were doing was magic and there's a whole other society out there. That should've torn your mind to shreds, for Merlin's sake. You learned to speak two different languages - which both sound like perfect English to us! - at the same bloody time. Hell, making a Horcrux at sixteen still blows my bloody mind! Yes, it's terrible and tragic…but so bloody complicated and difficult that it takes grown adults a few decades to figure out how! I saw the ritual when I stayed at Riddle Manor, and dammit I couldn't understand a single bloody thing about it. With what I know now, I know you had to perform two separate Rituals, one on yourself to prepare your soul to be split and one on the object you wanted to house your Horcrux - and one tiny mistake in the entire thing, start to finish, could've simply killed you from a backfired or interrupted ritual, trapped your whole soul in that Diary, or just torn your soul to shreds altogether and left you in Limbo forever! A soul is generally a very sturdy thing, not made to be torn apart, so its almost impossible to actually do. You managed it when you were a teenager, Tom."

Tom's still amazed at how she can be objective about something like that, acknowledging it as a terrible achievement while still seeing how big of an achievement it was. And not seeing him as a bloody monster just waiting to get its claws or fangs before going off on a rampage because he has the ability to make that achievement. The mere knowledge of some of his power certainly convinced Dumbledore as much. "What's the third thing? You said 'three things' after all."

Evelynn chuckles, and says "Right. Keep your wand in your trunk or in your room. If the Trace picks up Wandless spells, it'll still register. But, if the wand is in the trunk…then, everyone assumes its accidental magic if they pick it up at all." And they don't usually threaten to expel someone for an accident, or for having to fight for their life. She's asked in the Common Room, having played it off as wanting to be ready in case Grindelwald comes after her again.

Tom blinks in shock at her, then says "Bloody hell…" All he was ever told was that he'd be expelled, his wand snapped, and his magic Bound if he ever used magic outside of school - by Dumbledore, no less. The bearded scumbag lied to him! in hindsight, it's not that surprising...but still, that's not the point!

Evelynn just nods her head silently, saying "Yeah. I know. I know all too well."

Ohh, Tom could friggin' kiss her right now, just like when she showed him all the food she stored for the two of them. He can do magic outside of school without worrying about getting expelled! He can defend himself if Billy Stubbs or some of his friends start up on him again!

Well, if there's anything left of the idiot after Evelynn's through with him - she holds a deep-seated hatred of bullies, now that the Compulsions are off her, and she's mentioned that Billy Stubbs reminds her of her fat pig of a cousin when he was younger. Translation: before he made an attempt at manning up and said he didn't think she was a waste of space mere moments before leaving her life forever. She's much less forgiving of all the hell she was put through without Dumbledore's magic controlling her thoughts, and Tom swears she went and had a talk with Billy Stubbs at some point in the recent past. He's been avoiding them like they've got the Bubonic Plague, after all. And if he sees them he goes sheet-white and all but runs the other way - truly, it's hilarious.

Once they get done with her finds from the Room for the day, they get out of the trunk and Evelynn frowns at his wardrobe. "What's wrong?" She only gets that look when something's bugging her, after all - like earlier, when she spaced out slightly while scowling at the book she'd been holding. If she stays quiet, he lets her alone with her thoughts - if she wants to share, he'll listen. When she gets like this, she's not usually one for inconsequential small-talk.

She walks over to the piece of furniture and places a hand on each door, asking "What happened here? There's traces of decaying magic on your wardrobe."

Tom scowls, then says "You said Dumbledore showed you." And, Merlin, he's thoroughly embarrassed about running his mouth now - among other things. The ratted clothes, the way he was so skinny, his freak-out when he thought Dumbledore was from the closest asylum, all of it.

Evelynn gives him a sardonic glance, and says "Yeah, but he also said he never suspected you of going Dark until you were at least three Horcruxes in, among other things. Pissed me off that first class when I realized just how big a load of Hippogriff shit he spoon-fed me, to be honest. I'm taking everything he said during those meetings with a bloody grinder's worth of salt. I'd rather get it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak." Another thing that gets her beyond angry, Dumbledore's little speech in Limbo - help will always be given to those who deserve it. And, she's come to realize, in Albus Dumbledore's eyes...Tom Marvolo Riddle never deserved any help. Not when he begged for it, to be allowed to stay at Hogwarts instead of Wool's Orphanage, not when he had to prove himself to Slytherin House for being the only Muggle-raised in the predominately Traditional Pureblood House, not when he had to sit through bombings over the summer and thought he'd end up dead from one.

Tom glares at the wardrobe as if its personally affronted him, then says "He really did set it on fire, I'd wanted him to prove he was like me before I said anything to him about what I could do. Cole doesn't hate me, exactly, but she knows I'm different from everyone else and I'd caught a thought here or there that perhaps she should call a doctor in to examine me."

Evelynn's expression looks furious for a minute, and she hisses "You do not do something that fucked up, and…" She trails off, sputtering from pure rage - it seems she really doesn't have the words to describe just how very wrong that is. Until an eerie calm descends over her after she gives a little full-body jerk, and she turns to Tom asking "Wait, you said you wanted to know it wasn't a trick or a trap before telling him what you could do?" He obviously manipulated the memory, just slightly, but what purpose could he have to tell her he set the wardrobe on after Tom told him everything?

Tom nods, and asks "Why?"

"Because, Tom, you were really loose-lipped about yourself in his memory. So much so that I'd have to wonder if…no, he woul- yes, yes he would. He absolutely would. He did it to me plenty of times, he wouldn't have any qualms about casting one on you."

Tom blinks, having seen this once or twice - Evelynn may say she's not a prodigy like he is, but once she latches onto an idea and really gets going on it, her mind starts going a million miles a moment and its almost impossible to keep up with her thoughts. Also, she re-taught herself everything she knows of magic, relearned control over a much-expanded Core, taught herself Runes, and learned to control abilities that have never been recorded before and had no basis in anything to do with any subject she was taught at Hogwarts. He begs to differ, and there's his argument - her denials is just a product from her days at the Dursleys and Dumbledore's conditioning.

If its impossible to keep up with Evelynn's thoughts, its also almost impossible to get any info out of her like this, he's learned, as her sentences tend to devolve into monosyllables or fragments. Doesn't mean he can't try…after she's away from his wardrobe again. Because she's currently concentrating on it, both palms flat against the wooden doors and murmuring a spell under her breath…and then very creatively cursing Dumbledore in an almost incoherent mixture of enraged English and Parseltongue. He doesn't catch most of it, but he gets the general gist of it - Dumbledore's a manipulative bastard who doesn't care who he has to hurt so long as he gets what he wants.

Tom waits until she's wound down some, and cautiously asks "Evelynn? What's wrong? What did you find?" Because she must've found something, she doesn't suddenly fly off into a rage like that for no reason. Even her mood swings, which seemed random at first, have a reason - she's usually reminded of something, then. With this, though…

Evelyn turns to him, eyes glowing Avada green in her fury, and she says "It must've been Dumbledore, why you spilled everything to him. I can see you telling him a few of the lesser things you learned to do to satisfy him, but I can't see you telling him everything including- no, especiallybeing able to talk to snakes without some…encouragement on his part."

Tom feels himself go cold, and he asks "What? How?"

In response, she grits out "The same kind of way he encouraged me to dive headlong into dangerous situations. Bar the Potions and Binding your Core."

It doesn't take Tom long to figure out what she means. "He Compelled me to tell him?!" Rage fills Tom up when Evelynn says its her best guess, and he quickly figures out how he must've done it. "The fire! When he set my wardrobe on fire, I snapped my head over to him and…"

Evelynn gets a look of fury on her face, saying "And it wasn't even a flame-freezing Charm, either. He genuinely tried to burn all your stuff to ashes! I'd guess its only your mother's Wards that stopped them! That godsdamned bastard shouldn't be allowed anywhere near children! And it never gets any better if things play out like they did, either! He was trusted implicitly, only Slytherin House didn't like him and I don't blame them! He was always ridiculously biased against them, especially since it was mostly Purebloods who didn't want him labeling all their history, traditions, and heritage as Dark and Evil! Of course, in retaliation and his own prejudice, he subtly encouraged the House Rivalry and made sure the House of Snakes was seen as the 'evil' House of the school by all of Britain - dammit, practically everyone in the House was a pariah in the Wizarding World when it came to looking for jobs and such, outside the Ministry at least! It didn't matter how good you were at your job, how high you scored on your N.E.W.T.s, or what you believed in, if you were in Slytherin you were automatically an evil, cunning little snake just waiting for the chance to stab your employer in the back! Godsdammit, I'm going to ruin that damned old man! He and his reputation won't see the light of day once I'm through with him!"

All the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end for a moment when the temperature in the room drops, the windows frost over and everything starts all but buzzing with her magic, but then Evelynn takes in a deep breath and forcibly reigns in her emotions. She sits down on her bed, then looks up at him with Killing Curse eyes and says "I'm going to destroy him. Thoroughly. You want in, Tom?"

The dark-eyed boy nods at once, and…that seems to be that. She stays in a foul mood all day, not that Tom can blame her given how bad his own is. Merlin, no bloody wonder he spilled everything to Dumbledore! He didn't even tell anyone in Slytherin he could talk to snakes until he accidentally hissed a curse at Abraxas one late night and a threat of what would happen should the blonde touch his mostly-finished homework! And there's only one known line that would have the trait of Parseltongue - the Gaunt line. Given the research Dumbledore and Grindelwald did, on the Peverell lines, the old man must've instantly caught on to his heritage entirely - Slytherin, Gaunt, and Peverell, possibly Riddle to, given the memory Evelynn isn't sure he has at this point in time. Still, some of those vials looked very old, so it's possible. Probable, even.

He's going to kill that damn old man, but only after destroying everything he's worked for and taking away everything he's yet to achieve. And the best part is…he's got the Master of Death in on that. The Immortal Master of Death, something both Dumbledore and Grindelwald are utterly obsessed with becoming, and she's currently pissed off at Dumbledore…and is likely planning on killing Grindelwald at some point anyway.

And given how she can travel through shadows to anywhere, no matter any Wards around her current or future location…oh, how he wishes he could be a fly on the wall when she undoubtedly appears out of an empty shadow. He wouldn't put it past her to say 'boo!' just to scare them and see their reactions. He'll just have to go with her, it seems.

Chapter Text

Tom groans, and mutters "You've got to be kidding…" It's a week until they get their letters for Hogwarts, and…he woke up with the flu! He's had it enough times to know what it's like, to - aches, shivering and hot flashes, the feeling that he wants to be sick just to make his stomach stop rolling, all of it. Merlin dammit, he hates being sick.

"Tom?" He hears Evelynn's soft footsteps make their way over to him, and then an ice-cold hand gets pressed to his forehead. Something that feels so good, he's just discovered. And then she swears under her breath, saying "Merlin, you're burning up."

A whine makes its way out of Tom's throat all on its own when her hand leaves his forehead - her hand, being so cold on his skin, felt way too good for it to suddenly leave. And then Evelynn's hand is mercifully back, running through his sweaty hair this time, as she murmurs "No, no, I'm not going far. Just-" She's cut off by the sound of knocking at the door.

Which means it's Cole. Only she would be at their door, much less knock. All the other kids are too terrified, after all.

Evelynn curses under her breath, then says "Stay here, Tom."

Unfortunately for Evelynn, nobody gives Tom Riddle orders and expects him to follow them…and he refuses to show weakness of any kind in front of Cole. She may not hate him, something he's learned after seeing how Evelynn's relatives treated her, but he's not going to seem weak in front of her! So of course, as Evelynn's explaining to Ms. Cole how Tom's got the flu, he stumbles over to the doorway - already regretting getting out of bed, his head is pounding now that he's upright. Yeah, maybe he should've swallowed his pride just this once and stayed in bed…

Ms. Cole grabs Tom by the chin and sharply tilts his face up to look at him, making Tom wince as he feels a stab of pain at the sudden movement, turning it this way and that before saying "Back into bed, Tom. Now. Miss Peverell, in light of his illness-"

Evelynn quickly says "Its fine, Ma'am. I can take care of Tom." Tom could swear he senses Evelynn's magic flare for just a moment - not a Compulsion, he thinks, but more something that just started happening and that she learned to do on purpose. A bit like him reading people's minds, he thinks.

To Tom's utter surprise, the strict woman only purses her lips together then says "Very well, then. Just don't fall sick yourself, Peverell."

Once the door is closed again, Evelynn takes Tom's closest arm and drapes it over her neck while saying "Alright, this time stay in bed. That sounds so bad coming from me, but still." Of course, she was never really allowed to be sick either - Merlin forbid Eve Potter was anything other than bloody invincible.

Once he's sitting on the mattress, Tom asks "Did you just do what I think you did to Cole? Convince her to let you stay with magic?" And let him go, to, he thinks.

Evelynn flushes in embarrassment, and says "Maybe. Its not a Compulsion or anything...I think, anyway. I don't usually convince people like that, but…"

Tom quietly asks "But?" Sick or not, he really wants to know this answer, wants to know why she'd stay at his side even when he's sick. Even if it will make his head literally spin with the confusion it'll most likely bring on top of him being sick with the flu.

Evelynn looks up, and says "But you're sick." At Tom's blank look, she asks "You actually thought I would leave you alone to be sick?" Everyone did it to her whenever she was sick, why would he think she'd do the same to him?

Tom looks up at the honest confusion in her voice, and sees her open expression. It's not an act, she's honestly confused about why he'd think she'd leave him in this room alone to either get better or not. Tom just shrugs, and says "It's happened before." Especially to him. Some kids sneak in to see their friends if they're sick...but Tom didn't have any friends here before Evelynn arrived. Nobody ever snuck in to see him, not that he would've wanted anyone to see him weak anyway.

Evelynn's expression darkens, and she says "Yeah, I bet. To me, to. The Dursleys would lock me in the cupboard to either get better or die. Didn't I tell you that?"

Tom, in his hazy state, thinks he might remember her saying something like that. Maybe. "Perhaps…" How Evelynn went through a life as shitty as she lived and still ended up this kind is an utter mystery to Tom. He certainly didn't manage it, and now he knows hers was worse!

Evelynn lets out a soft breath, then murmurs "Alright then. Lay back down, Tom." One hand goes to his cheek when he doesn't immediately do so, cold against his heated face, and tilts his head to the side gently while the other brushes against where Cole's nails had been digging into Tom's skin. "Least she didn't make you bleed. C'mon, Tom, just lay back for me." Because he's still sitting mostly upright, despite swaying slightly as they made their way back to his bed. After a moment, she puts a hand on his shoulder and eases him back down - who knew Tom would be so stubborn about something like this? Merlin, they really are a lot alike. She knew it in an abstract sense, but the little things keep piling up as well.

Once he's on his back, Evelynn says "I'm going to get some water and a rag, Tom. I'll be back soon. So, for Merlin's sake, don't get back up." Merlin, I never thought I'd be saying that. She was never the one to stay in bed - though, to be fair to her, she had it ingrained in herself that she had to be up at six in the morning every morning to make breakfast and start the coffee, get the paper and post, etc. She was never allowed to stay in bed in the first place.

Tom almost immediately lets out a whine of protest - he's feeling like utter crap, and it's the perfect time to see just how much he can get away with when it comes to Evelynn. Sue him. When he cracks an eye open, Evelynn's giving him an incredulous 'the-world-is-coming-to-an-end' look. It nearly makes him burst out laughing, there's not many things that can really surprise Evelynn. And he delights in finding them.

After a minute, Evelynn seems to catch on to what he's doing because she sighs at him and says "Your just lucky stuff like this tugs at my heartstrings, Tom. Or what's left of them, anyway." He inwardly grins in triumph when she says that, she's not leaving this room at all today then. Honestly, he's not even really sure why he doesn't want her to leave, only that he really doesn't want her to leave. "You're not gonna let me leave the room, are you? Not without guilt-tripping me to hell and back."

Tom chuckles, which turns into a cough. Once he's through coughing, with Evelynn rubbing his back to help him through it, she groans and says "I can't die, so you won't be the death of me, but the point still stands." Before he can retort anything, she waves her hand and a wooden bowl appears on the nightstand next to Tom's head before filling with water. And then…she props him up for a moment before sitting down and putting his head in her lap. Letting him use her thighs as a pillow while she wrings out a dripping-wet rag and puts it on the back of his neck.

Tom feels nothing but shock at this point - he didn't really expect much other than her laughing to herself when she realized how he was trying to manipulate her into staying. He certainly didn't expect this…whatever this is. "Evelynn? What are you doing?"

The rag he can feel goes still for a moment, and she says "Honestly…not a clue. What I would've wanted someone to do for me if I was sick, I suppose." Then again, maybe she would've wanted everyone to leave her alone - less chance of either Skeeter coming out with some ridiculous piece or the Slytherins of her time capitalizing on her misery to mock or attack her.

Merlin, this feels so good… Tom should probably be worried that he's suddenly craving her touching him, but he tells himself it's just because he's got the fever and her hand feels cool to the touch thanks to her magic being so cold and her being so powerful. And that's all.

He's not sure how long they stay like that, Evelynn running a hand through his hair and keeping him company, but he finds himself incredibly embarrassed to note he managed to fall asleep despite everything. Alternating fever and chills, and Evelynn's hand and quiet voice alike. When he moves to sit up, he realizes there's a hand tangled in his hair and another resting on his back.

When he glances up, Evelynn's sleeping as well - sitting up, but leaning against the pillow behind her. And, dammit, she looks a lot younger than she actually is when she's asleep - near-thirteen-year-old body aside, she looks...ten, maybe. And far more relaxed than he's ever seen her when she's awake, he's just now realized - she's always watching everyone, waiting for someone to whirl around and try to Hex her or worse. Even here at Wool's, she's never not watching everyone around the two of them. Why that doesn't apply to him as well - hell, he figures it should apply especially to him! - is something he's yet to ask her. And, this time, he's much more wary of what the answer could be.

An angel doesn't really work for a comparison, Master of Death and all, wait maybe it does…Tom instantly gives himself a mental shake, trying to rid himself of the thoughts - Merlin, he doesn't actually have feelings for her! Not...feelings-feelings, anyway! He wants her at his side, yeah, she's breathtakingly powerful and beautiful, but…dammit, she confuses him to no end, even after she's shared all her secrets. She manages to confuse him just by existing, that alone seems to affect him like nothing and no one else ever has before. Plenty of things can get him angry, some furious to the point of seeing red…but only this strange girl that showed up out of another time and made a life in this one manages to confuse him like this, make him want to keep her by him at all times, and…dammit, he can't even accurately describe all the ways she affects him! Which he's perfectly content in blaming on the flu.

He finally gives into the pounding in his head that thinking about it all gives him combined with his flu, and goes back to sleep. Only to wake up to the feeling of fingers running through his hair and the sound of someone humming. He instantly decides the most Slytherin thing to do…is pretend to be asleep and take advantage of the situation, waiting to see what she'll do next. Ok, so, he maaay be a tiny bit touch-starved - possibly to the point that any contact that's even marginally affectionate is wonderful, hence why he doesn't usually let anyone touch him - but that doesn't have anything to do with it! Not at all! Not the slightest bit.

...dammit, its falling flat even in his own head.

At least Evelynn's worse than him by far, if the way she wouldn't let go of him in her sleep is any indication, he tells himself. 

Evelynn's voice pulls him from his thoughts, asking "Tom? What's on your mind?" He promptly goes completely still, but that just gets a chuckle out of her.

She stops running her fingers through his hair, and pokes him in the shoulder while saying "Tom, I know your awake." He mumbles a bit and shifts a little, hoping that'll convince her she's mistaken and go back to before.

Now, Evelynn scoffs in amusement, and says "Tom, I could practically see the smoke coming out of your ears you were thinking so hard. Do you want anything?"

Tom finally cracks an eye open at her, giving up on convincing her he was asleep, and grumbles "Not a word…"

Evelynn gets a teasing smile on her face, and says "Oath, remember? Can't say a word of what goes on here unless you say I can." Which he won't, she's completely sure of it. One thing Tom Marvolo Riddle abhors is people thinking he's weak.

Feeling satisfied by the reminder, Tom closes his eye…then blindly reaches for her hand once more, burying it in his hair when he finds her wrist. There's a moment when she does absolutely nothing, goes so still that Tom's sure she's contemplating getting up and leaving. But then, mercifully, she restarts carding her fingers through his hair. And murmurs "I can't say I saw this coming." Tom's currently incapable of answering, just an incoherent string of sleepy sounds…which turns into a pleased hum when her fingers move down to the base of his neck and start rubbing circles there.

Evelynn grins to herself when Tom lets out a quiet moan of bliss, despite the case of the flu he's got, and proceeds to systematically turn him into a whimpering pile of moans by giving him a backrub with some magic. Nothing much, but she knows perfectly well how crappy the flu feels. But, really, who knew Tom Riddle was so easy to reduce to such a state? No wonder he doesn't let anyone touch him!

The thought of her former nemesis being reduced to a quivering pile of bliss like this by a simple massage is…well, in all honesty, when you get past the utter hilarity of it…its kinda sad. Tom Riddle was so excluded from society, had never known even a single comforting touch, that something as simple as a massage - not even a professional one by any definition of it - does this to him, that at the first sign of compassion he doesn't know what to do other than mistrust it. And physical affection…well, damn. Were she the type for blackmail…she might be tempted to give him a backrub in the Common Room. Even still, she silently vows to give him more - if he was so starved for any affection that he eventually considered it such a great weakness…well, she can think of one way to change that mindset. And he shouldn't have many objections, considering how much he liked this instance.

She can take a guess as to how he got into that state, to, given how very unsympathetic or compassionate Cole was when Tom was very obviously sick. 

And then, much to even her own displeasure, the bell for dinner rings. Tom gives her the worst glare she's gotten from anyone in a few months when she moves to get off the bed, and she says "Tom, listen to me. We slept through lunch, and you need to eat and drink something."

"We've got-"

Evelynn shakes her head, saying "As far as the Matron knows, nothing. Which means I, at the very least, need to be seen getting two trays of food and bringing one back for you. Otherwise someone will come looking, and I'd rather keep our stash of food hidden." For a number of reasons - she brought back enough for the two of them, not the entire Orphanage. Also, all the Potions in there - and the detail that they're all in her magically expanded trunk. Yes, why wouldn't she want to keep the magically preserved food stored in a magically expanded trunk with Potions she brewed secret from the Muggles who know nothing of magic in a time where people were much more strict about things like religion and such? Cole's pretty neutral about them now, but Evelynn doesn't have much faith in humanity these days - not enough, at any rate, to test what the severe woman would do at the revelation of magic.

On a more neutral note, she doesn't want Cole coming in and forcing something down Tom's throat - Petunia would do that with some nasty-tasting stuff she called medicine, so she knows exactly how traumatizing that is.

Tom really hates how even his own brain, some small part of it that's not mourning the loss of her hand rubbing circles into his shoulder blades, is pointing out that she's right. He doesn't relax until she comes back through the door maybe fifteen minutes later, a tray with oatmeal and an apple, along with a bottle of water.

Tom manages to force down half the bowl of oatmeal - since, according to Evelynn, simply Banishing the stuff would not only leave the bowl suspiciously clean but be a waste she isn't willing to make, ergo she eats the rest of the oatmeal herself despite gagging on it a few times - and then sips at the water slowly so he doesn't throw it all back up. The apples, which get magically cut into thin slices, end up getting nibbled away by the both of them after Tom hides them under his pillow just in case while Evelynn takes the trays back to the Dining Hall.

At the moment, he's just glad she's willing to literally Charm the Matron into little things like this - or whatever it is Evelynn did with her magic back then, Evelynn's never really looked it up since it started happening after she went on the run. Letting her take their food into the room, something that never happens ever. Letting her stay with him, when normally the sick kids are isolated to keep whatever they have from spreading to the others.

And then, as the sun starts setting, Evelynn heads over to her own trunk and gets her pajamas out. The sight of her back…Tom's torn between throwing up and murdering whoever dared to touch his entirely-too-strange…are they friends? Really friends? A question for another time, someone dared to practically carve up Evelynn's back! He's never seen anything like it before, and he's seen plenty of things in his life, short as it is. Her back looks like a bloody patchwork, for Merlin's sake. A badly-stitched one, at that. "Evelynn."

Those enchanting green eyes look over at him, as she pokes her head out of the right hole, and she asks "Yeah?"

Tom grits out "Who, exactly, did that?"

Her expression clears after a moment, and she asks "Saw my back, did you?" Yes, yes he did see her back...and the hundred or so crisscrossing scars on it. Tom nods, and she says "I'm going to assume you've never been whipped with a belt before, then."

Tom's sitting upright in an instant, furiously hissing out "What?!"

Evelynn comes back over, murmuring "No, lay back down. It doesn't matter anymore, Tom. They don't even exist yet. Point of fact, we're in school with my grandparents."

It takes every ounce of his self-control not to snarl at her as he grinds out "Who. Did. This."

He lets her ease him onto his back again, and gets rewarded with her quietly saying "My aunt and uncle. Well, my uncle was the one who used the belt. My aunt simply tried to work me to death like a House Elf, along with the occasional frying pan to the head or sharp slap to the face. Now, don't look over again until I say to, Tom."

There's a hint of teasing in her voice at the last sentence, but all Tom can think of is how casually she dismissed her own scars - physical proof of how shitty her life was, what Dumbledore put her through. She was beaten, starved, hated just for existing, and worked like a slave all before being told she was magical and not a freak, that her parents weren't drunks that died in a car crash they died to protect her, and she was a celebrity instead of worthless. And she just shrugged it off, like they were talking about the weather!

He's still furiously obsessing over it by the time he finally drifts off to sleep again, how she can so casually talk about her own childhood - which is seeming a hundred times worse than his, bad as his own is. At least here he gets fed, clothed with stuff that's at least somewhat the right size, and given his own room! And the most the Matron does is use that bloody switch of hers, on everyone to, he's not special in that regard - Evelynn wasn't kidding or being sarcastic when she said she was used to worse punishments.

As much as he loathed living at this orphanage - still does, just not as much now that he's seen worse - nobody's whipped with a belt, nobody's given threadbare castoffs three sizes too big and forced to make do, and everyone gets some food three times a day. He's seen worse, and this...he's living in limbo right now, not great but not terrible either. Cole doesn't single him out, even if the other orphans do, and the place has always been on a tight budget. Food has always been slightly tight, which has gotten worse and worse thanks to the war and the extra orphans they've taken in, but none of the kids have had to make the meals and then watch them get eaten! Something that just seems needlessly cruel, and that's coming from him! Everyone in this dog-eat-dog orphanage is afraid of him for a reason, and yet he wouldn't force someone to cook three meals a day and only eat once every two or three days!

Chapter Text

Tom finally relaxes once they get into Diagon Alley - he's always felt more secure in a magical environment, in the knowledge that he belongs in this world and that he's heading back to Hogwarts soon. And Evelynn seems to be much the same, as he can see her shoulders drop just the slightest bit when they get past the brick wall.

They head to Gringotts first, since that's where they'll get the money from the vouchers they received with their letters to access the school funds. But, to Tom's utter amusement, the Goblins seem to sense something is off about Evelynn almost immediately…as the two of them are taken to Director Ragnuk's office by goblins with even paler faces than normal and anxious expressions. And Ragnuk openly gapes at Evelynn when the two of them enter, words appearing to fail him as he does a goldfish impression. After a moment, he simply collapses into his seat, and Evelynn and Tom follow suit - Tom's one-hundred percent following Evelynn's lead in this, as she knows a bit about Goblin customs thanks to finding books on them in old Manors and it's considered extremely rude to sit if you aren't told to do as much or the Goblin your meeting with isn't.

After another moment of silence, Evelynn clears her throat then asks "Is something wrong, Director Ragnuk? I can safely say I've only ever gotten a reaction like this once before and it most certainly wasn't from Goblins."

That seems to snap the Goblin out of his state, and he says "Most Magical Creatures are more…in tune, I suppose you could say, with magic than humans. It would take a rare kind of Witch or Wizard to sense the energy that clings to you, Miss…"

Evelynn clears her throat, and says "Ah, apologies. I go by Evelynn Peverell."

Director Ragnuk nods, saying "Miss Peverell. The energy of the Void is…distinctive, to say the least. Any Creature that isn't a newborn would know instantly who and what you are, and even a newborn would know you are unlike any other human in existence. Death, and the Void, clings to you, Miss Peverell, and anyone that can sense magic can sense it immediately."

Tom blinks, then asks "Is that what that electric cold is? The Void itself? That's the undertone to your magic?"

Ragnuk immediately yelps "You can sense it?!"

Tom nods, saying "Always did, I'm more sensitive to magic than most. I felt Evelynn coming before she arrived, before the Hall went dark and freezing cold. And every single time she uses magic, I can sense it."

Ragnuk stares at him for a minute, then says "You are either the bravest Wizard I've ever met…or you have an ardent Death Wish."

Tom glances at Evelynn, who's looking more exasperated with the situation than anything else. If he had a Death Wish, he'd constantly antagonize her - she's not that scary! ...once you get past the 'went through a war, went on the run, could kill you with a snap of her fingers' bit, anyway. 

Evelynn says "Well, I don't plan on killing anyone in the near future, so can we just get down to business? I was going to ask for an Inheritance test to see what all I can access, if anything. I'll pay for Tom's, to."

Ragnuk hurriedly nods his head, and Tom can't help but stare at the sight - he's never seen a Goblin do anything but sneer at people, and every single one that's laid eyes on Evelynn is acting like she could kill the entire Bank just by thinking about it so they'd better not piss her off. In all honesty…she probably could, really. She can direct the energy of the Void with her thoughts, its how she got here after all - and the energy of the Void is deadly to anyone but Evelynn in its raw form. About a minute later, the guard that hurried out comes back with two rolls of parchment and a ceremonial-looking knife. With a wicked-sharp point, to boot. Tom glances at Evelynn, who's just calmly staring at the items as they get placed on the Director's desk. Ragnuk says "Cut yourself on the knife, and let seven drops of blood hit the parchment. The parchment will then show everything about you."

Tom asks "Everything?"

Ragnuk nods, saying "Parents, date of birth, abilities, Heirships, everything. Even Compulsions, broken or not, Potions, and unhealed injuries."

Evelynn immediately asks "How much is this? Both tests?"

Ragnuk immediately shakes his head, saying "No, nothing at all. All fees are waived considering…circumstances." Circumstances of wanting to stay on this girl's good side.

Evelynn doesn't say or do anything, but Tom gets the gut feeling that she's getting annoyed with the way the Goblins are acting - to be honest, they're acting like she's threatened to kill all of them in the bank to the last child, instead of having simply walked into the bank and asked to do business with them. Even so, she picks up the knife and runs it across her hand without hesitation before handing it back to Ragnuk sideways. She lets the blood from the cut she made on her palm drip onto the parchment, and it absorbs into the material before words appear on it - a lot like the Diary from her memories, incidentally.

After witnessing the unheard-of sight of a Goblin flinching, and at being handed their own knife back to boot, Tom does the same with the now-sterilized object and watches as his own blood absorbs into the parchment and then lists what amounts to his entire life's history.

Name: Tom Marvolo Riddle.

Date of Birth: December 31st, 1926.

Mother: Merope Gaunt.

Father: Tom Riddle Snr.

Maternal Grandmother: Merope M. Gaunt.

Maternal Grandfather: Marvolo Gaunt.

Paternal Grandmother: Mary Riddle.

Paternal Grandfather: Thomas Riddle.

Abilities: Parseltongue, Mage Sense, Natural Affinity to Magic.

Heir to: Gaunt, Slytherin, Peverell, Riddle.

Magics Affecting: Compulsion to confide in Albus Dumbledore (1938, Broken)

When he looks over at Evelynn - mainly in shock, after reading that he's an Heir to the Peverell line, despite her telling him they're distantly related through the legendary three brothers, and the Compulsion that was applied on him and broken the day Dumbledore came to give him his letter - and sees she's staring at her own sheet in shock…and a bit of horror. When he glances over, all he can see is proof that what she told him is utterly true - her birth date is July 31st, 1980, her parents were James Potter and Lily Potter nee Evans, her Godfather was Sirius Black, she was emancipated at age 14, and she's the Heir to the Potter, Black, Peverell…and Le Fey and Flamel lines. Those last two, through her mother - her Muggleborn mother, how in the world?! She must've been a descendent of a Squib. And she's the Master of Death and her soul is thirty-two years old, because somehow or other this test can detect that status. He's no idea how, though. Oh, yes, and all the Potions and Compulsions that were used on her are listed out, just like she described.

Evelynn squeaks out "Death said…he said nobody would be able to find out…"

Oh. Oh…

Shock slams into Tom right then as well - should anyone else get that information, it would likely be disastrous for her.

Ragnuk nods, saying "No Wiccan will be able to. The shimmering in the ink means its been concealed by magic. But Goblins have been perfecting this for millennia, Lady Peverell. Once you claim your Inheritance, we can create an identity for you for a fee. After that, any and all Inheritance tests will show that identity. Be it spells cast on you or tests done here." And then, after Evelynn puts the parchment back on the desk…it turns black like its burning and becomes unreadable. Evelynn stares at it in shock, and Ragnuk says "I'd imagine that would be Magic herself getting rid of the evidence."

Evelynn murmurs "Or Thanatos, perhaps." At their disbelieving looks, she says "Death. The Deity. Different civilizations gave him different names, I read some Greek mythology in a library one day."

The thought makes Tom shiver, but at least the Goblins are doing the same. Tom shakes his head at her, and says "Evelynn. Only you would suggest a being literally known as Death could affect this plane of existence so casually and not be extremely creeped out by the implications."

Evelynn glances at him, then mutters "Right. I was never normal to begin with…" At Tom's questioning glance, she adds "Death was the only being I could rely on for twelve years. I may or may not have gotten used to him. Add to it I was always expecting I would end up dead before the year was out..." She shrugs, even as Tom scowls at the reminder.

Ragnuk sighs, and says "I don't even want to know. I really don't. Is there anything else either of you two wish to do?"

Tom asks "Can we claim any of these Heirships? Or Lordships? Since we're Orphans?"

Ragnuk shakes his head, saying "Apologies, but no. Not at this time, anyway. You, Miss Peverell, need to be fourteen in order to access your inheritance. Circumstances of when you were last Emancipated by Magic, hence why it was mentioned on your test in the first place. And you, Mr. Riddle, need your Uncle to either grant you the title of Lord Gaunt or get himself killed or incarcerated for life. The title will automatically pass to you if either of the latter options happens. And once you claim the Gaunt Lordship and become Emancipated, you can claim the Slytherin one as well, due to clauses in the Slytherin Lordship."

Tom nods his head, thanking the Goblin politely before the two of them are shuttled off to the Hogwarts trust fund vault to get the stipend for supplies. Evelynn, however, refuses to take the money that she doesn't actually need - she hasn't spent a Knut of the money from the Room, and there was quite a bit in there. Ergo, she's got plenty of money for her own supplies. Though, the poor Goblin - and isn't that something hilarious to think about? - that took them to the vault is practically shaking in his boots by the time they get back up to the ground floor. And its not to do with the cart ride that Evelynn seemed to love - of course she'd love it, apparently she's an adrenaline junkie.

Tom just has to roll his eyes at the realization - only the so-called 'Master of Death' would find enjoyment in risking her nonexistent mortality. Evelynn has to be the biggest bundle of contradictions he's ever known, even if he does know all her secrets.

That doesn't make her any less confusing, though - at least, not what she does to him. Her motivations for doing some things are, perhaps, a bit clearer, but the reactions they give him? The things she so effortlessly makes him feel? Yeah…no. Not. A. Bit. And he's not very sure he wants to try to think what they might mean. He doesn't think she's trying to manipulate him with them, but…better safe than sorry.

He'll ignore them, hope they go away, and see what she does if they do. If she keeps acting the same…then its him, its all him. If she changes her attitude, or tries to slip him a Potion or something, then he'll know to get as far away from her as possible - because he's not stupid or cocky enough to Curse the Master of Death and expect to live long, especially when even the warrior-race of Goblins start all but trembling at the mere sight of her. His insane sixteen-year-old Horcrux would have been, perhaps, but not him.

And if they don't go away...then he's no idea what to do, since he doesn't even know what they are.

Chapter Text

Tom and Evelynn have finished getting all their supplies, when Tom notices a shop that looks interesting near the entrance to Knockturn. Borgin and Burkes. The place he ended up working for a time in Evelynn's previous life. He's pulled out of his thoughts when Evelynn nudges him in the ribs, asking "See something that interests you?"

Tom startles, glancing down at Evelynn in surprise, then nods and says "That shop over there. Want to go take a look?" He'd usually sneer at someone for talking like that, and he never talked like this to anyone before. Of course, nobody he's ever known before could send a warrior race of irascible Goblins, guards and all, trembling with utter terror. They were practically bending over backwards to please her while still keeping their reputation, for Merlin's sake. So, yeah…he can swallow his pride long enough to not give her orders.

Thankfully, she nods and says "Why not. Fair warning though, if you see a hand marked 'Hand of Glory' in there, for the love of Merlin don't touch it. Scared me outta my mind when it latched onto my hand."

Tom chuckles, then asks "Why would you even touch anything in there?"

Evelynn looks around, unsuccessfully trying to hide her blush, saying "Floo accident, I didn't know what the place was. Only that I sure as hell had no idea where I was." Tom can only stare at Evelynn - she traveled through time, became the Master of Death, and had the Goblins practically on their knees in fear of just her presence. Yet…she can't Floo.

"Hey, in my defense, it was my very first time." Her indignant expression has Tom chuckling in amusement, even as her indignation grows. "It is not funny, Tom!" His amusement only grows - honestly, it really is funny. She can pull off feats most people can't even dream of, she traveled back in time, successfully got back into Hogwarts…but she can't Floo. He's still chuckling, and getting a mock cold shoulder from Evelynn when they get into the shop.

Evelynn rolls her eyes when Tom heads straight to the shelves of books, he's pretty predictable if you get him into familiar territory. The woods near the Orphanage, for instance. Or a magical area - if it's the latter, he'll always go for the books. He's a bit like a bloody sponge when it comes to knowledge. Alright, she corrects herself, exactly like a sponge when it comes to any kind of knowledge. Any knowledge at all.

She wanders over to the jewelry section, filled with diadems and necklaces that probably cost a fortune to make alone, wondering just how many desperate people sold their inheritances looking for money just like- no, it can't be. Evelynn crouches down quickly to get a better look at the green-gold glint that caught her eye, and feels her breath catch in her throat just as fast. Salazar Slytherin's Locket, as though thinking about Merope and her desperate actions summoned the Locket, is sitting on display right in front of her.

How in the world…I never knew when it was sold, but…

Her head snaps over to the door when the bell rings, and she sees a familiar person enter the shop. Hugely fat body, ginger wig, and baby pink robes and all, Hepizbah Smith in her prime…of sorts.

Probably looking for antiques for her collection…BLOODY HELL!

She signals to Borgin quickly, and points to the Locket saying "I want to buy this, please." If she can get it now, keep Hepizbah from getting it...well, it'll be one less thing Dumbledore will have on Tom. And one more thing Tom will have from Slytherin - she knows all about suddenly finding a piece of family out of the blue, after all. And the Diary piece, at the very least, was immensely proud of being directly related to Salazar Slytherin.

Borgin dismissively says "A hundred Galleons."

Evelynn feels her temper rear its ugly head and her magic unleash enough for even Borgin to feel it, and she darkly but quietly says "You or your partner paid a desperate, destitute pregnant woman ten Galleons for her family heirloom. And that is exactly what your going to be paid for it, not a Knut more." How she hates people like this guy, preying on the weak and desperate to line his own pockets. Burke knew exactly what he had at first glance, she's sure, and he conned Merope out of money that could've saved her life had she spent it at St. Mungo's. The way she sees it, that's indirect murder - had he paid her a fair amount, she might've survived. These guys are the other side of the coin that was drunk-thief Mundungus Fletcher, the guy who made a living being a conman and stealing from people. He certainly cleared out Grimmauld Place in the year after Sirius died, for instance.

Borgin shudders violently at the suddenly-suffocating feeling of her magic, feeling like he's breathing in ice when he takes in a shuddering breath, and hastily nods his head saying "Sounds fair, young lady…" Even still, his hands are shaking like he's got Palsy when he finally manages to unlock the case and undo the spells to keep the items from being stolen. The ten Galleons get dropped into his hand and she snatches the Locket up at once, stuffing it into her robe pocket before glancing back towards Hepizbah Smith.

Only to see her talking with Tom, her cheeks a brilliant red.

Evelynn comes to a singularly infuriating conclusion right then - Hepizbah Smith is utterly sick. She's got to be at least fifty, if not sixty, and Tom is thirteen. Completely, and utterly, sick. Evelynn stalks over to the pair, pasting a smile on her face that would make a shark swim the other way as fast as possible, and links her arm with Tom's saying "I'm so terribly sorry, Ma'am, but we have to get going. We should get something to eat before finishing up for the day. Goodbye!"

Tom lets himself be all but dragged out of the store, not having seen anything in the books that he had to have - and, hopefully, this will let Evelynn cool off a bit. Something got her angry to the point of killing Smith, and he's not entirely sure what. When they're well away from Borgin and Burkes - and, really, why did he work there?! - he casually asks "Did you get anything? Because I didn't see anything worth buying. Though, your magic went crazy for a minute there." And it. Was. AMAZING.

Evelynn nods, and viciously says "Yes, an epiphany about that woman."

Tom raises an eyebrow at her, and asks "And? What was it?"

Evelynn all but explodes "She's utterly sick and twisted! Bloody demented! An absolute pedo!"

Tom says "Relax, Evelynn. She was just going on about how she was Hufflepuff's heir, and how she often came to the shop to buy more antiques. And her collection, apparently it's rather impressive."

Evelynn's scowl deepens almost immediately, and she says "Because being a bloody hoarder is so impressive, right. Being the Heir of a Founder doesn't mean much when someone doesn't have the good sense to preserve their legacy. Such as not spending all their gold on stuff that's just going to sit around and collect dust, for instance."

Tom hums, reminded of the Gaunts suddenly, then asks "So, what got you so angry? In the store, your magic went crazy." It was incredible to sense, he hasn't felt it that strong since…well, since she arrived, actually. It was utterly glorious, seductive and alluring - he's starting to understand why people flock to him…and why the Goblins were so terrified of her mere presence. Darkness seemed to spread from underneath her feet when she truly got angry at Borgin, he was amazed Smith hadn't stopped talking when it was so obvious to him that Borgin was in real trouble should he not do what Evelynn wanted. One little push, it seemed, and she'd have ended Borgin where he stood.

A dark, semi-murderous look flits across Evelynn's face for a moment, and she says "I got angry with Borgin, but it worked out well enough."

Tom raises an eyebrow, and asks "And Smith?"

Evelynn makes a disgusted sound in the back of her throat, and says "She's got to be in her late fifties, early sixties, Tom. Maybe older, considering Witches and Wizards tend to live longer than Muggles. And your thirteen. I might be overreacting here, but her telling you she goes to Borgin and Burke's often sounds a lot like a hint to hang around there hoping she'd come back." She scowls even further, glaring back towards Borgin and Burke's like the place has personally offended her.

Seeing an opportunity to tease Evelynn, Tom asks "Are you…jealous?" Oh, he'd be delighted to hear that. 

Evelynn immediately asks "Of what? An immensely fat hoarder that apparently has a thing for you no matter what age you are? As if!" Translation, Tom thinks, yes I am but I'll deny it until the end of time.

Right, wasn't she the one I got the Cup and Locket from? And framed the House-Elf, that's it.

He can think on that more later, right now he's got an irate Master of Death to calm down before she decides to finish Smith off herself just to keep the old bat from getting any other thoughts. Tom grins to himself, but before he can say anything Evelynn says "C'mon, I'm in serious need of an ice cream from Fortescue's after that. What kind do you want? My treat."

Tom blinks, then says "Not a clue, never had ice cream before. Are you sure?"

Evelynn blinks, then promptly grabs him by the lower arm and says "Well, can't have that, can we? I'll get a Banana Split, they're big enough for two easily. And they've got just about every topping available." Tom doesn't get the chance to protest, just gets a table for two in a corner and watches as Evelynn comes over with a foot-long boat of ice cream scoops, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, strawberries, pineapple, and cherries. And two spoons. The first thing Tom can think when Evelynn puts the ice cream boat in front of him is 'Merlin, its huge!' She really wasn't exaggerating when she said it was big enough for two.

After a minute, he asks "Why are you doing this? All of this?"

Evelynn stares at him in confusion over the top of the ice cream, then quietly says "Because I want to. That's all, though. No strings attached, no hidden agenda. I just want to do something nice for you." And she wanted an ice cream from Fortescue's for the first time in well over a decade.

Tom forcibly reminds himself that this is the same girl who, by her own admission, came here entirely by accident. No plans to come back and change anything - bar destroying Dumbledore and his reputation, though she only decided that once she was already here - and no plans to do him in to prevent that horrible future. Still, its once she's taken a bite of the ice cream on her side that he relaxes marginally and takes a spoonful for himself. And, Merlin, it's bloody delicious. And one more thing to add to the list of things she's done for him for no apparent reason.

"You want the cherries, Tom? They're good."

That's it, he gives up! Now he knows what the others talk about when they complain about girls and how you never know what they want or mean! He never knew or cared what they meant until Evelynn Peverell came into his life - and, dammit, she seems to embody that particular complaint. He can never guess what she's going to do next, or what she'll suddenly pop up with out of the blue!

He's the smartest student in Hogwarts, and has everyone else figured out…but Evelynn seems to just be one mystery after another, even after she told him everything about herself! Bloody tease.

When they get back to the Orphanage, they find two boxes and a folded note lying on her pillow - two simple black boxes, about the size of her palm, wrapped with a blood-red bow. When Evelynn opens them up, the first is a small black case, one that fits in the pal of her hand easily. 'Mistress, thought you might miss your favorite musics. And, since time is meaningless for us, I figured I'd surprise you. Especially when you try them at Hogwarts. Happy Birthday.'

Evelynn blinks, and Tom asks "What is it?"

Evelynn numbly says "For one…my birthday."

Tom blinks, then asks "What?!"

Evelynn just shrugs, and says "I completely forgot, to be honest."

After a minute spent processing that, Tom says "You remembered my birthday, which I never told anyone and never celebrated anyway, yet you forgot your own?"

Evelynn shrugs, then says "I never really celebrated mine either, Tom. It was always ignored by my relatives, never even acknowledged. Unless you count my cousin and his friends always seeking me out to beat me up extra badly that day or getting even more chores than usual." She just shrugs, and adds "I hadn't even noticed it in…five years, actually. And whenever I did see the date and realize it had passed, well…its not like I could celebrate it with anyone."

Tom has to grit his teeth not to go off on a rant in Parseltongue at that - some parts of Evelynn's life sound so dangerous and death-defying, no pun intended, that its almost impossible to believe. Other parts though, like this part, sound lonely and devastatingly awful far beyond anything he's ever known before. Instead, he asks "Did Death do stuff like this often?"

Evelynn nods, saying "Yeah. I did say he was the only being I could rely on for those twelve years. He'd warn me when my ex-friends were closing in on me, or when they'd set a trap or something. Helped me learn to use the Hallows. And he helped me get my story straight here. Honestly, he did more for me in a few months than Magical Britain did in sixteen years - including helping me piece myself back together. I was a bit of a mess, for a while."

Tom thinks that last part may well be the most unsurprising thing she's ever told him, that she was a mess for a while after being blindsided like she was. Deciding to try and take her mind off the subject, Tom asks "So, what's being the 'Master of Death' about? You said the title was a mortal idea."

Evelynn chuckles, and says "It is, and it amused him greatly after he got past his outrage over the implication that someone could just order him around like a slave. You cannot master Death, not really. You can't deny him his due, can't bring people who're long dead back to life. Either they've been reborn, they're in limbo because they aren't ready to be reborn for whatever reason, or they're serving some kind of penance before they're reborn. The Stone summons shades of them, its true, but they aren't really there. Its like a memory, rather than a ghost like at Hogwarts. On the other hand, you can't try to bribe your way into the position either, like Grindelwald. He's going around slaughtering thousands, in the hopes that he'll earn Death's favor and be chosen to deal out mass destruction. Even if he managed to get all three, he wouldn't be chosen. Everyone dies eventually, but if enough people die at once it makes it extraordinarily difficult to put souls back into the world. Mortal bodies need a few specific things, you see, to last a while, and one of those things a large gene pool in the family. Else they have...problems, lets call it all. I was chosen because I didn't seek the power out, didn't kill thousands but didn't try to avoid dying either. In accepting my own death, and having become the technical owner of all three Hallows as soon as I held the Stone...I was deemed worthy."

Then she opens the small black case, and out comes two objects about the size of her thumb - also black, unsurprisingly. Black as Evelynn's hair, likely to blend in. The second box holds what look like a regular wristwatch, with Silver numbers and emerald-green hands, but when she snaps the clasp together at the inside of her wrist a small display lights up on the inside of her forearm. With a list of songs and artists, most of which he doesn't recognize. A famous piece here or there, such as Vivaldi's Four Seasons, as Evelynn flicks through it, but most of which is entirely new to him.

Tom tilts his head to the side, and asks "You like music?" In hindsight, the revelation isn't particularly surprising - Evelynn's entire life fell to pieces, and she's basically sworn off alcohol after her Uncle's temperament while influenced by it. So its hardly surprising she turned to something else to focus on, especially something as easy to come across as music.

Evelynn nods, keeping her gaze fixed on the small objects in her palm, and says "Yeah. It…it helped, if that makes any sense. It was something to do, something to distract me when I was all alone. Along with learning Runes"

Tom nods at the black objects in curiosity, asking "So…what are those?"

Evelynn quietly says "Earbuds don't become popular until the year two-thousand and one, and then suddenly they were everywhere. This looks like a wireless set. And, Merlin, some of these songs hadn't been written yet when I was cornered. It was only twenty-ten when I came back." And then she holds one of the 'earbuds' out, hesitantly asking "Do you…want to listen?"

Music from the future? …Why not? It can't be worse than the Orphanage, or the people in it.

Two minutes later, they're desperately trying to stifle their laughter at a drinking song called 'The Cat and the Moon' from a book series call the Lord of the Rings - Evelynn said she listened to it when she needed to cheer up after it came out, despite the detail that it's about alcohol. As it turns out, it's impossible not to laugh at the song since it's so ridiculous.

And then the next day they get two diaries that leave the both of them speechless - the one from Evelynn's memories, that he used as his first Horcrux, and one of her own. Bloody hell!

Chapter Text

Tom and Evelynn find an empty Compartment, and Tom has them sit so she's in the corner and he's right next to her. Evelynn shifts slightly, and says "Tom, relax. Nobody's going to be stupid enough to try anything, considering the second we're on the train we can technically use our wands." She discretely slides one hand behind his back and starts rubbing circles into his tense shoulders for good measure, and then pretends not to notice when he leans into her hand silently. Merlin, when did she start caring about him like this?! What the hell happened to not letting anyone close to her?! To her fresh start and not trusting anyone like she did last time?!

Its just because we're so alike, that's all. And the Orphanage, that to. I'm older, want to help him a little…

Its all falling flat even in her own head, even as she's thinking it.

After a minute, Tom says "I'm not going to relax until we're back in the Common Room, Evelynn. I never do."

Before she can respond, though, Theodorus Nott's voice calls out "In here, guys! Tom, good to see you!"

The rest of the group piles in, Theodorus and Orion exchanging looks at the sight of the two as Evelynn slides her hand out from behind Tom's back, and they get arranged. There's an awkward silence for a minute, everyone but Tom and Evelynn wondering why Tom is so close to her when he won't let anyone else touch him whatsoever, but Evelynn asks "So, how was everyone else's summers? Must've been more interesting than ours were."

The tension in the room deflates, and Theodorus moves it onto what classes everyone's taking. Everyone's taking Runes and Arithmancy, seeing as all the Heirs are expected to learn useful subjects, and nobody's particularly surprised when Tom has thirteen different subjects including the core classes. The guy's a certifiable genius, after all, and everyone knows it.

And then Orion asks "What about you, Evelynn?"

She glances away from the window, where she was watching the scenery, then blinks like it just registered he asked her the question. "Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Healing, Ancient Studies, Magical Theory, and Music."

Everyone except Tom stares at her, and Abraxas asks "Why Music? Its not useful for anything, after all."

Evelynn looks out the window again, saying "Something to do. Besides, I like music."

Orion raises an eyebrow, and asks "A hobby, then?" Not a traditional one...but, then again, this is Evelynn. She looks at tradition and how a lady is expected to act and laughs. Before punching someone in the face for expecting her to be all meek and submissive.

Evelynn gives him a smile, one that seems fragile for a brief moment before it settles into something flat and cold, and says "Something like that, yeah. Better than moping." And nobody really knows just what to say to that, even with Evelynn staring out the window once more. And then she starts humming the Hogwarts Song under her breath, much to everyone's surprise - because where would she have heard it before? She arrived at Hogwarts well after the Sorting Ceremony, after all - maybe someone taught it to her.

A few hours later, with everyone still waiting for the Trolley lady to come by, Evelynn breaks her silence by grumbling "That woman's never getting here." She takes her trunk out of her pocket, enlarges it…and pulls out a box, asking "Anyone else? There's ten left."

Tom reaches in without hesitation, coming out with one of his own. And then, to everyone's surprise, doesn't question her about what's in it - just opens it up and starts eating the sandwich he takes out. Something that speaks a shelf of volumes - since when does Tom trust anyone enough to just start eating something without question?!

Antonin Dolohov incredulously asks "Where did you get those?! And when? Also, why?!"

Evelynn and Tom trade looks, Evelynn clearly asking 'Just how big of an idiot is this one?' and Tom saying 'Just answer them, Evelynn.' After a minute, Evelynn rolls her eyes, and says "Made the boxes last year. As for why…Muggle war, food rationing…" She trails off, letting everyone else put the pieces together themselves - not that hard, in all honesty.

Antonin blushes heavily, and mutters "Um…oh."

"Yeah. Oh. Aside from that, when I first saw the giant tables full of food, I swore I wouldn't go hungry ever again."

At everyone's blank looks, Tom says "She went and found the kitchens. Then sweet-talked the Elves into making some food and letting her store it for later."

Evelynn scoffs, and says "Oh, please, it was hardly sweet-talking. I just simply explained what's going on in the Muggle World and they jumped at the chance to feed someone more. Turns out they like their jobs down there."

After a heavy minute of silence, one where Evelynn keeps eating her own sandwich and then takes out an apple, Abraxas incredulously asks "You asked House Elves-"

Evelynn spears the older blonde with a vicious glare at once, asking "Yeah, I did. Why? Got a bloody problem with it?"

Rosier, seeing that her patience is starting to fray - and remembering all too well what Tom does when he loses his temper - says "Wizarding Society sees Creatures such as House Elves as-"

"Inferior, I know. Just like us Half-bloods, the Goblins that run the economy, and everything else that isn't a Wiccan with a long line of magical ancestors."

Everyone's quickly come to the conclusion that this is a bit of a gigantic sore spot with Evelynn. Unfortunately. And Tom's doing nothing to stop her, watching the whole thing play out with an unreadable look on his face.

Theodorus makes a 'zip it!' gesture at everyone, then asks "Why are you so angry about it?"

Tom has a feeling he knows exactly why, but he won't say a word about it - he really hopes he's wrong, but he's long since stopped placing his bets on hope. Besides, he's seen her memories for himself - he'd probably be sympathetic to House Elves to if he was treated like them and one did everything it could to save him.

Evelynn fixes Nott with a piercing gaze for a minute, then says "Because, Theodorus Nott, it's exactly how I was treated by my relatives. They never bothered to even tell me my name until I went to Primary school, for Merlin's sake. And when they weren't working me to the bone, trying to kill me via starvation, dehydration, keeping me locked in my cupboard when I was sick, or exposure to the elements when they'd lock me out for whatever damned reason, they'd- yes, I actually lived in a broom cupboard for ten bloody years, and when I wasn't outside it being worked to the bone I was expected to pretend I didn't bloody exist."

There's a horrified and outraged silence in the compartment, and it escapes nobody's notice that Tom looks absolutely murderous at that particular revelation. And then she goes back to staring out the window in moody silence, not saying another word until Dorea and Walburga drag her away to get changed into school robes.

The instant Evelynn's gone, Abraxas says "Bloody Merlin!"

And Tom's whirling on him in an instant, levelling a vicious glare at the blonde that should well be lethal - have he and Evelynn been trading tips on glaring or something?! - and proceeding to give them all explicit instructions to not piss Evelynn Peverell off whatsoever. And to keep their hands off her.

Thankfully, when the girls get back, Evelynn seems in a…less angry mood. More like exasperated at the two Blacks, for whatever reason. Dorea grins, and says "C'mon-"

Evelynn says "No, Dorea. End of story. Budge over, Tom, you moved." And, to everyone's utter amazement, he shifts over slightly without a word.

Dorea just rolls her eyes at Evelynn's back, glancing at Orion for a moment before saying "For now, Evelynn."

Dorea corners Orion, dragging him into an abandoned classroom almost the instant they get into the dungeons, and asks "Did you see the two of them?!"

Orion rolls his eyes, saying "Dorea, everyonesaw them. Merlin, the instant you ladies were out of the door Tom was on Abraxas looking ready to tear him to shreds."

Dorea says "Well, they aren't official. I asked Evelynn about it, and she gave me the blankest look I've ever seen and asked what I was talking about."

Orion blinks, then says "Your joking."

Dorea shakes her head, saying "No."

"She told him to budge over! And he did! Nobody tells Tom what to do!"

"I know!"

"He just took some food from her without question!" 

"He what?!"

There's a thick moment of silence, and then Orion says "We need to get them together for real."

"Absolutely."

"Without Tom finding out we're playing matchmaker."

"Or Evelynn. She's just as observant, if not more so."

"Something else I'd thought impossible. But…she told him to budge over. And he did."

Dorea just throws her hands up, saying "I know! But…she's completely oblivious to some things. When she thanked me for the gift I got her, I got the feeling she hadn't expected to get anything at all."

Walburga drags Theodorus Nott in right then and shuts the door quickly, saying "Tell me you two are talking about Evelynn and Tom."

Theodorus freezes, then says "It's official. The Black Family Madness is setting in. Tell me, please for the love of Merlin, you aren't going to-"

Walburga crosses her arms, asking "Get them together?"

Theodorus blinks, then says "Thank Merlin! I sincerely thought you were going to say ask Tom about it. He does not do emotions. At all."

Dorea and Walburga trade exasperated glances, and Dorea says "Neither does Evelynn. She's perfectly oblivious to some things. Usually, the more complicated emotions. They go straight over her head."

Both Theodorus and Orion groan, and Theodorus says "This never leaves the room, ever, but…Tom's much the same way. He's always cool, aloof, and indifferent. I've always got the feeling that he doesn't feel much for others, one way or another."

Orion adds "Until Evelynn Peverell."

"Until Evelynn Peverell."

Dorea and Walburga grimace at each other, and Dorea says "So, let me get this straight. We've got not one but two extremely smart and powerful, but incredibly oblivious people to get together before graduation. Rather, make them realize they are together already."

Theo says "That's one way to put it, I suppose."

Walburga says "Merlin, this is not going to be easy."

Orion sums it up nicely by saying "We're doomed." Especially if Tom ever figures out what they're doing.

If he does...it'll probably be a bloodbath. And, heck, Evelynn may well join in - she did practically bite Abraxas' head off earlier, after all.

Chapter Text

Tom jerks awake in a cold sweat, heart racing - feeling like its about to beat out of his chest, really. He doesn't remember most of that nightmare, bar that it was made even worse by how vivid and detailed it was - full color, sound, even feeling - but what he does remember clearly is bad enough.

Being stuck in a tent, nothing to do but read the same two dozen books over and over, play games of chess that inevitably get won by the red-headed boy, and have debates with the brown-haired girl. The fight the three of them had.

I would've thought Dumbledore would tell you something useful!

Your parents are dead! You have no family!

Oh, how he wants to tear that insipid fool apart with his bare hands, no magic or wand involved except to make it as excruciating and drawn-out as possible. Because the cold, empty feeling that filled him right then, that certainty that he was never really wanted to begin with…it cut him to the bone. Tore something to shreds inside him.

Or, Tom's mind supplies, inside her - that was far too vivid and realistic to be anything but a memory, a flashback of some kind. And its no memory of his, but he can take a real good guess of who's it was.

Evelynn's. Most likely because he saw her memories - his mind just decided to play that specific one back to him.

That feeling was just lying in wait, he can guess, for her to be cast off by one of her closest friends - Ronald Weasley, he thinks that was. Accusing her of not caring about the people she damn well saw as her family, saying he'd thought Dumbledore would've told her something useful, leaving when she needed him. It cements it in Tom's mind that she's just waiting for everyone around her now to leave to, to throw her away like everyone in her old life did. That she well and truly believes she'll always be alone in this world, no matter where or when she goes, simply because she doesn't know any other life and its been ingrained in her that nobody will ever care enough to stick around for her.

Your right, of course.

It takes everything Tom has in him, every ounce of self-control, willpower, and self-preservation instincts not to scream at the sound of the voice. A voice he's got no clue as to the origin of, not one idea whatsoever. Its in his head, and yet not, and he doesn't recognize it and its freaking him the FUCK out!

Hm, so twitchy. A bit like my Mistress, really.

Tom whirls around, beyond thankful right then that Slytherin Third Years and up each get their own rooms since the Dungeons are so big. It'd be nigh-on impossible to explain to the others why he's lighting up the entire room with the most powerful Lumos he can manage in his sleep-deprived state. Less thankful that he can't find any source of the unfamiliar voice, though.

You know, she had much the same reaction when we first met, although hers was much more…explosive. Comes from having survived a war and then having to go on the run yet again, I suppose. And, before you start thinking your insane, you're not. I'm just visiting for a quick chat.

Tom shakily sits on his bed, remembering the memory Evelynn showed him about how she met Death one Halloween - yes, he remembers her throwing curses like her life depended on it once more. Rather nasty ones, to boot. Which would mean this is...

Very good, you always were a smart one when whole.

"Death?" Tom glances around at the shadows, just waiting for the being he saw in Evelynn's memories to step out of them once more.

Indeed. Or Thanatos, if you wish. Your taking this much better than the revelation of my Mistress.

Tom promptly blushes at the reminder of just how he took learning Evelynn's immortal - Merlin, he's never fainted from anything before! He embarrassed the hell out of himself like that.

Not really, my Mistress did the same thing. And then was in an extended breakdown and existential crisis for a good while afterwards.

Alright that's good to- wait a minute. "Are you reading my thoughts?!" Despite the detail that its Deathhe's talking to, Tom can't quite stop the indignation rom leaking through to his voice.

I'm in your head, at the moment. I can hear your thoughts as you think them. Small difference, in the long run, but still.

Tom doesn't know whether he should be terrified or outraged that Death is currently in his head. One the one hand, its Death. On the other, the eternal being is in his head.

How about you ask why. That's where my Mistress ended up. Eventually.

"Alright, why are you in my head? And how?"

Another good one. The why is the easier one to answer, though. Although, in the end, it's the same answer. And it's because you're getting closer and closer to my Mistress, despite her best efforts.

"Her best efforts? What do you mean?"

My Mistress swore years ago that she'd never trust anyone else, not after the betrayal of her so-called friends. She trusted them with everything she was, thought of them as her family - what she imagined family was supposed to be like, anyway - and they turned on her at once when the war was over and hunted her down. She meant it when she said she has trust issues.

"I know, she told me." And even if she hadn't, it had been all-too apparent in those few memories he saw of after the war. She would only go into a town once she'd mastered the power of the Cloak, to ensure nobody could find her or any trace of her.

She did tell you, and showed you, but do you know? After all, she told you. She willingly gave you that information when you asked, didn't hold any of it back. While she hates being outright lied to, omitting small amounts of information is another matter entirely, be it to make things easier or to spare someone pain. So, why do you think she told you everything?

Tom frowns, seeing the being's point - why did she tell him everything? She could've just refused, or made something up to satisfy him. No, instead she told him her entire life story, the good and the bad. And the unbelievable. After a while, he says "She wanted to keep that future from happening." She wanted to scare him out of ever even considering making even a single Horcrux...right?

Mm, partially. She did indeed see the chance to change your path and took it. But, had that been her only motive, she could've just killed you and been done with it. You pointed it out yourself. No, instead that thought had never crossed her mind. She also could've just showed you your future, your fate, instead of hers.

Death's right, Tom knows he's right. He's been turning the question around in his head for a while now, as it happens. He wants to know why the immortal entity is right, though. Not being inclined to kill people, even if you've done it before, is one thing...but it never crossing one's mind when the potential corpse had done so much is another. And showing them everything is another once more, in a league all its own.

There's an amused chuckle that sounds in Tom's head, and he can imagine the being shaking his head at the same time. The answer, for once, is rather simple. The two of you are much alike, as your older counterpart in the Diary once said to her. Both orphans, Half-bloods, raised by Muggles. Even being Parselmouths. Despite everything, you've somehow managed to get close to her. Quite the amazing feat, all things considered.

Tom gets a few brief glimpses of what must be moments of Evelynn's past, between killing Voldemort and coming here - all of them tinged with despair, betrayal and loneliness that surpasses anything he's ever known before in his own life.

Her sitting in ruined manors, hiding in the basements or whatever equivalent there was so people wouldn't find her. Waiting for a solid two hours using the Invisibility Cloak's powers, watching as her former friends searched the manor she was in for any sign of her - too wary to move too much in case it tips Granger off somehow, too shocked at the revelation that they fully believed Dumbledore even when there was no evidence to back up his claims of her inevitably going Dark to think of much anything else, too hurt to even knock them out or get away.

Nights spent in forests, climbing trees to have somewhere to sleep that wasn't the hard ground even if a tree branch wasn't much better.

Learning magic and skills that were entirely new to her because it was that or give in to despair and she didn't want to start crying and never stop.

Watching from the shadow of a tree as Ronald Weasley curses her existence and her ability to disappear, while Granger consoles him with the knowledge that she can't run and hide forever.

The attack that sent her back - the betrayal that cut her to the core all over again at the spells they were flinging at her, despite everything they'd been through and all she gave for them. The hatred on their faces, the accusations they flung at her in between spells.

Once the memories and emotions that aren't his fade, Tom quietly asks "Why? Why me?" After all he put her through, even if Dumbledore manipulated her entire life, why didn't she just stay away from him if she wasn't going to kill him? Why would she trust her former nemesis enough to fall asleep so easily each night when they were alone together, be so very vulnerable around him so willingly? If their situations were reversed, he'd never have gotten a decent night's sleep again, too worried about Evelynn deciding to preempt the prophecy like she easily could've done for the future she grew up in.

An excellent series of questions, however telling you wouldn't work out so well. I will say this, though. You make my Mistress happier than she's been in a very long time. You give her something to hold onto, for however long you're in her life. Her thoughts, not mine.

Tom processes that then quietly asks "So…why did I see some of her memories?" It wasn't because he saw her memories, was it? In his sleep or just now?

Clever, but I still won't tell you. All in good time, as you two have to figure it out on your own. At least, the first bit.

And then Tom feels something leave his mind as abruptly as it made itself known, leaving him with far too many questions and no answers. The first question being if Death is always so damn vague about everything.

He gets the uncomfortable, unfortunate feeling the answer is yes.

The second question is how long was Death in his head, and is he responsible for the dream he had?

And then he thinks of another question - does Death just randomly pop into people's heads for kicks, or is something happening to him?! He'll have to ask Evelynn at some point - alone, though, he most certainly does not want people to think he's suddenly crazy. As he lays back on his bed, something Evelynn said to him the day after telling him everything goes through his head all on its own.

"I've always been alone, Tom. Its all I'll ever be, to, because its all I know how to be. I've got eternity to get used to the idea, to, just in case I haven't yet after a lifetime of betrayals and hatred at every turn already."

To live forever, but doing so in such a bleak manner…Tom didn't think anything could rob him of his desire to live forever, but the combination of what the Horcruxes did to him and Evelynn's own circumstances has certainly dampened it. An existence of madness and suffering, endless pain when his body fails him and he's reduced to a bodiless spirit until he can get a new body, that's what the Horcruxes do to him. And Evelynn...unable to die, or perhaps stay dead would be more accurate, but not allowed to live in her old time...it makes him think, for just a minute, that perhaps immortality isn't all it's cracked up to be if those are the two options. 

There's also the Sorcerer's Stone, but he doesn't particularly want to be tied to a rock for eternity. And he can't see himself meeting Nicholas Flamel in the near future anyway.

Evelynn would probably point out the detail that I'm a genius and say I'd have made a working theory at some point if I asked why she told me everything. Not that any sane person would think 'time-travelling Master of Death' if left to it on their own…

Chapter Text

Tom smirks as Evelynn's eyes widen in shock…at the stairs built into the tunnel. "You didn't seriously…wait, nevermind, you slid down there the whole way."

Evelynn gives him a mock glare, saying "Well, it's not like I could've known! There wasn't exactly a note anywhere saying 'there's stairs built into the secret entrance' or anything!" Add to it that they were a little pressed for time, that the school was going to close in mere hours, they had a cowardly fraud with them, and she probably would've decided to slide down anyway.

Tom just shakes his head, saying "I found the Chamber while you were unconscious, but haven't done anything in regards to it, yet. Beyond piling up the endless shed skin that was laying everywhere into a corner." And he was so glad he muttered about wishing there were stairs, it was pure luck that they reacted to the word. Not that he's ever admitting to it.

Evelynn nearly trips on a stair at that point, but Tom manages to catch her before she falls all the way down below - she may be immortal, but he's not eager to test that state of things. "What?! You mean you've got…what did you do with it?! All the shed skins?!"

Tom gets a look of confusion on his face, even as he steadies Evelynn and keeps her away from the edge, and says "Piled it up in a corner, at the time. I hadn't yet learned the Banishing Charm, that was only last we-"

"Don't Banish it! Tom, that- I'll explain when we're down there!"

Thankfully, the stairs have something much like a reversed Expansion Charm on them - it compresses the space into the…twenty or so steps they have to walk down. Because she's looking too urgent and hasty for it not to be something big, and Tom's more than a little curious now.

Evelynn chuckles when they get down to the bottom, and says "This looks familiar. Bones and all. Open."

Tom heads in, asking "Why shouldn't I get rid of all the Basilisk skin? Your reaction would suggest there's a very good reason."

Evelynn glances at him, asking "Tom? How much do you know about Basilisks?"

He frowns at her, saying "Everything I could read up on them after I found the Chamber and met Salazar's. Why?"

"Well, here's what most of the Wizarding World knows. Gigantic, extremely dangerous…and the Potion ingredients that one can harvest from them - don't give me that look, just listen! - such as shed skin, and venom are worth a bloody fortune."

Tom's furious glare disappears when he realizes she's not suggesting they kill the Basilisk, a connection to his ancestor, for potions ingredients…and then the implications really hit him. "Bloody Merlin!" He doesn't usually swear, ever- he's of the opinion is a foul habit for lesser people, and has worked rather hard to keep his vocabulary clean even if his actions aren't so clean even now - but this is...this is almost as big as Evelynn's 'everything.'

Evelynn glances over at him, asking "Just how much Basilisk Skin was there when you got down here?" Tom doesn't usually swear, so this has got to be amazing. She's yet to hear him even lightly swear, even in Parseltongue.

"The piles were all taller than I am, Evelynn. And there were quite a few piles. Now it's a veritable mountain." The look on her face is priceless, absolutely priceless.

"A thousand years, and if it shed even just one a year…oh. My. Bloody. Merlin…" Tom quickly leads her into the Chamber, showing her the not-so-small mountain of Basilisk skin. Evelynn's legs actually give out under her, her eyes gone wide as she stares at the gigantic pile of shed basilisk skin. "That…that wasn't there last time I was here…" Evidently, he Banished them - and again, via Ginny, in her Second Year.

Tom sits down next to her, before his own legs give out under him, and he asks "Just how much was something like Basilisk Skin worth in your time?"

Evelynn just shrugs, saying "I don't know. Never knew it was worth anything at all until I mentioned it to Griphook in my Seventh year at the Shell Cottage. Rather, what should've been my seventh year. He asked what happened to the sword, you see, because it wasn't just Goblin Silver any longer. He was utterly amazed I'd…well, you know, survived. Gryffindor's sword had become infused with Basilisk Venom from it, making it worth more than most of the vaults in Gringotts had at the time apparently. And then he asked what I did with…you know, the rest." She glances at the wall, clearly trying to put the death of a thousand-year-old Basilisk delicately for Tom. Something he appreciates, given the detail that its Slytherin's own Basilisk.

He gets why she did it, really - it was do or die, literally, and she didn't want to die. Had the roles been reversed, he probably would've done the same - or he'd have died, he's not stupid enough to think a Basilisk bite couldn't have killed him. That memory in particular was absolutely terrifying, made all the worse by the detail that she was completely alone - it shouldn't have been her. It shouldn't have even been her and Weasley down there. It should've been the entire damn staff, not a lone twelve-year-old with a Bound Core and no idea how to even kill a Basilisk. To get his mind off his darkening thoughts, Tom asks "Do you think Gringotts could sell all this?"

"For a fee, of course." They both let out slightly hysterical laughs at the imitation of one of the Goblins, and then Evelynn asks "You want me to sneak you out to Gringotts the next Hogsmeade Weekend to get an account opened in your name? So we can get the skin sold?"

And, oh, that particular realization was not a good one for her, that a Head of House could sign off on the permission slip to let a student go. That had her fuming, no matter how well she tried to hide it. Not without good reason, but still. Tom's pretty sure there's a smoking - or, more accurately, frozen - crater where an abandoned classroom deep in the dungeons used to be. The more she learns in this time, and the more he learns of her original time, the more it seems like her entire life was scripted out ever since she got that scar on her forehead.

Dumbledore just didn't want her to go to Hogsmeade, potentially make any friends he didn't approve of - McGonagall might not have known Black was innocent, but she could've at least explained that, for her own safety, she shouldn't be wandering around outside the Hogwarts Wards where a supposed mass-murderer could get to her. 

Tom glances over, asking "You can get us to Diagon Alley without any of the teachers the wiser?" She's got to teach him that!

"Yeah. We wouldn't even need to go to the village, I could shadow us directly from Hogwarts."

Tom grimaces at once, saying "That method of travel is…" Horrible, absolutely nauseating, the list seems endless.

Evelynn just shrugs, and says "For one, completely undetectable. It comes with being the Master of Death."

"Alright," Tom has to concede, "it has some benefits. But, still…it is utterly revolting."

Evelynn just shrugs, saying "I can't see it, sorry. And since you're the only person I've ever shadowed before…maybe its an acquired taste. Or maybe you need to learn Shadow Magic yourself for it to become bearable." Everyone said Apparition would get easier if you did it yourself, but she hated it every single time. Her shadows, by comparison, have always felt infinitely better.

Tom shudders, she's only done it once, and it was the single worst mode of travel he's ever known. The shadows seemed to seep into his body as well as coat him in an oily substance, and it felt like his body was dissolving. He didn't retch when it was over, but it was a near thing. A bit too near for comfort, to be honest.

After Evelynn gets introduced to the Basilisk, a female who is rather delighted to find Tom suddenly has a Mate - again?! Seriously?! No, we're not Mates! Or offspring! - he shows her the hidden rooms he found while exploring. A Potions Lab - one that Severus Snape would gleefully kill for, Evelynn's sure - a ritual room with what looks like the Wardstone for the entire school, and a library that Evelynn's utterly amazed Tom managed not to get lost in permanently. There's books on every conceivable subject, and a few inconceivable ones as well. Languages, Runes, Wards, Charms…you name it, its in there.

Point of fact, she can actually see Tom's fingers twitching as she looks around in shock. And he gets an honest-to-Merlin pout on his face when they get out. An adorable pout, she concedes, but a pout nonetheless. She didn't think Tom Riddle pouted!

After she drags him out by the arm, she asks "How, in Merlin's name, did you manage to leave that room?!"

Tom clears his throat, and mutters "I was just lucky it was winter break when I found all this…"

"So that's where you vanished to for those three days! Merlin, I'd just thought we kept missing each other. Wait, bloody hell! You didn't actually spend three solid days in there!"

Tom nods, saying "In my defense, I'd only thought it was the end of the first day when I came back up." He doesn't miss how Evelynn shakes her head in exasperation, or how the corners of her lips twitch upwards as she fights not to smile.

And then, she lightly says "Well, I guess there's only one thing for it then."

Tom glances at her, half-warily and half-confused - he never knows what she's going to suggest, and wants to brace himself for it now. "And, what's that?"

"We take the library with us when we graduate."

Tom blinks, that was…not, in any way, shape, or form what he was thinking she'd say. Somehow, given all the twists and turns her life has taken - including getting sent back into the past! - it seems…far too simple of an idea. Then again, this is the same girl that seems to delight in confusing him, defying any and all expectations. Of course she'd think of something simple when he was expecting a complicated or even ridiculously convoluted idea.

Both of them are still feeling slightly hysterical over the pile of Basilisk skins when they get out of the Chamber, even with Evelynn promising to get him to Gringotts at the next Hogsmeade weekend - but, bloody hell! Tom's currently got a shrunken Expanded briefcase of shrunken Basilisk skin in his pocket! How's he supposed to remain calm when he's got a fortune in the form of 'snake-skin' as Evelynn semi-hysterically put it just sitting there?! And that's to say nothing of the Basilisk's venom, which they have to create a special container spelled specifically to resist the stuff for.

He puts it at the bottom of his Trunk, layer upon layer of protective spells and Wards on the case until further notice. He's still trying to process the detail that he almost got rid of thousands of Galleons with a wave of his Wand!

Chapter Text

Orion and Theodorus trade looks as Tom glances around the Common Room - its only a month into the term, but its become almost painfully clear to practically the entire house that something changed between Tom and Evelynn over the summer. Nobody's sure what, exactly, but its there in the little things if one only pays attention enough.

Tom's eyes are almost perpetually drawn to her, for one, and she seems to relax slightly whenever he's around. She's also in the Common Room more, usually occupying a table in a darker corner of the room to be out of the way - but, if you pay attention, she's listening to whatever it is that the others are discussing, particularly with Tom. The glare Tom gets whenever someone more than glances at her - aside from Dorea and Walburga, who got close to Evelynn last year by way of sharing a dorm with her - is a bit of a giveaway, though.

Also, the touching - nobody gets to touch Tom, and he doesn't touch anyone either, but suddenly he's leading her around by the wrist or she'll give his arm or shoulder a squeeze or sit down right next to him if there's no other seat available.

And sometimes if there is another seat available.

Honestly, the two female Blacks are right - its like the two of them are together…but they just haven't acknowledged it yet. Or they accidentally got together and haven't figured it out or done anything.

At the moment, however, Evelynn's…nowhere to be found. She's been moody all day today, but nobody seems to have any idea why - and then she disappeared after lunch and hasn't been seen since, good thing it's the weekend and there's no classes. Deciding to take a leap of faith - and hope Tom doesn't Curse him straight away - Orion asks "Theo, you have any idea where Evelynn is? Dorea said she has a book I need to take a look at." He could feel Tom's intense gaze snap to him at once, but thankfully no Curse hits him. Probably because of the book excuse.

Theodorus, catching on quickly, says "No, sorry. Haven't seen her since lunch where she helped Warren with Olive Hornby." And wasn't that an amusing sight - Olive Hornby having to hop all the way to the professors' table to undo the Leg-Locking Jinx because nobody was willing to risk Evelynn's wrath after the death-glare she gave Hornby. All she did, though, was make a shield that reflected the other girl's own Jinx back to her. And Warren seems to be hero-worshipping Evelynn now that she's made it clear she'll keep Hornby off her back at the start of term, something that horrifies the girl to no end - hence the three days she spent finding books for Myrtle Warren so she could defend herself.

Tom smoothly says "Let's go find her, then."

Knocking on her door gets no response, and Tom eventually says "She's not in there. I can't sense her magic inside." Well, that's not strictly true - he can sense her magic in there…but he can sense that its all spells she's cast or the magic she used last night, not magic that's coming from her.

Dorea clears her throat behind all three of them, asking "Looking for Evelynn?"

Orion nods, and says "Its about that book you said she had, I need to take a look at it." Theodorus, however, points to Tom where the other teen can't see.

Dorea catches on, and says "Ah, course. Well, she hasn't been back here. We split up in the dungeons, something about her having a day and needing to be alone for a bit. She said she'd be back later."

Tom frowns, trying to think of where she might go or what she might do if she wanted to be alone - the Chamber is too obvious, and if she truly wanted to be alone she wouldn't go there because its where he'd go to look for her. The Room of Requirement is an option, but its not in the dungeon - and he really hopes she hasn't gone to the Room, since if she asked it to make somewhere she could be alone for a while they'll never get in. After a minute, he says "There's dozens, if not hundreds, of unused rooms in the dungeons. If someone wanted to be alone, that'd be the place to start."

Its Theodorus that finds Evelynn first, and its pure chance that he finds Orion and Tom before they do as well - she's just holed up in one of the old rooms deep in the dungeons.

Playing piano.

All the dusty, rickety old furniture is piled up along one wall in the back, from what he saw, and there's a grand piano in the middle of the room now with Evelynn playing it. Playing it, his mind distantly notes, like she's been playing it for years and was taught how to do so by an expert.

As such, when he finds Orion and Tom, his expression puts Tom on edge at once while Orion just raises an eyebrow. "Did you find her?"

Theodorus makes a note that Tom's getting more and more on edge as they can't find Evelynn, shoves it into the back of his mind far behind his Occlumency shields, and says "Yes, c'mon. You have got to see this. Also…" He quickly casts a Charm to keep their magic hidden from Evelynn.

Orion raises an eyebrow, asking "What was that for?"

"Just c'mon, you'll see soon enough."

Its very clear Tom's making an effort not to simply make Theodorus explain - possibly because the Nott Heir is closest to him out of everyone bar Orion - and Orion dearly hopes this is going to be good. He knows it will be when he hears the first strains of Piano Music - a Grand Piano, if he's not mistaken. Perfectly tuned, to.

Theodorus puts a finger to his lips, Disilliusions the three of them, and murmurs "Two doors down, on the left." He keeps one hand on Tom's shoulder cautiously, fairly certain Orion does the same with Tom's right, and leads them to the room. He, at least, has the presence of mind to get them out of the doorway as Evelynn keeps playing - he doesn't recognize the song, but its haunting and melancholic. And its very beautiful, despite or perhaps because of that - it seems that whatever emotions Evelynn doesn't understand get channeled into her music. Her fingers seem to fly across the keys, but the song doesn't sound rushed at all - no, she's playing like she's been playing for years, and is very good at it. He can practically feel the despair and what he'd describe as betrayal in the song, which turns to anger.

And, Merlin, her magic - even they can sense it, so Tom must be all but drowning or suffocating under it considering he's able to sense magic all the time. It's like she's meditating, except she's just getting lost in her music and letting her magic run free. Until she ends the song, taking in a shaking breath and running her hands up her face and through her hair. And breathing out "Dammit, why today…damn them all to hell…"

Theodorus figures she must mean Grindelwald and his fanatics, he certainly can't think of anyone else she'd be cursing. She breathes out another sigh, then says "Play another song, Evelynn. Better than moping." Why did she have to have a dream about her old life last night? Really, why? And it wasn't even something she saw, but an imagined scene about Dumbledore calling Ron and Hermione into his office and telling them she would go Dark and would need to be killed if she survived the war.

Tom is oh-so-thankful he's Disillusioned, as he can't help the smirk on his face when she starts playing 'The Cat and the Moon' from her playlist. She doesn't sing any of the lyrics, but she's smiling and quietly chuckling about halfway through the song as he plays the words out in his head. She then switches to what he recognizes as 'Once Upon a December' - either that thing is set to random again, or Evelynn made a playlist for when she plays. If she's listening to it at all. She usually listens to that one, though, when she gets nostalgic.

Evelynn's just about to start another song when Dorea comes through the doorway, and she whirls around at once in her seat. Eyes gone wide as saucers, and twisting to what looks like an almost painful degree, at that. Her legs are still facing the piano, while her torso twists around almost 180 degrees to face Dorea - how she managed that is something they'd like to know, doesn't that hurt?!

Dorea, for her part, just blinks then asks "You play Piano?"

Evelynn nods, and cautiously says "It's a bit of a hobby I picked up over the years."

"This is why you took Music as an elective! You just wanted free access to…this isn't the school's Piano. The school doesn't even have a Grand Piano!"

Evelynn shrugs, saying "Found it, fixed it up. Its something to do." Which isn't a lie, it was in the Room of Requirement and fixing it gave her something to do for a good month.

"Can you play something?"

Evelynn blinks at Dorea, that blank look coming over her face for a moment that says she never expected anyone to say that. "Come again?"

Dorea nods eagerly, saying "Play something! Please?"

Evelynn shrugs, then asks "What do you want to hear?" Nobody's ever asked her to play something - of course, she was on the run when she taught herself. 

"Anything!"

Evelynn blinks, then starts playing the Hogwarts school song. Which gets a laugh out of Dorea, even as she starts saying a few of her favorite lines.

Once Evelynn's done playing, Dorea sits down next to her and says "You play like you're an expert at it, did you know that?"

Evelynn blinks, then asks "What?" How would Dorea know that? And why would she say as much?

Dorea nods, and says "Music is usually played at the various balls all us Purebloods attend, and you play the same as the Pianists that are hired when the hosts didn't set up a spell to play. Same posture, same movements…"

Evelynn ducks her head, not quite hiding a blush spreading across her face as she says "I'm no expert, its just something I taught myself…"

Dorea rolls her eyes, then asks "Does anyone else know? Tom, perhaps?"

Evelynn looks over so fast she should legitimately have whiplash, saying "No! No, I haven't told anyone." The blush she was trying to hide is about the color of a Stunner, and making its way across the rest of her face. Impossible to miss, and all but actually glowing. "'Sides, why would Tom care? He's going to change this entire bloody world, what's a bit of music compared to that?" The blank look on Evelynn's face says she really believes that, and her tone of voice is like she's talking about the weather.

There's a moment of silence, and then Dorea says "Oh, Merlin. C'mon, lets head back to the Common Room. Someone must be wondering where you are by now." The exasperation written on the Black's face is clear to everyone, even as Evelynn shrinks the Piano down and stores it in her pocket for now - after casting a series of Charms on it to keep it from getting damaged, of course.

Its after Evelynn and Dorea are out of the room that Orion makes them reappear, and Theodorus takes the Concealment Charms off them revealing shocked expressions on all their faces.

Orion's the first to speak, saying "Bloody Merlin!" When he went looking for Evelynn with Theo and Tom, he didn't think that would happen! Evelynn just saying Tom's going to change the entire world as casually as if they were talking about the weather...she's got it bad.

Theodorus is not much better, saying "That…happened." He'd think for a minute that it was all for show, that she knew they were there, except for the look on Evelynn's face - utter panic at the thought of Tom finding out about the piano...he didn't take her as insecure about herself, but it looks like her relatives affected her more than he thought. Which, in hindsight, is more surprising than it honestly should be - he might not know first-hand what it's like to be belittled at every single turn, but it would almost certainly make someone hesitant about showing off any skills of theirs.

And then the two of them glance at Tom's expression - he's a goner, he's one hundred and ten percent screwed. The look on his face, in his eyes, says it all. Looks like its all a matter of getting one of them to make a move of some kind, then, because they are apparently so oblivious that its almost painful.

One thought goes through both Purebloods' heads right then - 'Merlin help anyone who asks Evelynn Peverell out.' The very thought would probably have Tom cursing the idiot before he could get anywhere near Evelynn.

Well, this might not actually be as hard as they'd thought - Evelynn apparently has something for him, and from the look on Tom's face it's not in vain. At least, not if they can get the two of them to figure out their emotions - honestly, the two of them are emotionally constipated at the best of times it seems.

Chapter Text

Tom nearly retches as he and Evelynn appear in Diagon Alley early in the morning - that is not getting any better, he's sure of it. Evelynn has them Cloaked, thankfully, so nobody's noticing them as he tries not to throw up - one hand on his shoulder, the other rubbing circles into his back. "Easy, Tom, breathe through the nose…"

He nods, trying to quell his nausea through force of will alone - with mixed success. He hasn't thrown up yet, but his stomach refuses to take no for an answer. It doesn't help, he's sure, that they had so far to go - all the way from the Dungeons in Hogwarts to this shadowy back alley in Diagon.

"Alright, good thing I brought these. Nausea Potion."

She hands it to him, and he takes only a brief moment to see that, yes, it is a Nausea Potion before uncorking it and downing it in one go. Merlin, he loves Potions so much. Whoever invented the branch of magic deserves an Order of Merlin. First Class, at that.

After the Potion does its work quickly, and he manages to shake off the feeling of the shadows coating his skin like oil, the two of them straighten up and head into Gringotts. Luckily, there's nobody around to see them - of course, going at four in the morning tends to have that effect.

Once again, the Goblins freak and usher them into Director Ragnuk's office. The expression on his face is priceless once more, as if he's silently asking the universe 'why me?!'

Opening an account for Tom is the work of about ten minutes, especially when Ragnuk sees the Basilisk Skin in the suitcase Tom brought. He's almost literally salivating at the sight. The three of them spend an hour viciously haggling over the fee Gringotts will get out of selling the Basilisk Skin, which ends up being 5% of the profits - and Evelynn sees firsthand just why Tom was so good at Borgin and Burkes, why he was so good at buying things for so little.

And a young Griphook gets put in charge of both their accounts, as well as selling the Basilisk skin - which shocks Evelynn speechless, at the sight of the Goblin that first took her to her Vault and helped her get the Cup. Even if he did betray them in the end, it was enough to get the Cup and get out. And now he's here, put in charge of their accounts without any idea whatsoever of the memories Evelynn already has of him.

She's pulled out of her thoughts by Tom elbowing her in the side, and finds he's tugging her up out of her seat. Once they're out of the office, with Griphook carrying the briefcase like its filled with priceless artifacts, she murmurs "We're done here?"

Tom nods, tilting his head slightly as he asks "Yeah. What happened, you spaced out again?"

Evelynn glances at Griphook's retreating back, and quietly says "Griphook…I knew him. He's the Goblin that first took me to my vault, you see. And he helped us get the Cup. I didn't expect him to be alive already."

Tom blinks, glancing back at the Goblin himself, then says "Oh. That…would be surprising."

Evelynn nods, then says "Let's get back to your Dorm, then. Most everyone should be just waking up." So there shouldn't be any questions about where they've been - getting up at the crack of dawn, while exhausting, does have its advantages at times.

They get back to the dorm without incident, Evelynn hands Tom the other Nausea Potion, and then she heads to her own room.

Later that afternoon, Tom and his group of friends are talking while Evelynn reads a book and comments every once in a while. Theodorus frowns, and says "We've only got two main areas in the British Isles, actually. Diagon Alley, and everything in it, and Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. Everything else is hiding in plain sight. There are some mixed communities, like Godric's Hollow, but the Magicals can't use magic where the Muggles might see."

Tom hums, then says "Any new area would have to be substantial, then. An entire town, perhaps."

Evelynn hums, then says "You could make it known for something, to. Hogsmeade is known for being right near Hogwarts, where the townspeople can take shelter if necessary. 'Cause, you know, Hogwarts is supposed to be the safest place in Wizarding Britain." She and Tom share an eyeroll at that, but don't expand any on Evelynn's sarcastic comment. "And Diagon Alley, and everything connected to it, is the place to go to buy things in the Isles. School supplies and otherwise, it's more than likely going to be somewhere in the Alley. If not, it's just not in Magical Britain."

Orion and Theodorus share a look, glancing at Tom's expression as Evelynn speaks - they've always known he's going places, known he's got world-changing ambitions and the power to make them reality. And now its looking like they won't be the main force helping him to the top…but Evelynn Peverell.

Tom hums, then asks "What would you suggest, then?"

Evelynn doesn't even look up, casually saying "Off the top of my head? Build a Magical Orphanage, somewhere Magical children can go if they're stuck in the Muggle World or they lose their parents and don't have any other close relatives or anywhere to stay. Make the place self-sufficient, and with enough House Elves to take care of everyone that ends up staying there, with enough food, clothes, and Potions in case something happens. And Ward the entire place so well you could drop a hundred bombs in the area and nobody would feel as much as a breeze. That new magical area could be known for that, specifically. A safe haven, of sorts, perhaps. Somewhere anyone could go if they sought shelter, so long as they don't try to attack anyone."

Orion incredulously asks "You came up with that off the top of your head? What can you give us after ten minutes of serious thought?! That's incredible!"

Evelynn shrugs, then says " Ask something, then."

Tom leans forward slightly, saying "Say you wanted to change this world. How would you do it?"

Evelynn gives him an amused look, complete with a raised eyebrow, and asks "Aside from tearing it all down and putting together something that works?" Which, most likely, would've actually been easier than trying to reform the Ministry, Wizengamot, and Magical Britain as a whole in Evelynn's original time. Everyone was more interested in their pureblood lineage than actually doing their job, or they were trying to stay on the powerful Purebloods' good sides. Or they were like Cornelius Fudge, too afraid of his own shadow to do anything Lucius Malfoy didn't tell him to do, or Umbridge and her never-ending prejudice against all Creatures.

At Tom's nod, she hums and says "Need a Minister who's not a spineless sop that cares more about looking good for the public than doing his actual job. One who's willing to do whatever it took to actually do that job, even if they aren't particularly liked for it. You'd also need to get the Wizengamot on your side, though I seriously doubt you'd have much trouble with that."

"Oh?" Tom tilts his head to the side, a slightly predatory smirk on his lips as he asks "Why's that?"

Evelynn rolls her eyes - actually rolls her eyes at Tom! And not the eyeroll where they're sharing some inside joke, either! - saying "Well, let's see. You can charm the pants off just about anyone you meet, when you're not talking circles around them. You thrive in the political scene, Tom. That's one part. You're the Heir of Slytherin, with the Parseltongue to show for it, there's your prestigious lineage. Part two. You can flatten practically everyone in the school with absurd ease, nobody with even a sliver of a brain in their head would say you don't have enough power to be respected. That's part three. And you've spent how long making connections to powerful families?" Her expression silently asks 'What else do you think you need?'

Theodorus says "Well, damn. You've really thought this out."

Evelynn shrugs, and says "I've had time. You'd also need people to like you, though."

Orion raises an eyebrow, asking "Why's that?" He and Theodorus can see Tom's latching onto every word Evelynn's saying, like its pure gold coming out of her mouth instead of - admittedly - very insightful commentary. If he were anyone other than Tom, they'd say he's hanging off her every word. As it is, they're pretty much doing so - Evelynn just seems to have a sense of how people work, how to get them to do what you want.

Evelynn simply says "Simple, really. You could have all the money in the world, so much power your practically exploding with it, and connections to every department of the Ministry, every other Magical Community on this planet…but it wouldn't do you any good if people thought you were a monster, or pure evil. If people were afraid of you, or opposed you at every turn, all of that would be for nothing in the end. So, if you want to be able to change this world…make people like you, get them to put you in a position to make those changes. Make them think it was all their idea, that it was thrust onto you, rather than that you wanted it for your own agenda."

Tom asks "How do you suppose we'd do that?"

It escapes nobody but Tom and Evelynn that he just said 'we' instead of 'I' - as in, at the very least, himself and Evelynn.

Evelynn asks "The Magical Orphanage? Somewhere, say, Muggleborn children could be taught about the Wizarding World's history and traditions? And that's assuming they're the children of actual Muggles and not descendants of Squibs. If it's the latter, the parents could work there or something, or live nearby."

Avery joins in the conversation right then, asking "Descendants of Squibs?"

"Uh, yeah. What happens to Squibs when it's clear they aren't able to cast spells? Far as I know, they get thrown out into the Muggle World. So…what about their children? Who's to say the magic won't reappear a few generations down the line?" Honestly, there were more supposed Muggleborns, along with Half-bloods of both kinds, than Purebloods in school in the 1990's, so Evelynn figures she's on to something. If magic were just suddenly appearing out of nowhere, why didn't full-grown adults suddenly start doing magical things? Get upset at some kind of business meeting, and suddenly blow out a window or burn a chart to ashes?

Avery opens his mouth to reject the idea, but stops and does a goldfish impression instead. Tom's secretly convinced Evelynn likes throwing Purebloods for an almost vicious spin. It would appear she delights in making everyone at least as confused as she made him last year, if not far more. She also seems to like getting people to question everything they ever thought was true, including their own existence.

Tom clears his throat as Evelynn goes back to her book, and says "All well and good, Evelynn, but your forgetting one thing. To do all of that, starting with the Magical Orphanage, we'd need something close to an entire town. Unless you've got some mansion and a surrounding forest hidden in your inheritance somewhere."

She doesn't, he's fairly sure. Or, at the very least, she can't access it yet, and she already said she won't try to touch anything Potter with a ten-foot pole so she doesn't make any trouble.

Evelynn scoffs, looking up from her book with an eyeroll, and says "Tom, you d-" She suddenly cuts herself off, a look of utter shock painting itself on her face as she stares silently at Tom.

"Evelynn?"

She's out of her seat before anyone can blink, muttering "Merlin, I'm a bloody idiot." She heads to the book repository connected to the Common Room, leaving everyone else confused.

They find her looking through the books, muttering "Wards, wards, c'mon, where are you…?" After a moment, her magic flares out and covers the entire room before a book as thick as Evelynn's hand is wide flies into her hands. And then she's heading to a nearby table, somehow avoiding even grazing them while moving between them - without looking up from the book she's flipping through, how the hell?! - and summoning Parchment, ink, and a quill.

Orion murmurs "And we've lost her…" This has happened a few times before, where they'll find her engrossed in a project of some kind...but this is the first time they've ever seen her suddenly start one.

Theodorus asks "Anyone have an idea of what set this off?" One minute they're talking future plans, the next she's looking for a book on Wards.

Tom hums, then sits down opposite Evelynn - the others don't go near, but from the looks of it Evelynn's so absorbed in her new project that she's down to answers of only a few words. It takes Tom ten minutes to get back to them, and Orion asks "Well?"

Tom eyes the two of them, the two Purebloods he's closest to in Slytherin...the entire school, actually. Evelynn would probably say they're his best friends, and he'd never admit it but she's probably right. After a moment's hesitation, he says "You both know my suspicions of my father."

Orion and Theodorus nod, they helped Tom look through the historical archives for any mention of a Riddle attending Hogwarts - nothing. They were forced to conclude that 'Tom Riddle' was a Muggle - a horrifying conclusion, due to the implications for Tom. For such charm, power, intelligence, and - admittedly, they're both straight as brooms but they've got eyes for Merlin's sake - good looks to come from Muggle blood…he'll have to work almost ten times as hard as any Pureblood with barely a fraction of any or all of it to get anywhere he wants to go. Even with his Slytherin Heritage, unless he can somehow take on the Slytherin name.

Tom tugs at one of his sleeves, and says "Well, apparently…the Riddles are the Muggle version of Purebloods. Evelynn's words, not mine."

Orion raises an eyebrow, and asks "How so?" Knowing Evelynn, it'll be either amusing or accurate to the point of semi-insulting.

Tom says "Rich. Rich enough to own the entirety of Little Hangleton, bar the Gaunt Shack and the land its on, on the other side of the valley. According to Evelynn…I could actually end up owning an entire town to do with as I wish." It's something of a novel concept to the teen, who's never had much more than the stipend from the school funds he gets to buy his school supplies for the new year.

"And? What's Evelynn doing?"

Tom glances over at the occupied table, then says in total exasperation "Writing up a Ward Scheme that could cover an entire town plus the area the Gaunt Shack is in."

The words 'only Evelynn' hang in the air, unsaid but there all the same. As if to prove them correct, said girl calls over "Hey, anyone know where the Ward Scheme for the school is? Or a book on the Wards? Nevermind, I'll just use the Room."

Only Evelynn...

An hour later, they find her with a worn, but preserved, book on Runes, Arithmancy, and Wards more complicated than even the Seventh Years can understand sitting next to a book on the Various kinds of Wards on Diagon Alley, writing almost like she's possessed, and completely deaf to the world. Tom has to steal both her books just to get her to look up for dinner, a sure sign she's really into this as she's never missed a meal yet in the entire time she's been at Hogwarts.

Two days later, she's not writing like she's actually writing out her will and has only days to live - Tom has no idea where the Ward plan went, though. Probably in her trunk, to be honest.

Chapter Text

Tom glances around the Charms classroom on Halloween, wondering just how nobody else can feel it. There's a chill on the air, a near-electric buzz that keeps brushing against his skin - not unlike the feeling he got from the Hospital Wing this time last year.

And its coming from Evelynn.

She said she gets a power boost from Halloween to November 2nd, but he hadn't known just what that meant until now. It means she's twitchy, bouncy - seemingly physically incapable of holding completely still without that buzzing getting much more noticeable. It means she's slightly off, everything takes a moment longer than usual to register with her be it movement or talking...or anything else.

It means her status as Master of Death, a living conduit for the Void at times, is much more noticeable.

There's a chill around her that isn't usually present, her magic seems colder than normal and filled with that electric buzzing. It's that hint of power that always laces her magic…but its not much of a hint for the next three days. If it was an undercurrent in her magic before, now its at the surface and moving her magic along like a bloody river.

And its as distracting as it is seductive and alluring - even more so than normal, and her magic was already a temptation he could just barely focus through sometimes. Right now, its all he can do just to focus on the lesson and getting the spell right.

Tom's just grateful they don't have Transfiguration, as there's no possible way Dumbledore won't sense it. Or, at the very least, harp onto her about not paying attention in class, give her detention, and figure out something's changed with her magic then.

Potions to, she'd probably kill everyone else by accident when she stirred in an ingredient a moment too soon or too late.

Thankfully, the day passes without any complications in classes, and Evelynn retreats to the corner table she's all but claimed as her own while still being twitchy and edgy. And the difference between now and even yesterday seems to stand out even more in Evelynn's darkened little corner of the room - she seems to glow, her skin looking almost luminescent in the darkness and her eyes resembling two Killing Curses even as she reads.

"I'm so sick of that damn Mudblood! Stuck-up little know-it-all thinks she knows everything just because she's the teacher's favorite!" Tom's attention gets taken by Amycus Carrow, who's complaining to his twin sister and Antonin Dolohov. He knows who Carrow's talking about - Amanda Meadow, a Ravenclaw in their year who's trouncing him in Runes and Arithmancy, much like a Hermione Granger with a much better attitude if he remembers the bushy-haired girl right - but doesn't much care about the particulars.

There's a quiet chuckle from a familiar corner, but it wasn't quiet enough. Because the entire group is eying Evelynn now like sharks in the water…having had a whiff of blood. Before Tom can say anything, Dolohov sneers "Going to be a Blood-Traitor and stick up for the Mudblood, Peverell? Or are you insulted because you are one?"

Killing Curse green eyes move to the group, even as Tom feels the air take on an electric charge now that Evelynn's focused on them, and she says "First off, I'm half. And fucking proud of it, to boot. Second, a Blood-Traitor is someone who betrays the magic in their blood and marries a Muggle, gives up magic altogether, etc. Care to explain how me being amused by your complaints qualifies me for that?"

Amycus scowls at her, his face turning red along with Dolohov's - she's just sitting there, perfectly relaxed like she doesn't have a care in the bloody world! Certainly not like she's about to get Hexed into the Hospital Wing!

Evelynn raises an eyebrow in their direction, asking "No, nothing to say? Nothing at all? Here's a suggestion, you want to do better than a Muggleborn who didn't grow up surrounded by magic and knowledge of it…pick up a book and study for a change. It's what everyone else does." Merlin, she really can't stand him right now - all she can think about is the first time she really met Amycus Carrow in person - Hogwarts, at the tail end of the war, when all she'd known about him was that he was in charge of 'Dark Arts' class, he was one of the two Deputy Headmasters, and he was utterly sick and sadistic, along with his twin sister. He and his sister had Seventh Years practicing the Cruciatus Curse on kids as young as First Years in their detentions, and they'd chain and beat or torture students if they felt like it. She can't forget helping Luna change the dressings for three little Hufflepuff girls who'd had their backs slashed up by Amycus with kitchen knives before the students were all summoned to the Great Hall.

She can't forget it, and she most certainly won't forgive it...even if these two, along with everyone else in the room, have yet to do anything of the sort. And they never will, seeing as Tom swore an Oath of his own volition to never make a Horcrux ever, so his sanity is in no danger this time around.

Amycus snarls, seeing red and casting before he can even think about what spell to use. Only for the Reducto to miss her completely, as she somehow did a backflip of sorts…and landed on the back of the chair she was just on. Resulting in gasps from all across the Common Room, even as the Seventh Years set up hasty protective spells to keep anyone from getting hurt by the sudden duel.

Evelynn smirks, even as she's balancing on the back of her chair - well, she hasn't had a proper duel in a long time…and she does need something to use some magic on, so nothing ends up frozen or freezing cold again. She gets that shark's smile on her face, the one that makes almost everyone in the room shudder and the three idiots that decided they could take her on pale drastically, and asks "Oh so you throw temper tantrums when you don't get your way? How very mature of you."

Alecto shouts "CONFRINGO!" Unfortunately for her, it freezes as it gets close to Evelynn - ending up shattering on the ground into tiny little shards.

"Cute," she gets down from the chair back in one fluid movement, seeming more like a predator in motion than a person, "but I've faced worse. Anything else, or are we done here?"

Antonin tries to disarm her, making Evelynn think his sight is worse than hers ever was - she, in all her life, has never tried to disarm anyone that wasn't holding anything. "What, exactly, were you trying to disarm me of? The book I was reading before?"

There's a round of snickering and groans, and Amycus and Alecto simultaneously cast a round of Supplicio Atrox on her in response. Which she lets hit her, full on - only to remain standing, not even twitching. If she was trying to prove a point by letting the two Torture Curses hit her…she more than proved it.

Even more so with her next words of "How to put this so even you three will understand it…oh, right. Been there, done that; and I must say, even together the two of you are utterly pathetic. That was nothing compared to other Curses I've had on me." She's been Crucio'd before, she's been tortured by Bellatrix before, and even with her nerves fully restored that was nothing in comparison.

She unleashes the full weight of her magic, which covers the entire room like a heavy blanket and takes a single step forward, and Antonin freaks, shouting "Szervaprító!"

Tom's just about to step in and demand what the hell that Curse is, not to mention why he thinks he can use it on Evelynn when he declared her off-limits…when Evelynn snatches the Curse straight out of the air. The silence is so thick Tom swears he could actually cut it with a Severing Charm, as everyone stares at Evelynn in a mix of awe, shock…and horror, on the part of Dolohov and the Carrows.

And then that silence gets broken by Evelynn, as she lets the purple magic move between her fingers, saying "Ah, this is the one that shreds a person's organs from the inside, leaving no physical mark as they bleed out internally from the damage. I'm going to take a guess and say its a family spell, since I doubt you're Creating Spells this young." She remembers this Curse, he tried to use it on Granger back at the Ministry. A shame it didn't kill her, even if it would've hurt - then again, they never would've found her without Granger's help, and if they hadn't she wouldn't be here with her fresh start.

Tom stiffens in utter fury - Dolohov just tried to kill Evelynn! The detail that she wouldn't stay dead notwithstanding, he doesn't know she's bloody immortal and would just sit back up after a few minutes if it actually did kill her. And then he notices Evelynn's expression - where before she was more amused by the 'duel' if it could even be called that than anything else, now she looks bloody furious with Dolohov.

And not without good reason, considering the Curse she's…holding. He's steadfastly not thinking on that just yet. Better to focus on her- nope, nevermind. Her ruthlessness is also not something he can think on and keep in control right now. Her magic- yeah, nope. Not in the slightest.

Merlin, she's just about suffocating the three insipid fools…along with everyone else in the Common Room. Which, right now, is so cold everyone can see their breath as it leaves their mouths and the windows are frosting over- wait…oh. Oh, bloody hell.

All the fires die suddenly as Evelynn's magic goes a strange combination of freezing cold and as electric as if she'd just plugged an electrical cord into her magic, plunging the room into the eerie light filtered through the water of the lake - near-total darkness, just enough to see by, enough to see everyone's breath misting in front of them, and more than enough to see Evelynn almost literally glowing with magic. Merlin, she's like a bloody beacon - the only thing allowed to shine in this darkness, Tom's mind unhelpfully supplies. And her Killing Curse gaze is locked onto Antonin, promising a world of pain for trying to cast that curse on her.

Her wand is in her hand in a flash, and she quickly says "Reparo. Oppungo." Nobody knows what she just repaired and then sent flying, but there's a crashing sound and Amycus' honest-to-Merlin shriek. And then another crashing sound, as she waves her hand almost dismissively, and Alecto groans in pain. Leaving Antonin all alone - alone, and bloody terrified as she seems to glide towards him silently. Silent as a ghost, an utterly furious ghost with the intent to take this out of his hide written all over her face.

"So, you like causing other people pain, Dolohov? Like to watch them suffer, writhe on the ground in agony as their life bleeds out of them? Well…why don't you see what its like, then?" Dolohov lets out a squeak as he suddenly gets yanked forward by magic, forced to stare directly into Evelynn's eyes as she hisses "Experience all the pain I have ever felt."

He's already shivering from the case of hypothermia she had when she was left on the Dursleys' doorstep that night when she throws him to the ground. "You ever try something like that again, it'll be the last thing you ever do, Dolohov. That's a bloody promise." Dolohov nods, then yelps in pain suddenly and tries to see who or what just punched him in the side.

And then Evelynn's magic sucks back into her body, letting everyone breathe again without freezing their lungs, as she calls over "Pain's an old friend of mine, he's gonna be down for the next five hours. Unless you want Slughorn coming in because of the screaming, I'd either Silence him or take him to a dorm and put up some Wards."

The first person to speak is Abraxas Malfoy, asking "You're a Parselmouth?!" That's...that's impossible, right?! Right?! 

"And if I am?" The edge in Evelynn's voice is all too clear a warning, one nobody else is stupid enough to ignore. And, even if her voice wasn't enough of a warning…her magic certainly is. Contained for now, but lashing out in her fury. And, even if none of that was enough warning to be polite about the detail...Tom's right over there, also a Parselmouth, and more than willing to rip into someone if they bad-mouth the skill.

"N-No reason…none whatsoever…"

Evelynn just rolls her eyes irritatedly, snatching up the book she was reading and stalking out the door. Orion and Theodorus relight the fires in the fireplace and braziers, only to find…Amycus suspended midair, held there by a large spike of ice embedded in a wall that's gone through the back of his robe and across his back, and Alecto lying in the midst of a very broken table a few feet away from the stone wall. Tom gets the feeling they're only alive because Evelynn was so focused on Antonin right then.

Antonin, for his part, is currently thrashing around, screaming his head off on the floor before curling up on his side like he's trying to protect himself. Tom quickly silences the fool, even as Lestrange gets Amycus down from the wall and Rosier gets Alecto to her feet.

They get to another abandoned classroom, and lock and Ward it - since the one they usually use is locked, Warded, and all but gave Lestrange frostbite on his palm when he placed it on the door and tried to undo it. It didn't take much to realize Evelynn's in there, and extremely pissed off. The main clue was the way cold suddenly spilled out from the crack between the door and the floor, freezing the floor even as it washed over them again and put the brazier on the far wall out. And then there was the sound of an explosion, and something hitting the door. Hard.

Tom glares at the Carrow twins, who are beaten up but nothing too serious - bruises galore, especially on Alecto when Evelynn tossed her into a table with all the force of a wrecking ball at full speed, but no broken bones.

And Dolohov, they…they aren't sure what, exactly, Evelynn did to him. 'Experience all the pain I have ever felt' doesn't really tell them much beyond the detail that she's inflicting all the pain she's ever experienced on him. Right now…Tom would say he's being beaten up - or, perhaps, just beaten - judging from the way he's curling up. But a diagnostic spell from Lestrange shows nothing. No injuries at all - it must be in his mind, then, rather than true physical pain such as the Cruciatus.

I'll have to ask Evelynn about that spell tomorrow.

And get her to teach it to him.

She's mentioned to him that the body can only handle the Cruciatus for four minutes before they go insane from it, and Dolohov's been going for about…five, going on six minutes now with no signs of stopping. After the Carrows get exactly as much pain as they inflicted on Evelynn - well, he can't be sure if it's exact, what with Evelynn's pain tolerance, but it's the same strength the combined curses held and the same time - the pair get sent off to the dorms.

Leaving Tom to wait for Evelynn, if only to get a time on when Dolohov will get over the Curse - or whatever it is she used - on him. It takes a solid three hours, but the door finally opens, back up to reveal an exhausted Evelynn. "Tom?"

Tom instantly asks "What happened?" Because she looks a mess, rumpled clothing and almost physically shaking. Despite all that, her magic is nearly as suffocating as before.

Evelynn shrugs, saying "I needed to let off some steam. I was two seconds away from killing all three of them with just a thought, just like how I got here. So…" She gestures behind her, and Tom sees the room is covered in half-melted frost. And it looks like a warzone. So, she pushed herself to her limit, which thankfully took the edge off of the Hallows' power that's currently working its way through her. 

After forcing his gaze back to Evelynn, he asks "What spell did you use on Dolohov? I've never seen anything like it."

Evelynn chuckles, and says "You wouldn't have, I made it up myself. Its not really a spell, per se, its more focused intent and raw magic combined with Legilimency than anything else. It makes a person feel all the pain I've ever felt, condensed down into five hours tops, but without any memories or physical injuries attached. So, no long-term effects like with the Cruciatus. I thought it up for a very special woman named Dolores Umbridge, thinking she deserved to know what its like to carve your hand open with a Blood Quill. She didn't take it so well." No, she screamed her head off and sobbed, begging for a mercy that wouldn't come. It was pathetically easy to take the Locket once she'd taken Umbridge by surprise and gave her a generous dose of her own medicine.

Tom swallows, forcing his thoughts off just how ruthless and vindictive Evelynn can be. But, Merlin, she's incredible. He can't stop the desire that shoots through him this time. He keeps himself from moaning at the feeling, but it's a close thing, instead asking "Can you make it to your room?"

Evelynn nods, saying "Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks for asking. You might want to keep Dolohov from mentioning me getting stabbed through the arm, carving my hand with a blood quill until it burned, or anything else like that."

Tom raises an eyebrow, asking "I thought you said there were no memories attached?"

Evelynn nods, and says "There aren't…but it's kind of hard to mistake the feeling of something that big going straight through your arm bone, Tom. Or the Basilisk Venom, followed by Fawkes' tears burning through it. And I can only hope he doesn't recognize the words themselves, they were too tiny to be done with a knife. Even a bloody penknife. And I was Crucio'd twice at the end of my fourth year, nearly had my head explode mere minutes before that, got excruciatingly possessed around the same time my fifth year…"

Evelynn shrugs, and says "If he doesn't go blabbing about 'what could she have possibly gotten up to if she was raised in the Muggle World,' he'll wonder why I've known more than thirteen years' worth of pain despite my current age. He might actually black out once it's over, though. The way I arrived, you see."

Chapter Text

It's a week and a half into November, and most everyone in the castle is outside enjoying the snow that fell last night. Tom, Orion, and Theodorus are walking across the grounds, avoiding a group of Hufflepuff First Years that are in an all-out snowball war, only to find Dorea and Walburga staring out over the Black Lake in something like shock. Orion goes over to the two of them, asking "Something wrong?"

Walburga incredulously asks "Did you know Evelynn can ice skate?!"

Tom whips his head around so fast he should get whiplash, asking "What?"

Dorea nods, pointing out at the Lake where they can just see a figure moving back and forth on it. The dark hair gives it away as Evelynn, even if its too far away to make out any details.

Orion says "Didn't know she owned skates."

Dorea says "She doesn't. She's just balancing like that." She might've Transfigured her shoes into skates, though, but it's doubtful.

Theodorus says "Oh, like when she landed on the back of the chair and didn't even waver." Everyone's still blown away by that particular display, stuff like that must be how she survived getting attacked by Grindelwald and his forces.

Orion frowns, then says "Dolohov's been saying she's not a normal Third-Year after that."

Theodorus dismissively says "Everyone already knew that. She threw Dumbledore across the Hall after Apparating into Hogwarts!" And then pulled off a miracle-recovery.

Tom doesn't say anything in response, eyes still locked onto Evelynn's form out on the ice.

Evelynn slides back and forth on the frozen lake, lost in her own thoughts and not bothered by the cold in the slightest. She's thinking about Hedwig - this time in her last life, she'd released Hedwig to go hunting for the winter.

Now…Merlin, she misses her Owl. Her first friend, who'd been there through everything. The good, the bad, and the Dursleys. Her Owl, who was always there to nip at her ear and preen her hair whenever Evelynn needed it, be it in second year when the entire school thought she was the Heir of Slytherin and setting a monster on the Muggleborns - Merlin, will that even happen now?! Has she averted Myrtle's death? - third year with the Dementors depressing everyone, or fourth when the entire school ostracized her once more because she was unwillingly entered into the Triwizard Tournament. She was there for her in Fifth Year, to, chasing away birds with Howlers in their beaks headed for her and giving everyone who dared to even come close an evil eye while munching bacon like she was imagining it was their fingers.

And then Hedwig gave her life for Evelynn, flew straight in front of a Killing Curse for her.

Something tells her Hedwig was her only true friend back then. Neville and Luna to, perhaps, but she'll never know. But, Merlin, if there were one thing she could've taken with her back, one reminder of her past…she would've picked Hedwig. Without question, she would've picked her first and most loyal friend.

She glances over at the sight of movement at the edge of her vision, then quickly wipes her face when she sees who's making their way over. Well, trying - she's had practice sliding on ice. She practiced it specifically once her magic started freezing things after the first Samhain she made it through as the Master of Death. Now, its like sliding on wood while wearing socks - to everyone else, though, its a lot harder.

She makes her way over, tucking her depressed mood away for later, saying "Hey, good to see you. Something up?"

Dorea frowns, asking "Something wrong, Evelynn? Or is it just the cold?" She doubts Evelynn realizes there are tear tracks going down her cheeks.

Evelynn just shrugs, saying "Yeah, probably just the cold. C'mon, lets head back in if you want. Or…" She glances over at the boys standing on the edge of the lake with Walburga, a familiar mischievous grin coming on her face as they get closer to the group, "boys vs girls?"

Orion and Theodorus trade glances, thinking Dorea and Walburga won't- Orion suddenly gets nailed in the face with a snowball. Walburga and Dorea both point at each other, but Evelynn laughs and scoops up another to lob at Theodorus.

The two Purebloods clear the snow from their faces, exchange looks, then scoop up snow themselves as Theodorus says "Oh, it's on."

Tom blinks and stares in mild shock as Evelynn starts a snowball fight with four born-and-bred Purebloods. Three of them are Blacks, for Merlin's sake, they practically live and breathe decorum and such. And yet, Evelynn has somehow managed to get the four Purebloods to abandon all semblance of dignity and…start throwing snowballs everywhere. He's really got to know how she manages- a snowball hits him in the face, breaking him from his thoughts.

Everyone else freezes, a look of horror coming over all but Evelynn's faces as they realize…she hit Tom with a snowball. He clears the snow from his face, expression unreadable, then…flicks his fingers in Evelynn's direction. A snowball hits her square in the face, making everyone go still once more for an entirely different reason. "Nowits on."

Orion crows "Yes! Finally!"

Theodorus says "We haven't been able to hit her yet!"

Soon enough, there's two forts in the snow and the guys are pinned beneath some trees. Though, they're giving as good as they're getting, even making a scoreboard like on the Quidditch field to keep track. Dorea grumbles "Those two and their love of Quidditch."

Walburga says "Just be glad Abraxas isn't involved. Remember what happened last year?"

Evelynn blinks, then says "No. What happened?"

Dorea says "Right, this was before you arrived. He broke his arm on a Bludger first game in the year, but refused to leave the game until it was over! Then he just walks to the Hospital Wing like its nothing! And it wasn't just broken, it was smashed - he had to take Skele-gro, it was so bad."

Evelynn blinks, finding absolutely no resemblance to Draco whatsoever - the spoiled brat complained if the weather was bad, for Merlin's sake! And exaggerated that scratch he got from Buckbeak for weeks, to.

Abraxas must've been rolling in his grave.

Evelynn glances up over the snow fort she and Dorea made while Walburga was covering them, has to quickly duck down to avoid one of Tom's snowballs, and murmurs "I might have an idea, but I need you two to cover for me."

Dorea nods, saying "Go for it, Evelynn. We'll keep them distracted."

Tom looks up over the wall of snow he put together with a little magic, and flashes a combination of a smile and a smirk at Evelynn when he catches her eye. It makes her falter just long enough for him to throw a snowball at her - he misses as she ducks down, but still. First an ice cream, now a snowball fight…this seems to be a talent of Evelynn's, letting him experience new things that most others get.

And then Orion and Theodorus both yelp about a minute later, jumping, shivering, and looking around wildly, which pulls him out of his thoughts instantly. And that's when he detects a tingling in the air, the telltale sign that Evelynn's using the Hallows. He was so caught up in his own excitement that he completely missed it, but…

Tom smirks, and silently moves behind the tree while discretely eying footprints in the snow. Only to grab Evelynn by the shoulders and trap her against the tree. After a minute, she reveals herself - red-cheeked and eyes sparkling…and a handful of snow in each hand that gets promptly dropped. His sneaky Slytherin…

Tom grins, entirely too amused by her antics right now, and says "I think that counts as cheating, you know."

Evelynn smirks at him, and says "All's fair. Especially since we didn't exactly set any rules."

Tom smirks at that himself, then leans over and whispers into her ear "No, I suppose we didn't…" He feels her shiver, and smirks to himself - he honestly wouldn't have thought Evelynn wasn't the age she looks if he hadn't seen her memories firsthand, because she'll react exactly like a thirteen-year-old at times.

Case in point: she's never been able to control her blush. Ever. This life or her last.

Deciding to tease her a little, get her flustered and blushing some more - as he's made it his mission in life to surprise Evelynn and make her blush as much as possible, among other things - he leans forward so she's pressed fully against the tree and murmurs "Distracting my opponent, for instance." He hears Evelynn's breathing hitch, and when he glances at her…mission accomplished, her face is red as a Stunner.

And then he notices the frozen tracks on her face, and one hand moves to cup her chin while dragging his thumb across one. "What happened?"

Evelynn, previous mood forgotten, murmurs "Nothing, just thinking about Hedwig is all."

If Tom never has to hear her scream like that for real, it'll be too soon - her shriek when her snowy owl flew in front of that Killing Curse was terrible. Gut-wrenching, making his chest tighten weirdly - again, he never wants to hear her scream like that ever again. He murmurs "She hasn't been born yet, you know. You can wait and buy her."

Evelynn leans into his hand, and murmurs "It won't be the same, though. Hedwig, she…she was there through everything. Every single thing. The Dursleys, the good times, the bad times…she was brilliant. Even when I didn't have anyone, I had Hedwig. The school would turn against me, people would gossip about me and insult or Hex me in the halls, and I could always go to the Owlery and talk to her." She could tell Hedwig anything, told her everything. Buying another Owl, even after so long, is never going to happen - they could never be as good as Hedwig, she could never replace Hedwig. The very thought makes her all but flinch at the betrayal it'd be to the only one she knows for sure was always on her side.

Tom hums, then says "She might've been a Familiar, then, instead of just an Owl. Since she died on her own terms, died protecting you…" She might come back. Evelynn never knew if Hedwig was a Familiar or not, never having been told of such things - and, if she was, the bond was likely blocked if it was known about. But still, if a Familiar has a strong enough bond with a powerful Witch or Wizard...they could come back to them, after they die. And, if anyone would have a strong bond with a Familiar, it would be Evelynn - losing Hedwig is what first enabled the darkness inside of her to start to bloom. Her 'friends' betraying her may have cleared the way, but Hedwig's death was the very first catalyst.

Plus, Evelynn being the 'Master' of Death doesn't hurt one bit.

Neither of them actually realize they're getting closer until a voice yells "Oi, Tom! Where are you, we're getting destroyed!" Both Tom and Evelynn jerk away when Orion pokes his snow-covered head around, and Tom glares at the Black while Evelynn blushes brightly.

Orion glances at the two of them, realizes what he just interrupted, and mentally slaps himself for his timing. And braces himself to get Cursed later, if Tom's look is anything to go by.

Evelynn, for her part, is blushing ferociously, almost desperately trying to convince herself she and Tom didn't almost kiss. She's not developing feelings for him, she's not - so what if he's ridiculously hot, or effortlessly scary-brilliant, or funny when he tries, or if he notices her favorite foods and passes them down while pretending to make room for something else or that she runs her hand through her hair when she's upset, or that she just knows he had something to do with her not having to fight eventually someone for the table she's unofficially claimed as her own…bloody hell. She's so doomed.

She's apparently got her first crush…on Tom bloody Riddle.

And she hasn't got a clue why it seemed like her arms had lightning running up and down the nerves from where he was holding her, or why the air was almost literally humming with power between them - it was probably just their magics, yeah that's it. A perfectly…well, as ordinary as magic can be, explanation…

Theodorus raises an eyebrow at Orion, as they're hiding in Theo's room for the time being after the look Tom had for Orion, asking "You found them what?!"

Orion nods, saying "I swear, they were inches apart, Theo. If I'd been ten seconds later…I don't think they'd have heard me."

"Well, it certainly explains the snow down our backs if Evelynn was over there. How she snuck up on us is another matter." He's more focused on the detail that Tom nearly kissed Evelynn, though.

Orion chuckles, and says "Dorea and Walburga covered for her. And they got a kick out of seeing us jump around with snow going down our backs and pelting us with snowballs."

Theodorus chuckles, then asks "So, they were really-"

"He had her backed up to a tree, and was leaning in, Theo! How many ways could that have possibly gone?!"

"Fair point. Dammit, couldn't you have been just a few moments later?!"

"I know, trust me I know!"

Dorea finds Evelynn lying in the corner of the couch furthest from the fireplace, and asks "What's wrong?"

Evelynn murmurs "Nothing much, Dorea. Just dealing with a teeny tiny existential crisis at the moment." One centered around 'what the hell is she doing, going and getting a crush on Tom Riddle?!'

Voldemort always said love, and anything like it, was a weakness, he laughed and scorned the very idea of it - and, whether he really believed that at first or whether that view was born of paranoia, he believed it in the end. The one person she knew, before she even woke up, that it would be a bad idea to try and get involved with...and she goes and gets a crush on him. And she knows from Lavender and Parvati that crushes go one of two ways. Either they turn into love - which, she's no idea about whatsoever, as Lavender and Pavarti were usually more focused on the physical part of having a boyfriend and her life before coming through time was less than ideal for learning anything about even crushes - or it ends up like Ron and Lavender did. All face-sucking, and Lavender throwing herself at Ron to try and drag him to bed somewhere.

Honestly, she's not sure which would be a less-complicated outcome - she's never been with anyone before, ever. Never been in love, either, though.

And she's even less sure which Tom would be at-all receptive to. Assuming he hasn't already decided such feelings are ridiculous, pathetic, and a waste of time, effort, energy, and potential. Dumbledore said all the 'love' in her mind, her memories, was too much for him to bear...she's more of the opinion that it was her mother's sacrificial magic protecting her, even if he could touch her by then. Because nobody really loved her back then - they worshipped her and they turned on her, they crowded her at all times to touch her scar, and they Hexed her in the halls, they never even cared about her, much less loved her. She wouldn't know love if it slapped her straight in the face, making her woefully unprepared for even a damn teenage crush.

Dorea hums, then asks "Want to talk about it?"

Evelynn puts one hand to her forehead, rubbing at her temples as she says "Not really. I doubt anyone will be able to help me through this one."

Dorea gets a gleam in her eye and a beaming smile, saying "You like somebody!" It makes the entire Common Room go quiet, even as Tom's head snaps up to glare darkly at the Black witch.

Evelynn opens one eye to give Dorea a stink-eye of her own, and asks "What've I said about girl-talk?" Specifically, she said no girl-talk with her - what she didn't say was that she'd had more than enough of that second-hand from Lavender and Pavarti to last her several lifetimes, especially after the Durmstrang boys got to Hogwarts in Fourth Year.

"Yeah, yeah, but this is serious! Who is it? Maybe-"

"Oppungo." Dorea promptly gets hit in the face with a nearby cushion, and within moments all the pillows and cushions in the entire common room are chasing a cackling Dorea out of the room.

And then the cushions fly back to their places in the heavy silence, broken by Evelynn flatly saying "Next time, I'm Summoning Woodpeckers." She then heads to her own dorm, leaving Tom with a stony expression, and Walburga, Orion, and Theodorus exchanging glances. This…they're going to have to do this exactly right. Still…it hasn't blown up in their faces yet, and Tom is obviously going to be looking to Curse whoever he thinks Evelynn is interested in into Oblivion.

Oops, they might've just put a target on some innocent bystander's back.

Tom, for his part, is wondering exactly who has the gall to try and take what's his…and how many Curses he can get away with before Evelynn figures out that it was him. Maybe he should get Antonin to teach him that Curse of his, because Evelynn's own spell won't work nearly so well for him as it does for her.

Chapter Text

Orion, Theodorus, Walburga, and Dorea discretely watch as Abraxas Conjures more marbles for Tom and Evelynn - Orion had the brilliant idea to have them play another round of that 'game' of theirs. Turning the marbles into something else - they had to stay glass, but everything else was fair game.

Tom won the last one, though nobody knows what he's asked her for or if he's even done so yet - as such things are getting more and more precious as they get older - but it seems Evelynn isn't going to just let him win again. She taps her latest marble, and it turns into a figurine of a beautiful female Snowy Owl with amber eyes sitting there. Evelynn puts that one to the side carefully, casting a few Charms so it won't get broken.

Tom then makes a figure of a Hippogriff, so Evelynn makes a miniature replica of Hogwarts. Tom then makes what looks like a large snake, and Evelynn makes what a few of the others recognize as a Thestral with a smaller version that's meant to be a foal at its side. Tom frowns, then makes a Phoenix out of his next marble. Evelynn then makes a Grand Piano, with a figure sitting at the bench like she's playing.

Dorea and Orion share a look, thinking it's the closest Evelynn will probably ever admit to knowing how to play. She has no problems whatsoever tearing a strip off someone's hide using her own past, but make it about something she can do and she goes red as a Stunner and says its nothing special. Seems those relatives of hers did more damage than they originally thought.

Tom blinks, then makes a fully-detailed replica of the Christmas Tree that gets put up every year and decorated. Evelynn smirks at Tom, then makes a small pile of presents out of her next Marble and puts them under Tom's tree. Tom responds, after a moment, by recreating Hepizbah Smith's figure from Borgin and Burke's. Evelynn glares at the figure, then blanks her expression and makes a figure of a majestic-looking Stag, a wolf, and what looks a bit like a Grim. She quickly puts them beside her Owl, not noticing the look on Tom's face.

Tom, for his part, is quietly internally panicking - Evelynn's got many more years of experiences to draw off of, and she's using it. That owl was Hedwig, who he's sure she desperately misses even now, and the three other animals were her father and his two loyal best friends in their Animagus forms. He has to stop himself from swearing when she counters his own Mer-person with a Hungarian Horntail.

And again, when he feels something enter his head like his Occlumency Shields he's been working on every night since Evelynn gave him a book on the subject aren't even there.

I'd suggest you lose with some grace. My Mistress is determined to win this one.

"Oh, really? Why's that?"

Simple. I told her to. The favor she'll get from you will help in the long-run. Also, I'd refrain from using yours just yet. Your going to need it, my Mistress is rather stubborn when she's hurt, and was used to taking care of her own injuries long before she first attended Hogwarts.

Tom immediately decides to listen, the idea of Evelynn being hurt makes his insides turn to ice and she would be stubborn enough to decide she could just walk it off.

After Evelynn makes an Occamy curled around three silver eggs, Tom leans back and says "You win."

Evelynn blinks in shock, asking "What?"

"I'm out of ideas. You win, Evelynn." Which is, technically, true - his brain went from ideas for outdoing her sculptures to when and how she might be getting hurt in the near future.

The entire Common Room is so silent you could hear a pin being dropped in one corner at the far side of the room. At least he gets to see her face slowly light up as she realizes she beat him this round, its something of a consolation prize.

Tom leans back, fully prepared to be a 'gracious loser' just this once - and just for her - and asks "So, what do you want of me?"

Evelynn hums, tilting her head to the side for a moment, then says "I'll hold onto it for now, Tom. Who knows when it'll come in useful." She scoops up the pieces she wants to keep - the figurine of Hedwig, and the three animals - and heads to the hallway to go to her room.

Tom picks up the Piano figurine, Banishing the others, and holds it up to the light. Orion makes his way over carefully, and casually says "That piano looks familiar. Going to ask her about it?"

Tom hums, and says "Eventually." He turns the figurine in his hand, and sees the small person on the bench…looks like Evelynn. Its hard to see because of the small size, but the resemblance is in the finer details. The length of the black hair, the size of the figure's body, etc. She probably didn't even realize she did it.

Dorea comes over, sees the Piano Figurine, and glances at Orion, clearly asking 'does he know?' Orion nods at her, then says "You know, if you wanted her to play something, you could use that favor she owes you." An unlikely event, really, but not impossible.

Tom shakes his head, saying "I'm saving it for something important that I can't convince her to do otherwise. Besides, I've got a way to ask sitting in my hand."

Dorea finds Evelynn staring at the Owl figurine she made, and asks "Something wrong, Evelynn? You seem down."

Evelynn shakes her head, saying "Just thinking about a friend is all."

Dorea raises an eyebrow, asking "While staring at a Snowy Owl?"

Evelynn shrugs, saying "She liked Owls. Especially Snowy ones, for some reason."

"And you miss her."

Evelynn nods, saying "Yeah, I do."

Dorea hums after a minute, then says "Well, Tom was looking for you, Evelynn. Something about a question he had for you."

Evelynn puts the Figurine down, then rolls off her bed and says "Lead the way." Five minutes later, Dorea opens the door to an abandoned classroom deep in the dungeons, revealing Tom sitting on a desk looking at a glass figurine she made - the grand piano, she realizes with a jolt.

Once Dorea leaves - with a grin on her face that makes a pit of dread form in Evelynn's stomach, even more so than the near-blank look on Tom's face - Evelynn asks "You called? Dorea said you wanted to ask me something?"

Tom looks up at her, saying "I do. Something you'd like to share? Something you didn't tell me?"

Evelynn scoffs in exasperation, saying "Tom, I've told everything you could possibly find interesting about me!" He'd better not think Dorea's declaration after the snowball fight a week ago is even the slightest bit true. If so, she's going to have words with Dorea - Black or not, her grandmother or not. What, exactly could he think she didn't tell him? How people would follow her into the Loo? How she'd be Hexed by even the foriegn students in Fourth Year? The exact lineup of Umbridge's little student enforcer group? She told him everything that matters!

Tom switches to Parseltongue, asking "Oh, really?"

Evelynn crosses her arms, saying "I told you so much, you fainted from shock. Yes, really."

Okay, she's got him there. She's really got him there.

Tom gives her a look of innocent confusion, one that she clearly doesn't buy for a single instant, and asks "So, why does the figure playing this piano…look exactly like you?"

Evelynn's eyes snap to the miniature piano, and she asks "What?! Tom, it's a miniature figurine! I made it not even an hour ago!" How could you possibly have stared at me THAT MUCH to see features I wasn't even trying to put on the figurine?!

Tom must read the question on her face, or perhaps in her thoughts, because he smirks and asks "You didn't really think I wouldn't recognize you? Even on a figurine that small?"

Evelynn blushes brightly, even as she looks at the Figure closer - its got her dark hair, and wearing a dark robe. Other than that…there's not much detail to it. She didn't even think about the figurine, she was more focused on her Piano when she made it. Oh Merlin, this is going to be embarrassing. No, it's going to be mortifying.

When she looks up, though, Tom's all but crowding into her space, the blank look on his face replaced by one of intense possessiveness. "In case you hadn't noticed, Evelynn, I've been interested in you since the moment you arrived here. You Apparated through the school Wards, Wards that are supposed to be impenetrable."

He backs her into the desk, effectively trapping her there. "You did that while more injured than should've been survivable, and then you woke up. You woke up and set your own arm back into place, doing so without even a peep. You eventually collapsed, but not before getting my interest even further when you met my gaze for that brief moment."

Evelynn blinks, asking "What? How did I-"

Tom cuts her off, saying "Your shields were down, Evelynn. Everything you were feeling hit me like a bag of bricks, and in all of that was recognition. You knew me from somewhere, even if I'd never seen you before. And you threw Dumbledore through the air without so much as twitching. Of course you got my interest."

Evelynn blushes, looking away until Tom's fingers find their way under her chin and tilt her face back up towards his. "You woke up from a plethora of Curses that should've done you in a mere two days later - not even a full two days, crazy as that sounded at the time - and got Sorted into the same House I'm in. You proved to be every bit as strong and talented as I am, the only person that could give me a challenge in the practical portion of class. And then, as if that wasn't enough, as if you seeming to know what I was trying to do, or what I'd be thinking of doing without even having to tell you anything wasn't teasingly fascinating enough, as if you weren't already the most interesting mystery I'd ever come across in my entire life, you got sent to the same place I have to go to. But you aren't expecting it to be wonderful, you came prepared with a year's supply of food."

Tom finds himself holding Evelynn by the shoulders, his face mere inches apart from hers - when did that happen and how? - as he finishes "And then you tell me everything about yourself, how you managed all of that. You tell me you're a story come to life, the Master of the Deathly Hallows, you show me everything you went through, everything I put you through, and yet you didn't kill me as soon as you saw me for some reason."

Evelynn glares at him, hissing"You've done NOTHING, Tom! You've done nothing that would make me want to kill you! What's a damn rabbit, or a broken bone or two when the only two choices you seemed to have were to be feared or beaten?! The same choices I had, but I was basically de-clawed?! How many times am I going to have to tell you this before it gets through your skull, I'm not-"

That fire in Evelynn that's so unlike almost literally every other girl he's ever met, that defiance in the face of everything that most people wouldn't even think once about, the power she could call to her fingertips that's so intoxicating to him, the magic that's literally humming and buzzing between them…everything about her overwhelms him, and before he knows it he's slamming his lips against hers.

Electricity, that's the first thing Evelynn registers after her brain goes perfectly blank. The same kind of electric feeling she gets when she summons the energy of the Void - like ice with a live current running through it, freezing cold and yet almost heart-stoppingly electric at the same time. Her face is the only thing she can really feel, specifically her lips - its like she's been half-numb her entire life, and her face is only just now fully feeling anything at all.

Tom's mouth itself is the next thing that registers, insistent and demanding against her own, an almost bruising force behind his lips as they move against hers. And it drives away any other thought that might've gotten into her head when he nibbles on her bottom lip to get her to open her mouth. Not even the thought of 'where did Tom learn to kiss this well' makes it through the piece of the Void that's currently invading her head.

When they finally break for air, it seems to take a lifetime just to get her brain working beyond breathing. At least Tom looks equally disoriented. When she finally finds some words, Evelynn breathlessly asks "You felt that to, right?"

Tom equally-breathlessly asks "The feeling of electricity filling up my face?"

Evelynn nods, bringing two fingers to her still-tingling lips, murmuring "Never felt that before in all my life…" And she's pretty sure most people don't feel that when they kiss. If they did, somehow she thinks Ron wouldn't have been complaining that all Lavender Brown wanted to do was snog him - not that he was correct, she didn't want to just snog him but he didn't pick up on any of the not-so-subtle hints she was dropping. Or the ones she was throwing, even as she threw herself at him.

"Lets find out if it's a fluke." Before she can answer, Tom's taking her lips once more - no, no its definitely not a fluke. If anything, its gotten stronger - getting stronger with Tom's desire and magic. And her own, for that matter.

When they finally break for air, Evelynn dazedly asks "What was the question again?" Also, what happened to Tom's hair and when did her hands tangle themselves in his shirt? And why do her shoulders ache when his hands are on her hips now?

"Something about the piano figurine…" Tom hums for a minute, tightening his hold on Evelynn as he does as if to never let her go, then it comes to him. "Right. You play Piano?"

Evelynn goes a gratifying shade of red, and mumbles "Its just something I picked up…wait, who told you?!"

"Theodorus heard you playing, peeked in, came and got Orion and I. Why?"

Evelynn blushes even harder - she might die of blushing, lack of blood to anywhere else in her body, who knows - and says "Merlin, that's embarrassing."

Tom smirks at her, deciding he likes teasing her like this, and adds "And then Dorea came in…" Evelynn lets out a horrified sound, burying her face in her hands. "So…I'm going to change the world, huh?"

Evelynn blinks, looking for all the world like that's an obvious conclusion, and says "Course. There's no reality I can imagine where you end up doing something less than utterly astounding. You've got too much ambition, power, and drive for anything less."

Tom gives her a smile that makes something in her chest tighten even as the rest of her insides practically liquefy, then says "Well, right now, I think I'll listen to you play on your Piano. It was wonderful, after all."

Orion meets Dorea's gaze questioningly, and quietly asks "He's asking?"

"About the Piano playing, yeah. Want to see if it worked?"

Orion groans, then says "Fine. Fast. I swear, Tom was going to Hex one of us after that snowball fight a few days ago." The only reason he didn't, the two of them are sure, is because of Dorea's timely declaration of 'Evelynn likes somebody!'

When the two Blacks poke their heads around the right doorway, invisibly of course, they see Tom sitting on a desk next to Evelynn as she plays on a miniature Piano.

They quickly head back to the Common Room, with Dorea planning a betting pool on when they'll finally get together.

Chapter Text

Evelynn looks around the Common Room, frowning to herself - it's only been a week since Tom learned she plays Piano, and there's a week left before Winter Break starts…but something's changed. Something other than Tom and herself, that is. She didn't survive twelve years on the run without catching onto things like this. Or her original Hogwarts years, for that matter. She's constantly feeling people watching her, something that had died down about a month after she was Sorted into Slytherin last year.

But now…now, it's like all of Slytherin is holding its breath whenever she's around.

Its grating on her nerves, making her twitchy and nervous…and, to be honest, she's over it. Whatever it is they're waiting for, or expecting…well, to say she's tired of the secrecy and expectations that seems to follow her wherever - or whenever - she goes is a large understatement.

Tom sits down next to her on the couch, his magic lightly tugging her towards him, and quietly asks "Have you noticed everyone acting…weird lately?"

Evelynn barely holds back a derisive chuckle, and just as quietly asks "You mean like right now?" As soon as Tom sat down, it's like a blanket fell on the entire room - a rather suffocating one, made up of everyone's stares and expectations. Dammit, Evelynn feels like she can hardly breathe underneath it.

Tom glances around the room, but doesn't see anyone obviously staring at the two of them. Hell, most people are looking down at books or homework they're doing. Its so quiet you could hear a pin drop on the other side of the room, almost as if nobody's daring to do much more than breathe. And it can only be something to do with them, as whatever it is that's going on didn't suddenly increase tenfold until Tom sat down next to her.

Evelynn mutters "Let's get out of here. They're going to suffocate us with their stares." Tom agrees wholeheartedly, glad he's not the only one getting disturbed by it - Evelynn already spent years learning to deal with everyone's staring, and she'sgetting bothered by this. It soothes his pride just a bit, if nothing else.

They get to an abandoned classroom, lock and Ward the door, and Tom asks "You've noticed it to, then?"

Evelynn sits on a nearby desk, asking "How everyone's been acting different since that last game with the Marbles? Yeah, I couldn't not notice it." Honestly, its somewhat similar to the treatment she'd gotten in second, fourth, and fifth years last life - people would be going about their business until she was noticed, and then everyone in the room was practically about to go off on her. She got Hexed more often than not those times, where someone finally snapped and went for their wand. Needless to say, she's starting to get worried about what's going on and who'll cast the first spell.

Of course, this time, she'll return any Hexes tenfold and then some, she's done being life's Hexing Dummy.

Tom frowns at the door, then says "I'll try to find out what's going on after Break, there's not nearly enough time before to get anything useful out of anyone."

Evelynn shrugs, then says "Something tells me Dorea and Walburga are in on it. They're acting weird...alright, weirder than normal." She may be friends with her grandmother, and Walburga may be completely different from the painting she first knew the woman as, but they're still Blacks. They get excited about things that would make most others back off in fear, and all the Purebloods know to be slightly cautious of them...and extremely cautious of angering them. Blacks tend to have a temper, something Evelynn undoubtedly inherited, and they've got the power and knowledge to back it up.

Tom nods, saying "Orion and Theodorus, to. They're my closest…friends, I suppose, but ever since we got back they've been acting slightly off."

Evelynn nods, biting her bottom lip for a moment as she thinks…right up until a familiar sensation overtakes her thoughts. That electric feeling that happens whenever Tom comes into contact with her, its traveling up her arms suddenly. When she manages to - just barely - focus through the mind-melting sensation, she realizes Tom's standing right in front of her, hands on her lower arms and that intense look in his eye that she's becoming familiar with. She barely has any time to register the detail that he's there before he's kissing her again - Merlin, Tom is simply insatiable.

And he seems determined to experiment with whatever it is that's going on between them, figure out how it works - he takes every opportunity to come into physical contact with her, resulting in the not-so-occasional jolt of electricity whenever their elbows brush or Tom 'bumps into her' in the halls as they're heading to classes. What they've figured out so far is that they can strengthen it based on what they're feeling, or they can dive into it headfirst if one of them - Tom - is already wound up in some way. And its all too bloody easy to lose any and all sense of time, their bodies, their surroundings, and literally everything other than the connection between them. Needless to say, they've come out of it looking like they got into a fight more than once, Evelynn's neck bitten black and blue - which doesn't hurt until around ten minutes after, usually - and Tom sporting bright red scratches, both of them looking messy and disheveled.

Its distracting, it's all but overwhelming…and, Merlin, Evelynn can't get enough of it herself since it's so bloody addictive. She's never felt anything like it before, not because of a person anyway. Not the physical sensations, or the emotions that seem to come hand-in-hand.

Tom moves from her lips down to her neck, making her shiver and let out a noise embarrassingly close to a moan. She feels Tom smirk into her neck, even as he keeps kissing and biting it - and then he uses a bit of his magic, pushing it into the bite mark to see what'll happen, and almost literally melts her brains into a puddle in her skull as it sends whatever's causing this bond between them into overdrive.

When she comes back down to Earth from that, she finds Tom's in a similar state as her - they're both shaking like they were under Cruciatus, and Tom's more than likely left bruises on her again from how tight his grip is. After a moment, Tom swallows and hoarsely says "That was intense…you really don't know what this is, Evelynn?" He's not sure whether its a curse, some kind of potion, or something else altogether - and he's fairly certain that even Amortentia couldn't affect him like this just from kissing Evelynn. Because now he's either got to take a freezing cold shower or imagine the most horrific scenario he can to be able to sit normally.

She shakes her head at once, saying "No, not a clue. And it doesn't happen with anyone else - don't give me that look! We get jolts just from brushing elbows together! It's impossible to not brush against somebody else in the corridors between classes, remember? And I'm only getting these…whatever they are, from you!"

Tom grumbles, pushing aside his possessiveness - for now - and says "Same with me. Its only with you."

Evelynn groans, then says "So, it has to be something that's happening between us. I don't think it's a Curse of some kind, I've been under Curses and they aren't…"

Tom smirks, glad to know he's not the only one getting turned on by this mysterious connection, and asks "This pleasing?"

Evelynn blushes brightly, much to Tom's utter amusement, and she mutters "Yes. If anything, I'd expect a Curse like…that to be the other way around."

Tom nods, even as he starts trying to make his little problem he got while kissing Evelynn go away - Merlin, he's never felt like this with anyone else. Metaphorically…and very literally. "I would as well. I didn't notice anything like this until the snowball fight, but I don't remember anything happening around then either."

Evelynn says "I'd put it down to adrenalin, back then. I didn't think it was…well, anything, really." Tom hums, then presses his lips to Evelynn's in one last chaste kiss - earning a whine out of her, as she mutters "You're such a tease…" Tom just smirks at her, saying "I know. Now, c'mon, let's go show our faces again."

"And pretend nothing's happening?" She's got no problem in keeping their new relationship a secret, given how the public would jump on the bandwagon at anything last life, but she'd think Tom would want to advertise to the world that she's his. Instead, they read up on a Parsel-glamour that only they can see through. He can see the way her neck is bruising, and a bite mark that's almost certainly a claiming bite of some kind is currently extremely present on the spot where her neck meets her collarbone, and she can see all the scratches she somehow left on him, but nobody else can. She'd like to know just how and when she's making marks like that on Tom, considering she can never remember actually making them.

At Evelynn's raised eyebrow, Tom says "Evelynn, we don't know what's happening. Chances are, the gossips out there will come up with something truly special and give Dumbledore an excuse to keep an annoyingly close watch on the both of us."

Evelynn drily says "More than he already does, you mean."

Tom nods, and says "Yes, more than he already does."

Its getting on both their nerves, really - and Evelynn thinks she knows why he's watching them both so closely. They're both Peverells, both descendants of the three brothers from the story. So…they could very well be his ticket to two of the three Hallows - and that's without him knowing Evelynn's the very thing he and Grindelwald dreamed of becoming, the immortal Master of Death.

If he had any inkling…well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out he'd do just about anything to have Evelynn under his full power if he had even the barest idea of who and what Evelynn is. And he most likely knows Tom's directly descended from Cadmus Peverell, likely knew since he admitted to being able to speak to snakes years ago. So now, he's doing everything he can to make sure Tom is mistrusted and keeping an eye on the both of them.

Its sick, twisted, and it makes Tom want to go and Curse the man into St. Mungo's - but it makes him want to defy the old man even more, destroy him so completely he'll never be able to recover. Luckily, Evelynn convinced him to go the latter route - let the old man try all he wants, only to fail at every turn. He's got the Master of Death at his side, and he knows the mistakes he made in her original timeline - he's not going to make them.

He's not so cocky - not after watching his older self stand there with Evelynn's old wand and gloat instead of incapacitating her when she was twelve - as to imagine he won't make a mistake somewhere down the line, but he can keep himself from tearing his soul, becoming the very monster Dumbledore seems so convinced is there, and going so insane he destroys the society he wants to improve.

He can also not release the Basilisk, keeping the school from being closed and Myrtle Warren's death from happening - especially since Evelynn is somewhat fond of her, for whatever reason. Evelynn showed the Ravenclaw a few Hexes, to keep Olive Hornby off her back - and, amusingly, after threatening Hornby if she ever tried to Curse her again, tried out the Karma Curse she had the idea for on the bully of a girl, resulting in her popularity taking a steep nosedive as she tried to Curse an older Raven and the subsequent shield that was produced bounced the humiliating Curses right back to her - and now they can usually be found in the Library together at least once a week doing homework or talking.

Not something he's jealous about, not in the slightest.

When they get back to the Common Room, Evelynn heading to the Depository for a book and Tom to his usual seat, they could both swear the entire room all but facepalms and starts grumbling. Tom just frowns at them all, sending everyone pointed looks that don't get met before going back to his own book. Merlin, what is wrong with people lately?! And that's coming from him!

He's just about had it with the weirdness, to - he's honestly on the edge of just demanding some answers from people, even if he has to read their minds to get them.

Chapter Text

Tom heads down to the Common Room Christmas morning, and sees two stacks of presents under the tree - one for him, and one for Evelynn. Hidden behind the stack of presents for Evelynn, he just notices, is a pile of snow - how, in the name of Merlin, did snow get into the Common Room?! Especially since there's nobody else from Slytherin in the castle right now bar the Professors that were in the House? When he goes to investigate, he hears a familiar chuckle in his head.

I wouldn't. That's for my Mistress. And it took quite a while to set up, might I add. Picky soul would only accept the very best.

Tom freezes in his tracks, once more gripped with an all-consuming terror at the knowledge that Death is in his head.

Relax, you have nothing to fear. Unless you count potential retribution from someone for disturbing that pile of snow, I suppose.

Tom glances around, then quietly murmurs "Oh, really? And why's that?"

All in good time. As for that pile of snow, its currently acting as a nest of sorts for a very stubborn, opinionated bird. She was rather adamant about finding her Witch, you see. It was all I could do to convince her to wait until after she was back in time, and I can guarantee she'll be less than pleased if you disturb her.

Tom blinks, trying to make sense of that…and comes up short, who would Death be talking about?! Evelynn? But the only bird he could think of that would fit that description is Hedwig, and Hedwig died over a decade ago for Evelynn.

A good guess. I have to wonder if you're starting to figure out what's happening between you and my Mistress yet or not.

Tom frowns deeply, the reminder of the odd connection between them unsettling him if even Death is taking notice of it. What would be so significant as to concern a deity? Especially about one insignificant mortal like him? Evelynn's immortal, the Hallows chose her...but, the same doesn't apply to him.

That's a no, then. I'll give you a hint. Its not something my Mistress will ever guess. A by-product of her previous life.

Tom feels the entity leave his head, leaving behind more questions yet again - he suddenly gets the feeling the growing link between himself and Evelynn is why Death is entering his head occasionally. The entity doesn't come back and confirm or deny it, but he'll just ask the next time it does. Not that it happens all that much.

And then he looks back at the pile of snow on the floor underneath the Christmas Tree that was brought in, and sees there's an egg sitting in the center - white as the snow its sitting in, its only because there's silver threaded through the white that he could even see it. There's also a simple black box next to the pile of snow, but Tom doesn't have a clue what's in it.

Last time, it was music from the future - this time? Who knows. Either of them, really.

His attention gets taken from the strange egg by Evelynn's appearance, black hair messy like she just rolled out of bed - in all likelihood, she did. She didn't expect presents last year, after all. One hand is rubbing her eyes, the other is behind her back - and then her face lights up when she sees him kneeling there, all traces of sleep disappearing at the sight of him.

Tom gestures for her to come over, saying "There's gifts for you, Evelynn." Once again, Evelynn's expression goes momentarily blank before it registers that, yes, she has presents. Just one more reason he's compiling for him to kill the Dursleys - he's planning it out in excruciating detail, 'excruciating' being the key word there.

He moves to sit on the couch, and feels her arms go around his shoulders as she nuzzles into his neck while saying "Merry Christmas, Tom." Oh, she's making it far too easy for him, even with the sudden cold at his neck. Tom promptly pulls her over the back of the couch so he can steal a kiss from her in return.

Before he can get at all into it, though, there's a thumping sound from behind Evelynn. Followed by a metallic rattling sound. Tom just raises an eyebrow at Evelynn, who blushes and mutters about him cheating. Tom raises an eyebrow at her, asking "I take it that was…?"

Evelynn gives him an exasperated look, like he's supposed to have guessed already, and says "My Christmas presents to you. Don't look!" Oh, he's sorely tempted to look, just because she said that. Still, he doesn't peek over the back of the couch as she picks everything back up and gets it ready for him.

When she gets back on the couch, there's a large stack of what he recognizes as books - even through the wrapping paper she must've Conjured - and a simple black box big enough to hold something about the size of his hand.

After a brief debate, he goes for the books first - only to get the surprise of his life when he sees some books that look like they must've cost a fortune. Advanced books on practically every subject she could find, everything from Enchanting to Alchemy. Bloody hell!

After Tom manages to close his mouth, Evelynn says "They were in the room of Requirement. I thought you'd like them, so I fixed them up for you."

Its just like with the boxes of food, he so wants to kiss her right now.

Unlike with the boxes of food…its exactly what he does, pulling her forward by her shirt and landing his lips on hers. Until his lungs start burning like they're on fire, signaling that they need oxygen through the fog that's invaded their minds.

Evelynn hums, still looking dazed, and asks "If this is how you say you like some books, I can't wait for you to open my second gift."

Tom raises an eyebrow, asking "Its better than the twenty books I've never seen before today?"

Evelynn smiles at him, saying "I think it'll mean more to you than the books, yes. Call it a hunch."

When he opens the box, he's almost literally floored at the sight - its only because he's on the couch that he isn't on the floor. Because he's staring at Salazar Slytherin's Locket, looking for all the world like its brand new. The gold is gleaming, the emeralds sparkling...it looks like it was just made by a master craftsman.

"What…how…when…" He stares up at Evelynn, entirely dumbfounded - how did she possibly get her hands on Slytherin's Locket?! And then it clicks with him - at least, he thinks it does. "Borgin and Burkes."

Evelynn nods, saying "Yeah. It was just sitting there in the case. I don't know why it wasn't snapped up years ago, but it wasn't for some reason."

Tom stares at her with almost impossibly wide eyes, and breathes out "That's why your magic went crazy in the shop."

Evelynn nods again, and says "Yeah. But the conniving bastard wanted ten times what they paid for it in the first place. It kinda set me off, but it worked out in the end."

Evelynn scoots over on the couch, seeing Tom is staring at the Locket like it might disappear - or grow legs, not an actual impossibility with magic - and picks it up. His dark gaze snaps up to her at once, watching in a mix of disbelief and awe as she undoes the clasp before putting it around his neck. As soon as the clasp is done and the pendant itself settles on his chest, Tom senses a not-so-faint buzz of magic come from it. Familiar magic, at that, which seems to settle around him like a blanket. "This…this feels like your magic."

Evelynn nods, fingers tracing the snake on the locket as she murmurs "I cleaned it up and put a few protection spells on it. Along with the same kind of Ward I used on my trunk…almost. Its…intended, I suppose you might call it, differently."

Tom raises an eyebrow, asking "How so?"

"The Ward I put on my trunk senses a person's intentions and reacts accordingly. If they wanted to 'borrow' some ink or parchment from the setting I tend to keep it on here, it would give them something of a sharp sting. Enough to make them think twice, but not particularly lethal - something I could conceivably have learned in the library or from one of the upper years. On the other hand, if they were trying to break into the home setting…well, I may have taken a page out of your book for that. Older-you, that is."

Tom thinks for a minute, and comes up with two possibilities. "The Curse on the Ring?" Somehow, a potion that weakens someone enough that Inferi can get them doesn't sound quite right. Especially since Evelynn doesn't currently have any Inferi on hand.

Evelynn nods, saying "If they were going to try and take or destroy some of the stuff I have in there, or the entire setting…well, you know how ruthless I can be. I wasn't going to give them a chance to spread any stories and have someone take a closer look at me."

Tom nods, then asks "And the necklace?"

"Anybody tries to steal it, they'll quickly figure out it's a bad idea. Too late, but still. There's also a protection spell on it, meant to cancel out any spells that aren't healing or harmless ones. I've never tried it against something like you'd find in a serious battle, or a professional duel, but it should hold against most anything you'd come across here. And one to warn you if someone's about to hurt you or Potion you. I based it off the protection spells I read up on in Nott manor, the ones that were originally used for the Heir Rings."

The next thing Evelynn knows, she's just been all but tackled onto her back and Tom's practically attacking her mouth. And then her neck, one side and then the other before trailing down her collar for good measure. Maybe she should get Tom nice things more often, if it gets reactions like this out of him. The Twins were always happy - she thought - with whatever she could make for them, and Luna was always off in her own world so much that she couldn't tell one way or another, she could never get Neville anything since she was always stuck in Four Privet Drive for their birthdays and she couldn't really go out and get him something for Christmas...but the most anyone else ever gave her was a 'thank you' or a brief one-armed hug. Certainly nothing this passionate - the closest was the Twins' reactions to the money from the Tournament, and even that pales in comparison by a long shot. They hugged her, they cried, and they promised her a lifetime pass on all their pranks - heartwarming, yes, but not...this.

Not leaving a dozen bites on her neck to let her know in no uncertain terms that she's his, not the possessive looks and intoxicating kisses, not the feeling she's getting that not even Dumbledore would be able to keep them apart. And she's not sure what to do about that feeling, honestly. She expected Tom to leave or make her leave after learning everything, he didn't do either. No, instead he seemed to latch onto her even tighter, despite the knowledge that she was his prophesized downfall and all that. He hasn't used her for anything either, not to solidify his power in Slytherin House even further or even for her power and knowledge. He looked at her, with all her baggage and issues, and he said stay. He said mine. Its something nobody ever said before, concerning her, and now she can't seem to get enough of it. Its the only thing she ever really wanted, all she needs, and he's giving it to her time and again.

Its Evelynn's fingers that bring Tom back to himself, one hand tangled in his hair and tugging on it and the other digging into his shoulder as she holds onto him - he sits up, but not before leaving a series of marks all along her neck that are definitely going to turn purple soon. Evelynn props herself up, grinning happily and asking "I take it you liked it?" Tom pulls her in for another - more gentle - kiss, words failing to describe just how much it all means to him. Now his own gift for her, the softest blanket he could make and Charm, seems like…not nearly enough. Maybe he can add a Protect- no, wait, nevermind. He doesn't actually know any that would stand up to the kinds of trouble Evelynn seemed to attract in her last life. The Troll and the Dementors come to mind right then.

"So," Evelynn asks, pulling him out of his thoughts, "are you going to open the rest of your gifts?"

Tom hums, pretending to be in thought for a moment, and says "Perhaps. Are you going to open yours?"

Evelynn smiles at him, and says "You first. There's no rush, after all." Something that simply astounds him - Evelynn went without gifts or even people doing something nice for her just because they could for so long…yet she's not currently tearing open her gifts like a little demon. It's a testament to her willpower, he thinks, that she isn't going slightly crazy for a time.

Evelynn's own gifts get carefully stacked up on the side, and then Tom actually blindfolds Evelynn while he summons his gift for her so she won't peek, much to her amusement. Amusement that turns to gratitude when he wraps the blanket around her - she never had her own cover to wrap up in, not one that was hers. Also, she's not blind anymore, thanks to the Hallows, she absolutely noticed the Slytherin symbol on the back of it and knows what it means - another way to state his claim on her, even if he can say its because they're in the House. Nobody in Slytherin House would look at it and see anything other than Tom saying she's his.

And then Evelynn sees the pile of snow, instantly getting curious about it. "Someone left a pile of snow in the Common Room?" Who in the world would do that?!

Tom shrugs, saying "I'm not exactly sure what it is, even. Because there's something in the snow." Well, he knows its a bird, currently inside a white and silver egg. Other than that? Not a clue. Not for certain, anyway.

Evelynn frowns and scoops up most of the snow, letting it trickle through her fingers slowly. Leaving her with the egg that was sitting in it. Evelynn's breath catches in her throat, even as the shell turns to snow and floats away. Leaving a baby bird with the beginnings of snow-white feathers edged in silver, with talons the same color…and intelligent amber eyes.

Evelynn, Tom suspects, would hit the floor hard if she wasn't already kneeling - as it is, she lands on her behind squarely, breathing going slightly ragged as she stares at the baby bird. "Hed? Is that you?" The bird chirps happily, nipping at her left index finger before rubbing its head against it. Evelynn's too caught up in her reunion with Hedwig to notice, but the fire goes out and the carpet she's sitting on freezes over due to the sheer amount of power surrounding the two of them as their Familiar Bond reforms, or the tears spilling over her cheeks 

Also, Tom is currently trapped against the couch, as it feels like the weight of Hogwarts, Wards and all, is pressing down on him. And then it fades, letting Tom sit up again as Evelynn breaks down crying in delight. Tom gently pulls her up onto the couch next to him, only to get another shock as the baby bird - an Ice Phoenix, he thinks - shifts into a Kneazle kitten and starts licking Evelynn's tear-streaked face and purring.

Tom just stares after a moment, only Evelynn…

And then Hedwig shifts once more into a baby Antipodean Opaleye, and hisses "Missed you, Eve-chick. Missed you for so long. Need to sleep though…"

Evelynn hiccups, and brokenly hisses out for Hedwig to stay in her Kneazle Form so Dumbledore won't get suspicious or try to take her. "Yes, a good plan. Its part of why I chose the Kneazle form in the first place. So, this is your…"

Hedwig's cut off by a large yawn, and turns back into her Kneazle form before falling asleep in Evelynn's lap. Evelynn quickly uses the blanket Tom got her as a nest for her Familiar, sending him an apologetic look as she does so. Tom leans over and uses his thumb to wipe at her face, saying "Well, that was something. The surprises never cease, do they?"

Evelynn shakes her head, saying "No, apparently they don't. An Ice Phoenix, a Kneazle, and an Antipodean Opaleye…" She hiccups again, her whole body jerking as she does.

Tom rubs her back for a minute, then quietly asks "You alright now?"

Evelynn nods, saying "I'm better than alright, Tom. I…I've got Hedwig back, she…" Evelynn trails off, wiping at one cheek uselessly with the palm of her hand.

After a minute, she says "I'm gonna go put Hedwig on my bed, Tom. Be right back."

Tom nods, using a bit of magic to bring her last box over to the couch - the one that was next to the pile of snow. Knowing Death…it'll be something else mind-blowing.

Honestly, a Kneazle kitten, an Ice Phoenix, and an Antiopedan Opaleye...how in the world did that happen?!

Chapter Text

Tom could swear Evelynn looks the tiniest bit lighter as she heads back over to him, and he wouldn't be surprised if it was true - she never even got to bury Hedwig, never got the chance to say goodbye to her, and now she's got her Familiar back. Hell, she never even knew Hedwig was her Familiar.

And now she's got her best friend back...forever. Phoenixes are immortal, after all.

When she sits down, Evelynn murmurs "Best Christmas ever…"

Tom hums, pulls her into his side without a second thought, and says "You've got one box left. Want to guess what it is, first?"

Evelynn gazes at it for a moment, then hums and says "Well, it looks like a box for a piece of jewelry…" Though, she's not one for jewelry, so that pretty much rules it out altogether. To be fair, though, she was never allowed to have any kind of interest in pretty things at the Dursleys...and then, by the time she originally went to Hogwarts, it was pretty much beaten out of her.

After a minute, she opens it up…only to pull out a Time-Turner. Silver, with the inscription 'For when you need or want more time.'

After a minute, Evelynn says "Death…got me a Time-Turner." Even for Death, who somehow got her music from the future for her birthday...this is mind-blowing.

Tom hums, then says "I'd love to hear how he managed that. Probably the same way he got you the earbuds, right?"

Evelynn nods, then suddenly snaps her head around to look at Tom in glee. Because she just got a great idea for a second birthday present for Tom, if a bit early. "Tom?"

"Yes?" Tom tilts his head, wondering just what Evelynn could be thinking of to get a look like that on her face.

"Have you decided on anything with your relatives yet?"

Tom shakes his head, saying "Not as of yet. Why?"

Evelynn gets an innocent look on her face, and Tom doesn't buy it for a single instant - he knows that look, he invented that look. "Evelynn? What are you thinking?"

"What if I took care of them instead? Your father and your uncle, at least?"

Tom blinks, and asks "Uh…what now?" He'd been planning on killing all four of them, his father, his - as Evelynn would likely say, and its likely true - 'batshit insane' uncle, and his grandparents, sometime soon, but it had been pushed to a backburner what with this connection with Evelynn they're still exploring. So what brought this up?

Evelynn grins once more, moving to sit on his legs so she's got him trapped against the back of the couch and caged in by her arms - for once she's got the upper hand on him, but she did tell him she'd turn the tables on him one day - and says "Your father and Uncle have been fighting for years, Tom. Long before you were born, maybe before Merope even first saw your father. The Aurors are constantly going out to Little Hangleton to Obliviate your father and reverse whatever Morfin's done to him. It wouldn't surprise anyone if Morfin killed him, and it would be a hell of a lot less suspicious than the Riddles all dying of the Killing Curse and Morfin confessing."

Tom hums, his brow furrowing in confusion as he asks "Why would that scenario be suspicious? It'd be an open and shut case, after all." Like she said, Morfin and his father have been fighting for years. Morfin snapping after his stint in Azkaban wouldn't be suspicious at all.

Evelynn shrugs, saying "You would think so, and so would I, but Dumbledore…except, wait, he can't have…" Now its Evelynn that gets a highly confused look on her face, a look that's shortly replaced by disgust, fury, and horror. "Alright, so, he probably didn't get those memories years after they died." Merlin, what is wrong with that guy?! Does he seriously hate Tom so badly that he'd go to such lengths before he's got any proof whatsoever?!

Tom frowns, asking "Evelynn? What do you mean?"

"I mean I think Dumbledore was bloody stalking you! Nobody lasts that long in Azkaban, not without going completely insane, not even the most down-to-earth person. And, no offense, but the Gaunts were not entirely sane to begin with. Morfin shared- shares Marvolo's instability and temper, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if they all had other health problems to after all the inbreeding. There's no bloody way Dumbledore visited him in Azkaban…what, ten, fifteen years later? Forget when I was in my sixth year and he was 'starting' to suspect you'd made Horcruxes."

Tom feels his eyes widen as he says "Which means he'd gotten the memories between me meeting Morfin by accident and Memory Charming him." He really was stalking the teen! Evelynn nods, a furious look on her face that matches how Tom's feeling at the realization. "So, what now, then?"

Evelynn gives him that shark's smile he's come to adore, and says "Well, you remember that Karma Hex I came up with?"

"The one that's utterly untraceable? The one that can't be detected whatsoever if another spell is cast on the victim afterwards? Or if they use magic?" Tom knows that particular spell of hers, she came up with it herself just recently and he's very much a fan. There's not even an actual incantation, more focused intent on balancing the scales and repaying the victim however Karma decides. Olive Hornby is now Ravenclaw's laughingstock, when Tom was fairly certain she used to 

"The one that gives the victim exactly what they deserve. Yes, that one." Evelynn starts running one hand through Tom's hair, saying "I can get in and out of Little Hangleton easily, nobody will know I was there, and I can cast the Hexes Wandlessly seeing as I never actually invented an incantation for it. Just poured my magic and will into them getting exactly what they deserve. I don't know what exactly will happen, but if I had to guess based off of Morfin's temperament from the memories I was shown…it'll likely be lethal for your father. Putting Morfin in Azkaban, and leaving the Slytherin Lordship to you. And, incidentally, keeping you in the clear. Or they'll both die, perhaps, with the same result."

Tom raises an eyebrow at her, asking "You've really thought this out, haven't you?" In the space of a few moments to. Its all he can do not out simply melt into her hand running through his hair, especially when she starts playing with it. She knows he likes when she does that!

"Think of it as a second birthday present? Since I'm almost finished on the one I was planning on giving you."

"Oh?" Tom raises an eyebrow, trying to keep his thoughts in order - because Evelynn's definitely playing dirty, switching from playing with his hair to rubbing little circles into the base of his skull - and asks "What would that be?"

Evelynn smirks at him, shifting slightly closer, and says "Telling, that's what that would be." Tom almost groans at her terrible joke, right up until Evelynn nuzzles her face into his neck…and starts speaking in Parseltongue.

If she was playing dirty before, using the connection between them and his not-so-secret love of when she plays with his hair to try and get him to say yes, now she's thrown it all into a pit of mud.

"Let me do this for you, Tom. Let me let you watch Dumbledore flounder, trying to find any proof of your involvement in their deaths and prove himself a fool when there is none. Let me make him show his true colors for everyone to see, with you in a front row seat with a bag of popcorn in hand."

Well, how can he say no when she asked so nicely? Especially in Parseltongue, he just about loses his mind when she speaks in Parseltongue. And she bloody well knows it, he thinks, as her lips twist into a smile he can feel against his neck and she shifts slightly. Parseltongue, and getting rid of his absentee father and abusive, insane uncle…how could he resist?

After a moment, Tom asks "You'll make them suffer? Those two bastards, at the very least?"

Evelynn pulls back enough that he can see her serious expression, any and all good mood absent from it as she says "I would never deny you that, Tom. You already know my opinion of people like our two Uncles." Tom nods, Vernon Dursley and Morfin Gaunt are apparently two sides of a very hideous coin. "And, as for your father…Love Potion or not, he shouldn't have abandoned Merope when she was pregnant. I'll make sure he gets eaten alive by the guilt until his dying breath."

He can just tell Evelynn's thinking of her own Godson, who she never got to raise; she left for a time, a short one at that, just to get her head on straight to be able to raise Teddy even halfway decently after breaking down about Remus and Tonks upon seeing his hair change color during their first and only meeting arranged by Andromeda - his hair went from brown to black upon seeing her, and she was suddenly having a meltdown - and she'd always intended to go back and be in his life. That never got to happen, though, since she was declared Dark and Evil, and was hunted down.

Still, she'd even had a Will made up that gave everything she owned to him before that happened, just in case.

If it had been her, he's sure he wouldn't have been in the Orphanage at all. Evelynn wouldn't have abandoned Merope, wouldn't have left him to rot at Wool's - and if they tried to keep him from her, if Evelynn couldn't find Merope in time for his birth and Wool's tried to keep her from adopting him, he figures she'd have either stolen him away some night or stormed the place in a fury.

Tom leans in to leave another mark on Evelynn's neck, murmuring "Alright, then." Strange as it is to admit, even to himself, he trusts Evelynn to enact this revenge for him. It goes against every Slytherin instinct he has - the phrase 'if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself' coming to mind - but he trusts her to pull it off. After all, she convinced Dippet that she was from this time and to let her attend Hogwarts.

Although, admittedly, nobody would just jump straight to 'this is the time-traveling Mistress of Death' as a logical conclusion. Which begs the question…

Tom glances over, murmuring "Hey, Evelynn?"

Evelynn tilts her head slightly for him, and says "Mm-hm?"

"Why in the world did you tell everyone you time-traveled?!"

Evelynn blinks, and stares at him. Then snickers, which turns into full-blown laughter she muffles by burying her face in his own neck. "You thought of that now?!"

Tom shrugs, saying "Just a question I've had for a while now." Ever since she told him she actually did Time-Travel.

Evelynn pulls back, her expression mischievous now, and says "Wanted to see what everyone would do. And they did exactly what I figured they'd do. Go into denial. And, to be honest, it was hilarious to watch - I'm getting a taste for making Purebloods drop their masks and lose their minds, I should warn you."

Tom chuckles, thinking back on the memory - in retrospect, their stunned expressions were very funny. After a minute, he asks "So, any plans for today?"

Evelynn nods, saying "After I get back, I could play some Christmas songs on the piano if you want."

"After you get back? Your leaving now?"

He schools his face into a pout, which makes Evelynn chuckle and kiss his cheek while saying "Let me get dressed first. I'll use the Time-Turner and be back before you even know I'm gone. Alibi, and all."

Tom seriously wishes, right then, that she didn't make such good points when she's being so ruthless. Because, when she goes all ruthless like that, it makes him want to do nothing more than drag her into his room and not let her leave…ever. Just as he's resigned himself to waiting in his room after she's gone to hers, someone slides down and leans into him - he's just about to Hex them for daring when he realizes its Evelynn. It takes him a moment to realize she's already back - she wasn't joking when she said she'd be back before he knew it!

His expression must be priceless, as she chuckles and says "I said I'd be back."

"I know, but I didn't expect you to be that fast. How'd it go? How will it go? Bloody time travel…"

Evelynn chuckles again, saying "I have that problem at least once a day, Tom. As for how it went…well. Your father and I had a little chat, I knocked him out after we were finished talking so he'd think it was a dream instead of going on about a strange girl appearing out of nowhere, then I did the Hex. Went to the Gaunt Shack, Hexed Morfin, replaced the Ring with a copy, just in case." And, Merlin, the Gaunt Shack was absolutely disgusting - Morfin's a pig, apparently, or perhaps some of that was Marvolo's doing. She certainly gets why its called a shack - despite having a bit of square footage, bigger by far than her old cupboard at least, it was old, dilapidated, and practically falling apart.

Tom stares at the Ring in her hand in shock - the Resurrection Stone, something straight out of a bedtime story, just sitting there so innocently. When he reaches for it, she closes her hand around it and says "Careful, its got a powerful effect on people even now. A lot like the Mirror of Erised, really. I'm immune because I'm the Master of Death, but anyone else is fair game to this thing. My advice? Keep it hidden in your trunk. I didn't want to make anyone suspicious with a family Heirloom being gone, but I didn't want Dumbledore getting his hands on the Stone and your family's ring either. Hallow or no Hallow, I'm not letting him get his hands on it." That Compulsion was one of Death's nastier tricks, by his own admission. Make someone want to use it, make them see their loved ones they can't be with...and, eventually, make them want to die.

Tom nods, and murmurs "It's the best solution. Thank you." From Evelynn's stunned expression, she didn't expect to hear those words out of his mouth. And, had it been anyone else, they wouldn't have.

Evelynn clears her throat after Tom puts the Ring in his pocket for now, and asks "I believe I mentioned Christmas songs? After I got back, I started setting up to pass the time."

Evelynn starts to get up, only to get pulled back to Tom and have him claim her lips once more before he moves to her neck once more. "What," she asks breathlessly, "did you miss a spot or something?"

Tom pauses just long enough to say "Yes." before going back to biting and sucking at her neck possessively. Evelynn's convinced he's going to keep leaving those marks on her neck whenever he gets the chance, laying claim to her for everyone to see.

He's probably getting paranoid about the weird behavior everyone's had when they're in the common room, honestly.

Chapter Text

Orion and Theodorus share questioning looks as soon as they get into the Slytherin Common Room after returning from Winter Break - something's changed, again, but they don't know what.

Again.

Evelynn's working on something that looks like a collar, with a small kitten sitting curled up in her lap contentedly - and when did she get a Kneazle kitten?! - and Tom…if they didn't know any better, they'd say he was distracted. Except he's Tom, and Tom doesn't get distracted. Ever.

Except whenever Evelynn walks by, apparently. He's apparently incapable of focusing on a conversation, as demonstrated by his eyes wandering repeatedly towards a particular area of the common room - Evelynn's corner, they know it by heart now.

"What do you think, Hed? Think its enough?" It escapes literally nobody's notice that Tom's gone stone-still, glittering dark gaze fixed on Evelynn as she picks her Kneazle kitten - which she definitely didn't have when they left! - up and puts her on the table.

Theodorus grins at Orion, then 'casually' walks over and asks "What are you working on, Peverell? Classes haven't even started yet." There's a silver band on the table, along with Rune-carving tools and a book on Runes so advanced he's legitimately confused on where she found it. Because most of those Runes haven't been covered yet, but she's turned a simple silver band of metal into a work of magic so complex it should be actual art.

The Runes he does recognize? Protection, Concealment, etc.

Some are the Runes they've been learning, some are Egyptian, some look Norse, and some are little squiggles that he can't make heads or tails of. And some he thinks she made up on her own - its possible, but its usually something MASTERS do. He sees one Rune that corresponds to Hela, the Norse Goddess of Death, and decides he really doesn't want to trip whatever spells she's put on that band - its no secret Evelynn can be at least as ruthless as Tom, perhaps even more so, but she's far more vindictive than Tom when pushed. And perfectly willing, it seems, to give someone more than a taste of that vindictiveness if they dare to harm what's hers.

For one terrifying moment, the two of them wonder what she'd do if she and Tom got together and then something happened to him - it really doesn't bear thinking about. Especially given the Wards on her trunk when she was supposed to be a second year that had never heard of magic before.

The Nott heir is broken from his thoughts by Orion nervously asking "Erm, why's your Kneazle kitten staring at us like that?" Now that he sees the amber-eyed stare, its a little unnerving actually. Because it looks far more intelligent than most kittens do, even Kneazle kittens. Ok, he decides as the stare shifts to him like the kitten is trying to read his very soul, its extremely unnerving.

Evelynn glances at the amber-eyed magical cat, then chuckles and says "She's judging you two, I'd guess. Hed's always been an excellent judge of character." And, she said the Kneazle's ability to judge a person's character is one of the reasons she chose that form.

Orion carefully says "You say that like you've known her a while." Is that a slip? Or did she let it sound that way on purpose?

Instead of freezing, or trying to backtrack, Evelynn just grins and says "My little secret." Hedwig meows, looking at Evelynn and giving a nod. "Oh, alright. Go ahead, Hed. We both know you want to show off to them." The only reason they're seeing all this in the first place is because there's no hiding something like this forever. Sooner or later, someone would see something, or hear something, and go digging. And, if Dumbledore found out, he'd be all over the two of them worse than ever.

The kitten fluffs out - like its puffing its chest out, almost - and then…starts shimmering. After a moment, the Kneazle kitten is replaced by a small Ice Phoenix - same intelligent Amber eyes, same look on Evelynn's face. The baby Ice Phoenix coos a bit as Evelynn runs her fingers through the feathers, and then holds her leg up while Evelynn shrinks the band and fastens it around her tiny leg. And then a powerful Glamour covers the young bird, making her look like a Snowy Owl.

Theodorus and Orion trade shocked looks, and then Theo asks "Your telling us this…why? Don't get me wrong, I'm honored, but…"

Evelynn smirks at the dumbfounded Slytherins, and asks "But you thought I'd keep it a secret?" Both Orion and Theodorus nod at her silently, and Evelynn says "Something like this, its bound to get out eventually. Hedwig's my Familiar, but she died before we knew and was brought back. Don't ask me how, I'm not entirely sure. What I am sure about, though, is that Dumbledore cannot find out about her." She considered it, but Tom pointed out that all it would take was one kid in Slytherin getting too curious about her. Better to nip it in the bud than let it fester, they decided. The Seventh Years know some very good detection spells, and they'd undoubtedly pick up the magic protecting Hedwig if nothing else. And that's really just the start of a gigantic mess that Dumbledore would undoubtedly poke his nose into.

Tom frowns, asking "Why not? Him, specifically?"

"There's this old legend about Dumbledores and Phoenixes, something about a Phoenix coming to any Dumbledore in their time of need. I don't know whether to believe it or not, but he more than likely does. 'Cause, you know," Evelynn snorts derisively, and Hedwig trills angrily "he's a Light Wizard and all."

The other three Slytherins share equally derisive chuckles, even as Hedwig hops up onto Evelynn's shoulder.

Orion blinks, then asks "So, what about you?" They were all under the impression that she's Dark, or at least Gray, but she's suddenly got an Ice Phoenix as a familiar so...

Evelynn smirks, then says "I'm gray. True gray, at that - not Light, not Dark. Perfectly balanced - I can use Light and Dark spells equally well. A Patronus is about as easy for me as a Bone-Breaker. Why?" She suspects she was always Gray and was never told, but it doesn't really matter. Whether she became Gray after becoming immortal or she was always Gray, it truthfully makes little difference in the long run.

At all their dumbfounded and horrified expressions, Evelynn groans and says "Please don't tell me you actually bought that ridiculousness about only Light Witches and Wizards being able to cast a Patronus." When she glances at their expressions, she says "You do. Well, it's a line of crap. Some idiotic person decided that, because its rather difficult to cast a Patronus when a Dementor is sucking out all your happiness, they'd use that detail to slander an entire group of people and make them look bad. No, casting a Patronus won't make anyone get consumed by Maggots - you just have to have the power and concentration to cast the spell." Whoever thought that a spell that would conjure a Patronus would make someone get consumed by maggots, of all things, made any sense at all must've been an absolute idiot. 

Theodorus swallows, then asks "And…Hedwig?"

Evelynn waves a hand dismissively, and says "More of the same. It isn't Light Witches and Wizards that Phoenixes are attracted to, its ones with respect for magic, balance, and a lot of power. Godric Gryffindor was technically a Dark Wizard, despite the detail that Magic wasn't divided into such classifications at that time, yet he Bonded with Fawkes after all."

Now everyone is listening in on the conversation, some more discretely than others - and some are almost visibly perking their ears up, all but leaning over to hear the conversation better. Even Tom is looking absolutely amazed at the new information, and he's got a general idea of where and how she got that information. She's got access to the Chamber of Secrets, after all.

Abraxas Malfoy drops any pretense of not eavesdropping, and chokes out "How could you possibly know that?!"

Evelynn smirks at him - look, there's where Draco got his impulsiveness and inability to think five feet ahead of himself when it came to her, it was just genetic! - and says "Found a journal written in that time, and I put two and two together. So-called 'Dark' Witches and Wizards rely more on their emotions rather than logic when they do spellwork. Their emotions connect to their magic more easily, and can fuel their spells easier. Light Cores tend to rely on concentration and focus to power their spells. Me…I'm about equal, honestly. And Godric Gryffindor, he was a warrior - he and Slytherin planned out how to defend the school if it were ever found by the NonMagical people of the time. Before you get all outraged, do remember that the Statute of Secrecy has only been in effect for about seven-hundred years…and the Founders lived around a thousand years ago. Times were different, and Magical people had to hide or fight for their survival. Godric planned out the defenses, while Slytherin focused on how to get the younger students out of the school if it was compromised." She was amazed upon reading it, but after the shock wore off it did make a lot of sense. Godric's own portrait had a sword, after all. Of course the man would get all emotional and protective of his students.

Another Slytherin asks "What was Slytherin like? Was there anything written about him?"

Evelynn chuckles, and says "It was written by him, but most everyone else in here won't be able to read it. He wrote it in Parselscript. From what I gathered, he was paranoid as all hell and puts the Statute of Secrecy to utter shame. He hated Muggles, but recognized that they weren't going anywhere for a number of reasons. A, there were too many of them, even back then. B, more and more Magicals were cropping up from their population. He hated what we call muggles because he knew what they'd do to Magicals, particularly the kids."

There's a horrified silence at that, and a tiny little First Year asks "What did they do?"

Evelynn grimaces, and says "The lead-up to the Salem Witch Trials. People were a lot more…devout, lets say, back then. And when little kids made something float, or a ceramic jar explode in a temper tantrum…" They were more than likely deemed possessed, or devil's children. Slytherin didn't hate Muggleborns, he hated where they came from and what most likely awaited them back home. History got twisted around, though, and his justifiable hatred for people that would exorcize or even kill their own children to either drive off the 'devil possessing them' or 'save' them from it got twisted into Blood Purity.

Again, there's a horrified silence, the Purebloods trying to imagine living a thousand years ago - its not a pretty picture. Its really not a pretty picture, even with their limited historical knowledge about Muggles back then. Hedwig fluffs up and nips at Evelynn's ear lightly, then lets out a series of chirps and trills, making her chuckle and say "You and your bacon, Hed. Alright, alright, lets go…" She's always known what Hedwig's said, but the completion of the Familiar Bond translates that knowledge into the ability to actually understand what she's saying, no matter the form she's in.

Tom hisses in parseltongue, only for Evelynn to grin at him and answer him back in the same way. And she only looks more and more amused when he looks horrified for a minute, and whatever it is she says next has him shocked speechless.

Everyone stares in utter shock - Evelynn Peverell has just shocked Tom Riddle speechless, its an unheard-of miracle.

Theodorus grins in amusement, and asks "What did you just tell him?" He'd dearly love to know what she said to give him a look of utter shock on his normally-impassive face.

Evelynn grins, and says "I've been busy. Happy birthday, Tom. Now, I've gotta go get someone some bacon."

Evelynn's gone before Tom unfreezes, and Theodorus asks "You told her your birthday?"

Orion asks "What do you think she got you?"

Tom swallows, and says "Off the top of my head? She found a book written by Salazar Slytherin himself…" Tom heads to his room, much to Theo and Orion's confusion - right up until they see something on his pillow.

Its…a shrunken trunk. With a note that says 'Enjoy.'

Orion watches as Tom returns the trunk to its original size, looking a combination of utterly amazed and awed - oh, he's a goner. They've never seen anyone make Tom look like this, ever - he's never surprised, or confused, and if he wants an answer he goes and gets it.

Evelynn Peverell seems to absolutely delight in being the exception to all of that.

Orion slowly says "She…got you another trunk." Why, exactly, does he feel like there's much more to this than…oh, wait, it might be the combination lock Tom's working. When it opens, there's a ladder that Tom actually slides down, forgoing the steps in his excitement.

Theodorus murmurs to Orion "She got him a house." How long did that take?!

The two share a look, and mutter "Bloody hell."

When they get inside the trunk, using the steps of the ladder instead of just sliding down it like Tom, they find its somewhat a combination of a flat and a manor - the room they get into is smaller than any room in either of their Manors, but its got doors and such that obviously lead to other rooms. And Tom is standing in front of a counter, not moving as he looks at something...next to a cake.

"Tom?" He wordlessly hands Thoedorus the note in his hands, which both of the other boys notice is in Evelynn's handwriting as well. "'Tom, hope you like the trunk. I'd like you to know, up front, it took several nights to set up all the spells I used. Expanding the Trunk was easy enough, around two hours. Setting up all the protections took a lot longer. There's some boxes in the fridge, but I'm making more soon. A bit of advice: go to the library last, and put cushioning Charms around you before you go in. Just thought you'd appreciate the complexity. And, yes, I'll teach you how.'"

Theodorus and Orion share a glance, even as Tom glances at the doors eagerly - Merlin, he's like a kid on Christmas. There's even notes on the doors - Evelynn had fun with this, they can just tell. There's a Training Room equipped with a dozen dummies, with a note on the door that says 'Run wild, it'll fix itself with the magic you release.'

The Ritual Room's note simply says 'Be careful, but you'll have fun in here. I put up protection spells, but I'm sure you'll find a way to break them sooner or later.'

The Potions Lab says 'Fully-stocked, with Preservation Charms on the shelves. And ventilation Wards.'

And then they get to the library, where the note says 'I will drag you out for meals if I have to. You've been warned.'

When Tom opens the door, leaving Theodorus and Orion to choke on their own saliva at the note, he sees…Slytherin's Library. From down in the Chamber - she moved it all into his trunk! And, from what he can sense, set up about a hundred preservation spells on the shelves. No wonder it took her so long.

There's a moment of silence, and then Orion says "Alright, I give up."

Theodorus nods, and says "Same."

Unbeknownst to Tom, they're talking about their bet that Tom would be betrothed to Evelynn by the time school lets out - no, from the look of this library they'll be married before they take their O.W.L.s! N.E.W.T.s at the latest!

One glance at Tom's expression all but confirms that theory. He's an absolute goner. And, to be honest, its equal parts hysterical and relieving.

Chapter Text

Theodorus Nott watches as a young Snowy Owl swoops down to their table and lands in front of Evelynn and Tom - Hedwig, it has to be. Because Evelynn runs her fingers through the white feathers, and then the bird goes for the plate of bacon after nipping at her fingertips.

Tom just shakes his head, covering his own plate when she glances at the four strips sitting on it. "Not a chance."

Evelynn smiles slightly, then says "Go hunting, Hed. I'm sure there's plenty of mice or rabbits in the forest, beautiful." To everyone's amusement, the bird actually puffs up at the compliment before flying off. With all the bacon in reach that's not on Tom's plate wedged between her beak and clutched in her talons.

Orion chuckles, and says "That bird of yours is scary-smart, you know that?"

Theodorus says "Don't look now, guys, but someone's watching. Again."

Evelynn just rolls her eyes, knowing who it is without having to turn around - Dumbledore, its always Dumbledore. She's long-since used to being stared at, in both lives, but he's always done it even when most everyone else had their fill. In this life and her last, the masses would stare at her whenever something happened - though, this time it's a bit more reasonable since she appeared literally out of thin air in the middle of the Great Hall, even with all the Wards that are supposed to be all but impenetrable, and half-dead to boot, it's something she actually did rather than something her mother did and she just happened to be on the receiving end of it - but they'd eventually taper off and get on with their lives, more or less. And it didn't start back up this year, either.

Not Dumbledore, no, he's always had far too much interest in her.

Last life, she was his pawn and he felt the need to watch her at all times - this life…well, she's betting it has something to do with the Hallows. Because, whether Tom's near her or not, whether she's talking with Dorea and Walburga or making her way to the library, he always seems to be watching her. He and Grindelwald were utterly obsessed with them, Aberforth told her of the many months they spent thoroughly researching Cadmus and Ignotus' lines late into the night in the hope that they would find the Hallows and become immortal rulers of the world.

They came up with the Potter and Gaunt lines after five months, even knew exactly how to identify them. Which is probably why he focused so heavily on Tom right from the moment he admitted to being able to understand snakes. And, perhaps, why he faked a Prophecy to have Voldemort target her family. She doesn't know what his end-game was, though. She has plenty of puzzle pieces, but she just can't seem to make them go together. One day, she's going to have to sit down and go through everything she knows the two of them did with Tom, he'll undoubtedly see what she's missing.

Why he even gave her the Resurrection Stone in the first place, or the Cloak for that matter, is beyond her - did he think he was the Master of Death, so it wouldn't work? Or was he convinced by his impending doom that it was all a myth?

Maybe he wanted the Stone to urge me to die. Its not entirely unlike the Mirror, after all. Tempting me with the shades of my loved ones…

It's a viable theory, induce a rapid depression of sorts over the course of a few months as she carried the Snitch around in her pocket, or make her want to join the parents she'd just met - and its absolutely something the old man would do, he was manipulative enough for everything else after all.

Dumbledore watches as Evelynn Peverell heads to Charms class with Tom Riddle and the rest of the Slytherin third years - where did she get that bird? It looked like any ordinary Snowy Owl, but she didn't have it before winter break.

Something's changed between her and Tom Riddle, he's sure of it - he's not sure what, exactly, but he is sure its worrying. Tom Riddle was dangerously powerful already, and Evelynn Peverell just as much. Add to it the detail that Tom was already Dark long before coming to Hogwarts, and with a control over his magic far beyond what most can achieve until around Sixth year when they start on Wandless magic…the thought of the two of them getting together chills him to the core.

Evelynn, while apparently unknowing of her magic, survived an attack by Gellert himself, Apparated straight through Hogwarts' Wards while grievously injured, and then healed herself at a rate that should've been impossible - or should've killed her, Poppy couldn't figure out how the young girl hadn't burned out from the rate she was healing at. Evelynn Peverell, is, he's certain of it, much more than she wants everyone to believe.

He's just not sure what it is she's hiding - could she be a spy from Gellert? He's still not sure, even now her story checked out, every last detail that could be found, and she didn't have anything on her but the partially-destroyed clothes on her back - and yet, she's picked up magic far too quickly without any aid from anyone for him not to be suspicious. Despite the detail that nothing's happened, that she hasn't done anything - that he knows of, anyway - he's still suspicious.

So, long story short, the detail that the two of them seem even closer than before is more than worrying, its all but an absolute disaster. If she turns Tom to Grindelwald, he's sure there'll be no stopping his ex-lover. And, on the chance Evelynn Peverell isn't a spy for the Dark Wizard, Tom will undoubtedly try to use her power for himself. And Peverell seems utterly blind to it all! She must not see the darkness in Tom Riddle, the monster that's lurking below the surface - why else would she be with him if she wasn't just like him?

Evelynn and Tom are in the Library after classes are over for the day, Evelynn reading up on Pureblood customs - because, despite finding a book like that in almost every Manor she stayed at it was always drier than ancient mummy dust and she never figured she'd need it since she was permanently on the run - and Tom with a book on Runes that Evelynn found in a Manor five years before coming back that was equal parts interesting and ridiculously advanced.

Right up until a familiar voice asks "You two know its almost time for the library to close, right?"

Evelynn looks up to see the Carrow twins, Lestrange, Nott, and Orion Black sitting at the table they're at…how long have they been there? "Um…oh. Shoot."

Amycus Carrow nods at the books she's got, asking "How are those going?" He can take a guess, though.

Evelynn just gives him a dry look, and says "Long, slow, and incredibly boring. You all have my deepest sympathies if your parents really made you memorize them before you hit double-digits."

Lestrange chuckles, and says "Its important, though. Especially since we're going to take over fr- as the Heads of our houses."

Evelynn nods, giving him a rare look of gratitude for a moment at his redirect from the topic of their parents - still a sore spot, even now, as Evelynn came to the awful realization about the Prophecy about four years prior to getting cornered, that Dumbledore faked it and let her parents be slaughtered on the off-chance she'd be able to beat him - then smirks and says "Still doesn't change the fact that I wouldn't be surprised if this book was Transfigured from a Mummy's dusty old remains."

There's a round of muffled laughter, and Lestrange teases "So, no chance of any of that Etiquette section sticking?"

Evelynn just gives him a raised eyebrow, and says "I'm not going to be kissing up to people, no. I'm also not going to just be some perfect little housewife, not saying anything and hanging on my husband's approval for every little thing like the world seems to think I should."

This time, there's a round of grumbling…and the Carrows and Lestrange hand over a handful of Galleons to Nott and Orion. Evelynn gives them a mixed look, and asks "Did you…bet on that?!" This is her life now, she tells herself, people teasing her and placing bets on whether or not she'll conform to society's ridiculous standards rather than Cursing her in the halls and trying to poison her for being a Parselmouth. And Tom being right next to her for everything.

Theodorus chuckles, and says "I tried to tell them you wouldn't just be what everyone thinks you should be. Tried to tell them that just because you read the section, it didn't mean you were going to take it as some code of conduct."

"And they didn't listen?" She thought Slytherins were supposed to be observant. She didn't think they bet on things, though.

Orion barks out a laugh - oh, look, that's where Sirius got it from! - and says "I was with him. They didn't listen." He glances at the way Tom's gone stony-faced - ever since Evelynn mentioned 'her husband' - and adds "At all."

As Tom and Evelynn head to the front desk to check out their books, they hear the Carrows murmur "I'm upping mine to twenty."

"I'm for thirty."

Tom and Evelynn share confused looks, and Evelynn murmurs "You have any idea what they're talking about?"

"Not a clue, Evelynn, not a clue." This is the first time hearing anything like it, but he's suddenly convinced its to do with all the weird behavior surrounding them. And he doesn't like it.

She glances back, then says "Probably about Quidditch, maybe a betting pool on who'll win the House Cup? You know how into the sport they get. Or on who'll get the highest marks in classes."

Tom just hums, casting a suspicious glance behind his back. "So long as its not about you marrying one of them."

Evelynn raises an eyebrow, asking "What? Where did that come from?!"

"Evelynn, the first thing they all jumped on after Mark Flint reported that you were awake, and what your story was, was what you looked like. From what I can tell, all their minds are lust-filled gutters." He hasn't even tried to get into their heads, not particularly wanting to go through the trouble just to get confirmation of what he already suspected. Besides, chances are they all have at least rudimentary Occlumency Shields - they'll most likely know the instant he tries to read their thoughts.

Evelynn smirks at him, and quietly asks "Jealous?"

Tom scoffs "Of what? A pack of…this is revenge, isn't it? For Diagon Alley?" Sneaky, sneaky Slytherin...

Evelynn just laughs as they make their way back to the Common Room.

Evelynn heads to her room to keep reading, and Tom gives the entire Common Room such a death glare that nobody hardly dares breathe until he heads to his room to put his own homework away. And then the others arrive, and immediately notice something's off.

Orion goes to sit by Walburga and Dorea, asking "What happened?"

Dorea says "Tom happened! He and Evelynn got back, and he gave the entire room such a look…"

Lestrange nervously asks "You think they heard us?"

"They know about the betting pool?"

The Carrows wince, and Alecto says "We may have upped our bets while they were checking out their books…"

Dorea frowns, then asks "So why would that result in him giving the room a look of death?" Unless...uh-oh...

The room is completely and utterly silent for a moment, and then Abraxas Malfoy sums it up nicely by saying "We're fucked." Rather, they're dead.

Twenty minutes later, Evelynn comes back down…and the entire room all but freezes. Rolling her eyes, Evelynn sits down next to Dorea casually. And then shocks the entire room when she asks "So, what's going on?" Screw subtlety, screw playing the usual song and dance. She might've been Compelled to go to Gryffindor, but that doesn't mean this is the wrong approach to getting answers. 

After a minute, Dorea asks "What?"

"Is there some kind of Quidditch Betting pool or something? Or about who's going to get the highest Marks in which class? Forget the politics for a minute, because Tom's one weird look away from going on a warpath to find out the answers himself." And she doesn't particularly need to go into detail about what Tom on a warpath looks like. Apparently, he scared them all well enough in his first year.

Thinking fast, Dorea 'confesses' to a betting pool on who'll get the highest Marks in the electives they're all taking. And, apparently, Tom and Evelynn are the top two contenders.

After a minute, Evelynn bursts out laughing, laughing so hard tears run down her face and she's holding her aching sides. "Oh, oh man, you guys have got to be kidding. Seriously, that's what all the weird looks were about?"

Everyone all but freezes, and Dorea asks "Weird looks?"

"Uh, yeah. Almost since term started, we've noticed everyone in here acting weird whenever Tom and I are both in the Common Room. You guys might've been trying to be subtle, but it wasn't nearly enough. I grew up always watching my back for my cousin and his gang of thugs, and you'll have to ask Tom about his own childhood since I wasn't there. But, seriously, all this time you all have been waiting for one of us to…what? Blow our tops or something? Have some kind of breakdown from our workload?"

She's still laughing when she heads back into the dorms, and Orion sighs in relief. "Oh, thank Merlin. We'll just have to fabricate some evidence to show Tom."

The Sixth and Seventh Years quite literally spring into action at that.

Tom stares at Evelynn in shock for a few moments, then asks "Are you having me on?" He wouldn't usually think so, but...it does sound pretty ridiculous. He'd believe she was joking in an instant if she hadn't just fallen backwards onto the bed and started laughing uncontrollably.

Evelynn shakes her head, and says "No, I swear. Everyone was serious about it being a betting pool on who'll get the highest marks in Electives." To think, all this time, she's been getting nervous about a betting pool of all things. 

Tom frowns, saying "I never heard anything about that last year…but it's possible it's for Third Years and up…"

Evelynn rolls her eyes at Tom's back, then walks over and puts her arms around his shoulders while saying "Relax, they aren't plotting anything against either of us. They wouldn't dare, and everyone wearing green and silver here knows it."

Tom grumbles "I know, I know…"

"You want a backrub? Because you still feel so tense." She buries her face in the crook of his neck for good measure, making him tense up even further at once as if to prove her point.

Tom mock-sighs, and says "You're a bloody tease, Evelynn." Even so, he lets her pull him onto the bed and sit behind him, setting to work on rubbing out the tension in his back muscles and shoulders. And, good Merlin, she's amazing at it.

Eventually, he moans and murmurs "You must be using a spell of some kind, I swear…" That, or its this connection between them - because even through the fabric, he's feeling more and more like putty in her nimble hands. Its all he can do to stay upright, at this point.

He can practically hear Evelynn's grin, despite not seeing it, as she says "No spells, just some skill. Something I picked up over the years."

Considering the detail that he apparently melts whenever she does this, he's going to pretend not to believe her for his own pride.

Chapter Text

About four days after classes started back up, Albus opens up the newspaper at breakfast only to just about choke on his mouthful of food - Tom Riddle Snr. and Morfin Gaunt are both dead. One from a gunshot wound through the heart, the other from the Killing Curse - ostensibly, it was a hunting trip for Riddle, and Morfin Gaunt followed him.

According to the paper, Riddle apparently mistook Gaunt for a deer or some such and fatally shot him - and Gaunt AK'd Riddle in retaliation, then died shortly after.

Glancing up at the Slytherin table, he sees Tom putting on an act of looking devastated, with Evelynn squeezing his arm and saying something to him. He can already see Dippet being fooled, can see everyone being fooled by the act Riddle or the both of them are playing. Riddle had to have something to do with their deaths, he just doesn't know…well, actually, he doesn't know why, how, or when.

There was no sign of any Compulsions on either body, and it was the middle of the day when the two killed each other yesterday. When classes would've been going on. And he knows the both of them were present for all the classes, the school Wards told him as much. They never even went outside the castle itself - they went to the library, the dungeons, their classes...they never even went near a window or exit to the school grounds. They've got alibis solid as the castle itself and he knows it.

Still, he's sure Tom Riddle jr. had something to do with the deaths of his father and uncle. He'll have to alert the Aurors, have them check Tom's wand.

Tom and Evelynn are safely hidden away in their corner of the library, behind Privacy Wards Evelynn put up - if anyone asks, they can just say they're so they don't disturb anyone or vice versa - and Tom murmurs "It actually happened…" His absentee father and abusive uncle are gone. Good riddance, in his opinion.

Evelynn smirks at Tom, teasingly asking "Did you doubt me, Tom?"

"No!" Tom shakes his head, adding "Even you didn't know what the Hex would do, Evelynn. It could've made my father have a change of heart, or my uncle get imprisoned, after all."

"It didn't though." Tom nods, and Evelynn quietly asks "You alright?"

Tom nods again, taking the hand that started to reach for him in his own, and says "Yes, I'm fine. Really. They needed to go, Evelynn. You said so yourself." And even if they hadn't, he would've killed them both. His father for abandoning him and his mother, and his uncle for how he treated his mother - amazing how, just a year ago, he thought she was weak. The knowledge that she was never given a chance to be strong, and that she literally gave her life so he might be...it changed things. Made him want to take revenge for her like he does for Evelynn.

Evelynn nods again, breaking him from his thoughts, and murmurs "Still…they were relatives of yours." And she's not sure how she would've reacted had the Dursleys been killed. Relieved? Probably. Scared? Absolutely. Not only had Vernon filled her head with horror stories about Orphanages, but the 'Blood Wards' were ostensibly the only protection she had from any still-active Death Eaters. And who knows where Dumbledore would've sent her afterwards.

Tom murmurs "A family that didn't raise you is no family at all, Evelynn. Something I never really understood until recently." One of the older orphans said that once, the day before they left the Orphanage for good - he didn't understand it, not really, but he held onto it nonetheless. Told himself he didn't need a family, that he'd made it this far on his own and he could keep making it.

And then Evelynn fell into his life out of the blue - or black, as it were - and despite every intention she had they got close. He was too curious not to keep after her, and it somehow led to…this. Her looking after him, strange as the concept sounds, and something happening between them neither have any experience with.

Evelynn hums quietly, pulling him out of his thoughts, and quietly says "So…like the Dursleys, then."

Tom nods at once - and files that away under 'implied consent to murder the Dursleys' for later - saying "Exactly. You did say you wouldn't save them if their lives actually depended on it."

Evelynn chuckles darkly, and mutters "No, no I wouldn't…" They tried to kill her, after all. A lot. For no other reason than the detail that she had magic - Voldemort, at least, had a half-decent reason. He wanted to survive, and the bit of the prophecy he knew said she had the power to defeat him - and, doubtlessly, he took defeat as death. Voldemort's attempt on her life was so he'd live - which, while she might've been mad that he went after her, she could understand it. It wasn't personal, it wasn't some kind of revenge, it was doing what he thought, given the information he had, he needed to do. The Dursleys just hated her, plain and simple, and wanted one less 'freak' in the world.

Its only because she was so powerful, even then, even with Dumbledore's meddling and keeping her weak and helpless, that she made it to eleven and through each summer.

No, she wouldn't help them if they were dying in front of her eyes - well, maybe Dudley after he halfway shaped up somewhat. Vernon and Petunia, though? Not on their lives. And then she's pulled from her rapidly-darkening thoughts by Tom's hands cupping her face before placing a kiss on her lips.

Honestly, sometimes Tom just doesn't understand Evelynn at all - only sometimes, sometimes he can predict what she's going to say or do before it happens. Almost like that mock duel with Charlus Potter two days ago - he fully expected her to give everyone a show, as she thinks so far outside the box it shouldn't even be visible to her.

Even he didn't expect her to Accio Potter's shoes, however, and snatch his Wand out of his hand as he was flying past her.

Tom watches as Charlus Potter gets up on stage at Merrythought's word, mentally gritting his teeth at the thought of the boy laying a hand on Evelynn. Her grandfather or no, Evelynn is his! He consoles himself with the knowledge that it isn't McLaggen up there with her, though. McLaggen is a pig, even in this time, and he can see where Cormac in Evelynn's original time got it all.

And then Evelynn Transfigures her ankle-length skirt into a pair of Muggle sweat pants, for some reason, as she gets up onto the dais.

Professor Merry thought raises an eyebrow, asking "Care to explain the change of attire, Ms. Peverell?"

Evelynn raises an eyebrow back, and says "I don't want to give everyone a view if I cartwheel out of the way, Professor. I'll change them back when the duel is over."

After a moment, Merrythought says "Fair enough. Do either of you not know dueling etiquette?" Both respond that they do, and Merrythought nods and says "Alright then. Bow to each other and get ready."

Tom figures its just the Slytherins that are waiting with bated breath for Evelynn to give them a duel to remember. Though, he's probably the only one who knows just how extensive her arsenal of spells is - most of the spells she knows, she learned during her time on the run living in abandoned Manors - and just how easy it is to use it all. Part of being the Master of Death - Death doesn't care how someone was killed, it just cares that they're dead. Though, her particular flair is in spells she comes up with on her own, in his opinion. Once she was freed from Dumbledore's iron-clad control, she became much more powerful - so much so that she had to re-learn her control, start from the very basics. And she did it without a wand to, learning everything and then someall over again Wandlessly. Its why she didn't have a wand when she came back, actually - she left it behind when she went on the run, one less thing to keep track of and she couldn't be disarmed if she was going full-Wandless.

Potter gets the first spell out when Merrythought gives the signal for them to start, casting an Expelliarmus - he's trying to disarm Evelynn, cute… Nobody in Slytherin would think to do that after Halloween.

She spins out of the way and starts returning the spellfire, mixing Jinxes, mild Hexes, and other such spells in with her Defensive spells easily. Its about a minute into the duel that Tom thinks he sees Evelynn's strategy - she just hit Potter's shoes with a Sticking Charm, but he's still moving easily.

Potter smirks at her, despite the fact that none of his spells have gotten close to actually hitting her, and asks "What was that, Peverell? Getting tired?"

Says the one that's out of breath, sweat dripping off his face from the admittedly intense spellfire they're exchanging. He's probably had to move more during this duel than he does in three hours.

Evelynn grins, and says "No, but you are. Accio Potter's shoes!" And then Potter's feet go flying out from under him…and he goes hurtling towards her. Evelynn rolls under him, snatching his Wand in the process, only to look around and see almost everyone staring at her in utter shock.

Potter hits the far end of the dais with a dull thud, the breath getting visibly knocked out of him, and it takes him a moment to incredulously ask "Did you just…Accio my shoes, Peverell?!" What the actual hell?!

Evelynn just shrugs, and says "I stuck them to your socks, and your socks to your feet first, Potter." Even so, there's a smirk playing around her lips - she enjoyed that, messing with his head just a bit. Even Merrythought is looking dumbfounded, even as she declares Evelynn the winner of the duel.

Tom's just decided he's never underestimating her…ever. He wouldn't have thought to Accio someone's shoes, and he's a bloody prodigy. Of course…so is Evelynn - she's just a different kind. She picked up Runes, Arithmancy, and relearned almost everything to do with magic while on the run, and started creating spells when she didn't have any grounding in Arithmancy. Spells without any incantation, spells based purely on her imagination and directed solely by her intention and will. Yes, Evelynn's a prodigy in her own right that was never allowed to shine in her previous life.

It takes every ounce of his self-control, something Tom has prided himself on since he realized he had full control over his magic at the tender age of eight, not to put his arm around Evelynn's waist for the entire class to see when she takes her spot at his side once more. Merlin, all his self-control seems to simply vanish like she's turned it invisible whenever she does something creative or astounding like that. Or maybe it just ran off to her for a visit.

Its when Dorea and Walburga are dueling - something Merrythought is clearly regretting immediately - that he quietly asks "Where'd you get the idea to Accio his shoes?" Because he's absolutely going to do that, maybe Oppungo-ing them though - send his opponent away from him instead. 

Evelynn smirks, and says "Watching Dudley slip and his feet fly out from under him a few years ago. I've always wanted to try that."

But she was never allowed to be that creative. The thought makes Tom's blood boil for just a minute, and then its his turn to duel. All the Slytherins quietly sigh in utter relief, much to their mutual amusement, when he gets paired up with an unfortunate Gryffindor - McLaggen, a cocky ass who's about to get his behind handed to him.

Chapter Text

Slughorn has just finished lecturing about the Shrinking Solution when Professor Dippet knocks on his door. Getting a confused frown, he says "Start on your Potions, class. I'll see what the Headmaster wants."

Tom and Evelynn share frowns once the door is closed, and Evelynn murmurs "You don't think…"

Tom glances at the door, then nods and says "I do."

To Tom's utter amazement, he can actually see the urge to kill Albus Dumbledore with her bare hands written all over her face. And, Merlin, its breathtaking - not like everything else about her isn't. He murmurs "Calm down while you get the ingredients, Evelynn. I'll set up our station." While her desire to end Dumbledore is amazing to the point of arousing, its not particularly appropriate for now. As it is, he's got to think of the snake-faced monster the Horcruxes turned him into in order to deal with his current problem.

By the time Slughorn comes back in, Evelynn's got the ingredients and they're just starting on the Potion - and now its Slughorn that looks furious as he comes over, confirming their suspicions. Dumbledore did something, and its getting Tom involved - probably something to do with his father and Uncle's deaths, despite all the evidence pointing towards each other. And the detail that it happened in the middle of the day, when there were classes to go to.

"Tom? Can we speak with you in private?" The carefully-controlled tone of Slughorn's voice says he's practically spitting fire…but Tom isn't the person he'd like to be spitting it at. As if they needed any more confirmation of their suspicions.

Tom glances at Evelynn for a moment, who says "I'll be fine. Go on, Tom."

The sight makes Slughorn want to smile for a brief moment - he was getting worried about Tom for some time before Evelynn showed up, as he spent more time with his nose in a book than literally anything else. Learning is all well and good, but there's more to life than just learning. And then Evelynn showed up out of nowhere, got Sorted into Slytherin, and within a month one was almost never seen without the other for very long. Both hard workers, both incredibly brilliant - she seemed to bring Tom out of his shell, if only because Tom was so curious about her, and he seemed to help her settle in after the attack that nearly killed her. To say he was relieved would be a massive understatement.

And then the situation catches up with him - the Aurors are here to question Tom, thanks to Albus going to the Ministry and accusing Tom of having something to do with the deaths in Little Hangleton a week ago. Unfortunately for Albus, the Aurors explained everything - Albus went to the Ministry saying he's sure Tom Riddle Jr. had something to do with the deaths in Little Hangleton, which legally obligated them to investigate the avenue.

First, they went to the town itself - which turned up nothing, not a memory of the boy or any trace of his magic whatsoever. The only magic they could find, in fact, was that of Morfin Gaunt - shocking, truly. He only Hexed Riddle Snr. at least once a week for decades, long before the teenage boy was born, after all.

So now, they have to question Tom no matter how much neither of them actually believe he had anything to do with the deaths.

Neither Slughorn nor Dippet is impressed or amused by the move, accusing Tom - a fourteen-year-old! - of murder, but the Aurors are legally obligated to investigate the avenue of questioning so nobody can say they overlooked or dismissed anything. Which is why, as much as it almost physically galls both himself and Dippet, they're getting to question Tom at all - with Dippet and himself present, of course, since an Auror can't question a Minor without their guardian present. In Tom's case - and everyone else that lives in the Muggle World for whatever reason, such as not having any Magical relatives that can take them in - that's the Headmaster and their Head of House.

As it is, Dippet has to order Dumbledore to leave - the man seems intent on being there when Tom's questioned, and Tom can only be thankful the man is not his Head of House at the moment. He'd have them just drag him to Azkaban in a heartbeat if he could, no trial or even checking of his wand - luckily, he's looked and that's not something that is legally allowed. Evelynn nearly sagged in relief at the information, and not without good reason. Fudge tried to do it to her, after all, and they're sure Dumbledore did it to Sirius Black to keep him out of the way.

As it is, Tom's got no illusions about Dumbledore not pushing for Veritaserum and checking his wand if he were allowed to ask anything. The man has a pathological need to control as much of their lives as possible, after all.

They head to an abandoned classroom, where the Aurors proceed to interrogate him while unsubtly playing it off as 'asking a few questions' - were Slughorn not already furious, he'd be more so. Its almost laughably easy for Tom to play the Aurors, explaining how he's never actually met Tom Riddle Sr. or Morfin Gaunt, never even been to Little Hangleton before. And those answers would stay the same under Veritaserum to - one of the reasons Evelynn wanted to go take his relatives out, he'd guess. He claims he was planning on going there to find any family he might've had left after graduation, after finding a newspaper detailing the arrest of Marvolo and Morfin Gaunt - and he doesn't miss the look the Aurors share, a look that he probably wasn't supposed to notice at all.

Aurors Moody and Shacklebolt share a look, and silently agree to get the hell out of here - this is a waste of time, just like they knew it would be. The fighting between Morfin Gaunt and Tom Riddle Sr. has been going on years, long before this child was even born, there's absolutely no reason why they should be questioning a fourteen-year-old child that has never even set foot in Little Hangleton, much less murdered two people in the area. The 'tip' they got was just an old man trying to stir up trouble, nothing more.

After they confirm that, yes, Tom was in classes all yesterday and so couldn't have gone and killed two people he never even met - and mention that Thomas and Mary Riddle are alive - they move for the doorway. Time to get out of here, down a Headache Reliever each to get rid of the building migraines they can feel coming on from the whole ridiculous situation - questioning a child, really - and close this open-and-shut case for good.

And then Tom asks "What, exactly, did you think I did?" He knows what they - rather, Dumbledore - thought, and what they thought to, but it's so much more fun to use the truth in situations like this. He really hadn't ever been to Little Hangleton, he really hadn't met his father or uncle. He might've put the time he was planning on heading to the town a bit further back - he was thinking after O.W.L.s but they don't need to know that - but Evelynn cured him of his desire to find his Magical Family rather thoroughly when she told him just what they're like.

Moody says "Absolutely nothing, lad. We just had to cover all the bases. Standard procedure." A lie straight through his teeth, hopefully he'll buy it. Honestly, accusing a child that hasn't even gotten to O.W.L. year is ridiculous.

Tom internally smirks at their uncomfortable squirming, and presses "But you had thought I might've done something, right? Is there a way to prove I didn't? I don't want anything on my record." And that is most certainly true - the last thing he wants is some mark on his record, especially when he didn't actually do the deed. Its why Evelynn went and used that Hex on his father and Uncle in the middle of the night with her Time-Turner, for Merlin's sake - so that nothing could be traced back to either of them!

Dippet nods, and says "There is a way, actually. Tom, may we see your wand for a minute?"

A large part of Tom, the possessive and defensive part nurtured at Wool's, rears its head in his chest right then - it wants to deny any contact with his wand, wants to snap that it's his and nobody else's. And nobody but him or Evelynn gets to touch what's his. The other part that wins, however, recognizes what Dippet wants to do - Priori Incantem.

So, while it goes against so much of his very being, he hands over his Wand so they can see the different spells he's cast in the last few days. Nothing noteworthy appears, exactly like Tom knew it wouldn't - he and Evelynn have only been practicing the spells taught in class ever since she Hexed his relatives for just that purpose! - and Dippet and Slughorn look equal parts relieved and furious. Tom gets herded back to Potions class by Slughorn, who's muttering about ridiculous accusations - so, that's how Dumbledore did it. He went straight to the Aurors, not even stopping to consider the detail that he was innocent.

Were he not furious about the lengths Dumbledore is apparently all-too willing to go to in order to get him arrested and thrown into Azkaban, it would actually be laughable - as it is, Tom is stone-cold furious. The man tried to get him thrown in jail on a feeble suspicion! Nothing but his own biased opinion and the vaguest connection to him! Honestly, its so far past ridiculous that its bordering on mental.

Yes, he was involved, but that's not the point! Dumbledore didn't know that for sure, there's nothing but blood relations linking him to his father and uncle, and they died at each other's hands in the middle of the day! He's got no proof whatsoever, yet he still insists that Tom's the guilty party.

Still, he's free and clear, and there's nothing Dumbledore can pin on him - not through the memories of anyone in Little Hangleton, not with Priori Incantem…not with anything. He can only hope, for now, that this stunt gets Dumbledore in trouble somehow or other. And not just to soothe his own temper - it may well be the only thing that would keep the man alive if Evelynn learns exactly what happened.

When he gets back in the classroom, he instantly notices its more freezing-cold than usual - and Evelynn is all but decimating her poor Daisy roots as she chops them rather furiously. And he thought she was angry back in Diagon Alley that day… This surpasses even that, she looks positively murderous.

He makes his way over, quickly relieving her of the knife she's using - using in a way that speaks of years of experience - and murmurs "Its fine. We're fine." He stirs in the roots, even as Evelynn starts violently shaking the bottle of Wormwood and thoroughly juicing the rather unfortunate leeches. Dear Merlin and Morgana, Tom's very sure she's actively plotting Dumbledore's gruesome death - beautiful, absolutely breathtaking actually, but not something they can do right now. The thought that he'd be the one to talk someone else down from murdering Albus Dumbledore viciously is an outlandish thought, but Tom gets the feeling its exactly what he's going to be doing after class.

Sure enough, its exactly what he's doing after class, hiding the two of them away in an abandoned room in the Dungeons instead of heading to lunch and proceeding to attempt to charm Evelynn out of her anger once she learns what the old man did. Not that any of his charisma ever truly enchanted her before now - he knows, he tried before the summer. Hell, he tried during the summer a few weeks after learning everything about Evelynn. It never really worked - it amused her to no end, she'd respond with some witty comeback, but he never managed to reduce to her a stammering mess like he can almost everyone else. Her blush, for all its appearances whenever he flirts with her, is entirely separate from her filter over what she says.

It actually takes Hedwig arriving in a burst of white and cold and landing on Evelynn's shoulder to sing for Evelynn to calm down. Rather, for her to start making some kind of plan to get him out of the way, rather than just storming into his office and hitting him with one or more of the very Withering Curses she was under when she first arrived. While Tom would dearly love to go Curse Dumbledore right this instant, he's clear-headed enough to know they need to think long-term. Something that'll take him out of the field and stick. And, incidentally, that either cannot be traced back to them or they cannot be faulted or charged for.

Hm…charged for. There's an idea. "Evelynn?" He waits for her to look at him, and asks "What do you think about taking Dumbledore to court?"

Evelynn's eyes light up at that, and she grins and says "I think it sounds wonderful, Tom. We'll need to wait for him to do something big, though. I'm willing to bet he'll have some story ready to talk him out of any trouble this might bring him." Unless we bring his past into it...wait, that might actually work.

She'll need to keep some stuff in the Room of Requirement, just in case, but if he does try something she'll throw the book at him so hard it'll leave him black and blue. Rita Skeeter's book on him, specifically. The one that caused such an outrage after his death, the one that detailed his past with Grindelwald.

Tom nods thoughtfully, and says "Unless he tries something obvious, such as gaining custody of one of us."

Evelynn hums, then says "He might try it as soon as you get your Lordship, you know. I've no doubt that you'll change your last name, at least, to either Gaunt or Slytherin, and he'll panic in a heartbeat."

Tom nods, and says "I'll do that this weekend. I was thinking Slytherin. Tom Marvolo Slytherin."

Evelynn hums, and murmurs "It suits you."

Tom grins, then suddenly spins Evelynn around so she's trapped against his chest, thoroughly at his limit of self-control and patience after having to keep himself in check all through class and talking her out of her fury. "Tom! What in the world-" He cuts her off by kissing her neck, moving upwards when she tilts her head to the side.

One of her hands finds its way into his hair, tugging at it and all but urging him on since Evelynn's words are currently failing her. Eventually, though, she manages to get out that they need to head to lunch before it ends, since they've still got classes.

Damn, she's right. And, unfortunately...Transfiguration is one of them. They might need to use the Time Turner for that one, if only to give Evelynn some time to cool down from Dumbledore's outrageous stunt before heading to that particular class.

Chapter Text

Evelynn shadows Tom to Diagon Alley straight from Hogwarts - and, seriously, he's got to learn Shadow Magic himself at some point, not only so he can say he learned an obscure, long-lost branch of magic most have barely heard of anymore but to hopefully ease the revolting sensation of traveling like that - and says "I can wait in the lobby, if you want."

Tom rolls his eyes once he's recovered, and says "You'll scare the Goblins in the front lobby into shitting themselves, Evelynn." Crude, but very true - and Evelynn must be rubbing off on him, if he's starting to talk like that.

I'll work on that later. Right now, I've got an Inheritance to claim.

Ten minutes later, Griphook's staring at him with eyes almost as wide as Ragnuk's when he was with Evelynn that day during the summer. "I'm going to assume Miss Peverell brought you?"

Tom nods, asking "You can tell?"

Griphook flatly says "Her magic signature is all over you. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were also the Master of Death."

Tom shakes his head, saying "No, I'm not. I'm just close with her." Really, really close with her, but still.

Griphook stares at him as if he's gone full-Voldemort for a solid minute, then finally deadpans "You must be either the bravest human in existence or have a death wish. I swear it." Now he understands what Director Ragnuk meant completely when he said these two clients would be likely the most difficult he'd ever have to work with.

Tom bites back a denial of Evelynn being that scary - most of the time, and she's never actively turned it on him - and says "Either way, we need to get back to school before we're missed soon."

Griphook nods his head, and says "Gringotts has been notified of Morfin Gaunt's death - as such, you are now eligible to claim any Lorships awaiting you."

Tom internally frowns at Griphook's wording, and asks "Is the Slytherin Lordship available for me to claim?" It said he was the Heir, after all - still, he could have to wait on that one, like Evelynn does for the Peverell Inheritance.

Griphook shrugs, and says "Unknown. Salazar Slytherin was extremely cautious when it came to the Lordship, he wrote clauses about who was worthy and who wasn't. The last eight generations of Gaunts have not been found worthy, so everyone assumed the Slytherin Lordship was a myth. The Goblins know better, but the common consensus was that it would never be taken up again." Considering how the Gaunts were getting increasingly unstable, violent, and weak, it was assumed that the line would just die out completely.

Tom hums, then asks "And the Gaunt Lordship?"

Griphook sneers in disgust, and says "A title only, at this point. The Gaunts had little common sense, and they squandered the last of their fortune away four generations ago. There is no gold to flow, at the moment." One of the biggest insults in Goblin Society, someone who wastes all their money and brings none in is considered only slightly better than a thief. And thieves are the worst of the worst.

Tom gets a matching sneer, and says "I intend to turn that around completely, you'll be pleased to know." At least he has the most important parts - the actual Lordship, and access to its 'holdings' as it were.

Griphook nods, giving Tom a sharp smile full of teeth, and asks "Would you like to take another Inheritance Test to see if you are eligible for the Slytherin Lordship?"

Tom shakes his head, saying "I remember it saying I'm the heir last time, would it say something different if I was eligible?"

Griphook shakes his head, saying "That makes this easier. No, it would not. It wouldn't have said you were the Heir at all if you weren't eligible. You'll be the Heir until you are accepted by the Lordship Ring. I'd recommend ensuring you are under no controlling spells or Potions first, however, as you only get one shot and the Slytherin Ring will reject you if there is foreign magic controlling yours."

Tom has to wonder, is Griphook saying that because he's apparently coated in Evelynn's magic? Or is it standard procedure, since its something you can only try once? Mentally shrugging, Tom says "Very well then."

Seven drops of blood later, and he's got a test that proclaims him free of any and all controlling spells and substances.

After a moment, Tom asks "And Evelynn's magic? You said it was on me?"

Griphook shrugs, and says "This test is specifically keyed to detect anything that would make a Lordship Ring reject someone. If it wasn't detected, Miss Peverell's magic could simply be so strong because she brought you here."

Tom nods, saying "That sounds likely, she shadowed us straight from Hogwarts here."

Griphook grimaces, then nods and says "I trust she'll be taking you back as well." He doesn't want to come off as disrespectful - not to a being like her, anyway - but she is terrifying.

Tom nods, and asks "Is there a problem?"

"She's likely waiting in the front lobby, and I'm sure the tellers are having a harder time than ever working."

Tom chuckles, and says "She can be distracting, when she wants to be." And when she isn't actively trying, for that matter.

Griphook gives him another strange look, like the Goblin knows exactly what he's thinking, then pulls out a small box. "Push a small bit of your magic into this, it will summon any Lordship Rings available for you to claim."

Tom does so, and sees one Ring there. It's a silver Ouroboros, so detailed he can actually see the individual scales on the snake, with two emeralds for eyes - so, undoubtedly Slytherin's Lordship Ring.

Griphook grimaces, and says "Technically, the so-called 'Lordship Ring' the Gaunts use is no Lordship Ring at all. The Goblins have seen it, it is something…but not a Lordship Ring. Hence, the Lordship is automatically yours and grants you Emancipation once Gringotts verifies it. The Slytherin Lordship has to accept you."

Tom signs some Emancipation papers for Gringotts' records and legally becomes the Lord of Gaunt, legally changes his name to 'Tom Marvolo Slytherin' and then reaches for the box.

Griphook says "Put the Ring on your right ring finger. If it accepts you, you'll know." Meaning there's most likely some other test, given by the Ring itself.

Well, everyone knows Slytherin was paranoid…

He puts the Ring on his finger, only to feel a sharp stabbing sensation for a moment, almost like fangs piercing his finger despite the detail that the ring doesn't move…before there's a wash of magic over him, seeming to settle under his skin as the ring disappears from sight. He's going to assume that means the Lordship accepted him, since he's still alive and all.

Griphook says "Congratulations, Lord Slytherin. You've been accepted."

Tom gives a nod of thanks, makes a few investments in businesses that were doing well in Evelynn's original time - Zonko's, Nimbus Brooms, and such - and then thanks Griphook for his time and takes his leave. After arranging for him to send a 'notice' of his eligibility to claim his Lordship when an audit is complete, just in case Dumbledore catches on. Griphook gives him a grin filled with sharp teeth, and says he'll get the paperwork started.

He finds Evelynn not in the bank itself, but waiting outside it invisibly - he heads into a nearby alley, following the slight sensation he's gotten used to looking for, and sees Evelynn turn visible with a grin on her face as she asks "How'd it go?"

"Very well. The Slytherin and Gaunt Lordships have been basically merged, and I merged my vault with the Slytherin accounts." If he sounds smug, its because he is. Both worlds tried to reject him, the Wizarding World especially at first, but now he's carving his own spot out for himself and it is high up on the ladder. Almost nobody would be stupid enough to mess with one of Slytherin's recognized descendants.

Evelynn grins, and says "So, now you're free."

Tom nods, and says "I am." And the relief of it is a truly heady thing. "Griphook is starting an audit, he'll send me a notice of my eligibility to claim my Lordships when its finished. We're to send Hedwig when that happens, just in case there's anything that needs to be sent in secret."

Evelynn grins, and says "She'll like that. She always did like trips. Want to head back before we're missed?"

Tom nods, and says "Sounds good."

Once they Shadow back to Tom's room, and Tom downs a Nausea Potion, Evelynn grins and asks "So, how's it feel to have a Lordship and all the freedom it gives you?"

Tom hums, then says "At the moment, wonderful." Just the thought of staying at the Leaky Cauldron all summer makes him feel a mix of giddiness and relief. Especially since he questioned Evelynn about why she was so twitchy at first at the Orphanage - the London Blitz, it happens this year. The historical dates Evelynn remembers said it ended mid-May, before they leave Hogwarts, but he's not holding out hope that there won't be other attacks just because a consecutive series of them supposedly ended.

He really needs to learn to listen to Evelynn when she says its bad, he nearly threw up at the revelation - it was only Evelynn saying she wouldn't let him go through that, let him sit in a bunker wondering if the next minute would see a bomb falling on their heads, that had him keeping it together. Because Evelynn, he's long-since learned, has a way of keeping her word - no matter the odds, no matter how impossible it sounds. One of the perks of being Evelynn, she does the impossible on a regular basis. He hasn't got a clue how, but she does.

The most notable instance being accidentally time-traveling on just a thought.

And Hedwig, definitely Hedwig.

Evelynn hums, breaking him from his thoughts, and says "I think we should hold off on telling the teachers about your name change. At least until the summer. It'll give Dumbledore no reason to keep going with his theory that you killed your father and uncle." They can't exactly explain how he got to Gringotts during the school year, but during the summer they're free to do whatever they want. Especially since they live in London, and can easily get to the Alley any day of the week.

Much as Tom would love to see the look on the old man's face, would love to rub it in his face that he knows everything the old man never told him, knows what the old man hoped he'd never find…Evelynn's right. Better to have the excuse of finding out by accident when he went to Gringotts than to potentially bust the two of them - nobody would believe Dumbledore, since the case is obviously closed by now, but he stalked Tom for years in Evelynn's last life. He'd put conspiracy-theories and spare details nobody else would think twice about into a semblance of a working theory, even if that theory is entirely wrong.

After a minute, he mutters "Much as I wish you were wrong this time…you're not. So…next year. The old fool won't be able to claim anything then, I'll just say the Goblins told me of the Lordship when I went for supplies and asked about the notice."

Evelynn grins, and says "I can't wait to see the look on his face when he realizes we're both Emancipated. It'll be better than anything I can come up with, I'm sure." Actually, she's sure it'll be one to keep in a Pensieve forever.

Tom grins and steals a kiss, then says "It'll be worth the wait, I'm sure."

"So," Evelynn grins, scooting a bit closer on the bed, and asks "how would you like to celebrate getting emancipated right under the old man's nose?" This definitely calls for a celebration of some kind, maybe she could make him a cake or something.

Tom can think of plenty of ways he'd like to celebrate, but they cannot stay in his room all day long. Unfortunately.

As it is, he kisses her breathless before trapping her against him and proceeding to all but torment and torture her as he works his way across her neck and collar. Luckily, they found that Parsel-Glamor that makes it so only they can see the marks he loves to leave on her - else he's very certain Dumbledore would have her moved to a different House and possibly forbid them from being in contact with one another to keep her from getting 'attacked' by him, at the very least. One of the reasons they're currently hiding their…relationship, whatever it is - they don't want Dumbledore catching on until they're certain of what's happening between them, so he can't stop it or condemn them for it.

And he would, without a doubt. He'd paint Tom as some heartless villain, trying to seduce Evelynn solely for her power, and her a naïve little girl who can't see she's being used and needs guidance from one who has her best interests at heart. Namely, him.

Flint mentioned how Dumbledore twitched when he heard the name 'Peverell' and Evelynn didn't miss it either. Or the way he almost couldn't wait to ask his own unwanted questions, for that matter, demanding to know where she had been and how she arrived at Hogwarts the instant he was left alone with her.

He'd probably been begging in his head for days for her to be placed in Gryffindor, after it was determined that she would be attending Hogwarts, only to curse up a storm when she went to Slytherin. The thought makes Tom smirk into Evelynn's neck, even as he bites down on a particularly sensitive spot.

Unlucky for Dumbledore, Evelynn is all his - and if he doesn't want to share with the student population of Hogwarts, there isn't a snowball's chance in hell he's sharing with the person they both hate so completely.

Chapter Text

Dumbledore sees a Gringotts Owl fly into the Great Hall during breakfast, about two weeks after the Aurors came to Hogwarts…and land in front of Tom Riddle and Evelynn Peverell.

As soon as Tom unties the letter, it flies off at once - much as he wants to question the teen, he's been walking on thin ice with both Dippet and Slughorn for the past two weeks. They were less than impressed, to put it lightly, with his efforts to expose Tom Riddle's true colors to the rest of the world - and either the Aurors sent to question him were completely incompetent, or Tom charmed them out of performing Priori Incantem on his wand. Surely, it would've shown his guilt.

But no, instead Dippet has been refusing to talk with him unless it's a school-related matter and Slughorn has been giving him such venomous looks that he'd think the man was actually half-snake if he didn't know any better. A snake that would dearly like to strike him, at that.

As he watches, Riddle and Peverell read whatever document it is he got, and then Peverell says something to him that makes a look of realization come over his features. What it is, Albus can't say, as they're too far away for him to hear - but Riddle gets an unmistakable look of utter shock on his face at whatever it is Peverell just said to him.

Wait, that was a Gringotts owl…no, no its not possible! There's no way the Goblins would know…Marvolo would surely have disinherited…

He's got to get to Gringotts at the earliest opportunity! Or the Ministry, if he can't keep Tom Riddle from the power of a Lordship!

If he gets even the Gaunt Lordship, despite the detail that they were destitute, he'll be Emancipated. No Trace, no way to keep him at Wool's where he's at least semi-controllable…it'll be a disaster of the highest order. And that's not to mention anything connected with Slytherin himself - the Slytherins would follow him to the ends of the planet and back if he claimed to be the Lord of Slytherin, as would most of the rest of the Purebloods. All the old, dark, influential ones, for sure. And if he can't convince the Goblins to withhold Tom's possible Inheritance, he can try getting himself made the boy's Magical Guardian at the Ministry and maybe prevent an utter disaster like that.

Maybe I should do the same with Peverell, I'll kill two birds with one spell. Get the Hallows, and find out once and for all if she's working with Gellert or not.

First, though, he's somehow got to convince people at the Ministry that he's a perfectly good choice for Guardian of two teenagers when he hasn't shown any interest in them before now if he goes down that route. He'll have to be fast, though, as once they're Emancipated they don't have a Magical Guardian.

He'll go on Easter break, as most of the Muggleborns go home that week - he can just say he's going to board the train to see them there safely, in case something happens. Dippet will surely believe that.

Death shakes his head at Dumbledore's utter stupidity, and glances over at Lady Magic while asking "Is there anything we can do to prevent that?"

"Dumbledore's attempt at getting custody over your chosen one?"

"Both of them, but yes."

Lady Magic chuckles, and says "For someone so determined to be alone forever, its happening remarkably fast."

Death mock-sighs, and says "I know. They seem to be equally stubborn."

Lady Magic pseudo-casually says "Well, they'll never be bored with one another. It seems they constantly push one another on to greater and greater things. Are you not sad, though, that she's averted a bloodbath?"

Death shakes his head, and says "Most everyone dies eventually. All those souls will eventually come to me in the end. And, if she keeps going, she'll make Wizarding Britain flourish. I'm going to assume your pleased with that." It was the whole point of the Hallows, after all.

Lady Magic smirks and nods, saying "Indeed I am. You and your toys chose well."

Death snaps "The Hallows aren't toys, Magic! You, of anyone, know that. You helped me make them!" Nearly a Millennia later, and she still calls them toys!

She laughs, and asks "Then why do you get so riled up?"

Death grumbles "Back to the traitor, Lady Magic."

She nods, her smirk turning vicious, and says "Indeed. The traitor to magic, the one that's worked to deny all magical traditions and throw the world out of balance. Albus Dumbledore. I do so like your chosen's names for him, though."

Death hums, and says "If we can keep him away for the remainder of the school year, he won't have enough time to go through all the red tape between the clients and the formidable director of Gringotts, be shot down so deliciously thoroughly, and then get to the Ministry and talk them into giving him custody before she's Emancipated and out of his grasp."

Lady Magic hums, then says "I could slip in on the night of the Equinox. Leave him a little something that'll take his mind off of young Evelynn Peverell and Tom Riddle until the end of the year?"

Death cheerfully says "That would be wonderful, Lady Magic. Let's get to work, shall we?" Honestly, even he's getting tired of his obsession with the two of them. And he's an immortal, timeless being that can literally be anywhere, anywhen he wants, and doesn't usually care what a mortal that'll eventually die does while they're alive. Yet even he's getting beyond disgusted with the old man's continual attempts to control Evelynn and Tom.

Some time later, the two have a pile of Hex Bags intended for none other than Albus Dumbledore - going back in time and gathering clippings of his hair whenever he had a haircut, old thrown-out clothes of his, and herbs intended to confuse him and prompt him to keep his distance from Evelynn and Tom was nothing to the two deities. Time means nothing to Death, after all - people are always dying, literally, a person dies every second and if Death were bound by the same laws as mortals he'd never get his job done and still have time to check in on his 'Mistress' - and the same goes for Lady Magic.

Albus Dumbledore, Death decides as he watches Lady Magic empower the bags, really shouldn't have disregarded the old tales and traditions. He and Grindelwald wanted to rule over the Muggles, and Dumbledore hasn't given up on that dream - he's just going about it in a much more insidious way, worming his way to the top and getting everyone to almost literally worship him.

And once the Muggles learn of magic, the old man assumes, they'll see the benevolent old man that all but leads the society, that everyone looks to for guidance and hope, and follow him as well. It wouldn't happen that way, even if he were alive and in his former position when the Muggles learn of magic, but that's neither here nor there.

He's helped keep Magical Britain so far behind the rest of the Magical World, convinced the Ministry to make Creatures outcasts and traditions banned instead of educating those raised in the Muggle World - which is the real reason why most Purebloods dislike Muggleborns, their ignorance instead of their actual blood 'purity' - and as a result…Magical Britain was practically breeding itself to extinction. It turned into a vicious cycle, with Dumbledore making it worse and worse as the years went by, and by the time the Second Magical War was over…it was too late, the damage was irreversibly done. And that's to say nothing of the rest of the world, which he'd gotten his fingers into as well.

All because one manipulative man named Albus Dumbledore decided he could play at being a deity, decided he knew what was best. Decided that anyone that ended up wearing a green and silver tie was automatically evil, that the traditions and celebrations meant to give thanks to Lady Magic and strengthen their own magic were Dark and Evil and should be banned, and that he was worthy of being the 'Master' of Death.

Albus Dumbledore is in for a very uncomfortable conversation with Lady Magic and himself when he finally dies, as neither of them are very happy with him.

Tom and Evelynn exchange glances over breakfast the morning of the Equinox - something's happened. They don't know what, having gotten into dissecting a dead Pensieve - perfectly preserved, but entirely void of the maker's magic - to pass the time between classes, meals, and homework.

And it really is a good distraction - the sheer amount of tiny little Runes to be copied and translated alone is enough to have Evelynn all but drooling, not to mention the Charmswork that went into it as well. The two of them have been going between trunks for reference books from Slytherin's library and such for weeks now, just to identify all the Runes, and it's a fascinating piece of magic that should legitimately be called a work of art.

It's also what's kept Evelynn from going homicidal on Dumbledore, the challenge and mystery enough to take her interest after the old man's stunt with the Aurors.

Still, they've been working on the Pensieve all this time, they haven't done anything to Dumbledore himself yet. Haven't even said a word in his classes bar the incantations to spells he's 'teaching' them, doing literally nothingto draw his attention.

So why can the both of them sense something different in the castle?

By the time Transfiguration is over, they've determined its something affecting Dumbledore himself. His eyes would glaze over if he looked their direction, for Merlin's sake, that's pretty obvious.

Still, they aren't sure what's been done, only that it literally happened overnight and it wasn't either of them. A spell, perhaps?

Something to look into at a later date, after they're finished with the Pensieve. Whatever it is, though, they're not complaining one bit. If it keeps Dumbledore off their backs, they'll happily do whatever it takes to keep it going.

Chapter Text

Tom gets back into his Trunk, and heads to the Ritual Room - he went to ask Orion and Theodorus about a book he found from Evelynn's treasure trove from the Room, and subsequently left them speechless. Who knew a book titled 'Spells for All Occasions' could shock them speechless like that?

Apparently, it was written by Circe herself - and someone lost it?! They took it to Hogwarts?! Everything in him is a mix of furious at whoever was so stupid and careless as to lose such a treasure and disbelief that Evelynn just happened to find it. Because only Evelynn would stumble onto such a find by accident.

From what he read of it - before he had to stop due to the headache it was causing him, since it was written in an old dialect of English - there were spells of all kinds, one's he's never heard of before. From Charms to Wards to Runework, and some highly inventive Curses and Hexes…if you can think of a subject, its probably in there bar Potions. He's sure there'll be a book on that subject as well, somewhere in the four trunks of books Evelynn found.

Needless to say, he's keeping it. A find like that, alone, is utterly priceless - almost a crime to sell it!

When Tom gets to the Ritual Room, he knocks and waits a minute. When there's no answer, he cautiously opens the door - only to find Evelynn sitting on the floor, completely absorbed in copying down what can only be Runes from the Pensieve. He waits for her to start rolling up the parchment, a sure sign she's done for now, and walks over while saying "You'll never guess what that old book we found was."

Evelynn looks up, green eyes gleaming, and asks "Oh? What was it?"

Tom incredulously says "Written by Circe herself!"

Evelynn chokes at that, coughing and spluttering for a moment before recovering and staring at Tom in utter shock. "Well," she finally murmurs in shock, her expression blank with it, "I guess that explains the dialect."

"And the headaches we got trying to read it." Because half the words they have to guess at with help from the context, as there seem to be multiple ways to spell the same word and it all depends on the writer's mood when they wrote that specific bit down. Incredibly frustrating, not to mention migraine-inducing after a while. "You know," Tom reluctantly says, even as he's walking over to Evelynn, "we're going to have to tell them something for where we found a book like that."

Evelynn says "Just say we stumbled onto the Room and packed it all away to look through later. I'm sure you can think of some way to spin it." Technically, it's not a lie. If they even have to tell anyone anyway - both of them are used to fighting for every good thing that happens to them, though, so she can fully appreciate Tom preparing for the worst.

Tom sits down directly behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he murmurs "I'm sure I can to. Finished with the Pensieve?"

Evelynn nods, taking in a shuddering breath before saying "Yeah. I finished copying the last of the runes right before you spoke. Get this, all the magic that goes into a Pensieve means the base substance has to be completely magic-less. Not a drop can be cast on it before hand, not even a levitation charm. The residual magic will interfere with the delicate combination of Charms, forget the interaction between the Runes and Charms. Though, that also means we could make one if we had enough Muggle clay and several hours of spare time to ourselves, the hard part would be inscribing the Runes correctly. The Charms seem to partially merge with one another, like fitting puzzle pieces together almost, and-"

Tom turns her face towards his, entirely incapable of holding onto his self-control one moment longer as she starts into the interactions between the Charms and the way the Charms interact with the tiny Runes - Merlin, but his self-control goes straight out the window whenever Evelynn really shows off her intelligence. The only reason he's yet to lose it in class is because she has to play at being a semi-ordinary teenager learning everything for the first time rather than a time-traveler getting the chance to fill in any knowledge gaps Dumbledore forced on the entire school.

Orion and Theodorus get into Tom's trunk to ask where he got the book and can he please make copies of it, only to find he's not there. Orion glances around, and says "Either the Library or the Ritual Room. It's Tom, Evelynn clearly knows him…scary-well, actually."

Theodorus shrugs, and says "I'm still saying they'll be engaged or more by the time O.W.L.s will come around."

"That's one and a half…actually, if they do stuff like this for one another, then probably." Maybe sooner, even - Tom's possessive, it's a well-known fact in Slytherin House, and he almost certainly sees Evelynn as his.

They're just walking down the hallway when they hear Tom's voice ask "Finished with the Pensieve?"

They hear a shuddering breath get taken in, and then Evelynn says "Yeah. I finished copying the last of the runes right before you spoke. Get this, all the magic that goes into a Pensieve means the base substance has to be completely magic-less. Not a drop can be cast on it before hand, not even a levitation charm. The residual magic will interfere with the delicate combination of Charms, forget the interaction between the Runes and Charms. Though, that also means we could make one if we had enough Muggle clay and several hours of spare time to ourselves, the hard part would be inscribing the Runes correctly. The Charms seem to partially merge with one another, like fitting puzzle pieces together almost, and-"

The two boys share a glance when Evelynn suddenly stops talking, wondering just what could've cut her off - along with where they got a Pensieve to study! Those things are incredibly rare and expensive! - and cautiously poke their heads in. The sound of their jaws simultaneously crashing through the floor should legitimately clue the two other teens in, but it seems this time they aren't in time to interrupt Tom.

Because unlike with that snowball fight, Tom's in a heated kiss with Evelynn - and if they had any doubts at all that he's head-over-heels for Evelynn Peverell, they'd be utterly obliterated with that kiss. Its hot, heated, and full of more desire than Tom's shown about anything in the past few years. He's shown anger before, all but obliterated the Purebloods that tried to put him in his 'place' back in his first year with his power, and he was self-satisfied for months after that incident when everyone was scared almost witless of him. And certainly quietly smug about how all those upper years were all but groveling to him, begging forgiveness for their massive fuck-up earlier in the year when he hissed at Abraxas to leave his homework be late at night.

But he's never shown real desire before - at least, not like this. He's ambitious and undoubtedly desires achieving his goals, but that's in the abstract. Not…in the moment. Not like right now, where he's possessively tugging Evelynn closer by the back of her neck even as one of her hands makes its way to his hair. And then Evelynn pulls back and darts towards Tom's neck, doing something that makes Tom hiss sharply before tugging her back up and biting down on her neck.

The two intruders - for that's very clearly what they are doing, intruding on a private moment - snap out of their shocked daze when Tom moves from her mouth to her neck, making Evelynn hiss something and tug at his hair before retaliating. They slowly take their heads from the doorway, actually tip-toe back to the ladder and out of Tom's trunk and room and then bolt to Orion's and throw up as many Wards, Locking spells, and Silencing spells as they know.

After a moment's silence, Orion opens his mouth only to do a goldfish impression. Theodorus ends up doing the same thing, then just gestures towards the door. Finally, Orion finds his voice and asks "What…did we just…"

"See?" The Black Heir nods, and Theodorus slowly says "I've…no idea. None whatsoever."

"You think this is how Tom feels all the time about Evelynn? Eternally confused?" How he used to feel, anyway. Its pretty clear those feelings have long since changed.

After a moment, Theodorus asks "You think one of them is drugged on a Lust Potion as some sick prank by a Gryffindor?"

"You think both of them are?" They've never known either teen to be anything but cautious about their food, but this is a school for magic and they're only third-years. Things can happen, and it would certainly explain…that. As much as they want it to be real, for both their sakes, Slytherins are used to looking at something from the worst angles first. Expect the worst, and all that.

Still, the sheer passion in the moment was almost to the point of uncomfortable for the two outsiders - most Purebloods get arranged marriages. Worst case scenario, they can't stand one another but are stuck together - if they're lucky, they can learn to get along or were friends before the marriage went into effect. Some get lucky enough to fall in love, but it doesn't usually happen - Orion's parents, for example, get on well…but there's no passion in the relationship, no love between them. They're friends, yes, companions, and fond of one another, but not much else. So to see the two Halfbloods utterly lost in one another, it's a sharp contrast to say the least.

And then Orion runs a hand through his hair, something he usually never does, and says "Tom's a lucky guy."

Theodorus nods, and says "Beautiful, incredibly smart and powerful…what are the odds?"

"Astronomical, that's what."

And then a thought strikes Theodorus, and he asks "How long do you think they've actually been together?" It's a valid question - Evelynn's a private person, who won't exactly give her life's story at the drop of a hat - they're pretty sure she gave such vivid descriptions of the treatment she received at the hands of her relatives so they'd stop asking, which they did pretty quick - and they don't doubt that she'd want to keep something as personal as a relationship private. And Tom would more than likely agree, since he's never once said anything about where he goes for the summer or what his own life before Hogwarts was like.

When they next see the two of them, though…they don't look like they've spent however long secretly ravishing each other in Tom's trunk. There's not a mark on them! At all!

They figured Tom would, at the very least, leave some kind of mark to claim Evelynn, for Merlin's sake - and they saw him move towards her neck! Instead, nothing. Not a bite mark, not a bruise, not a scratch - it makes them wonder just how long the two of them have actually been together when there's no physical evidence for as much.

It also makes them wonder just how long Evelynn was calming Tom down about the odd behavior they noticed in the Common Room, if she eventually just went and directly asked what was going on.

Unfortunately, they're not so suicidal as to ask. They're also not so suicidal as to reveal the real betting pool, though - even though he's got a sneaking suspicion all the dates are wrong. Really, really wrong.

Chapter Text

Albus Dumbledore stares in shock at the paperwork he was doing as a horrifying realization hits him - he didn't do anything. He didn't go to Gringotts, he didn't go to the Ministry, he didn't go anywhere out of Hogwarts when he had the chance.

The chance to keep Tom Riddle at least semi-controllable, instead of a loose cannon - to use a muggle saying - that's just waiting to go off. Hell, the Leaky Cauldron - and, by extension, Gringotts - is only a few streets away from Wool's Orphanage, he could make a stop there and get Emancipated before he even heads to the place!

How he wishes he could Floo from his office - the Hogwarts fireplaces only do calls, they don't allow teachers to travel from one place to another. The Headmaster's fireplace does, but he'd have to tell Dippet what he wants to do - and Dippet is absolutely enthralled by Tom Riddle, he'll never approve a request to go to Gringotts and convince the Goblins to withhold the boy's potential inheritance from him or get custody of the Slytherin. Especially not after the interrogation the Aurors botched.

Heading down to Hogsmeade will take at least ten minutes, and he'd still have to let Dippet know he's going out. And Dippet hasn't remotely warmed up to him, so he'd want to know why he wanted to dash all the way to Hogsmeade in time to beat the Hogwarts express back to London. And he'd forbid it, keep him restrained to within the school Wards - or, even worse, fire him and cut him off from any and all potential control over the situation entirely.

This, Albus decides as he buries his head in his hands and tries not to scream, is a disaster just waiting to happen.

"Tom," Evelynn quietly says "we will both get through this. Its two months, and then my birthday, and then we can leave. Leave and never go back." Tom nods, gripping Evelynn's wrist tighter subconsciously even as they walk back up to Wool's with their trunks. "We will not die, Tom. If something happens, I'll shadow us to Diagon and we can live in our trunks." She's not Emancipated yet, so while Tom could go to the Leaky Cauldron she still has to stay at Wool's if they don't want to take too big a chance and pray nobody asks any questions such as 'where are your Guardians, you two?' Or, even worse, hope they don't contact Hogwarts - which Dumbledore would intercept without question.

Which they could do, since the two of them each have enough food to last through the summer hidden away in the secret spaces. Evelynn taught him how to make the boxes, and they spent a few hours Enchanting the take-out boxes to preserve the food.

Tom sneers at the Orphanage as it comes into view, and murmurs "We're heading to the bank the morning we wake up on your birthday, Evelynn. The sooner the better."

Evelynn nods, and says "For now, lets just get our stuff into the room. We can head out into the forest later."

Tom agrees wholeheartedly, he can't wait for Evelynn's fourteenth birthday and would rather spend as little time with the other kids as possible. They're about halfway through unpacking the stuff they Transfigured for show at the Orphanage, Muggle-looking clothing and textbooks for instance, when there's a knock on the door.

After quickly checking there's nothing remotely magical lying out in the open, Tom nods to Evelynn and opens the door for Cole. The look on her face, though, shocks him speechless - because she's shocked speechless. He glances at her eyes for a moment, and gleans a few surface thoughts - a few shocking as hell surface thoughts, Mary and Thomas Riddle are here!

Cole clears her throat, and says "Tom, come with me. There's some people here to see you." Two people she never knew existed, bar the obvious abstract - and she certainly never knew they knew about Tom!

Two years ago, those words would've gotten a very different reaction out of him - he'd think Cole really had gotten someone to examine him, like he thought with Dumbledore. Had he gotten those thoughts, he'd think they'd just come to disown him or some such, deny him even more.

With Evelynn's Karma Hex having been cast, though…he's no clue why they're here. He glances over at Evelynn for a moment, who readily projects her own thoughts into his head.

I've no idea why they're here, but flare your magic if there's trouble and I'll come immediately.

Out loud, she says "I'll keep unpacking, Tom. Meet you outside?" Tom nods silently, then follows Cole to her office.

Sure enough, an older couple in their late fifties to early sixties is sitting in two of the chairs - the man looks very much like himself, strong jaw, dark hair peppered here and there with silver and dark eyes…its almost like looking in a mirror. Almost. He's got Mary Riddle's cheekbones and the bridge of her nose, though, and the shape of his eyes is wrong for both of them - he's guessing he's got Merope's eye-shape.

Tom keeps his face free of his internal panic as he greets the total strangers that happen to be his paternal grandparents, but he's freaking out completely. He murdered his grandparents in Evelynn's original time, they most certainly never came for him at the Orphanage! She wasn't even sure they knew he existed or not! So what the hell changed?!

Yes, his father died earlier, and at Morfin's hand, but what happened to bring Thomas and Mary Riddle all the way to London?

Mary's reaction, though, brings him out of his panicked wondering when she brings her hands up to her mouth and gasps out "Oh, you look so much like our Tom…"

Cole clears her throat, sitting down behind her desk as Tom takes a seat of his own, and asks "You said you were unaware of Tom? Erm...Tom Jr?"

Thomas nods, even as Mary wipes at her eyes, and says "Yes, he never mentioned having a son until just recently, you see." He glances at Tom for a moment, then quickly rephrases what his son had said about the boy's mother to something much more polite and says "Said the young lady he married had 'bewitched' him, somehow or other. That he'd gotten away at the first opportunity." Utterly ludicrous, really - how would she have 'bewitched' him in the first place? Magic?

Mary says "But on New Year's Eve, he got absurdly drunk. Started talking about how it was his son's birthday that night, how he'd known of him when he left, how he left him at an orphanage when they came knocking."

Tom can feel his blood boiling more and more as the elder Riddles talk, but keeps his cool for now - from the sounds of it, these two did nothing to him, knew nothing of him. Which makes his father an ass, but these two innocent.

Tom pays enough attention to the conversation happening around him, answering questions directed at him automatically even as he reigns in his emotions and magic, to get the gist of it. The gist of it being…the Riddles are taking him back to Little Hangleton.

Even five years ago, he would've been thrilled, would've moved mountains to get them to keep him. To not take him back, to not abandon him again. But now? Now he's got Evelynn, who he's sure they won't take with and who he's sure Cole will look for should she disappear without any explanation.

Shit. Shitshitshit…

When he gets into the room he shares - shared - with Evelynn to pack his things while Cole gets out paperwork for the 'adoption' of sorts, she's holding the two Diaries they got on her birthday. She looks up at him at once, asking "What happened? What's wrong?"

Tom breathes out "It's the Riddles, they're here to take me to Little Hangleton."

Evelynn gets a look of blank shock on her face for a moment, perfectly reflecting his own initial reaction to the news, and asks "What?!"

Tom nods, practically vibrating in place with agitation, and says "They said they didn't know about me, said my father never mentioned me until last New Years Eve." Everything comes spilling out of Tom, a rushed explanation like he's never given anyone before now - he can't help it though, its suddenly hitting him just how attached he's become to Evelynn. How much he needs her like he needs air, how much the thought of losing her scares him to the center of his very being - he's just found his Boggart, worse than the thought of dying by far.

And then Evelynn's cool hand is on his cheek, and he focuses again to see the gentlest look he's ever seen on her face. "Hey, hey, breathe, Tom. You need to breathe for me." Once he's taken a shuddering breath, Evelynn murmurs "Its going to be alright, Tom." Dumbledore said Tom never cared about anyone, in her first life. He never cared enough to find out Tom never had anyone to care about, then - because she's fairly certain he's on the edge of a panic attack over the thought of suddenly losing her.

Tom shakes his head at once, saying "You told me about the bombings, you said-"

Evelynn cuts him off right then, running a hand through his hair and saying "Don't worry about the bombings, Tom. Nothing's going to happen. Not to you, not to me."

Tom grabs her wrist in a vice-like grip, and says "You don't know that, Evelynn. What if a bomb hits whatever shelter your in? What if-"

She puts a finger to his lips, shutting him up as effectively as if she kissed him, and murmurs "Then I'll blast my way out. I'm immortal, Tom, I'll just come back to my body." It may hurt, she may well spend a week straight healing...but pain's an old friend. It'd be worth it to keep Tom out of the bombings.

Once the finger falls from his lips, Tom whispers "Come with me, Evelynn. Hide in my trunk with yours, we can-"

Evelynn shakes her head, saying "I wish I could, Tom. But we can't smuggle me to Little Hangleton, Dumbledore will undoubtedly check in at the Orphanage. He'll panic enough once he realizes your gone, me being missing with no explanation will send him over the edge."

Evelynn's right, Tom knows she's right, but that doesn't mean he has to like it for a minute.

Seeing he's got a stubborn look on his face that spells trouble, Evelynn sighs regretfully and says "I'm calling mine in, Tom. Go to Little Hangleton without me."

Tom's blood turns to ice, she isn't serious is she? She isn't using that no-questions asked favor he owes her now is she? The look on her face, the same one she had when she'd made up her mind to save an entire ungrateful society from Voldemort by sacrificing herself, tells him everything he needs to know. Yes, she's sending him away - out of the main portion of the bombings, if all of them entirely - and she's willing to make him do it more effectively than if she'd Imperio'd him. Imperious can be fought, after all. But he won't break his word.

She promised him he wouldn't be stuck sitting in a bunker just waiting for the next bomb to hit the shelter and end them all...and she's coming through on that promise in the most Slytherin way possible, seizing an opportunity with both hands and practically shoving it at him.

He wants to yell at her right then, scream and rage and shake her for being so self-sacrificing, for putting everyone else's needs before her own even now...but he can't. He can't be mad when she's done so much - doing so much - for him even now. And he especially can't yell at her - can't even get any words around the lump in his throat - with that look on her face.

Evelynn hums for a moment, then taps the two Diaries on the desk and Protean Charms them. She hands the one with his name to him, saying "We'll be able to stay in touch. I'll write every night."

Tom nods, and says "The instant you wake up on the thirty-first-"

Evelynn nods, and says "I'll be gone by eight fifteen, Tom. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Now, go charm the pants off your grandparents and talk them into giving you Little Hangleton on a silver platter. I know you can do it." Tom nods, then yanks Evelynn forward by the front of her shirt into a searing kiss. And then leaves as prominent a bite mark on her collar as he can without making her bleed, a promise that he can't put into words.

Tom gets back with his trunk in tow just as the adults are finishing up the paperwork to make Thomas and Mary Riddle his legal guardians. Mary smiles at him, the smile looking slightly shaky, and asks "Ready to go, Tom?"

Tom nods, not knowing what to say - really, what is he supposed to say? 'Thanks for taking me out of this hellhole, but we're sort of leaving the girl I've fallen for'? He can just imagine the reactions to that.

Hours later, Tom's sitting on the bed of his new room - his room, and his alone. He won't have to share it with three other boys, its his. The thought makes something in him relax, distracting him slightly from the empty feeling in his chest - the feeling that's been there since about thirty minutes from Wool's.

And then he's distracted by a tapping on the window - there's what looks like a bright white dove on the window sill...with Amber eyes. "Hedwig?" The dove nods, and Tom hastily opens the window for her to come in with. And he sees the note attached to her leg.

'Tom, I need a massive favor from you. Take care of Hedwig for me, please. I can't take her into a shelter if there's a bombing, and I can't lose her again. I just can't. It took a solid four hours to talk her into staying with you, even if its just the area around Little Hangleton. Your grandparents never have to see her, and she's great at hunting so she can feed herself.'

Tom flips open the Diary - journal, he's decided - and pushes a bit of magic into it while writing 'Of course, Evelynn. All you had to do was ask.'

After a moment, Evelynn's response of 'Thank you 'til the end of time' appears.

'Always. How are you doing?'

'Weird, I've got this cold hole in my chest since you left. Other than that, alright.'

'Weird, me to. Anyone try anything?'

'No. Cole moved me into a girl's dorm, though. Get this, they're all torn between asking how I survived sharing a room with you and being terrified of me because I survived sharing a room with you.'

Tom cracks a smile, he can practically hear Evelynn's amused tone of voice saying that, and writes 'us being so close might have something to do with that last bit. I made sure everyone knew to stay away from me.'

They keep writing until Evelynn says she has to go, Tom can only hope that means she's going to sleep or one of her new roommates are in the room.

Chapter Text

Tom's taking a walk in the outskirts of the forest near Little Hangleton, trying to distract himself from both his thoughts and the constant ache in his chest that's definitely more than just him missing Evelynn - he also hasn't been able to get any sleep whatsoever, having resorted to Meditating and taking Pepper-ups he and Evelynn brewed on the sly during the school year to fend off the exhaustion. Hedwig helps, some, as does writing with Evelynn, but nothing really makes the persistent ache go away entirely. And the only reason he hasn't tried Apparating back to London to stuff Evelynn in her trunk and take her with him to Little Hangleton is because Hedwig is constantly assuring him of her continued lack of injuries - as her Familiar, Hedwig has the ability to tell if Evelynn's injured or sick. Thankfully. It's the only thing that's kept him sane, with his imagined scenarios of what is probably happening in London even as he's safe all the way in Little Hangleton - each worse than the last, eating away at his nerves more and more if he lets himself dwell on the topic.

Hence, trying to distract himself. He figured he'd explore the Gaunt Shack, see if he could use it for…something, anything. Perhaps he could turn it into a safe-house of sorts, who knows. Ergo, he's skirting the forest around the area, discretely heading towards the Gaunt Shack without looking like he is.

He finally gets the right spot, and finds…a dingy, run-down little shack, at least by Wizarding standards. The name truly fits, Tom decides, as the place is more a ramshackle hand-made construction of wooden boards and Sticking Charms than anything he'd call a building. One side is, Tom's pretty sure, even being supported by a tree - in fact, on closer inspection, the tree is actually growing right through the wall in several spots. The dilapidated old wood is even rotting away, no Charms in place at all to prevent it all from going to hell.

Sneering at the dead snake nailed to the door in disgust, Tom pushes the door open and steps inside. It's a one-room house, mostly dominated by the table in the center of the room, with moldy food, glass bottles, and filth strewn around and covered in a thick layer of dust - likely from Morfin, potentially Marvolo as well if he ever bothered to clean up after himself when left to his own devices. Assuming he survived Azkaban, that is. There's scorch marks and dents in the wall everywhere, half hidden by the dust, dirt, and mold, indications of a violent temper and little restraint or care.

This is where his mother grew up, what she had to endure day after day. A violently unstable father, and a mean-spirited, sadistic brother who would join in. Being Cursed, Hexed, and who-knows-what else on a regular basis, all the while expected to keep the place in as good condition as she could when they never taught her anything. For just a moment, Tom can't blame her for finding an escape.

"Thank you, that means the world to me."

Tom jumps a good mile in the air, whirling around to find the source of the voice. Only to find a person standing there that most certainly wasn't there before. A woman, with lanky brown hair, some of it clumped and matted while other parts just seem lifeless. Her jaw is crooked to, one part protruding from the side of her head while the other side is sunken in - like she got punched in the jaw, her jaw got dislocated, and that's just how it was ever since. Painfully thin, every bit as thin as Evelynn was when she arrived - Tom can count this woman's ribs just by looking at her, and her joints seem swollen by comparison to her twig-thin arms and legs. Magical burns and scars liberally scattered over her hands, arms, legs, and even her face. Still, despite the lazy eye, there's a soft look on her face as she gazes at him.

There's only one person this woman could possibly be…Merope Gaunt. His...mother. His dead mother.

Tom tries to find any words at all, even as she comes closer, but there's none - not even 'what's going on' or 'how are you here?' She smiles at him gently, and says "My baby boy, you've grown up so fast…" She puts a hand out to him, similarly to how Evelynn will run a hand through his hair, only for him to feel…nothing when it reaches his face. Nothing but a cool tingling, anyway.

Finally, Tom finds his voice and croaks out "Mother?"

Merope nods, and says "I'm so sorry I left you, Tom. I would've stayed if I could."

"But you didn't know how." If Tom sounds bitter about that, it's because he is - life isn't fair, he knows that perfectly well, but he'd done nothing at that point. Sometimes the world just seems to be completely against him, and his mother's ghost only seems to amplify that feeling by pointing out the detail that he's long-since ignored on a daily basis - she died as soon as he was born, leaving him completely alone. He fully blames three people for that set of circumstances, his father, uncle, and maternal grandfather - being forgotten at Wool's may have been the safest set of circumstances for him, but that doesn't mean he's obligated to forgive the people for making it that way.

Merope nods, and sadly says "I didn't. I doubt your grandfather even knew a single Healing Charm. And, if he did, he certainly never thought it important." She gazes around the room with a melancholy expression, the barest hint of bitterness as she sweeps her gaze around the place.

After a moment, Tom asks "What were they like?"

Merope quietly says "Marvolo and Morfin? Violent, unpredictable. Calm one moment, raging the next. Marvolo was always that way, as long as I knew him anyway, and Morfin got worse and worse as time went on. He went from yanking at my hair until some came off in his hand to holding me still while Marvolo beat and Hexed me. Or joining in, if he was in a bad mood. Marvolo was an alcoholic, and I always tried to make sure I was out in the yard when he was into the bottles. And the morning after, as well." The more Merope talks, the more Tom hates his uncle and Maternal grandfather. He swears right then and there, he's never going to be anything like them.

After she stops talking, Tom says "So…you found a way out."

Merope nods, and says "What I did was wrong, I know that now. But…they say people do stupid things for love, and I guess my story is proof of that. I really believed I was in love with your father…though, I suppose I might've just loved the idea he represented."

Tom quietly says "Freedom." It's why he loves Hogwarts so much, and why Evelynn fought so hard for her original time's Magical Britain - freedom from the hand they've had to deal with, freedom from the Muggles that hate them both.

Merope nods, and says "Freedom from my so-called family who never loved or even liked me. Freedom from this, everything you see. Freedom from my father's vicious temper and inclination to cast spells in a rage. Freedom from my brother and his sadistic tendencies. Freedom from my lot in life. Even from this town, where I couldn't go anywhere without stares and whispers following me around. It was only after I realized that I was pregnant that I had my realization, but…" Merope sighs almost inaudibly, her shoulders slumping somewhat as she stares at the so-called house. After a minute, she says "Even still, I can't regret it fully. You were the best thing that ever happened to me, my greatest accomplishment despite how you came to be, even if I couldn't be with you like I so wanted."

Tom doesn't really know what to say to that. Still…his mother loved him. The Wards around Wool's were one thing, but to hear it…he actually looks around, just to make sure Evelynn isn't lurking, giving him a semblance of privacy while still being close enough to keep Merope in this plane of existence.

Merope shakes her head with a soft smile, and says "She's not here, Tom. But I'm so grateful you two met. So grateful she found it in herself to give you a chance."

Tom asks "You know…?" His mother knows about Evelynn? About Voldemort? And she's not disgusted or horrified?

"The dead know everything, Tom. We know all of her past, her history. We know what she's already prevented. Time is…odd, in Limbo. Everything is happening as soon as you think it while you watch from the other side, which is how Death keeps up with his work all the time and still checks in on you two."

Tom blinks, and asks "You've been in Limbo all this time?" Evelynn said most souls don't stay very long, instead moving on and being reborn...but there's always the option to stick around as ghosts. Apparently, his mother did something similar.

Merope nods, and says "I couldn't be with you in this world, but I wouldn't leave you completely. I've been watching everything, seen everything that you've been through, and I'm so sorry I couldn't prevent it."

Tom decides to deal with this particular revelation later, the idea that his mother's been watching over him all this time, probably talking to him to…and there's the migraine he knew was coming. Instead, he focuses on her appearance. "How are you here? Did Evelynn send you or something?"

Merope shakes her head, saying "No. I'm not allowed to say how I'm here until you two figure it out yourselves, but…if you need me, I'll always come."

Tom groans, that was…about as helpful as Death's responses to why he's occasionally in his head. Which is to say...not at all.

Merope gives him a sympathetic look, and says "I'm sure its frustrating, Tom. The non-answers and redirections. But this is something the two of you need to realize on your own." Because the two of them being told wouldn't end well, they'd both go into instant denial and hurt themselves and each other in the process.

Once Tom gets out of the Gaunt Shack - no plans in mind for the place, since his head is too preoccupied with the maelstrom of emotions brought on by his mother's unexpected appearance - he's heading back towards the Riddle Mansion when he hears a voice ask "You wouldn't happen to know where a house of Snake-speakers are, would you? Wait, right, you can't understand me either."

When Tom looks around, though…there's nobody in sight. "Hello? Who's there?"

"Wait, you can understand me? Seriously?! Up here, in the tree!" When Tom looks up…there's a familiar-looking snake wrapped around a tree limb. A long snake, almost fifteen-feet long.

No, it can't be…Nagini?!

Evelynn feels the journal clutched to her chest protectively heat up, even as she's hidden away in her dark little corner of the bomb shelter where nobody will go near her or see her thanks to a little Shadow Magic. As if she needed any other reason to sympathize with Tom about Wool's Orphanage - he never quite fit in, and everyone knew it. And targeted him for it.

With him gone, that target found someone else…her. Stubbs and his crew are still too scared of her to try anything, but she's sure sooner or later someone will try something more than the distanced glares and blanket-wide avoidance from everyone. Unfortunately for that someone, she knows how to fight back with or without her magic.

Pushing her morbid thoughts to the side for now as the book warms with magic, she murmurs a spell to give herself temporary night vision and opens the book up. 'Evelynn, you'll never guess who I met today.'

Evelynn smiles at Tom's handwriting, and responds with 'Who, Nagini?' She has to wonder exactly when he met the fifteen-foot snake, since Voldemort seemed to care about her more than anything else. She was his only intentional living Horcrux, his Familiar if she had to take a guess - and that entails a connection between the two of them. If she had to take a guess, Nagini was as close as Voldemort could come to loving anything.

When she glances down at the page, there's no response. Finally, Tom writes 'How?! How could you possibly know that?! Can you read minds through the books or something now?'

'Wait, seriously?! You ACTUALLY met Nagini?!'

'Yes! She was looking for the Gaunt Shack, since the Gaunts were Parselmouths! She hadn't heard about Morfin's habit of torturing his snakes, or that he's dead.'

After a minute spent processing that revelation, Evelynn writes down 'Holy crap. You must've met her last time when you went looking for your father.'

'Did you know Nagini's a Maledictus?'

'Come again? No! All I knew was that she was a massive snake! You mean to tell me she's a person under those scales?!' Holy crap! That...that changes things, drastically. All this time, she assumed Nagini was just a snake Voldemort took a fancy to - or created, perhaps. She did not know she's a Maledictus trapped in the form of a snake!

'Yes. She says hello, by the way. She and Hedwig are getting along wonderfully, I'm getting scared of what they're planning.'

Another bomb lands nearby, making Evelynn flinch, and she quickly turns back to the journal while writing 'Hopefully, how to convince us to get more bacon. Don't count on it, though.'

'Nagini's a mother hen, despite being stuck in her snake form already. I doubt it.'

'Shoot. We're screwed, Hedwig's the same way.'

'No kidding. 54 more days.'

'53, now. Pretty sure its past midnight here, but there's no clock. See you soon, Tom.'

Chapter Text

Tom's sitting cross-legged on his bed with Hedwig on his shoulder and Nagini curled up in his lap, all three of them waiting for midnight. Tom grumbles, and asks "How long could five minutes actually take?" Because it feels like forever, he swears its been an hour since he last looked at his clock yet its only moved thirty seconds.

Nagini brushes her tail down his arm, and hisses "Patience, Tom. Soon."

Tom huffs in annoyance, that's…similar to what Evelynn would probably say. He can just imagine it now, her rubbing his shoulders and saying something about the world not bending to his will so easily. Still, its Evelynn's birthday in five minutes or so, and soon enough she'll be out of Wool's forever.

If that blasted clock would ever ring, that is! He's waiting for the Grandfather clock to chime, down in what the Riddles call their Living Room - its massive, easily the size of the Slytherin Common Room, and most people would sooner call it a ballroom.

Hedwig quietly changes into her dragon form - the only way she can communicate with him, as her bond is with Evelynn - and says "My Eve-chick is strong. She's faced worse than what's out there now, Tom."

Tom nods, and says "You've said she's still alive. What if she isn't by the time the bombing ends?" He knows she's immortal, but even she isn't exactly sure how it works, not having wanted to test it out ever. Will she simply not die? Will she die and come back to life? Will she be taken back in time again? What if her body is completely obliterated by a bomb? She doesn't know, and hasn't been eager to ask - not wanting to entertain the thought of dying and potentially leaving the nice life she's made for herself.

"If there's a bombing, Tom." Nagini says, even as she wraps around him in her version of a hug, "There's every chance there isn't one tonight, or that one is happening in a different part of the Isle altogether."

Tom tries to believe it, he really does…but life isn't that kind to either of them, most of the time. He's pulled out of his thoughts by the clock's chiming, and opens the journal to write down 'happy birthday, Evelynn.' It warms after a minute, and her response comes in quickly. 'Thank you, Tom. Eight in the morning.'

Tom nods, and murmurs "Not a minute later, Evelynn." 'Are you coming here afterwards?'

'I'll need to find someplace to call my 'home' so to speak. For Dippet, if nobody else. After that, I'll get over there fast as I can.'

Tom shakily nods his head - she's right, he knows she's right, she has to have some place to show Dippet and anyone in the Ministry if someone starts asking where she's living. Still, that doesn't mean he likes having to wait to see her again. 'Hedwig says she misses you. And happy…hatchday, she said.'

After a minute, Evelynn's handwriting comes in saying 'I miss you to. Both of you. Can't wait to meet Nagini properly.'

Nagini grins, as much as a snake can grin anyway, and hisses "Neither can I. From what I've heard, she sounds like quite the girl."

Tom just writes down 'Nagini can't wait.' Honestly, how does he end up finding ladies like this? First the time-traveling Master of Death, now a Maledictus that happens to be stuck as a snake with a serious case of mother-hen syndrome. He's convinced his life couldn't possibly get any stranger.

Wait, dear Merlin, he didn't mean it! No doubt, Evelynn will have some kind of surprise waiting for him when she comes to Little Hangleton in return!

Evelynn gets into Diagon Alley, after Memory Charming Cole to remember her getting adopted by a lovely couple named Jack and Agnes Smythe. Original? Not particularly - but it only needs to last a few hours, a day at most.

Dumbledore, the meddling bastard, was already at Wool's a few weeks ago, looking for Tom - and she's so glad she discretely cast some protective spells on the elder Riddles to keep them from being meddled with as they were leaving - and left in a frazzled huff and the single ugliest suit she's ever seen before. And that includes the Smeltings uniform her aunt and uncle stuffed Dudley into, which was absolutely hideous. Truly, she has to wonder if he's actually color-blind or if its part of his façade - make them think he's a doddering old man, some eccentric but benign grandfatherly figure anyone can turn to. Or maybe its to make them take him less seriously. Whatever the case, he comes up with more and more outrageous-looking robes each time she sees him.

Matches his outrageous delusions, perhaps - she's not ashamed whatsoever to admit she eavesdropped on the conversation between Cole and Dumbledore, and the man was demanding to know where Tom was and that he be returned to Wool's at once and put into his custody. Because he's a very dangerous, troubled young man who needs strict guidance and discipline in order to stay on the right path, they now see, and the Headmaster of the school gave him express permission to become the boy's guardian. A load of Hippogriff shit if Evelynn's ever heard one - oh, wait, she has - but she can't deny one thing: Dumbledore knows how to spin a good lie.

He knows how to say what he wants in such a way that people end up agreeing with him or doing what he wants them to do - while she's sure Dippet never agreed to any such thing, Cole doesn't know that. Thankfully, the spell to negate any and all controlling spells she quickly casted on Cole worked, and the woman threw him out. And then Death assured her that he and Lady Magic will run interference to keep him too busy to go back for her - she's quickly going from angry at Dumbledore to a mix of furious and terrified, at all the lengths he's perfectly willing to go to get what he wants. He's tried to Compel Cole into forcing Tom back to Wool's, and under Dumbledore's power completely, either for him to spend all his time with his fellow orphans without his wand - which would theoretically leave him defenseless, since most children end up relying on their wands to the point of being unable to use Wandless Magic without extensive hours of practice - or he'd even Bind Tom's Core and brainwash him.

It actually makes her sick to her stomach, imagining what he might've done to her if she'd managed to resist his spells, or slipped free of them altogether.

The Goblins all seem to freeze simultaneously as she makes herself walk up to the nearest Teller when all she wants to do is run, and she quickly gets ushered to Director Ragnuk and Griphook. Griphook calmly says "I had a feeling you'd be arriving, Ms. Peverell. Call it a hunch." Or call it the way the entire Alley seemed to freeze over with the Void's energy five minutes earlier.

Evelynn nods, saying "I like to be prompt, something I've heard Goblins appreciate." Plus, it makes it much easier to stop a meddling old man's plans.

Ragnuk nods, and says "Indeed. I'm going to assume you want us to create an entire identity for you?"

Evelynn nods, and says "I've got an idea for that, as a matter of fact. Why doesn't Ignotus get a second child? A daughter?"

Griphook gives her a toothy smile, and says "I like the way you think, Ms. Peverell. Lets get to work."

About three hours later, they've got all the details worked out beautifully - Evelynn's descended from Ignotus Peverell's daughter, which the story didn't mention for reasons only known to Beedle the Bard. She married into another family in secret, giving up her maiden name and hiding her heritage from all but her family to avoid the attacks and persecution that, even then, were already happening to the Peverells. Attacks for the Hallows and the power some thought they'd gain after Antioch opened his big mouth, persecution for having items of Death and having made some kind of unholy deal with the being…there's plenty of reasons why the Peverell name was better off hidden back then. And her ancestors never retook the name, deeming it safer for the children if nobody outside the family was aware that they were secretly descendants of the infamous Peverell lineage. Until her grandparents took the name when they were married, thinking that it was safe to do so since almost nobody actually believes the Hallows even exist.

And then Grindelwald came along, fully-believing the tales, and that was was the only survivor, thanks to her mother doing a ritual sacrifice, and she was taken to her aunt and uncle's and left there. Until her Hogwarts letter arrived, her relatives freaked and took off for the hills, and Grindelwald found them once more.

Basically…its her actual backstory with a few edits - all the easier to keep it straight in her head, keep it as close to what actually happened to her as possible. 70% truth, 30% lie - and a 'donation' to the bank from the Peverell vault of 5,000 Galleons. She also gets coordinates to a place she owns called Peverell Cottage - though, from the specifications Griphook shows her…it's no 'cottage' by any stretch of the definition. When she shadows there, the place is actually a massive mansion that puts all the ones she's ever been in to utter shame - even Malfoy Manor when it was still standing, that time they got caught by the Snatchers and taken there. It had gotten raided by some overzealous parties by the time she stayed there for two months, walls blown out and hidden rooms demolished, magical objects destroyed and even the paintings either taken with the French family or burned, but she could tell it had once been the height of 'over-the-top' - and even what it must've been at its prime pales in comparison to Peverell Cottage.

After activating the Wards with her blood and magic at the gate - and, Merlin, they feel every bit as secure as Hogwarts does now, a stark contrast to how she now knows Hogwarts' Wards were in her original time, Dumbledore must've meddled with them for his damned schemes as per usual, not surprising in the least considering all the danger that found her there - she decides to add a new Ward she came up with while on the run, the same kind as her trunk…just much less forgiving. Anyone who tries to force their way past her Wards is going to be begging for death by the time he comes for them.

Anyone she invites will be allowed in, though she wants to work it so that they'll need Portkeys to get past the Wards - like Muggle security badges - but anyone who tries to force their way in? No mercy whatsoever - if they try to break in while she's here, its probably to get to her for one reason or another. If they try to break in while she's not there, they either want to rob her or try to find something to make trouble for her. She's not having another Mundungus Fletcher poking around her home!

The first one was bad enough, especially considering nobody ever bothered to tell her that she legally owned 12 Grimmauld place after Sirius' death.

Couldn't have me leav- no, stop it, that's done and over with, dammit!

She's been trying not to dwell on her past, on Dumbledore's schemes and everything he put her through...but dammit its hard when he's trying all over again.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Evelynn glances around her new home - Merlin, that sounds strange to even think after so long without a place she actually thought of as home, even Hogwarts stopped being her home after the TriWizard Tournament and then the shitshow that was fifth year - and summons a House Elf. A young-ish looking elf appears, greeting her in much the same way Dobby always did - tears, though joyful ones this time, and lots of excitement about there being a new Mistress to serve. And then she's practically bombarda'd by what the Elf is saying next, rapid-fire over-enthusiastic exclamations that she can't keep up with even with all her experience with Dobby.

Maybe because Dobby wasn't Bonded to her, hated the Malfoys, and didn't have a reason to get so very excited about Serving her?

Evelynn clears her throat after a minute, saying "Alright, slow down a minute, please. Is there anyone else here? Any other House Elves, or anything?"

The elf, who introduced himself as Codry at some point between the excited babbling of 'there bes a new mistress to serve!' nods and says "There bes many Elves living in Peverell Cottage, Mistress, serving in different stations. There bes twenty elves that tend the land, making sure it doesn't get too wild or overgrown and keep the gardens neat, eight elves trained in healing that work in the medical room and keep it stocked and clean, four library elves that maintain the library specifically and keep it organized, ten greenhouse elves that tend the greenhouses and keep all the plants, orchards, and crops in good condition and harvesting them, twelve elves that work in the kitchen and make all the food, check to make sure its not poisoned or spoiled, ten cleaning elves that keep the manor clean and ready for the next Peverell. Serving elves have been helping the others since there's been no Master or Mistress to serve, but there bes six Elves that personally serve the Peverells themselves, making sure food is delivered at the right time and making sure they have everything they need. There also be four Animal Elves that take care of any animals that enter the grounds, such as birds, horses, Hippogriffs, and more."

That's 70 elves! Evelynn wasn't expecting that! She thought there'd be…actually, she thought she'd have to figure out how to buy an elf or two.

Evelynn hums, then says "Wonderful, Codry. Would you mind taking me on a tour? Also, where have you all been staying all this time? And how is everything still in such good condition if Peverell Cottage has been abandoned for centuries?"

Codry says "Codry would be honored to take new Mistress Peverell on a tour. Us Elves are descendants of the Elves that served last Masters, and have been following ancestors' orders. There bes a village us Elves have set up, with the permission of last Master, near the garden and orchards."

Evelynn asks "So, you have everything you need already? Food, cl- er, uniforms, medicine if you get hurt, beds, etc.?"

Codry stares at Evelynn wide-eyed, then nods and says "Yes, Mistress, us Elves have everything we need and then some."

"Good. I will not treat you like your worthless when you've done so much that I never knew of until now. If you need anything, just ask."

Codry looks on the verge of tears once more, but forces his voice steady as he says "Mistress Peverell is a good, kind Mistress. Codry will go pick out a Serving Elf to be your Personal Elf."

Evelynn nods, and asks "Could you show me to the Wardstone first? I'll recharge the Wards while you do that." And add her Ward in. And then, most likely, crash - Wards as intricate as these tend to take a lot of power. Good thing she has a lot of power.

Silver lining, she'll actually get to sleep for a change - she's yet to fall asleep since Tom left Wool's and she stayed behind, and she's not sure why. She's got a dozen different theories, but nothing concrete - it could be because she's now sharing a room with a bunch of total strangers, ones who may or may not attack her out of nowhere...but she did that once before with Granger, Lavender, and Parvarti and could sleep just fine half the time. And her insomnia spells didn't usually last two months. Her biggest theory is that it's to do with whatever it is that's happening between her and Tom.

After Codry shows her to the hidden room in the basement, behind the wine cellar in a dark shadow, with a jet-black door - well done, truly, she wouldn't have thought to look for it there - Evelynn quickly writes out in her journal to Tom 'recharging Wards, might not wake up until tomorrow. Peverell Cottage is huge, do you want to see?'

And then she steps up to the intricately-created Wardstone, on a pedestal carved with ancient-looking Runes she's never seen before - she's got to find the library Codry talked about after she wakes up! - and Diffindo's each of her hands to make a deep gash on them so her blood will run freely. She places her hands on the stone and pushes as much magic into it as she can, saying the intricate Latin phrase she came across a few times in the ward book she found in Lestrange Manor - something about her blood and magic activating the wards as a Peverell.

And then she doesn't really remember much of anything else, beyond staggering out of the room, the Wards suddenly seeming to explode with power nearly knocking her unconscious, taking the hand of an Elf she doesn't recognize, and then collapsing on a bed.

Chapter Text

Tom glances around Little Hangleton in a bit of curiosity - there's not much to do, barely a grocery store…but that just means it'll be easier to clear the muggles out, and he's more than willing to use some Compulsions to get them to look for jobs somewhere else. Or maybe he can help a muggle company expand or something? Much as he wants the Wizarding World separate from the Muggle one, he does acknowledge the detail that they can only keep the worlds so far apart - they're on the same planet, after all.

Still, Evelynn gave him some recommendations for investments, both muggle and magical, and he's more than willing to follow her lead on this one. If he can create jobs somewhere else in the British Isles, he can maybe Compel Little Hangleton's current residents to leave for them. It wouldn't look suspicious in the slightest, considering Little Hangleton is a backwater town with an emphasis on 'little' in its name. Great Hangleton has potential, being only six miles from the town.

There's an idea. Create some work in Great Hangleton, perhaps Grandfather's company could expand, get the residents of Little Hangleton to go there for work…that should work out nicely. He'll ask Griphook to work out the details with whatever company he decides on. His own Grandfather's company, though, sounds ideal - the money would quite literally come back to him in the end anyway.

"You do know that, whatever you do, the old traitor will try his hardest to paint you in a bad light."

Tom barely refrains from jumping out of his skin - a large part of which is helped by being very much in public - and thinks back I know. He's always hated me. The hypocrite.

"Indeed. A powerful one, though, and not just in magical strength. He's had an entire lifetime to learn all he knows, from magic to manipulation, you are a mere fourteen years into this world. And my Mistress, while older, had to…I believe the expression is 'start from scratch' as he made sure her education was as spotty and incomplete as possible. Even if she had taken Runes, for instance, only translations were taught instead of the practical applications. Arithmancy was described as another kind of Divination, just with numbers, instead of an integral part of spell-crafting." Ironically, Evelynn got more actual experience in Creatures class than she would've in the other two electives. Hagrid might've had some dangerous, even deadly teaching methods, and he definitely couldn't tell a safe one from a lethal creature, but they did learn things. All she would've learned in Runes would've been a spotty, swiss-cheese of a translation method, and Arithmancy would've been turned into as big a joke as Divination was. And Dumbledore Compelled her to take Divination, wanted her to believe Trelawney and her Prophecies were real.

Which means we're the underdogs.

"More or less. It gives you the advantage of surprise, however. He won't be expecting you to have any idea of what he'll be doing. And the public will adore you, if you do things right."

Death's right, and Tom knows he's right. Getting people to like you, though, is just much harder than going off on a murder-spree…especially when you really don't care what other people think of you that much. He doesn't care if people like him or not, he cares if they respect him and whether or not they'll attack him out of the blue. Still, he doesn't want any opponents - any that he can avoid, at least - so he'll have the public eating out of his hand.

The training dummies can be the outlet for his frustrations, one of Evelynn's suggestions.

After he gets back to the Manor, with Frank letting him in - his grandparents are out in Great Hangleton for a business meeting of some kind, leaving him alone for the day, something he doesn't particularly mind at all - he heads to his room and opens the journal up to write out some ideas, maybe Evelynn will have hers on hand to give some feedback with. Just as he's about to start writing, though, the book warms in his hand to signal Evelynn's opened hers.

'Little Hangleton looks promising. Doesn't look like there's much to do, honestly.'

'Sounds ideal. We can make the Muggles think the place was wiped out by a bombing. How's your day going?'

'Well enough. The Riddles are out of town, so I'm free to do whatever so long as I don't get in trouble. Spent today scoping out the town. You?'

'In Godric's Hollow, right now, setting the stage just in case. Just finished talking with Bathilda Bagshot. Turns out Aberforth knew a lot, but not everything.'

Tom smirks at the book, and writes out 'Oh really? And what did brother dearest miss out on while he was in school?'

'Bathilda probably doesn't know everything either. But,' there's a pause for a moment, one Evelynn's likely doing on purpose just to make him wonder a bit 'they made a Blood Pact. Bagshot saw it happen from her window.'

Tom stares at the words in utter shock for a moment, completely floored. Dumbledore, all-dark-magic-is-bad Dumbledore, using Blood Magic to make a Blood Pact with Gellert Grindelwald. Its so ludicrous, especially considering his later stance against everything traditional, that it sends him into hysterical laughter.

Fifteen minutes of uncontrollable laughter later - and a bubbling feeling of rage at the old man's hypocrisy that only seems to fuel his hysteria further - Tom writes out 'No wonder he won't fight the man. Think its still in his office?'

'Don't know, I'd never heard that before. Maybe one has it, maybe the other. Still doesn't excuse him from doing nothing. He can't fight Grindelwald face to face. It says nothing about telling the authorities at some point before the blonde rose to power and started the slaughter years later.' Which is good, it's something they can use against him - he'll say he can't fight Grindelwald, but they can turn his complete inaction before the blonde even rose to power against him, say it's borderline permission to keep going. Ariana's death put him in the spotlight, but Grindelwald himself was allowed to disappear into the shadows.

'True. How do you want to play that?'

'Not sure just yet. Release the information to the press, do you think?'

'I think that sounds like a wonderfully humiliating first step. Maybe it'll get him out of Hogwarts.'

Tom smirks, he can write Abraxas for this - he's got a flair for Politics, and is going into them soon. If anyone would know a good next step to take Dumbledore down after releasing something as damning as Dumbledore's sordid past, it would be Abraxas.

And then Evelynn writes 'Maybe we'll make multiple copies, send them out to the Ministry and the ICW to. Can't hurt to be thorough.'

'Have I said lately I love how that mind of yours works? Because it is beautiful.'

There's no answer, but Tom can practically see Evelynn's blush in his mind. Can see her just sitting there, staring at the words he wrote with her face glowing the color of a Stunner. Nagini just lets out a hissy laugh at his description of why she didn't write back, and Hedwig turns into a dragon and says "That sounds exactly like my Eve-chick. She's never known what to do with people genuinely liking her, after so long of being hated just for existing or people just wanting her for her fame."

Tom nods his head absentmindedly, focusing more on Evelynn's response as it finally comes. 'Talk later, going to keep talking to people here. Need to make sure people remember me if anyone investigates anything. Like how I found this stuff out in the first place.'

Tom snickers, just imagining the look on Dumbledore's face if he ever learns of today. Undisguised horror, and she has the perfect excuse of trying to learn more about her family. Its well-known, after all, that the Peverell Brothers are buried in Godric's Hollow. She can just say she looked up the story, tracked them down as they were the last known Peverells before her, and went from there. Truly, it's the perfect excuse - and one that's more than acceptable to the Purebloods that currently run Wizarding Britain.

Its one in the morning, again, and Tom still can't sleep. Ever since he got here, he hasn't been able to sleep. He doesn't want to wander the house in case one of his grandparents wakes up from the possible noise, and Hedwig is getting antsy to get back to Evelynn. He feels much the same, honestly. It's a strange - alarming, all the bells going off in his head - craving to have her near once more, and he's not sure what the cause is or what to do about it. The only thing that seems to soothe it, though, is when they write to each other - specifically, when Evelynn writes as her magic activates the Protean Charm when she does.

Deciding he's got literally nothing better to do - its either stare out the window trying to think of any curse he's ever heard of that would do something like this to him, stare at the walls, count the floorboards, or count sheep in his head in a fruitless attempt at sleep - he gets the journal open and starts writing. 'Evelynn, you there?'

After a minute, she answers 'Yeah, what's up? Is something wrong?'

'Yes, but I'm not sure what. I haven't been able to sleep this whole time here.' It's a long moment before Evelynn writes back, but its not advice in the slightest.

'Me neither, bar the day I recharged the Wards on Peverell Cottage. And I was more unconscious than actually sleeping then. Once I woke up from that, I was up whether my body wanted it or not. And it really didn't want it, felt like I was made of stone but my mind wouldn't shut off.'

Tom groans under his breath, that was…not what he was hoping for. 'Have you ever had anything like this happen before?'

'No. One time I tried to stay awake indefinitely around fifth year, but that was due to the Horcrux connection and the dreams I was getting. And sometimes I can't sleep, but that's insomnia and usually lasts a day or two. I've never not been able to fall asleep for this long. You think its some kind of curse?'

'I don't know, and that's what's worrying me the most.'

'Hang tight, I'll be there soon. We can figure out something then.'

Tom nods silently, letting out a breath as he does, and writes 'We could probably use the Gaunt Shack for that. Using any magic without tripping the Trace at all. It's got some shoddy spells on it, from what I can tell.'

'Good thinking. I'll be there in a day. Two, tops. We'll get this sorted out then.'

Tom nods, muttering "We've got to. School starts in a month, and even with whatever's going on with Dumbledore the man will pounce on anything he can to get to either of us." He's been going over everything during his late nights, any possible reason why Dumbledore would automatically blacklist him, and he thinks Evelynn's right.

Dumbledore wants the Hallows for himself, and he's perfectly willing to use him to get the Ring. Tom thinks he's also willing to keep a war going - if Dumbledore didn't start the conflict, something Evelynn honestly isn't sure about given Voldemort's mental state as long as she knew him in her original time, he was perfectly content dragging it out instead of actually fighting. Evelynn heard Sirius complain once about only being able to use things like Stunners and Inflammare, since the old man was all about his 'second chances' - and third, and fourth, etc. - when it suited him. Instead of taking out an enemy, either by disabling them or just ending them, he let them go time and again and let the war continue. All to keep his benign, grandfatherly, benevolent image going, make people think he could do no wrong and held fast to his his ironclad morals even in the midst of a war.

Well, Tom won't start a war this time…but if Dumbledore does he will end it. He won't hold back, he won't be the 'nice guy' and let someone get up after trying to attack him or his. Dumbledore tries anything against him, tries to take everything from him again…well, actually, there might not be anything left of him after Evelynn's through with the old coot.

And then Tom groans and goes to put on a freezing cold shower, seems even his imaginary Evelynn is far, far too good at pushing his buttons. He'd wonder just when Evelynn slipped her way into the category of 'his things' and how she managed it so easily, if he hadn't wondered about it a thousand times before now - and Evelynn doesn't have a clue, seeing as it was never her intention.

Far as either of them can tell - having spent a few nights writing about this exact conversation - it just…happened. She showed up, he got curious, they went to Wool's together, she gave him answers…and that's where it all falls apart, as Tom can't find any other specific event in his mind that would lead to them snogging in secret every chance they got, or getting a mix of magic and pleasure whenever they come into contact with one another.

And he has to wonder…is that all that'll happen to them? Or will there be more as…this, whatever it is, progresses? Something tells him, deep in his gut, that the answer is a yes, yes there will be more as whatever is happening to them continues.

He should probably worry about that, but he can't bring himself to care at the moment.

Chapter Text

Tom's up again, at 11 pm at night, sleep miles away from him. Evelynn wrote that she'd come into town tonight and meet him tomorrow, so he's only- A massive yawn suddenly cuts off his thoughts, the first he's had in weeks. And then exhaustion washes over him, going from a mildly-noticeable annoyance to a very immediate problem as he feels himself sway on his feet.

He barely makes it over to his bed, beyond grateful that he was still in his room when this hit him, when his legs quite literally give out and he lands face-first on the mattress. He barely manages to drag himself up so his head is actually on the pillow and his feet are on the mattress - even if he isn't under the spread - when everything goes black for him.

Tom looks around, getting the distinct feeling he's dreaming - though, its not like any dream he's ever had. The entire area is bright white, reminding him far too much of the Limbo he saw in Evelynn's memories.

He's not dead, right?!

A light, almost musical laugh sounds behind him, and Tom whirls around to see one of the most beautiful women he's ever met standing there. Raven-black hair tumbling down to about the middle of her back if he's measuring right, in a bright white robe and hooded cloak…with eyes that can't seem to settle for one single color, one minute they're a brilliant blue the next a dark brown. And she's holding two torches, one in each hand. "Relax, my child, you've nothing to fear. Not from Death, and certainly not from me."

Tom blinks, and asks "I...don't?" He doesn't have a clue who this woman is, just that...she's incredibly powerful. Powerful enough that he's no hesitation in deciding to be on his absolute best behavior so she doesn't obliterate him where he stands.

The woman hums, saying "You always were a perceptive one, Tom, when whole. I take it you have at least some idea of who I am then." She then fixes him with the full weight of her gaze, making him feel distinctly nervous - he doesn't just know this mysterious woman, but he does sense her power. So much power that he's sure he cant possibly comprehend it all, that a mortal like him literally cannot process it without their mind either shattering or melting. He's also sure she can hear each of his thoughts, as she laughs and says she's flattered.

"Its also a very accurate thought. Even your mind, strong and fast as it is, would not hold up under the strain of my full presence. You didn't answer my question, though."

Tom swallows, and says "Evelynn sometimes speaks of Death...but she always calls the being a he." And she spoke about 'Death' so...

The woman nods, and says "Indeed, taking the form of a man to interact with young Evelynn is Death's personal choice, though we can take whichever form we choose at any given time. You might call Death a...colleague of mine. We made the Hallows together, for instance."

Tom feels his breath catch in his throat, and says "Then your..." Magic. Hecate, Isis, Freya, whatever name she wants to go by...this is her. The Deity that granted them magic in the first place.

Again with that laugh, and she - Magic - says "Very good, my child. We have all gone by many names over the millennia, but it doesn't change us."

Tom swallows, and "So...why are you here? Or why am I here?"

Before he can start on a semi-panicked flood of questions - since he's pretty sure the Goddess of Magic doesn't just stop by out of boredom to chat! - Magic says "Nothing bad, I assure you. As for being bored…I can assure you, the two of you have been very entertaining. Truly, I wouldn't have thought someone so betrayed could end up being so kind to her one-time enemy if I hadn't watched it myself. She truly did inherit her mother's kindness then."

Neither did Tom, especially since he wouldn't have been. He'd have stayed away at best, tried to kill Evelynn at worst if their situations were reversed.

Magic - or Hecate, Tom's decided he's calling her - hums and says "We're off-topic, however. You know I helped Death create the Hallows, but did you know I was the one to suggest the soul-bonding aspect?"

Tom blinks, and asks "You did?" That's news to him, he's fairly certain even Evelynn doesn't know that particular detail.

"I did. The human mind isn't meant to bear the weight of eternity alone. Even the strongest of minds, the smartest, or even the opposite where someone is rather lacking in intelligence…all of them would eventually shatter under the weight of it all, their sanity fleeing after enough time spent truly alone."

Tom swallows, suddenly very glad his counterpart in Evelynn's original time never achieved true immortality - he would've undoubtedly gone it alone for all time, and then they would've been stuck with an unkillable madman for all time. His body would've stayed the same, his brain would've been intact, but his mind…his mind would've been in pieces eventually, with no way to fix things and no end in sight. Another horrifying potential outcome, even worse than what the Horcuxes did to him in that he'd have been stuck that way forever.

Tom swallows, and asks "If there's such potential for things to go wrong…why did you make them?"

Hecate sighs, and says "We had to do something. Destiny, or Fate if you prefer, she told us something horrifying. There would be a traitor to magic, and through his work magic in your realm would die. He would spread his words throughout the world, no matter what it took, and everyone would listen. What you and young Evelynn theorize, about the practice of marrying close relations to keep one's magical lineage pure…it was only half the problem. Yes, fresh blood is needed, if only to keep mortal bodies from becoming too delicate…but the Old Ways, the traditions passed down for millennia, they are just as important to keeping magic - my power, my gift to all the magical races - alive and strong. Traditions, celebrations, rituals, they're done both to give back to me and to reconnect a person with their magic. If the new mortals in the magical world become too weak, delicate, unable to receive my gift, then I'm forced to reawaken the dormant magic in the descendants of those who previously couldn't in order to keep your society strong. Their bodies are simply better able to handle the power of my gift, as those you term Squibs would die within the first year of life if they had the power of magic at their disposal."

Tom gets more and more horrified as Hecate goes on, finally getting the full picture. As the Old Ways have waned, combined with the Pureblood practice of inbreeding to the point of sterility or instability, Hecate has had to turn to the descendants of Squibs born earlier in time to keep the Wizarding World alive - both because she didn't have enough strength to awaken and heal every single Squib that's been born and because the Muggleborns are stronger, healthier, would make it to Hogwarts and adult life. Only to more than likely leave the Wizarding World - Britain, at least - because they were rejected or held back at every turn, making a vicious cycle as all that fresh, clean blood would have gone nowhere. Forcing Hecate to awaken even more Muggleborns in the hopes that people would finally get a hint.

One detail sticks out to Tom instantly, Hecate mentioned a traitor to magic, one who would destroy her gift in its entirety. "Dumbledore."

Hecate nods, saying "Very good. Albus Dumbledore scorns my gifts, slanders and bans the traditions meant to keep them, and by extension himself and all the rest, strong. He rejects much of magic itself, labeling it dark and evil when all that truly matters is a person's intention. What makes him truly dangerous, though, is his ability to sway the masses with his silver tongue. If he gets his way, if he is allowed to take up a role of leadership of any importance, he will never stop until either he is made to stop or it is far too late. We created the Hallows to create a second chance, a chance to save Wizarding society before it goes extinct. But, what happens now…is up to you two. Fate told us what would happen, if we didn't act. She did not tell us how our gamble would end, nor when it would truly begin."

Tom asks "Why are you telling me all this? Wouldn't Evelynn be the one to talk to? She was the one chosen by the Hallows, not me."

Hecate laughs, starting out as a chuckle before it eventually turns into full-blown laughter. Tom actually gapes at her, nobody laughs at him like this. Ever. He doesn't even see what's so funny, really. "Oh," she finally gasps, after getting control of herself once more, "you really don't see it, do you? Can't see what's happening right in front of the both of you. Death had warned me that young Evelynn was rather oblivious, though. I suppose the two of you are truly a perfect match then."

Tom jerks awake, heart racing and head aching like its about to explode. Explode with knowledge, perhaps. The knowledge that that was no dream. That Hecate herself, the Deity that granted Wizardkind magic in the first place, came to him in a dream and talked to him.

That Albus Dumbledore is going to end up killing magic, should he not be stopped. And he and Evelynn are apparently the only ones that can stop it.

Tom decides to stop thinking about it for now, because his head is feeling like its about to explode. A lot like when he found out about Evelynn, actually.

On the bright side, though, he got some sleep - and actually feels like he got some sleep, now that his heart isn't pounding away at his ribcage. Deciding to focus on something he was already planning, something short-term and not with the weight of the literal world on his shoulders, he quickly writes to Theodorus and Orion to see if they're busy or if they can come and survey Little Hangleton and plan how to use the Ward Scheme Evelynn wrote. They'll probably have ideas about what could be added neither he nor Evelynn could think of.

And his grandparents won't mind, since they're usually off in Greater Hangleton managing their business - his father was supposed to take it over years ago, but those plans got scrapped when he eloped with Merope and then disappeared for about five months, only to come back a broken man too scared to so much as leave the house most of the time.

Ergo…two people that should, by all reasoning, be retired now are attending meetings every day and running a business they started up, leaving him to do as he pleases for hours on end. Might as well start planning on how to Ward the entire town so well that its basically a massive fortress and turn it into a new Wizarding town.

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Orion and Theodorus walk up to the large Muggle Mansion on the hill, looking around at the town Tom somehow landed himself in. Neither of them were particularly sure what to think, when they each got a letter saying Tom was in little Hangleton and had hours of time to himself to do whatever he pleases. And he wanted to get their opinions on Little Hangleton's potential, having been raised in the Magical World and so would have ideas about things that he'd miss.

And then Tom walks out of the door, looking much more at ease for being stuck in the Muggle World than they expected. Probably because he's free to do whatever he wants so long as he doesn't get into trouble. Along with the detail that it doesn't particularly look like the war, either war actually, has affected the place too much. Hence why their parents even allowed them to visit - they've all heard about Slytherin's Heir, and how much potential he has. Scouting out a current Muggle town in hopes of turning it into a Magical one...it gets people's attention.

Orion glances around as they're walking through the town, then says "Small...easily hidden, though."

Theo adds "Look at the size of the Alley, though. Or Hogsmeade. It's about the same size, I believe."

Tom smirks, and says "It shouldn't be too hard to have the place evacuated. Have all of the Muggles believe the place was bombed and destroyed." And that's when a white streak goes flying out of a window, a gleeful - ecstatic - trill reaching them. Orion and Theodorus trade glances, somehow they're entirely unsurprised to find Hedwig here. What is surprising is that Evelynn isn't here with her Familiar.

And then a fifteen-foot-long snake makes its way out of the grass, winding its way up Tom's body to hiss in his ear. Theodorus takes in a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves after just about jumping out of his skin, and asks "Tom? Who's this?" Honestly, he's halfway expecting that to be Evelynn - becoming an Animagus before OWL's wouldn't be the craziest thing he's ever heard about her.

Tom blinks, then smirks and says "This is Nagini, my Familiar. She's also a Maledictus.I happened to find her when she was looking for the Gaunts."

After a moment of silence, Orion says "I think Evelynn's rubbing off on you, Tom. With the impossible things just happening to you."

Tom feels his smirk straying dangerously close to a fond smile, and says "Whatever the case, she said Hedwig got extremely excited before taking off." One thing Nagini retained - somehow, he's not sure exactly how and is putting it down to magic - is her sense of hearing, and according to her Hedwig screamed about her 'Eve-chick' before taking off like that. Which more than likely means Evelynn's in town - she'll undoubtedly find them as they're making their way through the small town, or she'll head to Riddle Manor and wait for him there on the slim chance they don't find each other in the small town.

Orion and Theodorus are looking around the small town with Tom, light Muggle-repelling spells on them to keep anyone from paying too much attention to them as they talk, and trade ideas back and forth. An Apothecary here, a Healer there, a tailor in that building perhaps, maybe they could introduce magical plants into the forest? Make it so they could gather at least the basics themselves, instead of buying everything. A bookstore for something to read, as well as to help educate kids on things before they go to Hogwarts. Things such as the Old Ways, the Magical World's traditions, Wand maintenance, etc. 

They're just eying a building that's currently being used as the grocery store, wondering if maybe they should turn it into some kind of exercise or practice area for the kids to either run around and burn up some energy or practice spells in once they get wands and go to Hogwarts - maybe both? With a parking lot that size there's a few possibilities - when they see a monumentally-twitchy figure in a black hoodie and leggings carrying a tabby cat cross the street. They can't see the face, since the hood is pulled down, but given the detail that nobody else is even glancing at them tells them something important.

They're magical.

Only someone with magic could be so very out of place and not draw so much as a single glance.

The three of them start subtly following the figure, through the crowd and around buildings, but it seems they know the three boys are doing as much. Because they head around a building, only to just vanish.

Tom stares for a moment, then sighs and says "Evelynn just ditched us." In hindsight, its obvious that its Evelynn they were trying to corner - twelve years on the run would've made her very good at ditching people, she helped him do as much last summer, and he gets the feeling she'd have seriously hurt someone if they'd managed to catch her. And, even if he didn't have firsthand experience with her ditching people with him...she ditched the entire student population on a regular basis in Hogwarts, including all of Slytherin House.

Besides, he's almost certain that tabby cat was Hedwig's disguised Kneazle form.

Orion and Theodorus blink, and Orion asks "What makes you think that was Evelynn?"

Aside from the 2000's style hoodie she was wearing? Tom says "Evelynn's good at avoiding people when she wants to. She did it for most of her first year, remember? If she doesn't want to be caught, its rather difficult to catch her." He would know, he tried for most of the first year she was there. He only found her when she wanted to be found, he now knows - not that he can truly blame her, he can't imagine what it would be like to suddenly end up in, say, Dumbledore's schooldays and have to get his bearings with nobody else the wiser. Scratch that, he imagines it would be thoroughly exhausting, having to underplay his knowledge and skills at every turn and keep everyone in the dark about his true identity.

Especially Albus Dumbledore. He'd avoid the man at every possible turn to, if he had the option.

When he gets back to Riddle Manor, Orion and Theodorus having already Portkeyed back to their own homes, Tom immediately senses Evelynn's presence in the building. He barely remembers making his way through the place, one minute he's outside and the next he's standing in his own doorway. The first thing his mind registers is the dark bundle on his bed, curled up and barely even moving. The second is Nagini, sitting on top of his bed and curled up loosely even as she greets him. The third is Hedwig, mostly hidden by Evelynn's shadow and the arm draped over her dragon body that's disguised as a gigantic lizard that he thinks is a Komodo Dragon - how ironic.

Shaking his head to try and get rid of the fog in it, he walks over and hisses "How long has she been here? And like this?"

Nagini glances at Evelynn for a moment, then says "I found her in the Graveyard, Tom. Brought her in, and she seemed exhausted. So I brought her here to wait for you."

Tom gives her a nod, trying to find any noticeable differences in Evelynn since the last time they saw each other at Wool's - she's paler, he thinks, though that could easily be because she's in a black hoodie and the room is dark. But still, the very sight of her eases the long-forgotten ache in his chest - he'd barely noticed it, its been so long, but now when its finally been soothed he wonders how he managed to go about his days. Now that that aching cold hole is finally filled, he wonders how he managed to ignore it when he's now basking in the warmth that replaced it.

He's at Evelynn's side before he can even blink, pulling her into him and burying his face in her hair - and catching the hand that automatically goes to defend herself, old instincts that'll probably be ingrained in her forever. First from her cousin and his friends, and then from her original time at Hogwarts and the shit she got unwillingly thrust into - not that he can blame her, given how he sizes up every crowd of people heading towards him automatically. He knows the instant Evelynn wakes up fully, as she freezes and stares at him silently for a moment. And then he's practically strangled when she wraps her arms around him, even as she buries her face in his neck. Tom wraps an arm around her shoulders possessively, letting her calm down on her own, and relishes in the feeling of her being there again.

After what feels like an hour, she lifts her head and says "Missed you, Tom..."

Instead of saying anything, he lunges forward and slams his mouth to hers as if he's drowning and she's fresh air. And then their connection hits him with all the force of an Accio'd bag of bricks, lighting every nerve in his body up even as it seems to freeze his lungs - and he only figures that second bit out when his vision starts to tunnel, despite the detail that he can't feel any burning sensation.

Evelynn pulls back just enough to break the kiss, shoulders heaving as they stare at each other. Finally, Evelynn manages to ask "Has that gotten stronger?"

Tom nods, the only thing he can do without losing his bare minimum of self-control once more. Yes, he's very sure this connection's gotten stronger somehow. Because Evelynn's lip is actually bleeding, he's starting to taste blood now, and her neck is already turning purple with bite marks he absolutely can't remember making but are too fresh to have been by anyone else. He can only imagine what he looks like, given that this is a new level of rough for them.

Evelynn's quiet "Oh, geez…" only solidifies it in his mind that they both look like total messes.

Tom can only chuckle at that, and pulls Evelynn back to him to keep her close.

Eventually, the connection between them settles into a pleasant background feeling as they stay like that - not wildly out of control, fogging their minds up until they finally have to break contact, but still noticeable nonetheless. Neither are sure how long they stay like that, content to just lie there together with Evelynn's head tucked under Tom's chin and his hand running through her hair, but eventually Evelynn looks up as he says "Missed you to, Evelynn."

She gives him a radiant smile, burying her face in his neck for a minute, and quietly says "I was worried about you, you know."

Tom tightens his arms around her, and murmurs "Not nearly as much as me about you, I bet." She was almost certainly sitting in bunkers every night hoping a bomb wouldn't hit during the night, and dealing with the kids at the Orphanage during the day - Billy Stubbs and his lot were the worst, yes, but some others weren't that far behind him. Not brave enough to outright act against him, but spiteful enough to do small things while Stubbs took everyone's attentions. Steal some food while Tom was fending off Stubbs and his cronies, for instance.

And, yet, she was worried about him? Seems Evelynn's self-sacrificing instincts are too ingrained to die out completely. 

He knew that when she sent him away and willingly stayed behind, though.

Evelynn's expression turns serious, and she says "Dumbledore visited about two weeks after you left. He was asking Cole about you. He…he was frantic when he learned the Riddles had taken you in. I've never seen him like that before, ever. He looked...he looked manic." Left so fast she thought he was going to break the Statute of Secrecy, at that. And that was the first time he was there. He didn't get any better the other times he visited - more frantic, more creepily-obsessed, spiraling further and further. The last time he visited, Thanatos was actually at her side in the shadow she was listening in from - so, it was nothing to joke about. He was as tense as she'd ever seen the timeless, immortal being...she didn't think Death got tense, or worried, actually.

Tom scowls, and asks "What about you? Has he tried anything to get custody of you?" Death hasn't visited, but the entity is rather busy every night.

Evelynn shakes her head, saying "Not that I know of. Nothing's reached me, anyway." It would be exactly like Thanatos, though, to not tell her if something almost happened. She snickers, a dark look on her face, and says "Wish I'd seen the look on Dumbledore's face, though, when he learned that the Gaunt Lordship automatically passed to you." Tom snickers as well, imagining a look on Dumbledore's face like he'd just sucked a bad lemon dry.

Apparently deciding they'd talked about Dumbledore enough, Evelynn abruptly asks "How's life here in Little Hangleton?"

Tom shrugs, saying "It's good, I suppose. The two of them are in Greater Hangleton most of the day, managing their business since my father couldn't before he died. I'm free to do as I please, though, so long as I don't get into any trouble."

Evelynn glances up at him, and quietly asks "They just leave you alone here?" She wanted him out of London, away from the war, but...not completely alone all the time. She's even more grateful that she sent Hedwig over, and that he found Nagini when he did. She'd be feeling so guilty about pushing him to go with his grandparents if he'd been all alone in the mansion all this time.

Tom says "There's the Groundskeeper, Frank Bryce. If I need anything, I was told to go to him. Otherwise, I'm free to wander the town or the house, I can read to my heart's content in the library they have in the building, so long as I don't get into any trouble. Else they will go through with their original offer of taking me with them to the office every single day." They originally offered it to him as a way to spend more time with him, but when he said he'd be fine on his own his Grandfather said they would take him with them if he got into any trouble while they were gone. He'd have nothing to do but sit there in a chair in his office day after day, either reading a book or twiddling his thumbs if he makes them go through with the promise.

It's a slightly horrifying thought to Tom, who'd be bored out of his mind for hours on end - one of the downsides of being a genius, he's got to have something to do. Because, as Evelynn's said, a bored genius is a dangerous genius - they start looking for something to occupy themselves, and they're smart enough to find something. Usually something they shouldn't.

It makes him wonder, just for a minute, what Evelynn would find to do if he hadn't taken an interest in her.

Probably become either an Unspeakable or famous Enchanter, or she'd travel the world and be something of an eternal drifter.

Chapter Text

Tom wakes up to the most incredible feeling, better than anything he's ever felt before - it's like his skin has a live current running underneath it, making sure he's wide awake in an instant. When he tries to sit up, he discovers the source of that incredible feeling - because the arms wrapped around his waist tighten at his movement, and he looks down to see a head of dark hair resting on his chest like it belongs there. And then everything comes back to Tom - finding Evelynn, heading back up to his room after dinner to find her out cold, climbing in next to her without a second's hesitation - and he shifts to lay back down, completely content to stay like this forever.

Merlin, he loves this girl - he figures, if he'd rather wake up each morning exactly like this than anything else, he's in love. Not something he ever thought he'd find, and yet somehow he has.

The very thought makes warmth flood him, and then Evelynn starts to stir in his arms. She sucks in a small breath, her eyes blinking a few times as she wakes up, and Tom can't resist the urge to make her blush. Quickly deciding how he's going to make that happen, he says "Morning, Sleeping Beauty." As expected, her face turns red from the compliment at once. Tom grins, burying his nose in her hair, then says "You know, they're expecting me to have a friend over."

Evelynn's face whips over to him incredulously, nearly smacking him in the cheek with her nose, as she asks "What? Come again?"

Tom nods, grin turning to a smug smirk as he says "I posed the question of having a friend from school over for a little bit at dinner. They said that it'd be good for me to have some company my own age while they're busy in Greater Hangleton. As long as your parents agree, they see no problem with it."

Evelynn's expression goes perfectly blank for a minute, right up until she asks "You asked them?" Tom nods, and she incredulously repeats "You asked them?!" She's having a little trouble wrapping her head around the idea of Tom Riddle asking anyone for anything.

Tom shrugs, and says "Easy way to keep Dumbledore from trying anything, if they already know I've got a friend over and he asks if you're here."

And the world is right again, Tom manipulating his grandparents under the guise of being polite. Evelynn nods, then smirks at him and teasingly asks "Have they grown on you, Tom?"

Tom sighs, then says "They're not…terrible. I get three full meals a day, have full access to their library, and can do as I please so long as no trouble is made. As far as living with Muggles go…it could be worse." A lot worse. They're not around much, still running their company full-time, but he's perfectly alright with that. He's too independent - and not so insecure, though he'd never phrase it that way out loud - by now to need them to be around at all times. It lets him explore and plan, it lets him be with Nagini and Hedwig for most of the day, and it lets him write to Evelynn or read his school textbooks if he's feeling particularly desperate. He's grateful they took him from Wool's and the bombings, make no mistake, but he's not a child that needs their constant attention. 

Evelynn hums, shifting so she's sitting up, then says "Guess I should go make myself presentable for your grandparents, then. See you in…thirty minutes?"

Tom nods, and says "Breakfast is in ten, Mary will be up soon to see if I'm awake."

Evelynn grins, then says "See you soon, Tom." She leaves him with a kiss on his cheek, and the sudden knowledge that he's freezing cold after she's off the bed - that's it, they're going to have to figure this out today. And then his grandmother knocks on the door, calling his name and pulling him from his thoughts. "One moment, Grandmother, I'll be right out!"

Thomas glances up at his wife and grandson with a greeting, and immediately notices something's different about Tom. Mary shoots him a familiar smile, and he waits for the two of them to get seated. Mary shoots him a second look he's all too familiar with after so long married to the woman, then waits for Tom to have just put a forkful of scrambled egg in his mouth before saying "Someone got some good news, Thomas."

Tom promptly chokes on his mouthful of breakfast - you'd think he'd learn, by now, to be more wary of his grandmother's secret sense of mischief. Because she loves to do things like this - like a shark to blood, she has a nose for ways to mess with people.

Thomas raises an eyebrow at his struggling grandson, and asks "Got a response, then?"

Tom quickly nods, managing to swallow his food before saying "Yes, Evelynn said she'd be here soon."

Mary casually asks "Evelynn? That's your friend's name?"

Tom takes one look at his grandmother's expression and starts hurriedly trying to recall whether he's said her name before - um…oops, he hasn't. And, knowing his grandmother…he's just given her some ammunition to use. Turns out he got his habit of throwing everyone for a loop naturally - and from his father's side of the family, to boot. He's willing to bet he inherited it straight from Mary, if he's being perfectly honest.

"You know," Mary starts, a grin on her face that spells trouble, "your father had a friend named Cecilia, years ago."

Tom's never been so thankful for Evelynn's sense of timing as right now, when they hear the sounds of the knocker being used on the door. He does not want to hear about his father and Cecilia. Thankfully, Mary goes to get the door - leaving Tom with his grandfather, who's got a knowing look on his face even as he drinks his coffee. Right, now he remembers why he was so careful about not letting on about the more specific details about Evelynn - either they'll have Frank Bryce be their chaperone, or they'll insist on one of them staying behind to do so.

Evelynn's voice carries through, saying "Hello, ma'am. Are you Mrs. Riddle? I've got a friend from school, Tom, he said he's living here with you?" Evelynn comes in wearing an outfit similar to what she had to wear at Wool's, bar the detail that this skirt is only down to her knees instead of her ankles, and her hair is miraculously in a braid that highlights her high cheekbones and jawline instead of hiding them. How she managed that, when he's seen her very real struggle to keep her hair up and out of the way during Potions class is a mystery to him - it's so soft it slips out of everything, even with Dorea and Walburga attempting to help one time, hence why she prefers to keep it down. He gets the feeling the Sticking Charm was used quite a bit, honestly.

Tom figures the silence from his grandfather's end means he approves, and a glance over tells him all he needs to know - he's completely frozen in place, a look of shock painting itself over his face as he takes in the sight of Evelynn. Tom glances at her again, even as his Grandmother walks over, and notices she's grown a few inches since he last saw her - she's starting to get some long legs, a willowy figure now that she's hit another growth spurt, and her jawline is getting more defined. He didn't think it was possible for her to be more beautiful, but it seems she proved him wrong once more - or maybe it's the detail that he'd been with her for the better part of two years, and hadn't quite noticed just how beautiful she'd grown until he had to spend two months away from her.

After a minute, Mary says "So, this is the mysterious Evelynn…I must say, my dear, Tom hadn't said you were such a vision."

Evelynn blushes brightly, ducking her head and saying "Thank you, Ma'am. I'm nothing special when it comes to looks, though." Tom decides he's found a very specific reason to torture Petunia Dursley, exactly how long did that horse-faced woman spend making sure her niece had no confidence in how she looked? The answer, he decides, is far too long.

Thomas finally manages to snap himself out of his frozen state, and says "Humble to, quite the combination. So, Miss…?"

Evelynn clears her throat, saying "Peverell, Sir. Evelynn Peverell."

Thomas nods, saying "Of course. Miss Peverell, what do you like to do?"

Upon hearing that Evelynn knows how to play piano, Mary grins delightedly and offers to show her the Grand Piano in the mansion. And then, somehow or other, Evelynn's saying she can play Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

Thomas practically chokes when he gasps, and Mary asks "Really? That's a rather difficult piece."

Evelynn just shrugs, saying "I had time, Ma'am. I spent a lot of time at school in the music room, learning to play. And the library had a section with sheets of music. I found Vivaldi's Four Seasons…and liked the challenge. Though, I do prefer Spring the best." And then, somehow…she ends up playing the piano version of it all, much to Thomas and Mary's delight.

After the two adults finally leave, getting a promise out of the two teens to be responsible and not get up to anything, Evelynn lets herself collapse onto the piano bench. Tom sits down next to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close, and she asks "You think they liked me?" It may seem kind of silly, chasing after the approval of two adults that she's never met before, but the last time she was welcomed into a family it had been Arthur and Molly Weasley. And Molly Weasley had been in on the entire plan, helping to brew the love potions Ron was feeding her, along with some of the Obedience Potions - it certainly explained her behavior before her fifth year, preventing Sirius from telling her anything important. Call her crazy, or a sap, but she's never had anyone genuinely accept her into their family for her.

Tom pulls her from her thoughts by wrapping his arms around her shoulders, saying "They adored you, Evelynn. I'm fairly certain Mary's already planning a wedding." He didn't even need to hear her thoughts, his grandmother is a closet romanticist. Her nightstand is filled with sappy, trashy romance novels, a discovery he did not need and dearly regrets, and she once told him all about how the two of them met and he's pretty sure he's traumatized from it.

Dear Merlin, didn't Evelynn say the entire town thought these two were snooty?!

They end up in the library, mapping out the town and how far they should Ward into the surrounding area. Nagini and Hedwig join them, having them extend the Wards well into the forest a few miles past the Gaunt Shack in case they end up with a Werewolf among them and so they can hunt.

Once that's done, hidden deep in the closest trunk for good measure, the two teens end up sitting together on a comfy armchair that's not quite big enough for the both of them with a book each, Hedwig curled up in her Kneazle form on Evelynn's lap and Nagini wrapped loosely around the two teens. Luckily, the books are from the library…because they end up falling asleep, Evelynn's eyes blinking slower and slower until she's drifted off and Tom following suit shortly after.

Nagini carefully slides out from under the two, even as Hedwig leaps off and to the floor, and hisses "So adorable like this…"

Hedwig changes to her dragon form, and lets out a smoking chuckle while saying "My Eve-chick never had the chance to relax like this before."

Nagini eyes the two sleeping teens, then hisses "Do explain to me exactly why nobody can tell them what's so obviously happening, please? It's as adorable like this as it is painful to watch them wonder what's going on."

Hedwig jerks her head towards the window, then both Familiars freeze when they hear the door open - shoot, the Riddles are back. Hedwig quickly turns into her Phoenix Form and gets herself and Nagini out of the building and into the massive garden they've been hiding and hunting mice and other rodents in. The magic-less Muggles don't know about them, and would certainly freak out about a fifteen-foot-long python being casually wrapped around the two teens, after all.

Mary and Thomas get into the library, looking for their grandson and his friend - and Mary intent on questioning both of them about every little detail - but stop dead upon seeing them…dead to the world, completely out cold together. Evelynn curled up into Tom's side, head resting in the crook of Tom's neck, and Tom's nose buried in her dark hair and one arm going over her shoulders.

It's such an adorable scene that they don't have the heart to wake the sleeping teens, instead quietly exiting the room after putting the books they were reading on the nearby table. Given the detail that they're fully clothed, and that Frank didn't hear anything as he was gardening after they left, it's a fairly safe bet nothing particularly scandalous happened.

And, as Mary cooed and pointed out, the two of them are adorable. Tom's the spitting image of his father, and Evelynn Peverell is quite a sight herself. The greenest eyes he's ever seen, high cheekbones, a pale complexion, and midnight black hair that seemed to make her natural paleness and intense green eyes stand out even more.

Chapter Text

Tom breathes a sigh of relief when he and Evelynn see the two Hogwarts Owls land on the Window sill in front of them. Evelynn says "These seem later than usual…you think he had a hand in that?"

Tom murmurs "Undoubtedly. There's magic on the envelopes."

Evelynn deadpans "Course there is. At this point, it's par for the course." She doesn't even want to know what spells Dumbledore used - Compulsion and tracking spells, most likely. And who knows what else he and Grindelwald found that he's willing to use. The idea of Grindelwald's ex being around thousands of children makes her want to be sick - the idea of Grindelwald's ex not taking the opportunity to spin things how he wants with a few subtle spells he dug up with the dark-inclined ex-Durmstrang boy makes her scoff and want to sic whoever is currently in charge of the DMLE and Aurors on the school, along with all of St. Mungo's. With a lot of damning evidence against Dumbledore.

Evelynn then gets two spare pieces of parchment from her trunk out, and starts making picking motions at the closer envelope - to Tom's utter shock, he sees small lines of sickly-yellow colored magic appear on the envelope originating from a ball of magic placed directly over the wax seal. Wrapped around it almost like spider legs, legs that she's methodically picking away at…detaching from the envelope. Definitely Dumbledore's magic, but he didn't think it'd be colored like that - it's Light, but it feels like the shine on oil rather than something like sun or warmth, like it's trying to hide something. Tom wouldn't want that magic cast on him if he were dying and Dumbledore were the only person that could save him.

As soon as the lines are all gone, she picks up the spell itself and puts it onto the blank parchment. After repeating the process with the second envelope and parchment, Evelynn hands Tom his own envelope like she didn't just perform a feat of magic that effortlessly takes his breath away. She just went and transferred a spell onto a different object as casually as if she were untying a knot! He quickly reads through the list, giving himself a distraction so he doesn't jump Evelynn right then and there, only to be broken from his thoughts when Evelynn says "You've got to be kidding…"

Tom glances up, only to see a look of abject horror written all over her face. "What is it?"

"They've got dress robes written on here. Please, for the love of Merlin, don't tell me there's another Tri-Wizard Tournament happening."

Tom glances at her, and sees she's completely serious about this - right, the only time she needed dress robes in school was for the Yule Ball that they had thrown that one year. And then Tom realizes something truly hilarious - she doesn't know about the Ball. Oh, he can't wait to surprise her.

Tom and Evelynn get into the crowded Flourish and Blotts - though, nowhere near as crowded as when Gilderoy I'm-A-Fraud Lockhart did his signing event, thankfully - and then head to the sections they need. Evelynn's grabbing half the books, Tom the other half - hopefully, it'll get them in and out faster. Only for Evelynn to bump into Dorea and Walburga by accident.

"Evelynn!" Dorea gets the world's biggest shit-eating grin on her face for a moment, glancing at Walburga, and then adopts her usual Pureblood mask of indifference.

And then a woman Evelynn vaguely recognizes from the Black Family Tapestry - Melania, she thinks, Orion's mother - comes around the corner. Walburga politely says "Aunt Melania, this is the roommate we told you about over the summer."

Melania grins, and says "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Peverell. Melania Black."

Evelynn smiles back, studying the woman's face for a moment even as she shakes hands - she might've gotten to know her, had Dumbledore not meddled where he didn't belong last life. Then again, she only knows her by the Tapestry, so the older woman might've died before she was even born. She can see some of Orion's features in her face, the shape of his nose and his cheekbones, and it seems Sirius got his mischievous side from Melania if the glint in the woman's gaze is anything to go by. Half mischievous, half curious, and highly intelligent.

Polite conversation somehow turns to the Yule Ball - and apparently that's an annual thing instead of for special occasions, for fourth years and up, much to Evelynn's unending horror - and then the Blacks all learn she and Tom don't have Dress Robes yet. Evelynn secretly wasn't getting Dress Robes, planning on simply ditching the Ball altogether once she learned of it, but Melania Black doesn't even let her get a word in to say she doesn't need any Dress Robes before deciding to get the pair a set each.

And then they're off to a fitting, Evelynn's first fitting - Mrs. Weasley had her measurements for the sweaters, and just ordered a set of dress robes for her last time. Evelynn took great pleasure in burning the Dress robes after the ball, intent on never going to another such event ever again.

Tom's sitting next to Orion in Twilfitt and Tattings, having just gotten through his own session with the owner - measurements getting taken, an impromptu fitting, and then picking out different styles, colors, and fabrics - and Orion asks "How's it been since she showed up?" Tom's got this look on his face that they can't really remember seeing before, so it's absolutely got something to do with Evelynn.

Tom grins smugly, and says "Wonderful."

Orion smirks, and says "I bet." He's waiting for the wedding, honestly - Tom adores Evelynn, it's clear as day now. He'd be destroyed if anything ever happened to her, and vice versa.

And then suddenly, the fitting room goes dead silent - Evelynn had been making protests, about how they didn't need to go through all this for her, but now the room covered by several dividers and curtains is silent as a grave. And then Melania's voice comes over all too clearly, too-calmly asking who did 'that' to Evelynn's back.

Orion winces, and says "I know that tone of voice…" That's the tone of voice that means his mother is close to murder.

Dorea comes out a minute later looking pale as a ghost, quickly followed by Walburga who looks like she might be sick - they'd been getting their own measurements taken, up until just a moment ago. Orion frowns in concern, and asks "What happened?" His cousin and almost-sister are Blacks, they don't get freaked out like this over something little.

Walburga swallows several times, then says "Those Muggles had better be damn grateful they're dead. Else Aunt Melania would be coming after them right now."

Dorea nods, then weakly says "Turns out she wasn't exaggerating when she said how her relatives treated her…" Actually, she underplayed it. She'd get downright venomous during her descriptions, but she never said they left scars on her. Didn't say she'd been whipped with a belt - starved, worked like a House-elf, told day after day that she was a freak, her cousin and his gang of friends would beat her up, yes…but she didn't say her uncle would whip her with a belt, or she'd be beaten if he was drunk or anything went wrong.

Tom narrows his eyes at the two distraught females, as it takes quite a bit to get a reaction like this out of any Black, and asks "What happened?"

Dorea manages to get out about how Evelynn's shirt was vanished before she could react, and her back was a rather horrifying sight even for them.

Melania Black comes out of the room looking murderous, and Evelynn quickly follows with an embarrassed blush that has her gaze glued to the floor despite the detail that her shirt is back in place. She won't say much about what exactly happened, despite the questioning looks Orion sends her way or the pitying ones from Dorea and Walburga, and the way Melania insists on accompanying them for the whole trip, so Tom resolves to get it out of her after the shopping trip is over.

She hates having so much attention on her, he knows - especially when it involves a subject as uncomfortable as the way her relatives treated her - but her usual tactic of going on the offensive, getting as descriptive and viciously venomous as possible to make the questions stop, doesn't seem to be an option this time.

Evelynn barely even notices when Tom sits down directly behind her on his bed - she knew he was curious about what had happened in Twilfitt and Tattings, but he hadn't tried to get it out of her even once for the whole trip.

Orion kept sending her glances, Dorea and Walburga were practically radiating pity, and Melania had the strangest reaction of losing any and all composure for a moment, her wand actually sparking in her hand and spitting out a nasty-looking Curse, before demanding to know just who carved her back up and stitched it together so badly. Nobody ever did that, nobody that could make any kind of difference anyway.

Not Sirius, who she almost hopped onto Buckbeak behind and left the country with.

Not Remus, who threatened her uncle along with Moody at the end of fifth year.

Not Moody himself, who had to have at least suspected something was up if he was willing to threaten her uncle like that.

Pomfrey had to have known the condition she was in, what with how many times she'd been in the Hospital Wing - and yet, she didn't get so much as a single Potion to reverse any damage she'd taken.

She got Potions practically poured down her throat from the first time she'd woken up in this time, so what had changed? Why did she care now when she didn't care then?

Tom's arm slides around her waist, startling her out of her thoughts, and asks "What's on your mind?" There's no use demanding answers from Evelynn - if she doesn't want to say, she just won't say.

Evelynn sighs, and says "Melania Black. She saw my back, and…"

"And?" Tom's seen her back to, was horrified by it and had the urge to go tear the Dursleys to shreds. So he can't imagine what Melania Black's reaction was.

"She…she was furious. Demanded to know who had done it, where she could find them."

Tom hums, rubbing his thumbs in circles into Evelynn's tense shoulders to keep her going. "And?"

Evelynn shakes her head, the confusion and hurt - why does it hurt, Melania wanted to rip the Dursleys to shreds, she didn't call her a liar or say she must've been mistaken, she believed her - suddenly spilling out into her voice as she says "And…nobody else, nobody who could've made a difference…they never cared. I tried telling Lupin a bit about what they were like back in Third Year, he threatened them at the end of fifth year with Moody. Fred, George and Ronald Weasley knew, but Ron was in on the whole thing. Molly was told they put bars on my window, and just said she'd do the same to theirs. And for all the times I was in the Hospital Wing, I was never all but drowned in Potions like I was when I first arrived."

Tom pulls her a bit closer, and asks "And?"

Evelynn's voice cracks just a bit as she asks "What changed? For all I do know…I don't know why people suddenly care now when they didn't back then when I was a famous child-celebrity." She also doesn't know why it hurts, or why she was so embarrassed about her back when it was Melania - she didn't get embarrassed when Tom saw her back, after all. Maybe it's because they're so effortlessly perfect and nobody would dare Curse them in the back. Maybe it's because they know the social song and dance - she never had an inkling of until it was too late to join and then disregarded as a stolen opportunity - by heart. 

Or, maybe it's because they're family that wants her, no matter that they don't actually know of her relation to them. She never had any family that wanted her, really wanted her. None that was willing to defend her, fight for her, protect her when the world seemed hell-bent on killing her.

Well, Tom can see her point there. She was famous all through-out Magical Britain, potentially the entire world, one would think she'd have been checked after living in the Muggle World instantly. And, after each of her death-defying adventures - fighting the insane wraith that was possessing Quirrell and ending up in the Hospital Wing for days, getting bit by the Basilisk, and after each task in the Tri-Wizard Tournament to name only a few.

Tom hums, then slowly says "Perhaps…they didn't really see you as a person. More as some abstract concept, some invincible figure that would always be around to save their skins." It's not a thought he wants to entertain, personally, but it's a theory nonetheless - and, with Dumbledore in the peak of his power, it's a strong possibility he cultivated that very mentality. A cold certainty washes through him mere moments later, and he suddenly finds Evelynn turned around and wrapping her arms around his neck. She doesn't cry, doesn't burst into tears or sob loud enough to wake the entire town, just buries her face in the crook of his neck and tries to ride out the pain of that particular realization.

Tom puts one hand on her shoulders and runs his other one through her silky hair, not saying anything one way or another - she damn well died for them, and they couldn't even see her as an actual person. She was always ever the 'Girl-Who-Lived' to Magical Britain as a whole, not little Eve Potter. Their Savior, not a scared, lost little orphaned girl who only wanted to be accepted and taken from the people that hated her.

After a long few minutes, Evelynn looks up and says "It shouldn't hurt this much…" Yet it does, it really does - it's like she's just been stabbed in the chest, and the knife keeps twisting the more her mind keeps bringing up various instances of how the people she died for never really wanted her. They just wanted the idea she unwillingly represented. They wanted a scapegoat, a shield, someone they could point to when things went wrong and hide behind when things were getting serious. They never wanted Eve herself, or the emotional, mental, and even physical baggage and trauma she carried around with her all the time.

Tom kisses her temple gently, but it seems even the magic affecting the two of them knows now is not the time for the usual mind-melting effects because it doesn't do much more than make her body start tingling. At least it sends a wave of calmness through her, making the ache in her chest die down.

Evelynn mutters "You'd think I would've figured that out by now, given how many times they turned on me just because they didn't like something that happened." Of course, all those times happened when she was still drugged to the gills - literally, while she was down under the Lake - on all those Potions.

When they pull apart, Tom hums and says "Even the Bond seems depressed…" To his confusion, Evelynn starts and freezes, looking at him in complete and total shock.

After a minute spent wondering just what he said to get such a reaction out of her, she asks "What did you just say?"

Tom blinks at her in confusion, and says "The connection between us seems depressed to?"

"No, you said bond…Tom, I think our Souls are Bonding."

Chapter Text

Tom stares at Evelynn in shock, that long-forgotten conversation back at Wool's over a year ago coming back to him - there was no possible way for him to make it happen, no way to convince Evelynn to bond souls with him, so he never thought of it again. And, truth be told, it's usually pretty easy to forget that Evelynn is immortal and can bond souls with someone - it doesn't exactly come up in conversations, after all, and it's ridiculously easy to see Evelynn as…well, not normal, but far from an all-powerful Time-traveler whenever Dorea teases her or she blushes at a compliment from him.

So the bombshell that they're possibly bonding souls is…he almost denies it right then and there, insists that there's some other explanation for whatever she's thinking of.

But then some part of his mind points out the things that only happen with them - the freezing-cold electricity at physical contact, the overwhelming kisses, the…everything. Dammit, his dead mother appeared to him in the Gaunt Shack, that's a pretty big giveaway that he's somehow connected to the dead. To Death.

After a long minute spent berating himself for completely missing the signs - it's so obvious in hindsight! - he swallows and says "Alright…what now?"

Evelynn shrugs, a helpless look on her face as she says "I don't know! Death only told me that I was capable of it, not what to do! He didn't even say just how it would start, I had no idea it was happening at all." After a minute, Evelynn ruefully says "That was probably for the best, honestly. If I'd been told all the specifics at first, or if it had been my choice…" Evelynn doesn't need to say the rest, she had massive trust issues when she first arrived and is still working on them. She about had a panic attack, at first, at the thought of the Slytherins knowing about Hedwig - and that was with knowing they wouldn't just run straight to Dumbledore and spill everything. Knowing they were on her side.

Some habits die hard though, especially when they've been so ingrained in a person after so many times of being stabbed in the back by people that were supposed to be on her side. Tom can't blame her for it, and he certainly isn't going to judge her caution.

If she'd been the one to choose who to bond souls with, if she had to pick someone, it would've never happened at all - she never would've opened up to anyone, never would've set the ball rolling.

And then there's a quiet chuckle from a corner of the room, one Tom's grown familiar with since starting his third year of Hogwarts. "I must say, Mistress, it's about time. We were starting to wonder if you would ever realize what was happening." Both of them jump a mile in the air, and whirl around to see an extra-dark corner of the room.

Tom gets a sense of déjà vu, despite this never having happened to him before, when Death steps out from that mass of shadows - just like in Evelynn's memories, the shadows seem to coalesce before melting away to reveal the deity. In total, the entity looks extremely human - but still, there are tells. His face is white as bone, contrasting even more with the cropped dark hair and all-black business suit and blood-red tie. And his eyes are Avada-green, like two Killing Curses in his head...and his actual eyes, and the rest of his flesh for that matter seem to vanish in the shadows, leaving two Killing Curses in empty sockets in a skull for a moment.

Even if Tom didn't know this was Death, he'd know the being in front of him wasn't human.

After a minute, Evelynn asks "What happens now, Thanatos? I'm not going to hit Tom with an AK, if that's what your expecting." Not only wouldn't she put him through that...she just couldn't. She couldn't do that to him, force his greatest fear into reality - and tp have it be by her hand would make it all the worse, she's sure.

Death shakes his head, a chuckle escaping his lips, and says "No, Mistress, that was just how you ended up accepting the Hallows' powers. This time will be somewhat different." Certainly less traumatizing for her, and Tom as well. Neither will have to die, for one.

He holds out a hand, a ball of magic as black as the shadows he can move in and as cold as Limbo coalescing above his palm, and says "This will start the physical and magical process. I'd recommend sharing a room until after the Days of the Dead, though."

And then Death sticks the ball of magic in Tom's chest - rather, presses it into his chest, the ice-cold magic working its way to rest between his lungs where he's fairly certain he saw Evelynn get hit with that Killing Curse. It feels like a Glacius just got lodged between his lungs, every breath suddenly going cold in his lungs - and it hurts, a slowly-growing agony as that ice creeps its way across his lungs and towards his heart. He can't breathe, the air in his body is turning to ice, and-

"Tom!"

And suddenly warmth is spreading through his body from where Evelynn's hand is pressed to his chest, letting him breathe once more and making that permafrost-cold fade into a mild chill. And he sees Evelynn's face hovering over his, looking more terrified than he can ever remember her looking after coming back to his time. And he swears he hears a small, Evelynn-sounding voice whispering in his head 'be alright, please be alright, you have to be alright...'

"Ok," Tom gasps, holding Evelynn's hand in place even as she guides him to sit on his bed after helping him to his feet from where he'd collapsed to the floor, "now I get why he said we should share a room."

Death nonchalantly says "Your tolerance to the magic as it affects you will grow, but I'd recommend staying close to my Mistress as it does. By the time you get back to Hogwarts, you should be able to go for about one class without issue. Physical contact helps keep the magic…I suppose you might call it 'stable', and the longer you stay like that the longer you can go before that particular reaction starts up again."

"Stable?!" Evelynn glances back at Death sharply, asking "Your saying he's going to…what, explode or something if we don't-"

Death shakes his head, saying "Not quite. His body and magic were attempting to reject the foreign magic, much like when someone throws off a Compulsion or even the Imperious. You noticed how you got paler after you first died, yes? Your magic got colder? And it all came to a head that next Halloween?"

Truth be told, Evelynn doesn't really remember much about that first Halloween - she was in a magic daze, only functioning through sheer force of will and the panic that made its way through the fog in her head about the fog in her head. Using her magic on instinct when Death appeared, though, that cleared some of it out - enough for her to clearly remember the conversation that happened, anyway.

"Well, something similar will happen to young Tom over here. Rendering him also immortal, and almost completing the soul bond."

Tom swallows, hand tightening over Evelynn's on his chest - if he's understanding this right, he basically just got a magical transplant and Evelynn's the only thing keeping him from immediately rejecting it, and he never wants to feel that again as it was absolute agony. After a minute, he asks "What's the final step? In completing the bond?" He'd really like a warning, or at least some kind of clue, before it's sprung on them for the next step. If only to brace himself for any potential - probable - pain.

Death smirks, and says "I'll give you a hint. It involves a bed. The bond has almost certainly been pushing you two in that direction for a while now anyway." Evelynn promptly squeaks, face turning bright red as she quickly gets the implication.

After Death leaves, checking one last time to make sure the ball of magic he put in Tom's chest settled properly - it is, much to both Tom and Evelynn's utter relief - the two of them are completely silent for a long few minutes as they process everything. After a while, Evelynn finally says "Well, I guess…wish granted? You wanted to become immortal after all…"

Tom cracks up at that, burying his face in her neck to muffle his semi-hysterical laughter - because what do you say when you've just been told you're going to be immortal come Halloween?! Rather, when he reaches twenty-one, along with Evelynn, after his body is magically altered so that it simply never ages after that day. And in moments, Evelynn's right there with him, turning her face into his curly hair as she shakes with laughter.

Once they wind down, they find themselves curled up on Tom's bed together - they've still got a few hours before the Riddles get back, so there's no danger of them bursting in and taking anything the wrong way - with Evelynn running her hand through Tom's thick curls. She hums, and quietly says "I never thought I'd have this…"

Tom glances up, tilting his head slightly so she'll run her fingers through a different patch of his hair as he does, and asks "This?" He can take a dozen different guesses, given how much she didn't have last life, after all.

Evelynn hums, and says "This. Someone to spend the rest of my life with. Falling in love, all of it. At first, it was Petunia telling me I didn't deserve it, then it was me worrying about the yearly adventure…" And then she was on the run, branded as 'dark and evil, the next dark lady' and any potential for a love life - or even a social life - withered away in an instant.

Tom reaches up and pulls Evelynn down by the back of her neck to take her lips in his, relishing in the way she simply melts into the kiss. After a long minute, they break apart to satisfy the need for air - Tom just stares at Evelynn for a moment, wondering just how his life took such a drastic turn from where he was headed. He'd thought he could do everything alone, that he could carve a place for himself out by himself and didn't need anyone else to do so - thought he neither needed nor wanted anyone else in his life.

What a fool he'd been, looking back on it. The instant Evelynn quite literally fell into his life, he figures, he was knocked squarely off that path - he was far too interested in her to not want her at his side eventually, he can see now. Ending up at Wools with him just sped things up immensely.

And that thought makes a familiar feeling of horror fill him up, the indirect reminder of Dumbledore and his intentions. "Evelynn," Tom says, former mood long-gone as he sits up, "there's something you need to know."

An hour and one head-throbbing explanation later, Evelynn's pacing the room looking a mix of frantic and furious. To be fair, the knowledge that Dumbledore will wipe out magic altogether - ow, his head is about to explode - explains quite a lot. Evelynn sees Tom wince, his head positively throbbing, and says "Let's switch to a different topic. Death warned me not to think too much on things to do with him at first, until my body was fully-adjusted. He said it could literally liquefy my brain if I thought too much on it. Given the headache I had, I believed him."

Tom nods, that explanation sounds perfectly plausible right now. He had a headache back when he first learned Evelynn's immortal, but he put it down to the massive info-dump he'd brought on himself - the idea that his brain is in danger of liquefying under the weight of divine information it was never meant to hold, though, sounds perfectly reasonable.

"Halloween," he grinds out. "We'll talk about this more after Halloween."

Evelynn nods at once, saying "There's nothing we can do right this minute anyway. We'll be just starting our fourth year at Hogwarts, nobody's going to take us seriously. So, we plan, we wait, we act when we can."

Tom nods, letting out a sigh of relief as her fingers thread through his hair and then start rubbing his temples. "Oh," he breathes out, "your fingers are magic. No spell needed…" No, just the feeling of her own magic - likely to do with the Soul Bond - has his headache disappearing at once. Or maybe it's because his thoughts have been very thoroughly turned away from the previous topic.

Chapter Text

Theodorus actually gapes in utter shock at the sight he finds when he opens up a Compartment to try and find Tom and Evelynn, because he's pretty sure the world's probably gone completely insane. Because Evelynn's asleep on Tom's shoulder, his arm around her waist as the other hand holds a book up to read.

Theodorus feels like slapping himself across the face to check if he's dreaming or not - especially with the prominent bite mark on Evelynn's neck that simply cannot be missed, which he sees as soon as he sits down across from Tom with a polite greeting. And, knowing Tom, that's as much a declaration to all of Hogwarts as anything else - he's possessive of everything that's his, and Evelynn is apparently sitting at the very top of that list.

The two of them were hiding their relationship from everyone in the school, probably to keep Dumbledore from getting wind of it. Now, though? That's apparently done and over with, because there's not an ounce of subtlety to this. Either Tom got tired of hiding his claim on Evelynn, or something drastic happened to let them reveal themselves.

Either way, the end result is inevitable - the entire school is going to be heartbroken, two of the best-looking students are officially taken with each other.

After a moment, Theo quietly asks "How was the rest of your summer, Tom?" He can take a few guesses, especially with Evelynn's sudden appearance.

Tom glances up, and says "It went well. We determined a good range for our project, and are considering options for the Shack." They figured it'd be a storage space of sorts, as well as the site for the Wardstone itself - he and Evelynn can fix it up with a lot of Transfiguration, turn it into either a storage space for something important that they don't want the children getting into or a living space for those that want to work in the area but don't have anywhere to go on the second floor, and they can install a basement with the Wardstone for the entire place in there and make it so only a Parselmouth can access it. That's if they can get the place livable, though - the entire first floor is drenched in curse residue and littered with spell damage thanks to Marvolo's volatile temper and sadistic, curse-happy temperament, with Morfin undoubtedly having had a hand in it as well. Simply tearing the place down and starting from scratch is looking like a good option, but they have time to figure out what they want to do with it later in the future.

At the moment, it's currently their spot to go and use magic without being detected. The Shack was, according to the Goblins at Gringotts, registered as a magical household - no magic done there will draw any attention whatsoever.

Oh, the joys and options of magic, multiple options is far better a situation to both of them than no options at all.

Theo nods, then asks "Any plans for him?" There's no need to question who 'he' is - Dumbledore, the man that will do his best to get in their way at every turn. It didn't take a week to figure out that Tom was called away from Potions class to be questioned by some Aurors, and once that was determined it was obvious who called them in. Dumbledore, the man who never gives any Slytherins a chance…much less the Slytherin he seems to actually hate, despite having no real reason to do so.

Tom nods his head, and says "Things changed, Theo. We had to be careful not to do anything that would send him into a panic, make him do something we couldn't reverse so easily." Tom's honestly enjoying the look of utter amazement on his friend's face, but the other boy can't sense the Privacy Ward he put up Wandlessly as soon as the first question came - Theodorus already knows about their plans for the Magical Orphanage, along with the rest of his group, and all of Slytherin House knows the two of them are planning something, after all.

The rest of Tom's group trickles in, and once everyone's seated Orion gives a semi-demented Black grin and asks "What changed, and how much chaos will it cause?" This, this is pure gold right here. Dumbledore's gonna have heart failure as soon as he sees them! Where's my camera, I need a picture of that!

Now Tom knows where Evelynn gets her mischievous streak from - James Potter clearly got it from the Black side of the family, and Evelynn got hers from him. Tom smirks, pride shooting through him even now at the knowledge of just what changed, and says "Let's just say I used to be the Heir of Slytherin."

It takes all of half a second for Antonin to catch on, the others not far behind, and he says "Merlin's Beard, you're not serious."

Tom smirks, holding up his right hand and revealing the Slytherin Lordship ring - silver, shaped like a snake with two emeralds for eyes - and relishes in the looks on everyone's faces now that he's been confirmed to be Slytherin's Heir in not just blood but magic as well. And now, the Lord Slytherin. His standing just went through the roof, even if that's not why he's revealing his status, and now he's quite literally untouchable in Slytherin House.

He'd love to see the looks on the Fifth Years that tried to Curse him back when he was a Firstie, see their expressions turn to absolute horror upon realizing they tried to Curse Lord Slytherin. And then Evelynn stirs slightly, murmuring and shifting in her sleep, and all those thoughts go straight out the window.

Are you waking up, Evelynn?

Evelynn slowly sits up, yawning and rubbing the sleep from her eyes - ridiculously adorable, in Tom's opinion, but she's been sleeping a lot ever since Hades paid them a visit and the Soul Bond has accelerated upon being recognized since it's her soul that's currently doing all the work in bonding them together - and hisses out "Are we at the castle yet?" Merlin, she's eternally tired lately.

Tom shakes his head, hissing back "No, not yet. The trolly lady should be coming soon, though." The thought of something with some sugar in it seems to perk Evelynn up a little, or maybe it's the detail that he managed to talk in her head before - it's not easy, and just like Evelynn said there was no book provided for them to read. Ergo, Evelynn's been teaching him what she taught herself, and they're figuring the rest out as they go along - well, Evelynn's been teaching him the theory of it all. He can't actually put any of it into practice, though, until November.

Then, Evelynn won't be putting her magic into keeping the ball of Death Magic in his chest stable and can show him - which would, in all likelihood, probably go a long way in keeping Evelynn awake.

Antonin's jaw drops, along with almost everyone else in the compartment, and he nervously asks "How long has this been going on?" He put fifty Galleons into his bet, and he suddenly has the distinct feeling he's going to lose it.

Evelynn smirks, borderline smiles, and says "Longer than you know." She has a hunch Tom fully plans to rule Slytherin this year, if only because nobody else would be suicidal enough to challenge the two of them together. Tom is ruthless all on his own, and she's had enough of being under attack for one thing or another - ergo, anyone attacking either of them separately would get flattened. Attacking them together would get someone obliterated. And then she yawns yet again, and has to rub tears out of her eyes.

Alecto asks "You alright, Peverell?" Even when she first arrived, she wasn't this tired. After she woke up and started classes, anyway.

Evelynn gives the female Carrow twin a tired nod, saying "Yeah. Puberty's an exhausting beast is all." And it's true, even with the drain on her magic she happily has - she was never this moody, tired, or hungry this time last life. She also didn't start bleeding one week a month like literally every other girl in the entire school until after she'd beaten Voldemort - apparently, all the stress had delayed her even after she got off the potion she'd been brewing in secret. Before that, she's pretty sure she wasn't even healthy enough to start. And, after she ended up on the run, she didn't get more than...two, she thinks. Over a decade ago

At least Nagini was there to help her out this time around, calming her down and telling her what she'd need to do - Poppy never exactly brought everyone into the Hospital Wing for some kind of puberty-talk, apparently expecting that the parents/guardians would do as much, and Petunia probably dreamed about her niece freaking out thinking she was suddenly dying. And she's no expert on it, having just powered through the ones she got and vanished the blood every night and morning. She's pretty sure it wasn't the agony she experienced, to - another stark reminder of how she couldn't feel anything by that point. 

About ten minutes later, everyone's either eating something from the trolley or discussing their holiday. Theodorus and Orion are comparing the trips they went on, and then Orion says "Dorea and Walburga won't stop about the new Dress Robes for the Ball." Or the one his Aunt ordered for Evelynn, for that matter.

Amycus angles his head towards Alecto, an expression of sympathy on his face for a brief moment, and his twin says "I'm rather looking forward to the Yule Ball, as it happens."

Amycus casually says "That's assuming anyone's brave enough, or fool enough, to ask you to it, sister." Alecto sends him a scowl, and a Stinging Hex to the shin, in response. Proving his point in the process.

Orion shakes his head, then says "Well, I'm taking Walburga, obviously. Anyone else got a date or got their eye on anyone?"

As it turns out, Theodorus is looking at one of the Ravenclaw Purebloods, his partner in Arithmancy - she's beautiful, even if she doesn't care much for things like makeup and gossip, and she's wicked smart with a sharp with and sarcastic sense of humor. He'd also be tearing his hair out over Arithmancy if she didn't agree to go over notes with him after class to fill in any gaps he has or explaining something he didn't get when professor Babbling lives up to her name.

Dolohov is planning on taking Alecto simply because he and Amycus are good friends and Amycus knows Antonin won't try anything that'll set his sister off, while Amycus himself is going stag simply because there's nobody he's interested in.

And nobody has any illusions about Tom and who he is or isn't going with.

Evelynn, meanwhile, is staring at them all with a growing expression of absolute horror on her face as they keep talking - she's rapidly coming to a horrifying conclusion, no matter how much none of them will see it that way. The Yule Ball, for all that it's held in a school, is every bit as much a political, Pureblood scene as the fancy parties and official Balls they host in the Ministry or their own Manors…and she doesn't even need to look at Tom's face to know he's fully planning on going.

Tom was born for the Political scene, he's practically planning out the political coup he'll undoubtedly pull after getting onto the Wizengamot with the Slytherin Seat, but the biggest downside Evelynn can see to it all is the parties themselves. She'll undoubtedly be expected to attend, as Lady Peverell if nothing else, and she can't think of many worse ways to spend an evening than putting on a fake smile, ridiculous dress robes and heels, and making nice with stuck-up Purebloods until they get bored enough to leave. There are a few, yes - mostly centering around being stuck at the Dursleys again or being at Dumbledore's mercy with no way out - but not many.

She holds a special distaste for people who are only in it for the power - after her first life, where Wizarding Society was so ready to turn on her at the drop of a hat, she doesn't think much of Magical Britain's populace. And that group came from this one, the generation directly before them, so it had had to have come from somewhere.

And Tom is going have her make nice with the parents and grandparents of all those idiots - he'll convince her, she's sure of it, but he's going to have to work for that.

And she'll work on getting him to leave early as much as possible.

They all take their seats in the Great Hall, Tom's arm resting casually around Evelynn's waist - the two of them decided that, since neither of them can be controlled by anything short of an Imperious thanks to the Lordship Rings, especially the Slytherin and Peverell Rings, there was no real point in hiding their relationship now that Dumbledore can't claim anything and conceivably get away with it.

He's already known, thanks to his screw-up with the Aurors, to be biased against Tom, so nobody will particularly care if he starts going on about Tom controlling her. And that's to say nothing of what she'll do if he goes on about Tom controlling her.

Sure enough, once the Sorting is complete, Dumbledore sits down and his eyes immediately seek out the two teens. Evelynn leans into Tom's side, internally cackling like Bellatrix Lestrange herself when she momentarily sees the look on Dumbledore's face, and murmurs into Tom's ear "I'm so glad we set up that recording spell, this is beautiful."

Dumbledore looks like he's about to have a heart attack, after all. Or possibly an aneurism.

Tom hides his smirk by turning his head towards Evelynn's, and asks "Want to put on a show for him?"

Evelynn grins, and says "I thought that's exactly what we're doing." She'd be delighted to give Dumbledore something to really choke on.

Orion and Theodorus, meanwhile, are about to either choke or wet their pants from sheer amusement at the sight of Dumbledore's increasingly horror-struck expression as Tom pulls Evelynn closer to him. As it is, it takes every single second of Pureblood training, and every ounce of decorum the entire table has not to burst out laughing at the increasingly constipated look on his face.

Chapter Text

Tom and Evelynn collapse onto the bed they're currently sharing in Tom's room, both completely incapable of holding in their laughter a moment longer - they watched what the recording spell captured, and Dumbledore looked like he would have an aneurism throughout the entire meal as Tom and Evelynn practically shouted it out to the entire Great Hall that they're together through their actions.

A hand on Evelynn's waist, a word or two murmured into Tom's ear, the two of them sitting so close together that Evelynn was close to being in Tom's lap altogether…little things, but they add up fast. The bite mark displayed prominently on Evelynn's collar, though - only hidden by the fact that her robe never shifted enough to reveal it, sadly - would've been pure gold.

It's just a shame they're not ones for snogging in the Great Hall, because they're very sure that would actually give Dumbledore heart failure.

Evelynn ends up curled into Tom's side as her laughter finally dies down, and gives a contented hum as his arm settles over her shoulders and back. She starts tracing circles over the spot on his chest she can feel the ball of magic under, eyes blinking slower and slower as she does, until eventually Tom finds Evelynn snoring softly beside him. That arm comes to wrap around him, as Evelynn's absolutely a cuddler in her sleep and Tom finds it ridiculously adorable, and within a minute Tom can feel his own eyes getting heavy. He spares a moment to Banish their robes and Transfigure the clothes underneath into pajamas, then puts his own arm around Evelynn's shoulders and lets sleep claim him.

Knowing that their souls are bonding, it explains just about every question they had - the sensation whenever they touch, the positively mind-melting kisses, why neither of them could sleep while they were so far apart, all of it. The very next morning, Evelynn shadows to her room for all of five minutes to gather up some stuff while Tom takes a shower - third years and up get their own private rooms and showers in Slytherin, something that she adores even still; had she known she'd be sleeping in privacy in Slytherin, it might've been enough to change her mind first life. She never had a space that was hers, hence the trunk she made so quickly. And yet, here she is sharing a space with him all the time.

The entirety of Slytherin table is in silent stitches over Dumbledore's continued reaction to Tom and Evelynn even half a day later - and, what makes it all the better is that they've yet to do anything against any rule. Or particularly obvious, for that matter - even though, by their usual standards, they're practically screaming it with a Sonorus for good measure. A passed plate, or a whispered word, a brush of their hands...barely anything, really, and the man looks like he's going to have heart failure.

And then they get their schedules, and Evelynn leans her head on Tom's shoulder to get a better look at his, to see how well their timetables line up, and they see him spill coffee all over himself in shock. He leaps up at once, giving the entire Hall a fantastic view of how he looks like he just had diarrhea from the mouth, and frantically applies Cooling charms to himself to deal with the scalding hot coffee that just landed in his lap.

Evelynn buries her face in Tom's shoulder - luckily, he's between her and the Head Table, so it's perfectly possible - and quickly casts a Wandless, Wordless Silencing Charm so nobody can hear or see her giggling uncontrollably. Tom, meanwhile, is amused beyond any possible description - both from his own amusement and Evelynn's at the other end of the Soul Bond.

But, dear Merlin, if he's slipping up this badly over her looking at his timetable - they were hoping to find some times they could meet up, to keep the ball of magic in his chest from destabilizing, even if it meant using the Time Turner to do so - then he can't wait for after Halloween. They both agreed it was best to wait until November - preferably the 4th and onward - and Tom's nice and safe in his own impending immortality to try anything against Dumbledore, just in case. He'll have the safety net of being able to spend a few minutes in Limbo before coming back, or he and Evelynn could just travel back in time a bit and try something else. And then the bell rings, signaling the start of class, and they make themselves disappear amongst the crowd before Dumbledore can try anything.

Classes are nothing special, bar Dumbledore's expression when he walks into Transfiguration and sees Tom and Evelynn sitting together anyway - and the sheer undisguised horror when he's informed of Tom's name change was simply priceless, he didn't recover for a full minute as the class devolved into utter chaos and had an unadulterated look of horror on his face that couldn't be explained away by surprise or confusion in the slightest - and soon enough they're free to do what they want.

Evelynn hums from her spot on Tom's bed, and says "Today was certainly interesting."

Tom grins, even as he pulls Evelynn to him, and says "Yes, we learned Dumbledore's potentially going to have heart failure before October. How very interesting."

Evelynn looks over, and says "He's getting desperate, Tom. Making mistakes that can't help but draw attention." She fully turns to face him, and adds "Everyone saw his reaction to your new name, he'll either have some amazing explanation or he'll go off the rails if anyone questions it." And, for all she's seen him do, Evelynn's sure she's never seen Albus Dumbledore go off the rails, lose the plot, and make a scene before.

To be honest, the possibility scares her a bit - he was bad enough when he was in control, what will he be willing to do when he's desperate and maybe losing everything? She doesn't know, Thanatos won't tell her unless it becomes relevant so as not to influence her choices, so they're currently flying blind.

She appreciates the sentiment of letting her make her own choices, they both do, but she hates the uncertainty where Dumbledore is concerned. Mainly because that damn old man will stop at nothing to get what he wants - what he wants apparently being Tom's self-destruction and complete control over her so he can force her to give him the Hallows.

Tom nods, then pulls her so she's sitting on his legs and says "I won't let him near you, near either of us." He'll go back in time if that's what he has to do, as many times as it takes to do it right and lock Dumbledore away for good. Evelynn melts into his arms, seeming to bask in his greedy possessiveness - she's always known about it ever since interacting with his Diary Horcrux, how what's his is solely his and isn't to be shared. And the fact that she falls dead-center into that category warms her like nothing else.

After a long minute spent like that, Evelynn murmurs "We should get some rest. No telling what he'll try tomorrow." The last thing Tom does before letting sleep claim him is turn so he's curling around Evelynn, burying his nose in her dark hair.

Albus paces his quarters restlessly, mind whirling as he tries to think - Tom was definitely involved in his relatives' deaths, and today he found out the reason behind it.

The Lordship. The Slytherin Lordship, to boot - not even Gaunt, which could be worked with. The Gaunts are known to be Knutless, insane, and the lowest Purebloods imaginable, barely considered better than Muggleborns and only because they're Purebloods. Their Lordship is in name only, and everyone knows it. But, no, Tom didn't get the Gaunt Lordship...he went and found the Slytherin name and Lordship.

He'd honestly thought the Slytherin lordship was a myth, when he first started researching the Hallows and the Peverell Lines - it's only a vague reference to a Lord Slytherin approving the marriage between his second daughter and that of the Gaunt Heir that changed his mind - but he'd been under the impression that the Lordship was gone, lost to time and the decline of a Dark House the Wizarding World would be better off without. There hasn't been a Lord Slytherin in centuries - that ancient reference to the marriage between Slytherin and Gaunt was the last record with such a name listed - and he'd figured the Gaunt Family had squandered it away like everything else.

And now, Tom Marvolo Riddle has popped up with a name change - he'd thought it was Gaunt, called him as much, but he just shook his head and smiled while saying a sentence that derails any and all attempts at keeping him even slightly controllable. 'I took my true name, Professor. Tom Marvolo Slytherin.'

He was so busy staring at that little brat - that devil in disguise, to use a Muggle phrase - that he barely noticed the entire room going into a frenzy gossiping about the jaw-dropping revelation.

If Riddle went and got his Lordship over the summer, Peverell isn't far behind.

The only thing he can do is try to hurry along the Custody paperwork in the Ministry - he got it filed soon after heading to Wool's and realizing Tom wasn't there. Unfortunately, it takes months for these things to go through - and there's no way to hurry them through, he checked and it made the people suspicious. He had to quickly make up a few lines about how he's concerned for Evelynn's safety, and worried about who or what might be influencing her - it didn't make things go any faster, but at least it got the officials at the Ministry to stop doubting him.

HIM!

Death and Lady Magic watch from their realm as Dumbledore tries to come up with a plan of some sort, and Lady Magic sighs. "I do so wish the Dumbledore line hadn't been so instrumental for so long. To think the House has fallen so far." They've been staunch leaders of Wizardkind for centuries, inventing new spells and such for generations...until Albus Dumbledore was born. More specifically, until Arianna Dumbledore was attacked and Percival Dumbledore was locked away.

The lives of the Dumbledore family irrevocably changed after that, without Percival to keep Kendra in check - Aberforth may have inherited his temper, but he also inherited his moral code. Albus, though, took after Kendra in all but looks.

Death shrugs, and says "You couldn't have known when you first gave the line the gift of a Phoenix in their time of need." Their actions change the future, after all, and they don't consult Fate for every single one of them. Dumbledore's actions, though, gave them a reason to go to the Deity and what she told them was horrifying.

Lady Magic sighs, and says "I so rarely have cause to regret my actions, Death. But Albus Dumbledore is most definitely a cause to do so. And even our Hail Mary, as it were, is no guarantee that he will be stopped. It was just our only hope of doing so."

Death narrows his eyes at Dumbledore's pacing form, then has a brilliant idea. "What do you say we mess with him a little bit? Just a little." To see someone as proud as Lady Magic look so doubtful is wrong on every single level, and for the cause to be some arrogant little mortal of all things, one that bears her gift no less...to say it ticks him off is an understatement.

So, if Peeves gets a visit from two deities, and if they tell him to make Dumbledore miserable until the end of October...well, none of the students get caught in the crossfire. And it provides everyone else with some good laughs. Including Death and Lady Magic.

Chapter Text

Tom wakes up feeling…cold. Like he's a block of ice, one with a bolt of lightning trapped inside it. And…nothing else. Not his body, not his breathing, nothing. Is he breathing? He can't tell, and doesn't particularly care one way or another.

"Tom? You awake yet?"

Tom automatically starts searching for the source of that absolutely beautiful voice, melodic and even - quite literally music to his ears.

"Tom, you need to open your eyes for me. Can you do that?"

Are his eyes closed? He just thought everything was supposed to be this dark. After a moment of nothing, Tom starts to panic…and that's what seems to make a crack in the darkness around him. It's through sheer force of will that Tom manages to widen that crack into two open eyes, but it is absolutely worth the fight because he sees the single most beautiful creature in the entire world right in front of him - Evelynn, he distantly registers. Her skin is positively glowing in the darkness, eyes greener than gems and far more beautiful, and even her disheveled hair looks like the most beautiful thing in the world right now.

Evelynn bites her bottom lip, chewing on it for a moment, and then says "Say something, Tom. How do you feel?" She puts a hand to his cheek, and suddenly the lightning in his body explodes, like she just increased it a hundred-fold.

One minute, Evelynn's trying to get Tom to look at her, maybe respond to the question; the next, she's flat on her back with her arms pinned above her head as he devours her mouth with none of the usual finesse and ten times the usual fervor - it's the detail that her already-clouded mind instantly goes even cloudier, lucidity slipping away like smoke on a breeze, that tells her what's happening.

It's the Hallows, their power - the first time is always the worst, and Tom, for all his usual self-control, hasn't had to literally fight for his life and be afraid that any minute sadistic people will Apparate and kill him at best and kidnap him for torture at worst. He's only had himself to rely on, but he's never needed to so completely - never needed to be alert at all times because a fight for his life might've been literally around the next corner.

Ergo…as prepared as they'd thought he was, the power high that comes with being the 'Master of Death' on the Days of the Dead has hit him like an Accio'd bag of transfigured bricks. Which is to say, hard.

It's when his hand slips under her nightshirt that she comes out of her thoughts - something tells her that completing the Soul Bond now of all times would be a really bad idea. Call it a hunch, or call it they're in the same building as Albus Dumbledore and who knows what'll happen when it completes.

So, fighting her way back to semi-clarity, Evelynn takes Tom by surprise when she flips the two of them over so she's sitting on his abdomen. Tom whines, the hand on her wrists moving to her neck to keep her close, and then moves from attacking her mouth to trailing kisses, bites, and licks down her jaw and to her neck.

"Tom," Evelynn rasps, trying and slowly failing to keep what little clarity she had, "we need to stop."

Tom makes absolutely no indication that he heard her, finding a sensitive spot on her neck and biting down on it. Normally, when he bites at that spot, she yelps and squirms a bit - now, though, it's like he just sent lightning through her from that spot.

When she pulls his hands off her, though, that he notices. He tries to pull them out of her grip, but she's currently got the advantage over him there - he's currently moving on instinct and need, while she's learned how to focus through the all-consuming power-high as the years went by. She'd Immobilize him, but the feeling of connection that ensues just by physical contact is overpowering enough at the moment without supercharging it with magic.

Hoping Parseltongue will get through to him, Evelynn hisses "Tom, you NEED to wake up. Focus, can you do that for me?"

Tom's brow furrows for a moment, and his expression turns to confusion. When he starts to sit up, she shifts backwards so he can do so - she doesn't dare lay a hand on him now, when he seems to have a tiny bit of clarity. "Evelynn? What's happening?"

Breathing out a sigh of relief at Tom's question, she hisses "The Hallows. It's October 31st. Samhain, Halloween…the first Day of the Dead."

It takes Tom a solid minute to work it out, but he blinks when he does. "I'm…immortal now?"

Evelynn nods, and says "The same as me. We'll keep aging until twenty-one, but that's it. Now, c'mon, we need to get you ready for the day." At Tom's blank look, she adds "Classes, Tom. We have to go to class, we can't just hole up in the dorm room for the day." As much as she wants to, what with Tom being in his current state, they can't.

Tom stares at the shower wall, not even feeling the water hitting him - he can't feel anything but that electric coldness. Not his heart beating, not his breathing…nothing but the magic that's currently altering him. How he managed to get to the shower in the first place when Evelynn can't even touch him with the cover wrapped around her hand is a mystery to him.

It certainly explains why Evelynn was off last Halloween, though, she had to do everything through this unending fog. Hold conversations, go to class, have that duel, eat, even breathe - Evelynn's poked him in the chest more than once, a quick jolt to him with a reminder that he needs to breathe - and he hasn't got a clue how she managed it so well.

It takes him a solid minute just to flex his fingers, and that's with complete concentration. A small fission of anger makes its way through the magic fog in him, he will get this, he will!

I wouldn't push yourself too hard, my new Master. Just because you cannot physically feel your body doesn't mean you cannot control it.

Tom can't even jump, not with this fog in him. Some slightly lucid part of his mind begs to differ.

Use some magic, it'll lessen the effects. I'd go with a Lumos, though. Eyes closed. Death figures that's the safest option, a Lumos can't cause any physical damage, after all. And, luckily, Tom does close his eyes, so the ten-minute-long blinding Lumos doesn't render him sightless.

When Tom opens his eyes…he feels better. He can't feel the heat of the water, but at least he can feel it beating down on him. At least he can move his fingers at will, even if he can't feel the tile under his hand.

Still, it's gonna be a long day - it's just a good thing they don't have Transfiguration today. Even better - it's Friday. No classes after today.

Evelynn's staring at the locked wardrobe in vague dread - a Boggart on Samhain, you must be kidding. This is a disaster in the making - even worse because Dumbledore insisted on overseeing this class, since Professor Meadowes is feeling unwell.

He has no fucking right to know this, NONE. The thought makes anger replace the dread in her, he's no right to know his students' darkest fears. Especially not when he'll just use those fears to manipulate them. Merlin, if today were any day other than Samhain, she'd have a few things to say about his bloody nerve.

As it is…she has bigger things to worry about today. Tom's been doing relatively alright in classes, since they get to use magic in them, but Dumbledore's been watching them all day. Has he noticed something's off? She can't wait to be down in the Dorms once more, away from his ever-present gaze.

Just a few more hours to go…

Defense is the last class of the day, and then dinner, and then they can finally head down to the Slytherin Dorms and hole up to wait out the night. The second day is a bit easier, if she remembers her first time right - of course, that could've been because she had to use quite a bit of magic the night before to escape from a team of Hit Wizards that had gotten lucky and stumbled onto her. She killed them all to protect herself, but it took a lot of magic out of her…or it would have, had it been even three days prior.

Dorea nudging her in the side brings her out of her thoughts, and she sees it's just about her turn. And now she knows why Dumbledore's filling in for Meadowes today…to learn her fear specifically - hers and Tom's, more accurately. The barely-disguised gleam in his eyes when she steps up, the greedy look, that all the Gryffindors seem blind to, gives it away.

He doesn't care about the rest of the class' fears, though he'll file them away for when they might be useful to him. All he cares about is their fears specifically, something he can use to control them. Or make them self-destruct, like Tom did the first time around.

She's half-expecting it to be a Dementor that appears, like her Boggart originally was - at least, that's what she focused on, not wanting anyone to know she was utterly terrified of Vernon showing up at Hogwarts - but she knows how to defend against those. And she's always found that, if she could fight it, then she didn't have to be afraid of it. At least, not freezing in place and hoping the source of her fear didn't notice her.

But now? She honestly hasn't got a clue what her Boggart will be.

To most everyone's surprise, and her horror, it turns into…an eight-year-old Eve Potter. Broken glasses, bruised face, a cut on one arm that's pressed to her side and the other hanging at an odd angle, made even more pronounced by the detail that she's standing far too straight for something in her chest to not be broken. And Dudley's ratted old threadbare shirt, two sizes too big for her even back then, does nothing to hide her injuries.

As it turns out, her fear is…becoming that scared, weak, desperate little girl again, who had no hope, no friends, and no way to change her circumstances. Anger quickly burns through that horror, how dare this fear-mongering Boggart?! How dare it go and show everyone what she used to be? How utterly weak and helpless she was? The ratted hand-me-downs, the pain and fear and misery, all of it?

And how dare Dumbledore soak it in so greedily, so eagerly? He looks like the Niffler that just found an abandoned dragon's hoard, dammit!

And then the Boggart lets out a scream, one that puts a Caterwauling Charm to utter shame, and…flees into the cupboard. And, as if to make things worse, it screams at the top of its lungs "I WANT TO LIVE!"

There's a stunned silence for a moment, and Charlus Potter asks "Peverell, did you just…scare a Boggart?" He didn't think that was even possible! And the thing refuses to come out, keeping the door shut when McLaggen tries to yank it open.

He glances towards Dumbledore, his Head of House and favorite teacher…only to shiver when he sees the calculating look on the usually-genial man's face. It quickly disappears once he notices he's being watched, but Charlus knows what he just saw. He doesn't know what it means, though, so he'll file it away for later.

But why Albus Dumbledore was staring at Evelynn Peverell like that is a question that bothers him…for a number of reasons. He knows his family history by heart - knows the secrets that run in their past, at least some of them, something nobody else should - and he knows of Evelynn's story of how she arrived at Hogwarts. For all that they're distant cousins, Evelynn is a Peverell…and so are the Potters. They hide that bit of their heritage to prevent exactly what happened to Evelynn, but they are Peverells.

And, if the family legend every Potter is taught to keep secret is to be believed, they've got the Cloak to prove it. It makes him just a little paranoid where Evelynn, a known Peverell, is concerned. He doesn't know her all that well, but she is his family no matter how distant.

So, Dumbledore staring at Evelynn Peverell so hungrily after her greatest fear was just revealed makes him nervous.

Maybe I just imagined it…yeah, I must've misunderstood his expression…

Tom, meanwhile, narrows his eyes at Charlus Potter - for all his bad eyesight, the boy seemed to catch Dumbledore's look for a moment…and then it just seemed to melt away.

Could Dumbledore be controlling the Potter Heir somehow? His Heir Ring would protect him from almost anything…almost. Who knows what Dumbledore would come up with. If anyone could find a way around the protections on an Heir Ring, it would be him - it couldn't be a spell, which would be reflected and alert the Potter Lord and Lady, and most Controlling Potions would be detected and neutralized.

So what would he use? Something, he decides, to look into another day - a few days from now, probably, when he's not perpetually fighting his way through the unending haze of magic that wants to overtake him once more.

Chapter Text

Evelynn's sitting at the Slytherin table, subtly nudging Tom in the side to remind him he needs to eat, and glancing around warily - so far, nothing catastrophic has happened yet. Not counting the Boggart, anyway - nothing's come of that incident yet, so she's on the lookout for anything else that might happen. Her first four years at Hogwarts taught her that if something's going to go wrong on Halloween, it'll go wrong in the worst way possible.

Year one, troll; year two, Chamber was opened; year three, attempted break-in by a supposed mass-murderer; year four, name came out of the Goblet.

And Tom hasn't frozen anything over like she vaguely remembers doing her first Halloween like this, so he hasn't been outed yet. Ergo…something's going to happen, and soon. There's not that much time left, after all.

If Evelynn could taste the food she's chewing, it would turn to ash in her mouth - she needs to get in the dorm, and soon. Preferably with Tom, but she's the one that's cursed on October 31st. Standing up suddenly, she says "I'm heading to the dorms, see you there." She can't force down another bite of food, her throat just won't cooperate with her.

Ergo, there's no reason for her to sit here and pretend to eat waiting for the annual disaster to happen.

Besides, even in her Hallows-induced haze, she's still bloody furious. Everybody knows, now - they might not understand, but they know. They know she used to be that weak, desperate little girl, so scared and alone that she latched onto the first people that were nice to her - they know she used to be skinny, underfed, looked two years younger than she actually was at least, and got beat up. They know that she's fucking terrified of going back to that, of waking up one day and being back in that damned cupboard. They know, deep down in the darkest parts of her…Evelynn's still that little girl, desperate for acceptance and someone who wants her. No matter how long ago that was, or how much she's done…that will never change, the fact that she was that little girl will never change.

And, for whatever reason, her magic-clouded mind can't help but focus on it today after that damned Boggart brought it to light. If she ever gets her hands on that thrice-damned Boggart, she's going to freeze it through while throttling it with her bare hands.

Everyone else seems to have noticed - or at least has enough self-preservation instinct to not ask about the Boggart, considering her method of putting people off asking after her past was to be as descriptive and viciously sarcastic as possible. Dorea and Walburga get up and come with her, and once they're out of the Great Hall Dorea quietly asks if she's alright - not what the Boggart was, or who it was, thankfully - and Evelynn puts a considerable effort into not snapping at her own Grandmother. She's just concerned, she's not Granger or Weasley, she's genuinely worried about me…

Everyone's eating in the Great Hall, enjoying the Halloween Feast - particularly the First Years, who are stuffing themselves with sweets and sugar like they'll never see any ever again - when suddenly a familiar voice rings out "YOU'VE GOTTA BE BLOODY KIDDING ME!"

Everything's silent for a moment…right up until there's a roaring sound and a very loud smashing sound. Half the Hall is already looking to investigate before Dippet can get his wand out to call them all back to the Great Hall where it's safe, but by then it's far too late. Cursing under his breath, the older man makes his way to the side exit where Evelynn Peverell's shout came from.

What he finds, after making his way through the absolute crowd of children is…four trolls, two already frozen through somehow if the frost on their skin is any indication, and Evelynn currently protecting Dorea and Walburga Black as the other two advance on them.

"Dorea, Walburga, you need to move! Turn those skirts into leggings for now and start running!"

"What about you?! There's two of them!"

"Stupefy! I can handle myself, Dorea! Just-" One of the Trolls manages to pick her up, and Evelynn slams her hands down on the creature and practically shoves the freezing cold energy that is the Void into it as well. And the Void works fast. By the time Dorea fires a Bombarda at the creature's shoulder, it's already frozen through - with icicles sticking up everywhere along its body, Evelynn might've gone a little harder than necessary with that one in her panic.

Unfortunately, the last Troll smashes Evelynn with its club as she scrambles to her feet, sending her crashing into the wall hard enough to leave a small crater. It should hurt, she distantly recognizes, she should be in agony - but she can't feel anything, even as the Professors start attacking the remaining Troll since she and the Black Heiresses are out of the potential spellfire.

Thank you, Samhain.

If it were any other time of year, she'd be worried about spinal damage - right now, she's just worried about making some kind of attack that won't out her but will incapacitate the Troll.

Her gaze meet's Tom's horrified one, and it gives her an idea.

The brilliantly-glowing Swan that bursts from her wand-tip, fueled by her memory of last Christmas where Tom basically declared to all of Slytherin that she was his, makes for a thorough distraction for the Troll. Because it attacks the Troll, forcing it to hold its arms up as the corporeal Patronus actually leaves gashes that start bleeding freely immediately.

Hagrid's the one to finally take the Troll down, though, running up and tackling it from the side, forcibly pinning it to the ground as Professor Kettleburn puts it down with a Bludgeoning Curse to the eyes.

Oh, bloody Merlin…please don't tell me…

Tom's the first to move after that, practically sprinting to Evelynn's side as she pushes herself up. He levitates rubble off her - when did that get there, anyway? - and practically pulls her to her feet as Madam Pomfrey starts casting diagnostic spells.

"I'm fine," she says, more for Tom's benefit than anything else, "really." Not that she would know if she wasn't, she can't feel anything right now thanks to the Hallows - and she hasn't got a clue if that was a side-effect of the Hallows' magic or if it's something Death and Lady Magic did on purpose specifically because of her track record with October 31st.

Pomfrey gives her a stern look, casts a Diagnostic spell, and says "On the contrary, Miss Peverell, you are not fine. Three cracked ribs, a concussion, and you're bleeding from the back of your head."

Evelynn blinks, then puts a hand to the back of her head - to her mild surprise, it comes away red with blood. In her defense, she can't feel a thing right now.

Tom apparently knows exactly what's about to come out of her mouth, because just as she opens her mouth he leans over and murmurs into her ear "I'm calling mine in. Go to the Hospital Wing."

Evelynn's jaw drops in sheer disbelief - of all the things she thought he'd use his free favor…this was not it. She honestly expected it to be something along the lines of digging out the most interesting book or artifact they're still going through, after he didn't use it to get her story out of her. Not on making her spend a night in the Hospital Wing when she can self-heal her injuries in about an hour.

"You're joking."

Tom gives her a raised eyebrow that says 'No, I'm not.'

Evelynn groans, then says "Alright, fine, I'm going…" She's going under heavy protest, but she's going.

Albus, meanwhile, is watching the entire exchange with calculating eyes - Evelynn Peverell doesn't simply follow orders like that. Not when she clearly doesn't wish to do something. Could Tom be controlling her? It certainly explains why she'd be with him - he's controlling her for her power, and potentially her name.

He'll have to alert Poppy, convince her to check the child for any potential controlling spells - he'll need to do it discretely, though. Perhaps during a detention, so as not to tip off Tom.

Tom's pacing his room restlessly, Evelynn's absence somehow worse than when they were miles apart. There's no hole in his chest now, he's just so very aware that she's missing - that the other half of his soul, his better half no less, isn't at his side.

"It's the Hallows."

Tom whirls around, wand drawn at once and a Blasting Hex at the tip of his tongue when he sees Death step out of the shadowy corner.

"The Hallows are connected to both of you, basically the magical side to connecting you two. And it, like everything else to do with them, is in overdrive right now. Unfortunately, Evelynn was given a Sleeping Draught - and couldn't get out of taking it, as Poppy Pomfrey was watching her the whole time. I can take you to her, however. Myself and Lady Magic are watching over her tonight to ensure nothing else happens."

Tom blinks, then asks "You're really invested in her, aren't you?"

Death nods, saying "In both of you, now that the Hallows have accepted your soul as well. The Hallows are our desperate bid to change things from one meddling mortal's plan. Fate was just as horrified as we were upon learning just how things ended. So, she agreed to write nothing about the Hallows true effects. Their true purpose. No prophecies would make mention of them, no stories would be believable, even the Peverell Brothers were not told just what they'd truly been given all that time ago."

Tom swallows nervously, he's seen desperation and what happens because of it - and that was him, a mortal at the time. He utterly destroyed himself in every possible way trying to stay alive forever, and ended up burning down the very place he calls his true home. What would come of the desperation of deities?!

After a moment, he asks "So…we're on our own, in that respect."

Death shrugs, rocking his hand back and forth, and says "Yes and no. No fate written means no certain destruction or failure. Besides, you have the two of us as well. While Fate herself can't come over here without rather severe consequences…I have a bit more leeway now, and Lady Magic manifests herself in the magic she gifted to this realm."

Tom nods, deciding to put Death's leeway down to the Hallows, and takes the hand Death's holding out for him. As soon as their hands meet, darkness swallows the both of them whole - good news, the familiar sensation is no longer utterly revolting. More good news, Tom doesn't feel like throwing up immediately after exiting the shadows. And then he sees Evelynn, with none other than Lady Magic sitting next to her bedside and watching the door.

Tom blinks at the sight, momentarily stopped in his tracks - while she looks…smaller, less than he remembers from his dream, it's unmistakably her. And she's sitting at Evelynn's bed, keeping watch over her. If he weren't still affected by the Hallows, Tom figures he'd be much less calm about that.

Evelynn stirs as soon as he gets close, rolling over and opening her eyes. The next thing either teen knows, Tom's kissing Evelynn like she might disappear if he lets her. When Death pulls him back just a bit - saying that he does, currently, need air to breathe even if it doesn't feel like it - he whispers "Don't…you ever scare me like that again, Evelynn."

"Shh, I'm fine, promise…" Evelynn runs a hand through Tom's hair, not commenting on how she can feel his frame trembling slightly - not as bad as right after the Trolls, at least.

Death crosses his arms, saying "Just because you couldn't feel that you were injured, Mistress, doesn't mean you weren't."

Evelynn deadpans "I can self-heal very well, Than. You made sure of it over a decade ago." And, even before that, she was very good at it for having no real training in it.

Death sighs, saying "Go to sleep now, I'll make sure nothing happens tonight."

Before Evelynn can protest, Lady Magic snaps her fingers then says "I've doubled the power of the Dreamless Sleep she was given, Death. It'll take effect momentarily."

Evelynn's last words before going out once more are a slurred 'that's cheating…'

Chapter Text

Armando Dippet sits at the head of the staff table, a severe expression on his face as he gazes at one Rubeus Hagrid - he's been rather lenient with the boy, given everything. Just last week, a Werewolf Cub was discovered in a cage under his bed after one of his roommates went to the Headmaster complaining and questioning the near-constant noise it was making. Another few days, and it might've broken out of that contraption, escaped into the castle, and hurt someone!

And now, now it comes out that he's been sneaking out to the Forbidden Forest three times a week to wrestle trolls! Trolls eat people, and Hagrid just so happens to smell like a school full of them.

At least he's not inconsolable like with the Werewolf Cub…

Most of the Staff are in varying stages of shock, horror, and anger - Slughorn most of all, considering it was three of his students that were attacked. In fact, Albus seems to be the only adult in the room that isn't in such a state. Armando would usually be grateful for his Deputy's level head, but right now it almost seems as if he doesn't care that three students could've been killed and eaten. Especially to Slughorn, who's practically going rabid about it right now.

Focusing on the present, Dippet asks "Mr. Hagrid, how did those trolls get into the school?"

"I don' know, sir, I swear!" Dippet grimaces at Hagrid's booming voice, already starting to get another headache - the last time they were in here for something similar, even one of Horace's Headache relievers didn't completely get rid of the throbbing.

Albus clears his throat, saying "I'm rather curious about what kind of magic was used to kill them." He's never seen or heard of anything like that…and that's what concerns him the most, he and Gellert shared their considerable knowledge of spells when they were still together. So for a child, younger than they were at the time, to suddenly have some brand new kind of spell…did Gellert teach her that? Or is it just her own damning darkness finally brought to light? But, then, how did she cast the Patronus Charm?

Horace snaps out "Who cares how she killed them, Albus? What's important is that she and the Black Heiresses are alive, the Trolls are dead…and fifty points to Slytherin for each troll, dammit!" He'd give more, considering the detail that they surprised the three girls, but they can wait until he sees her in person.

Albus sputters, unable to come up with a comeback for that particular outburst - and Dippet doesn't refute the points, so they're accepted by the point system. Which, incidentally, puts Slytherin solidly in the lead - not that they weren't already ahead, thanks to the two prodigies that are Evelynn Peverell and Tom Slytherin. Babbling and Vector are singing Evelynn's praises, practically literally, swearing up and down she's a Runes Prodigy, and Meadowes swears just as much that she could well be an Enchanter since her Charmswork is just as good. They haven't got one bad thing to say about her - always polite, quiet, always has her homework ready and seems to be a natural at magic. And, given the detail that she started a year late, it's even more impressive.

And Tom has a similar track record, everyone is practically hailing him as the next Merlin himself - something that puts a sour look on Albus' face every time he hears it, like he just sucked on a particularly overripe lemon. Because that was his title, his thing to be known for.

After a moment, Kettleburn gets inside and says "She froze three of the Trolls through, Armando, though I haven't a clue how. Accidental magic, most definitely...perhaps her magic is naturally inclined towards ice. The fourth…well, I must say I never considered using the Patronus Charm as an attack, yet it appears to have been thoroughly effective." That fourth troll was killed by his Bludgeoning Hex, yes, but her Patronus left quite a few gashes and wounds all along the troll's arms, face, and torso. Quite impressive for a fourteen-year-old, to be able to produce a Corporeal Patronus.

Dumbledore frowns as everyone discusses the incident - how in the world did Peverell cast a Patronus?! And a corporeal one at that! She's Dark, he's sure of it, that spell should've killed her in an instant! At the very least, he's got to find out just what kind of spell it was she used on the other three Trolls…and what a Swan Patronus means, a person's Patronus is always a good insight as to their character.

But first, he's got to get Hagrid out of hot water yet again - and this time is significantly harder, considering someone did get hurt. The boy's a half-giant, that gives him a few advantages most simply do not have - he's naturally spell-resistant, strong as eight students easily even now...and, to be perfectly honest, he's ridiculously easy to manipulate. The boy believes anything he says, is unendingly loyal to the man that brought him to Hogwarts.

Hagrid eventually explains how he heads out to the Forbidden Forest to wrestle the trolls at least twice a week - but they never came near the castle before! - and how he'd come back from such a trip and went to the Feast. And might've mentioned being hungry, and eating the food with everyone at the feast.

Dippet pinches the bridge of his nose, feeling his blood pressure shooting through the roof as the explanation goes on, and makes a valiant effort to control his knee-jerk reaction to expel the boy - it was the same thing he had to do with the Werewolf cub near-incident, he'd wanted to expel the boy for being so ridiculously stupid as to put a Werewolf in range of hundreds of young children. Albus pointed out the detail, however, that he's currently a child, not even in his teen years yet, and they do make mistakes.

Most children mistakenly lose their homework, or turn someone's hair a different color. Not nearly kill a fellow student.

After a long minute spent trying not to blow a blood vessel, Dippet says "This is your last chance, Mr. Hagrid. One more incident like this, one, and you are expelled. Am I understood?"

Hagrid nods at once, absolutely terrified, and Dumbledore asks "Armando, isn't that a bit much? He's a child, after all-"

"That may have applied last time, Albus, but he should've learned from his mistake of bringing a Werewolf cub larger than most normal wolves get into a school full of children! Now a pack of trolls - which eat people, need I remind you - have made their way into the school somehow. If anything else like this happens because of him, I'll have no choice but to expel him! Now, as it is, I've got to go look at the school wards to make sure nothing else can get into this school!" He's suddenly much, much less appreciative of Albus' level head. Because it sounded like he wanted to let Rubeus Hagrid off without so much as a slap on the wrist right then, more concerned with how Evelynn Peverell saved her life and that of her Housemates.

Albus internally curses, he's been…adjusting the Wards of the school, just a little bit. Since his schooldays, when he and Elphias were exploring and found the Wardstone. One of the easiest Wards to modify - and least noticeable, at that - was the Ward that keeps out any and all dangerous creatures. It was regularly tampered with during the Triwizard Tournaments that were held at Hogwarts, which made it exceptionally easy to draw on that ward and use its power to boost his own. Especially since he discretely used the last Triwizard Tournament that was held when he was a second-year to do so completely undetected. A few other Wards followed during the course of that tournament, and soon enough he was hailed as the next coming of Merlin.

If Armando checks the Wards now, something he's borderline-Imperioused the man not to do at this point, he'll find out about that, find out there's no Wards around Gryffindor Tower any longer, find out he's been quietly monitoring Slytherin House for a while now…and find out a lot more. People think he's omniscient, that he knows everything that goes on in the castle - he's not there yet, as he needs to be Headmaster in order to fully gain control of the Wards - and that would be because he's tapped into the Wards. If the Wards detect it, then he knows about it; if the Wards would alert the Headmaster to it, then he's the one that knows instead. And if Armando finds out about all his tampering…well, he doesn't particularly want to have to explain just what he did, why, and when he did it all.

Lady Magic scowls as she looks at the Ward scheme for Hogwarts, and tells herself 'at least it's not as bad as when he's Headmaster.' Death is currently taking a turn at keeping an eye on Evelynn in the Hospital Wing, leaving her free to investigate why the traitor went and Compelled Armando Dippet into not checking the Wards of the school while Death was keeping tabs on him.

And now...they hadn't known he'd completely fucked with the Wards this early - they'd thought he did it when he was Headmaster, not that he'd started so early. Oh, they knew he'd completely destroyed the Wards by the time he died, they would've stopped the Mirror of Erised and the Diary Horcrux from entering, along with a troll and a Cerberus - not to mention how Voldemort, with his damaged, weakened magic, destroyed every protection around the school with ease when it should've been impenetrable - but they were under the impression that it had all started much later than now.

Which is how Lady Magic ended up here, scowling at what was once the most intricate Ward scheme in all of Magical Britain and contemplating whether it would be worth the trouble to tear it all down and make something new. And, incidentally, needing to resist the urge to rip Dumbledore and his influence straight out of the Wards and leave a massive hole in them - and a hole that size would, without a doubt, cause a cascade failure that could very well level the school.

Dammit, when she gave Rowena Ravenclaw the vision of the Ward scheme that was supposed to protect this school for all time, she did not intend for one meddling little traitor to ruin even it. The Wards are still strong, despite his tampering…for now. But as soon as he became Headmaster, Dumbledore started systematically tearing down the Wards and redirecting the power to suit his whims. Or using them to monitor 

At the moment, it's only a few Wards that go relatively unnoticed on a day-to-day basis - as well as all of Gryffindor Tower, which he'd explain away as being the Head of the House so they're tied to him - but Hogwarts went from the safest place in Magical Britain to the single most dangerous one within a decade of him becoming Headmaster. The only reason it didn't happen in even a year is because he had to build up to it, people would notice a sudden weakening in the Wards. Or he could've leveled the place by accident.

Cursing under her breath, Magic goes to find Tom and start training him in how to use the Hallows and their magic - they let Evelynn learn on her own, having plenty of time when she was still in the future for her to figure it all out at her own pace. Tom, however, has no such luxury - time is not on their side for this, not even if they went and sent Tom and Evelynn back to the night she arrived.

Ergo, Tom's getting a rather grueling crash-course in the Hallows, their true abilities, and how to harness the Void. And Shadow Magic, something versatile enough that it could be offensive, defensive, and even support others in a pinch.

She just regrets that they had to inform both Seers with those visions - unfortunately, she couldn't favor either side of the spectrum magic is on, balance must be maintained after all - one Dark and one Light Seer was given a vision of Evelynn and Tom. At least the 'Light' Seer, as it were, and her partner will be good for the two of them.

Chapter Text

The next two days seem to go by in a blur for Tom, between the haze that's still over his mind and the grueling instruction Lady Magic puts him through. Evelynn had time to relearn her control, figure out how to access the Hallows' powers on her own before she was sent back to this time.

He, on the other hand, has Evelynn to help teach him...and he's under direct scrutiny from Dumbledore. The older man cannot suspect anything is different from before, there's no telling how badly he'd react. Ergo, he's been reliving the day twice, once in the Room of Requirement and once in the Chamber of Secrets, building up his control over the increased amount of magic at his literal fingertips. Wandlessly, no less.

And the only reason Tom can focus throughout the first day is because Peeves is harassing Dumbledore all day, stealing stuff and making himself a very effective distraction - stealing a person's Wand does tend to do that, along with various other objects such as a glowing orb that Lady Magic was curious then furious about, his Sneakoscope, and completely trashing his office. Keeping him well away from the Hospital Wing and Evelynn, thankfully.

Evelynn shows up that night at dinner, having been released from the Hospital Wing at long last, much to everyone's relief - and her absolute horror, when half the Great Hall suddenly stands up to either thank her, congratulate her, or ask how she killed all four Trolls. It all hits a little too close to home for her, with her previous experience being poked, prodded, and yanked around as everyone wanted to welcome her, thank her, touch her 'legendary scar' like it was some good luck talisman, or congratulate her after the Dark Lord's defeat mere moments upon her first setting foot in the Leaky Cauldron and being recognized.

The next day, Evelynn's showing Tom the basics of Shadow Magic and how to access the powers the Hallows had that transferred to her and now him. Her favorite, hands down, is the power of the Cloak - he gets why, it makes you completely undetectable. Invisible, completely silent, no detection spell will work on them, no magical Charmed Eye like Mad-Eye Moody had will see them, it's like they're not even there unless they do something to reveal themselves. The haze he noticed, how the world was discolored whenever Evelynn used it on them back at the Orphanage, it was the Hallows' powers concealing them. It's easily the most useful of the three Hallows

It takes him about four hours to master the Cloak's power, much to Evelynn's semi mock-grumbling and not-so-hidden pride in him - the detail that it's the easiest of the Hallows to learn to use doesn't hurt either. Still, he's always been a fast learner, he's always picked up everything faster than everyone else. Which is a good thing for him, since they undoubtedly have a limited amount of time before the old goat tries something else.

Thankfully, he's picking things up - in Evelynn's own, slightly envious words - ten times as fast as she did. Of course, as Tom delighted in telling her, an excellent teacher makes all the difference - and, once again, he's managed to make her face red as a Stunner once more.

By the time both of them all but collapse into bed, Tom can Shadow around a room by himself, has mastered the basics of Shadow Magic, and can freeze things with some concentration.

Dumbledore walks into his fourth-year Transfiguration class, internally seething at Peeves - the damn Poltergeist was such a nuisance that he completely missed his window of time to check Evelynn Peverell himself. By the time he'd managed to shake Peeves, retrieve his items, and repair all the damage to his office, she'd already been released from Pomfrey's care and went back to the Dungeons. He'll just have to give her a detention tonight, he decides.

He sees none other than the very girl he's thinking about lean over as he's about to start lecturing and say something in Tom's ear. Seeing a good chance, he says "Miss Peverell, I expect you to pay attention in my class. Detention with me tonight." He then starts lecturing on the Bouquet Charm, which Conjures flowers from a person's wand if performed correctly.

Tom, he sees, gets a stone-faced look before Evelynn silently puts a hand on his arm with a blank look on her own face. And then they both perform the spell, set the Bouquets on their desks, and take out books to read for the rest of the class.

Everyone in the Slytherin Common Room jumps a good foot in the air as the fire suddenly goes out and the temperature drops at least twenty degrees as the room plunges into sudden darkness, not without good reason though - the last time the fire suddenly went out and it got freezing cold, Evelynn had Antonin Dolohov screaming his head off for five hours.

This time, though, she stalks in furiously…with a box the size of her torso in hand. The table in the middle suddenly doubles in size, and she sets it down before copying the box. All Wandlessly, Wordlessly…with a face as white as a ghost in utter fury, Avada-green eyes glaring at everything. She practically glowing in the darkness, they can see ice starting to form on the edges of the window looking out at the Lake...and, dear Merlin, something's happened.

Either someone's died tonight, Tom thinks, or they're going to.

Skipping anything resembling greetings or an explanation, Evelynn says "I need you guys to read that and tell me whether or not it's enough to get life in Azkaban, if not getting Kissed by the Dementors." Hedwig appears on Evelynn's shoulder right then, and starts singing.

Oh, yes, she's so incredibly pissed off - the last time Hedwig had to intervene, she was ready to kill Dumbledore right then and there.

Orion, Theodorus, and Randolph Lestrange start digging through the copied box, and Tom pulls Evelynn down onto the spot next to him and asks "What happened?" He's been feeling her fury mounting for the past two hours, and he'd genuinely thought for sure that something or someone would be shipped off to Death in a gift-wrapped handbasket tonight. And now he's getting legitimately worried about her blood pressure, she's physically shaking in her fury.

Evelynn gets a furious sneer for a moment, then says "Old fucker called Pomfrey in to check me for any spells. Said he was concerned that someone was controlling me." They'd thought he'd try that, and she thought she'd been prepared for the possibility - the blinding rage, utter fury that hit her when he said those things to Pomfrey, though, came completely out of the blue. It's only because Death was in her head mid-sentence that she didn't vault over the table and throttle him Muggle-style or freeze him through one cell at a time.

Well, Tom thinks, that certainly explains why she got so furious so quickly - Dumbledore did exactly that to her, even she doesn't know how many times or when specifically. Potentially since she was left at Four Privet Drive.

"And then," Evelynn adds, expression getting worse for a moment until Hedwig croons out a few more notes, "after getting the results from Pomfrey that stated I was free of any spells affecting me, he gives me this hour-long lecture about people not being what they show the world, and seeing beneath the surface of things." She'd actually let Pomfrey cast the diagnostic spell, would've demanded it if she hadn't, and kept the results for herself. For whatever reason - the hypocrisy, perhaps, or the knowledge of what he's so very willing to do later in his life, or maybe just the way he's yet again demonizing Tom based solely on his suspicions without any proof whatsoever - the lecture hit every single button she has.

The only reason Dumbledore's still alive right now is because Death reminded her that he needs to suffer everything they can throw at him in this realm before Death and Magic get their hands on him permanently, they need his reputation completely destroyed and him exposed to the world as the traitor he is. Hence why she went to the Room of Requirement, asked it for everything she had on Dumbledore - well, everything bar her interview with Bagshot - she can give them those details herself rather than giving herself away, and there's still more than enough to see an investigation started.

Theodorus breathes out "He did not…"

"He did…and, you know what?" Evelynn gives them all a razor-sharp grin, and says "I'm not only going to take his advice, I'm going to share it. With…oh, I don't know, the world." They need Dumbledore exposed as a traitor? She'll expose him as a traitor in the biggest, most obvious, impossible to cover-up way possible. Damned old man won't have any time to even guess what happened before he's in Azkaban, hopefully. And, if he realizes she's the one that destroyed him...she hopes it eats at him, endlessly. Hopes he wonders how she could've known, hopes he realizes just when and how he finally used up his last straw.

Orion's the first to catch on, helped along by the letter from Albus Dumbledore to Gellert himself, a manic grin forming as he says "Please, for the love of Merlin, let me have a front-row seat."

Evelynn grins, more a baring of her own teeth really, and asks "One of your ancestors was a Headmaster, right? I've seen a portrait in Dippet's office that looks a bit like you guys."

Dorea nods, coming over and taking a sheet of paper from the box, and says "Phineas Nigellus Black, a former Headmaster. There's a portrait back at the Manor. Oh, dear Merlin…"

Evelynn zeros in on Dorea right then, and asks "Can you write to your parents? Ask if they can talk to him, see if he knows of Dumbledore doing anything to Dippet? I wouldn't be surprised if he did, even in full view of the Headmaster Portraits."

More and more Slytherins come over to read what's got all of the Blacks so enraptured - and getting highly unsettling grins to boot, there's going to be some chaos out of all this - and within twenty minutes there's a horrified silence reigning. Even the Blacks have lost their excitement in favor of horror, that's how bad it is.

One voice mutters "Dear Merlin, this is…"

"This guy is teaching us?!"

"He oversaw the Boggart lesson!"

"And he hates us why?! He says we're pure evil, yet he wanted to take over the world!"

"Who in Merlin's name is Ariana? Never heard of her before!"

"He's a damned hypocrite! Labeling us and our traditions Dark, saying they're evil! He and his ex planned to burn the world down!"

Evelynn slips back into the Common Room, having gone to her and Tom's room to get memories off of Ariana Dumbledore's spirit - yes, it's possible, she asked first before summoning the young girl - and sees the House that prides itself on its self-control and decorum in an uproar that one hundred percent tops anything she ever saw in Gryffindor by a few miles. The sight cools her fury some, that apparently she's not overreacting in the slightest if even the house of self-control is completely losing it. A little holdover from her last life, being disregarded at every fucking turn tends to make you a little insecure about the possibility of overreacting.

Tom sees her first, and casts a Silencing Charm on everyone to get their attentions. Once she's sitting down and Tom lifts the spell, Evelynn says "Multiple sets of memories, for the DMLE, the Minister, the Daily Prophet, the ICW, the Hogwarts Board, and Dippet."

"Dear Merlin," Thedorus breathes out, "you're going to destroy him."

Evelynn says "Albus Dumbledore will be begging for death by the time I'm through with him, once he's watched everything he's built up crumble before his gaze." And he'll find no peace even in death, he'll never be reborn, his punishment will be eternal. Death and Lady Magic have it all planned out in excruciating detail.

The room goes dead silent for an entirely different reason than the spell, until one person says "If I ever piss her off, somebody kill me. It'd be preferable."

Orion stares at Evelynn and Tom, looking so much like Sirius for a moment that it steals Evelynn's breath, and says "We've got an entire section devoted to torture spells. If you two need somewhere to put him that's not Azkaban, I'm certain my parents can clear out one of the dungeon cells."

Tom gives him a nod of thanks for the half-spoken offer - being willing to spirit Dumbledore away, lock him up, and never let him see the light of day again - and Evelynn says "We'll keep that in mind, thank you. As for the box?"

Theodorus says "Assuming he doesn't manage to talk himself out of the most damning bits? Kissed. If he does, several years in Azkaban. At least a decade, but not life." He'll almost certainly go for the angle of being manipulated by Grindelwald in his grief, of being used by the ex-Durmstrang student to further his own ends. Sickening, yes, but he'd make it believable.

Evelynn's eyes brighten for a moment, and she asks "Any possible way to ensure that doesn't happen?"

Orion says "Prove he's not as reformed as he'll undoubtedly say he is. Though, how you'll manage that is a mystery."

Evelynn and Tom share a look, several things very clearly going back and forth between them, and Evelynn finally says "There's one way. At the very least, it involves me." She doesn't want to reveal Tom's full lineage yet, not willing to take that choice from him.

At everyone's confused looks, she says "Grindelwald's obsessed with the Hallows, he tried to interrogate me about their locations before I arrived here. I had no idea why he was going on about a cloak and stone, then, but I do now."

A voice breathes out "You don't think…"

"He's been far too interested in me since the day I woke up. The year and a half's worth of essays he assigned in my first week, the constant staring, the detention tonight even. Yes, I do think." She's pretty sure the only reason he hasn't asked her about the Hallows is because she outright said Grindelwald tortured her for information on them and she didn't know anything.

"He's insane!"

"That's just sick!"

"Did he ask about them at all?!"

"We need to get him out of here!"

All the rich Purebloods send copies of the box to their parents, along with the rest of the boxes meant for the DMLE, the Minister, the original heading to the ICW, copies for the Hogwarts board, the Prophet, and Dippet.

Along with another box to be sent to the Head of the Potter Family, who'll undoubtedly be stirred into an uproar at the news that someone's extensively researched the family lineage and unearthed the Peverell name.

And Hedwig gets promised her weight in bacon for a straight month. Hedwig asks for her weight in her dragon form in bacon. 

Chapter Text

All of Slytherin table is waiting with barely-concealed anticipation, wondering just how big the scene will be and when it'll happen - Dippet isn't at the table, which undoubtedly means he's busy going through the box of damning evidence on Albus Dumbledore as they eat. Nobody else seems to have any idea of what's going to happen, though, not even Dumbledore. If they didn't loathe him so much, the Snakes might just pity him.

Just a little bit.

As it is, they're all gleefully waiting for the fireworks to start. He's been so heavily prejudiced against them, blatantly ignoring their achievements whenever possible and only giving points out when absolutely necessary, that none of them have any pity in themselves for him.

The first noticeable sign is when Charlus, Evelynn, and Tom get handed notes from a House Elf right as Transfiguration class is about to start, much to Dumbledore's confusion. When the two Slytherins get to the Headmaster's office, Charlus having lagged behind a bit, they see two Aurors in red robes, thirteen official-looking people in robes, and a grim Dippet.

Well, Evelynn sends over to Tom, there's a fifty-fifty shot of this going right. Or, they know we sent the boxes.

Tom covers for Evelynn's silence, asking "Hello? Is something wrong?" She's not wrong, after all. Either they know she sent the boxes of information, or they're investigating.

Dippet gives what they're sure is supposed to be a reassuring smile, except it looks more like a cross between a pained grimace and being about to throw up, and says "Neither of you are in trouble, these people just have some questions for you." He so dearly hopes the information in that box he found in his office is wrong, that it's all just some sick, twisted prank - a rival of Albus', perhaps? - but he's had a sinking feeling in his gut ever since the Hogwarts Board and Lord Fleamont Potter Floo'd in. And Lord Potter looks absolutely livid, with good reason to since it would appear to be his Line that's being targeted.

Charlus gets inside right then, and one of the Wizards marches over to him at once. Charlus' jaw drops for a brief instant, and he asks "Father? What-" Charlus doesn't get any further, as the man that's obviously Lord Potter grabs him by the upper arm and drags him to a corner. Nobody can see what's said, as a spell gets cast to block lipreading, but everyone can see how Charlus goes pale as a ghost and the horror written all over his expression. About two minutes later, with shaking of his head and rapid speaking, Lord Potter casts what Tom and Evelynn recognize as a Diagnostic spell. Lord Potter frowns at the result, and waves his wand over Charlus in an intricate pattern.

And then he looks absolutely murderous. And Tom and Evelynn get the feeling that they know who it is Lord Potter wants on a silver platter.

After taking a solid five minutes to get himself under control, the oldest Potter in the room drops the privacy spell and says "Gentlemen, it would appear that the information that's come to light is more accurate than I'd first thought." He hadn't believed the stuff in that box, it all sounded so ludicrous - but he came to check on his son anyway, as the stuff about the Peverell Line is pinpoint accurate, and found two Aurors, the entire Hogwarts Board, and Headmaster Dippet in a distressingly-similar situation.

They didn't want to believe Albus Dumbledore was capable of all that, that the man that's widely regarded as the only hope of stopping Gellert Grindelwald's reign of terror may well have a hand in it all…but now it looks like that's exactly what happened. And, even worse than that to the Potter Lord, he may be subtly manipulating his son and heir without anyone the wiser.

Evelynn clears her throat, asking "Um, sir? What's going on?" Bloody Merlin, Evelynn thinks, it's happening. It's actually happening, Dumbledore's getting investigated.

Something that never really happened in her old life - he'd been removed from the school, twice, but he was back soon after. This, though...this will hopefully be a little more permanent.

Armando looks absolutely gutted at Lord Potter's declaration, so one of the Board members that looks very much like a Black says "Sometime last night, a box of information was delivered to our office. Information pertaining to one Albus Dumbledore, the current Transfiguration teacher. It would appear that similar boxes were delivered to, at the very least, the DMLE, Lord Potter, and the Headmaster here."

Lord Potter asks "And you two are…?" He doesn't mean to sound rude or condescending, but he's just been informed that his family's history is on the verge of being aired to the entire magical world, that the madman currently razing Europe to the ground knows his family is descended from Ignotus Peverell - there's a fucking good reason the Peverell name was buried, and it's because attacks like what Charlus described happening to one Evelynn Peverell happened all too often in the past. They were attacked, viciously at that, over the mere idea that the family had some connection to a deity.

To have it aired to the world that they have a Cloak that's supposedly Death's Cloak, the Third Hallow…it's like a gigantic target, especially on Charlus. For Grindelwald, for every lunatic that thinks there's a chance at gaining immortality…and, apparently, for Albus Dumbledore.

The very thought makes him want to pull Charlus from the school, homeschool him for the remainder of his education, and layer him in so many protective spells he won't be able to so much as sneeze without him being alerted to it.

Armando seems to give himself a shake at the question, and says "Lord Potter, these are Tom Marvolo Slytherin, and Evelynn Peverell. Two brilliant students in Heir Potter's year." Two brilliant students in Heir Potter's year who apparently have equally-large targets on their backs as the Potter Heir.

Lord Potter goes stiff as a board at the introduction, and starts digging through the box on Dippet's desk before coming out with a sheet of paper. Tom and Evelynn both recognize utter desperation when they see it, and Lord Potter is extremely desperate right now no matter how much he hides it - with good reason, considering everything. Grindelwald is on the loose, carving up Europe and it's only sheer luck that the Magical World has yet to be exposed considering everything, he's utterly obsessed with the Hallows to the point that he's stolen the Peverell Coat of Arms and paraded it as his own personal symbol…and now it's been revealed that he knows the Potters are descended from Ignotus Peverell.

And the Gaunts from Cadmus. And Tom, going by his middle name - and last name, now - is the last direct descendant of Cadmus Peverell, hence why he's here to. And, from what he read about Dumbledore and Grindelwald's research…they know it to.

And to think, Fleamont Potter thinks near-hysterically to himself, the most I thought I'd be dealing with today when I woke up was the usual paperwork that goes into running the Potter House.

No, now he gets to manage and hopefully minimize the fallout of House Potter being outed as Peverells in the middle of a war run by a madman obsessed with the name enough to take the symbol as his own - yes, they all know about that.

Yes, it makes them all livid that Grindelwald so casually stole a piece of their history and is parading it around as his own.

No, he didn't do a damn thing about it - the Symbol of the Hallows and Peverell Coat of Arms was lost to the ages because nobody would take it up and put that kind of danger on themselves and their entire line for centuries, maybe even a millennia. Declaring Grindelwald stole it would raise far too many questions about how and why he knows that.

Evelynn sees the crumpled sheet in his hand, and asks "Um, Sir? Can we see that?"

Fleamont nods, saying "You should. In fact, you probably need to. Both of you. Grindelwald will most likely target you both in earnest once you leave Hogwarts, perhaps even before then." He hadn't known who the descendants of Cadmus Peverell were, before going through the box sitting on his office desk, as one would have to go digging into historical records several centuries old, but the urge to whisk all three away to the most hidden property in the Potter Estate there is…is very strong. He wants to throw several protective amulets over each of their necks, Charlus' included, and hide them all away in the most remote, well-hidden manor he has in his name.

And then Evelynn sucks in a sharp breath, eyes locked onto the sheet in her hands, and quietly asks "Tom?"

Tom moves a half-step closer, feeling the very real horror bleeding through the Soul Bond between them, and asks "What is it?"

"I think he's looking for them."

Tom takes all of half a second for the implications to hit him - present and future, at that - and now he gets why Evelynn's feeling so horrified. Because what if everything Dumbledore did…was all to get the Hallows? Have Lily and James Potter killed, drag out a war with him, even this ignoring Grindelwald? What if all of it was some grand master plan to get the Deathly Hallows and be immortal? And with Lord Potter's scowl about whatever it is he found with his own heir…suddenly, he doesn't need to feel Evelynn's horror to be horrified, because a lot of puzzle pieces they hadn't understood about Dumbledore's actions just fell into a horrible picture for Tom.

Everything Dumbledore's done, from the instant he first heard about the Hallows, has all been to get them - get them, become immortal, and be bloody well revered forever. Nobody ever questioned him in Evelynn's time, everybody basically worshipped the ground he walked on, and nobody would blink an eye if he 'discovered' a way to stop aging. That would be why he left Evelynn high and dry while he covered himself and his reputation when Fudge went gunning for them both, wouldn't it? He just wanted to be revered forever!

Even Evelynn hadn't put all the pieces together, despite all the information she had - little details she collected over the years, Skeeter's book, Aberforth's recounting and speculation, his own actions against herself in her old time and Tom now...and, suddenly, it all seems to fall into place.

Charlus asks "Them?" If his voice is about three octaves higher…well, at least his yearmates don't call him out on it. At least his yearmates look like they want to be sick to.

Evelynn glances up, eyes gone wide with her absolute horror and shock, and says "Yeah. The Potters." They were all that was left, he had the Wand and he knew where the Stone was, he just wanted to make sure he didn't need Peverell blood or magic didn't he? Her entire life was played to his game, but it wasn't to defeat Tom, was it? It was to make Dumbledore immortal! And the only reason he wasn't, she's suddenly sure, is because the Hallows were tied irrevocably to the Peverell Line. They'd only choose a Peverell, according to Death, and only one who had the proper respect for Death, dying, and the balance that keeps magic alive and the world from destroying itself. Her entire life is suddenly thrown into a new and terrible perspective, everything that ever happened to her happened not because Dumbledore wanted her to die to stop Voldemort, but because he wanted her to die so he could remain forever. 

She's gonna be sick, she really is. She'd thought she'd known the why behind everything...but apparently she and Tom were just two chess pieces to him from the very beginning. He destroyed Tom just to stop him from figuring him out, didn't he? Or, possibly, to give himself another Dark Lord to defeat. Tell the world he's stronger than Grindelwald, the most feared Dark Lord of this time, and then defeat him and everyone flocks to him and worships him. Except...he couldn't beat him. So he set Lily and James up to be killed, hoping a Charms Prodigy and Auror would find some way to weaken him somehow. Didn't expect things to go that way, but he worked with it.

it's Tom's hand on her elbow that pulls her out of her spiralling thoughts. 

Fleamont stiffens once more, and says "Explain."

Evelynn swallows a few times, fighting back the sudden urge to be sick at the new light she's seeing everything Dumbledore's ever done, reminds herself she's supposed to be talking about anything other than a life they don't know about in the 1990's and they haven't yet said anything about Dumbledore, and says "Grindelwald wants the Hallows, thinks he's got the Wand. He tortured me for information on the Cloak and the Stone two years ago, mere minutes before I ended up at Hogwarts." Grindelwald's name is right there on the sheet, so it's a safe enough statement.

Charlus hotly says "That's crazy, the Hallows don't exist!" He's got the Cloak, he's got the bloody cloak, does Dumbledore know? Is Grindelwald looking for him? Will he end up like Evelynn was or worse? Would he get so lucky as to get away? Or would he be taken back to whatever base the madman's using?

One of the Board members asks "And he thought you would know where Lord Potter was keeping such an item? When you hadn't even heard of them, the Potter family, or knew you had magic?"

Evelynn shrugs, saying "I'm not saying it makes any sense, alright? It doesn't. I also don't know where the Stone is, if it even exists, didn't even know what he was talking about until I read the Tale of the Three Brothers last year. But that's what he thought. Lord Potter? Just give me a yes or no here. Do you happen to have anything in…say, all of Europe? Properties, storage spaces, anything? Anything you might theoretically keep a mythical object like Death's cloak?"

Lord Fleamont Potter pinches the bridge of his nose, gritting his teeth and saying "Perhaps." There's properties scattered all across Europe, one or two in the States...Grindelwald is looking for them, isn't he?

Evelynn mutters "Merlin, he's burning Europe to the ground looking for your stuff…" And the Gaunts would've been next, undoubtedly. An attack on them, and their 'Family Ring' stolen would've undoubtedly made the Potters go to ground until Grindelwald was dead - getting the Cloak first, though, would've left the isolated, inbred near-squibs practically defenseless. Ripe for the picking, really.

And now Tom really wants to be sick, because if he hadn't gone traveling when he did… Forcing his thoughts off that subject, Tom asks "Sir? What did you find on Heir Potter?" Dumbledore picking Charlus Potter as his favorite now makes much more horrifying sense, just what did he do to the Potter Heir?

The older Potter grits his teeth in fury, but says "There's something affecting his magic. It's subtle, barely detectable on an ordinary diagnostic scan - most, in fact, would put it down to being around so much ambient magic or taking a Jinx in Defense class." Luckily, he didn't cast an ordinary scan the second time around - he cast a specialized one, and it showed that there's something actively affecting Charlus' magic, which in turn affects himself.

A person's magic is them, much like the distinction between the mind and brain. If something affects a person's magic, it may as well have been cast on them directly - and, horribly enough, it's a way around the Heir Rings. Heir, Lordship, any possible protections only protect a person and the magic inside them - if someone has enough of a person's magic stored somehow that they can affect them from a distance…the protections won't do a thing to stop it, as the change would be coming from within. It's why Blood Magic is so powerful, why people don't give their blood unless absolutely necessary, and then only to an implicitly-trusted individual or to a Goblin at Gringotts. A person's blood has enough magic to completely control them, after all.

Charlus says "But I haven't given anyone any blood, any…anything!" He's a Gryffindor, but he's far from stupid - he knows the dangers of giving someone his blood, his very being.

Tom asks "His magic? Would anything with his magic work? Say…a Transfigured item?" He collects them after class, confiscates them more like, and everyone had assumed he made some kind of collection out of his favorites like Slughorn with his Slug Club and tossing or destroying the ones he didn't like. But if he's actively draining the magic from them...

The collective feeling from the group is 'oh, fuck.' Because Albus Dumbledore would be smart enough to figure something like this out.

The two Aurors leave after questioning Charlus, Tom, and Evelynn, having their own copy of the box to go through and a thorough investigation to conduct, and Lord Fleamont Potter is seriously debating whether or not to pull his son from Hogwarts on the spot. Because the Aurors are going to start investigating everything they can outside of Hogwarts today, and start investigating everything happening inside Hogwarts tomorrow - such as questioning students and staff. They want to follow up on everything they can in the box today, and then tackle the student population tomorrow.

Evelynn, upon learning that, 'innocently' reveals the detail that she spoke to Bathilda Bagshot after learning the Peverell Brothers were buried in Godric's Hollow, via suggesting they go talk to her. And discovered that Albus Dumbledore used to live there, and that's when he met Gellert Grindelwald.

Needless to say, the Aurors quickly take that particular memory - good news, Evelynn made sure to play her part perfectly, not so much as a flicker of recognition or glancing towards where the Potter Cottage was last time she was there. Just in case she ever needed to give it to the Aurors.

Chapter Text

Lord Fleamont Potter stays behind while the Aurors and Hogwarts Board leave via the Floo, clearly wanting to discuss everything with Charlus, Tom, and Evelynn some more but wanting to do so in private. Charlus and his yearmates were promptly excused from Transfiguration Class until further notice, their current grades - O's - being used as their grade for the year until they take exams so long as they pass those exams, but it doesn't make the older man any less worried about things.

Evelynn clears her throat, saying "Lord Potter, if you'd like to continue discussing things with your son in peace, I know of a room that would be perfect for it." They were excused from classes for the day, and Transfiguration for the foreseeable future, after all, so it's not like they don't have time. She leads them up to the Room of Requirement, more grateful than ever that it's still around - she mourned the loss of that amazing piece of magic for years after it was consumed by Fiendfyre, wished she could replicate it more times than she can remember. Maybe, this time around, she'll finally get the chance to figure all that out.

When they get to the right wall, Charlus raises an eyebrow and asks "Uh, where's the room?"

Evelynn smirks, and says "Patience, Potter. I did my share of exploring the castle my first year, and found this. Watch." She walks back and forth in front of the wall three times, asking for the Room to make a space where they won't be overheard, found, or interrupted. When they step into the room, which is comfortably furnished in couches and chairs, Charlus' jaw drops to the floor - not that Tom can blame him, he had a similar reaction when Evelynn showed him the room the first time.

"What is this room?!" He's never seen anything like this!

Evelynn shrugs, and says "Anything you want it to be. Anything at all. I found it about two months in, and it first appeared to me as a combination of a seating room and library." Rather, it took her two months to remember where exactly the Room was. It had been over a decade since she was last in Hogwarts, after all.

Fleamont narrows his eyes at her, asking "Why not go to the library? Surely, it would've been an easier trip."

"Large crowds have never been a good thing for me. Especially since I was never allowed to have any friends before I came to Hogwarts. Ergo, I slipped away for a bit whenever I could." No lie there, Evelynn thinks, just leaving out the detail that she never could slip away when she was feeling overwhelmed, and that she was only ever completely overwhelmed as Eve Potter and not Evelynn Peverell. She came to the Room to have somewhere to think, to make some kind of plan for what she was going to do - which didn't pan out, nothing new there - and to get her bearings. And, truthfully, to relax just a bit - as she said, large crowds usually spelled trouble for her, before she went to Hogwarts and after she went on the run.

Fleamont says "I see. For now, I believe we have bigger issues to sort through. Do either of you two have anywhere to go? Anywhere that isn't Muggle?" Even a trunk would do, he's not going to be picky right now. Beggars can't be choosers, after all.

Evelynn nods, and says "We do, Sir. The Goblins made me a Portkey, so we can go there if there's any trouble."

Fleamont instantly notices she didn't say where this place is, but ignores it for now - secrecy like that may just save their lives, after all. Especially because some of those documents detailed how Grindelwald and Dumbledore learned Legilimency, and considering the answers Tom and Evelynn gave…he's much more inclined to believe those documents - he checked his son to put his worries to rest, only to find someone's actively affecting his magic. Tom and Evelynn painted a prejudiced, suspicious picture of Dumbledore that makes the hairs on the back of his neck rise - and Tom's description of his first interaction with the man, and introduction to magic, was simply damning.

And that's without the proof of the young boy having been Compelled, which a simple Diagnostic scan proved in short order.

Fleamont wants to scream himself hoarse or throw Hexes at something, it's a toss-up right this instant - he's sent Charlus to this school for years, now, and now it comes out that his favorite teacher and Head of House is secretly after the Hallows and has been influencing him subtly! And, more than that, it would appear he knows Charlus potentially has the Cloak, knows he's a Peverell, and may well be grooming him for all anyone knows.

A line of training dummies suddenly appears, and Evelynn says "I think those are for you, sir." At the Potters' looks, she shrugs and adds "The Room just knows. Don't ask me how, I don't have a clue as of yet." Yet. She fully plans on figuring the Room out.

Fleamont nods slowly, saying "I see. If you two ever need it, you are welcome to stay at Potter Manor."

Evelynn says "Same. I'll make Portkeys for you if you need to hide out with us. Keep them on you if it comes to that, at least until you get keyed into the Wards."

Charlus raises an eyebrow, asking "Um…why?"

Evelynn deadpans "Because, if you don't have something that identifies you to the Wards as being allowed in…let's just say you won't have a good time and leave it at that."

Charlus swallows, and Fleamont says "Noted." He gets the underlying message there, intruders won't be tolerated - whether that's something the Wards already did, or if it's a more recent addition, he couldn't say. The Wards around an ancestral Manor - especially one that was as famous as the Peverell Line - would be the very best of their time, but Evelynn was attacked by Grindelwald and nearly died. It certainly makes for one hell of a motivation to study and invent Wards that do things like viciously kill intruders into one's home.

Evelynn sighs, running a hand through her hair, and says "Merlin, Tom, we've gotta get you keyed into the Wards. And get you a House Elf. Mippy!"

Mippy arrives with a quiet pop, excitedly saying "Mistress Pev- Evelynn called for Mippy?" She remembers just in time what her new Mistress said, that they don't need to call her by the full title. That they aren't her slaves, and she won't treat them as such when they've done so much for her that she never knew about.

Evelynn nods, saying "Mippy, this is Tom. He's going to be staying with me, we just haven't had much time to get him keyed into the Wards yet. What we need right now, though, is another of the Serving Elves to Bond with Tom."

Mippy pops away with an excited squeal, and maybe two minutes later she's back with another House-Elf in tow. The second House-Elf bows and asks "How can Gerald be serving?"

Tom, Charlus, and Fleamont can't even get a word in edgewise as Evelynn has Gerald bond with Tom, then gives orders to the two Elves. If they needed any proof that Evelynn is bothered by what they found, here it is. Because she orders the two elves to keep watch on the two of them, even if they have to be invisible in their laps for classes. Watch their food, drinks, and stay with them at all times in case somebody tries something. And to incapacitate Albus Dumbledore and get them to safety if he tries to get either of them alone.

Because, not that she'll say it out loud, from what tiny bit she knows about James and Lily Potter, Dumbledore was a rather immense influence on James. Sirius once told her Dumbledore tutored James in Transfiguration before he even came to Hogwarts, as he bragged about in classes. Hence why he was supposed to be such a natural at the subject. Dumbledore seems to have tried to make himself a borderline integral part of the Potter family's lives, if his blatant favoritism of Charlus Potter is anything to go by, and it seems to have succeeded. His favoritism of the Marauders, to, letting them get away with attempted murder without so much as a slap on the wrist. 

Charlus coughs into his fist, asking "Isn't that a bit...excessive?" There's being paranoid, and then there's thinking your food might be poisoned randomly

Evelynn deadpans "You sure that's not Dumbledore talking?"

Charlus opens his mouth to argue, but Fleamont says "She has a point, Son. Too good a point, actually. Right now, we have no idea what he's doing to you. While it does go against the current rules to have a personal elf with you, I find I care very little when your safety is at stake. Keep Benny with you at all times, do not be alone with Albus Dumbledore at any time. If he asks you to stay after class, refuse. If he calls you in for a meeting, go to Dippet - I don't care whether it's as your Professor or Head of House. As it is, I'm on the verge of demanding a Re-Sort for you, or simply pulling you from Hogwarts altogether, and I will if he tries even a single thing."

A third House Elf arrives, and quickly gets the same orders as Tom and Evelynn's elves. And 'safety' quickly gets defined as their Manors, with the Wards getting locked down as fast as possible.

Lady Magic takes every single glowing orb stashed away in Dumbledore's office, over two dozen of them all total, and takes them to Death simply to avoid blowing them up one by one as they need to warn Evelynn and Tom about the vile little things.

It is truly terrible that she'd been so weakened by the 90's that she couldn't manifest herself in this realm, because if she'd known Albus Dumbledore was doing this...she'd have stripped him of his magic as soon as she got her hands on him. This goes beyond anything she thought had happened to Eve Potter, but it certainly explains how it all happened.

All the spells that were cast on the Potter Heiress without him ever calling her into a meeting to do so, how he never needed to check and make sure they were still strong on her...he must've taken her blood and used that to control her every thought and action. Placed it or drained it into one of these little crystal orbs, placed the orbs into their golden rune-covered holder, and then cast spell after spell on her magic until he was satisfied and went to go watch the results. Death takes one look at Magic's furious expression and quickly puts the orbs into his pocket for later. They'll go over them with Evelynn and Tom once she's not feeling like going to the traitor and ripping him and his magic to shreds.

Because they need his influence removed from everything, his image needs to be seen for what he truly is - every bill he got passed in the Wizengamot needs to be reviewed - rather, repealed - and he needs to go down in history as the traitor he is. They need to prevent anyone else ever trying anything like Dumbledore's doing ever again, because he came far too close to destroying magic altogether before he died - point of fact, sending Evelynn back in time drained the last magic from the mortal realm in her time in addition to weakening her own magic temporarily. He might not have seen it happen himself, but he did enough damage that there was no return - the death of magic was his legacy, not that anyone other than them knows it.

Hence why they're being so unusually hands-on - it's an unofficial rule amongst the deities that they don't interfere with the mortal realm any more than strictly necessary, as a god's touch is much heavier than that of a mortal's. The death of magic in the mortal realm, though, is enough evidence as to why their involvement is most definitely necessary. Albus Dumbledore succeeded in killing Magic's gift to the mortal realm once, thanks to passing legislation in the ICW that declared the Pagan Holidays Dark and Evil all across the globe, and they refuse to let it happen again.

They didn't tell Evelynn that sending her back used the last of the magic in her original time, and they don't ever plan to - she would undoubtedly feel guilty about that, about being the final blow to magic, when it was never her decision or choice in the first place. No, Albus Dumbledore succeeded in spitting on the gift in him one last time, even in death, and he will pay for it for eternity.

Chapter Text

Charlus wakes up to find a familiar House Elf sitting next to him, the curtains drawn around his bed - he nearly jumps out of his skin at the sight of the knife in its hands, going for his wand in a second. The only thing that keeps the Elf alive is that he recognizes her in the split second before he's about to use a Blasting Curse on it. "Mippy?!"

The Elf - Mippy - nods her head, saying "Mistress Evelynn made this for you, said to give it to you when nobody else would see."

Charlus incredulously asks "So you decided to wait until I was just waking up?!" Dear Merlin, he nearly took her head off! There's commitment to following orders, and then there's this.

Mippy shrugs, saying "Mistress Evelynn finished them three hours ago. Then master Tom made her get some sleep."

Charlus casts a Tempus, only to see it's five in the morning - which means, his brain tiredly points out, Evelynn was up at two in the morning making knives. Charlus scrubs a hand over his face, just knowing he's not getting back to sleep after the near-heart attack he just got, and asks "What is it, anyway?" It's a knife, obviously, but he's sure it's not just a knife. Evelynn could easily Transfigure a knife out of a rock on the shore of the Lake and be done with it if that's all she was going to make.

Mippy holds it out to him, and says "She wrote a note to go with it."

Charlus lights his wand, then starts reading the note. 'Charlus, Potter, whatever you want me to call you, I'm too tired to care about formalities right now. Keep the knife on you at all times, I don't care what rules it breaks or how many. I also don't care how you keep it on you, just that it's easily accessible in an emergency. Make a holster for it, Spellotape it to you your leg, figure it out. If you're found with it, I'm sure your father will make the consequences go away, along with Dippet and the Board. We're basically being hunted, after all. And, if you're in a fight, if it's life-or-death use it. It'll go through any shield, it'll never get dull or rusted, and I made it so it can't be summoned or knocked out of your hand. And you can't be made to drop it. It may well be the difference between life and death one day.'

Charlus looks at the knife sitting on his cover, and gingerly picks it up to examine it further - and, for an instant, just as he picks it up, he could swear the entire weapon from the tip of the blade to the end of the hilt is covered in runes. They're gone too fast to be sure, he's not even sure his sleep-deprived brain didn't imagine them, but no matter which way he turns the knife in the light of his wand the runes just won't appear. It's when he drops his wand as a yawn overtakes him, the light going out in his lapse of concentration, that the runes reappear - just what did she do to this thing?!

When Charlus gets to breakfast that morning, he sees Evelynn and Tom at the Slytherin table - and they look exhausted. Both pale as ghosts, looking half-asleep even as Tom pours two large goblets of what's most likely coffee for them while Evelynn piles a plate of bacon for the Snowy Owl on her shoulder.

And then, once the owl is happily eating the bacon, Evelynn downs her goblet of coffee in about five seconds. 

Tom steps out of the Shadows with Evelynn, relishing in the feeling of not being doubled-over with nausea at Evelynn's preferred method of travel - and, now that it doesn't make him want to vomit, he can understand the appeal. Once you know Shadow Magic yourself, your body doesn't try to reject the process - and it becomes infinitely more comfortable than Apparating, along with infinitely more useful. According to Magic, almost nobody can actually use Shadow Magic anymore...so almost nobody can keep someone from using it to get in or out of somewhere. And that's just the least of it, the tip of the massive iceberg.

Once he blinks the dark spots out of his eyes, he sees the biggest home he's ever laid eyes on - he'd say 'bar Hogwarts' but…Hogwarts is, first and foremost, a school. The actual living quarters could probably fit all in the Dungeons…if a little more crowded than the Slytherins and possibly the Hufflepuffs would like. He used to consider Hogwarts his home, yes, but...now he's got one, a real home that doesn't close for three months of the year.

Evelynn grins, and says "Welcome to Peverell Cottage, Tom."

Tom eventually finds his voice, after a solid minute in which Evelynn's expression only brightens, and he weakly says "I think they might've mis-named this place, Evelynn…"

Evelynn laughs brightly, and says "I know, right? If this is a Cottage, I can't imagine what they considered an actual Manor."

After a moment, Tom says "Hogwarts, most likely. Something around that size."

Evelynn nods, then asks "Want to go exploring after we add you to the Wards? Even the inside, I don't remember much about it since I was out cold after recharging the Wards."

Tom nods his head eagerly, then glances around at the surrounding lands - a forest, likely teeming with magical plants and creatures, and that's just what they can see at the front gate, and says "Perhaps we should consider becoming Animagi at some point. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have a surprise in store for anyone trying to attack us."

Evelynn grins, then says "It'd also be a good way to explore the lands. I didn't look around much when I was last here in the summer, but the figures from Gringotts were massive."

Tom nods, looking around and wondering just what kind of forms they'd have - knowing Evelynn, she'd be something that can fly, he's sure of it. She misses flying, he knows - refuses to use the school brooms , though, screaming wooden death-traps as she puts them. Considering she picked out the exact broom she first used for her flying lesson, and the one Neville Longbottom had, he doesn't blame her a bit. The brooms are alright now, but Dumbledore didn't see a need to replace them for better, safer ones when he became Headmaster. Ergo, she either flies herself or doesn't fly at all.

Mippy and Gerald take them to the Wardstone, Tom gets keyed in, and then they go exploring the 'Cottage' - true to what they thought, it must have fifty rooms easily, between the library, Ritual Room, extensive Potions Lab, Dueling Room, what Evelynn dubs a Ballroom, there's Orchards and a massive garden in the back behind the Manor, the House Elf village is set up in the Gardens and Warded so no weather or animals that live on the lands can damage anything. It has literally everything imaginable, and a few things that aren't, and by the time they're through just getting a tour of the place their feet feel ready to fall off altogether.

And Tom decides their room is the Master Suite at the end of the living quarters, much to Evelynn's amusement, because of course he does. To be fair, the room itself could probably hold most of the Slytherin Common Room inside without difficulty, it's massive. The bed has to be a King size…enlarged, at that, there's a walk-in closet Evelynn thought was an unused bedroom, perhaps a nursery for children if the parents don't want to let them out of their sight or hearing, and the single biggest bathroom either have ever seen. Bigger than the Prefect Bathrooms, the fancy tub could probably fit four people comfortably and the shower just as much.

Even Tom's a little floored by that, and he'd had an idea that the Master Suite would have the biggest, fanciest bathroom. Still, he hadn't been expecting a room that could fit two rooms from Wool's Orphanage all in itself.

When they get back to Hogwarts - the Chamber, not wanting to risk running into themselves since they went back using the Time-Turner - they make their way up to the Slytherin Common Room. Every single person in the Slytherin Common Room freezes in utter shock when they see Tom smiling - not smirking, or grinning in dark amusement, but genuinely smiling because he's happy. Neither teen pays attention to the lack of sound, too caught up in their hissed conversation to care as they head out of the Snake Den, but as soon as the entrance is closed the room bursts into chatter.

Tom has his arm around her waist, Evelynn had a skip in her step - Tom was SMILING!

Two fifth years faint from shock, half the Common Room goes to hide in their rooms - they vividly remember Tom's retaliation in his first year when they made the mistake of trying to put him in his place, and he never struck any of them as happy at any point before…well, before right now. Oh, he was all too happy to Curse the hell out of them, to wipe the entire common room with them, but they're not counting that as true happiness. That's vindictive pleasure, taking enjoyment out of causing them immense - deserved - pain.

What they just saw, though, is…something they've never seen before, not from Tom. There's having a Pureblood mask up in public…and then there's Tom, the king of never showing any kind of emotion whatsoever…until today.

Orion and Theodorus share a look, probably the least-confused out of the entirety of Slytherin - either Tom and Evelynn took a massive leap forward in their relationship…or, wait, it might have something to do with Dumbledore's imminent arrest. They've all been getting questioned privately by Aurors, all with their parents present, and everyone's dead certain he's going to be removed from the castle within the week.

Chapter Text

Albus sweeps his gaze over the Great Hall as all the students sit down for breakfast, curiosity and worry warring inside him even now - there's been Aurors coming and going in Hogwarts for the past few days, questioning all the students. He doesn't know what they're questioning them about, not being privy to any of the interviews - only Dippet is, even with the Gryffindors. He's asked Dippet and the Aurors, and they told him it was 'need to know' and the looks on their faces said he most definitely didn't need to know.

He was, however, informed that each and every student questioned already swore an Oath not to reveal anything, which would not only prevent them from speaking about it to anyone but also protect their minds from any intrusions. The looks on their faces, though, the way they're all avoiding him…it tells him whatever it is isn't good.

More than that, though, if they're looking so wary about him…well, it doesn't exactly fill him with confidence.

And then the doors slam open, and four Aurors march inside, wands drawn. Dumbledore, like everyone else, watches in curiosity as they advance, wondering just who they're going to arrest…right up until he realizes they're completely ignoring every single student, making a beeline for the professor's table.

Evelynn discretely casts an Amplifying Charm, her wand hidden under the table, so everyone can hear what's said as the Aurors stop directly in front of Dumbledore. She's dreamed about this for close to a decade, Dumbledore falling from his pedestal, and she's not missing a single instant of it.

The lead Auror snaps out "Albus Dumbledore, you are under arrest. You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the aurors and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without an attorney present, you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney. Do you understand these rights as I've explained them to you?"

Evelynn blinks in surprise, the Aurors actually follow the Muggles when it comes to rights like that? She's shocked speechless, every single experience she's ever had with Magical Law Enforcement was worlds away. Sirius was thrown into Azkaban without a trial, and Fudge tried to have the same thing done to her at fifteen. She's never heard of Aurors Mirandizing suspects before.

Fudge isn't in office, Tom thinks over to her, having guessed the reason for her surprise, and the Ministry has mostly competent people at the moment.

Tom can understand the worry perfectly well, Magical Britain today is nothing like what it was in Evelynn's time, and the very idea of what she endured on a daily basis at times sickens Tom to his very core - the Ministry was utterly corrupt, the Aurors were probably no better, and even her unwanted status as a child celebrity wasn't enough to protect her from the actions one insecure, greedy politician took because he thought she was a threat to his power. Her only experiences with actual Aurors back then were Moody, Shacklebolt, and Tonks, along with Rufus Scrimgeour when he was elected as Minister, and three out of the four were Order Members. And Scrimgeour wanted to use her as a poster child to bolster the public's fading faith in the Ministry when they weren't doing anything.

So, no, Tom's not surprised in the slightest that Evelynn's utterly shocked by the detail that this time's Aurors are actually focused on doing their job, and doing it correctly. Honestly, he's more surprised that the Ministry is apparently as good as it is considering Dumbledore already has a presence in it thanks to the seat on the Wizengamot Abraxas said he has.

Dumbledore brings them out of their thoughts, asking "Just what am I being charged with?" What's going on, what have they been investigating? He needs to find out, and fast, this is an absolute disaster and it came completely out of the blue to boot. He had no time to prepare, and if they go through his quarters they're bound to find something they shouldn't.

One of the Aurors summons his wand as he starts to stand, and the lead Auror asks "You really want the students to know the list of crimes we've gathered?" That would be a first in his twenty years on the job, someone wanting it to be public knowledge just what crimes they've committed.

To the disappointment of Slytherin House as a whole, Dumbledore quickly concedes that, no, he doesn't wish for the entirety of the student population to know just what he's being charged with. The sight of his hands being bound in front of him, and two Aurors frog-marching him around the Professor's table and down the aisle, though, makes up for it just a little bit.

The Aurors and Dumbledore get about five steps down the aisle when the whispers start up, rising to deafening levels without any spells adding to the volume. Theodorus leans forward, asking "Do either of you know what he's being charged with?"

Tom shakes his head, Evelynn being a little distracted ingraining every single second of Dumbledore's downfall into her mind, and says "Not specifically, no. Abraxas will inform us as soon as it leaks into the Ministry, however."  He got a letter from the Malfoy Heir the day after the Boxes were found, since the Blonde is going into Politics and learning under his father. And he rather desperately wants to stay on Tom's good side, no matter how much he'll never show it to the world at large, so he'll get any and all information on the charges and Dumbledore's trial to them as soon as it's known.

Aurors Moody and Prewitt stare at Dumbledore inside the Interrogation Room, neither understanding just why Dumbledore would do…any of what they've learned, much less all of it. The things that were taken as evidence in his quarters in Hogwarts alone…they've got an Unspeakable and a Curse-Breaker examining the crystal orbs they found, and the golden rune-covered housings for them, but the books they found Glamoured as other books, disguised as benign, harmless books on various school subjects…those were horrifying enough.

Secrets of the Darkest Artes, Magik Most Evile, even a Master's-level book on the Mind Arts - Legillimency and Occlumency. Books on Dark Magic, Blood Magic, even Necromancy - this is the man that's been so widely acclaimed as the world's only hope against Grindelwald? The only person capable of stopping him?

He not only practices the exact same magics as Grindelwald, he helped plan the shitshow going on in Europe.

This is the man all of Gryffindor House adores? Wait, was that something he did, to?

They've already found adjustments in the school-wide Ward Scheme, adjustments that Dumbledore's been making for decades, drawing power from the Wards and boosting his own magic to make himself seem stronger and more powerful than he actually is from what they've discovered, but checking the Wards around Gryffindor Tower specifically couldn't hurt.

Merlin, when they were in Gryffindor together, they adored the man as well…but was that their own choice? Or did he do something to them to make them feel that way? Compel them, put something in their food during meals? Or use those crystal orbs on them? The ones they have in evidence were drained of magic, similarly to how a wand will 'wilt' sometimes, but they only need the Orb itself to examine. 

Merlin, the questions keep piling up, the self-doubt and constant second-guessing of everything. They both hate it, but they just can't stop themselves - Dumbledore was a cornerstone for every Gryffindor ever since he became Head of House for the Lions, which happened decades ago, they could always go to him if they were having troubles. He was the idea they all wanted to live up to, the champion of acceptance and defender of Muggleborns when Purebloods started harassing them.

And now all of that's been cast into serious doubt, the man plotted with Grindelwald to reveal their society and take over the world, the Paragon of all things light had books on what he's called numerous times the 'darkest, most evil of magics' hidden throughout his quarters, the memories they've seen after they were verified by Unspeakables, the memories they found in Dumbledore's room…Merlin, it's all such a bloody mess.

And now they have to ask this man why, have to try and find out why he did all of it, why he ended up at Hogwarts of all places, and they have to hope they can handle the answers.

They already know, deep down, that being able to handle the answers, answers that will most likely rock Magical Britain at the very last down to its very core, is most likely just a pipe dream. Dumbledore's everywhere, he's in Hogwarts, the Wizengamot, the Ministry, he's studied under Nicholas Flamel, he's got contacts in several other countries, he's known in the ICW…and, if he's not the benevolent wizard he's always portrayed himself as, if he's secretly been manipulating everything and everyone around him…there's going to be a massive uproar.

He could've gone anywhere, done anything, yet he ended up surrounded by impressionable young children and has been…collecting them, almost, if those orbs are anything to go by. Picking them out, favoring specific ones, and now it comes to light that he's been stalking and harassing two specific Slytherin students. Two students that are apparently distantly related to one of his most favored students, no less, the Heir to a line he and Grindelwald researched extensively. And those two other students he's been condemning all this time are the only other descendants of the Peverell Line.

This is all such a mess, the general consensus is that they haven't even scratched the tip of this massive, ugly iceberg. And nobody really wants to know just how deep or how terrible it really is.

The Senior Auror on the case turns the corner, and Moody says "Partner, after we get off our shift today, I'm heading to the bar. You want to come with?" He needs a drink, he needs a strong drink, preferably some extra-strong Firewhiskey. 

"Merlin, yes. We'll split the bill. I'm going to need it."

Chapter Text

Tom and Evelynn stare in utter horror at the small crystal orb and holder Death just brought to their room. The crystal orb itself is plain, but completely transparent - not a mark on it, they only know it's even there because they both held the thing. About the size of Evelynn's palm,but just holding it gave her an unsettling feeling like it was trying to absorb her magic - in all likelihood, that's exactly what it was trying to do. 

The holder, though, is the purest gold, made using the Sorcerer's Stone…and absolutely covered with Runes as if to make up for the crystal orb's plainness. The orb's surface is completely unmarked, and its holder has runes inscribed on every single surface, every side, there's no unmarked centimeter of metal. If it weren't created and used for such a horrifying thing as what Death just described to them, they'd be thoroughly impressed. As it is, creating the Orb and Holder to contain and manipulate a person's magic in whatever way one desires is something they can never be impressed by.

Evelynn's the first to break the silence, swallowing a mouthful of saliva in an attempt at getting some moisture down her throat, and rasping out "This…this is how he did it, isn't it?" This thing - she saw this before, in his office, there were a dozen lined up on a shelf! - this is how he controlled her? This orb and the metal holder? 

Death nods at Evelynn's question, and says "We believe so. As Lady Magic weakened, and as the Wards of the school were siphoned off into Dumbledore himself, she was unable to see everything as she once was much less manifest herself. And I was unable to enter this realm so freely until the Hallows chose you." Had Lady Magic manifested herself in the remaining magic in Hogwarts during the 90's, the Wards would've collapsed, unable to take the strain of it, as would most of the children and even the professors.

Evelynn starts looking at the golden holding device Death brought with, almost unable to keep her curiosity in check about just what Dumbledore did to this thing. She's seen them in his office, multiple times, but brushed it off as one of the dozens of devices he had all over the room. The orbs were glowing at different strengths, if she had only known-

Tom casts a Diagnostic spell on the piece of metal, seeing Evelynn's heavily freaking out and for damn good reason, and says "He didn't cast any spells on the metal itself. But the Runes…"

Evelynn frowns at the intricate Runes, attention successfully diverted from the future they're never going to let happen, seeing several Rune Sequences interlocking at first glance, and says "Something tells me this took him ages to figure out. I don't even recognize some of these Runes…"

After a moment's deliberation, Tom and Evelynn each summon a spirit to try and help them figure out the very deadly mystery they've just been given. Which happens to be Merlin and Morgana themselves, the two most legendary figures in Magical History.

Morgana has Evelynn hold the gold construct up, while Merlin inspects the crystal orb with Tom - while they'd more or less figured out the orb was to store magic, they hadn't known it could store a near-infinite amount of magic if given the opportunity, something Merlin tests with a little help from Death. The orb takes in so much magic that Tom and Evelynn both get dizzy, the Hallows' energy and that of the Void running through them and into the Orb for a solid two minutes before Death stops - much more, and the results for the Mortal plane would be disastrous. As it is, Tom and Evelynn are going to be on a power-high whenever Death gives them all that energy - he said he'd give it to them when they need it the most in the near future, took the massive amount of energy, handed Tom the Orb for a moment, then vanished and came back without all that energy.

Morgana hums, getting back on track after that little experiment, looking between the holder and the orb, and says "If I had to guess, one of the spells he cast on you as a baby was a siphon, to continuously drain and collect your magic. Eventually, the power you hold would've been too much for any Binding to contain, no matter how powerful it might be. But a siphon...well, if it's continuously draining, it can't rupture anything, can it?" Not unless it overwhelmed whatever it is the magic was siphoning to, presumably one of these orbs. And it apparently takes power like was almost nonexistent in Evelynn's time.

Merlin nods, saying "And the more of her magic he had at his disposal, the more he could affect her with spells and Compulsions. Or use it for himself, if he so desired. Wasn't he supposed to be all-powerful in your original time?"

Evelynn nods, face suddenly draining of color, then she claps a hand over her mouth and bolts towards the bathroom. Honestly, Tom can't blame her - with this little bit of information, the last piece of the mystery as to how he kept her under his control is solved…but how much he did to her has just been opened up to a whole new level of horrifying.

Lady Magic told him, during his training with her, that Evelynn's first year was spent adjusting to her Magical Core being forcibly freed and refilled - that she was used to a fraction of her true power, maybe 5%. If Dumbledore had that much power from her…well, if they had to go up against him in a straight duel, it might be easier than they'd thought. Still, danger comes in many forms, and raw strength is only one of them. Maybe even the least of them, being the most obvious. Peter Pettigrew is a prime example - weaker than his friends, a coward and a literal rat, he got the Potters killed, nearly got their daughter killed multiple times, and betrayed Voldemort only to end up dead. Pettigrew might not have been strong - and who the hell knows with this revelation, who knows just how much Dumbledore messed with everyone's heads? - but he was dangerous nonetheless.

Evelynn gets back a minute later, wiping at her mouth with the back of one hand, and quietly asks "Death, did Dumbledore create Voldemort? Directly create him?" Not just pushing him down that path, but forcing Tom to split his soul? Because it's looking distinctly like that's exactly what happened and it makes her sick to her stomach. Tom frowns, wondering why that came up, and Evelynn says "I've searched every single bookshelf in the entire library, even in the Restricted Section, from top to bottom three times over before Second Year even ended, Tom. I was searching for any books I found in Riddle Manor. I didn't find any of them, and…and, fuck, he must have them, he must. Those kinds of books aren't something you find in a school, dammit!"

Death sighs, then nods his head slowly and says "We believe he did, with this new piece of information. We don't know why, perhaps as a way to further elevate his status in Britain, but we believe he did…shall we say, influence Voldemort's creation."

Death takes the orb and holder and replaces them in the evidence room at the Ministry - he and Magic drained the orbs down and replaced them for the Aurors to find, and now he borrowed one and a holder from the room to give their mortals a heads-up before it gets revealed publicly at Dumbledore's trial.

A team of Gringotts Ward Breakers hand Dippett the results of the scan they did on the school Wards, and Dippett reads over it, calmly places the scroll on his desk…and takes in a deep breath to keep from screaming. Albus completely drained three Wards on the entire school, Gryffindor Tower has no protective Wards and a few spells to subtly make the Lions trust the man implicitly and practically worship him after enough time, as well as make them more aggressive towards snakes, there's several spells set up in the dungeons that are slowly affecting the Slytherins, making them more hostile towards Muggle-raised kids. More likely to not accept them, and the House with the most Muggleborns is...you have to be kidding.

"Dear Merlin," Dippett mutters, "he's been actively encouraging the House Rivalry. Slytherin and Gryffindor have been getting more and more antagonistic towards each other over the past few decades…ever since Albus was hired. What is he trying to accomplish?"

The Ward Breakers trade uneasy looks - Albus Dumbledore is known throughout the entire world as the only hope against Grindelwald, yet he's apparently just like him. Just playing a different game, so to speak, than the man. That's probably why he hasn't gone out and stopped the man by now, honestly.

After a moment, the lead Curse Breaker says "Headmaster, with these findings, we'd like your permission to do a search of Albus Dumbledore's quarters, as well as the Transfiguration classroom." Dippett nods his head tiredly, feeling like he's aged another decade in the past few minutes - every single time he thinks he's gotten to the bottom of Albus' machinations, something new and problematic crops up! It's giving him the mother of all migraines, to be honest.

Phineas Black clears his throat, and holds up a scroll with the words 'Scan us!' written boldly on it. What they find on the Headmaster Portraits is a plethora of spells on each frame, all mixed together after so much time - it takes a solid hour to reverse Dumbledore's muddled Charms, which may well have been intentional on his part, but finally the spells are off.

Phineas Black is the first to recover, saying "Oh, thank Merlin. The Aurors wouldn't have been able to break them, so I had my descendants tell the Aurors everything I knew, but he'd regularly make it so I couldn't see or hear what he'd do in here with Dippett. Likely because I have other portraits outside of Hogwarts. The others have almost certainly seen and heard things I haven't because he thought his spells would keep them from talking to anyone."

One of the other Headmasters, three portraits to the left, nods his head and says "Yes, we need the Aurors back here, there's things we weren't able to share until now. Phineas was only able to because the spells only affect the frames themselves. Hence the extra precautions he took with him!"

A third Portrait says "The first thing is to get Dippett seen to by a licensed Healer - not a Medi-Witch, a Healer! With Oaths sworn, to! We've seen Dumbledore spell Armando numerous times, spells none of us recognize! New inventions since our times, or perhaps something he came up with himself!"

The Curse-Breakers share exhausted looks, having already been all over the castle in the past six hours, and two of them Floo out - one to St. Mungo's and one to the Ministry to get the Aurors back out here.

They're going to end up scanning every single Portrait in this castle, aren't they?! Every staircase, every room, even the books and bookshelves in the library!

Chapter Text

Tom purses his lips as he glances at Evelynn yet again in Runes class, eying her sweat-covered forehead and the way her breathing is labored enough that he can hear it - normally, she's perfectly silent in as many ways as possible, a habit she learned at Four Privet Drive first and then reinforced at Hogwarts and on the run. Which normally includes things such as her breathing, walking, chewing, etc.

Today, though, there's a slight rasp in her breathing, something he noticed the instant he woke up this morning. And, as if that wasn't enough, she gave a third of her plate to Hedwig at breakfast - she usually eats a full plate at least, they both do after their respective childhoods without food, so for her to give so much to Hedwig means something's very wrong - Hedwig always gets something, usually bacon, and she supplements that with hunting, but she doesn't usually get that much.

The mass amounts of bacon she got for delivering the boxes was an exception rather than the rule, and they had to go to the House Elves for that.

Yet she insisted she was fine, hopped in the shower, and Tom could only shake his head and hope for the best while keeping an eye on her.

Once they get a break from classes, Tom drags Evelynn into an abandoned classroom as soon as they're alone and sits her on a desk. "Tom, what-"

Tom cuts her off by putting a hand to her forehead, then says "Evelynn, you're actually warm, which most likely means you're burning up." He can also see the way she's shivering, even underneath the long robes. In the weak lighting thanks to it being overcast today, she looks even paler than she naturally does, and Tom can't tell if it's just a trick of the lighting or if her skin really does look that sickly right now. Either way, it's making Tom even more worried than before. He slides his hand down to her cheek, which she leans into after a moment, and asks "Do you want to head to the Dorms, Evelynn?" He's not even going to ask if she thinks she can make it through classes, she'd undoubtedly say yes.

Evelynn shakes her head after a minute, sliding onto her feet and hanging onto his shoulder for a moment while saying "I can make it to Dinner…"

Tom purses his lips in irritation, then says "The instant classes are out, I'm taking you to the Dorm and giving you a Dreamless Sleep." He's convinced she stressed herself into being sick, between the nightmares they've both been having and her constant Warding of all their stuff - his cloak disappeared with her one night, for instance, and the next morning it came back with Runes for cleansing stitched into the inside, a Shielding Rune engraved on the inside of the clasp, and a real-time Diagnostic Charm cast on it. He doesn't blame her, considering the nightmares he's gotten about Dumbledore draining her blood into a crystal orb and attaching puppet strings to her from it, to name only one - he doesn't know what she's seen, as she never wants to talk about it after waking him up via casting spells to check his magic, scan the room, and even gone out into the corridor to see if anyone's there, and he doesn't push her for details.

He can piece enough things together from the fragments she says about 'leave Tom alone' and 'don't you dare cast a single spell on him.' 

Sure enough, once classes end, Tom's grabbing both his and Evelynn's things and they head down to the Dorms - he'd be practically dragging her if he wasn't worried about her losing her balance on the stairs, instead keeping her arm linked through his so she can lean on him if need be and he can catch her if she starts to tip over.

When they finally get into the Slytherin Common Room - three flights of stairs later - Tom quickly gets Evelynn's outer robe off before putting a hand to her cheek again and finding she's warmer than before. "Alright," Tom hisses, "into bed with you, Evelynn." When she starts to protest, he picks her up bridal style with ease.

Evelynn just puts her arms around his neck and rests her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes for a moment - or maybe she fell asleep for a bit, because Tom's setting her on the bed when she opens them back up. Once he sees she's awake, Tom crouches down - because he's easily going to be six feet tall, they've figured out as he's already towering over her despite her being as tall now as she was at the end of her sixth year - and cups his hands around her face while saying "Just stay in bed for a minute, alright? I'll be right back, I'm just going into the trunk to get some of the boxes."

At least they only have the one essay to finish up, and no Astronomy tonight. Tom seriously doubts she'd make it through the exhausting class.

He ends up getting a ham and cheese sandwich, fruit salad, and grape juice for Evelynn, and beef stew for himself with Pumpkin Juice. Evelynn manages the Fruit Salad, and half the sandwich, saying she'll finish it later - Tom frowns at her worriedly, but just nods and puts the Boxes in his trunk for the time being before easing her up and summoning a set of nightclothes for her.

And then he catches her by the elbows when she stumbles as soon as she tries to take a step, and he eases her back onto the bed as she blushes a brilliant shade of red in mortification. Tom fusses over her a moment, brushing strands of hair out of her face, and asks "You want to try for a shower? Or just go straight to sleep, Evelynn?"

Evelynn shakes her head, saying "I'll manage a shower. Just give me a moment." When she forces herself to her feet, clearly going on sheer stubborn willpower and not much else, Tom puts an arm around her waist to steady her and ignores her reassurances that she's capable of making it to the shower and back.

The next day, Evelynn's fever is worse and she gets so dizzy just sitting up that the room starts spinning. Getting an idea, Tom grabs the Time Turner and puts it around his neck under the collar of his robes, and says "I'll be back in…two minutes, Evelynn. Don't get up, alright? And I'll have some pepper-ups from Pomfrey, to." Tom checks his watch again and realizes he's got thirty seconds left, so he brushes Evelynn's hair out of her face before bolting out the door.

Sure enough, about ten seconds later, Tom opens the bathroom door and is at her side immediately. Evelynn finds herself wrapped up in the blanket he gave her for Christmas, a Pepper-Up in hand, and a very worried Tom kneeling down next to the bed. And then a cold pack gets placed on the back of her neck, even as Tom starts asking about a dozen questions from 'How are you feeling' to 'do you need a bucket?'

Evelynn gives him a smile, even as she knocks the Pepper-Up down, and says "I'm alright, Tom, really. Just a headache and a bit dizzy, is all."

Tom frowns, and says "You've got a fever, to. Any soreness? Fatigue?"

Evelynn shakes her head, and Tom nods before…climbing back into bed with her. "Tom? What about classes?"

Tom pulls the Time Turner out from his shirt, saying "Time Turner. I already went to classes for the day, came up with this before I left." And the only reason he managed to focus at all during any classes was because he told himself constantly that he'd turn back and arrive at the exact time he did. "You took care of me when I got that flu, remember? Now it's my turn." He's good at looking after his things, always has been once he got control over his magic, he'll manage just fine taking care of a sick Evelynn.

Probably.

Possibly.

Three days later, Evelynn's practically going out of her mind - Tom hasn't let her out of bed except to use the bathroom, and she's been feeling miserable on top of that.

Luckily - or, perhaps not - all the professors had noticed she was sick the one day she made it through classes, so nobody's questioned why she hasn't been attending or why Tom's the one turning her assignments in. It also means she can't use it as a reason to get out of bed and try to shrug off this bloody chest cold - she got hit in the head and chest with congestion about halfway through the first day, and the cough makes her head throb for a good minute after she stops.

And, every single time, Tom's there rubbing her back or with a glass of water, helping her back up and doing whatever he can think of - and, every time, Evelynn's reminded just how little Dumbledore ever bothered to actually learn about Tom. He said Tom never cared about anyone, never loved anyone - Tom never had anyone to love, plain and simple. How different things could have been, she thinks once more, if anyone had ever been there for him.

And then there's a warm glass pressed into her hands, the sharp tang of lemons filling her nose. Tom murmurs "I had Gerald get some lemons, Citrus is supposed to help with the mucus. And a hot drink will help your throat." Ergo, he made hot lemonade for her. Or, as close to lemonade as one can get when all they have is lemons, honey, and some water from the Water-Making spell. 

Evelynn takes a long sip, before setting it on the end table next to her and curling up into Tom's side once more - as much as she's chafing being fussed over, she will never deny the truth that it warms her more than the drink just did, Tom - anyone - caring enough to stay at her side so much when she's gross, sweaty, and coughing until she gags at times.

Chapter Text

Evelynn stares in resignation at the two items in front of her - the first is an official summons for Dumbledore's Trial, which is going to be held at the start of the new year. The real issue, though, is the second item - a box, the same kind of box girls all over the Great Hall have been getting for the past week and squealing about.

She doesn't particularly feel like squealing over a box of dress robes, though. Knowing the Black Family, they'll probably be ridiculously expensive, equally gorgeous, and perfect for her.

Why, oh why , couldn't she have gotten it out faster that she wasn't going to go to the Yule Ball?!

It's not that she isn't grateful for the gesture - really - but she'll probably never wear the thing more than once anyway, and she simply hates parties anyway. 

In an attempt to maybe convince herself the dress robes box is just a sick figment of her imagination, Evelynn picks up the summons and re-reads it again - it doesn't give her any more information than the first time, though. Just the date and time of the trial, and that as a student she's to be accompanied by either the Headmaster or her Head of House.

Dorea grins, nudging her in the side, and quietly says "Stop looking like somebody just snapped your wand, it'll be fun!" Evelynn's been to exactly two parties before - the first she was tense as a bowstring waiting for the Great Hall to erupt into spellfire aimed at her for whatever reason they could all think of, and the second came under fire halfway through.

And that's not even counting sixth year's Slug Club party, which she also loathed with a passion - boring, schmoozing, and her needing to smile and nod along to try and weasel the memory out of Slughorn.

So.

Much.

Fun.

Right along with the Slug Club meetings, dry as toast and equally as boring - she only went because Dumbledore had her trying to get Slughorn to 'collect' her.

Evelynn gives Dorea a deadpan look, and says "I hate parties, Dorea. Where you have to cake on a solid stone of makeup, dance and laugh and nod along to whatever topic is being discussed, and deal with endless schmoozing as people try to kiss up to you." Or just kiss you, like Cormac McLaggen tried to do before she escaped.

Dorea hums, then says "It's not that bad, Evelynn, really."

"That wasn't a 'it's not like that at all, you've got the wrong idea.'"

And then two more boxes land in front of her, which look like shoes and a jewelry set. Her flu couldn't have hit her the day before the Ball?!

Tom, Orion and Theodorus are standing in the Common Room with most of the other Fourth Years and up, waiting for the girls to start coming down. Tom fiddles with the emerald cufflinks at his wrists, and Orion semi-quietly says "Tom, relax. Enjoy the night."

Tom purses his lips, but doesn't comment - it's his first time wearing clothes this fancy, though. He's allowed to feel a little out-of-place in them, no matter that he's officially Lord Slytherin - at least he made sure he looks the part, not so much as a hair out of place. 

Feeling the part will just take some time. He was just adjusting the cufflinks to make sure they're straight is all.

And then, finally , the girls start coming down. Dorea and Walburga make their way through the crowd, Evelynn in tow, and Dorea says "Now I get why you prefer to keep your hair down. And why you Charmed your brush to keep it neat, Evelynn."

Walburga nods, asking "How did it manage to slip out so many times?!" They eventually resorted to copious amounts of Sticking Charms, enough hair gel and magical hairspray to leave a sheep's wool hard as concrete, and several enchanted hairclips to hold her hair in place - all to get Evelynn's hair to stay in a French Twist without any pieces slipping out.

Evelynn deadpans "It's a sign, even my hair knows this is a bad idea." She tugs at the sleeve of her dress, and hisses "I feel utterly ridiculous." Her face has more makeup caked on it than she's ever had in her entire life to date, she feels like she's going to topple over in the shoes, and she didn't even recognize herself in the mirror.

Tom steps forward, and hisses back "You look beautiful, Evelynn. Don't let anyone or anything try to make you think otherwise."  Oh, he knows why she's feeling like this - sixteen years of being degraded and de-humanized at every turn tends to do that. He'll just have to prove them wrong to her.

Evelynn blushes brightly and glances towards the fireplace, and Theodorus trades glances with Orion - if they didn't know Tom liked Evelynn, they'd know from the look on his face right now.

After a moment, Orion glances around and says "Looks like everyone's ready. C'mon, they're lining up. Seventh Years go first, and so on."

Evelynn and Tom slip into line, and Evelynn quietly hisses "You sure we can't stay in the dorm? We could find something to do, I'm sure."

Tom bites the side of his cheek to keep from agreeing immediately - there's several things he can think of doing when they've got the entire area, much less their dorm room, to themselves for several hours. After a moment, he hisses back "We might leave early. After a dance or two."

The honest-to-Merlin pout Evelynn gets for a moment is adorable, and she hisses "Tom, I loathe dancing."

"At least one. I want the entire school to know you're very much off-limits and to keep their hands to themselves."

That, Evelynn thinks, sounds about right .

It also probably means he's going to full-on make out with her in the middle of the dance floor, just to be sure nobody could possibly miss the hint.

All the Purebloods, along with Tom and Evelynn, put their masks up as soon as they get to the Great Hall entrance, and Tom leads them over towards a table near the dance floor. Evelynn sighs in utter relief that Tom apparently doesn't do 'mosh pits' as it were, and picks two glasses of punch up from the tray that floats over to them.

The two of them talk Runes…right up until the music changes to a slow dance and Tom rises to his feet. "At least one," he hisses into her ear, taking her hand and leading her to the dance floor.

Evelynn goes tense as soon as they're amongst the rest of the dancers, right up until Tom rests his hand at her lower back and murmurs "Let me lead, Evelynn, we'll be fine." He happens to be a gifted dancer, and Evelynn can move her feet perfectly fine in a battle - she just gets tripped up, literally, when she's focusing on everyone around her while trying to put her feet in the right spots at the some time.

Evelynn nods her head, and keeps telling herself nobody's paying attention to her right now, nobody's going to pull a fast one and Hex or Curse her in the middle of the dance. And, even if they tried, Tom would block the spell, find them, and end them after the party's over.

It probably says there's something very wrong with her when the possibility of Tom killing someone for her is more flattering and reassuring than anything else.

Evelynn tries to enjoy the dance - really, she does - and focus only on Tom's hand on her back and where to put her feet - still, it's a ridiculously long two and a half minutes later when the song ends and Evelynn can drag them out off the dance floor as subtly as possible.

Tom grins at her once they're safely away from the dance floor, and says "You did better than you expected, you know."

"Please, for the love of Merlin, don't tell me you want to go to one of these every month once we're out of Hogwarts."

Tom hums, then says "Certainly not every single month."

Evelynn groans inwardly, then says "But you do want to go to them."

Tom shrugs, then says "It's got to be a better way to change things than brute force."

Evelynn sighs, but says "True, fair point." Just please, for the love of Merlin, let me bow out of a few of them. I can make it up to you afterwards somehow.

Tom thinks he can come up with a few very satisfying ways she could do as much.

It's about three hours, two more dances, a kiss in full view of the entire room, and at least a dozen cups of punch later that the two of them head back down to their dorm room, and Evelynn stares at the dress after changing into a nightshift.

Tom asks "Going to keep it?" He knows she burned the last one to ashes after her first Yule Ball, and the dress she was in for Bill Weasley's wedding disappeared after she went on the run. 

Evelynn shrugs, saying "I think I will, since it was a gift and all. I'll have to find out if wearing the same dress to multiple events is some kind of offense or something." Much as she's loathe to admit it, the dress was much more comfortable than the one Molly Weasley bought her - that one was tight in all the wrong spots, itched ferociously, and the shoes pinched her feet then. To this day, she's not sure if that was genuinely all the woman could afford, or if it was some way to keep her secluded from the Pureblood scene even more - whatever the case, it certainly put her off balls, parties, and fancy social events in general.

After a moment's hesitation, Evelynn folds the dress and packs it in the box it came from, along with the shoes and jewelry, saying "I'll ask Dorea tomorrow. Whatever the case, that's a lot of money sitting in there and I don't want to offend anyone either way."

Tom nods, murmuring "True."

"I'm shortening the heels, though. Decorative snakes on the back or not, I'm shortening them. My feet are killing me."

Here's the dress, shoes and jewelry set! Yes, Slytherin Pride all the way with those shoes - I'm sure Evelynn can Enchant them so her feet aren't throbbing next time around!

Chapter Text

Tom, Evelynn, Charlus Potter, Lord Potter, Professor Slughorn, and Armando Dippet Apparate into the Ministry Atrium, and Evelynn immediately doubles over with one hand at her mouth trying to keep from projectile-vomiting.

Merlin, she hates Apparition - always has, always will. She might be capable of Apparating...but it will never not make her want to hurl.

One of the reasons she adores Shadow Magic so much, that feels much better in comparison. It's certainly never made her stomach want to rebel in protest of what she just decided to put it through.

Charlus goes wide-eyed, and asks "You alright? What's wrong?"

Evelynn rocks one hand back and forth, and Armando says "Apparition tends to have that effect first time around. It gets easier after you learn to do it yourself."

Slughorn grimaces sympathetically, he'd offer her a potion but they aren't allowed to bring any to a trial.

Keeps people from being poisoned on the stand.

Once Evelynn's willed her nausea into a more manageable level, she drops her hands from her mouth and swallows a few times. "I'm good," she rasps out. "Let's head in."

Nagini pokes her head out from Tom's shirt, making everyone but Tom and Evelynn jump in surprise, and Horace and Charlus both gape at the sight in horror. Tom quickly realizes the source of their expressions, and says "This is Nagini, she's a Maledictus I met over the summer. She happened to meet Dumbledore some years ago, and was rather insistent on attending the trial. Something about Newt Scamander getting a necklace or pendant of some kind from Grindelwald for Pr- excuse me, Mister Dumbledore?"

There's a choking sound from off to the left, and two figures hastily walk over - none other than Newt Scamander and Tina Goldstein themselves, much to Nagini's pleasure. She hisses a few times, and Tom numbly says "She says it's good to see you."

Newt picks his jaw up from the floor, and asks "You're a Parselmouth?"

Tom can't very well deny it, he literally took the most famous Parselmouth in all of history's name as his own. On top of that, he's got a fifteen-foot python wrapped around him and just translated for her. He's never been ashamed to be a Parselmouth,  especially not after learning he got it from the founder of his own House in Hogwarts, but he has learned the hard way thanks to Dumbledore that not everyone would be so accepting of it as he and Evelynn are.

The Purebloods in Slytherin always told him it was a gift, but he's smart enough to recognize they're probably just as biased about the subject as he is - they're in Slytherin's House, and Slytherin is a predominantly dark-leaning House in Hogwarts, both in politics and their own magic. For whatever reason, be it genetics or the Sorting Hat perhaps, most of the Slytherin students have dark or neutral Cores - Evelynn's something of an outlier there, being true neutral rather than borderline-dark like some. It didn't take very long for everybody to figure out it was just another hidden strength of hers - Dark and Light Cores have an easier time with spells of the same type, while Neutral Cores have to work for both - for Evelynn, though, it just means she's better at both than either side.

A Patronus in three tries, for instance, and a corporeal one at thirteen - hells, a Patronus at thirteen, period.

Newt and Nagini spend a few minutes talking, with Tom being a translator for Nagini, and soon enough the slightly-larger group heads in to take their seats, with Lord Potter going to take his place with the rest of the Wizengamot.

Evelynn glances around, taking note of everyone discretely - with Tom sending over a thought about three dark-skinned people two rows down and four people to the right he's really certain aren't from Britain - and Nagini hisses "Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel just sat down behind us."

Tom and Evelynn trade shocked glances, both of them just barely resisting the urge to look back and see for themselves, and Tom hisses to Nagini "What do they look like? Are they looking around for Dumbledore?" There's every possibility the famous couple are just here for the trial, same as most everyone else - maybe they'll give testimony about Dumbledore and the time he spent learning under them.

"Perenelle just glances at Evelynn and nodded her head, then said something into Nicolas' ear. From what I remember, she was supposed to be gifted with Seer abilities."

Evelynn and Tom trade glances, and Tom hisses "Any ideas what they might have seen?"

"Who knows, Tom? I'm sure I don't. As for what they look like, Nicolas has snow-white hair and is rather frail, while Perenelle has more gray than white in her own. Despite their age, though, I can guarantee both of them are sharp as ever - Nicolas just nodded at me, for instance."

Fortunately, both of them are saved from trying to think of why that might be when Dumbledore gets 'escorted' in - frog-marched by four armed Aurors, more like. Hands bound in front of him, Suppression cuffs on, and looking distinctly unkempt - even his beard and hair look like he hasn't brushed them in several days. The only improvement, in Evelynn and Tom's opinions anyway, is the detail that the prison-robes are all-black - a single color, and not one that makes people's eyes bleed at that, with no garish decorations either.

That's not to say they aren't taking a large amount of vindictive pleasure in how he's been handling prison life so far.

The chains on the single chair in the middle of the floor - is this seriously Courtroom 10?!?! - wrap tightly around Dumbledore as soon as he's seated, and it's only then that the bindings on his wrists get removed.

Evelynn raises an eyebrow before sneering at the man for a moment - good, let him feel a taste of what she did at fifteen years old when she'd been blindsided and nearly railroaded into Azkaban like Sirius was in this very courtroom. She hopes he feels as fucking terrified as she did that day, as alone and helpless as she did when all the odds were stacked against her before she even entered the courtroom.

Except, this time, there's nobody coming to save him at the last minute.

Glancing around one last time, Evelynn's slightly surprised to find there aren't a pack of reporters in the room - only about four, each with a name badge on, likely one from each big magazine and the Prophet. She remembers there being at least ten reporters in her 'hearing' armed with cameras and self-writing quills. And then the Minister starts talking, first calling out a series of people like Fudge did in her own before moving onto a list of charges that silences the courtroom at once - probably due to the detail that it was just announced that Dumbledore, the man regarded as the only hope of stopping Grindelwald, is now being accused of plotting with the man and intent to commit treason and terrorism.

The lawyer appointed to Dumbledore calls out "I object to the use of Veritaserum, it's a violation of my client's rights!" He knows what he's been signed up for, and his only saving grace is that, no matter the outcome, it'll be a huge feather in his cap. He's absolutely disgusted at the evidence provided, but it's his job to defend his clients no matter the evidence presented against them - that doesn't mean he isn't going to scrub himself raw and then drink himself into blissful oblivion after the trial is over, of course.

Minister Lestrange - the Lestrange twins' great-uncle once removed, if Evelynn remembers what she read in their ruined manor correctly - calls out "Denied! Due to the severity and nature of the crimes, the Wizengamot has unanimously voted to administer the potion."

Lord Potter was the biggest voice for it, unsurprisingly, using every ounce of political clout he has to ensure three drops of Veritaserum go down Dumbledore's throat. If he's innocent, as Lord Potter argued, he's got nothing to hide - if he's guilty, he won't be able to lie his way out of it.

He already refused Veritaserum during the interrogation, making the latter much more likely - and they really cannot afford to wrongfully acquit Albus Dumbledore, not with the severity of the charges presented.

Aberforth Dumbledore is the first to be called up to the stand, making Albus pale drastically as his younger brother walks up and takes the stand. After Aberforth is sworn in, the Minister asks "How would you describe your relationship with your brother?"

Aberforth deadpans "There isn't one. Not since Arianna was murdered."

Dumbledore goes ashen, even as Tom and Evelynn trade glances - they'd thought they'd end up explaining how Arianna got killed, Evelynn even memorized a semi-fake script about how she was in GOdric's Hollow trying to research the Peverell Family and met Bathilda Bagshot by accident.

Looks like Aberforth is going to do it for them - and in greater detail than they could possibly provide, to boot.

"What, exactly took place when Arianna died?"

Aberforth gets a look of grief on his face as he says "I'd found out about Albus and Gellert's plans about the Muggles. I tried to put a stop to it, they'd be carting Arianna around with them constantly since I was still in Hogwarts. It came to wands, Albus and Gellert fighting me while Arianna was safe in a shield I'd Conjured. She stepped outside when Gellert hit me with a Curse and I went down…and, the next thing I can remember, she was lying dead on the ground not a foot away from me and Gellert was running."

Minister Lestrange swallows, and asks "You spoke of plans Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald had together."

"Yes."

"What were they?" Does he even want to know? Can he dare risk not knowing?

"They wanted to rule the Muggles. Reveal us and magic to them, control them. Planned it all out, how they'd do it. What they'd do if it came to violence or even war. And how to ensure they remained rulers forever."

Aberforth keeps talking, detailing how the two had met Grindelwald in the summer holidays - he'd just been there when they got back from Hogwarts, having come to Godric's Hollow at some point between them leaving for Hogwarts after winter break and arriving after Albus' last year was over.

How the two boys had hit it off at once, how they shared a near-obsession with experimenting with magic.

How Gellert confided in Albus that he believed the Hallows were very real, believed that collecting all three could make someone or perhaps even multiple someone's immortal.

How Albus refused to allow Aberforth to drop out of Hogwarts, even though the job he wanted required no Mastery, no N.E.W.T.s and he'd passed his O.W.L.s well enough just the year before.

How they started tracking the Elder Wand, and tracing the Peverell Line down the generations.

How he'd come back from Hogwarts and found an entire room filled with floating notes, history books, and records.

How he learned of their plans, plans they made sure to make for once he was off to Hogwarts once more. He went to confront them, make them stop...and that was the duel that killed Arianna.

And, no, he doesn't think Dumbledore has 'seen the light' - he wanted to rule the world, and ended up surrounded by impressionable children. And, given the detail that they asked him about the search for the Hallows, he never stopped tracking down any potential Peverells.

Dumbeldore's lawyer doesn't even attempt to question Aberforth, as the sheer hatred coming off him in waves is apparently enough to indicate he wouldn't get a favorable response whatsoever.

Chapter Text

Armando Dippet gets called up next, and Evelynn snickers quietly when she sees Dumbledore go absolutely ashen in his seat - worse than even when Aberforth mentioned Ariana, and that's quite the feat. Even more so when he sees the uncharacteristically stern look on the normally-cheerful man's face.

Tom murmurs "This is going to be good…"

Evelynn whispers back "No, this is going to be excellent." She's never seen a look anywhere near that utterly furious on Armando Dippet before, the man has always looked so cheerful and happy after she recovered - and it always struck her as genuine, to. A far cry from how Dumbledore would play at being the doddering old fool whenever possible, let people underestimate him so they'd never suspect him of being a scheming old...she can't even call him a snake, it's an insult to both Slytherins and actual snakes. A scheming old...old cockroach hiding in the grass. But, this...

Armando Dippet, the usually quiet, cheerful Armando Dippet she's never once seen get this furious before - he looked gutted rather than furious when she and Tom got called up to his office - looks like he wants to rip Dumbledore limb from limb.

She can't say she blames him, knowing all too well what it feels like to know everything you've felt and thought for years has been at his whims.

Dippet takes the witness stand, gets sworn in, and Minister Lestrange asks "Headmaster, how would you characterize your relationship with Albus Dumbledore these past years?"

Dippet scowls, but says "Amicable, generally. He would favor his Gryffindors, treat the Slytherins harshly, but I always brushed it off as getting a little too into the House Rivalry…most likely because there were several potions running through my system for…the Healer's scan couldn't say how old they were, just that they were potent suggestibility draughts, drowsiness potions, and several spells on my mind that were keyed to Albus and forced me to either overlook or forget what he wanted me to look. After I had the potions purged from my system and my mind cleared, however, I can safely say I have no relationship with Albus Dumbledore any longer."

Tom quietly takes Evelynn's hand in his own and squeezes it tightly - seems she wasn't the first person Dumbledore controlled in such ways. The similarities to what she's described Dumbledore having done to her, though, are enough to make him exceptionally wary. He had to start somewhere, it's true...but it takes guts to go that far with someone as powerful as Dippet.

Even moreso when he's the one that employs the culprit.

"Especially concerning was the spell that forced me to consider nobody but Albus for Deputy Headmaster, as well as my eventual successor. In light of everything, he has been permanently terminated and shall never set foot in Hogwarts again."

All the air leaves Evelynn at once, almost like she's just been punched in the gut - but, if Dumbledore getting investigated seemed impossible…him actually getting removed feels like she's just jumped timelines. She hardly dares breathe, the hand in hers feeling like the only thing keeping her grounded. Still, she doesn't dare hope that things will keep going so well - in her bitter experience, it's when things are going so well for her that life likes to take it all away. Tom gives her a small shock to the palm of her hand to draw her attention, and that'd be when she realizes she's practically crushing his hand in her grip.

Minister Lestrange asks "Can you describe one instance of something he'd want you to overlook, Headmaster?"

Dippet purses his lips, then says "Ever since Albus was hired, I haven't thought to do a full check on the school Wards. Everything seemed fine, nothing went wrong, so it just never came up - it's only now that I realize one of the spells he cast on me was to prevent me from checking the Wards, to keep me from discovering his tampering with them. Mainly around Gryffindor Tower right now, something he could talk himself out of with the reasoning of him being Head of Gryffindor, but the Ward to keep dangerous creatures out of the Wards was completely drained. I've got to get a Team of Ward Masters to the school this summer when all the students are away to completely re-work the Ward Scheme - or, at least, most of them."

Dumbledore stiffens at once, jerking in his chair, and Tom narrows his eyes while murmuring "Most of them?"

Evelynn hisses "He doesn't mean-"

Minister Lestrange clears his throat, asking "Most of them?"

"Given the state of the world, both Magical and Muggle, it's very likely that a number of Muggle-raised children will be safest staying at the school over the summer holiday. There are more than enough House Elves to keep an eye on them, should the need arise - and, at least at Hogwarts, they'll be able to defend themselves or escape using their magic should something happen without fearing being expelled and their magic bound. I've had several dozen Muggle-raised students tell me Albus told them this would happen should they use magic outside of Hogwarts for any reason."

There's an angry murmur from the jury, but nobody seems to notice the way the room temperature suddenly drops five degrees at Dippet's words - but Evelynn dearly wants to vault straight over to Dumbledore in front of the whole jury and throttle the old man, and Tom's seriously considering doing so with her. How many times had either of them asked to stay at Hogwarts? What wouldn't they have done to stay where they were safe, warm, and had three meals a day?

Dippet had told Tom that it wasn't possible, that Hogwarts couldn't house students during the summer as most of the teachers were gone at that time. And Dumbledore told Evelynn that the 'Blood Wards' made her aunt and uncle's home the safest place for her. And now, Dippet's going and upending all of that - even if he doesn't know it and never will. 

Merlin, it's enough to make him want to scream. 

Minister Lestrange carefully says "It was the general impression that Hogwarts did not house any students over the summer, Headmaster. What brought this sudden change, precisely?"

Dippet scoffs, actually scoffs, and says "Pardon my tone, Minister, but Hogwarts houses close to a thousand people on a daily basis for nine months of the year. A few dozen, maybe a hundred, is more than feasible for a few extra months. What brought about this sudden change is my mind being free of Albus Dumbledore's machinations for the first time in decades." And, oh is he spitting mad - the Goblins at Gringotts gave him the strongest Calming Draught they could risk after the Potions Purge was done and the spells removed from his mind, and it barely scratched the surface of the urge to rip Dumbledore apart. Now, he's not feeling quite so murderous, but no less furious at Dumbledore.

The Minister asks "And you believe there will be students seeking to remain at Hogwarts over the summer?"

"I've already turned down numerous requests from various students over the past few years to stay at Hogwarts, Minister, thanks to Dumbledore's spells on my mind. Yes, once I announce that Hogwarts will be open to any who wish to remain for the summer, I believe many of the Muggle-raised students will want to stay. As it is, six of the Muggle-raised students never returned from the summer holidays."

There's a horrified silence for a moment, until Minister Lestrange clears his throat and solemnly says "I…I see, Headmaster. That is eye-opening indeed."

No, Dippet wants to scream, what's eye-opening is a box of truly damning evidence against one man appearing in front of half the people in the courtroom today! What's eye-opening is the Potions Purge and ritual to remove controlling spells I had to go through so I could think clearly for this!

What's eye-opening is going through that box of evidence a second time, while he was still recovering in Gringotts, and everything no longer being obscured by Albus' manipulations. Merlin, he's had a monster like this employed all these years, surrounded by impressionable children, given free reign with them…no matter how much of it was forced by Albus, it still makes him want to be sick.

Dumbledore's defense lawyer swallows nervously once the prosecutor ends his questioning, having provided all the jurors with copies of the Healer's scan Dippet had done as well as a summary of the damage to the Wards, and asks "How can you be sure it was my client who cast all these spells and administered the potions? Many of these seem extremely advanced, after all, and he is no Potions Master." He's not even going to touch on the damage to the Wards at this point, he never took Runes as it all went straight over his head back then.

Dippet, very obviously bristling at the implication that Professor Slughorn could've been the one to Potion him, snaps "The first three spells were cast on the day I interviewed Albus Dumbledore for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. I left that interview with the mindset that he was the most suitable person for the position, and immediately hired him. As for the Potions, the Healers I went to informed me the Potions I'd been under were a mix of Alchemy and Potions, and none of the ingredients were anything the resident Potions Master we have employed had ever requested or could be harvested from the Forbidden Forest."

The lawyer swallows once more, and eventually says "It's possible, though, that a skilled Potions Master could've-"

"Horace has no background in Alchemy, young man. Always preferred a Potions Cauldron to trying to recreate the Flamels' Stone for money or eternal life. Albus Dumbledore, however, took Alchemy as an elective for his last two years of Hogwarts and was all too happy to boast how he apprenticed under Nicholas Flamel himself - so much so, that I'd thought he mistook the Defense interview for a Potions one."

The lawyer even Tom is starting to feel just a bit bad for goes pale, then nods his head and squeaks "No further questions…"

Minister Lestrange frowns, glancing around at the courtroom, then calls out "I believe a fifteen minute recess is in order." He can already tell this trial is going to last a long time - probably several days at this point.

As it is, the Flamels are up next, and then they have to move onto the next trial for the day - they haven't even brought in most of the students from Hogwarts the Prosecutor planned to use as character witnesses for his behavior!

Chapter Text

Nicholas sits down at the witness stand, expression grave as he gets sworn in, and Lestrange asks "What was Dumbledore like when he was studying under you?" 

Nicholas hums, saying "He was…eager to learn, always curious about Alchemy - particularly the Stone and its uses. The differences between regular gold and Alchemically-made Gold, how it might be used in various ways for magic. He wanted us to teach him more, wanted Perenelle to teach him spells and Rituals that've been long-lost bar our memories, but she refused. Said she always had an uneasy feeling about him. I should've listened to her, I admit - but, I was so caught up in the idea of having a competent student…" He shrugs, and says "You don't live as long as the two of us have without making some mistakes. Teaching Albus, unfortunately, was one of my bigger ones this past century." Had she been able to give a specific event or concern to investigate beyond her uneasiness, he'd have Obliviated the man of his whereabouts and they'd have moved to America for a few decades - as it is, Perenelle's uneasiness never focused or dissipated, giving them no clear choice. For all they knew, at first, she had gas, for Merlin's sake! And he'd done nothing at the time to warrant them tossing him out on his backside - and they'd watched, waiting for him to do something they could act on.

He never did, unfortunately.

Minister Lestrange raises an eyebrow, asking "Why even take him as a student, if your wife had a bad feeling about him?" If he sounds skeptical, it's because you don't live several centuries without some trustworthy instincts. He'd genuinely like to know why the Flamels didn't listen to them this time - he'd think Dumbledore got to them to, except it sounds completely preposterous that a...what, thirty-something man clearly wanting something from them managed to either Potion or Compel two experienced Alchemists with a Stone that not only keeps them alive but is an unlimited source of gold.

Nicholas asks "Have you done nothing you've come to regret? I enjoy teaching, and it had been three hundred years since I'd last found someone with the intellect and interest for Alchemy. And Perenelle's bad feeling about him never grew into anything more specific, anything we could identify or act on. I didn't jump straight in, however. I met with him dozens of times before officially accepting him as a student. I interviewed him, tested him, learned all I could about him. I knew of his sister, confronted him about it - he swore he'd been in love with Grindelwald, swore he'd been fueled by revenge towards the Muggles that had harmed her that the young man had stoked. I made him swear an Unbreakable Vow that he wasn't in contact with Gellert Grindelwald for the duration of his time with us, that he would not use what he learned from either of us to aid in his cause. I took every precaution the both of us could think of before agreeing to teach the man."

Minister Lestrange frowns, then asks "Could you identify an object the Unspeakables have been studying? Explain its purpose, perhaps? Nobody has ever seen anything like it before."

Nicholas frowns, saying "Perhaps, if given time to examine the object in question."

The Undersecretary pulls out a box, and pulls out one of the Crystal Orbs and a Holder confiscated from Dumbledore's quarters. Minister Lestrange clears his throat to silence the uneasy muttering spreading through the courtroom, and says "A number of these were confiscated from Albus Dumbledore's quarters in Hogwarts. Perhaps you or Mrs. Flamel could shed some light on this mystery." The Unspeakables gave him one theory, but it's so abhorrent that he's grasping at straws hoping for anything else. Storing and manipulating a person's magic to affect them without anyone the wiser, potentially puppeteering generation after generation…it makes him want to be sick.

Nicholas takes the crystal orb delicately, and almost immediately says "There's traces of magic in the orb, it was used as a Reservoir for magic. How much or whose, I cannot say. As for the metal holder…" He studies it for several minutes, eyes darkening and expression turning to a furious scowl as the seconds go by, and eventually says "It's made of pure gold, created via Alchemy - likely a prototype Sorcerer's Stone. The Runic inscriptions, though, ensure the magic inside the crystal ball does not dissipate, and make it possible for any spells cast upon the magic take effect as if they were cast on the person themselves. It's a truly abhorrent use of magical knowledge, something that shouldn't exist."

Minister Lestrange lets off a Banging Hex to restore order in the courtroom after the expected outburst erupts from the spectators, looking like he wants to grab a garbage can and throw up, and asks "With that in mind, what might someone do to a person with this?" As much as he dearly wishes the Unspeakables hadn't been right this time, they were and now they need to learn just why Dumbledore might've made this monstrosity of a piece of magic.

Nicholas darkly says "Anything the caster wants. Make someone their obedient puppet? Compulsions on their magic would affect them just as easily. Make their schoolwork suffer? Done. Isolate them from afar? Make their emotions uncontrollable? Make them kill someone? All without a scrap of evidence of the caster's involvement. Even make them perform rituals, harm or even mutilate themselves, set them up with somebody without even needing to Potion them, it all depends on the whims of whoever is using this monstrosity of an Enchanted object."

"I'm gonna be sick!" One person sprints from the room, hand clapped over their mouth, and that seems to be the cue for several other people to do the same.

Charlus looks like he wants to be one of them, expression gone clammy as he stares unblinkingly at Dumbledore's form on the chair, and Evelynn looks like she's not trying to stalk over there and kill Dumbledore purely because she's gone into shock.

Tom, for his part, is surprised to realize he's probably the calmest of the three of them - though, that's not a hard bar to set. Charlus had no idea, and Evelynn already had it all happen to her, after all. He, on the other hand, had prior warning and hasn't had any consequences of Dumbledore's scheming fall on his head as of yet.

Still, he can start to see his breath misting in the air.

Leaning over, he murmurs "Easy, Evelynn. He'll fall, and hard, but we need to keep it together." Easier said than done, he knows, when he can practically see the possibilities of what he'd done to her, what he'd done to Voldemort, piling up in her head as Flamel speaks. He's not Voldemort, he's not - but, if Dumbledore had his way…he's sure he would've ended up that raging madman.

Somehow, through sheer force of stubborn will, Evelynn manages to stay silent and mostly still in her seat while Flamel testifies - he's apparently part character witness, part expert in Runes, Alchemy, and everything else Dumbledore's been using for his own ends for the duration of the trial.

Nagini sliding from Tom to her certainly helps, even as Evelynn's physically shaking where she sits, the hand not in Tom's gripping her robes so tightly both Tom and Charlus are amazed it hasn't torn yet. Still, it's better than her gripping the knife they both know she has hidden on her somewhere.

Finally, though, the testimony is over for the day, with Slughorn herding them out quickly upon seeing the state Evelynn's in - clearly, he can tell Dumbledore's life is, in fact, in actual danger if she doesn't get back to Hogwarts without seeing him.

As soon as they get back to the school, Evelynn heads for the dungeons to find a very deserted room to unleash her absolute rage in safely.

Most everyone in Slytherin sits in total silence, the first through third years having been sent to the Dorms - Tom's sitting in front of the fire, one hand holding a bag of ice to his head since the Headache Reliever he took didn't even touch the throbbing in his skull, and Evelynn's nowhere to be found after storming deep into the dungeons.

It's the single tensest situation anyone present has ever been in - and that includes the time Antonin and the Carrows tried and failed to Duel Evelynn and the night she brought back that box of evidence. Orion and Theodorus sit down on either side of Tom gently, and Theodorus eventually asks "How'd it go?"

Tom hums, shifting the conjured ice pack slightly so he can glance at his friend, and says "We can't say, not until it's all said and done and the transcripts are released. But…I doubt students won't be called. Call it a hunch." Or, call it Dumbledore messed with the Wards around Gryffindor Tower, who knows what other modifications were found, and there's no way he wasn't affecting the students. Also, the probability that he was storing students' magic in the crystal orbs is far too strong.

Orion leans forward, a familiar gleam in his eyes as he asks "You think some of us will be called?"

Tom shrugs, saying "Can't say for sure, couldn't say if we were. But…he always favored the Gryffindors, after all. And hated us Slytherins. I doubt it was by chance."

Theodorus nods, saying "Fair. How's Evelynn taking it all?"

Tom grimaces, then says "About as well as could be expected."

Orion hums, then asks "She managed to keep her composure by the skin of her teeth, and is now demolishing some poor classroom, then?"

"Mm-hm. Something tells me this is going to be…let's just say we're all going to be wearing heavy coats and thick socks for the foreseeable future."

As if to prove Tom correct, a draft of freezing cold air blows into the Common Room as one unlucky Fifth Year comes in shivering. "Holy mother of Merlin, it's freezing out there. As in, we might all get frostbite staying out there too long."

Hedwig appears on Tom's shoulder, flapping her wings and looking more agitated than any of them have ever seen the usually regal bird. She then promptly flames him over to Evelynn as soon as he's standing up from the couch - when he sees Evelynn, he understands why she's so worried.

There's a solid layer of ice all around the room - the floor, the walls, the ceiling, everywhere - covered by a layer of frost so thick it keeps him from slipping as he makes his way over to Evelynn.

And Evelynn herself…she's got ice and frost in her hair, built up on her robes, and she's collapsed in a snow back and trembling where she sits - and Tom's sure it's not from the cold. Exhaustion or fury, maybe fear if she started thinking about what Dumbledore could've been planning for him - but, cold? She hasn't been affected by the cold in literal years.

Sitting down next to Evelynn, he puts an arm around her and pulls her into his side - predictably, she's freezing.

He wouldn't be surprised if she'd managed to channel the Void itself in her rage, right now.

After a moment, Evelynn hisses "I want him dead, Tom. I want to rip him apart so he can't get to anyone ever again."

Tom nods, saying "So do I. But we can't just kill him."

Evelynn nods silently.

"We need to destroy everything he has."

"I know." That doesn't mean she doesn't still want him dead, want to make it so he can't ever threaten Tom with Voldemort ever again - she genuinely believes Dumbledore forced Tom to split his soul, he's too damn smart to not know that splitting something as fundamental as one's soul is a really bad idea. 

Even if he didn't care, the loss of so much of his magic would've put him off after just the one! He's said as much himself!

After a moment, Tom adds "Revenge is a dish best served cold." At least that gets a dark chuckle out of Evelynn - one full of murderous intent, true, but it's better than her raging and being unable to act on any of it.

Dumbledore's trial is going to be hard; they knew it before Hedwig sent out those boxes, but they'd thought it would be because he'd be trying to talk his way out of things - he hasn't even started talking yet, and already it's testing both their limits.

Chapter Text

Tom and Evelynn watch as Charlus heads up to the witness seat - he's been called as a character witness for Dumbledore, something that's going to backfire spectacularly and the scheming fool doesn't even know it yet. Charlus swallows a few times after giving the standard oath to tell the truth, and Dumbledore's lawyer asks "Can you describe a typical interaction with Mr. Dumbledore?"

Charlus swallows again, then says "Usually, it'd be in Transfiguration class. He'd do the lecture, have us attempt to Transfigure our items…for the Gryffindors, he'd give points if we got it right. For the Slytherins, though, he'd ignore them if they got it right or he'd hover over Tom like he was waiting for him to get it wrong. And, ever since Evelynn showed up, her to."

Dumbledore looks absolutely floored as Charlus goes on, saying how Dumbledore always seemed to favor him, even among his fellow Gryffindors, how he's always seemed to despise Tom Riddle despite the boy never making any trouble whatsoever in his class…or any other classes, for that matter. Perfect track record for classes, never so much as a missed homework or botched spell.

And then he gets to the Boggart Lesson he oversaw, and tells everyone about the calculating look he saw on Dumbledore's face for a moment. And then how his doubts just faded away once Dumbledore's expression turned back to his usual genial expression - like he was Compelled to trust him.

The speculation makes Evelynn suck in a sharp breath through her teeth, seems he's been using that card longer than she realized - still, it's a smart move, she has to admit.

Trust isn't so easily broken by outside means, especially when that trust is magically induced. Trust makes someone overlook warning signs, blindly follow instructions, and lose everything when it's taken too far...and Dumbledore would absolutely force those he trusts to take it too far.

She would know.

He made her trust him, so she ignored any warning signs she might have noticed in her old time.

Hells, he made the entirely of Magical Britain trust him, so they practically worshipped the ground he walked on - it took him saying a psychotic madman was back, followed by an extensive smear campaign, for that trust to waver even a little. And then, only because nobody wanted to believe Voldemort was back.

He made them all trust him, so nobody thought to check on the orphaned little girl he made disappear for a decade - and nobody could see past the title he forced on her to the abused little girl he had trapped in his schemes.

They trusted him, so nobody thought to actually check to make sure Wool's Orphanage was as good as he claimed it was for Tom.

Dippet trusted him, so he never thought to make sure he wasn't traumatizing students when he went to introduce them to the Wizarding world or blatantly harassing some due to his own biases.

Evelynn doesn't even hear the rest of Charlus' testimony, the words 'I trusted him!' rolling around in her skull like a snowball that's only getting bigger and bigger. She told that to Aberforth that night, that she trusted the ex-headmaster.

That was what was going back and forth in her head like a Quaffle when she saw that news article, where it said Ron and Hermione had been given evidence by Dumbledore that she'd go Dark like Voldemort - that she'd trusted him and he betrayed her long before.

She trusted him, and he knew she was a Horcrux the whole time.

She trusted him, and he had her walk to her death.

She trusted him…and then he killed her, even if second-handedly. Killed her via Tom, tried to kill her via all of Britain…if she hadn't known for sure that he was dead, she'd have wondered if he was still secretly alive somewhere, cooking up new schemes to see her dead.

It's when Tom squeezes her hand that she's dragged out of her spiraling thoughts, just in time to see him rising.

Nagini, who's wrapped around her this time, hisses "Tom's just been called as a witness. Charlus' testimony wasn't good for Dumbledore."

Charlus sits down right then, quietly asking "You good? You had this look…" She looked like she wanted to kill Dumbledore herself. At least it wasn't like the look Dumbledore got back at that Boggart lesson.

Evelynn just shakes her head, murmuring "Not even a little." She'll be alright when Dumbledore's either locked away in Azkaban or has a make-out session with a Dementor.

As soon as Tom is sworn in, Minister Lestrange says "Heir Potter stated that Dumbledore targeted you in particular, correct?"

Tom nods, saying "Yes, sir. He's disliked me since the day he came to Wool's with my Hogwarts letter."

"Can you describe that first meeting?"

Tom pulls a grimace, and states "A Healer ran a full diagnostic scan on me, and found evidence of a Compulsion from that day. Would that make my testimony invalid?" At Minister Lestrange's denial, Tom says "I was waiting in my room as Mrs. Cole told me to when Mr. Dumbledore came into the room. I'd overheard her talking to some of the other adults at the orphanage that she wanted me looked at, that she thought there was something wrong with me. Faced with a man I'd never seen before, in a rather unusual suit no less, I thought she'd actually gone through with it. When he said he was like me, and asked if I could do things the other kids couldn't, I thought it was a trick of some kind and wanted him to prove it. He decided proving he was telling the truth meant setting my wardrobe on fire, potentially burning everything I had bar the clothes on my back to ashes. I can only speculate that that's when he used the Compulsion Charm on me, as I looked over at him when it happened. I then proceeded to tell him everything I could do, despite having learned to keep my abilities a secret from everyone around me and only having met Mr. Dumbledore not two minutes prior."

The temperature suddenly drops rapidly, and this time people seem to notice - of course, given the detail that there's mist coming from Tom's mouth when he breathes out, it's fairly obvious. When he glances over, Evelynn looks like Death being in her head is the only thing stopping her from vaulting herself over three rows of people, straight to Dumbledore, and choking the life from him.

Once everyone's either disregarded the sudden drop in temperature or convinced themselves it's not important, Tom proceeds to answer questions about his time at Hogwarts, the scrutiny he's been under from Dumbledore, and how it's affected his experience at Hogwarts. The room doesn't get any warmer throughout his testimony, but at least Evelynn stays sitting down...even though her eyes are glowing Avada-green and Tom's sure any glass would be frosted over by now.

Dumbledore's lawyer clears his throat, looking distinctly nervous, and asks "Can you repeat what, exactly, you told my client you could do when you first met him?" The memory is damning, and he knows it - his only hope is to somehow paint this teenager as someone Dumbledore had a reason to be suspicious of.

Tom purses his lips for a moment, having fully expected this tactic, and says "I can. I said I could make things move without touching them, could make animals do what I wanted without training them. I said I could make bad things happen to people who were mean to me, could make them hurt if I wanted."

"And did you want to make them hurt?"

Tom raises an eyebrow at him, asking "Tell me something, have you ever been surrounded by people who don't understand you? Who can't possibly begin to make sense of what's going on? I was the only Magical child in Wool's Orphanage for my entire life, potentially in the entire time Wool's Orphanage has been open. The Matron and all the other adults had no idea about my magic, and thought I was possessed by the Devil. The other kids knew I was different, no matter the detail that I'd been born and raised in those walls. They either feared or hated me, and one boy and his two friends in particular took to making my life - as well as that of the rest of the younger children - as difficult as possible. Yes, I'd want Billy Stubbs and his two cronies to hurt after they'd cornered me and beat me up, that doesn't mean I had any idea my then-unknown magic would make it happen at the time. It's called accidental magic for a reason, after all."

Evelynn's voice filters into his mind, murmuring Breathe, Tom. Easy, you've made your point and then some.

Glancing around, Tom's relieved to find most of the jury members are looking at him in sympathy - one or two in pity, true, but there's not a single negative look in the crowd. And, as much as he despises being the target of someone's pity in general, it's the preferable outcome to them believing Dumbledore's spiel. Feeling some of the tension bleed out of him - how he hates revisiting Wool's Orphanage, even in just a discussion! - he adds "Suffice it to say, I learned control rapidly. By the time your client came to introduce me to Hogwarts, I could direct my magic at will. At that point, just because I could make someone hurt somehow doesn't mean I would."

The lawyer swallows, then says "I see." Because, really, what is he supposed to say to that? Anyone in this room can - hypothetically - make someone hurt if they want to, it's part of having magic. Tripping Jinxes have been around for decades now - they're taught in second year, dammit! - they teach the Cutting Curse in fourth year, and setting things on fire via an Incendio is one of the first things he learned in third. Clearing his throat, he asks "And, the items that my client had you remove from your wardrobe? What of those? Possessions of other children in the orphanage?"

Tom couldn't stop the derisive chuckle that escapes him if he had a straight year to prepare for it, shaking his head as he says "Those? I took them from Billy Stubbs after he and his two friends attempted to beat me up not three hours before - he'd stolen them from some of the younger children, and I'd planned on getting them back to their rightful owners once I was sure Cole wouldn't turn up believing I'd been taking them in the first place."

He's sent to go back to his seat after that, the lawyer apparently not having any idea of what to try and ask - Dumbledore apparently didn't have anything for him other than to try and paint Tom as some kind of villain.

And then, much to Tom and Evelynn's inner delight, Minister Lestrange leans forward in his seat, fixes Dumbledore with a piercing look, and asks why he had several memories of both Tom Riddle, the Gaunts, and the Potters stored for viewing in a Pensieve. He wasn't sure whether to have Evelynn Peverell testify right after Tom Slytherin did or not, but he figures the teenagers need a moment to collect themselves. Besides, the memories are of Tom Slytherin's past, so starting with the ones pertaining to him and his family is a plausible enough transition.

Dumbledore goes paler than bone, mouth opening and closing in a goldfish impression - he never thought they'd find the memories he had collected and stored, even though he wasn't allowed to go back to his quarters and collect his things. One of the House Elves brought it all over, but was unaware of the secret storage spot he'd hidden in his personal quarters - it contained all the memories and research he had of the whereabouts of the Stone and the Cloak!

Tom glances over at Charlus, and sees the boy's gone paler than the ghosts at Hogwarts, even as Lord Potter looks furious. Seems Dumbledore was actively focusing on Charlus, looking to insert himself into his life, make himself an integral part of Charlus's future and that of any children he has. It certainly explains why he tutored James Potter in Transfiguration.

After a moment of no response, Minister Lestrange drily asks "I assume your answer is 'no comment?'"

Evelynn gets called up next, and Tom can only pray Dumbledore's lawyer doesn't ask anything too stupid - her self-control concerning Dumbledore has been hanging on by a thread for the trial, and he can only guess it's because Death was in her head that she didn't leap down to the old man and start throttling him with her bare hands during his own testimony. Once Evelynn's sworn in, Minister Lestrange asks "Can you describe your first interaction with Mr. Dumbledore? Aside from when you flung him halfway across the Great Hall, that is."

Evelynn nods, saying "I'd just woken up in the Hospital Wing, after Grindelwald's attack on me. I was hurting, I admit, so everything's more than a little hazy, but he came in through the door with Headmaster Dippet. Madam Pomfrey showed up a few moments later…and, honestly, I thought for a moment I might have been dreaming when she cast a Diagnostic Charm on me. Headmaster Dippet started to ask me a few questions and explain about magic, but Professor Dumbledore interrupted and asked me who I was, where I'd come from, and how I got into Hogwarts. I could tell he thought I was lying, but Headmaster Dippet sent him out after it was clear I didn't know about magic at all. And he wasn't particularly enthusiastic about taking me to Diagon Alley either, I could practically feel him judging my every choice and what I got for a wand even if he didn't say anything about it."

"And, your first Transfiguration Class?"

"I noticed him staring at me when I walked in, but didn't think much of it as I was the sudden new student - one who'd flung him across the Great Hall by accident, no less. I hadn't asked Madam Pomfrey for another Pain Relief Potion, so I admit I was a little distracted when it came time to cast the spell he was lecturing on, and he took ten points from Slytherin for it. I cast the spell immediately afterwards, and he gave three points for it - just before Tom did the same and was blatantly ignored for it. At the end of class, he called me up and gave me a list of assignments to complete by the end of Winter Break - and one of my yearmates was so kind as to inform me that it was all the essays they'd written for him the entire time they'd been in his class. The ones I'd missed for that year, and a year's worth of essays to go with it. I'd thought I was being picked on at that point, especially when none of the other teachers did the same, but what could I do? I was new, he was the Deputy Headmaster, I didn't think anyone would take me seriously if I did. That, or I'd be punished in some way for speaking up. So, I did the essays, got all of them finished a few days before Winter Break ended and turned them in during a staff meeting - from the way Professor Slughorn reacted, and then Headmaster Dippet, perhaps I could have told them about it, but I thought that he'd stop if I didn't give him a reaction."

It's what she originally thought would work with Snape - or, at least, what Dumbledore made her think - so it's likely what she would've thought if she were actually a child. At least, she hopes it's what she realistically would've thought. Dear Merlin, she hopes it's believable.

"Eventually, I realized that he seemed to have a grudge against all Slytherins, especially Tom and myself. I put it down to me having thrown him across a room in front of the entire school, why he didn't like me in particular. As for Tom? I figured maybe he'd somehow shown the teacher up in class or something and he took it personally."

Minister Lestrange nods, along with most of the Wizengamot members, then asks "And the detention he gave you?"

"It was the first day of classes after I'd been injured by a Troll that had gotten into the school. I leaned over to Tom to reassure him that I could make it through classes before Dumbledore started lecturing, and he gave me detention. When I got there, he had me writing lines until Madam Pomfrey came in and asked him why she was there. He then proceeded to explain how he was concerned someone was controlling me. Once Madam Pomfrey had cast the spell and the results stated I was free of any Compulsions, Potions, or anything else of the sort, he gave me an hour-long lecture about people not being what they show the world, and seeing beneath the surface of things while trying to get me to meet his eyes. I thought he was going to attack me, he was looking so frustrated by the time he let me leave."

Minister Lestrange raises an eyebrow, asking "Do you have any idea of who he supposedly thought was controlling you?"

"Tom. I've noticed he either blatantly ignores him in class or tries to demonize him whenever possible." Evelynn shrugs, adding "As for why he thought his idea of me being controlled was viable, Tom had called in a favor I owed him to send me to the Hospital Wing with Madam Pomfrey directly after the troll incident."

Dumbledore's lawyer pales almost at once, even as most of the Wizengamot members get riled up - the mind arts aren't forgotten among them, but they're not something a student would find at Hogwarts unless they knew to go looking for them. He shoots the ex-professor an incredulous look, much to Tom and Evelynn's amusement, before squeaking out "No questions!" He's not that stupid, not by far. Anything he could possibly ask her would either be borderline-accusing her of working with Grindelwald, making her relive the attack she was in for specific details, or opening himself up to looking and acting like a fool as she recounts any incident he asks about in far too much detail to imply she's lying, mistaken, or exaggerating anything.

Minister Lestrange, his undersecretary, and the head of the Auror department all trade dismayed glances - chances are, they'll be calling in students as witnesses now. And not just a few students…a lot of students.

The longer the trial goes on, the greater the chance something will happen or Dumbledore will find a way to escape - they haven't even gotten to the part where they go over all the memories of Dumbledore and Grindelwald, the bit about him tampering with the Hogwarts Wards is coming up soon…which may be the perfect time to call in students he didn't directly target, then.

The only sure thing, though, is that this is an absolute shitshow! Or, it will be when everyone hears about the tampered Wards!