evelynn | t.riddle

10 | THE HIDDEN TRUNK

Tom and Evelynn pretend to be asleep, curled up facing the walls beside their separate beds, when the Matron comes in to check on them. After she leaves, Tom glances up and 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 rickety bed and heading to her trunk. For some reason, she clicks the dials on the front to a new setting - 463 - 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." It's 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, heading down into her miniaturized house hidden in the trunk. What he finds is rather impressive, all things considered - 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 plan on living in here? It certainly looks like it.

Evelynn cheerfully says, "Okay, 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 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 done 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.

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

Evelynn's shoulders slump for a moment, then she nods and says, "I don't know how far along you are with information about them, but... it's 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.

A small voice in his head says, you never asked if she knew.

Dammit. Touché.

When he enters the kitchen, it looks like a Muggle kitchen with a stove. 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 him, and he eagerly opens it up to see a bowl of beef stew, a few rolls, a salad, a bottle of pumpkin juice, and even a bloody Cauldron Cake as dessert.

"Wha- how in the name of Merlin..."

In shock, he stares up at Evelynn, 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 food supply! As it is, he's feeling a little too shocked to do much more than stare at her. After a minute, she says, "It's beef stew, Tom. You always had some when it was served..."