Tom's glaring out the window. The school year is already bloody over. It's too soon; it's 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, "You're 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 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 pretended to point out a wobble in a few grades. The thought makes him smirk briefly before he glances at 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 it's- 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 rest of the year? Probably both, he decides.
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 would she be willing to tell them her secrets just because school is out and she's not wearing a green tie?
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 want to know?" Everyone leans forward at that, eyes locked onto her form, including Tom's. "I time-travelled." They finally decided just to corner me, hm? Nobody would believe the truth, anyway.
For a moment, there's a dead silence in the compartment. Nobody breathes, thinking she'll smirk at them and say, 'Got ya! Ha!' Instead, she looks down at her trunk, shifting two sliding numbers to different positions.
After a moment, Abraxas clears his throat and says, "Haha, very funny, Peverell. Don't tell us, then. Nobody can just Time Travel without a Time Turner; those only go back a few hours at a time."
Now Evelynn looks up at them again, smirking as she says, "Add to it the detail that I didn't have one when I arrived."
"Right, and how would you have travelled in time anyway? The Deathly Hallows?"
There's a round of chuckling and laughter. Still, Tom's eyes are locked onto Evelynn - suggesting the Hallows as an explanation of impossible things even by magical standards and then laughing at the well-known joke is nothing new. Still, he's never seen this particular expression on Evelynn's face. Suddenly, her smirk seems frozen as she stares at the others. She leans back 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. A helpful witch, etc., transfigured Cinderella's dress. 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 gleamed momentarily as she said, "I'll have to visit at some point. Do 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 what her aunt and uncle thought of her. Still, that seemed different - almost like it was a test, and they all failed it. 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... It will be one hell of an interesting summer with her around.
______________________
"We're running out of room, so you're 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 avoid saying any of the retorts piling up regarding 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 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 it 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 couldn't scare me out. Well, she's certainly right in that respect.
Tom nods his head, more of a jerk than a nod, then notices the back of her hand resting on her knee. Bright red 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 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 answer. "The switch-happy bitch that can't even pronounce a person's last name right happened." It 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 unladylike 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, "It's 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, let's 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, it's 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. Still, 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 it's own...and she's just discovered that Tom Marvolo Riddle seems to have free access to it.
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 occasionally - and shooting rather impressive glares at the older kids that are shooting looks their way. Some are 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 huff and take out 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 spelt to keep her under Dumbledore's thumb.
Tom refuses to think about 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 it's probably something to do with magic. That leaves the rest of the day wondering exactly what she got him for his birthday.
His sneaky Slytherin, she seems to love making him wait in suspense and confusing the hell out of him.