"Somewhere another pretty vein just dies
I've got the scars from tomorrow and I wish you could see
That you're the antidote to everything except for me
A constellation of tears on your lashes
Burn everything you love
Then burn the ashes
In the end everything collides
My childhood spat back the monster that you see
My songs know what you did in the dark"
My songs know what you did in the dark, Fall Out Boy
~~~~~~~~~
After the Christmas break, the castle was crowded again with students.
"You got a Comet 180! Finally we can practice together!" Corvus exclaimed patting Tom on his shoulder, before he could hush him. Their housemates turned their attention to him and he didn't enjoy that.
"Did your mother buy that?" Malfoy asked, his voice muffled by the food he was chewing.
"No" Tom raised his shoulders "I don't know who sent me this".
"How's that possible? No card, nobody claimed to be the one to buy you that?" Corvus widened his eyes.
"No. Nothing at all" Tom confirmed.
"Maybe a mistake?".
Tom shrugged again, shame making his shoulders heavy.
"Well, all that matters is that you got it so it's yours now. Cheers, mate, you've got the best broom" Corvus patted his back.
"Can I ride it sometimes?" Alphard Black asked.
Delighted Evelyn watched the group of boy gathered around Tom and his new broom.
"It seems that the Slytherin team has finally a new fresh player" Emma commented following her gaze.
"The selections are very strict" Eileen commented "Lestrange and Black have a lot of support. Although Riddle seems very good at flying".
"Ross says he would be a good seeker" Emma marked "And Wilkes, the Captain of our Team, wants to train a new seeker to replace the current one next year".
"Let's bet on Riddle as the next seeker?" Eileen suggested.
Evelyn kept herself out of any bet.
After jumping down from the train in London, she had had to hurry to complete her mission before Christmas morning. She had needed the money, used Milly's parents' name for the purchase and used their owl to send that present to his address.
And now seeing Tom's joy covered by his shyness as he looked at his new broom just made her feel proud of her job.
She didn't know if he wanted to join the Quidditch team, at least he had the chance to choose.
Weeks later she went to watch the Slytherin team practicing. Tom had been asked to join them to find what role suited him the best.
Evelyn focused on him, fearing to undistinguish him from the other players who wore the same uniform.
A soft touch on her legs distracted her.
"Merlin!" She exclaimed. But that was also the name of the black cat that was brushing himself against her robes. She patted him on the head, crossing his emerald eyes.
"He is another Quidditch lover" Corvus Lestrange stammered on the bleachers to sit next to her "I didn't expect to find you here".
She forced a smile "I had some free time. And I need some fresh air and a warm sun after all those cold, grey days. Why are you not practicing?".
"I already did last week. Now it's Riddle's turn. You didn't come to watch me" he gave her a scolding glance.
Evelyn looked down at the cat that rested on her feet "I hope I can do that next time, Corvus. You should keep a raven, not a black cat" she smirked pointing at the ravens flying above their heads.
"Corvus means crow" she explained to his confused face.
"Oh, yeah, you're right" he giggled "I wish I can also fly like a crow so I can join the team. But I'm afraid Tom is better than me".
She looked at the players "You can join the team together. Wouldn't it be great? Tom is also your roommate, right?".
"Yeah. He's the only boy who can tame Merlin, that's why we ended up sharing the same room when we first arrived here. While Merlin likes girls, he's just like me...".
Evelyn frowned at his smirk "So how is Tom as roommate? Does he have a skeleton in the cupboard?".
Corvus shrugged "He is like always, meticulous. Very strict in keeping his part of his room as his kingdom, while I have to stay in my half room. And forbids any weird things to enter the room. But he doesn't snore, if that's what matter to you. If he would, Merlin would hiss at him and eventually scratch him as he does with my parents".
It rang a bell in her mind. Tom wasn't just a Parselmouth, he was emphatic also to other animals. Her Tom was also good at taming people to his dark will...
Evelyn felt a hiss and startled, seeing Merlin jumping away from her with his fur raised in a menacing way.
"Shh, Merlin!" Corvus shoved his cat away "Sorry. He doesn't like when someone crushes his tail".
Evelyn watched the cat trotting away, wondering if actually the cat could sense the darkness of her thoughts or the brooding atmosphere that was raising.
As she expected, Tom turned out to be the best player who could soon join the team.
Corvus supported him anyway in the name of their friendship, but the other candidates and their supporters didn't want to surrender easily.
"Why don't you confess how you got that broom?".
The rejected candidates formed a group to face Tom in the common room.
Tom was alone against a bunch of spoilt boys from the high society, the snobs who always considered themselves better than anyone else who didn't have a popular and respectable name.
Tom ignored them, focusing on the book he was reading, sitting on a couch by the fireplace.
"Hey, don't you know that ignoring people who asked you a question is rude? Didn't anyone teach you that?" One of them grabbing his robes and pulling him on his feet.
Tom closed his book, throwing the book on the couch and narrowed his eyes at the snobs "It's rude to disturb someone who is reading and doesn't have anything to say to you".
From the other side of the room, attracted by the noises, Evelyn noticed that something was wrong. And she wasn't the only one. The tension made everyone else in the room silent, but nobody cared of interfering in the fight. Everyone wanted to mind their own business.
"Maybe that pretty hag of your mother is too ashamed to reveal how she got the money to buy you that" Armie Avery grinned, while the rest of the group laughed.
Tom turned pale, his voice turned into a hiss "What did you say?".
"Are you deaf now?" Avery mocked him.
"Take it back. Maybe there's a chance I forgive you".
Evelyn saw Tom's hand slithering into his pocket to get his wand.
Avery laughed at his face "Or what would you do?".
The boys stopped laughing as they saw something coming out from under the couch.
Evelyn couldn't see what it was, but saw how everyone was moving away while the snobs where trapped between the fireplace and Tom.
Then she recognized the hiss. Tom was speaking Parseltongue.
Things couldn't get worse.
"Say something against my mother again" Tom challenged calmly, enjoying the fear that he saw on the faces on his bullies.
Avery's jaw was dropped but he didn't dare to say anything, his widened eyes fixed on the menacing snake that was slowly moving towards him.
"How can you speak to snakes?" Corvus asked intimidated, keeping himself distant in a spot where he could watch clearly what was going on.
"I'm the Heir of Slytherin. And you dared to offend me" Tom said with a coldness that froze the entire common room.
Evelyn froze. She didn't want to believe to what she heard.
She hoped it was a just a nightmare since she was helplessly watching the scene from far. But the more she thought about it, the more she had to believe that it was really happening. The Heir of Slytherin revealed himself earlier than she ever imagined.
Tom Riddle's patience had broken and was bringing out a side of him that Evelyn had hoped never to see in him.
Her eyes caught the movements of a student who sneaked out of the room to ask for help. The situation couldn't turn more out of control.
Feeling on the verge of panicking, Evelyn grabbed her wand and walked towards Tom, feeling her magic slipping out of her own control.
The candles and the fires in the room started to flicker, worrying the students even more, but this time also Tom stopped looking so confident.
Then the whole room turned dark and seconds later the fires burned again just in time to the door being opened.
Evelyn waved her wand to the snake, that turned into a white wand, to Tom's horror.
"What the hell is going on in here?" The Head Boy stepped in scanning the students, who blinked confused.
Evelyn held her breath, praying she didn't fail.
The spy followed the Head Boy like a shadow, as they were joined also by Professor Slughorn.
"He told me that someone brought a snake in here and set it against the students. Where's the snake?".
The spy pointed his index against Tom, whispering to the Head Boy "It was him".
"So where's the snake?" The Head insisted, but Tom just shrugged and when the question was repeated to the other students they replied bewildered with the same shrug.
It was almost a funny scene for Evelyn. She wanted to giggle and laugh for succeeding, but she didn't feel well.
The little spy saw everyone turning against him for saying the truth and got detention.
Tom stayed frozen in spot as everything turned ordinary.
The snobs blinked confused and walked away from Tom, chatting softly between themselves.
Evelyn picked the white wand from the floor and marched out of the room.
"How did you do that?" Tom asked, his voice echoing in the corridors. He followed her just when she believed she was free to reach a bathroom to hide in there.
"Did what?" She raised a questioning look at him and placed the wand into his hand.
"Everything that happened in there. The darkness, everyone forgetting, this!" He glanced at the white wand.
She breathed heavily as she felt rage burning into her veins. She moved closer to him, hissing "Why don't you explain me how can you be so fool! Going in there, menacing everyone with a snake, showing everyone that you're a Parselmouth and announcing thay you're the Heir of Slytherin!".
Tom looked surprised by her reaction "Those idiots had to pay. I couldn't resist. Making them fear me would stop this awful feeling, being weak and mocked".
"The only result would have been getting detention and being targeted as freak, just like me".
She was tired of talking, so she walked away, feeling still stressed for what just happened.
"You saved me" Tom said, following her to stop her "Thank you. But how did you do that? How did you confuse everyone except me?".
She sighed and explained "I didn't confuse them. I partially removed their memory".
"Without any spell! How can you already master non verbal magic?".
She caught a glimpse of envy in his dark eyes. Her lips trembled "Because I wanted to. How do you think I survived years with Milly if I'm not sure of what I want?".
He smiled "You're the most brilliant witch I've ever met. I just don't understand why your grades don't match with it".
Evelyn held her breath, his words echoing with old, lost memories. She was suddenly sure that another Tom had already told her those words, although using another tone and for other purpose.
"I'm just a survivor, that's all" she whispered tiredly.
"Me too" he brushed his hand on the back of his head "Do ever have the feeling you want to punish them hard for being so mean to you?".
"No" she said patiently "Because they are insignificant. They don't deserve my attention nor my time".
Tom stared at her, taken by her reply "I wish I'm like you".
She shrugged "How?".
"You're strong. You can take anything".
Evelyn didn't allows herself to feel flattered. Looking at him was like looking at the ghost that was haunting her dreams, a ghost that she didn't want to see rise again.
"You're stronger than me. It's just that you don't know it yet" she gave a small smile and raised her wand to animate the white wand that he was mindlessly holding and turn it back into a snake.
"You can use this trick if you want to surprise Dumbledore" she suggested, leaving him alone with his snake and his thoughts.
Roaming into the castle with a rooster under her robes seemed the craziest thing she ever did. If Milly found her then, she would have teased her forever.
Evelyn reached the bathroom on the second floor with a sigh of relief, then waited for a couple of girls to leave for dinner.
Evelyn locked the door and stood in front of the sink, feeling different old emotions whirling inside her.
She cleared her throat and spoke in hisses, trying to reproduce some words in Parseltongue.
After many tries, the sink clicked loudly and started to move, till it revealed the passage.
Horror made her shiver at the distant memory of the darkness that clouded that secret place.
She couldn't go in there, so she extended her arm, holding the rooster that was fighting and scratching her arms.
"I'm sorry, bird" she said, then let the rooster fall into the hole.
When finally she managed to make the sink cover the passage, she wiped the sweat from her forehead and grabbed the sink, eyeing the detail she had to make disappear.
She waved her wand to melt the useless tap and make the snake disappear from it, then she unlocked the door.
Before she could recompose herself, some girls stormed in screaming at the sight of her.
A/N
Sooo Tom is well aware of being the Heir of Slytherin...good or bad thing? Is the basilisk really gone? And how would he react if he finds the Chamber with the dead monster inside?
Alright, enough teasing for now
Halloween is coming so a lil mix of sandy snakes, black cats, crows and roosters seemed appropriate xD