Chapter Two

Ever since the day he had held her in his arms, she was his. The staff had nearly keeled over in disbelief when Tom, notorious for refusing to even touch other children, came in from trash duty with an infant in his arms, let alone one he was so possessive of.

On the very first night Tom lay Nerezza next to him on his small bed and the two merely stared at one another. Tom, curious, eager to learn the secrets she held, and Nerezza completely mystified by the very first person her silver eyes had ever seen.

Some of the nurses had assumed it was just a phase; that Tom would tire of the child once the real work began, but Tom shocked them all, feeding, burping, and changing the infant without complaint and refusing point blank to let anyone else assist with Nerezza's care.

It didn't take long before the Nurses, already frazzled and overworked, simply gave in and entrusted Tom with the responsibility of all things Nerezza Ivory Peverell.

She was Tom's obsession.

Each day he grew fonder and fonder of the child. As a baby she hardly cried, she was rarely fussy, and extremely compliant. Each milestone was a personal accomplishment for Tom, her first crawl, her first step, and then one day -

"Tom."

Tom froze, did she just, "Tom," she said again, clear as day. Before he knew it he had picked her up and spun her around the room, listening as she giggled in delight.

"Yes," he said grinning ear to ear. "Tom, I'm your Tom."

Nerezza was a very fast learner, and spending nearly all her time around Tom adopted many of his mannerisms. She was cunning and calculating, and had a charm others simply could not say no to. She was incredibly intelligent, naturally mature, and though she never considered herself above the other children as Tom did, she saw no reason to socialize with them, seeing as she had her Tom.

Tom absolutely relished Nerezza's devotion to him. She was a masterpiece, the living, breathing byproduct of his own brilliance. Spectacularly by the mere age of three she was able to read certain words and write certain letters. Every time she charmed the cook into giving her extra desert or mastered a song on the piano, it was because of him, because of whom he had molded her into being.

She was Tom's greatest possession.

But now and again the pair did not always see eye to eye.

"Tom?" she asked him one day as he was reading.

"Hmm?"

"Why do you take things from the other children?"

Surprised Tom looked up from the book. "Well because I want the things they have." He said, as if it was the simplest matter in the world.

"Mrs. Cole said that taking things without asking is called stealing."

Sighing Tom closed his book, walking over to little Nerezza, looking her in the eye, "Nerezza the other children aren't special like you and I. It's okay to take things from our inferiors."

To this Nerezza nodded, Tom taking this as a gesture of her compliance, patted her cheek affectionately and continued his reading.

But Nerezza still felt troubled.

For it was obvious to her that she and Tom could do magic things, but no matter how hard she tried she could not find the logic in how their ability to do magical things justified the two of them being able to take the other children's belongings without permission.

Speaking of magic things as Tom watched Nerezza grow he was delighted to find that she, like himself could do magical things that the others could not.

Tom awoke to Nerezza humming by the window. This in itself was not unusual, as a matter of fact it was quite the common occurrence, but when he opened his eyes he saw no Nerezza by the window. Tom sat up slowly, fixating his gaze on the spot in which he could hear Nerezza humming and yet could not see her.

"Tom, what is it?" she asked, automatically sensing that he was troubled.

"Nerezza," he said his voice laced with anxiety. "Why can't I see you?"

"I wanted to surprise you," she said reappearing, causing Tom to jump. "I wanted to be like the shadow man and turn into the night, so I did."

Tom simply gaped at her.

"Tom?" she whispered, now looking guilty. "I'm sorry if I scared you." Nerezza felt ashamed, she could feel lower lip trembling. She was not a child who cried often, if at all, but there was nothing in this world she hated more than disappointing her Tom.

But to this Tom simply walked over, took a knee, and tipped up her chin.

"You are magnificent." He told her.

Nerezza beamed, not noticing the fervid blaze in his eyes as he created scenario after scenario of ways to in which they'd be able to use Nerezza's ability to his advantage.

This was not the only ability she seemed to possess, though invisibility was by far the kinder of the two.

Ever since she was young Nerezza would see people fall asleep in her mind. She dreamt of the milkman's daughter being pushed down a flight of stairs and falling asleep, of the elderly chimney sweep clutching his chest in pain and promptly falling asleep. It bothered her that sometimes the the people she saw would fall asleep with their eyes open, their orbs turning a pearly, milky white; people weren't supposed to sleep like that. When she brought it up to Tom one night before bedtime he became very still.

"Nerezza," he began gently. "I think that you are confusing sleep with death."

Though Nerezza did not know what death was she did not like the word.

"Death?" she asked.

"Nerezza, you know how our heart thumps and our lungs help us breathe?"

She nodded.

"When you die those things don't happen anymore and your body becomes very still. It's like falling asleep and not dreaming anything at all. And Nerezza… you don't wake up. You stay like that forever. Sometimes it hurts very much. Sometimes it's slow. And it can happen to anyone."

Nerezza slowly started panicking, a rare occurrence for the usually composed child. "But Tom I've seen so many people in my head fall alseep! Everyone I've ever met! If what I'm seeing is actually death are you telling me they don't wake up?"

Tom was surprised Nerezza had never mentioned this before but then again she had obviously just assumed that the people in her head were sleeping.

"Nerezza what do you mean you look at people and see them die?" Tom asked eyebrows furrowed in concerned.

"When I meet someone I see them die in my head. Sometimes right away, or when I fall asleep that night, but sometimes it times it takes longer. Most everyone I see looks much older than they look now, but Tom I just saw Hannah Brown in my head a few nights ago and she looks about the same age she is now! She even had the same haircut!" Nerezza was definitely panicking now.

Tom grabbed Nerezza and sat her on his lap as she shook with fear, stroking her hair in an attempt to calm her down. "Nerezza," he began. "I need you to tell me exactly what you saw happening to Hannah Brown."

Still shaking Nerezza explained to Tom that Nurse Podrick was caring for an ill Hannah, when suddenly the girl began coughing and coughing up bright red blood causing more nurses to come in and panic over the sickly girl.

"And then she stopped coughing Tom. I thought she had just fallen asleep, but now that I know about death... I think she died."

Tom wracked his brain trying to think of anything having to do with Hannah Brown. She was a plain looking girl around Tom's age, which at the time was around 9, almost 10. They were never friends. Tom had no friends, but she was always polite to him and Nerezza, and come to think of it she had looked quite sickly the last time he had seen her.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Tom said, trying to calm the nearly hyperventilating child. "But why don't you stay with me tonight just in case."

Nerezza just nodded, and allowed Tom to tuck her into the bed, Tom climbing in himself after doing so. As soon as his head connected with pillow Nerezza rolled close and clung to him in fear, shivering. Tom stroked her hair a smile on his lips until she drifted into sleep.

Oh how important he felt as she clung to him.

The very next week Hannah Brown fell ill, and three nights later Nerezza and Tom listened in absolute horror as the young girl coughed and coughed until… until silence.

Neither Tom nor Nerezza said anything for what felt like hours.

"Nerezza?" Tom asked, finally breaking the silence. "You said everyone you meet dies in your head sooner or later?"

Nereezza simply sat not saying anything but Tom pressed on. "Have you… what way… how do I die?"

Tom held his breathe in anticipation as Nerezza looked up at him with haunted eyes. "You don't."

Tom swore he felt his heart stop.

"I've never seen you die, Tom… I think you live forever."

Nerezza then for one of the first times since infancy started to sob. "Tom I don't want you to die. I need you! Never die. Promise me you'll never die!"

To this the nine year old rushed over to little Nerezza and grasped her face in his hands. "Never. I swear to you I will never die!" Tom insisted and he clung to the small child stroking her hair until her breathing returned to normal.

"I love you Tom." She told him, and Tom stilled. He did not like that word, it made him feel vulnerable, weak, and yet at the same time powerful, her loyalty to him making him feel stronger, braver. So he simply decided to overlook what she said.

"Come on little one, you'll sleep in my bed again tonight."

Nerezza complied, she always did when Tom was concerned, and fell asleep quickly, but Tom stayed awake that night contemplating everything. His own death was something Tom feared above all else. And so, from that moment on, the determination to achieve immortality, to never live in fear of death, possessed him, after all he had made a promise to a little girl, and he had no intention of breaking it.