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. 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 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's getting 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.
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 "Your 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 her focus usually ends up focused on him.
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 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 her Karma Curse 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.
AN: Hey, everyone! Next chapter is up! Hope you like it! If anyone's curious, or wondering just how Evelynn and Tom haven't figured it out...Death didn't exactly make a pamphlet for anything regarding the Hallows. He'd give her tips from time to time, but it was mostly on her to figure it out. This is pretty much the same thing, its all on them to figure things out. Or, at the very least, realize is happening.
Anyway, enjoy! More updates coming soon!