Tom's glaring out the window, the school year is already bloody over. Its too soon, its always too soon.
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 "Your 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 kind of 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 pretending to point out a wobble in a few of the grades. The thought makes him smirk for the briefest of moments, before he glances over towards 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 its- Merlin, eyes off her lips, Tom, 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 entire rest of the year? Probably both, he decides.
She finishes the essay she's working on, with about five minutes to spare, and waves her wand over the parchment with a few murmured words to dry the ink before rolling it up and putting it in her trunk.
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."
Abraxas narrows his eyes at her, and says "You put up a convincing act in public, Peverell, but your no Second-Year."
Evelynn's expression goes blank, and she asks "You really want to know?" Everyone leans forward at that, all eyes including Tom's locked onto her form. "I time-travelled."
For a moment, there's a dead silence in the compartment. Nobody even breathes, thinking she'll smirk at them and say 'Got ya! Ha!' Instead, she looks down at her trunk, shifting two of the sliding numbers to different positions.
After a moment, Abraxas clears his throat then says "Haha, very funny Peverell. Don't tell us, then. Nobody can just Time Travel without a Time Turner, and those only go back a few hours at a time."
Now Evelynn looks up at them again, a smirk in place on her lips as she says "Add to it, the detail that I didn't have one when I arrived."
"Right, and how would you have traveled in time anyway? The Deathly Hallows?"
There's a round of chuckling and laughter, but Tom's eyes are locked onto Evelynn - suggesting the Hallows as an explanation of things that are considered impossible even by magical standards and then laughing at the well-known joke is nothing new, but he's never gotten to see this particular expression on Evelynn's face. Suddenly, her smirk seems frozen on her face as she stares at the others. She leans back in her seat, 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. Cinderella's dress was Transfigured by a helpful witch, etc. 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 gleam for a moment, as she says "I'll have to visit at some point. 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. 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 just what her aunt and uncle thought of her. Still, that seemed different - almost like it was a test and they all failed it or something. 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…its going to be one hell of an interesting summer with her around.
"We're running out of room, so your 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 keep from saying any of the retorts piling up in his head when it comes to 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 actually 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 its personally affronted her before looking up at him sleepily. "Tom? What are you- this is your room, isn't it?"
Tom nods his head, more of a jerk of his head than a nod, then notices the back of her hand that's resting on her knee. Bright red, which 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 - he shifts his grip so he's not pressing down on the red spot, and she stops pulling her arm back to give an answer. "The switch-happy bitch that can't even pronounce a person's last name right happened."
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.
"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 "Its 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, lets 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, its 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, but 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 its own...and Tom Marvolo Riddle seems to have free access to it, she's just discovered.
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 "Its just the dinner bell, c'mon. Those who don't come aren't exactly sought out. At first, anyway." And when they do, its 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 every so often - and shooting rather impressive glares at the older kids that are shooting looks their way. Some 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 let out a huff and takeout the card he kept in his pocket. "Oh, you kept it."
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."
Tom steadfastly refuses to think on 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 its probably something to do with magic. That just leaves the rest of the day to wonder what, exactly, she got him for his birthday.
His sneaky Slytherin, she seems to love making him wait in suspense, as well as confusing the hell out of him.
AN: Hey, everyone! Yes, they're at the orphanage at last - before anyone goes off on me about sticking a boy and a girl together...Cole's desperate, running out of room altogether thanks to the war, jumped on the vague hope that Tom wouldn't scare the shit out of Evelynn since they go to school together. The orphanage is crowded enough as it is, thanks to so many kids being orphaned from the war, and there's only so much room in the building since its Muggle.
So, she put Evelynn with Tom. And, no, he won't try anything. He's much smarter than that, and Evelynn could and would hit him with so many Curses he'd lose his taste for them entirely.
On a brighter note...does anyone want to guess what Evelynn got Tom? I'll tell you if you guess right! Enjoy! More updates soon!