AN: I said I would say if anyone guessed what Tom's gift is, and Novasky26420 sent a review. In answer...no, no, and sort-of. you could make an argument on the last one, since she's from the future and all. And not actually a clueless twelve-year-old.

Anyway, onto the story!

Night couldn't possibly come slower, Tom's convinced, the minutes seeming to stretch into hours just to mock him. Evelynn refuses to even give him a hint as to what it is she's been saving for him, only that she thinks he'll like it a lot.

He takes her out to the forest after she insists on waiting until night to show him her gift, inwardly smirking as the other kids quickly move out of their way - they're all terrified of him, of what he might do. He's done enough to ensure they leave him alone, and it looks like they're getting the message to do the same with Evelynn from his hand on her back. Something he's just given up on trying to understand, for now - he doesn't usually touch anyone, most certainly doesn't let anyone touch him, but he's backburnered the mystery of why he's doing so with Evelynn for now in favor of what gift she got him.

A soft chuckle from her catches his attention, making him look over at her…to see her looking at him in amusement. "What?"

She quietly says "Nothing much, Tom. But you can catch a lot more flies with honey than vinegar, as the saying goes. Sometimes you can either be feared or hated, I know that well enough. But other times, true loyalty works so much better than ruling everyone by fear in the long run."

Tom raises an eyebrow at her as they get to the treeline of the woods, asking "How so?" They head into the trees, away from the other orphans, and Evelynn says "Its all well and good to bare your fangs, so to speak, to show them you won't be pushed around. Make them fear what you'll do in retaliation, and all that. But fear only goes so far. All-encompassing fear would have even the biggest coward strike back, even if only in small ways. Not telling you a vital bit of information, hesitating when it came down to it, or not fighting hard as usual, for instance." Like Peter Pettigrew, who was killed by the silver hand Voldemort gave him when he hesitated in killing her after she reminded him he owed her. "Loyalty, though, would see them fight for you until the last. Letting them know your no pushover is fine, continuing it in the long run…that could well be your undoing."

Off the top of her head, Narcissa Malfoy lied about her still-beating heart back in the forest. Because she was terrified, and done with living as such. Because she wanted the war to end, and her 'master' to be on the losing end of it. Because Evelynn told her Draco was alive and at Hogwarts. Because her loyalty to her family was stronger than her fear of Voldemort.

Tom crosses his arms, leaning against a tree and watching Evelynn intently - he won't admit it, but that last bit sent a spike of fear through him. Instead, he asks "The long run?"

Evelynn glances over at him in surprise, then says "You know, after Hogwarts? Even near the end of it - we do have five more years, after all. And then the rest of our lives after we graduate. And when the world stops being divided into the Houses and point systems?" Honestly, she'd truly thought Tom would have thought about that long before now - hell, she thought he had some grand life-plan in place by the time he started collecting a following. Apparently not, who knew?

Tom hums thoughtfully, moving to another tree to keep Evelynn in sight, but then gets distracted by a familiar and welcome voice. "Snake speaker, your back at last!"

As he picks the snake up, Evelynn asks "A grass snake? They're usually found by water, is there a stream or canal nearby?" And this one's a beauty, mostly green with a dark collar and markings going down its body even as it curls around Tom's arm.

Tom smirks to himself, hissing back "Yes, I got back today. Let me introduce you to my friend, Evelynn. She won't harm you." He looks up, a look of smugness on his face - one that mostly disappears at the sight of Evelynn only being surprised. Not scared, not impressed, but thoroughly surprised for a minute.

Then she recovers and takes a step closer, not wary exactly but careful to avoid scaring the snake.

"She is lovely, Speaker. Is she your mate? You've never introduced someone else, before." Evelynn promptly chokes on her own saliva, pounding herself on the sternum for a moment before glancing up and going bright red.

Tom would be blushing equally as brightly if he didn't have a much bigger revelation to go over - her reaction would suggest…she understood the Grass snake. One thing he's come to learn about Evelynn, she can't control her blush whatsoever. So that certainly can't be faked - and even if she could...she couldn't fake understanding the snake! Once Evelynn's recovered, he carefully takes a step forward himself and asks "Evelynn, did you…understand him?"

She goes an even brighter shade of red, something Tom didn't think possible, mumbling "Um…maybe."

Tom hisses "Can you understand me now?" If she can speak Parseltongue...

Evelynn nods, still refusing to meet Tom's eyes as she tries to make her blush go away. A blush Tom finds he rather likes, if he's perfectly honest with himself. "Brilliant! Why haven't I heard you speak it before?" There must be a reason, perhaps she didn't know about it before now?

Evelynn glances up at him in surprise, then says "A few reasons, actually. Its gotten me into trouble before, and I've never actually been able to control it since it all sounds like perfect English to me. Unless I'm looking at a snake or hear it first, I just speak English." She glances at the grass snake, and hisses "Hello, lovely. No, I'm not Tom's mate. Like he said, we're friends."

Now its Tom's turn to blush, shifting on his feet - speaking to each other in Parseltongue may not be the best idea after all. But, really, who knew hearing someone else speak the language would give him such a reaction?! He keeps as still as possible when she comes over to his side, holding her fingers out for the snake to scent.

Once the Grass Snake has gotten used to her scent, Evelynn scratches him under the chin, getting a pleased hiss from him. "I like this new Speaker. She's nice. Ooh, over, Speaker, right there..."

It makes Evelynn smile, a look of contentment he can't say he's ever seen on her face before as she runs her fingers along the snake's scaled body as it twists and turns happily.

Dammit, what is going on with me?!

He's feeling much, much more than the usual confusion when it comes to her - nobody, not a single soul, has ever shared his fascination with snakes before. Or the language! Even the knowledge that Evelynn's hiding things from him doesn't kill these new feelings she brings out in him. Dammit, he hasn't got a clue what most of them are, only that they're warm and fuzzy-feeling. Something he'd probably have characterized as weakness, had it been anyone else that was describing it. When its him…nope, not going to dwell on that. Not in the slightest.

Then Tom gets an idea.

"You said you couldn't control it?"

Evelynn nods, saying "Yeah, I only found out I was speaking a different language after talking down an angry snake an idiot tossed into the air from biting an innocent bystander."

Tom rolls his eyes, saying "That must've gone well."

"I told the snake that, if it wanted to bite someone, bite the idiot that tossed it into the air."

Tom snorts in amusement at that - he can absolutely imagine Evelynn Alyssa Peverell saying something like that. He puts the Grass Snake on his shoulders and grabs Evelynn by the upper arms, saying "Well, I'll teach you. How to speak it at will, and how not to speak it when faced with a snake."

Evelynn nods, suddenly realizing the position they're in - she's backed up against a tree, Tom crowding her space with a look on his face she's never seen on…well, on anyone's face before. Intense, burning…and all for her. Were it anyone else, she'd think he was about to kiss her. As it is, the look on his face says he's not letting her leave his side for much more than a bathroom break while they're at the Orphanage.

It should probably scare her…so why doesn't it?

And then the Grass Snake hisses "Make her your Mate, Speaker. Your offspring will be powerful and beautiful."

This time, both of them are left sputtering out denials - no, they aren't Mates! Just friends!

Tom and Evelynn pretend to be asleep, curled up facing the walls next to their separate beds when the Matron comes in to check on them. After she leaves, Tom glances up then waits for a minute before hissing "We're good. She won't come back for a while, Evelynn." He's so glad she's a Parselmouth, Parseltongue is much quieter than English. His companion nods, quietly getting up off her own rickety bed and heading to her trunk. She clicks the dials on the front to a new setting - 463, for some reason - and then opens it up…to reveal a ladder.

Tom raises an eyebrow at her, but she just grins and says "Yeah, I did a little work on it."

Tom says "You're no second-year." Its not a question, he's been sure of it for a while now...he just hasn't had proof of it...until now.

Evelynn grins at him silently, already heading down into her miniaturized house hidden in the trunk. What he finds is rather impressive all things considering - there's a Potions lab, what looks a bit like a common room but much smaller than the one in Slytherin, a kitchen, a library, and two bedrooms, one that looks like she turned it into a bit of a workroom and is filled with trunks - did she actually plan on living in here? It certainly looks like it.

Evelynn cheerfully says "Ok, so, your gift is in the kitchen. Those trunks over there are something of a hobby. I may…have stripped the Room of Hidden Things of anything potentially worthwhile. Sports equipment, books, jewelry, furniture, clothes, etc. But, uh, c'mon! This way!"

Tom follows her, asking "The Room of Hidden Things?"

Evelynn nods, saying "Yeah. Oh, you don't know about the Room yet?"

Tom shakes his head, saying "I've only been at Hogwarts two years, and most of that has been taken up with either schoolwork or searching for my family. I haven't had time to do much exploring yet." Well, he found the Chamber of Secrets after learning he's a descendent of Salazar Slytherin - but that falls squarely under the 'family' umbrella.

"Oh…" Her excitement falls off her face for a minute, but then its back with a bit more force than before. "Well…nevermind, not right now."

Tom quickly steps in her way, saying "You know something. Something about my family."

Evelynn's shoulder's slump for a moment, then she nods and says "I don't know how far along you are with information about them, but…its not good. Any of it, really." He wants to snap at her for hiding this from him, but the look on her face says it really is as bad as she's making it out to be.

Plus, a small voice in the back of his head says, you never asked if she knew.

Dammit. Touché.

When he gets into the kitchen, it looks similar to a Muggle kitchen with a stove and such. When she opens the refrigerator, though, there's got to be at least a hundred of what looks like shrunken take-out boxes stacked on top of one another - and he can sense the magic coming off each of them easily. She runs her fingers along them, until she pulls one out seemingly randomly and enlarges it. There's a stasis rune on the top of the box, but that doesn't give any indication of what's inside it. He looks at her questioningly when she takes out one for herself, right up until…she pulls food from hers.

A sandwich, a bowl of fruit, and a bottle of orange juice. She nods at his, and he eagerly opens it up to see a bowl of beef stew, a few rolls, a salad, and a bottle of pumpkin juice. Even a bloody Cauldron Cake as dessert.

"Wha- how in the name of Merlin…"

He stares up at Evelynn in shock, who just says "I'll show you where the kitchen is next year."

Tom could just about kiss Evelynn then and there, this is more than he'd ever imagined. He thought she got him a rare book or something, or maybe one for O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s...not a long-term supply of food! As it is, he's feeling a little too shocked to do much more than stare at her. After a minute, she says "Its beef stew, Tom. You always had some when it was served…"

It's the detail that Evelynn noticed something like that about him that snaps him out of his daze. "You…you noticed that?"

Evelynn smirks wryly at him, asking "You thought you were the only one who notices things? Hate to tell you, I didn't make it this far by being unobservant." Particularly after Hogwarts and the war. hell, even when she was originally attending Hogwarts.

Tom chuckles, then says "One day, your going to tell me everything, Evelynn." He quickly sits down at the counter nearby and starts digging into the beef stew - fresh and hot as if it just appeared on the Hogwarts table.

Evelynn watches him eat with a small smile, and asks "Well? What do you think? Good birthday present?"

Tom nods his head at once, saying "Very. Absolutely. How did I not think of this before?"

Evelynn shrugs, saying "To be fair, it took me quite a while to do so. And, I imagine you've had other things on your mind." Evelynn explains how she drew a Stasis Rune on each of the boxes, making it so that any food they put in them will stay exactly the same until they take it out and eat it.

"How did you possibly manage this?! Even with knowing where the kitchens are…"

"The House Elves love their jobs. It always strikes me as so backwards, the way the Wizarding World treats Creatures like House Elves and Goblins, considering all they do. Treat the House Elves nicely, and you'll end up buried under their loyalty. All I did was explain how I was worried that, with the war in the Muggle World going on, there wouldn't be enough to eat. They were more than happy to make some extra meals and box them up."

That was not exactly what he meant, but he lets it go for now. He'll get how she knew a Stasis Rune out of her somehow. Tom hums, then asks "And the Goblins?"

Evelynn shrugs, and says "They run the entire economy, Tom. If a House royally pisses them off, they find themselves bankrupt within a few generations between higher interest rates, cutthroat loans, and fees for services. Because, let me tell you, with all the politics and such that goes on in the Wizarding World by and large, they don't have much sense. Its all about who's going to be the strongest, who has which dead people in their ancestry. They cling to the past and their dead, never once looking towards the future and those that haven't yet been born. If Goblins weren't running the economy, there wouldn't be an economy - at least, not in Britain. I've never been to a different magical community, so I don't know what its like in the others."

Hell, she and Granger debated that 'Muggleborns' were really just descendants of cast-out Squibs, and how all the inbreeding was the root cause of so many Squibs being born while they were stuck in that tent during what was supposed to be their seventh year. While the girl herself turned out to be Dumbledore's, the debates themselves were very enlightening.

Britain - hell, the Magical Community across the world - is too small to keep the lines 'pure' much longer, and the 1990's were a reflection of that. Low birth rates, often one child to a Pureblood family - bar the Weasleys, somehow or other, Evelynn didn't get to research their family line or anything - and issues like the rumored Black Madness were cropping up more and more as the years went on while the 'normal' Purebloods tended to be weaker and weaker. Crabbe and Goyle, for instance, were nothing special when it came to magic - even combined - and she could've flattened them with a few spells had she been free of all the Bindings and such.

Low birth rates, weaker children, more and more issues...all the signs she learned about when she read a book about what happens when a small population breeds too much with itself while hiding from Dudley and his gang in the library one summer. The short, tidy version? They breed themselves to extinction. She was absolutely horrified - it piqued her interest since it reminded her of the Wizarding World, and she came away wishing it hadn't.

Tom considers her words for a minute, trying to imagine the politics of Slytherin House plastered across all of Magical Britain. And then, he can't even remotely see anyone managing to keep Magical Britain running even partially smoothly. Not without a bloody miracle, at least. Everyone's always trying to one-up each other, though its mostly all in good fun at the end of the day. So far, anyway - he knows it gets more serious as the years go up, but nobody ever tries to kill or permanently maim anyone. Politics, real-life politics, is more than likely not so clean and friendly.

"Ok, you have a point." As much as it almost physically pains him to admit it. From Evelynn's grin, she knows it.

"So, my family?"

Evelynn's relaxed expression disappears, and she quietly says "Tomorrow, Tom." When he goes to protest, she holds a hand up and says "No, we're both tired, it's the middle of the night, and we've got chores to do tomorrow. This conversation will take a while, especially since I'm sure you'll want to know how I know everything."

Tom nods, saying "You know things even I don't know, or have only just discovered." For instance, his suspicions about his father being a Muggle - because there's no records of a 'Riddle' ever attending Hogwarts before him, he's looked. Yet he gets the distinct feeling she knows.

Evelynn nods, and says "So, I'll tell you tomorrow. Everything, everything you want to know. But after we get some sleep."

He's forced to agree, it sounds far too reasonable - he isn't known for his amazing control over his temper at the best of times, and a lack of sleep considerably shortens his fuse. So…tomorrow. He'll get his answers tomorrow.

AN: Hey, everyone! So, what do you think? Good chapter? I looked up different snakes in the UK, and the only other common one I could find was an Adder...and I don't think the adults would've left a poisonous snake live near a building full of children.

So, a quick question...how do you think Evelynn should go about changing the Magical World's views? 'Lord of Time' already did a book, and while its a good idea I don't want to steal the story. So, any other suggestions? I'm open to anything. At least I've already got Grindelwald's death planned out, so there's that. Though, that's much later in the story, Evelynn needs to get her stamina back up first.

Anyway, enjoy! More chapters coming soon - Evelynn tells Tom everything, since she isn't one for lying and DID say she'd tell him everything.