When Tom opens his eyes, he's lying on his bed. He hasn't got a clue how he got there, since the last thing he remembers is-

"Your awake."

Tom's not ashamed in the slightest to admit that he just about jumps out of his skin at the soft voice. When he looks over, he meets green eyes across the room - currently darker than the Killing Curse, the color of emeralds now, but that he knows can glow the exact shade of that deadly curse when she's angered enough. He scrambles up and presses his back against the wall, asking "What now? What are you going to-"

Evelynn's expression looks resigned, but she cuts him off with a wave of her hand and says "Nothing, Tom. I'm not going to hurt you."

She is sitting on her own bed, presumably waiting for him to wake up on his own, but still... "You're the Master of Death. If you wanted to, you could kill me with just a thought." He knows so, Death said so! Not in those exact words, but still! He's not in the habit of pissing off all-powerful beings like the one that is the end of life! Or this plane's link to such a being!

Evelynn gives him a dead-pan look, and drily says "First off, the term 'Master of Death' is a very mortal convention, and Death just found it amusing enough to let it stick. Second, if I was going to kill you, Tom, you'd be long-dead by now. I've had so many different opportunities to do as much, even at Hogwarts, and yet your still alive. Third, your still alive, after being unconscious for the past ten minutes, and all I did was put you on the bed and wait for you to wake up." She gets up and checks the hallway, giving him a minute to process all of that.

Tom really hates how reasonable that sounds at the moment, he wants to Hex and Curse her and make her get the bloody hell away from him in case she really does want to kill him and keep that horrible future from happening - its what he'd do, after all! Instead, he asks "Why am I on the bed?"

Evelynn says "You fainted after seeing Death tell me I'm the immortal Master of Death, and that my body will stop aging on my twenty-first birthday." She shrugs, and adds "I suppose it was a bit much in the end, but you did want everything."

Tom swallows the lump in his throat - after a few tries - then asks "So…if you don't want to kill me…"

"Why am I here?" Tom nods his head immediately.

Evelynn sighs, then sits back down on her bed and quietly says "It was an accident. Twelve years after I went on the run, my so-called friends finally found and cornered me." A bitter, derisive laugh bubbles up as she stares at her hands, and she adds "They thought they knew me so well, but they spent eight years chasing their own tails because they never realized I wanted friends so badly I hid most of my personality from them. Even with Dumbledore's Potions and Compulsions brainwashing me."

"Right, those…" Another thing that made him sick to his stomach - the man had her drugged to her metaphorical gills with various Potions, Obedience, Loyalty, and a few Love Potions keyed specifically to Ronald Weasley being the main ones, and Compulsions that buried her self-preservation instincts, her survival skills, her will to survive, everything that would've put her in Slytherin. And, incidentally, kept her from walking to her death.

But being the Master of Death negated those potions, eventually making her sick them up a few days after the battle for Hogwarts, and dying and becoming the Master of Death broke the Compulsions and Blocks on her Core. Because of course her Core was blocked, nobody just gets that much stronger in an instant without something having happened. And she destroyed him in that last duel, the thing he'd become didn't stand a chance.

In total, it makes him want to rage and take a page from Voldemort's book to go after Dumbledore right then and there.

Except he's still too scared of what Evelynn would do…and she's a lot closer than Dumbledore.

Evelynn gives him a minute to think, then says "They finally caught up with me on Halloween, though. I'd spent ten years learning to control the Hallows' powers, since Death didn't exactly give an instruction manual or anything, and relearn my control. But even then, even after nearly two years of being able to use their power at will and call on the Void if necessary, I hadn't known everything I could do with them."

"Like travel through time." Evelynn nods, and Tom incredulously asks "You mean to tell me, you time traveled via accidental magic?!"

Evelynn shrugs again, saying "In essence, yes. All it took was a thought, Tom. One single thought, and there I was. My friends, the people I'd literally given my life for, the people I'd fought and killed for…they were doing their level best to kill me on Dumbledore's word. I was so injured because of what they cast at me, and that was just what had managed to connect with me. I blocked or dodged most of it, and the Fiendfyre only grazed me. Still, it was enough in the end. I was hurting, tired, and so angry - and, between all that and the power boost I get from the Days of the Dead…"

Seeing where she's going, Tom breathes out "All it needed was a catalyst. One thought for all that magic to act on." Evelynn nods, and Tom says "You said you wished you were somewhere safe. That's what Flint said you told them."

Evelynn nods, then says "I lied. I bull-faced lied to the Professors. The thought I had was…" Tom stares at her intently, and she quietly says "'If this is how Tom Riddle was treated, like he was already Evil and just hadn't acted on it, then its no wonder he went so far.'"

"And then, there you were."

Evelynn nods, and says "There I was. Sitting in the Great Hall…with Dumbledore advancing on me with his wand. And for a moment all I could think was that he'd set me up to die, to be his sacrificial lamb - literally raised me as a pig for the slaughter - once, and he was going to try again or finish the job without even realizing it. That, and I was still pissed off that he couldn't just let me have my life after I played his game, danced to his tune, and followed all his bloody rules bar the marriage contract I refused."

Tom's gaze sharpens on her at once, asking "Marriage Contract?!"

Evelynn nods, saying "Because I was entered into the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and everyone including my Magical Guardian made me compete even though it was for of-age Witches and Wizards, I was emancipated at the age of fourteen, not that anyone told me as much. Dumbledore was no longer my Magical Guardian, and as such I was informed that a Marriage Contract was in the works for me. Not with who, or since when, though. I declined it. Viciously. I wasn't interested in anyone, have never been interested in anyone, and for all I knew it was with a family that would treat me like my relatives did and I'd be miserable. So, I declined it, tore it up, and burned it at Gringotts. Effectively ending it. It was only later that I realized it was between the Weasel and I." She chuckles humorlessly, not saying a word otherwise.

Eventually, Tom asks "Do you know…do you know why…"

Evelynn looks up at him, her eyes looking lost and sad, and so fucking tired. "Why you made the Horcruxes?" Tom nods, and she sighs. "I don't. Not specifically, at least. I know your afraid of death, possibly because of the war going on. Or because your mother died, perhaps. I know Dumbledore hates you, and is pushing you down a specific path - intentionally or not, though I'm leaning more towards intentional at this point. He keeps saying your Dark, Slytherins are all Dark, and Dark means evil…"

She shakes her head for a moment, then says "It could be the war. It could be Dumbledore. It could be bloody curiosity, desperation, or just proving you could. You could've been cursed or Compelled, for all I know. It could be any of these things, a combination of them, or none of them, I just don't know for sure. What I do know is that it destroyed you. Each one tore you apart, until what was left was a snake-like shell of a body powered by an insane fragment of your soul, something that was never meant to be torn apart. That you managed it at just sixteen shows your potential, but doing it destroyed you completely from the very first."

The more she talks, the more Tom inches forward from the wall - she certainly doesn't sound like she's on some mission to prevent that future at any cost. She sounds exhausted, really. "So, your really not going to kill me? For what I-"

And then she's suddenly gripping him by the upper arms, her green eyes glowing with magic and fury - looking like the Killing Curse from her memories - as she quietly hisses "Don't. Don't you dare say 'become' - Tom, you're a thirteen-year-old child. You've done nothing, Dumbledore has no fucking reason to look at you and judge you a monster! He has no right to look at a child and decide they're evil. Especially not him, not after all he did in his bloody youth!"

Tom swallows, his throat suddenly dry as a bloody desert with the way she's practically nose-to-nose with him and radiating utter fury - he'll have to ask just how she moved that fast at another time, he'd swear she Apparated except there was no sound - and asks "What did he do?"

"He. Slept. With. Grindelwald."

Tom blinks, his brain struggles to process those four words - no, she's joking right? Dumbledore, the paragon of all things Light in the future, with the Dark Lord Grindelwald?! Nope, the fury in her eyes is definitely not faked. "He…he what?!"

Evelynn nods, saying "Before I was declared the next Dark Lady in the making, I went back to Aberforth Dumbledore's place. He seemed to hate his brother when the three of us were in the Hog's Head Inn, hiding from the Death Eaters and Dementors patrolling the place. So, I went back and asked why. After learning he wanted me to die, likely didn't even take me to a Healer after what happened at Godric's Hollow, I was much less trusting of him than the last time I'd spoken to Aberforth. Given that Dumbledore was dead, he felt no obligation to hide the manipulative man's past deeds any longer."

She gives him that mind-boggling story as well, slowly releasing him and going back to the bed she abandoned so suddenly - Albus Dumbledore, hailed as the next coming of Merlin, was hiding his sister's mental impairment after some boys attacked and harmed her at the age of six and his father went to Azkaban for killing them. Scarred for life by the attack, Ariana Dumbledore refused to use magic afterwards...except when she had violent fits of accidental magic. Only Aberforth could keep her calm, could convince her to eat or talk her down from a fit. It was one such fit that killed their mother, leaving Albus the Head of the House at the age of eighteen. When he graduated from Hogwarts, he was a bitter teenager who felt his potential was wasted taking care of his 'damaged' sister and his easily-angered brother. And he got a new neighbor, in the form of Bathilda Bagshot's nephew.

Gellert Grindelwald.

The two hit it off, finding common ground in insatiable curiosity of magic and hatred of Muggles. Gellert, being expelled from Durmstrang for experimenting with the Dark Arts - and isn't that a terrifying thought, given the detail that they teach the Dark Arts there - had plenty of time to plan and plot with Dumbledore on how to subjugate the Muggles and reign over the world as two benevolent leaders. And they'd be leaders forever, being obsessed with the Deathly Hallows and becoming the Masters of Death. Everything was going great, they tracked down the Peverell lines, started looking for the Elder Wand, everything was right on track.

Right up until the argument with Aberfoth, upon the other brother discovering their plans. Ariana got killed, and Dumbledore chickened out while Grindelwald ran.

Ariana was dead, and Aberforth never forgave his brother even after so long, leaving Albus Dumbledore to stew in his guilt while Grindelwald went ahead with their plans and started waging his own war. And the Muggle War was, Evelynn's sure, just a convenient coincidence rather than planned cover - Grindelwald and Dumbledore wanted to rule the Muggles, they wouldn't have cared if the Muggles found out about them or not. Hell, they probably wanted the Muggles to find out about them eventually, before it all went to shit.

The knowledge both makes Tom want to rage and Curse Dumbledore…and rub it in his face, that he knows what the man has done and its so much worse than anything he's condemning the teen for. What's a rabbit, or a few trips down the stairs for bullies that constantly hurt him far worse compared to world domination?! It makes something sharp and vindictive grow in his chest, makes him dearly want to do something rash - and, dare he even think it, Gryffindor-ish, appalling as the notion truly is - just to see the look on Dumbledore's bearded face.

He forces his thoughts off the topic for now, asking "So…what happens next?"

Evelynn blinks at him, asking "What?"

Tom nods at once, saying "Your immortal, or you will be once you turn twenty-one. What then?"

Evelynn shrugs, saying "Nobody knows me in this time, and I've no intention of announcing my true identity to the world. Even my looks changed slightly when I came back, though I don't know how exactly. So, I suppose…I'll just live. See the world, perhaps. Get a Charms Mastery, maybe. Or Runes. Both? Make some spells of my own? I'll have to keep from getting bored somehow." She shrugs, and adds "I've got eternity, literally."

Tom's brain instantly latches onto that last bit - to be young forever…he won't deny that he wants to live forever. He doesn't want to die, even knowing that there's an afterlife and rebirth. Doesn't want to leave this world knowing he's capable of so much.

Still…he's got the truly immortal Master of Death sitting in front of him. No Horcruxes, and the insanity that comes with them.

The memory of the night she arrived, with everyone joking about the Hallows bringing her there, goes through his head…dammit, they were so very close and they didn't even know it.

Evelynn chuckles, and says "I know that look. Your wondering if I'll share."

Tom clears his throat, then says "In essence…yes. You must know I still don't want to die, even if it is preferable to becoming that monster named Voldemort."

"Unfortunately, its not my choice."

Tom blinks, then asks "What?" Come again? How, exactly, is it not her choice?!

Evelynn says "According to Death, I have one chance. I can bind my soul to exactly one person, one other soul, and they'll get the same powers I have. But there's a catch. I don't get a choice in the matter. I don't get to decide on who it is I bond with. My soul and magic does. And it can't be forced."

Tom doubtfully asks "So…you need to find your soulmate?"

Evelynn shakes her head at once, saying "Its not set. Not predetermined. No destiny or prophecies involved this time. I have to trust them with all my being, apparently - fall in love with them, as cliché as it sounds. Trust them with my life and soul. And they have to do all of the same. And, after my last two 'friends' who turned on me at Dumbledore's word…well, lets just say I have trust issues. Death never mentioned this bit to me before coming back in time since it was never particularly relevant."

Tom nods, he saw the adventures they went through together. Saw just how much she cared about them, how much the jumpers and books meant to her. Saw how they pushed back the darkness in her, the darkness her relatives nurtured day after day, chore after chore, insult after insult. Saw her resolve to save them when she walked into the forest. And then…they turned on her. Revealed their true colors and tried to kill her a number of times. It'd burn anyone straight down to their very soul, as its done to Evelynn. Now that he knows what to look for…its all so bloody obvious.

Were Binding their souls anything Tom could turn to his favor, could manipulate into happening, he'd attach himself to her side by any means necessary including a Permanent Sticking Charm. As it is, he hasn't got a clue about love, or how to feel it. Or even feel about it, for that matter.

And Evelynn…well, she's never known it either, not really. She was so focused on surviving that she entirely neglected learning about her own desires, her own preferences - she wouldn't know love if it slapped her in the face, by her own admission. And she was so oblivious that bloody love potions didn't have any effect on her last life, an impressive feat of her magic - or extremely depressing, there was nothing for the Potion to mimic. No knowledge of how to act or what the feelings would be, even if it did affect her.

AN: Hey, like I said, two chapters this update! If anyone is wondering about the 'Days of the Dead' its Halloween or Samhain to November second - for whatever reason, 'All Souls Day' is on November 2nd while 'Samhain' is on October 31st...so I just made it this three-day-period where Death, the Hallows and the Void are extremely powerful. Its how Evelynn healed so quickly.

Enjoy! More chapters coming soon! Please review!