Tom and Evelynn are out in the forest about a week after the two of them arrived, with Tom trying to teach Evelynn how to speak Parseltongue at will - he's never tried before, and he learned to speak both at the same time! All the times he accidentally wrote in Parselscript, the written version of the language, got him made fun of, but he eventually learned to speak both at will! Evelynn only learned English, and slips into Parseltongue whenever she sees a snake or if she hears it spoken - not ideal, not if she wants to keep the ability hidden from most of the world. Hence why they're out in the forest, Evelynn practicing talking in the snake language. Once they start talking in Parseltongue, she has no problem speaking the language - its starting it that's her problem.

They hear a branch snap, and Evelynn reacts first - fast as lightning, she pulls herself and Tom back until they're pressed against a tree with his back to her and her hand over his mouth firmly. And a coolness washing over him suddenly - when he blinks, the world looks slightly hazy for some reason. Off-color, to - a washed-out gray color, and its starting to freak him out.

He starts struggling to get out of her grip - or, at the very least, get her hand off his mouth - but she tightens her grasp on his whispering "No, no, let them pass. They can't find us like this, but if I lose physical contact with you they'll see you."

Tom slowly nods his head, then grips her own wrist to indicate he wants to say something. Her hand on his mouth slackens, even as the arm around his waist tightens, and he quietly asks "Why can't they see us? A Wandless Disillusionment?"

Evelynn chuckles and says "No. You remember the Hallows? And how I said I've been granted their powers among other things?" Tom nods silently. "Well, this is the power of the Cloak. In my old life, it was practically indestructible. You couldn't hear anyone under it, and revealing spells wouldn't work either. Now, the Cloak is an ordinary Invisibility Cloak, if rather long-lasting, and the powers that Death granted it that made it his Cloak are mine to use. Hence…this."

Tom thinks for a moment, then asks "So…why are we whispering?"

Evelynn chuckles, then shrugs and says "Old habit, I suppose."

Getting immensely curious now, Tom asks "What else can you do? Summon the dead? Turn your wand into-"

"Yes if I want to, and already done. The instant my wand chose me, it became the new Deathstick and the Elder Wand crumbled to dust. Because the Hallows lost most, if not all their powers when I arrived in this time. The Hallows' powers themselves are easier to use anyway, as opposed to the energy of the Void."

Tom would turn to look at her, but given the detail that the Orphanage's biggest bullies - Billy Stubbs and his two lackeys - are only a few feet away he'd rather not risk her losing contact with him. Even still… "What else can you do? Control death? Manipulate life?"

Evelynn shakes her head at once, saying "No and no. Death can't really be controlled, the term 'Master' of Death was a mortal convention that amused him enough to call it all. Yeah, he calls me Mistress, but…its more that we're equals, according to him. Nobody that wanted to actually control Death, one way or another would've been chosen by the Hallows. Antioch was apparently a braggart, and Cadmus would've ripped his wife back into the Mortal plane forever if the Stone let him, so they died instead of being chosen. And Life…Life is outside my abilities, for the most part. Healing spells, I can do. It takes practice, hours and hours of practice, but I can heal someone like that. And I can self-heal amazingly well. But manipulating a person's life force…yeah, no. Not in my abilities. I can, however, channel the Void - its exhausting, don't get me wrong. And I've yet to do so in this younger body, since the last time I tried it years ago I passed out for a few days."

"Like when you arrived."

Evelynn nods, and says "It was, ironically, on Halloween night that year to. The first Day of the Dead. When Death, and so his Hallows, are strongest. Speaking of which, you might want to stay away from me for those three days. Not only do I get a massive power boost, which is how I self-healed from all of those curses and such in two days, but…if there's one day of the entire year that something goes wrong for me, its bloody Halloween. It's a running theme in my life, unfortunately."

Tom hums, then quietly asks "You think these pathetic idiots will leave anytime soon?" Because the three of them are spreading out, looking for them to 'teach Evelynn a lesson about hanging out with Tom.' Unfortunately, if Tom goes and takes them out one by one, Cole will come down on him worse than the three of them will.

Evelynn hums, then murmurs "We could head back and let them search for us. We can't get in trouble if they get lost out here trying to find us."

Tom grins as they start walking back, then murmurs "Such a vindictive streak the Golden Girl has…"

Evelynn promptly elbows him in the ribs sharply, and grumbles "Oh, shut it. I always hated being called that." Especially since they expected their 'Golden Girl' to do everything, and then were so happy to throw her away once they didn't need her anymore.

Tom chuckles, then says "Finish telling me what else you can do on the way back."

Evelynn grins, and says "Well, I can sorta control shadows and darkness and such."

Tom tries to look at her in shock, he didn't know she could do that. "Is that what that darkness was when you arrived? Why the lights went out and everything went cold?"

"Mm, probably. Maybe. I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. I don't remember much of it, you see. I can turn shadows into a…gateway, I suppose is one word for it. Or hide my presence in them, among other things."

"Really?! You can travel through shadows?!" Is it like Apparition? Can she go through Wards? Is it detectable? Can he learn it?!

Evelynn nods, saying "And, when I do, no Wards are able to stop or detect me. Dead useful, and much better than Apparition in my opinion. If only because my stomach hates Apparition."

They make it back to the Orphanage with no problems, and head back to their room until dinner. That's when the trouble starts, with the three kids that were looking for them covered in leaves and twigs approaching them with glares on their faces. They try to steal Tom and Evelynn's apples, since the two have already finished their sandwiches, and Evelynn stops Tom from retaliating with an amused glance. Tom then sends her an amused one back when Stubbs, who's holding their two apples, slips suddenly, the apples flying backwards in the air…straight back to them, where Evelynn catches them with all the skills of the Seeker she used to be.

Tom gets his apple back, then murmurs "That was hilarious." And he can't even deny it, the entire room is laughing at Billy as he turns a bright red.

Evelynn just shrugs, then says "Should've watched his step, then." She bites into the last of her apple, puts the Core into the garbage can, and she and Tom head back outside until its time for them to turn in for the night.

Unfortunately, Stubbs and his two cronies follow them out, looking for retribution for losing their apples. They ambush the two before Evelynn can hear them, an ugly look on Stubbs' face as his two cronies twist Tom and Evelynn's arms behind their backs. The look on Tom's face should legitimately send Billy six feet under when he saunters over to Evelynn, but the mean-spirited boy pays it no mind as he grips Evelynn by the jaw. "Hm, kinda cute. Just what do you think your doing, hanging out with a freak like him, newbie?"

Evelynn's expression twists into one of pure rage for a minute, and she snarls "Piss off, you pathetic loser!" Its Dudley all over again, too much of a coward to face her without backup.

Stubbs sneers at her, and backhands her while saying "Got quite a mouth on you, don't you, Newbie?"

Evelynn smirks at him, even with her sore face - though, that was nothing compared to Vernon or even Dudley when he was really trying - and says "Its a gift. Bloody coward, can't even face either of us without your backup." Which earns her another slap, making Tom kick the boy in the shin as hard as he can.

Billy punches Tom square in the face in retaliation, while the other two hold him and Evelynn in place…only for Evelynn to demonstrate what twelve years of being on the run taught her. She smashes the back of her head into the face of the kid that's holding her from behind, then delivers a roundhouse kick to his side with her heel to knock him away. When Billy tries to hit her again, she catches him by the wrist, then the back of the neck, and throws him into the ground before planting her shoe in his stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him. And then catches the boy who was holding her, grabbing his wrist and twisting it while pressing on the pressure point there and punching him in the throat to leave him coughing and gasping for breath.

Leaving both Tom and the kid holding him from behind stunned speechless, because where did that come from?!

Evelynn glances over at him nonchalantly, asking "You gonna let Tom go on your own? Or-" That's all that needs to be said, as Tom's roughly pushed away as the kid runs.

Tom scowls, and says "He's going to get the Matron."

Evelynn hums, then says "Let him. I think Billy here will tell the truth. Won't you, Billy? And you?" The remaining two kids scramble up, nodding vigorously - the look on Evelynn's face might have something to do with it though. Because it says she's more than happy to keep going if they try anything stupid.

Tom scowls, even more so than he already would be because of the pain in his face from getting hit, and says "They'll just lie to the Matron, Evelynn. They always do."

"Mm," Evelynn's gaze never leaves Billy Stubbs' terrified face, a sharp smile on her lips that makes even Tom shiver, "I think he'll tell the truth this time."

When Ms. Cole arrives, the scene isn't what she expected to find. She was told Tom and the new girl were beating up Billy Stubbs and his friends. What she finds is the new girl brushing leaves out of Tom's hair and dirt off his face, the bridge of his nose starting to swell and bruise marks on both their wrists and faces while Billy Stubbs and his other friend are on the ground. "What happened here?" Because it looks more like the two supposed instigators got beaten up, rather than the other way around.

Evelynn turns around at once, indignantly saying "Tom and I were just minding our own business when these three came and tried to beat us up! He," she points at Billy, "was hitting Tom while the other two held us from behind! They didn't realize I'd had enough of that from my own cousin, though, and learned how to fight back." She brandishes the bruise marks she has on her wrists for emphasis, as well as gesturing to her face and Tom's, making Ms. Cole frown sharply at the boy hiding behind her.

Then she looks at Billy Stubbs and his friend equally-sharply, and snaps "Is this true?" Billy nods his head, looking down at the ground. Billy Stubbs and his friends get dragged off by an angry Matron, leaving Tom utterly amazed at how Evelynn managed that.

At his look of amazement, Evelynn asks "What?"

"She never listens to me! Ever! No matter if I've got bruises on my face or a broken nose and split lip, she never does anything!" Its usually his word against theirs, and anyone else that saw what happened is usually too intimidated by Billy to speak up!

"Speaking of which…" Evelynn tilts Tom's head gently, but the action still makes him hiss in displeasure. "Alright, my turn to get you fixed up. C'mon."

Five minutes later, Tom finds himself locked in the restroom with Evelynn, sitting on the closed toilet as she carefully wipes as much dirt and blood off his face as possible with a wet rag. At her stubborn insistence, despite him saying he can do it himself and Evelynn saying she knows he can. Tom turns his face away when she accidentally gets too close to his swelling nose, mumbling "Its fine, Evelynn…"

His face is sharply turned back towards hers, and he meets an angry green gaze as she says "No, its not. You've just had to do it yourself all this time."

He should probably be feeling embarrassed at the situation, but something tells him he could very well end up getting stuck to the seat and Immobilized while she works if he keeps protesting. Besides, he'll never admit it but…there's something oddly nice about how she insists on this. She's not doing it because she has to, or because he can't - no, it's the exact opposite. And he's not sure how to feel about it, to be perfectly honest. Or about the way her hand feels colder against his heated face.

Its probably because she had to do it herself for so long, and she's mentally old enough to be objective about it being so very wrong that a child should know how to piece themselves back together.

He was outraged on her behalf when six-year-old her was doing chores after one of her uncle's beatings, after all.

After she tosses the rag into the sink, apparently having gotten all the dirt and blood she can off his face without hurting him more, she mutters "Alright, I've got to feel your nose, Tom. It could just be swelling, or there could be a crack in the bone."

Tom mutters "Least my nose isn't crooked." Which has happened before,

Evelynn hums, then gently trails one finger along the bridge of his nose. Tom hisses, and jerks a bit, but keeps more or less still even as Evelynn winces and mutters an apology. "I'm not fantastic with proper healing spells, having self-healed without a wand or training for so long, but I can make the swelling go down some."

Thankfully, as her magic works its way into his face…his nose starts numbing. Making it much easier to hold still while she tries to figure out if his nose is actually broken or just really bruised and swollen. Finally, she pulls back slightly and says "Well, I can't feel any bumps or anything. I don't think its actually broken. Just swelling a lot from the impact."

Tom mutters "I'll make sure not to sleep face-down tonight." After a minute, he glances at Evelynn…and he can't keep a straight face anymore, one corner of his mouth tugging upwards.

Evelynn blinks, then snorts and says "What a pair we are. So used to being hurt we can make jokes about it."

Tom smirks at her, asking "Oh, you to?"

"I'll tell you a few of them back in the room. C'mon, before Cole decides we're doing something improper."

Tom smirks at her, then murmurs "I don't think I've ever seen Billy Stubbs so scared of anyone before. Including me, and everyone here is scared of me."

Evelynn sarcastically says "Haha, very funny Tom. I'm sure you could come up with something convincing if you put your mind to it." Even so, she has this look on her face that makes his heart skip a beat or two. Dear Merlin, what is it with him lately?

First he wants to rip Billy Stubbs to shreds for even looking at Evelynn, then he lets her help him with his nose - nobody helps him! He doesn't let them, even if they wanted to! Except for Evelynn, who just ignored his protests and insisted on helping him whether he wanted it or not. Time-traveling Master of Death or not...he still doesn't get why.

Why she'd help him when it was something he could do himself, that he's known how to do for years now. The last time Stubbs broke his nose, he didn't shed a tear as the doctor reset it, he's perfectly capable of toughing it out - and he gets the distinct feeling Evelynn damn well knows it, to.

And when he wakes up the next morning and sees some ugly, dark purple bruising fully bloomed on Evelynn's face...well, he gets payback for all the confusion she caused him yesterday by numbing her own face for her. At least the look on her face for a moment, one of utter confusion, matches how he felt about her helping him.

AN: Hey, everyone! Yes, another chapter - and the two of them being completely oblivious about everything. Evelynn thinks she's just helping him because she can, and he shouldn't have to put himself back together on his own. Tom's just entirely confused about the whole thing - seriously, the emotional growth these two have ahead of them is simply amazing. Of course, when one's only ever been beaten down into the ground and then used and betrayed, and the other has to fight to survive...its not that surprising. How long do you think it'll be before they finally figure things out?

Anyway, enjoy! More chapters coming soon!