Albus Dumbledore stares in shock at the paperwork he was doing as a horrifying realization hits him - he didn't do anything. He didn't go to Gringotts, he didn't go to the Ministry, he didn't go anywhere out of Hogwarts when he had the chance.
The chance to keep Tom Riddle at least semi-controllable, instead of a loose cannon - to use a muggle saying - that's just waiting to go off. Hell, the Leaky Cauldron - and, by extension, Gringotts - is only a few streets away from Wool's Orphanage, he could make a stop there and get Emancipated before he even heads to the place!
How he wishes he could Floo from his office - the Hogwarts fireplaces only do calls, they don't allow teachers to travel from one place to another. The Headmaster's fireplace does, but he'd have to tell Dippet what he wants to do - and Dippet is absolutely enthralled by Tom Riddle, he'll never approve a request to go to Gringotts and convince the Goblins to withhold the boy's potential inheritance from him or get custody of the Slytherin. Especially not after the interrogation the Aurors botched.
Heading down to Hogsmeade will take at least ten minutes, and he'd still have to let Dippet know he's going out. And Dippet hasn't remotely warmed up to him, so he'd want to know why he wanted to dash all the way to Hogsmeade in time to beat the Hogwarts express back to London.
This, Albus decides as he buries his head in his hands and tries not to scream, is a disaster just waiting to happen.
"Tom," Evelynn quietly says "we will both get through this. Its two months, and then my birthday, and then we can leave. Leave and never go back." Tom nods, gripping Evelynn's wrist tighter subconsciously even as they walk back up to Wool's with their trunks. "We will not die, Tom. If something happens, I'll shadow us to Diagon and we can live in our trunks."
Which they could do, since the two of them each have enough food to last through the summer hidden away in the secret spaces. Evelynn taught him how to make the boxes, and they spent a few hours Enchanting the take-out boxes to preserve the food.
Tom sneers at the Orphanage as it comes into view, and murmurs "We're heading to the bank the morning we wake up on your birthday, Evelynn. The sooner the better."
Evelynn nods, and says "For now, lets just get our stuff into the room. We can head out into the forest later."
Tom agrees wholeheartedly, he can't wait for Evelynn's fourteenth birthday and would rather spend as little time with the other kids as possible. They're about halfway through unpacking the stuff they Transfigured for show at the Orphanage, Muggle-looking clothing and textbooks for instance, when there's a knock on the door.
After quickly checking there's nothing remotely magical lying out in the open, Tom nods to Evelynn and opens the door for Cole. The look on her face, though, shocks him speechless - because she's shocked speechless. He glances at her eyes for a moment, and gleans a few surface thoughts - a few shocking as hell surface thoughts, Mary and Thomas Riddle are here!
Cole clears her throat, and says "Tom, come with me. There's some people here to see you." Two people she never knew existed, bar the obvious abstract - and she certainly never knew they knew about Tom!
Two years ago, those words would've gotten a very different reaction out of him - he'd think Cole really had gotten someone to examine him, like he thought with Dumbledore. Had he gotten those thoughts, he'd think they'd just come to disown him or some such, deny him even more.
With Evelynn's Karma Hex having been cast, though…he's no clue why they're here. He glances over at Evelynn for a moment, who readily projects her own thoughts into his head.
I've no idea why they're here, but flare your magic if there's trouble and I'll come immediately.
Out loud, she says "I'll keep unpacking, Tom. Meet you outside?" Tom nods silently, then follows Cole to her office.
Sure enough, an older couple in their late fifties to early sixties is sitting in two of the chairs - the man looks very much like himself, strong jaw, dark hair peppered here and there with silver and eyes…its almost like looking in a mirror. Almost. He's got Mary Riddle's cheekbones and the bridge of her nose, though, and the shape of his eyes is wrong for both of them - he's guessing he's got Merope's eye-shape.
Tom keeps his face free of his internal panic as he greets the total strangers that happen to be his paternal grandparents, but he's freaking out completely. He murdered his grandparents in Evelynn's original time, they most certainly never came for him at the Orphanage! She wasn't even sure they knew he existed or not! So what the hell changed?!
Yes, his father died earlier, and at Morfin's hand, but what happened to bring Thomas and Mary Riddle all the way to London?
Mary's reaction, though, brings him out of his panicked wondering when she brings her hands up to her mouth and gasps out "Oh, you look so much like our Tom…"
Cole clears her throat, sitting down behind her desk as Tom takes a seat of his own, and asks "You said you were unaware of Tom? Er...Tom Jr?"
Thomas nods, even as Mary wipes at her eyes, and says "Yes, he never mentioned having a son until just recently, you see." He glances at Tom for a moment, then quickly rephrases what his son had said about the boy's mother to something much more polite and says "Said the young lady he married had 'bewitched' him, somehow or other. That he'd gotten away at the first opportunity." Utterly ludicrous, really - how would she have 'bewitched' him in the first place? Magic?
Mary says "But on New Year's Eve, he got absurdly drunk. Started talking about how it was his son's birthday that night, how he'd known of him when he left, how he left him at an orphanage when they came knocking."
Tom can feel his blood boiling more and more as the elder Riddles talk, but keeps his cool for now - from the sounds of it, these two did nothing to him, knew nothing of him. Which makes his father an ass, but these two innocent.
Tom pays enough attention to the conversation happening around him, answering questions directed at him automatically even as he reigns in his emotions and magic, to get the gist of it. The gist of it being…the Riddles are taking him back to Little Hangleton.
Even five years ago, he would've been thrilled, would've moved mountains to get them to keep him. To not take him back, to not abandon him again. But now? Now he's got Evelynn, who he's sure they won't take with and who he's sure Cole will look for should she disappear without any explanation.
Shit. Shitshitshit…
When he gets into the room he shares - shared - with Evelynn to pack his things while Cole gets out paperwork for the 'adoption' of sorts, she's holding the two Diaries they got on her birthday. She looks up at him at once, asking "What happened? What's wrong?"
Tom breathes out "It's the Riddles, they're here to take me to Little Hangleton."
Evelynn gets a look of blank shock on her face for a moment, perfectly reflecting his own initial reaction to the news, and asks "What?!"
Tom nods, practically vibrating in place with agitation, and says "They said they didn't know about me, said my father never mentioned me until last New Years Eve." Everything comes spilling out of Tom, a rushed explanation like he's never given anyone before now - he can't help it though, its suddenly hitting him just how attached he's become to Evelynn. How much he needs her like he needs air, how much the thought of losing her scares him to the center of his very being - he's just found his Boggart, worse than the thought of dying by far.
And then Evelynn's cool hand is on his cheek, and he focuses again to see the gentlest look he's ever seen on her face. "Hey, hey, breathe, Tom. You need to breathe for me." Once he's taken a shuddering breath, Evelynn murmurs "Its going to be alright, Tom."
Tom shakes his head at once, saying "You told me about the bombings, you said-"
Evelynn cuts him off right then, running a hand through his hair and saying "Don't worry about the bombings, Tom. Nothing's going to happen. Not to you, not to me."
Tom grabs her wrist in a vice-like grip, and says "You don't know that, Evelynn. What if a bomb hits whatever shelter your in? What if-"
She puts a finger to his lips, shutting him up as effectively as if she kissed him, and murmurs "Then I'll blast my way out. I'm immortal, Tom, I'll just come back to my body." It may hurt, she may well spend a week straight healing...but pain's an old friend. It'd be worth it to keep Tom out of the bombings.
Once the finger falls from his lips, Tom whispers "Come with me, Evelynn. Hide in my trunk with yours, we can-"
Evelynn shakes her head, saying "I wish I could, Tom. But we can't smuggle me to Little Hangleton, Dumbledore will undoubtedly check in at the Orphanage. He'll panic enough once he realizes your gone, me being missing with no explanation will send him over the edge."
Evelynn's right, Tom knows she's right, but that doesn't mean he has to like it for a minute.
Seeing he's got a stubborn look on his face that spells trouble, Evelynn sighs regretfully and says "I'm calling mine in, Tom. Go to Little Hangleton without me."
Tom's blood turns to ice, she isn't serious is she? She isn't using that no-questions asked favor he owes her now is she? The look on her face, the same one she had when she'd made up her mind to save an entire ungrateful society from Voldemort by sacrificing herself, tells him everything he needs to know. Yes, she's sending him away - out of the main portion of the bombings, if all of them entirely - and she's willing to make him do it more effectively than if she'd Imperio'd him. Imperious can be fought, after all.
She promised him he wouldn't be stuck sitting in a bunker just waiting for the next bomb to hit the shelter and end them all...and she's coming through on that promise in the most Slytherin way possible, seizing an opportunity with both hands and practically shoving it at him.
He wants to yell at her right then, scream and rage and shake her for being so self-sacrificing, for putting everyone else's needs before her own even now...but he can't. He can't be mad when she's done so much - doing so much - for him even now. And he especially can't yell at her - can't even get any words around the lump in his throat - with that look on her face.
Evelynn hums for a moment, then taps the two Diaries on the desk and Protean Charms them. She hands the one with his name to him, saying "We'll be able to stay in touch. I'll write every night."
Tom nods, and says "The instant you wake up on the thirty-first-"
Evelynn nods, and says "I'll be gone by eight fifteen, Tom. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Now, go charm the pants off your grandparents and talk them into giving you Little Hangleton on a silver platter. I know you can do it." Tom nods, then yanks Evelynn forward by the front of her shirt into a searing kiss. And then leaves as prominent a bite mark on her collar as he can without making her bleed.
Tom gets back with his trunk in tow just as the adults are finishing up the paperwork to make Thomas and Mary Riddle his legal guardians. Mary smiles at him, the smile looking slightly shaky, and asks "Ready to go, Tom?"
Tom nods, not knowing what to say - really, what is he supposed to say? 'Thanks for taking me out of this hellhole, but we're sort of leaving the girl I've fallen for'? He can just imagine the reactions to that.
Hours later, Tom's sitting on the bed of his new room - his room, and his alone. He won't have to share it with three other boys, its his. The thought makes something in him relax, distracting him slightly from the empty feeling in his chest - the feeling that's been there since about thirty minutes from Wool's.
And then he's distracted by a tapping on the window - there's what looks like a bright white dove on the window sill. "Hedwig?" The dove nods, and Tom hastily opens the window for her to come in with. And he sees the note attached to her leg.
'Tom, I need a massive favor from you. Take care of Hedwig for me, please. I can't take her into a shelter if there's a bombing, and I can't lose her again. I just can't. It took a solid four hours to talk her into staying with you, even if its just the area around Little Hangleton. Your grandparents never have to see her, and she's great at hunting so she can feed herself.'
Tom flips open the Diary - journal, he's decided - and pushes a bit of magic into it while writing 'Of course, Evelynn. All you had to do was ask.'
After a moment, Evelynn's response of 'Thank you 'til the end of time' appears.
'Always. How are you doing?'
'Weird, I've got this cold hole in my chest since you left. Other than that, alright.'
'Weird, me to. Anyone try anything?'
'No. Cole moved me into a girl's dorm, though. Get this, they're all torn between asking how I survived sharing a room with you and being terrified of me because I survived sharing a room with you.'
Tom cracks a smile, he can practically hear Evelynn's amused tone of voice saying that, and writes 'us being so close might have something to do with that last bit. I made sure everyone knew to stay away from me.'
They keep writing until Evelynn says she has to go, Tom can only hope that means she's going to sleep or one of her new roommates are in the room.
AN: Hey, everyone! Hope you liked the chapter! Did anyone see Tom's grandparents coming into the picture? I was trying to think up something original, then remembered I'd left them alive. Then I thought 'hey, I can work with this!' And here's the result. They'll be back together soon enough, and Tom can scope out Little Hangleton and the Gaunt Shack and start making plans. I can just see the look on Dumbledore's face when he realizes Tom's not in Wool's Orphanage anymore - forget the Lemon Drops, he'll be sucking on the whole lemon after that revelation! Anyway, enjoy! More updates coming soon!
PS. Realized I forgot one rather important plot point...the little game of marbles they've played twice now, with one winner each. It slipped my mind with work, sorry!