Orion and Theodorus walk up to the large Muggle Mansion on the hill, looking around at the town Tom somehow landed himself in. Neither of them were particularly sure what to think, when they each got a letter saying Tom was in little Hangleton and had hours of time to himself to do whatever he pleases. And he wanted to get their opinions on Little Hangleton's potential, having been raised in the Magical World and so would have ideas about things that he'd miss.
And then Tom walks out of the door, looking much more at ease for being stuck in the Muggle World than they expected. Probably because he's free to do whatever he wants so long as he doesn't get into trouble. Along with the detail that it doesn't particularly look like the war, either war actually, has affected the place too much. Hence why their parents even allowed them to visit - they've all heard about Slytherin's Heir, and how much potential he has. Scouting out a current Muggle town in hopes of turning it into a Magical one...it gets people's attention.
Orion glances around as they're walking through the town, then says "Small...easily hidden, though."
Theo adds "Look at the size of the Alley, though. Or Hogsmeade. It's about the same size, I believe."
Tom smirks, and says "It shouldn't be too hard to have the place evacuated. Have all of the Muggles believe the place was bombed and destroyed." And that's when a white streak goes flying out of a window, a gleeful - ecstatic - trill reaching them. Orion and Theodorus trade glances, somehow they're entirely unsurprised to find Hedwig here. What is surprising is that Evelynn isn't here with her Familiar.
And then a fifteen-foot-long snake makes its way out of the grass, winding its way up Tom's body to hiss in his ear. Theodorus takes in a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves after just about jumping out of his skin, and asks "Tom? Who's this?" Honestly, he's halfway expecting that to be Evelynn - becoming an Animagus before OWL's wouldn't be the craziest thing he's ever heard about her.
Tom blinks, then smirks and says "This is Nagini, my Familiar. She's also a Maledictus."
After a moment of silence, Orion says "I think Evelynn's rubbing off on you, Tom. With the impossible things just happening to you."
Tom feels his smirk straying dangerously close to a fond smile, and says "Whatever the case, she said Hedwig got extremely excited before taking off." One thing Nagini retained - somehow, he's not sure exactly how and is putting it down to magic - is her sense of hearing, and according to her Hedwig screamed about her 'Eve-chick' before taking off like that. Which more than likely means Evelynn's in town - she'll undoubtedly find them as they're making their way through the small town, or she'll head to Riddle Manor and wait for him there on the slim chance they don't find each other in the small town.
Orion and Theodorus are looking around the small town with Tom, light Muggle-repelling spells on them to keep anyone from paying too much attention to them as they talk, and trade ideas back and forth. An Apothecary here, a Healer there, a tailor in that building perhaps, maybe they could introduce magical plants into the forest? Make it so they could gather at least the basics themselves, instead of buying everything. A bookstore for something to read, as well as to help educate kids on things before they go to Hogwarts.
They're just eying a building that's currently being used as the grocery store, wondering if maybe they should turn it into some kind of exercise or practice area for the kids to either run around and burn up some energy or practice spells in once they get wands and go to Hogwarts - maybe both? With a parking lot that size there's a few possibilities - when they see a monumentally-twitchy figure in a black hoodie and leggings carrying a tabby cat cross the street. They can't see the face, since the hood is pulled down, but given the detail that nobody else is even glancing at them tells them something important.
They're magical.
Only someone with magic could be so very out of place and not draw so much as a single glance.
The three of them start subtly following the figure, through the crowd and around buildings, but it seems they know the three boys are doing as much. Because they head around a building, only to just vanish.
Tom stares for a moment, then sighs and says "Evelynn just ditched us." In hindsight, its obvious that its Evelynn they were trying to corner - twelve years on the run would've made her very good at ditching people, she helped him do as much last summer, and he gets the feeling she'd have seriously hurt someone if they'd managed to catch her. And, even if he didn't have firsthand experience with her ditching people with him...she ditched the entire student population on a regular basis in Hogwarts, including all of Slytherin House.
Orion and Theodorus blink, and Orion asks "What makes you think that was Evelynn?"
Aside from the 2000's style hoodie she was wearing? Tom says "Evelynn's good at avoiding people when she wants to. She did it for most of her first year, remember? If she doesn't want to be caught, its rather difficult to catch her." He would know, he tried for most of the first year she was there. He only found her when she wanted to be found, he now knows - not that he can truly blame her, he can't imagine what it would be like to suddenly end up in, say, Dumbledore's schooldays and have to get his bearings with nobody else the wiser. Scratch that, he imagines it would be thoroughly exhausting, having to underplay his knowledge and skills at every turn and keep everyone in the dark about his true identity.
Especially Albus Dumbledore. He'd avoid the man at every possible turn to, if he had the option.
When he gets back to Riddle Manor, Orion and Theodorus having already Portkeyed back to their own homes, Tom immediately senses Evelynn's presence in the building. He barely remembers making his way through the place, one minute he's outside and the next he's standing in his own doorway. The first thing his mind registers is the dark bundle on his bed, curled up and barely even moving. The second is Nagini, sitting on top of his bed and curled up loosely even as she greets him. The third is Hedwig, mostly hidden by Evelynn's shadow and the arm draped over her dragon body that's disguised as a gigantic lizard that he thinks is a Komodo Dragon - how ironic.
Shaking his head to try and get rid of the fog in it, he walks over and hisses "How long has she been here? And like this?"
Nagini glances at Evelynn for a moment, then says "I found her in the Graveyard, Tom. Brought her in, and she seemed exhausted. So I brought her here to wait for you."
Tom gives her a nod, trying to find any noticeable differences in Evelynn since the last time they saw each other at Wool's - she's paler, he thinks, though that could easily be because she's in a black hoodie and the room is dark. But still, the very sight of her eases the long-forgotten ache in his chest - he'd barely noticed it, its been so long, but now when its finally been soothed he wonders how he managed to go about his days. Now that that aching cold hole is finally filled, he wonders how he managed to ignore it when he's now basking in the warmth that replaced it.
He's at Evelynn's side before he can even blink, pulling her into him and burying his face in her hair - and catching the hand that automatically goes to defend herself, old instincts that'll probably be ingrained in her forever. First from her cousin and his friends, and then from her original time at Hogwarts and the shit she got unwillingly thrust into - not that he can blame her, given how he sizes up every crowd of people heading towards him automatically. He knows the instant Evelynn wakes up fully, as she freezes and stares at him silently for a moment. And then he's practically strangled when she wraps her arms around him, even as she buries her face in his neck. Tom wraps an arm around her shoulders possessively, letting her calm down on her own, and relishes in the feeling of her being there again.
After what feels like an hour, she lifts her head and says "Missed you, Tom..."
Instead of saying anything, he lunges forward and slams his mouth to hers. And then their connection hits him with all the force of an Accio'd bag of bricks, lighting every nerve in his body up even as it seems to freeze his lungs - and he only figures that second bit out when his vision starts to tunnel, despite the detail that he can't feel any burning sensation.
Evelynn pulls back just enough to break the kiss, shoulders heaving as they stare at each other. Finally, Evelynn manages to ask "Has that gotten stronger?"
Tom nods, the only thing he can do without losing his bare minimum of self-control once more. Yes, he's very sure this connection's gotten stronger somehow. Because Evelynn's lip is actually bleeding, he's starting to taste blood now, and her neck is already turning purple with bite marks he absolutely can't remember making but are too fresh to have been by anyone else. He can only imagine what he looks like, given that this is a new level of rough for them.
Evelynn's quiet "Oh, geez…" only solidifies it in his mind that they both look like total messes.
Tom can only chuckle at that, and pulls Evelynn back to him to keep her close.
Eventually, the connection between them settles into a pleasant background feeling as they stay like that - not wildly out of control, fogging their minds up until they finally have to break contact, but still noticeable nonetheless. Neither are sure how long they stay like that, content to just lie there together with Evelynn's head tucked under Tom's chin and his hand running through her hair, but eventually Evelynn looks up as he says "Missed you to, Evelynn."
She gives him a radiant smile, burying her face in his neck for a minute, and quietly says "I was worried about you, you know."
Tom tightens his arms around her, and murmurs "Not nearly as much as me about you, I bet." She was almost certainly sitting in bunkers every night hoping a bomb wouldn't hit during the night, and dealing with the kids at the Orphanage during the day - Billy Stubbs and his lot were the worst, yes, but some others weren't that far behind him. Not brave enough to outright act against him, but spiteful enough to do small things while Stubbs took everyone's attentions. Steal some food while Tom was fending off Stubbs and his cronies, for instance.
Evelynn's expression turns serious, and she says "Dumbledore visited about two weeks after you left. He was asking Cole about you. He…he was frantic when he learned the Riddles had taken you in. I've never seen him like that before, ever. He looked...he looked manic." Left so fast she thought he was going to break the Statute of Secrecy, at that. And that was the first time he was there. He didn't get any better the other times he visited - more frantic, more creepily-obsessed, spiraling further and further. The last time he visited, Thanatos was actually at her side in the shadow she was listening in from - so, it was nothing to joke about. He was as tense as she'd ever seen the timeless, immortal being...she didn't think Death got tense, or worried, actually.
Tom scowls, and asks "What about you? Has he tried anything to get custody of you?" Death hasn't visited, but the entity is rather busy every night.
Evelynn shakes her head, saying "Not that I know of. Nothing's reached me, anyway." It would be exactly like Thanatos, though, to not tell her if something almost happened. She snickers, a dark look on her face, and says "Wish I'd seen the look on Dumbledore's face, though, when he learned that the Gaunt Lordship automatically passed to you." Tom snickers as well, imagining a look on Dumbledore's face like he'd just sucked a bad lemon dry.
Apparently deciding they'd talked about Dumbledore enough, Evelynn abruptly asks "How's life here in Little Hangleton?"
Tom shrugs, saying "It's good, I suppose. The two of them are in Greater Hangleton most of the day, managing their business since my father couldn't before he died. I'm free to do as I please, though, so long as I don't get into any trouble."
Evelynn glances up at him, and quietly asks "They just leave you alone here?" She wanted him out of London, away from the war, but...not completely alone all the time. She's even more grateful that she sent Hedwig over, and that he found Nagini when he did. She'd be feeling so guilty about pushing him to go with his grandparents if he'd been all alone in the mansion all this time.
Tom says "There's the Groundskeeper, Frank Bryce. If I need anything, I was told to go to him. Otherwise, I'm free to wander the town or the house, I can read to my heart's content in the library they have in the building, so long as I don't get into any trouble. Else they will go through with their original offer of taking me with them to the office every single day." They originally offered it to him as a way to spend more time with him, but when he said he'd be fine on his own his Grandfather said they would take him with them if he got into any trouble while they were gone. He'd have nothing to do but sit there in a chair in his office day after day, either reading a book or twiddling his thumbs if he makes them go through with the promise.
It's a slightly horrifying thought to Tom, who'd be bored out of his mind for hours on end - one of the downsides of being a genius, he's got to have something to do. Because, as Evelynn's said, a bored genius is a dangerous genius - they start looking for something to occupy themselves, and they're smart enough to find something. Usually something they shouldn't.
It makes him wonder, just for a minute, what Evelynn would find to do if he hadn't taken an interest in her.
Probably become either an Unspeakable or famous Enchanter, or she'd travel the world and be something of an eternal drifter.
AN: Hello, everyone! Merry Christmas! Sorry about the late update, but I was helping out with last-minute prep - like dinner! - until my cousins arrived. And then I couldn't get on the computer until they left. But, my Christmas Gift to all my wonderful readers, another update!
Yes, Tom and Evelynn are finally back together in Little Hangleton! I have no idea if I'm even historically accurate when it comes to things like grocery stores and parking lots - I know there were cars, but they couldn't go very fast...like, 40 an hour tops, I think I read - but I see Little Hangleton as this tiny little town where the most exciting thing to do is head to the only grocery store in town and meet up with your friends and neighbors to gossip or go for a walk through the woods for a bit. Meanwhile, Greater Hangleton has things like department stores - again, guessing on this - and where there would be businesses. I read on the Wiki that the closest police station to LH was actually in GH six miles away. That alone tells me there's not much life in Little Hangleton.
Anyway, enjoy! More updates coming soon!