"she was the type of person who'd explain how she was going to stab you in the front before she actually shoved the knife in... and you'd let her.
she'd probably even pass the knife to you so you can shove it in your own chest...and you would."
tom...
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e v e l y n w a s merciless when she reentered his mind. She tore at memories until it was agonizing to fight against her, but Tom was determined to win. He would not bow to her power when he had something to prove. He was just as strong, just as powerful.
She scoured his mind for the conversation that Tom knew had never happened. He would show her only glances of him meeting Calista in the corridor and then would quickly reroute her to another memory.
By the time Evelyn had grown bored with her search, Tom was sweating, but he was triumphant. He had shown her the happiest memories he could think of, which he found most successful in diverting her attention.
He showed her when Dumbledore had first arrived at the orphanage and told him how special he was, about how he was a wizard and would be attending Hogwarts. Evelyn had watched this memory with interest but not much intensity.
When she went into his brain again, he focused on him receiving his wand. The whole room had glowed green, and Mr. Ollivander had told him how rare and powerful his wand was. Evelyn had skipped over this memory entirely.
The last memory he showed her was of him being sorted into Slytherin. The way the hat had sat on his head for a long moment– not because it hadn't already decided on Slytherin, but because it had also considered Ravenclaw. It had warned Tom not to follow the dark path that may find him in Slytherin. When he asked which house would bring him more recognition, the hat yelled, 'SLYTHERIN!'
Evelyn had lingered on that memory the longest.
"That's funny," Evelyn said.
"What is?" Tom asked, slightly panting from the excursion.
"The hat said a similar thing to me," Evelyn mused as she sat back in her chair and looked out the big bay windows. "I wonder if it thought it odd to meet two wizards who were so similar in the same year."
"I'm sure it's more common than you think," Tom rolled his eyes, not caring about the silly old Sorting Hat.
"But to give that similar warning instead of just shouting out the house like I have seen it do with others..." Evelyn remarked, not bothering with Tom's aloofness.
"Or maybe it's just a nosey, moldy old hat," Tom sniffed.
"And maybe you are an incredibly boring person," Evelyn bit back as she turned to him. "Don't you ever think things could be more important than they seem?"
"Like what? Us being put in the same house?"
"Exactly."
"No, I don't really think you are as important to my life as you would wish yourself to be," Tom looked at her, amused. To his surprise, she smiled so wide he almost fell out of his seat.
