"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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t h e r e s t of the break dragged on for Tom. He had not heard from Evelyn since they had departed on Christmas. He was not sure if it was because he was avoiding her, or if she was avoiding him. A bit of both he assumed.
He had spent most of the days out of the common room. It was stifling in there– he could almost feel Evelyn's presence whenever she was somewhere in the space. He had always liked exploring the castle. Unlike the orphanage, he could go almost anywhere on the grounds he pleased. Adults trusted him here and didn't question where he was going or what he was doing. He simply could just walk and find hidden corridors that he didn't know existed.
Most of the time he found himself in the library researching and reading. He had always liked learning in order to be above others. He often saw Evelyn doing the same whenever he saw her. He didn't like that they shared this particular interest in common. At least this made him understand Evelyn to be very smart and he wasn't being annoyed day in and out by an idiot.
When he returned the night of New Year's Eve to his dorm room, he found a package waiting by his bedside table. It was impeccably wrapped in brown paper packaging and tied with twine. Tom lifted it up to read the note that was delicately written on the front.
It read: 'Happy Birthday For you to write all of your fantasies about me in'
It wasn't signed, but Tom knew immediately that it was from Evelyn. He contemplated for a second simply not opening it. He didn't even want to know how Evelyn had figured out that today was his birthday. He held it aloft as if he opened it or put it down, it might explode or turn his bedside table into something unsightly. After several minutes, Tom sat down and decided he would just prepare himself if anything were to happen. Evelyn didn't seem like the prankster type, so he had to hope it was safe.
He slowly pulled the twine and unwrapped the paper slowly. He looked down at the black leather-bound book that sat in his hands. Each corner was tipped in a metallic gold cuff and at the bottom, on the front, there was a matching gold plaque that his full name was engraved into. He dropped the paper and slowly opened the book to find it was a notebook filled with crisp new paper. He frowned. He hadn't wanted to actually like the present. It was practical and much easier than writing all of his research on rolls of parchment. Plus, a notebook was much easier to hide.
He placed the gift on his bedside table and got ready for bed trying to ignore it. He would never bring it up to Evelyn. She would get a big head about it.
***
When students finally arrived back to school, Tom was sure he was over whatever brief interest he had in Evelyn. A few days of her not annoying him at every second made him remember that he didn't care about people. She fit into that category and would stay there. The more important issue that he had begun to think about was his plan to continue Salazar Slytherin's work and purge the school of mudbloods.
