Masquerade¹ → Tom Riddle [Rewritten] ✓

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Evelyn didn't head to her dormitory after her conversation with Helena, instead, she made her way out of the Ravenclaw Tower and towards the girls' bathroom. She wasn't sure if Tom would be there, but that was one of the only places he could be.

"Evelyn!" She heard him call just as she entered the hallway. Evelyn turned to face him and saw that he was with a friend, a boy she recognised as Abraxas Malfoy.

"I've been looking for you!" She almost yelled.

Tom chuckled lightly, something Evelyn had never once seen him do before, "how funny, we were just looking for you too! Malfoy has something he would like to say to you..." He turned to face Abraxas with a threatening smile.

Evelyn waited, tapping her feet impatiently against the ground. "Look," she said after Abraxas did nothing other than stare at the ground, "I don't have time for this, I need to talk to you Tom," she glanced at Malfoy, "alone."

"I need to say something," Evelyn was surprised to hear Malfoy speak, she had never heard his voice before, "it was me."

She raised her eyebrows, "what was?"

After a prompting glance from Tom, he stepped forwards. "It was me that cursed you. Tom only just worked it out and made me confess to the Headmaster, I'm leaving school now."

Evelyn nodded. "Right, is that it?"

Tom looked at her with a puzzled expression, "do you understand what he is saying?"

"I am not an idiot! I know what he is saying but there are far greater matters to attend do. Go away Malfoy, I need to talk to Tom." She didn't even wait to see if Malfoy left before grasping Tom's forearm and dragging him into the bathroom. "I'm sure you're already familiar with this room, seeing as you're here all the time."

Tom stuttered, "I-I don't know what you mean, I rather hope you aren't accusing me of anything.

"Oh, you know exactly what I mean! You speak parseltongue in this bathroom, I've heard it before."

"Now, why would I be speaking parseltongue in a bathroom, who exactly would I be displaying such gift to?" He smirked at her, taking a few steps forward towards the sink.

"I don't know why, but I know that it happened, just like how I know it was you that used legilimency on me at Slug Club. You need to tell me what is going on and you need to tell me now!" She stomped her foot against the floor. Evelyn felt like a child but there was nothing she could do about that, her emotions were in control and her thoughts no longer were.

Tom took another step closer to her, and another, and another until he was close enough for her to feel his breath. "Let me show you. Close your eyes."

"How will you show me with my eyes closed?" She furrowed her brows.

"Don't question it, just close them." He watched as she closed her eyes before making his way to the sink.

At that moment, she trusted him. familiar rumbling sound erupted from in front of her, closely followed by a quiet hissing. "Don't panic Evelyn. Don't make a sound." His hand touched her back, sending shivers up her spine, the hairs on her arms suddenly standing up.

Evelyn could feel his body against hers, his arms wrapping themselves around her body as though acting as a shield from what was to come. When she heard something beginning to slither across the floor, she held her breath. "She won't hurt you, breathe." Evelyn felt Tom's arms tightening their grip on her body, calming her down as she felt the pressure of his grip against her.

She heard the slithering circle her before it got quiet again. "She's gone, but keep your eyes closed."

"What was that?" She had a feeling she knew the answer, but she almost wished she didn't.

"That..." he paused, "was a Basilisk."

Evelyn knew what that was, "where did it come from?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough. But now I need to take out a little insurance policy."

She held her breath again, panic rising inside of her, w-what?"

"You can open your eyes,"

And when she did, she was somewhere else entirely.

Evelyn awoke in her bed, almost drowning in the blanket covering her. Her hands patted down the sides of her bed, looking for her wand which usually stayed beside her at all times, but instead feeling liquid. Once she lifted her hand to her face, she couldn't help the scream that escaped her lips. Blood trickled down her hands as she sat up, rivers of crimson flowing across her dormitory floor, all the way from the window to the door. As Evelyn looked around, she noticed that more and more was wrong: her possessions were almost all missing, her window was smashed, her friends weren't there. Everything was wrong.

Hesitantly, she swung her legs over the side of her bed, her whole body recoiling in disgust as her feet hit the pools of blood below her bed. As Evelyn continued to assess her room, Tom Riddle strode in, swinging the door open and slamming it behind him. "Evelyn." He nodded at her in acknowledgement.

"You can't be in here, this is the girl's dormitory, Tom." Her mind blanked on everything around her once she saw him enter. "You need to leave."

He ignored her, strolling further into the room, running his fingers across the blood-soaked bed, "I guess we both ought to keep each others secrets now, shouldn't we?"