Masquerade¹ → Tom Riddle [Rewritten] ✓

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Evelyn couldn't find the words. Her mouth hung open, unsure if she was expecting more, or trying to speak. It was though she had blinked and the moment was over.

Tom didn't say another word before he left the room, but even if he had, Evelyn wouldn't have heard it, she was miles away but what she couldn't tell was if she was in a nightmare or a daydream.

By the time Evelyn felt alive again, she tried to call out for Tom, but he was long gone. "What the hell was that?"

Evelyn thought about exploring the room she was in, the room Tom had called a Room of Requirement, but she could barely compose herself.; anything she found would get lost in her mind, rendering it entirely useless. She made her way out of the room and back to the Ravenclaw Tower.

"Something on your mind, Evelyn?" Helena Ravenclaw called out to her, noticing the flush of her cheeks. Evelyn bit her lip. "Would that mean boy troubles? I wish I had had more of those when I was alive..."

She nodded, "something like that," Evelyn didn't wish to divulge the details of her boy troubles to Helena, she knew that they were far unlike anything the average student would experience.

"Well, you can't let it interfere with your OWL examinations next week, especially not if you still want to become an Auror!" Evelyn had almost forgotten about her exams next week, it felt as though the events of the Room of Requirement had melted any knowledge she still had in her mind.

"I won't!" Evelyn was almost certain it would interfere with her OWLS and there was very little she could do about that matter. "See you soon!" She walked into her dormitory where Lily and Sara sat waiting on her bed. "Hello," she smiled at the sight of them.

"I think we need to talk," Lily said bluntly. Evelyn stopped in her tracks, looking at Lily as though pushing her to continue.

"We're worried about you, you've been" Sara paused, looking for the right word, "distant. Evelyn, you've changed. You used to be with us all the time, but now you're barely around..."

"I-I don't understand," she took a seat on the edge of her bed, "I'm the same as I always have been."

"But you aren't!" Sara butted in, "you are not the Evelyn we became friends with!"

Evelyn could feel her face reddening further, "well I am not the same person you became friends with! If you didn't notice, my parents died, that changes someone Sara! I'm not going to be the same weak little girl I was last year, even last month. Change isn't always a bad thing, sometimes change helps you realise who you really are and who really matters. If you can't appreciate me for who I am now, then don't." Evelyn quickly rose from her bed and stormed back out of the dormitory, into the common room.

She wanted to cry, she wanted to release the pressure that had been bubbling inside of her but she felt weak. She had a volcano inside her waiting to be unleashed but she didn't know how to control it. Evelyn didn't know if she was even in control anymore, if she was in control then perhaps she didn't even know who she was. Amongst the storm that was becoming her life, her path had become blurred by the storm clouds and she was slowly fading into the background.

Sleep didn't come easily that night, it took Evelyn until the sun came up to finally doze off on the sofa in the common room.

Evelyn didn't speak another word to Lily and Sara for the whole two weeks of her OWL examinations, she had also been able to avoid Tom Riddle, although she wasn't sure if that was a positive or not.

Even as Evelyn prepared to go into her final, she felt nervous. Although it was a subject she found easy, she simply wasn't sure if mentally she could complete another exam. All week, her mind had felt scrambled, she had barely even been able to concentrate for any of her exams the previous week.

As she entered the Great Hall and took her seat, the nerves seemed to simply melt away, her mind zoned into the exam and every other worry in the world began to fade away. She took in a deep, ragged breath before placing her hands, enclosed together, onto the table. She picked up the raven quill and the ideas began flooding her mind faster than she could write. Her mind quickly took control of the quill and soon her page began filling up.

Although Evelyn had not enjoyed the exam, it still ended far too quickly for her liking, resulting in her rushing her conclusion on Wand Legislation far more than she would have liked. As soon as she left the Great Hall, a small smile plastered on her face, she felt herself being pulled to the side.

"Evelyn," he nodded at her, "I have a request."

"Oh, so you finally want to talk to me! And what would make you think I am going to grant your request..." She wriggled free from his grasp, crossing her arms.

"Well," he leant closer to her, "you do owe me a favour."

And of course, he was correct, "I guess that would be correct..."

"I need you to accompany me over the holidays," he stated.

"And where exactly would we be headed?" Evelyn began tapping the sole of her shoe against the cobbled floor along to the beat of her heart.

"Little Hangleton," he nodded at her, "You will get off the Hogwarts Express at Birmingham and accompany me, we have business to attend to." He turned hot on his heels and took off, quickly disappearing from Evelyn's eyesight.