Half a year passed like the slow drift of clouds across a gray sky.
Petunia had learned patience. She had learned timing. She had learned to watch. Every day (usually after school between homework and dinnertime), she observed her soulmate from a careful distance, cataloging behavior, noting patterns, and building a mental map of the boy who had the potential to become a dark lord.
The Wool's Orphanage had changed little, and Tom had changed far more than anyone else seemed to notice. He moved among the children like a shadow, always aware, always calculating, the faintest edges of control visible in the way he manipulated games, redirected attention, and coaxed small favors from peers without seeming to ask.
Petunia felt the system hum faintly in her mind:
[SYSTEM NOTE: Early behavioral pattern detected — influence and manipulation tendencies emerging.]
Her gray eyes scanned the courtyard again as Tom approached a younger boy, tugging a toy from his grasp with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. The boy froze, a mixture of fear and confusion making him compliant without protest.
She frowned.
Cruelty — subtle, experimental, calculated — had begun to bloom. She noted it clinically, yet her chest tightened.
She made herself visible for the first time. Not close. Not threatening. Just present, standing at the edge of the playground, blending with shadows, her small frame noticeable only if he chose to look.
Tom's gaze lifted. Sharp. Calculating. And then… different.
He noticed her.
Not just her presence — her attention. The quiet, unblinking observation that didn't seek to punish or intervene.
For a heartbeat, she wondered if she should step back, vanish into temporal safety, remain invisible forever. But Fiona Bay's instincts whispered: 'He must notice you. Learn to register you.'
Tom's dark eyes flicked to her again. His small lips curved into a fraction of a smile — a curious little thing.
Petunia allowed a small nod in return, subtle, deliberate.
The system stirred in approval.
[MISSION COMPLETE: OBSERVE WITHOUT INTERFERENCE
Reward Acquired:
Temporal Resistance I (Doctor Who)
Effect: Reduces strain from repeated temporal observation, lowers paradox accumulation risk during non-intervention surveillance.]
Half a year of restraint had paid off. Petunia felt the ledger gently pulse, acknowledging her patience, her discipline, her awareness.
Petunia leaned against the wall, gray eyes following Tom as he wandered back to the group of children. He glanced over his shoulder once, eyes catching hers for the briefest moment, and then returned to his silent, calculating orbit.
She allowed herself the tiniest exhale.
She tucked the ledger out of conscious thought and let the courtyard sounds wash over her — the scrape of gravel, the squeak of a wheel, the laughter of children.
And in the midst of it all, she marked the small, crucial truth:
Tom had noticed her.
And she had made herself different.
Not an enemy. Not a friend. Just… a presence.
One he would not soon forget.