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"SIRIUS!"
No one on the grounds really moved or so much as acknowledged the shrieking call of a boy's name by a girlish voice contorted with rage. It happened too often to be of any particular notice anymore, and the weather was too hot for early October, a late heat wave that had crashed over Scotland, and especially over Hogwarts.
Boys and girls of all seven years and all four houses had spread out over the grounds, laughing and talking, throwing around Quaffels and muggle balls, some taking refuge in the Great Lake.
Among the small group who had taken refuge in the shadows of an old oak tree, only the sole girl sent a look over the top of her book for a small moment but went right back to her texts within the blink of an eye again. She was sitting back against the tree, long dark hair neatly braided into two braids at the back of her head, some short strands falling into her heart-shaped face, venom green fingernails were tapping away on the back of the book.
Her legs were curled to the side, protecting her modesty in her pale purple dress, going in crass contrast to the orange shirt the boy lying on his stomach at her feet was wearing. Propped up on a blanket, the boy with short brown hair was as equally focused on his book, a quill in his right hand making notes in a small notebook.
Their tranquility was the clear opposite of the boy sitting up on a low branch, his legs swinging back and forth, straw-colored hair falling into his pale face, freckles still highlightened by the summer sun. A little quidditch player figurine was flying from his hands then and now, only to be quickly snatched back again, boredom lined the boy's face and something like growing mischief even as he kept on glancing over to the duo of boys standing just a little bit off from the others, having wandered to the edge of the lake just a few minutes ago.
Contrary to the other three, these two were still wearing their school uniforms in the basic form, dark pants and white shirts, even if the taller of them had his sleeves rolled up and the top buttons opened. Green eyes were focused on his smaller skinnier friend who kept his arms crossed over his chest, his shirt done up accurately, black hair neatly combed back.
"You're not gonna talk to me, are you?" Evan Rosier directed towards Regulus Black whose blue eyes were fuming at the distant shore lines, every muscle in his body seemingly tensed up with stress and anger. "Alright, I'm gonna talk myself then." Evan was a boy one noticed even in passing, a handsome aristocratic face and a charming disposition, currently though green eyes were frowning at worry at his older but smaller friend. Regulus Black was quiet in nature but sometimes he got too lost in his head, got stuck on a thought or two and needed some help to find the outside world once more. "If your silence has anything to do with what Potter pulled this morning after training, I'm gonna march right up there and shove my fist into..."
"It's fine."
"It's not fine," Evan hissed in a low voice upon Regulus' almost apathetic reply, "The guy thinks he's King of this school and acts like the most arrogant prick. He threw you off the broom in a completely unnecessary move. Rabastan should have gotten Slughorn. At least let me look at your arm." Evan argued and Regulus sighed before dropping his arms.
"If you really wanna keep up your mothering, we can do that later, I'm not gonna start undressing out here," Regulus told him with a look, rolling his eyes when Evan winked at him, "Keep on dreaming. And I'm okay, it barely hurts."
"Let's have that conversation again tomorrow when you'll be stiff and sore." Evan pointed out and then whistled as he turned around, "Hey, Adri, you still got some of that healing salve, right?"
"Not for you," Adrienna Burke responded without looking up and Evan scoffed at her while Regulus snickered at his side and up in the tree Barty Crouch Junior howled, "If it's for Reg I'll gladly give you some later."
"I love you, too, sweetheart." Evan growled and turned back to face Regulus who glanced up at him, blue eyes were still clouded, "You know that one word and Barty and I will show Potter..."
"I don't want you to, that would only evoke more drama," Regulus made clear and then slipped past Evan to climb up on the rocks to led up to a large boulder situated further into the lake. Evan remained behind and closed his eyes for a long moment, behind him there was a thud as Barty jumped down from his branch.
"Stay put, he needs some space." Evan grumbled and then turned his back on the lake and walked back to their usual little nook on the grounds, everyone knew not to bother them here. He dropped on the space left on the blanket that Marculus Selwyn had spread out earlier because the boy in love with plants disliked sitting in grass the most.
"Potter needs a slap or two," Barty grouched as he knelt down next to Adrienna, flicking a bug away from her hair, "Reg could have broken that arm."
"Are we sure it isn't broken?" Marc dropped his attention from his book and notes, closing both books and packing away quill and ink as well, all eyes turned to Evan who shook his head.
"It's not broken, just gonna bruise real bad. And I want revenge, too, but if Reg says no then it's a no. And yes, I hate that as well, Barty," Evan pointed out in frustration, kicking at some dirt, "I know that Sirius cares not an ounce about his brother but the way he just stood by and grinned today? Fucking cold, guess that answers the last question about his loyalties then."
"Regulus doesn't deserve this," Adrienna whispered with a look sent over to the still figure who had sat down on the edge of the boulder, face turned down towards the water, "He's already getting enough shit from home. I would have never expected Sirius to treat him like dirt now, why couldn't he and his stupid friends keep ignoring him... Is he sleeping?" Once more three pairs of eyes zeroed in on Evan who shifted a little before shaking his head, "Great, he's gonna crack soon."
"I won't let that happen," Evan clarified without taking his eyes off of Regulus for even a second then, the others took it in without a measure of disbelief, they all knew that Evan's anger at seeing his friends hurt burned bright. He would burn the world down for all of them but the vendetta might be only bloodier if it was his best friend on the line. "He's gonna be okay, if we all have his back and I'm sure I can rely on you there."
"Always," Barty was quick to voice his agreement, his narrowed eyes still checking out their surroundings as if another Gryffindor might appear and cause even more harm to their smallest friend. Marc and Adrienna were quieter in nodding their consent. "But I can't promise you that I won't jinx any of those idiots when they cross my path." Green eyes flickered over to watch the boy with the broader shoulders, Barty resolutely stared back at Evan's cocked eyebrow and the challenging look in his sharp eyes. "Try and stop me, Evan, I value your honor and I value Marc's and Adri's wish to remain out of duels but Reg knows what to expect of me."
"At least wait until tomorrow, otherwise we're never gonna get Reg to sleep tonight," Evan gave in and avoided Adrienna's judging eyes, just because he had promised Regulus to not engage in vengeance didn't mean he had promised to hold Barty back, they both knew that they couldn't control him on their best days, not if he really wanted a fight. "And now, could we please talk about something else but..."
He broke off when the unmistakable sound of curses flying and hitting protection shields came closer to their little corner and they were all on their feet in a matter of seconds, hands on their wands and Evan and Barty forming a line of defense in front of Adrienna and Marc.
Their cautious faces turned into disgusted frowns when the boys who stumbled over the hill not a few feet from their meet-up spot got revealed to be the greasy form of Slytherin Sixth Year Severus Snape and the arrogantly grinning Sirius Black and James Potter, all in various states of misshappen school uniforms.
"Oh, for fuck's sake," Barty cursed and Evan certainly couldn't agree more, he was sick and tired of getting between that rivalry, of anyone getting involved in that bullshit. Snape had no friends in Slytherin, not with how isolated and disloyal he held himself, and Black and Potter could choke for all that he cared.
Curses and hexes and jinxes kept on flying and Evan was resigned to wait this out, a hand landing on Barty's shoulder to hold him back.
"Don't give them reason to hex us next," Evan warned him and saw movement out of the corner of his eyes, Regulus had snapped himself out of his dark mindset and gotten aware of the stupid show. He was slowly getting to his feet, probably to return to them and ask them to relocate somewhere else, preferably somewhere where there was fucking peace for once.
What happened next turned into one of Evan's worst nightmares.
He didn't know how it happened, his eyes having just returned to the fighting trio, but somehow one of Snape's curses got reflected by one of Potter's shields and went awfully wide, barreling towards a lethargically moving Regulus, exhausted by pain and dark thoughts. Evan was screaming his name in the next breath but it was too late and all Regulus could do still was look up and open his lips for a surprised gasp before he was hit dead center in the chest and then thrown off the boulder and into the lake.
Evan was running before Regulus even vanished below the surface, wand thrown blindly in Adrienna's direction, taking the rocks two at a time, slipping nearly before he got in a good enough position to dive into the water. He needed a terribly long moment to get his eyes adjusted to the murky water and to orient himself before he pushed himself to quick strokes to reach the alarmingly still figure of his best firend.
He got a hold of Regulus' arm at the first try but then something far stronger ripped his friend's hand out of his grip again. Evan pushed himself, regrasped Regulus and immediately lost him again, his chest started burning with breaths and still he couldn't stop, he needed to get to Regulus who was just pulled deeper and deeper into the dark water.
Blue eyes were screaming at Evan to save him.
--
Evan awoke with a scream that rang around his ears like the echoing clang of a yell in a cave and he desperately clawed the suffocating blanket off of himself, trying in vain to get his breathing to calm down.
He wasn't even aware of his surroundings until hands squeezed his shoulders and lightly pushed them back down into the bed again where Evan must have sat up without realizing it. He whipped his head up, eager to make out the opponent, eager to assess the threat and the risk of fighting, the tension wooshed out of his chest in one relieved breath though when his eyes were met with tired if worried blue ones.
"Just a nightmare," Regulus told him and immediately broke off into a yawn that he quickly hid against his shoulder, "I've been trying to rouse you for minutes."
"Not supposed to wake someone in a nightmare," Evan muttered and patted at Regulus' hands until the other boy let go of him so he could drag both hands down his face, "Supposed to calm them without waking."
"Didn't work," Regulus hit back against it in a stubborn set of his jaw and Evan reminded himself that arguing with him already had him at a disadvantage without being half caught in those terrible images in his mind still. "Are you okay, Evan?" Regulus wanted to know, now where Evan seemed awake and aware, he had drawn himself back into himself again, shoulders slumped, sitting on the edge of the bed as if only waiting for the next blow.
Three days since Regulus had stumbled into Silvan Rosier's study through the fireplace, completely out of it and spotting a bruise on his jaw that had sent Evan's mother into a frenzy until Regulus had explained, not that that had taken any of the worry out of Evan.
"I'm okay," Evan assured Regulus after a few breaths of silence, pushing himself up until he was sitting, "Just a stupid dream." Regulus' eyes flickered over to him and the weird look in those deep blue eyes made Evan wonder if he had mumbled or even cried out something in his terror. He sighed and dragged a hand through his hair, letting it stick up terribly, "What did I say?"
"My name, about a dozen times." Regulus whispered and Evan grimaced, the earlier parts of the dream had faded away already, as it happened so often with him, all he could still well remember was loosing touch and then sight of Regulus in the dark water.
It had been a real memory from last year, so much he still remembered, a memory right until the spell had hit Regulus because in their real past it had sailed just a fingerlengths' distance past Regulus' chest. No one had fallen into the water except for Snape into the shallow shore after Sirius had pushed him.
"Sorry," Evan apologized, before cringing right away because it sounded absolutely stupid but at least it prompted Regulus to one of those half smiles, "Before you ask, I don't want to talk about it. Did I wake you?" His question was immediately met with a shaking of the head by Regulus, hair flopping into his face. "How long have you been awake?"
"Didn't even fall asleep yet," Regulus confessed to him and leaned away when Evan reached for his arm, "Don't. Please."
Fuck it, Evan thought just then and ignored the pleading, instead he grasped Regulus' arm and tugged, once, twice, three times until Regulus sighed and then gave in to being pulled down on the bed. They both rolled onto their sides to face each other, faces half smushed into pillows and Evan's blanket pulled up to their chests.
"Talk to me."
"Do you think I can be enough?" Regulus blurted out as if someone had removed a gag, his eyes went wide and Evan blinked at him, stunned, "Do you think I will be enough for them? I don't know what I'm doing, Evan, I've never been important. I've never been meant for anything."
"You are enough, Reggie," Evan made clear, his voice hopefully not showing the shock in his veins, "You are important, you've always been important, especially to me. So what if you hadn't been meant to be heir until now, it doesn't mean you wouldn't have been the better choice from the beginning. You're quiet but not shy, you think before you act. You're smart, and most importantly," and there Evan reached out to squeeze Regulus' shoulder, "you're not alone. I'll always be there."
--
They stepped onto platform nine and three quarters and had barely made a step to the side to let Evan's father follow when someone gasped and Evan stumbled back from the shove directed at his chest.
"You bastard!"
"Good to see you again, too, Adrienna," he snarled out once he had rightened himself again and glowered at her lovely face, furiously rubbing at his chest, next to them Regulus was biting back a smile, "Whatever the fuck was that for?"
"You didn't tell me that Reg was with you!" Adrienna Burke raged and stomped a foot, with her hair in braids again, she looked too fucking cute for him to be angry with her for long and she certainly didn't protest against the hug he gave her in a real greeting then. Adrienna straightened out her skirt again when they pulled apart and then lunged for Regulus who squeaked in alarm and then awkwardly patted her back, "I had to haunt Barty until he spilled."
Evan looked up and caught sight of a clearly unimpressed Barty leaning against a pillar nearby, owl perched on his shoulder, beady eyes narrowed down at the Kneazle sniffing around at Barty's feet. The beast that nearly came up to the top of Barty's knees revealed that Marc had to be running around here already as well.
"I will see you on christmas then, son," His father made him realize that they weren't so alone yet after all and Evan said his goodbyes without really taking notice of them, flicking hair out of his face when the pop of disapparation had his father disappear.
"I am so sorry, Reg, I can't believe he would do that," Adrienna had let go of the smallest boy in their group finally, face so terribly worried, Evan couldn't even count to three until Regulus was sending him that begging look.
"How about we go find us a compartment and then get to talk?" Evan proposed and was glad to see Marc reappearing from where he had supposedly been saying goodbye to his parents. His biggest motivation aside from wanting to give Regulus the privacy he would need before Adrienna exploded with worried questions was to be on the train and locked into a compartment before there was any sign of the black sheep of pureblood society.
Evan didn't want the temptation to cast some curses, Barty sure as hell didn't need the temptation any more than his eyes already showed and Regulus didn't need the blow.
Waiting just long enough to greet Marc and for Marc to collect Margaret, Evan then shushed them up into the train, relying on the station elves to settle their baggage as always. Just as Regulus rounded the corner into the first waggon, Evan caught sight of catastrophically messy black hair then, he cursed and caused Adrienna to yelp in affront when he picked her up from behind and set her into the train instead of letting her take Barty's offered hand to get up.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Adrienna hissed once he was up as well and then gently guiding her after Barty and the quietly talking Marc and Regulus.
"Potters arrived, now walk," he whispered down to her and Adrienna's angry frown turned into a murderous glower before she hooked herself under his arm, "No word to Reg, Adri, seriously."
"How is he taking it?" She wanted to know, leaning closer to keep her voice even more down while Marc and Barty checked for free compartments.
"Terrible," was the only word Evan gave her in answer and then met her eyes for a very pronounced look that Adrienna sighed over, "We're gonna need to keep an eye on him."
"We, or you?" She demanded with a growing smile and Evan rolled his eyes, long since accepting of his friends' ribbing over his overprotective instincts. Up ahead, Marc called for them, having found an empty compartmant, no difficult task with how early they still were.
They settled in their usual routine they had without discussion established at the end of first year already. Regulus and Marc across from each other at the window to read in peace, Adrienna following Marc and on her other side guarding the door Barty would soon be the one having her pillow in his lap to let her fall asleep on. Evan sat at Regulus' side and that left a seat for Margaret who was even better in hissing away any intruders than Barty's hostile tongue, and she was definitely large enough to warrant that seat for herself.
"Before anyone starts asking questions," Regulus surprised Evan by starting quite unprompted, though he kept his voice low and thin and his eyes resolutely on the hands he kept wringing on his thighs. He hadn't slept again last night for more than two hours and Evan could see the exhaustion in every line of his best friend's face, maybe now, with all of them together again, Regulus might finally be able to relax again, or get distracted enough to catch up on that sleep. "It was awful, and I don't really wanna be thinking of it any longer. He's gone now, I'm heir, it's as simple as that."
Nothing was simple about it.
But Evan knew he had to wait, Regulus would come to him when he was ready and until then he was going to have his back and be the brother he deserved but hadn't ever had.
"That's okay, we don't have to talk about it," Marc showed that he was the one with the most tact among them, elbowing Adrienna discreetly when she opened her mouth to certainly protest, grumbling under her breath, she nevertheless stopped. Evan knew she would corner him before the week was over to give her the entire run-by of the last days of Regulus' summer with him. "Tell us about Paris, Adri, and you just have to tell us about Rome, Barty."
Evan met hazel eyes and let his eyes show how grateful he was for Marc's distraction just then, Adrienna and Barty talking about the summer trips taken with their mothers would easily bring them over the next two hours.
--
Regulus' melancholy held on for weeks, quieter than usual and prone to sudden spells of getting lost in his own head, worse than ever before. He barely smiled anymore, and if he did then it was only a half one that didn't reach his eyes, and seeing him laugh had been completely out of the question anyway.
Every single day, Evan grew more worried and especially angrier, fire licking at his veins and spurning his limbs into acting whenever he saw Sirius stalking around the corridors at Potter's fucking side like the kings they thought they were. Thinking themselves the greatest when in truth they had destroyed a boy's life.
Evan didn't act on his anger though, Regulus had made Barty and him promise, knowing that he wouldn't have to do the same with Marc and Adrienna. Most of the awokened energy went into holding Barty back from hexing the Marauders, he had always had more problems with listening and following the rules, burned hotter than Evan did and he was already fucking furious.
Which was why it wasn't any surprise that Evan got to slam Barty up against a wall right outside the Slytherin changing rooms below the Quidditch stadium just minutes before their first game of the season, fortunately not against Gryffindor but against Ravenclaw.
"Get it together, Barty," he hissed and wrenched the wand out of his temperamental friend's hand, "This is not what Reg wants. And hexing Lupin is only going to get Potter on our case, and you know the jerks, they're gonna turn it on Reg. Do you want that?" Evan spit and Barty glared at him in answer, Evan was already changed into Quidditch clothes, Barty still in school uniform where Evan had been sent out by their Captain to find the missing Chaser.
Something he had done out on the grounds where Barty had tried to sneak up on an unsuspecting Remus Lupin.
"This can't go on like this, Evan, Reg is miserable and this asshole is prancing around this school like he doesn't give a fuck!" Barty raged and Evan let go of him when it looked like the anger was getting out in words instead of actions for a change, "And don't try and sell me that that traitor just hides his feelings very well. Sirius chose his fucking mudblood loving bunch of bloodtraitors over his own blood, over his own brothers and he didn't even have the guts to stand up to it and say it to his face. He doesn't give a rat's ass over Regulus anymore, and it's about damn time that we showed him that Regulus has new brothers now."
"You're right," Evan agreed with the last statement but shook his head when Barty made to open his mouth again, "But we're not going to do it by hexing Sirius' friends. You wanna do something for Reg? Then how about not doing something that'll cause him to draw away from us now, too." Evan reasoned and Barty growled, tense as a bowstring, "We'll do something but we're gonna do it my way. And now move it, because if we're late now, Reg is going to let Rabastan kill us."
"But we're gonna do something?" Barty wanted to know once more and Evan nodded before pushing him in direction of the changing rooms. Regulus zeroed in on them immediately upon them stepping inside and Evan pushed Barty to his stuff before crossing over to Regulus, fully ignoring the nervous cheer up talks Rabastan was trying on them.
"I can't hold him back forever."
"I know."
--
Despite the small clouds of doom hanging over them, the game that followed was incredible and Evan forgot all about worries and anger while he chased after goals on a broom, Barty was all fired up and needed to bring his energy somewhere and even Regulus stopped being so withdrawn.
"Get a move on!" Evan heard yelled in his direction and he looked around where he had previously been watching a discussion between Hooch and Ravenclaw's Captain while Rabastan glowered, he found Regulus hovering maybe six feet behind him, "This game is way too close, we're only in the lead by twenty. We need a crushing defeat to set a sign against Gryffindor."
Nothing turned Regulus better into a vicious creature out for blood than Quidditch.
"Alright!" Evan sent right back to him, "I think I got it, now gimme a chance to throw those goals and keep your rival from getting the Snitch." Regulus snorted and Evan could have cried over such blasé attitude, at least something other than defeat.
"She wouldn't find it if it flew right in her face," Regulus decided and then turned his broom back up again when Hooch decided against penalty and gave the Quaffel back to Slytherin, Evan shook his head with a grin and then got back into the game.
Half an hour later, Slytherin was in the lead by ninety points and the Ravenclaws were broken in spirits and the ranks of Gryffindors having come out to cheer on the blue friends against the hated snakes were silent, apparently just what Regulus wanted because suddenly he came diving from up above and snatched the golden sign of victory from behind their own middle goal.
And when Evan caught his eyes he was smiling, a real happy smug smile.
"Took you long enough, little king!"
--
Over christmas break, the feared fall back into depression didn't happen, Evan didn't know if it was because Regulus was actually better and stronger or if not going back to Grimmaudplace and instead staying with the Rosiers did the trick but Regulus smiled more often again and his silence was the normal one.
His mother fussed over them, his father asked after their studies and Evan could for once boast about having aced a potion all by himself without any help, Regulus backing it all up when Silvan Rosier laughed over it in fondness. Evan's brothers came home for the holidays, one bringing stories from his travels, the other bringing along his wife and a cheeky faced nephew who toddled around the family room and made it hard for anyone to feel sad.
And then at the ministry christmas party – this year held at Rosier Manor – Evan remained at Regulus' side while Orion and Walpurga introduced their new heir to society, a fact that Orion thanked him later for with a firm squeeze of his shoulder. Adrienna turned up in a dress that stunned the whole attending crowd of purebloods into silence and made her decline dancing invitations the whole night through while she stuck to her friends and let only them lead her onto the dancefloor, society's most wanted Sacred Twenty Eight darling playing very hard to get.
When the evening dwindled down a little and the grown ups began their heavy talks, Evan begged his oldest brother for some butterbeers and then chased his friends out to the pavillion in the gardens.
"I never want this night to end," Adrienna sighed where she still twirled in circles in the pavillion even with the music faded into the background. In the moonlight now and the light coming from the magical torches set out across the garden, she looked more beautiful than ever, the silver spun into her white and black dress twinkling like real stars. Marc and Barty loosened their ties and chuckled, dropping down onto the cushioned benches, thanks to Evan's mother the pavillion was always pleasantly warm, even now in deep winter, just so she could sit here whenever she wanted and look out over the garden.
Evan snorted over Adrienna's dreamy voice and the memory of her insulting about every present suitor just ten minutes ago while they had danced, his initial motivation to find them a quiet place for just them before Adrienna turned feisty. He set the butterbeers down on the table in the corner and then stepped around Adrienna to sit down on a bench himself, sighing deeply when his feet finally got a break.
"It has to feel magical when half the present bachelors want to marry you," Regulus joked and sank down with a grunt next to Evan, he looked tired, but in the same way as Evan felt, pleasantly worn out, a happy tired. "Made your pick yet, Adri? What does your name go best with?"
"Not with Rosier, Black, Selwyn or Crouch," Adrienna laughed and twirled around one more time before stumbling over to Barty, letting him catch her and set her down on the bench beside him, "I have time yet to choose, and they have enough time left to properly humiliate themselves."
"And if you had to choose one of us?" Marc let curiosity win out, handing out the butterbeers, "If your father presented us as his only accepted candidates, what would your choice be?"
"Let me see," Adrienna hummed to herself, looking around them, "I'd have three heirs and one thirdborn son who is still set to inherit quite a bit. Hm, I'd have to rule out Barty first," Adrienna decided and Barty mimed having his heart broken, head falling onto Adrienna's shoulder as he pouted up at her. "Sorry, Barty, but your father is just not someone I would want anything to do with." Adrienna explained and patted his head.
"Next up, I'd say that Marc is out of the running, too. The Selwyn name is old and prestigious but you'd cheat on me with a plant, Marc," Evan, Barty and Regulus broke out laughing while Marc rolled his eyes, "And we'd fight all the time if we're forced to live in the same house. So that leaves me with Evan or Reg," she cocked her head to the side and looked between them, Evan had leaned back against the window at his back and Regulus was drinking his butterbeer, "They both have highly respected old names, both their families have good connections and a good standing in our society. There is influence in the Ministry on both sides. There would be a lot of pressure though in choosing Reg, heirs needed to keep the family name alive and spotless behavior to eradicate the shame that was brought upon it." Regulus winced and Evan sent Adrienna a glare, "With Evan there would be freedom, his brother is the heir and he's already got a son. But it's Evan."
"Ey!" Evan protested when the others laughed, "Whatever is that supposed to mean, missy?" Adrienna smirked at him, fluttered her eyelashes all fake innocently. "I'm a good catch. You'd be bored to tears with Reg within a month, or dead by book avalanche."
"Hey!"
Evan took flight when Regulus came for him and he stumbled out into the snow with his friend right on his heels and within just a minute and Barty screaming something Evan hadn't heard, they were suddenly caught in a snowball fight. Adrienna shrieked the loudest but didn't hold back in her dress, Marc shrieked the highest but showed impressive aim, Evan and Barty didn't even think about keeping Chaser skills tuned down and getting Regulus was a challenge anyway.
It was so much fun.
--
"NO!"
Like some well practiced choreography the assembled students in greenhouse number three dropped their tools, snapped up their wands and had shield charms created before it was even clear what had happened again.
Seeing Marculus Selwyn vault himself over a table did that to Fifth Year Ravenclaws and Slytherins in Herbology, a defense mechanism they had had four years to perfect to save their own skin and necks.
"By Merlin, Evan, what the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"
Having jumped behind Barty, Regulus and Adrienna peeked out from behind the silvery shimmering shield charm that Barty had muttered quickly, and he was still edging them away from Evan and the plant whose flowerheads were pulsing red.
"I didn't do anything wrong," Evan huffed and glowered at Marc pushing him to the side so he could get to his precious stupid plants, stupid weeds all of them in Evan's eyes. Why couldn't they just read about this, no one needed stupid practical experience with this, like Evan was ever going to get his hands dirty with picking his own herbs and potion ingredients later, whatever the hell did one earn money for.
"You made it angry," Marc hissed and Evan glared at the group of girls in blue ties who giggled at him, they immediately shut up again.
"It's a bloody plant, it can't get angry." Evan snapped back at his friend, mindful to lower his voice to not let a slowly approaching Sprout hear him, that woman probably thought all of this green stuff to be her children. "And I only did what the instructions said."
"He did, Marc," Regulus backed him up thankfully, even if he still kept himself behind Barty's bigger height, the groups further away from them had already went back to their works, if Marc was on the case, it was deemed safe enough to lower shields. "Did everything the book said."
"The book says softly," Marc grumbled, tugging his gloves off and then stroking fingers over stupid leaves, "does Evan even know what that means?"
"I swear, Marc...."
"Don't be mean now, Marc, he was really giving his best," Regulus interrupted a beginning tirade and then crept out from behind Barty and pushed the blond's wand down, shield right along with it, "Can't it be the flowers' fault? Maybe they're having a bad day?" Evan turned both raised eyebrows on Regulus who gave him an exasperated look right back, they both knew how Marc could get with green stuff, especially if it bloomed. "Maybe it was already pissed off before Evan started."
"Are we implying now that the plants talk with each other behind our backs and Evan's skills have been made known among them?" Barty wanted to know in a grin, the little shit, causing Adrienna to start laughing with a hand pressed over her mouth and Regulus turn around to stare at him with raised eyebrows while Evan glared and Marc still petted the damn plant.
"That's a terrible thought," Marc mused though and Evan felt the itch to hex all of his friends suddenly, maybe some jittery legs would have them stop making fun of him, "Soon enough we'll be unable to go anywhere with Evan on the grounds, everything will want to attack us for colaborating with the enemy."
Evan raised his wand and Regulus jumped over to him, Barty and Adrienna were laughing too hard to notice.
"Uh-oh," Marc then suddenly called out and snapped his hand away from the plant again, Barty had Adrienna pushed under the table in the next blink of an eye and Evan had pulled Regulus behind his back, a "Protego" shooting from his lips. "Oh, this doesn't look good." And Evan was just quick enough to grab Marc's shoulder and pull him back before the red flowerheads exploded into yellow goo all over the table, the stuff hissing when it hit the shield charm.
"Everyone out!" Sprout decided in the next breath, "Everyone out, these plants are sick!" Evan shoved Marc and Regulus into moving, watching just long enough to see Barty holding Adrienna's hand on the other side of the tables before following them.
He hated Herbology.
--
"Dammit," Evan muttered and stomped a foot onto the cold ground of the dungeons, a few deep breaths later, he bent right back over his table and set the knife back onto the seeds. He was aware of the eyes on him but fully chose to ignore them for once.
Slytherins had Fifth Year Potions with the Gryffindors which was already exhausting and paranoia inducing enough, Evan didn't need the ever present chance of humiliating himself right in front of the big enemy. He liked his pride intact, thank you very much.
"Slowly."
"Reg, shut up," Evan growled and still slowed his hand a little in cutting the seeds of whatever tree or bush or something they needed for this stupid healing potion. His best friend – Potions being the only occasion really where Regulus could find himself faced with Evan's ire – was of course long done already again, potion brewed, stirred, presented to Slughorn and then neatly stored away before Evan, Barty and Adrienna had even really started.
A look around the table once he had the seeds cut in half fucking finally revealed to Evan that most others were struggling still as well. Adrienna's hair was all over the place and Barty had something black smeared over his cheek that Evan couldn't find an origin to, others of their classmates were muttering to themselves or frantically looking for help in their books. Only a few were calmly working, and no one was leaning back and reading for pleasure like Regulus was.
Pride and raging envy was always an interesting mix to feel.
"Why do we need to learn this? If I need something to heal myself later, I'm gonna buy it," Evan muttered angrily and roughly threw the seeds into the cauldron, "I don't need to know what is in it or how it's prepared to believe in its effects." Next on the list was pumpkin and Evan violently cut it into small pieces before leaning over to drop it in as well.
Only to have his hand frozen over the cauldron with his fingers still curled around the pumpkin pieces.
Evan blinked and then looked around to where Regulus had his wand lazily pointing in his direction, eyes set on his book still. He talked though when he became aware of Evan's eyes on him, "You have to remove the seeds first, otherwise it's gonna blow up right in your pretty face." Regulus stated with his lips daring to twitch into a little smile and Evan stuck his tongue out at him before letting his hand return to the table top where Regulus took the spell from his fingers again. "And we have to learn this because even money cannot teach you to differentiate between tasting healing potions and poison."
The last syllable had been spoken and then got brought into effect by Barty's potion exploding right into his face, covering Adrienna and him in green slime.
"Didn't remove the pumpkin seeds, huh?"
"Shut up, Evan!"
--
"Evan Rosier," McGonagall called out and Evan and Barty fistbumped over Regulus' head on the South side of the dueling podium, surrounded by Fifth and Sixth Years of all four houses, though Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff made a thick barrier between snakes and lions. Evan jumped up upon the podium when McGonagall sent him a look, wand twirled in his fingers and the crowd letting his four friends step up right against the podium.
Adrienna was glowering in the direction of Potter's loudly cackling gang of idiots while Marc kept his eyes on McGonagall, his right eye still black from when the fucking Marauders had played another one of their stupid pranks without giving a fuck about other people's wellbeing. Regulus was watching Evan, Barty whispering something to him that had him roll his eyes.
"And Mister Rosier will go against," McGonagall continued and drew another name from her transformed bowl, lips twitching for a second before she read the name out loud, "Sirius Black."
Oh, yes.
The Slytherins cheered and the Gryffindors howled in joy, it had been a while since the teachers had been open to snakes going against lions so the mood was explosive just for that, and add to it only that the chosen candidates had so much history with each other, it made it only better. Evan watched how Sirius exchanged a thick grin with Potter before wanting to swing himself upon the podium but Lupin held him back with a hand on his shoulder. Sirius very obviously huffed but then at least seemed to pretend to listen to what his taller friend had to say.
Evan himself felt a tug on his sleeve and looked down towards his own friends, Barty was watching the lions, having been pushed back a little by Adrienna who was scowling up at Evan just like Regulus was, behind Regulus Marc's eyes were only warning.
"Don't do something stupid, Evan," Adrienna hissed up at him and then crossed her arms over her chest when Evan went down on one knee for a more private conversation, "This is a perfect opportunity to show that you can have one over him without any tricks."
"Adri is right," Regulus said as well and Evan caught his eyes, surprised by the rare sign of satisfaction in them, "Put him on his ass but without any dirty tricks. Show that you're the better one by fair measures, that'll hurt him more. And make it hurt, Evan."
"Regulus!" Adrienna gasped in affront but Regulus ignored her, kept his gaze solely on Evan who could then for the first time in months see the pain again.
"Humiliate him, Evan," Regulus ordered once more and Evan nodded to him, now ignored Adrienna himself as he straightened up again, Sirius was waiting with that overly overconfident smirk on the other end of the podium.
Finally.
Finally he had the chance he had wanted since he had found his best friend standing shaking and so small in his father's study, and he hadn't even needed to go against Regulus' wishes to get justice. In the end it had been served to him on a silver platter.
Sirius was a formidable duelist but his biggest weakness was his arrogance and his extreme desire to amuse the crowd he found himself under. Evan's only weakness in a fight was wanting to protect his friends, something he wouldn't have to worry about now, not in this setting. McGonagall went over the rules again, cautioned them to keep to them and to remain fair, and then left them alone on the small stage.
They didn't start off easy but got right to it, curses and hexes flying between them, slicing through the air that filled with more and more tension. Sirius got more aggressive and Evan let go of the last remaining hold on his anger, called back the images of Regulus on that first night, how broken and defeated and hopeless he had been, how sometimes even now the light just seemed to go out in Regulus' eyes.
And it had all been Sirius' fault.
Sirius' fault that Regulus had been hurt so much, was still hurting to much.
His. Damn. Fault.
Evan gritted his teeth and slammed a "Stupefy" towards Sirius that held enough aggression to slide right through the "Impedimenta" that had been coming towards him. Sirius toppled to the ground and then cursed rather loudly but didn't get up anymore, the Slytherins exploded with applause and cheers, some Ravenclaws joining in as well. Barty and Regulus jumped up upon the stage, hugging him and clapping hands to his back, next to them, still down on the ground Adrienna was clapping her hands and jumping up and down, Marc was grinning happily.
"That was epic!" Barty yelled over the mayhem and Evan laughed, heart singing in joy, especially over the bright happiness on Regulus' face. Evan threw an arm around Regulus' shoulders and together they looked over to where Potter and Lupin had pulled Sirius back to his feet, all three of them were glaring over to them.
"Good enough show, Reggie?" Evan wanted to know when the teachers tried to get control and silence back into the hall.
"It was perfect."
--
"Slytherin, Slytherin!"
"Who's the greatest?"
"We are, we are!"
The mood couldn't be any better, Evan summarized for himself as he stepped back into the Common Room after a bathroom break, Barty was once more stretching the Cup into the air, the others breaking out into even louder cheers. Evan shook his head but grinned, making his way through the room with pats to his back and jubilant calls of his name.
It had been a magical day indeed.
The weather had been dreadful but the Quidditch Finale between top rivals Gryffindor and Slytherin had still been a go, and though they had had their worries and the first hour had been a close call, Slytherin had turned around and crushed the damned lions in the end. Evan himself hadn't had a very successful personal day, not even a handful of goals because Potter had been at his fucking heels all the damn time.
But Barty had grown beyond himself and maybe Regulus had only waited nearly three fucking hours to get the Snitch for their friend to have a day of glory.
Speaking of smallest friend...
"Where's Reg?" He called down to Adrienna over the music, letting himself fall down on the couch next to her, she pointed roughly in Barty's direction.
"I think the crowd swallowed him shortly after you left for the loo," Adrienna chuckled and the color on her cheeks told him that Eric's addition to the drinks had gotten her, too, already. Adrienna sighed before Evan could make up his mind over finding Regulus, despite his friend's aversion to crowds, Quidditch euphoria could make the difference usually, and then their special girl leaned against his side, "This was a good year, wasn't it?"
"Yes, it was." He agreed softly with her and leaned his chin on top of Adrienna's head for a short moment, and then quickly enough someone was calling for her to dance again and Evan swung her up to her feet and then watched her scurry off towards her dormmates. He himself leaned back and watched, content for the time being on the sidelines, music drowning out the conversations going on around him but he didn't care. His body was pleasantly buzzing in the aftermath of a good game and the thrill of a win, his mind awake but quiet for once.
And it had been a good year, despite the rough beginning and Regulus' sometimes downturned mood, everything had still turned out well. Rounding it up with a crushing victory over Gryffindor and especially Potter and fucking Black.
"Regulus!"
Evan glanced over and smirked when a yelp could be heard over the music, only a moment later their Beaters were picking Regulus up and setting him upon their shoulders, someone else pushed the cup into his hands. Regulus turned scarlet under the calls of his name but he looked so happy that Evan remained relaxed on the couch.
"You were right," Regulus said when he stumbled over to him just a second after he had been let go again, flushed and happy and loose, swaying a little on the spot until Evan tugged him down onto the couch with him, chuckling over his friend's wasted state, "It's all easier when you're not doing it alone, so thank you." Regulus' words ended in a slur and him frowning over his voice, Evan grinned down at him, "Thank you for being such a good friend."
"Any time, Reggie, any time." Evan assured him and wrapped an arm around Regulus' shoulders, drawing him further against his side, "You and me, nothing will get in between that, I promise you. And now, you have to excuse me for just a moment so I can clobber Barty for getting you drunk."
--
Five years later, Regulus is dead for almost two already and Evan feels the ugliness in knowing he had failed flare up worse than ever when he finally finds out for what his best friend died for.
It was a one in a million chance of stumbling over the right information while he found himself a quiet place in Lestrange Manor, just pure chance and dumb luck that turns everything inside of him upside down and sets everything he had thought to believe in once more into sharp doubt.
He digs in deeper and nothing is the same anymore, not when he now knows for sure that the Dark Lord must have killed Regulus.
Killed him for this.
It isn't really a question over what to do then.
Regulus will not have died for nothing, never. Evan has failed him, has failed to protect him, he will not fail in avenging him now, too, will not fail in seeing Regulus' path fulfilled.
Evan will end what Regulus started, he only has to fake his own death first, the more public the better, and then he'll vanish with a cup in his bag, and he'll finish this quest so that one day Voldemort will find his match and pay for what he has done to Regulus Black, to Evan's best friend.