Rosekiller A-Z

N~ Never say that again

Christmas break was finally over. It had lasted too long, in Evan's opinion. Nobody wants to spend three weeks with their family. Atleast, nobody he knew.

He rubbed at his purple wrist as he waited in their train cabin. It was a cabin that, over the years, had been undirectly labelled as Regulus, Barty and his cabin. He connected it to being a perk of the Pureblood families, the families who got everything they want, unlike the unfortunate muggleborns.

The cabin door slid open slowly and Evan's attention was switched from the foggy window to the new passenger. Regulus moved into the small cabin. Evan moved forward to greet him.

"Hey Reg. I see you survived too." He said as he pulled the smaller boy into a hug. Regulus winced. Evan took the hint and lossened his grip.

"Barely." Regulus replied dryly, massaging his pain-stricken ribs. "Now that Sirius is gone, Mother needs someone else to lash out on."

"Have you heard from Sirius? Any letter or anything?" Evan asked, cautiously. He knew this was a touchy subject.

"Nothing." The Black haired boy muttered as he sat down across from his friend. "And quite frankly, I don't want to, either."

"Reg... I know you're still caught up about what happened but–"

"He left me. Evan." Regulus snapped, flames of anger in his eyes. "He promised to take me with him, when he left, but he didn't."

With that, Regulus turned his attention to the book he had been clutching tightly. He only raised his eyes when the cabin door slid open once more.

At the door, stood the only son of the Crouch's. Barty looked the worst out of the three of them. He was pale and malnourished, so much so that from a far glance he could've been mistaken for Regulus. His hair was dishevelled and the bags under his eyes had tripled in size since the last time Evan had seen him. But the thing that worried Evan the most was that Barty was silent. He walked to the corner of the cabin and sat down beside Evan in silence.
"Hey Love. Good to see you." Evan said, trying to ease the silence. To get Barty talking.

"Mhm." Was Barty's reply. He didn't make eye contact with either of his cabin mates, keeping his gaze locked tightly onto the floor.

Evan moved closer to Barty, so that their thighs were touching. He noticed Barty flinch as he reached out for his hand.

"Barty. Darling. Are you alright? You're starting to freak me out a bit.." He whispered softly. He wasn't quite sure why he was whispering, he knew Regulus could here him regardless.

"... I'm sorry..." was all that Barty said.

Evan was confused, but most of all, he was scared. In all their years of friendship, he had never seen Barty like this before. It was really frightening. "What– What are you sorry for?"

"For everything." Barty sounded like a drone, like all these words were drilled into him. "For making you put up with me."

Evan's heart broke in two. He never felt that way about his boyfriend and Barty knew that. Atleast, Evan thought he did.
He stroked his thumb over Barty's grazed knuckles.

"What are you talking about?"

Barty's eyes watered almost instantly. Regulus closed his book and took it as his que to leave. "I-I'm going to go find Dora."

Evan smiled gratefully. "Thanks Reg. She's with the Ravenclaws."

Regulus nodded before leaving, the door slamming shut behind him. Barty jumped at the noise.

"Barty." Evan snaked his hand up to cup Barty's face. "What's happened?"

Barty was hesitant, but gathered up enough energy to look Evan in the eye. Evan smiled supportivly.

"I'm fine." He whispered.

"No. You're not. I know you, Barty."

"It was bad." Barty mustered up through his now flowing tears. "Really, really bad."

Evan rested his forehead against Barty's. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Barty sighed. "H-He put me in the coal bunker again. The second I came through the door. For two days. When I came out, it didn't get any better."

Evan listened intently. He glanced down at his wrist and worried about the rest of the story. Barty continued.

"Mum was so scared, I-I couldn't think of what else to do! So- So I hit him. Smack bang across the face. He was so mad! But- But atleast Mum was alright."

He paused, sniffling and wiped the tears from his face, which seemed pointless as they kept on flowing.

"He grabbed me by the scruff of my shirt and–"

Evan squeezed his hand. Barty smiled weakly.

"–And, he threw me. Against the wall, or the table, I can't remember where, but all I remember is my mum's screams of panic and agony. I woke up back in the coal bunker."

Evan pulled his boyfriend closer to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

"While I was in there, all that was playing thorugh my mind was all the things he had said before he threw me."

Evan found his voice, and spoke up, trying to break up how much Barty was bottling inside. He wanted to make it easier for him.

"What did he say?"

Barty's eyes returned to the floor. "That I'm useless. That everyone would benefit from my death. That you only stick around me out of pity, you don't really love me."

Evan was stunned in place, not sire what to say.

"Do you want to know what the worst part was?" Barty's voice broke. "I actually believed him. I believed everything he said."

Evan pulled him into a tight embrace, Barty nestled against his chest. His shirt was being drenched with tears but he didn't mind. He rubbed soothing circles on his boyfriend's back.

"It's not true, Barty. I love you. I love you more than anything in the whole world." He whispered into the crook of Barty's neck.

When they pulled away, Evan noticed that they were at Hogwarts and students were already beginning to depart.

"Come on, Dear." Evan said, pulling Barty off the seat. He cast a quick spell, enchanting the suitcases to follow them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Barty awoke with a fright, jolting upright in the bed. Evan, whom shared the bed with him, woke up with a start. He noticed Barty's unsteady breathing. He sat up and reaching for Barty's arm.

Barty turned and clutched to Evan dearly. He sobbed into his chest, just like he had done earlier that day. Evan settled his head against the backboard and offered his arm to Barty.

Barty collapsed into the hug. As he slept, Evan combed his fingers through the dark brown hair, wiping it out of his boyfriend's sleeping face.

Throughout the night, Barty's face twisted with panic, no doubt reliving his time at home. Evan soothed him, planting a kiss on his hair whenever he began to squirm.
Every time he planted each kiss, he whispered the same four words.

"I love you Barty."

Word count: 1170