" I think he did it but I just can't prove it
No, no body, no crime
But I ain't letting up until the day I die "
--CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR--
July 8, 1978
Saturday
6:00 pm
Rosier Manor
"What did you say to me?" Eleanor Rosier darkly muttered to her son across the dinner table.
Evan cleared his throat out of nervousness, "I said I'm gay," he stated firmly, or at least that's what he hoped it sounded like.
Hugo Rosier slammed his fist onto the table, "How dare you say such a thing in this house?!" he shouted, "Do you realize how people will look at us if someone finds out? Or worse, what will the dark lord think?"
"I don't care," Evan murmured.
"Speak up, boy!" yelled a red-faced Hugo.
Evan looked his father straight in the eye, "Fuck you," he turned to his mother, "and you. And your precious dark lord. Fuck all of you."
And that's when all hell broke loose. Evan didn't plan for it to go this way. At first, he was planning on telling his parents, but the more he thought about it, the worse the idea seemed. So he would go with his plan b, which was to simply escape in the middle of the night. Though one thing led to another, and his dear mother said something about how they planned for Evan to marry Athena Greengrass, Evan simply lost all sense.
Hugo took out his wand without a second thought and was ready to attack his own son, just how he had done many times before.
"Crucio!" he yelled. Evan didn't even get the chance to run. The red jet struck him square in the chest; pain ran throughout his body. What was just five seconds felt like an eternity. He thrashed and shook from head to toe, completely numbing all his nerves. Evan whimpered, "Please stop."
Now his mother was the one who spoke to him, "You are going to keep that filthy mouth shut. You will marry Athena and join the dark lord's ranks to bring honor to the Rosier name. Do you understand?" Eleanor commanded as she got close to her son's face on the ground. Evan hesitantly nodded his head, not wanting to feel the pain again.
"It seems like the boy can't speak; maybe another round will do," his mother said, walking away from Evan, leaving Hugo to do all the dirty work. And he wasted no time. By the end of what they called teaching a lesson, Evan was sporting a black eye and probably broken ribs. His parents left him on the dining room floor, unconscious for the house-elf to clean up.
Evan woke up a few hours later, not knowing if he was alive. Every single part of his body hurt, though it wasn't something he hadn't felt before.
"Come on, little master," whispered Effy the house-elf, "Master Evan needs to leave."
Evan grunted as he sat up, "Where are we?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes.
"Effy brought you up to your room after your parents left you. Master must leave. Effy has packed his bags. They are bringing he who must not be named and his followers. Master Hugo and Mistress Eleanor said they want you to get the mark today."
Evan's eyes snapped open, "They're what?!" he whispered yelled, "Why would they do that?"
"Effy overheard your parents talking. That if you get the mark, you'll have to obey them. Effy knows that the young master is not happy here. Master must leave before he gets hurt again." said the tiny house elf with wide eyes.
Evan could cry out of gratitude for Effy. He couldn't believe that she had done such a thing for him. Evan quickly got out of bed, still hurting from his wounds, and went to his desk. He took out a parchment and one of his many pens and started writing. It took him a few minutes to get everything else in order before he turned to Effy once again.
"Effy, I need you to give this to a member named Regulus Black. Make sure no one knows that you gave it to him. Please." he said, giving her the letter.
Effy nodded her head, "Yes, Master Evan."
He looked around the room and noticed that all his items were gone and saw two large suitcases by the door.
"One last thing Effy," he whispered to the house-elf, "can you take me somewhere?"
Once again, Effy nodded. Even then told her the address he knew he'd be safe, well, at least he'd hoped. Effy grabbed his hand in hers and took him to where the suitcases were. She then proceeded to snap her dainty fingers, and they were gone in a blink of an eye.
----
8:00 pm
"Welcome, Bellatrix, Narcissa, Lucius, and Regulus. It's a pleasure for you to come to our home," Eleanor sweetly ushed her guests into the large living room.
They were the first guests to show up for the meeting. Hugo had called in, saying that Evan was ready to get the mark, and the Lord was pleased with this, saying that it must happen immediately. It was supposed to be a small affair with only the Dark Lord's most trusted there, which happened to be the Black family and the eldest Malfoy.
Narcissa, being the nicest, answered, "Thank you for having us."
"The dark lord will be here soon," announced Bellatrix as she slumped over the oversized leather couch. Both Narcissa and Lucius followed suit in sitting, all except Regulus. He was constantly looking over his shoulder, waiting for him to show up. He wondered why on earth Evan had agreed on taking the mark. It was the Rosier's worse nightmare.
"Mrs. Rosier, would you mind if I go and see how Evan is doing?" Regulus asked with a monotone voice.
Eleanor agreed, "Yes, of course. You know where his room is," she said while she went back to conversing with Narcissa.
Regulus slowly walked up the grand stairs. He had to admit that the Rosier Manor was even colder than 12 Grimmauld Place; he loathed it. He made his way through the many hallways till he got to the southwest area of the house, where Evan's room was. He quietly knocked on the door only to hear no response; in Regulus's mind, that could mean either of two things: one that Evan managed to escape or two that he was dead. The youngest Black then pushed open the door to reveal an empty room. All Evan's clothes, books, pictures, and personal items were gone. That meant that his suspicions were correct: Evan got out.
He was about to walk out of the room when he heard soft footsteps coming from behind the dresser. Regulus pulled out his wand and slowly walked over to inspect the situation, though the only thing he found was a scared house elf.
"Effy?" he questioned.
Effy visibly relaxed when she saw Regulus; he was always kind to her.
"Master Black! Effy has been waiting for you," she said excitedly.
Regulus crouched down her eye level, "Why? Where's Evan?" he stammered.
Effy went rummaging through her dirty clothes, "Effy cannot say, but Master Evan left this for you," she responded, handing the young boy a letter.
He took it and began to open it, but Effy stopped him, "No, Master, you must not open it here. Do not let anyone know where he is. He told Effy to tell you that he is safe."
"Alright. Thank you, Effy," Regulus added as he gave her a sweet smile. He stood up and was about to walk out of the room when Hugo and Eleanor burst through the door.
"Evan?" Hugo questioned with a hint of bitterness in his voice. Though the thought died in his throat when he saw everything was gone, including his son. Immediately their gaze landed on Regulus.
"Where is Evan?" Eleanor asked as she strolled further into the room.
Regulus knew that this was the time to act the part. He turned off all emotion and turned to look at his best friend's parents.
"I don't know," he said firmly, "the room was like this when I walked in."
"Don't lie to us, Regulus," Hugo threatened. Regulus felt the slight probing of his mind and realized that Hugo was trying to use Legilimency on him, though he could block him out easily due to him being a natural-born Occlumens.
When Hugo realized he had lost that fight, he decided to pick on the small member in the room.
"You did this, didn't you?" he said, stomping towards Effy.
Effy whimpered as she walked back words until she hit the wall. She remained silent as the eldest Rosier questioned her. Eleanor watched from the corner, not at the interaction between her husband and the house-elf but at Regulus. She wondered what he was hiding and how he learned to do it so well. She knew that Regulus knew exactly where Evan was though he decided against giving up his location. That was the moment she decided that something suspicious was going on with Regulus Black.
"Talk, you disgusting creature! Where is Evan?" yelled Hugo.
Effy shook her little head as her shoulders racked with silent sobs, "Effy will not say! Master Evan forbad it."
Hugo let out a humorless laugh, "Of course he did. Well, it seems like you have proven who you serve; hence there will be no more use for you." Hugo took out his wand from its holder and pointed it at the tiny creature.
"Sir, don't you think it's best if you did not kill her?" Regulus interrupted, making the parents look at him questionably, "I mean, she had information, doesn't she?"
Hugo shook his head with a smirk present on his face, "No, she is useless." he turned his attention back to Effy. "Avada Kedavra," he muttered with a satisfied expression as he watched her drop to the floor.
Regulus sadly looked toward the dead house-elf. Effy's face was wide open in shock, looking up lifeless, and he watched as her final tear left her eye. He thought he could throw up at any moment, but he composed himself.
"I will inform my cousins that we are not needed anymore," Regulus said as he swiftly walked out of the room before either Hugo or Eleanor could utter another word.
----
South Kensington, London
11:00 pm
Arabella walked through the peaceful muggle park on her way back to her apartment. She had just gotten back from training and had stopped by the corner shop for some food. It had been around three weeks after school had ended, and Arabella found herself adjusting just fine to a solitary life. In her time living alone, Benji and the twins had visited her to keep her company, but they had their own lives and a work schedule that was hard to keep up with. Arabella had constantly been writing back and forth with the marauders and the girls, making sure they were okay. Though the only people had not heard of were Regulus and Evan. She could only hope that they were safe.
Arabella had also successfully moved on from her water training and started air. She thought it was a little bit useless since all someone can do with air is make it more around or pick up speed, but the centaurs had reassured her countless times that they knew what they were doing and not 'question' the elementals process. So Arabella kept her mouth shut and did as she was told. She was exhausted, and that she could feel that slowly her limit of handling magic was coming to a tipping point. She had expressed her concerns with Benji, and he had told her he was going to talk to Dumbledore and make a plan on how to handle it.
She walked up the stairs leading to her home, not paying any mind to the others in the lobby or the halls. Once Arabella got to her door, she realized something was wrong. She could feel the magic coming from the other side of the door. This wouldn't have worried her if she thought it harmless magic, but she felt its dark presence in the room this time. She took out her wand and prepared herself for whatever she would find on the other side of the door. She pushed it open and saw that everything seemed to be in its place. Nothing was stolen or broken. There was no sign of anyone breaking in, but she couldn't help feel the nagging suspicion that she wasn't alone. Arabella made her way through the main corridor and walked into the living room. That's where she found Evan. The Rosier boy was lying asleep on her couch, peacefully snoring. Though from his body, she could see the remnants of the Cruciatus Curse lingering around him. She also noticed that he had a black eye and bruises all over his arms.
Arabella walked over to the sleeping boy and put a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Evan?" she whispered as she shook him. This caused him to jump open and point his wand at her face.
"Sweetheart, it's just me!" she stammered backward and away from the wand. "Evan, what happened?"
Evan relaxed at the sound of her voice and instantly threw his arms around her petite body. Then the crying started. In all the time she had come to know Evan, he had never once cried in front of anyone. Arabella believed that it was a pride thing.
"I-" Evan started but started gasping for air.
"Shhh, hey, it's alright," Arabella said as she rubbed soothing circles on his back. "You're safe now."
After a few more minutes of silence, Evan had managed to calm down.
He pulled away from her, and they both sat on the blue couch, waiting for Evan to start speaking.
"I was beginning to think that telling my parents that I'm gay was a bad idea. I had made plans to come here soon, like run away from them but something just kept popping up when I tried to leave. Both my parents had me locked in my room for days, only being allowed to come out to dinner. They knew I was planning on leaving, and they didn't want me to have a chance. Tonight, we were having dinner, just the three of us. It was going, as usual; no one ever really talks during dinner time. Though my parents thought it was a good time to tell me they had betrothed me to Athena Greengrass, a girl in my year. I told them I didn't want to marry her and that they couldn't force me to do it. My father went on this whole spew that I had to do I was told or else they would disown me and cut off all the money they had given to me," he paused as he looked over at her.
"Ara, you know I don't care about money or anything like that. So I did what I thought was best and told them I was gay. However, it was the worse thing I could have done. My mother said that I was disgusting and that they were going to go threw with the wedding whether I liked it or not. They also said that I was to join the he-who-must-not-be-named army. I can't do that. I don't believe in anything he stands for. I don't want to be a murderer like my parents," Evan whispered that last part causing Arabella to grab ahold of his hands.
"You won't," Arabella stated firmly.
Evan nodded and continued, "When I refused again, that was when my father attacked me. He used the Cruciatus Curse and beat me until I fell unconscious. The next thing I remember was my house elf Effy waking me up in my bed, telling me that I needed to leave. My parents had contacted the dark lord and told him I was ready to take the mark. So Effy brought me here. Before I left, I told her to give a letter to Regulus telling him where I was since he was coming with the dark lord."
Arabella faltered from her calm state, "What do you mean Regulus was coming with the dark lord?" she murmured.
Evan realized what he just said, "He took the mark last summer. He was forced; his parents threatened to kill him if he didn't."
Arabella remained silent, going through the timeline of events in her head.
"Reg doesn't want to be!" he quickly added, "He's not like them. He's good."
Arabella sent him a small smile, "I know he is. Though I'm just thinking about how he is doing." she answered quietly.
"Ara, we need help. I know my parents are going to try and look for me. I don't know what to do. And Reg is too proud and frankly stupid to ask for help, but I know he wants to get out. He doesn't want to be a death eater."
Arabella brought the boy into another hug, "I won't let them hurt you or Regulus. I will figure something out."
Evan sighed at her touch, letting all his worries leave his body just for a second. He felt safe with Arabella. Throughout their time getting to know each other, Arabella had become like the sister he never had; Evan truly loved her.
Arabella pulled away and stood up, "Come on, I have your room ready for you."
"You prepared my room?" Evan questioned as he followed her down the hall.
"Mhm," she hummed, "I figured you'd be here sometime soon, and I had some free time on my hands, and I decorated it."
Arabella then pushed open the door to reveal Evan's bedroom. Evan looked around the room, and it was precisely his style. Neutral colors were present throughout the room. Plants littered the shelves, though they were most likely fake, seeing as Arabella had dubbed him the plant murderer after killing one of her beloved flowers. There was a small empty dresser ready to be filled with whatever he wanted. Next to the dresser was a desk and chair. Then finally, there was a king-size bed in the far corner.
Evan flopped on his new bed and waved Arabella over to join him. She obeyed and settled into his open arms. They stay like that for what felt like hours, finding comfort in each other's presence. From that moment on, Evan was forever in debt to Arabella. If it weren't for her, Evan Rosier would most likely be dead at the hands of his parents.
----
A/N- vote and comment:)
no body, no crime by Taylor swift