Till Death do us Part {Rosekiller

Chapter 1.

Barty rushed through the crowded platform of 9¾. He shoved past the groups of sixth years, and the nervous first years clinging to their parents. He was eager to get on the train and escape to Hogwarts.

He found his friend, Regulus Black seated in their usual cabin. It wasn't officially their cabin, though nobody dared to sit in it. Regulus sat with his head tilted down, reading the book in his lap. He didn't seem to notice the arrival of his friend as he didn't look up once.

"Hello Crouch. You're early for a change, I see." The youngest Black spoke, not averting his focus from his book.

"I'm never late, you're just always early. How'd you know it was me?" Barty asked, reaching up and shoving his case onto the overhead racks. Regulus looked up.

"Just an assumption. I felt the atmosphere get slightly more chaotic."

"He isn't bluffing, you know." Chirped up a familiar voice from the doorway. "I could sense your presence from down the compartment."

Barty turned, a wide grin plastered on his face. "Theere he iss~ Hey Rosie!" He laughed, jumping at the unexpected boy. They landed in a heap on the floor, Barty crushing Evan as he lay on top of him.

"Merlin, Barty! Get off of me!" Evan complained, shoving at his captor's arm. His face was deep red, Barty didn't know why. 'Maybe he's really warm?' He thought, not moving despite the complaints from his best friend. 'Or maybe I'm suffocating him– shit I'm probably suffocating him'

Barty rolled over, landing on the ground beside his blonde friend. Evan coughed violently, and took a deep breath. His face colouration slowly returned to normal.

"Thank Merlin. I thought I was going to die being crushed by you, you fucker." Evan said breathily, raising himself to his feet. He took his seat across from Regulus.

Barty turned to face his youngest friend.
"I told you I wasn't late. I was here before Evie." He said proudly, placing his palm to his chest.

"No you weren't. He was here first, you git." Regulus rolled his eyes and pointed at the case beside Barty's.

Evan smiled weakly. "Yeah. I was just.. just with Pandora."

Barty jumped onto the seat beside Evan, draping his legs across his friend's lap.
Evan didn't make eye contact, or give any sign that he had noticed Barty beside him. Instead, his eyes were glued to his arm as he traced circles over the bandage that covered the majority of his forearm.

"What happened your arm?" Barty inquired, resting his chin on Evan's shoulder. Evan glanced over at Regulus, who gave him a small nod, then quickly looked back at the tight bandages.

"S'nothing." He mumbled, his voice dull, almost brittle sounding. "Just injured myself during duel practice."

"Duel practice?"

"Yes, Barty. Duel practice. Father wants me to practice at home, remember?" Evan raised an eyebrow. He sounded annoyed and frustrated.

"Right, I forgot." Barty replied softly, sitting back in his seat.

The journey to Hogwarts was the same as always. Well, relatively the same. The cabin was quiet, except for the occasional spark of conversation between Regulus and Barty. Evan was silent, staring at his arm to entire journey. There was something up, Barty could feel it, and he was determined to figure out what.

The train arrived at Hogsmeade Station in the late afternoon. The three quickly grabbed their bags from the overhead racks. As they left the cabin, Barty whispered to his miserable looking friend.

"Want me to carry your bag for you?" He asked, reaching down to the handle of the case. His fingers brushed against Evan's.

"Huh?" Evan asked, seemingly distracted.

"Your bag. Want me to carry it for you? So you won't strain your arm?" Barty repeated, adding further explanation for his offer.

Evan nodded, gently handing the bag to Barty. They followed quickly behind their other friend.

On the platform, they were approached by a familiar group of sixth years. Regulus rolled his eyes at the boy most similar in appearance to him. The boy looked their direction and smirked.

"So pretentious that you need someone to carry your bags, I see, Rosier." He laughed, leaning in towards the trio. His friends seemed unbothered by the situation.

"What?" Evan asked, glaring at the older boy with stone cold eyes. "What did you say to me Black?"

"You heard me–" "Sirius, leave them alone."

Remus Lupin, the tallest of the group, grabbed his friend's wrist. Sirius looked at the boy and his eyes softened. He sighed.

"Fine."

With that, the group walked off, except for one.

"Heya, Reg!" James smiled, joining the three in their walk.

"What do you want, James?" Regulus asked. Barty noticed that he didn't call him Potter. 'Strange' he thought.

"Just wanted to invite you to our party on Friday." James said cheerily, beginning to walk backwards so that he could look at them. "All of you. Pandora and Dorcas too."

Barty's attention was caught. "Really? I though you guys didn't like us?"

James frowned. "That's not true. Sure, Sirius dislikes Evan and Lily thinks you're annoying, but the rest of us like you."

"Oh." Barty felt bad for questioning James' kind gesture. It was clear that he was a nice guy. "Sure, then. Well Ev? What about it?"

Evan blinked hardly, snapping himself out of his thoughts. "Huh?"

"The, the party? James invited us?" 

"Oh, yeah. Sure."

There was an awkward silence. James cleared his throat, breaking the tension.
He made a popping sound with his mouth before speaking.

"Well.... see you around!" He leaned forward and gave Regulus a peck on the cheek, before running off to join his friends.
Regulus stared after him, his face bright red.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Barty quizzed, shoving Regulus slightly. Regulus glared at him, his face still red.

"It, it's James. C'mon he does that to everyone!"

"Uh huh. Suure."

"Let's go, we'll be late." Regulus stated, walking ahead of his friends.

Barty grabbed Evan's un-bandaged arm, and guided him towards the castle.

"Alright, but I'm not dropping this Reg."

With that, they continued on their journey to Hogwarts. Barty held Evan's arm the entire walk, only letting go when he tripped over a tree root. He occasionally looked back at Evan's stoic face.

Something was wrong, he could feel it. He was determined to find out what.

Word count: 1069
A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. I would appreciate a vote but it's up to you.
Pls let me know if there is anyway I can improve!