Chapter 1
The rumors were spreading around school like wildfire. A monster that was killing students. The rumor wasn’t too far off from the truth. Not a single monster. Not some mythical creature they would learn about in class. Two monsters, wearing the face of sixth year Slytherins.
Barty knew from a very young age he was sick in the head. Killing the small animals he found in the garden and hiding the evidence before his father would come home. It was like he had this gnawing creature living deep within his soul that joyed in the blood. In the ending of life. He liked watching the life drain from the animals eyes. He knew it was wrong, but he always found it very hard to care. It was easier to pretend to be somewhat normal. To put on this mask or normalcy to fool his friends and his parents.
Until he met Evan.
Even at eleven, sitting alone on the train, he caught sight of a blonde haired boy on the platform, hand in hand with a blonde girl as they made their way on the train. The first time Barty saw Evan, it was like some switch flipped in his brain. He didn’t want to hurt him, like he usually did with most of his peers. He didn’t really even know what it was, he just wanted to be close to the other boy. The first day of school really was Barty’s lucky day, because that same blonde boy poked his head into Barty’s compartment, asking if every other seat was free. Barty tried to play it cool, with a simple shrug, telling him he could sit if he wanted. Evan walked in with Pandora, sitting across from Barty with a fake smile.
“I’m Evan Rosier. This is my sister, Pandora.” He said easily, extending a polite hand out for Barty to shake, and Barty saw right through it. The same fake smile Barty himself would flash to people his father deemed important. A smile that seemed a little too stretched and never quite met the eyes. A smile for show and nothing more. Barty flashed the same smile right back, reaching out to shake the offered hand.
“I’m Barty.” He said simply. Pandora didn’t say much. She just seemed content to sit there, observing her brother’s conversation. Until Regulus Black walked in with a huff.
“Evan! I have been looking for you everywhere! I almost had to sit with Sirius and his freaky friends.” Regulus grumbled, waltzing right in and plopping himself down next to Barty, holding his hand out. “Regulus Black. You’re Bartemius Crouch, right?” He asked. At least Regulus didn’t put on a show of a fake smile. He looked at Barty with almost no emotion. Like he was bored of the conversation before it even started, and somehow, Barty knew this boy would be his friend.
“It’s just Barty.” He said, letting the fake smile drop, but shaking his hand anyways, before his gaze flicked back to Evan, leaning over to hear whatever his sister was whispering in his ear. Even on that first day, Barty couldn’t tell exactly how, but he knew Evan was like him. Probably sick in the same way he was.
The two became fast friends after that. By the third day, they were practically glued at the hip. A few months later, Barty’s little theory of what Evan truly was, started to unfold.
“I don’t like when you sit with other people at dinner.” Evan said simply. The two of them sat on Barty’s bed, reading through whatever homework was assigned. Barty lifted his head up, raising an eyebrow.
“What?”
“I don’t like when you sit with other people.” Evan said again, just as simple as the first time, eyebrows furrowed together only slightly. “It makes me mad. Don’t do it. I only want you to sit with me. Okay?” There was something else. A flash of something Barty had only seen before in the mirror. Evan got mad when he sat with other people. It only happened twice since school started, and both times were in the past week. Barty sat next to one of the second year Ravenclaw girls, flashing her a fake sweet smile so she would pass off her Charms notes. Barty didn’t even remember her name, but it made Evan mad.
“Okay.” Barty said simply. Once the words were out of his mouth, the tension Evan was holding drained out of his shoulders and his attention went back to his homework.
—
By second year, Barty got to see the cracks in Evan’s mask more and more. He saw the way the other boy would twitch, hand holding his quill with white knuckle force when confronted with people he didn’t like. He watched in real time as Evan got better and better at his fake smiles and easy laughs. He watched Evan get better at pretending to be normal. Only when they were alone in their dorm, did Evan let his mask start to slip.
Barty flopped down on Evan’s bed with a dramatic huff, frown on his face. “Hey Evs?” He asked. Evan just replied with a hum, eyes glued to his homework. Barty wanted to test his theory. Ask the question and gauge his best friend's reaction. If it was bad, play it off like a joke. If it was good, it was good. “Do you ever want to hurt other people?” He asked casually, twirling his wand in his fingers.
“Yes.” Evan answered almost instantly before freezing. Like he spoke truly without waiting for his brain to process what the right answer should be. Barty smiled. A wicked grin, spreading across his face as he sat up.
“Me too.” Barty said before Evan had a chance to back track and lie.
“You do..?” Evan asked slowly. To anyone else, Evan’s hesitation would read like he considers Barty a threat. But Barty knew his best friend. He knew Evan was just like him.
Barty nodded, a smile still stretched over his chubby cheeks. A smile far too unnerving for a child so young. “Yeah. When I saw you talking to that Hufflepuff in the hall earlier, I wanted to push her down the stairs and watch her fall.” He admitted. It was true. Some first year girl was smiling at Evan, asking him for directions to a class. When Barty saw, all he wanted was to see the girl bleed out at the bottom of the stairs.
Evan stayed quiet for a moment before a smile tugged at his lips. A real smile. Not one of the fake ones he wore around the halls, but a real Evan smile. One of the smiles that was saved only for Barty. “Really? She was really annoying.” He giggled. “And she wouldn’t stop talking. I wanted to push her down the stairs too.”
“Maybe I’ll do it. If she talks to you again, I’ll send her down the stairs.” Barty smiled. He’d do it. He didn’t like when other people gave Evan -his Evan- attention like that. It made his blood boil, but the thought of shoving that girl head first down the stairs gave him a jolt of excitement shooting up his spine. The smile Evan flashed him matched his own perfectly. Twisted and deranged.
—
By fourth year, Barty started to realise his feelings for Evan were maybe not very normal. The feelings he had for his best friend were almost debilitating in a sense. Watching Evan smile and laugh with other people, no matter how fake it was, made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. It made him so fucking angry he couldn’t see straight.
Regulus had a hard time shutting up about Potter. Always talking about how he wanted to hold his hand and kiss him and just be near him. It confused Barty. Regulus claimed to have the biggest crush on Potter, but it never lined up in Barty’s head, because he had a crush on Evan. But it was becoming more and more clear that the way Regulus felt about a crush was not the same as how Barty felt.
Sure, he wanted to hold Evan’s hand and be close to him, but it went so much deeper than that. If he was away from him for too long, he couldn’t function right. He liked to have eyes on Evan at any given time, and if he was out of sight for too long Barty could feel a twitch coming on.
He didn’t just want to hold Evan’s hand. He wanted to fucking consume him. He wanted to crawl inside his rib cage to feel his heart beating right under his fingers. He wanted to rip his skin apart and lick up the mess it made. He could never get close enough to Evan and that little fact made him angry. Regulus liked James Potter. Barty was utterly obsessed with Evan’s very being and keeping his mouth shut on the matter was getting harder and harder to deal with as time went on. It was also getting harder not to slit the throat of anyone who dared to get too close to Evan on a daily basis.
Barty started getting more…possessive by then. He’d walk up to Evan in the hallway and snatch his hand up, lacing their fingers together as they walked through the hall and shoot a glare at anyone who dared to let their gaze linger for too long. Evan would just smile and hold Barty’s hand back just as tightly and Barty couldn’t help but stare and admire. How Evan’s eyes crinkled just slightly when he smiled at him. The freckles on his cheeks kissing his lashes when his eyes closed. The way his nose scrunched up when he laughed. The special ones just for Barty. Always just on the wrong side of normal. A little unhinged and manic. Just like Barty’s own. It was like they were made for each other. He was sure of it. They were cut from the same fucked up cloth. Written in the stars to be together. To Barty, it didn’t matter all that much if Evan wanted him back. All that mattered was that Evan was his. Nobody else's. And if other people couldn’t see that, they’d have to pay.
They only had two classes not with each other, and by the time each class was over, Barty was almost running out the door to go find the blonde. To catch his hand in his own and squeeze just to feel Evan’s skin under his. To press up against his side to make the ache in his bones go away. After his class, Barty rushed out the door, going right to the hallway Evan’s charms class was in so they could walk to the great hall together for lunch. And that’s when he saw it. A Ravenclaw boy in their year walking out of the classroom, smiling and giggling away at something Evan had said. Barty watched as Evan flashed him one of his fake smiles and Barty was ready to jump right in and pull his Rosie away. Until the Ravenclaw boy smiled, grabbed Evan’s hand and planted a kiss right on his cheek and Barty saw red. He couldn’t even remember what happened next. One minute he was watching some nobody kiss his Evan on the cheek, and in the blink of an eye, Barty had the kid on the ground. A bloody mess under Barty’s knuckles, fresh blood staining the blue of his tie.
He wasn’t sure how he got there, but the next second someone was pulling him up by his arms and pushing him back against the wall. Before he could even fight back, Evan’s face came into view, hands firm on Barty’s shoulders.
“Relax.” Evan said calmly, but Barty could see the twinkle in his eye and the way he was fighting back a wicked smile. “Take a deep breath. Are you okay?” He asked, reaching down to pull Barty’s hands in his own to check for any broken knuckles. The rest of the hallway was a blur of other students rushing to the kid on the floor. Barty couldn’t even hear his cries of pain or people yelling for a teacher. He only had eyes for Evan. All his senses dialed in on the boy in front of him as Barty’s chest heaved, trying to catch his breath. Evan carefully unballed Barty’s fists, checking his knuckles and using his sleeve to wipe away some blood. “Are you okay?” Evan asked again. Barty only nodded, keeping a tight grip on the hands in his before Evan was dragging him out of the hallway and up the stairs.
Barty couldn’t even focus enough on where they were going before the door swung open and he was following Evan out to the astronomy tower. “They’re going to call your dad. Everyone saw you. What were you even thinking?” Evan sighed, pulling Barty to sit next to him.
“He touched you.” Barty said quickly with a frown. “I don’t like when other people touch you and then he fucking kissed you.” He snapped. “I don’t want anyone touching you like that. Ever.” Evan laced his fingers with Barty’s, resting their hands on his lap as that sinister smile finally broke free.
“I know. Did you see his face? I think you broke his cheekbone.” Evan chuckled, looking down at the drying blood on Barty’s knuckles. “He cries like a bitch.” He hummed before slowly bringing their hands up to his lips, leaving a soft kiss on Barty’s blood stained knuckles. Barty watched intently. Watched the way Evan’s eyes fluttered shut for a fraction of a second. The way his lips brushed against the gore on his skin. He felt his heart jump in his chest, tightening his grip on Evan’s hand.
“If he even looks at you again, I’ll fucking kill him.” Barty said flatly. “I mean it Rosie. If anyone fucking looks at you like that, they’re fucking dead.”
“Promise?” Evan hummed, pressing another kiss to his knuckles. Barty’s breath hitched and he nodded.
“I’d kill anyone you wanted me too.” Barty said softly, leaning forward just slightly as Evan glanced up from under his lashes. “I would gut anyone if you asked me too and I’d bring you back a trophy.” Evan paused for a moment, letting his lips brush the top of Barty’s knuckles before yanking the other boy forward and crashing their lips together.
Barty smirked to himself, leaning into the kiss as hard as he could. It didn’t matter that Evan had bits of dried blood crusted to his lips. Evan was kissing him just at the promise that Barty wouldn’t hesitate to gut someone open end to end. Barty sunk his hands in Evan’s soft blonde hair and tried to tug him even closer. As always, he couldn’t get what he wanted. The only way Evan would be close enough is if Barty ripped him open and ate his soul. But the force of the kiss and Evan digging his nails into his hip so hard he was drawing blood was close enough.