But Not Just Yet
Ugh. He hated that memory. It made him feel just as conflicted as he had been in it, a teenage boy with nothing on his mind that was actually worth thinking of. But he couldn’t skip over it, it was the beginning of their last year at Hogwarts. He almost smiled thinking about it, fresh into September and Barty had already earned himself a detention and extra homework. If Evan was here right now, he’d probably smile too. It’d be much easier for Barty to do so if his… Friend was there.
He could only wish.
What had even happened after that? Barty’s mind was a confused haze, but he guessed it was either something so boring it completely fell out of his mind or something so important he’d made himself forget it– he’d done that a lot back then, forced himself to forget with a handy little spell he’d found in one of Regulus’s countless stacks of books while trying to snoop into his private life. It had benefited him then, not having to relive anything painful, but it was a damn annoyance now as he sat rotting in Azkaban with barely anything to reminisce over. His memory had as many holes as a slice of swiss cheese, damn it! Curse the younger him for being such a godforsaken coward.
He couldn’t really blame himself for it, though.
He’d do the same now.
…
He should’ve erased that damn memory.