Black Bird (Fly)
“Dora! You can’t wander off like this.”
Evan was exasperated, he tried his best to keep a blank face as he ran after Pandora. If someone had told him the platform would be this busy, he would’ve figured out his own way to Hogwarts.
Evan took his sister’s hand in his and followed their older siblings throughout the platform. Although the boy is only two minutes older than Pandora, he took his job of being a big brother very seriously.
In a family with 6 too many spares to ever be considered an heir, Evan was used to fighting to be seen. It was different with his sister though. Everything was different with Pandora. She was the only one who truly understood him, so naturally he has to do everything in his power to protect her. It has always been Pandora and Evan against the world.
Pandora allowed Evan to drag her along the bustling platform as she kept her gaze fixated on a young boy with pale skin and black curls. She wasn’t stupid, she knew who the boy was. She’s seen him at Pureblood gatherings and in her visions. Regulus Black isn’t an easy person to forget.
“I saw someone. He’s important.”
Evan sighed, letting his eyes trail over to whoever had captivated Pandora. He recognized the boy as well. The boy’s name was on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t dwell on it. Instead, Evan focused back on following his older siblings. The platform seemed to be busier than past years. It left Evan feeling queasy.
Friedrich is the second eldest Rosier. He is the original spare. With their eldest brother already graduated, it’s Friedrich’s turn to lead his siblings throughout Hogwarts. He took the lead with pride. Since getting it in the mail, he has been making a show of his head boy badge everywhere he goes.
It’s painfully obvious that he’s drinking in the power like an addict. He constantly snaps at the younger siblings for not being on top of his orders. Leopold and Adler, their third and fourth older brothers, don’t bother hiding their eye rolls. Despite how disciplined their two eldest brothers were, Leopold and Adler often caused enough trouble to cancel out their eldest brothers’ efforts.
The family of blondes made their way onto the train. Friedrich glared at each one as he waited for them to all file in. Evan waited for Pandora to get on safely before following close behind her as the last two were officially on.
The moment Evan passed him, Friedrich grabbed his shoulder to make his youngest brother look at him.
All the siblings tense up at the interaction.
It doesn’t take long before Pandora glances at her remaining brothers and notices how they take this as a chance to slip off to join their friends.
“I am not going to waste my last year guiding you lot around. You will do well to keep up or else I have no problem with leaving you behind.”
Evan twitched in disgust as bits of spit had landed on his face from his brother’s little declaration. Evan roughly tore his shoulder from Friedrich’s grasp and ushered Pandora down the hall, away from their treacherous brother.
“Yeah, yeah.” He said, waving him off as they traveled down the hall. “Pandora and I are quite fine by ourselves, we won’t need your help.”
Evan bit back a nasty name for his brother. He didn’t need any problems before they could even get to the school.
Check.
As Evan gently pushed Pandora down the halls, she turned back for a moment to wave back at their brother. For the life of him, Evan couldn’t understand why she still bothered with him. Personally, Evan saw his older brother as a lost cause.
The young boy rolled his eyes at the gesture and found a compartment that he deemed suitable for Pandora. Once they got settled in, he practically threw himself against the cushioned bench. His small body lay sprawled across the bench. Evan doesn’t bother to move his face as it is stuffed into the cushions.
Check.
Another step down. His mind is racing as he recounts every moment leading up to now. Just a handful left.
Evan has a checklist for getting Pandora safely to Hogwarts. He knows it’s the safest place for her, he won’t relax until his sister is tucked asleep in her brand new dorm. Preferably away from anyone they may know.
Pandora has a distant gaze as her eyes look around the compartment. Evan didn’t need to look up at his twin to know she was watching something already.
“What is it, Dora?” Evan murmurs against the cushions. He assumes it’s just another thing that his sister could see that he can’t. Her visions worked in mysterious ways that he often didn’t bother decoding at this point.
Pandora hummed softly, pausing before answering her brother. “Wackspurts.”
Only then did Evan move his face. He turned to look at his sister incredulously before shrugging, returning his face to the cushions that smelled vaguely like chocolate frogs. He was used to her odd behavior.
Maybe if he laid there long enough, he could suffocate himself with the cushion and he wouldn’t have to deal with any more insufferable people. The thought danced around hopefully in his mind.
“The train is full of them. They seem to like your head, especially.”
Evan could practically hear Pandora’s smirk in her words.
“Ha, ha.” Evan said sarcastically. He sat up and threw a cushion at Pandora which led to her giggling and throwing it back at him. She leaned back against the oppose bench, letting her blonde hair flow around her. The light filtered through the window, complimenting Pandora’s locks with a soft glow. In moments like these, Evan soaks up the memory of his sister as much as possible.
Their laughter was short lived as two young students tumbled into their compartment. Evan didn’t recognize either of them, assuming they weren’t of any notable blood.
He gave them a bored look, making the boy of the two sneer at him in return. Evan had perfected his nonchalant gaze long ago. He’s a professional at making people think he doesn’t care. It was the perfect bored gaze that drove his older brothers mad.
The duo was a boy and a girl. Evan lazily glanced over each of them as if they weren’t worth his time. Despite his expression, the girl’s flaming red hair quipped his interest, and guessing by the way Pandora’s eyes lingered on the girl, she had quipped her interest as well.
The boy on the other hand looked unfortunate. Evan wasn’t one to judge but the boy’s greasy hair did not do him justice. He didn’t bother to give the boy a second glance.
Now, Evan doesn’t usually allow his snobbish pureblood tendencies to take over, but..
In other words, the boy looked like crap.
Plus, that sneer had ticked Evan off.
His eyes flicked over to the girl — who still had Pandora’s attention — as she began speaking.
“Sorry, we don’t mean to intrude. It’s just we can’t find anymore empty compartments. Do you mind if my friend and I stay here?”
“We mind—“
“No! You’re more than welcomed to stay”
Evan snapped his head towards his twin with an appalled look.
He must’ve looked over-dramatic, it might’ve damaged his carefully curated nonchalant demeanor, but he didn’t care. How dare his sister betray her beloved brother like this?
Pandora met his eyes with a wide smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes. In that moment, Evan knew to shut right up.
The duo in front of them looked at them in confusion, waiting for an answer. Evan rolled his eyes again and brushed a piece of his hair out of his face.
“Fine. Yes, you may stay.” He grumbled out.
The red head grinned and sat beside Pandora instantly, leaving the greasy haired boy to sit beside Evan. This caused him to glare at his twin in desperation, which Pandora promptly ignored.
Giving up on looking to Pandora for help, Evan awkwardly scooted away from the boy beside him.
The two girls immediately began talking as if they were old friends. Although he felt grumpy about the situation, he hid a small smile at the sight of his sister getting along with someone new. It lifted some of his stress of her not finding friends.
The boy next to him appeared to get saltier as he realized all of the red head’s attention was on Pandora.
Pandora’s eyes shined bright at the girl. She had recognized the red head the moment she stepped into the compartment from a dream she had years ago.
“What’s your name? Mine is Pandora.” She felt desperate to learn the red head’s name. She has waited years to meet the girl and she wasn’t about to let her slip away.
“Lily Evans.”
At the mention of the girl’s last name, Evan glanced silently at the girl and he could already sense Pandora’s smirk forming.
“Oh, Shut it.” He said with a halfhearted dramatic huff.
“I wasn’t going to say anything, Silly.” Pandora’s laugh rung throughout the compartment. It was an airy laugh that could make anyone crack a smile.
Beside her, the red head’s smile never faded. Her green eyes sparkled as she gazed at Pandora’s hair. As a muggle born, Lily has never seen such white-blonde hair.
“Is your hair real?” Lily asked innocently referring to the twin’s unusually colored hair, her hands were already combing through Pandora’s long hair.
Evan snorted at the irony. “Of course it’s real. We’re Rosiers.”
It was one of the rare times Evan allowed himself to be proud of his family name. Everytime he said their last name, Evan always made sure to say it in the correct French pronunciation. He loved the flared that it added to their name. Although the legacy was suffocating, the perk of having gorgeous hair was sometimes worth it. Sometimes.
At the mention of their last name, the greasy haired boy straightened as if he recognized it.
“Rossi-air?” Lily repeated back to them. The way she butchered the pronunciation made Evan cringe. It took everything in his power to not face palm.
“You’re purebloods?”
The question that came from the greasy haired boy had surprised Evan. He didn’t expect for the boy to speak up, let alone for that to be the first thing he said.
The way the greasy haired boy said it raised red flags in Evan’s brain. Reluctantly he responded to the strange boy, “Of course we are.”
In that moment, Evan could see the stars that formed in the boy’s dark eyes. It weirded Evan out enough to visibly move closer to the window, away from the boy next to him.
Pandora watched the greasy haired boy as he began to suck up to Evan. She bit back a teasing laugh and turned her focus back to Lily.
“I have a feeling we’re going to be great friends, Lily Evans.”
Evan decided to not strike up another conversation with the boy and opted to stare out the window as he tried to ignore the boy’s uncomfortable gaze on him. He watched as parents said goodbye to their children on the platform.
He’d be lying if he said he wondered what it felt like to have a parent attentive enough to drop their child off. It has always been Evan and Pandora. Pandora and Evan. He’s never had the urge to daydream about a loving mother, or a dependable father. Despite being okay with not having a parent figure, Evan could see the longing in Pandora’s eyes anytime they see a functioning family.
To anyone else it may have seemed like he was tuning everyone out, but Pandora knew her brother was merely waiting for something interesting to come up. Not many things managed to capture his interest and hold it.
After a minute of trying to find something interesting to watch, a familiar face caught his eye. Bartemius Crouch Sr. and his son argued on the platform. It wasn’t too loud but it was big enough to draw a handful of watchful eyes. Evan recognized Bartemius as the man his father constantly criticizes at dinner.
Evan knows plenty of pureblood families that despises Bartemius Crouch due to his political views and affiliations. He actively works against the pureblood agenda. To see such a big public figure riled up in public — by a child no less — must be a gossip’s wet dream.
As he continued to watch the father and son closely, he quickly realized that the son was purposely trying to get his father angry. He continued to edge the older man on, pushing him further and further from his patience. It’s like the boy wanted his father to snap in public. He smirked at the spunk the kid had to keep the argument up.
“That’s Bartemius Crouch and his son, Bartemius Crouch Junior.”
The greasy haired boys annoying voice pulled Evan’s attention away from the argument for a moment. He resisted the urge to groan, but he didn’t bother to glance at the boy.
“I know.”
He didn’t know.
“He’s a pureblood as well.”
Evan’s face twitched at the unnecessary commentary coming from the boy.
“I know.”
“What house do you think you’ll be sorted into? Surely since your family is apart of the sacred twenty-eight, you’ll most likely be sorted into Slytherin. It is the most honorable house after all.” The boy tugged on his very clear green robes in a proud manner.
Evan finally turned to face the boy with a disgusted, perplexed look.
“What did you say your name was again?” He asked, swiping a piece of his blonde hair behind his ear.
“Severus Snape.”
As the Snape confirmed Evan’s suspicions of being a non pureblood, he allowed his lip to curl in boredom. “Right.”
Evan had no interest in what blood someone had. Everyone was just about the same boring bag of flesh and bones to him anyway. But, he’s heard of enough half bloods who are so desperate to prove themselves, that they try to slither their way into pureblood society. It’s uninteresting, really. He can’t see why anyone would willingly want to be apart of the pureblood society.
“Anyway, I’m a Slytherin.”
As if it weren’t obvious?
“That’s fantastic.” He said dully. Evan had no interest in Snape. The greasy boy wasn’t exciting to Evan at all.
Pandora noticed Evan’s lack of enthusiasm and stepped in to take over the conversation. “I’m positive I’ll be sorted into Ravenclaw. I could practically see it already.”
Evan flickered his eyes over to Pandora. Due to her wording, he’s sure that she’s referencing her prophetic powers.
He assumes she probably found out her future house from one of her dreams. Apart of him is relieved that she won’t have to deal with the constant prejudice that goes on in Slytherin, yet he can’t help but feel sad that he will most likely be seperate from his beloved twin. He knew there was no way he’d be sorted in Ravenclaw.
It was never a question of where Evan would be sorted. He knew since before the womb that he’d be sorted into Slytherin.
“I’m a Gryffindor, but I think Ravenclaw is a great house.” Lily chimed in with a toothy smile.
Snape turned his attention back toward Evan. Evan groaned and decided he’s had enough of Snape’s strangeness.
Without a second thought, Evan slammed his head against the window of the compartment. He’s done this enough that he knows the perfect amount of force it takes to knock one unconscious. Don’t ask him why he knows this. Living in a house full of rough brothers, he found it was a necessary skill to know. It only takes one slam to knock himself out.
Lily gasps at the suddenness of it. Snape stares in disbelief at Evans limp body.
Pandora does nothing but blink once at her twin’s dramatic behavior. She casually carries on with her conversation with Lily, who looks panicked.
“Jesus! Is he okay?” The red head practically screeches out. She tries to poke at Evan with her wand, but Pandora waves her off.
“Yes, yes. He’s alright. He’s just being dramatic.”
“Your brother is weird.” Snape blurts out as he stares at Evan. Within a blink of an eye, Pandora immediately glares daggers at the greasy boy. Any benefit of doubt she had towards the boy was gone.
“My brother is perfectly extraordinary. Didn’t your mother ever teach you that staring is rude?” Her voice was still airy and enchanting but this time it held a certain edge to it. “Now, leave him to his nap, please.”
* ~•~ *
If you were to ask any Slytherin, they’d say Dorcas Meadowes is an odd case. The girl mostly stuck to herself, preferring the library over the common room. She spent her first year avoiding other Slytherins, hanging around the Ravenclaws instead.
She wasn’t particularly liked in her house. Many of the Purebloods had a grudge towards her for having the highest marks in their year, and often made far too many snide remarks towards her, that’s not even counting the endless jabs at her blood purity — or lack thereof.
If you were to ask Dorcas, she’d say she wasn’t drawn to her house in anyway. She often laid awake at night, wondering why the sorting hat had forced her into Slytherin. She remembered begging the hat for any other house.
She had an unpleasant run in with Slytherins on the train ride to Hogwarts her first year. She didn’t want to be associated with that kind of ugliness. Her mother was a Ravenclaw, she figured that, along with her natural talent and wit had made her a good candidate for Ravenclaw. The sorting hat thought otherwise.
The hat had sworn she’d be among the most cunning of all. Now entering her second year, she didn’t feel anymore cunning than she did last year.
Dorcas always had to be early for things. To ask her to be on time would be an insult. This led to her being on the Hogwarts Express earlier than most students. The halls were still practically deserted. Most people were outside, saying goodbye to their families still.
She made her way towards the Ravenclaw train car to find some of her ‘friends’. Though, Dorcas never truly felt like she fit in with her Ravenclaw friends. She always knew they didn’t understand her like they did each other.
On her way to the car, she ran into one of the Ravenclaw girls that was as close to a friend as an acquaintance can be. Dorcas was never close to them, but it was better than spending her days alone.
“Cornfoot.” Dorcas acknowledged the Ravenclaw girl.
“Oh, Dorcas, hey.”
The Ravenclaw girl seemed immediately uncomfortable. She didn’t stop to talk to Dorcas, but slowed her pace to have some sense of politeness towards the Slytherin girl.
Dorcas took note of the girl’s body language and immediately knew where it was going. She tried to soften to blow for herself as best as she could. “Do you know where the group is?”
Cornfoot stumbled over her words. “Uh. Well, you see…”
Dorcas never cared for small talk or any kind of filler conversation. She preferred to get straight to the point. Her dark brow raised pointedly at the blonde Ravenclaw, waiting for the girl to pull herself together.
“Yes?” It took all her willpower to hide her impatience.
“The girls and I talked.. and we think that you should try hanging out with someone new for a change.” Cornfoot tried her best to lay it to Dorcas as softly as possible. She didn’t have anything personal against the Slytherin, she just didn’t understand her. And frankly, she didn’t feel bothered to try.
Seeing Dorcas’ unimpressed expression, she sighed. “Look, the compartment is full anyway. Olivia’s little sister is starting her first year, so she kinda took your seat already.”
Dorcas stared at Cornfoot blankly, trying to seem as unbothered as possible, but she couldn’t stop the pang in her chest.
“No worries.” She cringed at how her hollow tone had betrayed her. Dorcas tried convincing herself that this was for the better. She always felt like she was an outsider looking in on their group anyway. Maybe they were right about finding a new group.
Cornfoot smiled and patted Dorcas’ shoulder in a perky motion, her short blonde hair swished. “See! I knew you’d understand.”
Dorcas eyed the girl’s hand on her shoulder, and did her best to crack a convincing smile. The smile looked more like a sneer… or a constipated bear. Cornfoot must’ve noticed her side-eye, because she immediately pulled away her hand as if she were scared Dorcas were going to hex her.
Dorcas watched as the Ravenclaw girl walked down the hallway. Leaving Dorcas to stand alone without a second thought.
In any other case, Dorcas wouldn’t have been hurt by the fact that the closest people she had to friends had practically dumped her. But this wasn’t any other case. While looking for a compartment to sulk in, Dorcas stumbled across her now ex-acquaintances’ compartment.
Their laughter echoed throughout the hallway. Normally, Dorcas wouldn’t have stood there. She wasn’t fully of self-pity to do that to herself, but something told her that they were discussing her. She does not like people discussing her.
She silently casted a noise enhancement charm, it allowed her to easily hear their conversation without being detected.
“—I told you guys she’s weird. I swear, once I saw her studying dark spells. I think it’s just the Slytherin in her.”
“Does anyone else get the feeling that she’s always plotting against us? I reckon she’s tried to curse us before!”
“All I know for sure is, Meadowes is just too strange. That poor girl is probably going to remain friendless for the rest of her Hogwarts years.”
Dorcas’ nose wrinkled at Cornfoot’s words.
“I truly pity her.” The girl’s tone suggested otherwise.
Either way, Dorcas doesn’t need pity.
* ~•~ *
Barty has never cared about what anybody thought of him. Growing up with a father like his, he quickly realized that trying to do all the right things for his father’s approval wasn’t getting him anywhere.
He lives for the thrill of everything. Barty found that the adrenaline rush was truly addicting. Seeing how ticked off he could get his slug bag of a father fed into his addiction. Danger has always appealed to Barty. Maybe he has a loose screw or two, but it just makes things all the more spicy.
Barty didn’t have many friends who stuck around. He figured his style was much too chaotic for most people. Any friends he may have made throughout his life have come and gone. Barty didn’t care, honestly. If nobody was going to match his anarchic style, they weren’t worth his time.
If he’s going to be out of his father’s —non existent— hair for the time he’s at Hogwarts, Barty wanted to go out with a bang.
It was quite easy to rile up his father. It took nothing than a few carefully timed witty remarks to send his father over the edge. After a handful of minutes, his father realized that their shouting was drawing too much unwanted attention, and decided to walk away from Barty.
Barty snorted. Learning new spells came naturally to him. It didn’t take much effort to cast a lace tying hex on his father’s shoes. Barty has always been skilled at magic. He thanks his mother for always pushing him to learn more, it sure did come in handy when he wanted to torment his father.
Barty walked backwards so he could see as his father tripped over himself. He barked out a cackle when his father tumbled to the floor in front of everyone.
“BARTEMIUS CROUCH JR!”
He took that as his que to escape. Barty ran onto the train, and didn’t stop until he came across a compartment with a closed curtain. The rest of the compartments had their door windows open, the fact that this one compartment had it’s curtain shut had made him all the more curious.
He was still riding the thrill of embarrassing his father in public when he decided that walking in on a couple possibly snogging was funny enough to keep him entertained until Hogwarts.
To much of his surprise, Barty opened the compartment to find a girl with a dark complexion hunched over with a book in her lap. She looked almost manically as she pointed her wand at an object in her hand. He couldn’t help but think of how her skin reminded him of a summer’s night sky right after a sunset. The girl’s aura itself was like a shot of espresso to Barty.
Within a blink of an eye, her wand was pointed at Barty’s nose. His eyes trailed to the tip of her wand. A boyish grin grew across his face as he slowly raised his hands up in surrender.
“What are you doing?” Barty questioned with a trouble making smirk. His tone was dripping with fascination and mischief.
The girl glared at him for barging in and interrupting her. “That’s none of your business. Who are you?”
“Barty.” He answered simply. He had a feeling his vague response was sure to get her annoyed.
“Barty, who?” She pressed, the edge in her voice made it clear she wasn’t above hexing someone annoying. The girl went as far as moving her wand closer to Barty’s face, grazing the cheek of his freckles.
“Barty Crouch Jr. at your service.” He didn’t seem at all fazed by the girl’s wand as he bumped it while doing a dramatic flourish of a bow towards the girl. “And you are?”
She stared at him with a guarded look before reluctantly introducing herself.
“Meadowes. Dorcas Meadowes.”
Barty’s eyes glanced back at the object that she was working on before he interrupted her. “Alright, Meadowes, what is that?” He said, pointing at the sphered object.
Dorcas narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. Her mind tried convincing her that this Barty Crouch Jr was someone she needed in her life. This feeling wasn’t something that came along often. She looked over the assumed first year once more before returning to her seat. She took in his disheveled hair. Everything about him radiated ‘troublemaker’.
Yet, something told her that this boy was someone that would understand. In her twelve years of living, she’s never felt so compelled towards someone before. Maybe it was the heightened feelings from the Ravenclaw girls’ nasty words, but Dorcas figured she couldn’t let this feeling slip through her fingers.
“It’s a powder bomb that I’m charming.”
“You’re trying to charm a powder bomb?” Barty saw her take a seat and took it as an invitation to make himself comfortable. He threw himself onto the seat across from her.
“I’m not trying to charm it. I am charming it.” She corrected.
“And why exactly are you doing such a strange thing? Surely it’s not an assignment, seeing as though we aren’t even at Hogwarts yet.” He teased.
Dorcas didn’t need to look at Barty to know he was smirking. She kept her eyes trained on a the powder bomb in front of her.
“I don’t like it when people talk behind my back. I guess you could call this an act of revenge.” She said simply. Barty immediately picked up on how her tone hitched and became scarily steady. His smirk turned into a devilish grin.
He kept his gaze trained on her, watching her every move.
“I ask you this, Meadowes, do you plan on using this powder bomb?”
The mischievous glint in her eyes when she looked up at Barty told him everything he needed to know. He knew that look. He’s only ever seen it as intensely in himself. In that moment, Barty knew that he was destined to bother Dorcas Meadowes for the rest of their lives.