No One, Really
Evan’s day could have been fine. It really could have. He could have been optimistic and confident and just said a simple “Sorry” to the stranger he’d bumped into and everything would have been fine. But no. The universe hated him and he had a weakness for fluffy hair and oh god, are those rings?
” S’alright,” the stranger grinned after Evan’s apology. “You’re in Slughorn’s class, too?”
Now the stranger was starting a conversation with him. Evan hated small talk, despite being so talkative with his friends, but on the other hand, he was also a major people pleaser, especially when it came to pretty guys. “Yeah.”
Most people would have taken such a dry response as a sign to leave. Either that or get offended. But this stranger laughed. He laughed and his eyes crinkled and Evan wanted to take one of his own rings off his hand and give it to this man. A wedding, with Pandora, and Emmeline and-
“You’re one of those, huh?” the stranger mumbled, almost to himself.
”What?” Then, he thought that was rude, so he forced a ridiculous smile, because leave it to Evan Rosier to be a clown to make sure no one gets hurt, and added, “What does that mean?”
The stranger raised his eyebrows, and, now that Evan thought about it, his tone did sound a bit defensive. What was worse was that the man seemed like the type to pity others, not be offended by them, and if there was one thing Evan despised, it was pity. He wanted to sink into the ground. He wanted to roll around in the dirt and burn. He’s not that important, Evan reminded himself amid all the godlike beauty the man emitted.
”Just those sweater-wearing nerds who can’t hold conversations,” the man finally answered.
Evan let himself laugh a little. It was best to loosen up a little if he was going to be in the same class as him all year round. “Yeah, sure. What’s your name?”
The man winced, and Evan began fretting over whether or not he had gone too far. Then, he remembered that one scene in The Hunger Games when Katniss joked that Peeta asking her her favourite colour was too far. And he laughed. Out loud. Before the man had even said anything, Evan Rosier had laughed out loud for no reason. The man raised his eyebrows again.
“Is your name really that bad?” Evan quickly spoke, saving himself from what would have been a very awkward conversation.
The man laughed, thank goodness. “Yeah. Parents must’ve hated me before I was born. Bartemius! That’s what I was gifted with. Blasphemy, really.”
Evan wanted to inquire about the comment on Bartemius’s parents, to see if some part of them was similar, but he knew situations like these well enough to avoid them. People like Bartemius didn’t want to be asked questions, and people like Evan didn’t want to feel like pushovers.
”Anyway, please just call me Barty.”
Evan’s train of thought stopped. “Right. Yeah. Hi, Barty.”
”What’s your name?”
”Rosier.”
“Well, that’s fancy. I’ll just call you Rosy, then.”
”No, sorry. Rosier’s my last name. First name’s Evan. We always introduced ourselves with our last names back at school.”
Barty smiled, as if that was the most interesting thing ever. A weird fellow, but not in the way that made Evan want to run, which was what usually happened. More like weird in the way that made Evan want to stay and get to know every bit of him. But, then again, that was how he felt about every pretty person that passed him.
”I was a boarding school kid, too,” Barty remarked.
Evan had gone to boarding school, but how would Barty know that?
When he saw Evan’s confused look, he explained, “It was either private school or boarding school, and you seem like you could pack a suitcase quickly.”
“It really helps when you’re scared of a bunch of rich kids starting a fire.”
“Exactly! They might have health insurance, but my hair doesn’t. I swear, it almost caught on fire once.”
“Doesn’t look it.” Evan didn’t know why he said it. Barty was the type of person that made you want to be honest. Evan had met those types of people before, but he’d still failed to avoid it.
Barty’s eyes brightened. “Thanks.”
In that little pocket of silence that followed after, Evan realised that he still had a lecture to go to, one that he would miss if he didn’t get away from whoever the hell Barty was. Honestly, who was Evan to daydream about a stranger? He’d done it a lot, but in the middle of a class he should be attending? He expected better from himself.
”I need to get to class,” Evan said.
”Oh,” Barty breathed out, as if disappointed. Then, his eyes lit up again. “I’ll come with you.”
”I thought you were about to leave.”
”Someone’s gonna have to sit next to you, Rosy. How else will you survive the boredom?”
”I’m starting to wonder if this is for my sake or yours.”
”It’s balanced, Rosy.”
Evan entered the room late, slightly anxious, and with a new friend.
Barty was convinced he’d met an angel. Evan had complimented Barty’s hair, but had he seen his own? He had golden curls that practically formed a halo around his head. He had at least a dozen rings, all of them gold. Barty had always preferred silver, but this man was making him change his mind. So, of course, he’d told Evan he’d go to class with him. Barty was impulsive, if anything, and he wanted to get to know Evan.
They had missed 40 minutes of the lecture, adding how late Evan had arrived and the time they talked. This meant they only had a little over 1 hour left. Barty used this time to pester Evan, pushing his limits. Each time, he felt a little guilty, but he always did it to others. Why would Evan get any special treatment just because he looked like a saint?
”This is so boring,” Evan groaned, tilting his head back.
After staring at his Adam’s apple for way too long, Barty replied, “I could totally just duct tape Slughorn’s mouth. Maybe tie him to his chair that he never sits on. Does that man not get tired?”
Evan made a noise that sounded like a laugh and a scoff. How was that even possible? “Be prepared to roll him up the stairs and out of the room, then. Unless you want him out of the chair.”
Barty was elated. But this also meant he had to keep testing. He had to keep pushing. Because if he didn’t push, then they would stay. Then, someday, he would break and they wouldn’t like it. They would leave. Best to let them leave out of his own will than that. Still, he hoped Evan would stay. Just for a little while.
gays+a witch 🙂
no.1 basketball player
guys
guys
mfs
this is why i don’t wanna attend yalls funerals
no.1 hozier fan
My bad 🙏
I would’ve replied if I’d known you were gonna come to my funeral
Is it too late???
How do I redeem myself 😣😣
Tell me Meadowes!
Tell me now!
Should I get on my knees or smth
Say some Shakespeare?
no.1 (bottle) blondie
is anykne dying?
my schedule is vety packef evan
idk if I can afftend ur funeral
im sorry
💕💕💕
no.1 hozier fan
I’m not dying dw 🙏🙏🙏
no.1 (bottle) blonde
i wss oking
i think
MF.
no.1 hozier fan
Wow ok.
no.1 (bottle) blonde
not uou
this blonde giy
’ik the abswer’
’pandora is erong’
’lemne kids your ass some more fso i can have the assugnment’
no.1 basketball player
love you Dora but PLEASE
it’s not the time
there’s this tryout thing
for the basketball teams
need to get itttt omgomgitntieifje
no.1 curly head
Didn’t they choose u bc of ur basketball skills?
Tf is this uni doing???
Ur Dorcas Meadowes???
no.1 basketball player
ty Reggie but no
like
ugh
it’s complicated
you have to get in
that requires skill
but then you have to get into the teams too
yk how Hogwarts is
fancy ass stuff
plusss
this girl Marlene
she’s supposed to be rlly good
AND SHE HAD ZERO TRAINING UNTIL HIGH SCHOOL
no.1 hozier fan
Dw you’ll be fine
Plus I heard she’s going for another team
That red thing
no.1 basketball player
it’s not the red thing wtf Ev
it’s called Gryffindor
PLEASE ‘THE RED THING’ 😭🙏
am i the green thing then? 🥰
i feel like an alien
(joking but not joking)
no.1 hozier fan
Dork you rlly deserve this
Dw about it, alr?
You’ll do amazing
Screw that Marlene girl
How good can she be??
no.1 basketball player
YEAH
YEAHYEAH
YOU’RE RIGHT
YEAH
no.1 hozier fan
Okay great
Now stop talking in caps <333
no.1 (bottle) blonde
and start ljsteninh to me pls
the bkonde ghy
ew.
no.1 basketball player
🖕
no.1 (bottle) blonde
does thag mean ayou're ewing with me or at me
no.1 basketball player
both <333
no.1 (bottle) blonde
yayayayayauay
tell me abt marklene lager btw
we need a bkondoe hate club
no.1 curly head
See my question is
How do you know she’s blonde?
no.1 (bottle) blonde
get bjpr3d easily
Dorcas’s friends had been right. They had been right and she had never been happier. They had been right and she felt like she floating. They had been right and she got Slytherin Basketball Team Captain. Team. Captain. Those words rang in her ears like music better than any song she’d ever heard. It hadn’t been an easy competition, of course. But she’d won, and that was what was really on her mind. She’d gotten a place on the team and it would make her best friends proud as soon as they knew. Then, she thought about her family. They’d already disapproved of her moving out of their house, saying it was too risky with how low she could get, mentally. But what they didn’t understand was that she was a grown adult, making her own decisions. What they didn’t understand was that she wasn’t moving out of a home, she was moving out of a house because she felt suffocated with love. What they didn’t understand was that home, to her, was movement. It was freedom and flexibility and new, exciting things. But those were all things they could never comprehend.
“How do you feel about getting your place as Slytherin Team Captain?” a slim blonde girl approached her. She had Bayonetta glasses, a stylish outfit, and a camera the size of her head. Plus a microphone pointed directly at Dorcas.
Dorcas felt uncomfortable. She hated being in situations like this. “Sorry, what?”
”You’re Slytherin’s Team Captain! Isn’t that exciting? Already feeling competitive against the other houses? Gryffindor, perhaps? Are you going to-“
”Rita!” a yell boomed from across the room.
Dorcas turned around to see a blonde Filipino girl with tan skin and lean muscles. Marlene McKinnon. Basketball prodigy, even while she was untrained. It was obvious she’d made Gryffindor Team Captain. Dorcas could tell by the look of pride on her face. She noticed Marlene's freckles, and she got the strange urge to feel them. Relax, she's your opponent. And a pretty good one at that.
"Marlene McKinnon!" Rita practically screeched. "How do you feel, getting your rightful place as Team Captain?"
Marlene grinned. She had dimples. Dimples. "Pretty good. I think I'll do well, if I do say so myself."
"And the competition? Dorcas Meadowes has been getting personal training since she was 7 years old, and Crouch Jr. reportedly was automatically chosen to be on the team as soon as he signed up."
A scoff came out of Marlene's mouth. She looked directly at Dorcas as she said, "Some talent can't be trained, love." Marlene looked back at the blushing Rita. "And besides, Crouch only got chosen because of his dad. A typical occurrence in Slytherin."
"You are aware that this is going in the school newspaper, right?"
" 'Course. Use anything you want."
By the time Rita had left (the poor girl had to wobble out because of one of her high heels broke after pestering an unenthusiastic Ravenclaw basketball player), Dorcas was fuming. Sure, she was annoyed at Rita for giving her unwanted attention, but the girl wanted to be a journalist. Who could blame her? Marlene Mckinnon, on the other hand? She spoke as if being born with talent was the only way you could succeed, and that pissed her off. Frankly, it wounded Dorcas's pride.
Now, Dorcas wasn't one to make many bad decisions. She had a conscience and knew to keep hold of it if she wanted to make it. She wasn't part of an elite family, only a stable, comfortable one. If there was one thing she learnt in her household, it was that all their comfort existed because they were stable. They were two related words. And yet, here she was, storming up to Marlene, with no clue as to what she would say.
"Mckinnon," Dorcas practically spat out with a glare.
Marlene gave her a mockingly confused look. "Hi, you're...?"
"Rita said my name already."
"Did she?"
Dorcas wanted to fight this egotistical girl. "Real brave of you to say bull like that without a rich family to protect you. Who knows? Someone might get you into trouble."
Dorcas's friend, Regulus, knew Barty Crouch Jr. To be honest, Regulus knew everyone, though not of his own volition. It was always through his family or mutual friends. According to him, Barty wasn't very forgiving. She wondered what Barty would do once word caught of this.
"They'll still keep me, you know," Marlene said plainly. "I'm too good for them to just throw away. You're the one who needs to worry. Not exactly upper class, either, are you?"
"At least I keep my mouth shut. I don’t go on about how you're a lazy brat, do I?"
" 'Course you don't. You're too busy blushing and spluttering over Rita Skeeter. Dorcas Skeeter. Weird combination, if you ask me."
Dorcas took a deep breath in. She needed to, with how this moron was sucking up all the oxygen in the room. "First of all, I was not blushing and spluttering. I was tired from all that movement. Second of all, I didn’t ask for your opinion on 'Dorcas Skeeter', whatever the fuck that is, so piss off."
Marlene looked strangely smug. She nodded, which Dorcas might have appreciated, except this was a slow nod. A very slow nod.
"What is it now?" Dorcas snapped.
"Just really want to say something, that's all."
"Well, go on."
"You asked for the definition of Dorcas Skeeter-"
"I really didn't-"
"It's your new name, Dorcas Skeeter. That’s whatever the fuck it is," Marlene said with a horrible impersonation of a London accent.
"Is that it?"
"Yep."
Dorcas walked away.
"Byeeee, Dorcas Skeeterrrr!"
Marlene liked to piss people off. She blamed it on her being a younger sister, though that was only half of it. Most of the time, she did it by accident. It was only when the person she did it to started to piss her off that she did it on purpose. And seriously, who was Dorcas Meadowes to get so upset over something Marlene had carelessly said that was going to end up in some boring newspaper?
So, she had decided two things:
1. Dorcas Meadowes was a sensitive bitch
2. Marlene needed to ask her friends what they think of her
the three musketeers
mother
hello xhildren
assistance is required
ratatouille???
my mum's still confused as to why you're named mother
'but i'm your mother'
i think she feels left out :(
mother
pete???
literally???
how???
is???
that???
the???
point???
ratatouille
idk it just needed to be said 😔✊️
mother
ok.
rat.
tell your mum i said hi btw 😘
sunshine lollipops and rainbows
I THOUGHT MY MUM WAS YOUR FAVOURITE???
I FEEL BETRAYED
mother
and i thight you didn't lke me flirting with her
yrt here we are
yall are so weird istg
ratatouille
'yall are so weird'
bold statement from the mum lover
mother
love knows no age 😁
ratatouille
does love know no husbands and sons either??
mother
nah love dgaf
anywa
guys
children
bekovef children (or not)
gather 'round
sunshine lollipops and rainbows
yes?????????
mother
on asvals of one to tden
how rude am i
ratatouille
final answer: tden
sunshine lollipops and rainbows
agreed
the tdenest of all the tdens
mother
…
ok…
never making a spelling mistake again
just turned on autocorrect 😁
nvm aujtocoreect’s annoykng af
akso are you guys being fr?
sunshine lollipops and rainbows
why do you want to know???
ratatouille
WHO HURT YOUUU
mother
wjat
no???
nth happensd
just saw somewjere that people norn in july are ruhde
sunshine lollipops and rainbows
u sure?
ratatouille
i happen to be very skilked in the aft of dad jokes but making them insukts
mother
aint nobody getying hurt by that
appreciate it tho xx
Technically, Marlene hadn’t lied. No one would have gotten hurt by Peter Pettigrew clumsily turning dad jokes into insults. She had only lied about why she wanted to know if she was rude, but that was less recent than the truth she had told, so it cancelled out. Obviously. The truth was, she was worried about how extreme she was, how rude others thought she was, how true all the ‘You’re so annoying’ jokes were, how ready people were to leave her, every second of every goddamn day. But that wasn’t the Marlene McKinnon people were comfortable around. That wasn’t the Marlene McKinnon who you went to to cheer up and closed the door on once you’d had enough. That just wasn’t the Marlene she wanted to be. If there was one thing she learnt in her household, it was to fake it ‘till you make it. And she was forever going to stick to that.
A knock came on her dorm room.
“Marls! Open the door, I’m freezing!” Mary, her roommate, called.
“Did you bring pizza?” Marlene called back, just to be a little annoying. Just to have a little fun. Mary could handle it, she was sure. They’d known each other for ages, always having each other’s backs. And when the time came, Mary instantly decided she was going to live with Marlene. They would have even been going to the same university if Mary hadn't decided last minute that she wanted to be a model.
”Yep, it’s frozen! You know, since you aren’t letting me in.”
Marlene laughed and decided to spare Mary, walking towards the door to open it. Mary’s teeth were chattering, and her dark lips looked paler than ever. That was strange because normally, Mary put on ten layers of lipgloss before she went outside.
”Can’t believe you did this to me,” Mary grumbled as she walked in, immediately putting a pizza box on their ‘dinner’ table (it was really just a small, circular table that they ate at) and jumping onto the couch.
”You’re acting as if I created the snow myself.”
”Oh, you did. Didn’t you know? It’s why your hair’s so blonde, Elsa.”
"Of course! And not because of the ten hours I spent bending over a sink with the smell of hair dye all over the bathroom."
"Glad you've realised that now."
”Mind warming up that pizza, Elsa?” Mary called from her fetal position on their couch.
“I’m never getting rid of that nickname, am I?” Marlene sighed, but she still began to put the pizza on a plate to put in their crappy microwave. Then again, they were probably lucky to even have a microwave.
“Nope. I remember everything.”
“If only you’d remembered Gilderoy’s birthday that one time-“
A pillow landed in Marlene’s face.
Gilderoy was Mary’s man-child of an ex. Really, the wanker didn’t deserve her. Mary often described him as a Boy Scout; ‘if one house doesn’t want any of his badly baked cookies, he goes on straight to the other!’ To which Marlene asked, ‘What do the cookies represent?’
Such good times they had in high school.
”How was the shoot?” Marlene asked, setting the timer for the microwave. It had to be said - she was very quick at recovering from having a pillow thrown at her.
”Brilliant!” Mary’s eyes had already brightened, and Marlene smiled. She loved that modelling was something Mary was actually passionate about. Not just one of her many, many hobbies. “They put a lot of gel in my hair, though. It’s going to be a pain to wash out. Kill me now!” Mary draped herself dramatically on the couch’s arm.
”Knife or gun?”
”Drown me in my perfume. It’s a much better way to go, trust me.”
”Spoken like a true professional at drowning.”
”Shut up. Is the pizza ready?”
Marlene prepared the pizza and put it on their dinner table. The both of them sat down on their fluffy rug (Effy had gotten them a 60% off deal just by charming the manager of the store) and ate their cheap pizza from their cheap table. Marlene had never had a sister. She had even convinced herself that she would never want one. But there was comfort in having someone who had greasy hair when you had greasy hair, who would swear at you for being codependent but still do your eyeliner perfectly, someone who’s just there. Mary was the best sister Marlene could ever ask for.
If Evan had a quid for every time Pandora mentioned Xenophilius Lovegood, he would have at least 70 quid.
”I mean, really, he’s just stupid,” Pandora complained. “And he said if I dye my hair too much, it’ll get damaged beyond return!”
”Aw, so he cares about your hair,” James cooed. “That’s sweet, isn’t it?”
Sirius rolled his eyes. “Disagreed. Who is he to tell you what to do with your hair? It’s your hair. Quite a precious little thing, really. And the pink looks lovely on you.”
Pandora grinned. “Thank you, dear.”
”Why exactly are a bunch of old Gryffindors in our common room?” Evan questioned, because no one was speaking, and he enjoyed teasing his friends.
”I think you mean older,” Sirius corrected primly.
”Nope! I know what I said.”
Pandora giggled.
”Well, I’m just here for him,” James gestured towards Regulus, who was impressively dividing his focus equally between his cat and James.
”I’m here to make sure nothing happens between those two,” Sirius said with a fake weary expression. His reaction when he found out his best friend and brother were dating was…intense, to say the least. But he’d gotten used to it. “And Moons is here because he’d be oh, so very sad to miss me while I’m away here.”
”Yeah, I’d be oh, so very sad to miss you after you die from whatever catastrophe you and James get yourselves into,” Remus replied, to which Sirius just put a hand on his chest and fell. On the floor. Not on the bed. He rolled over onto the floor.
”Theatre kid behaviour,” Dorcas mumbled, but everyone heard, and Sirius mocked offence as well as any award-winning actor would.
”Reggie, love, you aren’t one to laugh,” Pandora said through small wheezes.
Reggie rolled his eyes. “It was one time.”
”Sixty-two, I’ve counted,” James corrected.
Evan raised his eyebrows. He could never remember things that well.
“So, Sirius likes to drop on floors and Regulus starts flailing as soon as he enters deep water,” he said. “Runs in the family, does it?”
The room erupt into defensive statements, more wheezing and giggling from Pandora, and the slapping of skin from Dorcas because apparently, slapping her friends’ arms as soon as she found something funny was a very valid thing to do. Evan could have sworn bruises were formed, though maybe he was being a little dramatic himself.
”Back onto the topic at hand,” Evan begins. “Do you know why that Xeno guy keeps acting like that?”
Pandora shrugged. “I’m guessing he’s going for that assignment.”
”What assignment?” Emmeline asked from her seat beside Evan.
Evan could have sworn that Pandora’s eyes started glittering. “It’s this super cool thing where you get to work with any legal chemicals you’d like to and see if you can create a substance that would be useful for the ecosystem. The professor only assigns one pair to work on it, though. Lily and I are pretty set on getting it.”
Emmeline tensed at the mention of Lily’s name. The two of them never had anything against each other, personally, but their friend groups were known not to mingle, mainly due to a certain someone named Mary. Evan didn’t know much about her, but he couldn’t figure out why Lily had disliked her so much in high school. He wasn’t one to get involved, though, especially since he hadn’t gone to their school. A supposedly French boarding school built in Britain was the route his parents thought was best. He figured they thought it would keep him focused. Oh, the mistakes people make sometimes. Regardless, Emmeline said Mary and Lily had made up, but that didn’t mean they were friends. Then again, with friends like James and Sirius, it was pretty hard not to end up in the same friend group. Apparently, they could be trusted to be put in the same group chat now. Impressive, Evan thought. He kept grudges for ages, which also meant that he was very slow on forming them. Sometimes.
”You know, Dora,” Regulus began. “Xeno’s a Ravenclaw, too. Perhaps you two could bond over that? Get to know each other a bit more before you scratch his throat out?”
”Oh c’mon,” Emmeline groaned. “Not all Ravenclaws have to be friends.”
If no one repped Ravenclaws 24/7 in the world, Emmeline Vance would have to be dead. Evan still remembered how excited she was when she found out which house she was in. It was mainly due to her parents having been in the same house, but she also went on and on about how much she valued the Ravenclaw house’s traits when they were younger. She even rocked blue and bronze every single day. To be fair, though, it did look stunning on her.
“Those two might, or we’ll be hearing his long-ass name for years,” Remus sighed.
”Earplugs work!” Pandora pointed out.
”What if those little mushroom things start to grow inside of his ear?” James argued.
Sirius gasped. “Exactly! His ears should be protected.”
”I wish Peter were here,” Pandora grumbled.
Emmeline nodded. “He’s the most tolerable out of you four.”
The three supposedly less tolerable ones rolled their eyes, and Evan couldn’t help but laugh.
”So, Evan, what about that godlike boy you were telling me about?” Emmeline asked with a wicked little grin on her face.
Evan groaned and leaned his head back onto the couch he was leaning on. “Just a friendly stranger. The most we’d ever get to talking again is saying a quick greeting before or after class.”
“Oh, come on, that can’t be it,” Pandora said. “Did he seem like he was into you?”
” ‘Course not. But it’s fine. I came here to get a psychology major, not date one.”
For some reason, Regulus looked as if a thought passed by him when Evan said that. Then again, thoughts passed by Regulus as much as a person blinked.
”You sure?” Dorcas questioned with an eyebrow raised, ever the skeptic.
”Yes. He’s no one, really.”
Two weeks had passed since Evan started university, and things were going amazingly well. This specific day was better because he was going to get his marks for a test he had taken last week. Evan had always gotten the top grades in all of his classes, so he was feeling confident. He wasn’t expecting to get a 100, but at least above 90. It was what he had studied for. It was what he got out of his comfort zone and his house for.
Evan sat in his usual seat, with Barty right beside him. He was practically buzzing with energy, just waiting until Professor Slughorn declared his marks. Normal teachers would give some sort of online announcement of marks, but he was far from normal. Instead, he believed in announcing every student’s marks out loud, in front of the entire class.
”I’ll be announcing the marks from lowest to highest because alphabets never did much for me.”
If that was meant to be a joke, no one laughed at it. Though to be fair to him, a stand-up comedian could have been brought into the room, and still, no one would react. Hogwarts was an elite university and these were their first test marks. Everyone was high-strung.
It had almost been an hour by the time Professor Slughorn got to Evan, considering the amount of people in the classroom. Despite his impatience, Evan reminded himself that this was a good sign. Being last meant being the best. And as far as Evan knew, he was last.
”Evan Rosier,” Professor Slughorn called out, some pride already seeping into his voice. Also a good sign. “98. Very, very good job.”
Some people clapped, including Barty, who stopped bouncing his leg up and down for the duration of it, only to return to doing it afterward.
“You okay?” Evan asked kindly.
Barty stopped bouncing his leg. “Yeah, sorry. Just don’t know why he hasn’t called out my name yet.”
“Bartemius Crouch Jr.” Professor Slughorn boomed. “100. Good job, my boy.”
To say Evan’s blood went cold would’ve been an understatement. No. His blood froze over and turned into a frozen lake. Red and shiny for Barty and his perfect mark to skate on. If Evan hadn’t understood what being on thin ice meant before, he most definitely understood now. But, of course, he’d always understood that phrase, because he understood everything. That was why he was always the best. Always. Barty was on very thin ice, and Evan hoped he did a backflip soon.
Sure, Evan had gotten a ‘very, very good job’ from a fairly strict teacher, but Barty had been called ‘my boy’. Those two, seemingly miniscule words rang around his head like a stupid melody he couldn’t wait to get rid of. Barty was out here, smiling, while Evan had to eat the scraps of his glory because a 98 only looks good when with a 95. A 98 is nothing compared to a 100. Pandora would have called him silly for thinking such things (as if she could talk), but it went much deeper than grades. It was his reputation. It was his parents. It was his own pride and dignity slowly being diminished as he wondered if he really would have still been called the genius of his high school if Barty had been there. Evan straightened his face to prevent a scowl. This was nothing except an event to prove his past words right. Barty Crouch Jr. was nothing to him.