Chapter 1
The sound of someone coughing woke Barty up. He groaned as he held his head and sat up. “Evvy? You okay?” Barty asked when he saw his boyfriend hunched over in bed, pawing at his chest.
“Yeah,” Evan muttered after he was finally able to catch his breath. “Just a… thing.” He didn’t know how to tell Barty about the Rosier family curse.
Barty looked at Evan with a raised eyebrow. “You know you can talk to me about anything. Right?”
Evan nodded. “I know, it’s just,” He paused, thinking. “Family drama and a cold. I’m fine Bee.” The brunette seemed to drop it before pulling a hangover cure potion out of his nightstand. Evan chuckled and shook his head. “You know those have to be the reason Black thinks you don’t ever get hangovers.”
Barty laughed and shook his head. “You say that like I care, Ev. Black can fuck off for all I care.”
Evan rolled his eyes and pulled back his covers before climbing out of his bed, his blanket still wrapped around him. He walked over to his armoire and pulled out a grey hoodie and some ripped blue jeans. Barty sat up and dangled his legs over the edge of his bed and stretched, his shoulders popping. He watched as Evan walked past him, throwing his blanket over Barty’s lap. “Nice ass baby.” He laughed as Evan flipped him off and shoved open the door to the ensuite before stepping in.
Barty stood and walked to his dresser and pulled out a pair of ripped black skinny jeans and an emerald green sweatshirt along with a fresh pair of boxers for himself. He walked over to the bathroom door and knocked on it. “Evvy? Can I come in?” Barty asked, loudly enough to surely be heard above the loud stream of water Evan was under.
When he got no response he knocked again, and again, and again. After the fifth knock, Barty just opened the door. What he saw had him running into the bathroom and collapsing. Evan, his rose, was lying on the floor still in his pajamas, the closed shower curtain billowing over him with the breeze caused by the warm water in the cold room. He was curled up, one arm stretched out and the other draped over his body, lying limply in front of his face. They were both covered in a splattering of blood, a small drip coming out of his mouth.
Barty froze and brought one of his own hands up to his mouth, covering his gasp and subsequent scream.
The door to the dorm slammed open and Regulus strode in, a pissed and concerned energy radiating off of him. “Barty! You need to-” His voice cut off when he saw Barty hunched over Evan, sobbing. Regulus practically ran over, placing a hand on Barty’s shoulder and grabbing his attention. “He’s not dead. Grab him, I’ll get his clothes. We need to take him to Madam Pomfrey now.”
Barty nodded and scooped the French man into his arms, holding him close to his body before following Regulus out of the room. It was still early in the morning on a Monday so the common room and castle were pretty empty, something that Barty was thankful for.
When they got to the hospital wing Barty heard the voices of a few other students from behind a drawn curtain, hiding a bed and most likely another student in said bed, from view.
Barty laid Evan down in the hospital bed, not letting go of one of his hands, while Regulus went to get Madam Pomfrey for Evan.
Regulus and Pomfrey soon came into view and Barty watched them emerge from the curtained bed. As the curtain fell back into place Barty thought he saw a Ravenclaw girl who often hung around with Pandora but he couldn’t be sure as Pomfrey asked him about Evan.
“What happened here?” She asked, standing on the other side of the bed from where Barty was sitting on the bed, as close to Evan as he could get without being directly on top of him.
“I don’t know, he was coughing this morning but said he had a cold and then when I thought he was showering I guess he passed out or something,” Barty spoke quickly, the panic evident in his tone.
Pomfrey nodded and cast a quick diagnostic spell over the blond in the bed before sighing. “I’ll need him to stay here for a bit, thank you, boys, for bringing him here and bringing his clothes. You two go to breakfast now, it's important to have breakfast before class.”
Regulus nodded and wrapped a hand around Barty’s wrist, ignoring the boy’s protests as he dragged him off to breakfast. “But Reg! We have to-”
“No, we don’t. Madam Pomfrey has it under control and will help Evan. I promise.” Regulus continued to drag his friend through the castle to the Great Hall before dropping his arm and shoving him into a seat. “Stay here.” He said his voice firm as he stood next to Barty.
“Are you sure?” Barty’s voice was wavering and he was starting to panic again.
“I’m sure. Now wait here. I’ll be right back. I need to go check on something.” Regulus walked from the room.
Barty watched his friend leave and started to pile his plate with some breakfast before making a plate for both Regulus and Evan and placing them under stasis charms.
Barty ate his breakfast alone. Dorcas wouldn’t be down to the Great Hall until lunch as she had a free period that morning and preferred to get her sleep when she could and often had to drag her girlfriend Marlene down from the Gryffindor tower and Pandora was strangely nowhere to be found that morning.
A commotion at the doors to the Great Hall grabbed his attention and he watched as Sirius and James ran in, Regulus chasing them with Remus not far behind the Slytherin. Barty didn’t have to wonder what was going on for long because Remus started yelling at the other two Gryffindors.
“What the actual fuck?” His Welsh accent was thick with sleep and Barty noticed he was limping slightly. “Really?!”
“Come on Moony!” Sirius started, running down the aisle between the Hufflepuff table and the Gryffindor table. “It wasn’t that bad!”
“You put pink hair dye in my shampoo and hid my favorite book!” The scarred man yelled back, chasing his boyfriend and trying to stop him.
“The hair dye was meant for Prongs and he’s the one that lost your book!” Sirius responded, turning the corner when he ran out of space and ran down between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables towards the doors, not noticing Regulus standing at the end of the tables with his wand drawn and a spell on his lips.
“What do you mean the hair dye was meant for me, Pads!” James’ face was full of mock hurt. “I can’t believe you would prank me like that! I thought you loved me!” He put his hand to his head and pretended to dramatically faint into the arms of a Hufflepuff in their year.
“I do love you, Prongs!” Barty laughed as Sirius ran face-first into his brother, both of them falling to the floor because he was looking at James.
Remus caught up to Sirius then and grabbed him by the leather jacket he was wearing, pulling him to his feet and using that to hold him steady as he used his other hand to help Regulus up off the floor. Remus glared at his boyfriend who uttered a quiet “Sorry Reggie.” that Barty wouldn’t have been able to pick up on if he hadn’t been watching the group closely.
Regulus nodded and gestured for Barty to come over to the group and bring the plates of food, which he did with little struggle.
“What’s up?” Barty asked Regulus who just rolled his eyes and walked away, expecting the other boy to follow.
Barty could tell they were going back to the medical wing quickly and got giddy, wanting to see Evan again. “Calm down,” Regulus said, grabbing his plate from Barty and picking at his food as they walked.
Barty practically ran to Evan’s side when they reached the room, a wide smile on his face seeing that Evan was sitting up and talking to Pomfrey. Evan waved at Regulus who sat on the bed next to him and finished what he hadn’t been able to eat while walking. Barty sat next to Evan on his bed and handed his boyfriend the plate.
“-stay here for a bit longer, I’ll have someone gather your coursework for the next few days and you can do your lessons here with a tutor.” Pomfrey was explaining.
Evan nodded and grabbed the plate from Barty, using one hand to eat the breakfast croissant Barty had made him and the other to hold Barty’s hand. “And what about…” The blond trailed off.
Pomfrey nodded, “They will be alright, same deal as you. They have to stay here and recover. Though you both should be able to leave before the week's end.”
Evan hummed his understanding around a bite of his breakfast while Barty piped up from where he was crawling into the bed and lying next to his boyfriend. “Evvy? Do you know where Panda is? I haven’t seen her all day and I’m starting to get worried, she wasn’t at breakfast in her usual spot.”
“I’m sure she’s fine, Barty.” Regulus’ voice was confident and sure from where he was still sitting.
‘But-” Barty started but Evan cut him off.
“She’s fine, Bee. I would know if something was going on with my sister.” Evan said with an eye roll.
“Oh yeah, you guys have that weird twin telepathy shit,” Barty said with a laugh. Evan’s only response was to shake his head and laugh.
“You two,” Pomfrey looked over at Regulus and Barty, “Should head to class before you miss too much of it.”
Regulus nodded and grabbed Barty’s hand before pulling the brunette to his feet. “Come on Barty, Madam Pomfrey is right, I don’t want to get detention and have to deal with Sirius and his annoying friends.”
Barty smiled at Evan and gave his boyfriend a gentle kiss before letting Regulus pull him off the bed. “Fine, fine, I’m going!” He groaned. “I’ll come see you later Ev.” He promised with another gentle kiss before Regulus pulled him from the room and to class. The last thing he saw before the large doors shut was Evans wave and smile towards the pair as they rushed off to class.