something so strange, hard to define
“I can’t believe I didn’t get to choose the color,” Barty grumbled, tapping his foot and waiting with Dorcas and Regulus. Pandora and Evan had already been in the bathroom for 15 minutes, and Barty could’ve sworn he heard Evan scream at some point.
Barty didn’t fully know what to expect. Pandora looked lovely with blonde hair, obviously, but Evan had always had that tall, dark, and handsome vibe going for him. From an objective perspective, obviously. Like, Barty had heard that he had that vibe. He had no idea, though.
But Evan with blonde hair? Barty was sure he’d be able to somehow pull it off. Evan seemed to pull off anything, curse his fucking charisma. If Barty picked, he would’ve chosen something stupid, probably, like pink or neon green. Something that Evan would probably change back in two days.
“Stop tapping your foot, Barty,” Regulus snapped. “I’m trying to read here.”
“When are they gonna be done?” Barty whined. “They’ve been in there for practically hou-”
The bathroom door swung open. Out came Pandora, beaming from ears to ear.
“I might have gotten carried away,” she started. “But Evan has cut his curls the same length for an eternity, and he never lets me do makeovers on him.”
Dorcas sighed. “Panda, what did you do?”
Pandora giggled. “Let’s just say, I took some creative license.”
“Get on with it, already,” Regulus asked impatiently. “I want to get back to my book.”
Barty rolled his eyes, ready to shoot back a snarky comment, when Evan walked out of the bathroom.
Evan looked, well, hot as fuck. Barty had to appreciate it, from a friendly standpoint, because well…
Evan had only had two hairstyles his whole life. As kids, Evan had always tied up his hair in dreadlocks, away from his face. As he got older, he started to cut his curls short, just a few inches above his head. But now, they were all gone, his hair shaved close to his head.
It was a darker blonde than Pandora’s, more golden than anything else. It stood out starkly against his dark skin, and Evan almost glowed. The buzzcut made Evan look older, his face more angular. He looked confident and self-assured, not the boy he had been 20 minutes ago.
As if the hair hadn’t been enough, Pandora had pierced one of Evan’s ears, hanging a silver dangling rose from it. It was the coolest thing Barty had ever seen. Barty tried to tell him as such, but he found that his mouth had suddenly gone dry at the sight of Evan standing there, blonde hair and earring and that stupid black t-shirt that emphasized the broadness of his chest and the hidden strength of his arms. Barty watched as Evan’s fingers, now painted black, twisted his family crest ring around his finger, his hands flexing as he did. Had it suddenly gotten warmer in the dorm? Barty looked around, wondering if someone had casted a heating spell.
“Barty?” Evan asked, and Barty turned, locking eyes with him. Evan’s stupidly perfect mouth lifted at one corner, as he fixed his eyes on Barty.
“Huh?”
“You’ve been silent for like, 3 minutes. That must be a new record.”
Beside him, Dorcas stifled a snort, though he wasn’t quite sure why.
“Sorry, Ev. Just spaced out for a sec.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Evan,” Dorcas interrupted. “But you look hot as fuck.”
Evan blushed, clearly pleased by the compliment. Why hadn’t Barty said that first?
“S’all Pandora,” he replied bashfully. “That’s what I get for saying yes to a makeover.”
“Seems like your bet backfired, Barty,” Regulus put in.
“Why is that?” Barty asked, still in a bit of a daze, though he wasn’t sure why.
“If Evan looks like that,” Regulus waved a hand at Evan, seeming a little taken aback himself, “your bet is about to get a whole lot harder.”
Fuck, he was right. Evan had been attractive before, fit even. But this? This was a whole new level. It’d be impossible to ignore Evan now. Evan looked more wild now, less innocent. He seemed dangerous, almost, in a way that was so intriguing it almost drove Barty crazy. In fact, the way Evan was holding himself right now, reminded him a whole lot of one Remus Lupin of Gryffindor Tower. Which was, for all matters, bad news. Because, before Remus had started dating Sirius, he’d been a bit of, well, a slag.
Evan smirked at Barty, and Barty forgot how to breathe for a second. “I have a feeling Barty will be fine.”
Barty shook himself out of his weird haze. He must’ve just been shocked, because of how much his best friend had changed. It was surprising, was all.
“That I will, Rosier. You’ll be bowing down to me come October.”
Evan checked his watch, seemingly remembering something. He walked over to his bed, pulling a Potions book off of his nightstand and placing it in his schoolbag.
“Where are you going, Evan?” Pandora asked.
“Studying with Sam,” Evan replied. Who the fuck was Sam?
“Merlin, she is going to die when she sees you,” Dorcas said. What did she mean by that?
“Hm?” Evan muttered, searching for something in his bag, his long fingers skimming over the pages of his textbook.
“She’s into you, idiot,” Regulus replied, rolling his eyes.
That got Evan’s attention.
“Don’t be daft,” he said airily, “she’s just a friend.”
“Sure,” Dorcas smirked, “a friend who’s dying to shag you.”
Barty choked on his own saliva. “Sorry, went down the wrong pipe.”
Pandora threw an odd glance at him that he didn’t entirely understand.
“Sam is just a friend,” Evan said forcefully.
Dorcas and Regulus rolled their eyes in unison.
Finding what he was looking for, Evan stood up, throwing his school bag over his broad shoulders. His absolutely normal, very friend-y shoulders.
“Don’t worry, Crouch,” Evan threw over his shoulder, “I’m not calling this one a date.”
With that, he winked at Barty and left the dorm.
Barty was having trouble forming coherent thoughts. He felt a little lightheaded. Maybe he had forgotten to eat lunch? Yes, that must be it.
“I– I’m going to go for a quick fly,” Barty announced. Air, he needed air.
As the door slammed behind him, he could’ve sworn he hearn Regulus whisper “whipped”.
Barty had no idea what he was talking about.