Chapter One: One-Sided Love
“I don't get what he sees in Potter,” Barty complained, knees brought up against his chest and head buried in his hands. Evan knew how Barty felt about Regulus. Despite how much it hurt, he just had to accept the fact that he had no chance. Evan remained silent. He didn't have anything to say.
“Why am I not enough for him?” Barty whispered, looking up at Evan with sad eyes from which tears threatened to spill. The boy had always had a rough time understanding and realising emotions and self-worth, and this one-sided love was far from helping with that.
“Hey, Love. Don't say that; you're worth more than this world can handle,” Evan stated, moving off of his bed to take his place beside Barty. Barty gazed up at him, eyes now slightly shiny. All Evan could do was offer him a small, sorrow-filled smile.
“You think so?” Barty pleaded. Evan paused for a moment, trying to ignore the lump brewing in his own throat at seeing his best friend in such a rare state of vulnerability.
“I know so,” He eventually answered.
The tears that Barty had tried to conceal made their appearance.
The next morning was a strange one. Barty kept throwing sulky expressions at Regulus, as Regulus made eyes with James from across the Great Hall where they ate breakfast. Evan wrecked his mind, desperately trying to find a solution for Barty's misery, but he was too lost.
“Barty, you okay?” Regulus asked, completely oblivious to the mental despair he had been causing the other boy. Barty glared at Regulus before ignoring him and proceeding to butter his toast. Evan, who was sitting across from Barty, booted him on the leg and gave him a stern look.
“Yeah, fine,” Barty rolled his eyes. Regulus looked at Evan, but Evan just shrugged his shoulders.
“Okay,” Regulus replied hesitantly.
Barty took one bite of his toast, which had turned cold, he scowled, stood up and stormed off like a child throwing a temper tantrum. He had always acted a little bratty when he didn't get his way, especially when it was a situation which made him so upset like this one. Regulus and Evan exchanged a quick look with each other before both of their heads turned to stare in Barty's direction.
“I should go check on him,” Evan suggested quietly as he began to stand up.
“I'll come too,” Regulus offered, but Evan shook his head.
“It's probably better if I just go,” Evan informed him, a small smile tugging at his lips. With that, he grabbed his bag and headed towards Barty, leaving Regulus alone with the other Slytherins.
Eventually, after following him for a while, Evan noticed Barty step into a broom closet and slam the door behind him. Evan stood outside the closed door for a moment before knocking twice and pushing it open. Barty looked up at Evan and furrowed his eyebrows.
“What do you want? Go away, Ev,” Barty snarled. Evan rolled his eyes and took a seat beside Barty who was sitting on the floor.
“Just because you're throwing a fit about Regulus liking Potter doesn't mean I'm gonna let you be a dick to me,” Evan retorted, nudging Barty slightly with his leg. “I know it's hard, but you can't just ostracise me every time you have a problem,” He continued.
“What am I supposed to do?” Barty inquired, a hopeless expression stretched across his face. He leaned his head against Evan's shoulder. The broom closet was pretty tiny, so they didn't have much personal space.
“I'm not sure, Love,” Evan admitted. The poor young man had been trying too hard to find a solution, but he just couldn't. Evan hated seeing Barty like this.
“I could make up lies about Potter, maybe. That way Reggie wouldn't like him anymore,” Barty offered his opinion, but to his surprise, Evan just laughed. He had felt Evan's shoulder shaking beneath his head.
“We both know Reggie is way too stubborn for that,” Evan choked out, emphasising the word ‘way’. This comment made Barty also laugh, nodding his head in agreement.
“That's true,” Barty chuckled, cracking each of his knuckles. The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, both of their minds racing, trying to come up with ideas.
Evan didn't see why Barty thought he needed to change how Regulus felt about James. He knew that if he was the one in that situation, he would've just tried to get over it. Evan knew that Barty liked getting his way, though. He knew Barty would try almost anything to make things play out how he wanted them to.
Suddenly, Barty's face lit up as if he had just found out the best news of his life. Evan turned his head so he was looking directly at Barty. All Barty could do was smile at Evan, eyes wide and eyebrows raised.
“Ev, you know how you're my best friend?” Barty's wide smile turned into a small smirk.