Melting The Ice

Two weeks into the first term, Regulus decided to finally go see his room. It was late afternoon on a Sunday when they all hopped in James’ car and drove to the college campus with his bags in the back. Regulus stared into nothing, leg bouncing and fingers tap-tapping on his lap as the car rumbled on. Fat rain droplets rolled down the window miserably. He took in a shuddering breath, forcing himself to calm down.

“Reg.”

A hand brushed Regulus’ arm, he jumped and turned to a concerned Sirius. “You’re shaking. Are you alright?”

He simply nodded, glancing out the window again into the foggy streets. “Are you sure? Have you eaten?” Regulus felt his heart stutter a little, but he just shrugged and hugged his bag to his chest. James glanced back at him worriedly from the drivers’ seat but said nothing.

When the three boys arrived at the school gates, Regulus didn’t even get out. He didn’t like meeting new people; let alone ones he’d have to actually try to get on with. He had voiced his hate for new people a few times, but Sirius just gave him an amused look, saying he was an ‘unsociable little shit who wants to die alone’. The dick.

Just as Regulus was silently lamenting on this memory, his brother practically yanked him out of his seat and hurried him through the front gates. Regulus glared and shrugged him off, slowing down to look at the paper in his hand.

“Come on, hurry up! I wanna meet your roommates.” Sirius whined at Regulus’ slow pace. Regulus just slowed down more out of spite.

“Where even are the dorms? I’ve never seen any rooms or anything in the college...” James hummed thoughtfully as he looked around in confusion.

“That’s because it’s a different building to the actual college, dumbass. That one.” Regulus rolled his eyes and gestured at a squat looking building slightly off to the side. The paint on the doors was slightly peeling and the black metal stairs that went up and across each floor looked rusty, but it wasn’t too bad.

James had never even noticed the dorm rooms before, and evidently neither had Sirius by the look on his face. Regulus lead them over to the building and walked up the stairs until they reached a number on the second floor. Even as he got out his key, he hesitated and glanced at the two boys behind him, but they just looked at him expectantly.

With shaking hands, he unlocked the door and walked in, tentatively stepping inside and flicking the lights on in the hallway. It looked like there were people already here; there were shoes in the hallway and coats on the rack. The kitchen, however, was still pretty bare when the three entered. There wasn’t much on the shelves or countertops and a small table sat around three chairs, a jumper thrown over the back of one of them.

“Your roommates are already here, see! I told you, you could move in sooner.” Sirius rolled his eyes and slumped in one of the seats. Regulus just let out a grunt and dropped his bags on the floor, eyes wandering around the room.

There was a small click of a door opening down the hall and the sound of footsteps approached the kitchen. They all watched the doorway in anticipation until a figure walked through. Regulus felt a little tension seep out of him. It was Evan, the boy from the lockers. At least that was one person he knew here.

Evan yawned as he entered the kitchen, then suddenly stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of them. He just stood there and blinked for a second, until finally his eyes found Regulus, and everything seemed to fall into place. A slow grin spread across his face.

“Baby Black. You’re our new roommate?” Regulus nodded slightly, tilting his head towards the bags.

“Evan fucking Rosier! It’s you again!” Sirius interrupted, jumping up enthusiastically. Evan’s eyebrows raised as he turned to the boy.

“Baby Black and…others. Right.” He nodded at Sirius and James, then met Regulus’ eyes, leaning forward a bit. “Please don’t tell me they’re moving in too.” He hissed loudly.

“Don’t worry,” Regulus’ lips twitched, “the idiots aren’t staying.”

“Oi!” The eldest brother complained as Regulus smirked. “We let you live with us for three whole weeks!”

“And?” Sirius spluttered but came up with nothing. Regulus pointedly turned away. “Anyway, you can go now. You’ve met my roommate.” Evan snickered as he walked over to the toaster.  

“Aren’t there two?” James asked. Regulus glared at him.

“Barty’s the other roommate. You know him, right?” Evan tilted his head to look at them as he put a piece of bread in the toaster. Regulus just shrugged and nodded, then raised an eyebrow at his brother.

“Well there you go then. Now leave.” He demanded. Sirius pouted but dragged James out the room once he’d finished fussing over Regulus.

Evan yawned again, sitting down at the table and gesturing for Regulus to sit. He did so, staring at his hands awkwardly until Evan broke the silence.

“Barty normally sleeps in quite late, but he should be awake soon. I've been awake for ages. I can show you the room if you want?” Regulus nodded.

Once Evan had finished his food, he took him down the hall to a room with three beds in it. There were two pushed close in a corner with small drawers and desks and things then a single unoccupied bed by the window. The blonde pointed out his bed, then Barty’s with the boy still in it, then the empty one.

“I hope that one’s okay. There’s an empty chest of drawers for you too, but we haven’t really done the desks or the kitchen. We moved in on the first day, since neither of us had anywhere to go.” He snorted, dropping one of Regulus’ bags on his bed and walking over to Barty.

Evan shook him violently, laughing as Barty groaned and sent a bad punch.

“Fuck off Rosie! I’m trying to sleep.” He mumbled, burying his head in the duvet. Regulus watched on in amusement as Evan snatched away the duvet from the other boy, making him topple to the ground with a large thud. Barty screeched, eyes flying open. “Evan!” He whined.

“Regulus is here.” Evan grinned, glancing back at him. “He’s our new roommate, so get your fat arse up and stop being a prick.” Barty let out a garbled groan and pushed himself off the floor, rubbing his face as he stood up.

“What’s happening?” He yawned.

“Our roommates here.” Evan repeated. Barty’s face looked blank.

“Huh?”

“My fucking god- go have a shower or something, maybe then your braincell will wake up and return to you.” Evan sighed, shoving his friend lightly and rolling his eyes at Regulus. Barty made it halfway through the door before he whipped around.

“Wait braincell? As in single?! Fucking bitch!” He then huffed and slammed the door behind him. The sound of a shower turning on could be heard as Evan smiled.

“There he is. Right, let’s get you unpacked.”

Regulus really didn’t have that much stuff tounpack; he’d had to borrow a lot of things from Sirius’ closet and also a stolen a toothbrush since apparently, he hadn’t even had the time to pick that up when he ran away. Either way, it didn’t take long for them to unpack everything and by the time Barty was out of the shower they were sitting on the floor talking.

Barty walked in shirtless, wet hair dripping onto the carpet as he stopped and stared judgingly.

“What are you two sitting on the floor for?” He frowned, looking between them. Regulus looked at Evan expectantly, only to find that Evan was staring at something else. That something else being Barty, or rather Barty’s abs.

“Evan?” Regulus spoke quietly, but it was enough for the blonde to start and look away quickly, a red tint appearing high on his cheek bones.

“What?” He said sharply, glaring at the smug look on Regulus’ face.

“I’m wondering why we’re sitting on the floor too, actually.” Evan’s eyes darted from Barty’s confused face to Regulus’ knowing one.

“I- Uh, what?” The boy seemed to be growing increasingly flustered as time went on. Regulus was enjoying it all, it wouldn’t be so funny if the two weren’t completely oblivious.

“You seem to be a little distracted there. Are you alright Evan?” Regulus asked, feigning innocence. The complacent glint in his eye was the only thing that gave him away, the slight twitch of a sly smile at the corner of his mouth. Evan’s mouth parted, but no sound came out. His cheeks reddened as he stared at Regulus in shock.

“Ev? You okay?” Barty was clearly actually concerned as he crouched down beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked at Regulus questioningly, but Regulus just shrugged. Evan looked down at the hand, shutting his mouth tight.

“I…” He croaked, trailing off. Evan then suddenly shook his head as if he was trying to snap out of something, standing up so abruptly that Barty was knocked sideways because of it. The blonde didn’t even look back as he hurried from the room, the front door slamming mere seconds later.

The silence was so loud that it rang in Regulus’ ears, he stared at the spot Evan had been a few moments prior. Barty slowly got up, looking down the hallway at the front door as if Evan would magically appear again any second.

“I’ll go see if he’s alright.” Regulus whispered, shrugging on his jacket and pocketing his phone and keys. Barty watched him, seemingly in shock. Scribbling down his number on a piece of paper, Regulus handed it to the boy. “Call me if he comes back, yeah?” Barty nodded numbly.

Regulus didn’t have time to see if he was okay, he just walked briskly out the door. The problem was, he didn’t know Evan all that well, so he didn’t even know which direction he could have gone. He walked up to the railing of the platform and looked down at the streets and floors below, but there was no sign of the boy.

Regulus was just about to go down and look in the streets properly when he heard soft clanging above him. He looked up to see the blonde boy going up the metal stairs to the fourth floor. He went to the stairs and started climbing the ones to the third, stepping as quickly as he could to catch up. Every few moments, he stopped and checked to see where Evan was, only to find him still going.

Regulus cursed the hockey player’s stamina compared to his own, hands on his knees as he heaved in breaths. Evan kept goingup, all the way to the fifth floor. Regulus watched him go up the ladder which led onto the roof, his foot disappearing through the hatch. Regulus stared up at it, sighing before finally going up himself.

Once he was up, his breath caught in his throat. The sun was setting in beautiful shades of red and deep orange, a fiery glow surrounding the star as it sunk bellow the horizon. It made the clouds a light pink which where strewn across the sky in long sweeps like it had been painted. He had to tear his eyes away from it all to find Evan sitting on the edge, legs dangling down the side.

Regulus silently sat down next to him, watching the sun set. He figured that if Evan wanted to talk about it, he would. They sat for a while in a comfortable silence until a loud buzz ripped the comfort. It was a text from Barty, asking if Regulus had found Evan. He quickly typed out an answer assuring him that the boy was safe.

“That Barty?” Evan whispered weakly. It was obvious from his voice that he had been crying, and Regulus tilted his head to look at him.

“Yeah. Wants to know if you’re okay.” Evan nodded slowly and blew out a breath, going back to looking at the horizon. Regulus shut off his phone. “Are you?” He enquired earnestly. Evan let his head drop forward a little, sighing.

“Who knows.” He shrugged, smiling a watery smile at Regulus. Regulus let his eyes run up and down Evan’s face, narrowing them slightly.

“Not my place, but…Barty? What’s that?”

“What’s what?” Evan grimaced.

“You know what.” He persisted, but Evan kept a determinedly confused look on his face. Regulus shook his head. “If you want to keep pretending, then…that’s up to you. But I think it’ll hurt more, in the end.” He sighed, glancing at the boy. It was only a passing glance, but when he saw Evan’s face his heart positively dropped.

He almost did a double take, resisting the urge to comment on it. The way he’d reacted had just triggered something in him which made all his thoughts stop in an instant, but even as he opened his mouth to say something, it was covered up and hidden away.

Evan’s face was a strange, blank mask as he straightened up, nodding at Regulus. “I'm gonna go back.” Is all he said before he disappeared back down the hatch. Regulus stayed even after the sun had gone down completely, Evan’s face replaying in his mind. He couldn’t shake the chills it gave him.

Evan looked…Angry? Sad? He couldn’t tell, it was barely a flash of emotion.

Regulus lowered himself back to lie down on the cold stone of the roof, mulling thoughtfully over the expression. He went through all the different possibilities, running through his reaction so many times that even when he closed his eyes that night, he could still see Evan’s face on the back of his eyelids.

It was late at night when he finally sat up, looking over at Evan’s bed. Realisation had settled in Regulus’ stomach like heavy led. A realisation that it wasn’t anger or sadness on Evan’s face.

No, it was worse than that.

It was pure fear.