chapter four — starless nights
October 15th, 1978.

Evan never liked the night compared to his sister, Daphne, who enjoyed the darkness a lot more than he did. Perhaps, she was just used to it. After she got badly hurt during a battle, Evan insisted on staying by her side. To his surprise, another bloke had intended to do the same thing as him. That bloke being Fabian Prewett. He couldn't help but chuckle as he recalled the conversation they had a while ago when she admitted loving a Gryffindor–it seemed as if his sister had a tendency to appreciate Gryffindor.

His fingers grazed the mark his father had forced on him and he bit his lip in anticipation. He knew that Daphne wouldn't be happy about it because all she did was for him. Evan had heard the conversation about it–she had begged for hours for their father to let her get it. She had a list of why she was the right one for this task, starting from the discretion to her amazing skills at Occlumency and Legilimency.

So, she was going to be pissed.

"How is she?" Fabian queried, walking through the front door after Evan let him in.

Evan shrugged, "The same. Pandora said she should wake up today or tomorrow."

"Brilliant," he breathed out, walking out as he knew it wasn't his place to stay by her side.

When he was alone, he found himself wanting for Fabian to stay because if not, he would think of Barty and that was enough for his heart to start pumping fast. The thought of Barty killing people was just–mental, in some ways. But then again, Daphne had killed people too but she was the same. The same Daphne that rocked him to sleep when he was younger. How could someone so nice inside could appear so rotten on the outside?

Nevertheless, Evan was nervous. Nervous for Daphne to wake up because he wouldn't be able to hide what their father had done and he was stressed at the thought of seeing Barty again. He didn't want Barty to shout at him for being a Death Eater, especially after Evan had reacted badly to it. Evan and Barty were fine–they were getting better and Evan feared this would tear everything down. He didn't want to leave a life without Barty in it, he just couldn't bring himself to.

Daphne's eyes fluttered open exactly when Pandora said they would. Evan had talked to her, though she was too tired to hold a conversation so Evan kissed her forehead and fell asleep on her couch where he had been sleeping for the past days. The next morning, he cooked breakfast and headed to her room where he could hear some noise.

"Morning, tosser," he said, walking through the door. "No Prewett today, eh?"

Daphne chuckled, her eyes sparkling despite her pale skin, "No Prewett today," she confirmed. "Have you chatted with him before?"

Evan nodded, "Yeah, while he was taking care of you. Nice bloke. Was it him? The Gryffindor you loved?" Daphne snorted, shaking her head to say no. "Merlin, you really fancy those Gryffindors."

"Shove off, Ev," there was a slight pause before she went on. "How are you? How's school? I feel like we haven't seen each other since I moved in the flat."

Evan sighed quietly, "There is another reason why I am here," he told her, biting his lower lip as he tried to prevent the nervousness from coming. He shifted awkwardly in his seat. He knew it was just a matter of second before she talked again.

"Ev, spit it out."

"When you left, dad he--he started to think things through and how you were doing with the Lord, and he--you see, he wasn't sure you would succeed because you're a woman," he explained lowly. "So, he started telling me I'd take the mark..."

Daphne gasped and there it was: the disappointment Evan had been scared of witnessing. Her hand covered her mouth rapidly, "Did he—Ev, did he make you take the mark?"

"He said that I didn't have a choice and if I—"

Daphne cut him off and as bad as it was, he almost recognised their father in her tone, "That is not what I'm asking, Ev. I'm asking if you have the mark as we speak," she muttered. "Evan?" She called out for him, seeing he wasn't answering.

"Yes," Evan replied, looking down at his feet. "But, Daph...I swear I wanted to tell you and I tried to tell him no but he made me. He was drunk and he made me, I swear—" he stopped, choking on some tears.

Evan didn't think he had seen her so quiet. It almost felt as if she was reliving a bad memory that he wasn't part of it. Some tears strolled down her cheeks and she did nothing to hide or dry them.

"Daph—"

"Evan, is he home?" She asked, starting to sit up in her bed. She softly winced at the pain but stood up anyway.

Evan's eyes widened, "No, no. Daph, Pandora said you had to rest!"

"Who bloody cares? He promised me, Evan!" She shouted, shuffling through her clothes and throwing on some random clothes that would keep her warm. "He said that if I took it, you would be safe and..."

***

Evan was not capable of remembering correctly how everything went down. He recalled jogging after Daphne towards the fireplace, he recalled her firm grip on his wrist as she grabbed him inside the floo and appeared in the parlour. Her shouts and cries were carved into his mind and as much as he tried to shake them off, he couldn't.

Despite shouting at their parents, none of them had expressed any sorts of regrets or sadness. It was as if nothing had happened. Evan had gone to bed without uttering a word and had gone back to Hogwarts the next day.

Now, he sat in the library as he tried to catch up on the homework that Barty and Zach had so nicely given him. Barty had noticed something was wrong but he didn't try to ask, instead they slept together and Evan was being eaten from inside by his own guilt of bearing the mark.

"Gemma, hey," Evan breathed out, relieved to see her. Gemma had become one of Evan's closest friends. They would meet everywhere—on the pitch, in the Astronomy tower or even by the lake.

"Oh, Ev!" She squealed happily, ignoring Madam Pince's attempts of shushing her. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she suffocated him into a tight hug. "I have missed you. What happened? No one would tell me a bloody thing."

Evan chuckled softly, "Family matters."

"Oh, I see," she said, her tone of voice mysterious as she wiggled her eyebrows making Evan laugh despite the sadness. "It is nice to see you again."

"You too, Gem."

A snort escaped her mouth, "I even asked that weird friend of yours. Barty. He wouldn't tell me a thing!"

"Barty is Barty, he's always like that. Don't worry."

Gemma hummed, pulling out some notebooks from her previous classes. He couldn't help but wonder what Barty was up to. The fact that he hadn't asked any questions was weird and Evan knew he was bottling all in. But for now, he decided to focus on catching up his homework with Gemma.

Barty, on the other hand, was in the common room near the fire with Zach. A bloke from their year with whom he had grown close since Evan had found himself a new little friend called Gemma. Barty never pictured himself as the jealous type but he couldn't help it, whenever he saw them together, his blood would boil and it was only a matter of time before he exploded. He hated it.

All he could think of was Evan and the way every night, since he left for an urgent matter, had been starless. And something was troubling his mind, he had seen it last night. Evan was never quiet and if he was, then something was wrong. But then again, Evan never liked to share his worries with anyone–not even Barty. After a long moment of juggling between his two choices, he ended up choosing to ask him what was wrong.

He loved Evan and he hated seeing him so down, that was for sure.

So when he made his way back to the dorm later that night, Barty cleared his throat and waited for Evan to look at him, "What is going on with you?"

Evan frowned, "What do you mean, Bart?"

He shrugged, "Something's different. You're different."

Evan started fidgeting with his sleeves, meaning he was nervous. When he finally had the courage to meet his eyes, Barty could only see a veil of tears covering his face. Barty felt the need to reach out but Evan pulled his hand away as soon as it touched his.

"Daphne got hurt," he admitted quietly, not paying attention to Barty's stare. "There was an attack at St Mungo's and she was partly responsible for it. In the meantime, my dad asked me to come home because it was an urgent matter."

"Is she alright?"

"Daphne?" Barty nodded. "Oh, she is quite alright. The urgent matter was me getting the mark," he blurted out, rapidly.

Barty was quiet, his eyebrows furrowed as he opened his mouth to speak but only air came out. Then, he glanced back and forth between Evan's hidden forearm and his eyes.

"What mark, Evan?"

"The mark."

"You will have to be a bit more specific."

Evan rose to his feet, "I'm a bloody Death Eater, Barty," he shouted, rolling up his sleeve so he could see the mark from his own eyes.

"How ironic is that."

"What do you mean?" Evan queried, arms falling to his side. "Barty..."

"You—you shouted at me for getting this," he pointed at the mark, almost snarling. "You said I shouldn't have gotten it and now, your arm is scarred with it!"

"My father ma—"

Barty cut him off, "Do not dare saying your father is behind this, Evan. We make choices, alright? You made a choice by having this mark," he said bitterly. "Oh, Salazar! I still recall the face you gave me and the way you stormed out."

Evan scoffed, "Not all of us have the chance to make choices, Barty. It is different and you know it."

Barty cocked his head to the side, "How can it be so different? You're a Death Eater now. We're both Death Eaters now. We will have to kill people and be alright with it. We are the same."

"I—"

"If I'm being totally honest, Ev, I didn't think you were that weak," he muttered, catching Evan by surprise as he went silent. "I always pictured you as this tougher man who wasn't scared to say no to his dear daddy."

"You know what, Barty? Sod off! You don't get to tell me I am weak because I was not able to say no. You are not even able to set foot into your bloody house because of your dear daddy," Evan shouted loudly, his finger pointing at Barty. He hoped he felt threatened by it somehow. "Go fuck yourself."

Barty snorted, "Ouh, careful everyone! Rosier is fuming," he teased, knowing Evan would hit back. And he did. Evan's fist came in contact with his cheek, he hit his bone so hard that Barty had to take a few seconds to compose himself back. "Hitting me now?"

"That's right, wanker," Evan said quietly, grabbing his coat and headed outside.

He ignored Barty's attempts at making him angrier and instead, went to the only place where he felt at peace. The Astronomy Tower. Not to his surprise, Gemma was already there, her kneazle in her arm as it purred loudly onto her lap.

When Gemma looked at Evan, she noticed the tears and didn't question him about it. She invited him to lay his head on her shoulder so she could give him a side hug. They both stayed there for a while until Gemma was too tired to keep her eyes open, and proposed to Evan to follow her. Minutes later, she pushed an unknown door and Evan was greeted by a little paradise. He barely heard Gemma when she explained how the room was functioning, he was just content to have a place to sleep away from him.

Barty didn't sleep that night. He cried, yelled in his cushion and cussed at himself. What he didn't know was that Barty Crouch Jr. would never have a night sky full of stars ever again in his life.

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authors note, sooo... this was it! one more chapter and the little book bonus is done! we... we love them together, don't we???? 😞