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The little boy was handing him a flower. A rose to be exact.
They were 5, then.
He smiled. His cheeks reddening innocently.
He took the rose in his small hands, always handling it as carefully as he could.
The next time the two boys saw each other, the blonde boy ran to the other. His tiny hands held a couple of dried bones that he had found a couple of days earlier and that he had carefully kept to the side just for him.
“For you!” The blonde boy said excitedly as he handed the other boy the bones.
“WOOOAH, Those are bones!! I love them! Thank you so much Heir Rosier!”
The blonde boy giggled a bit, a shy smile on his face. His cheeks were reddening again.
“Please don’t call me that, I don't like it…you can call me Evan. We are friends after all”
“But my teacher said to call people by their title and that that is considered polite!”
“Yeah mine too… but you are my friend! I don’t care about politeness and all of that… You can call me just Evan.”
The other boy seemed to think about it for a moment. considering his options.
When he came to his own conclusion he nodded solemnly.
“Ok! then you have to call me just Barty!”
“It's a pleasure to meet you, Just Barty!”
“Nice to meet you Just Evan”
They laughed.
And just like that a friendship was born.
They were kids.
They were just kids.
They were innocent and things were easy at that age. It was easy between them.
No strange rules that their teachers told them they had to follow, no etiquette, no nothing other than them being just themselves. Free of any rule.
—
Barty was wandering around the Rosier mansion in search of Evan, his friend had said that he would go get them a snack since they were both hungry but hadn't yet returned. he had gotten tired of waiting so he had gone on an adventure to find him but in the meantime had gotten lost and somehow had ended up nowhere in the gardens of the manor.
It was filled with beautiful flowers of any kind of shape and color.
He was in awe. He didn't have anything like this at home.
He had actually tried to ask his father for some money to be able to get the necessary things to start their own garden at home but his father had quickly turned down the idea, telling him to grow up and that flowers were useless decorations that would die quickly anyway. Even having his mother there for support hadn't worked.
He didn't like his father.
And just to piss him off even more he had ended up just passing more and more time here at the rosier Manor.
He looked up from one of the flowers that he was admiring and caught a glimpse of a flowery summer dress and long blonde hair turning just around the corner.
It was another kid around his age.
He tried to run after them but it was almost like they had vanished. The only sign that someone had been really there and that it hadn't been a hallucination was the small white flower that had fallen down and was now in the middle of the path.
He had never explored this particular side of the manor; he just hoped he could find his way out of there. But this garden was a maze and he swore that it almost looked like the path changed as he continued to walk.
He decided to follow the path ahead of him.
He found another small flower on the ground, and as he had done before he picked it up, holding it next to the other flower in his little hand.
After another couple of flowers that he found on the ground he managed to catch another glimpse of the girl in that flowery dress. She was wearing a flower crown.
She looked like a fairy.
“Hey! Where are you leading me?” He tried asking but didn't receive any answer.
He decided to continue to follow the fairy, and to continue to pick up the flowers that she was dropping.
He was picking up another flower when he heard a voice he knew very well by now.
“Barty!! I finally found you!”
“Rosie!! I found you! Well you found me but still the same… I saw a fairy! She was dropping these flowers all around, so I picked them up and wanted to give them to her!” Barty replied quickly, talking as fast as he could, a huge smile on his face as he showed his friend the small bouquet of flowers that he was now holding.
“I was worried for you, I thought I had told you to wait for me, I was away for just a couple minutes”
“But it felt like an eternity and I got bored! And if I hadn't gone to search for you I wouldn't have found the fairy!”
“What fairy are you talking about? We don't have any fairy currently staying in the manor”
“She had long blonde hair and she was wearing a flower crown that was very pretty! And she was wearing a dress! She must have been a fairy!”
“Wait … I think I know who you are talking about! Come follow me!” Evan said, giggling to himself.
Evan took his hand and started running.
A grin on his face.
They kept running for a while. He gripped the small bouquet closer to himself, not wanting to lose it. It was too pretty. He followed Evan, confused about where he was going.
Suddenly he saw her.
The fairy that he had caught glimpses of. It was right there in front of him. She was real. It hadn't been a fruit of his imagination after all.
She was in the middle of a field, braiding flowers in another crown like the one she was wearing.
“Oh you picked up the flowers for your flower crown too Barty. I'm almost done with this one . I'll make yours next!” She said out of nowhere, not even looking up once and continuing with her work.
He looked down at the flowers in his hands.
“Who is she?” He whispered to Evan, feeling a bit unsettled. He wasn't sure what to make of this situation, how did this little girl know his name?
Evan tugged him to walk with him toward the girl.
“Barty, there is no need to be scared. She is my twin sister, Pandora Rosier.”
“You can call me Panda”
Evan was a bit surprised by this statement, it was a bit unusual for Pandora to open up and let other people call her by that nickname. She only let close friends and some family members call her that.
“I thought you were a fairy“ Barty said, sitting in front of the girl, staring at the crown she was making, trying to understand how she was making them.
“Why were you running away from me? Where were you taking me?” Barty continued looking up at her, taking in her face. She looked almost exactly like Evan, only she had longer hair.
“She took you to the entrance of the garden and then came back here.”
“The voices told me that you were lost in the gardens. So I decided to help you out. This part of the gardens are accessible only to the family members and other people tend to get lost in the gardens.”
“The voices?”
“Panda you know you're not supposed to say things like that in front of people that are not maman or papa, it could be dangerous”
“Don't worry Ev… he's safe. I saw it.” She replied, only now looking up and staring right in Evan's eyes, almost like she was looking in his soul.
“Fine…if you say so”
“Here, finished brother! Put it on!”
Evan sighed but quickly smiled and let his twin put the flower crown on his head.
Barty decided that this Pandora was weird, but he liked her anyway. Especially because she made a beautiful flower crown for him too.
—-----
As the time passed another kid joined them during their play time.
He was another pureblood heir, whose parents apparently were trying to make him socialize a bit more with people of what they described to be ‘the right sort’.
He was a kid with ice blue eyes, the skin as white as snow and curly black hair.
“You look like snow white, but if she was a boy” Barty had said, staring at the new kid, the boy had absolutely no filter during their playdates.
“What is snow white? Is that a new kind of curse that I have to study?”
The new kid asked, his head tilted to the side, looking confused. He looked like a puppy.
“You are silly” a small girly voice replied from behind a tree.
“I’m not silly” The new boy pouted, crossing his arms in front of him.
“It's not a curse! it’s a … Rosie, I forgot the term…” Barty whined
“fairy tail, they are stories, and snow white is a princess in one of those stories that my mum always tells us before going to sleep”
“I know what fairytales are, Riri tells me some too before going to sleep or when I wake up from a nightmare, I just had never heard of this snow white princess” he young boy replied, absolutely proud of his big brother for telling him stories like this ‘Rosie’ mum did
“Oh I almost forgot! Time for introductions! I’m Evan Rosier, Heir of the house Rosier. This one next to me is Barty Crouch Jr. heir of the Crouch family, and the one hiding behind the tree is my twin sister Pandora, she is a bit shy.”
“I’m Black. Regulus Arcturus Black. The second born son of the noble and most ancient house of Black. Pleasure to meet all of you” The curly haired boy replied, following the etiquette perfectly.
“you sound and look like you have a stick up your ass. I don’t really know what that means but I heard one of my dad's coworkers say it, to be completely honest. And my rose is waaaaay too formal all the time. He is boring and wants to stick to the etiquette and the rules etcetera etcetera. BOoOooriNg. We are all friends so it’s much simpler. I'm Barty, he is Ev and Panda is the one picking the flowers.
“Fine, fine, whatever you want Bartemius” Evan replied jokingly teasing his best friend.
It had been a couple months since those two had first met and Barty had blossomed more and more each time the two kids saw each other, letting go of all the stupid etiquette and focusing more on being himself. And this was the result: a sassy, uncaring of any rule, sarcastic kid with absolutely no filter and a brain too big for his own head. And Evan liked him just the way he was.
“Then you can call me Regulus.”
His voice could only be described as tiny.
The new young kid was looking away from them, his eyes closed tight, scared that they might hate him or hurt him for having talked, for not having followed the rules of etiquette.
“Reggie, come I want to pick flowers with you. I plan on making the most amazing flower crown ever”
Barty and Evan were beyond stunned that Pandora had made the first move in something. She had come out to play with Evan and Barty only two other times over all the months that Barty had come over after they had first met, but now she had made the first move with a random kid that she had never even seen. Evan was very proud of her twin, and the huge smile on his face showed that.
It was going to be amazing.
He was sure that this was just the beginning of a great friendship that had just begun to blossom.
Pandora didn’t even wait for Regulus to answer, she just took his hand, making his shriek in surprise, and pulled him toward a specific spot in the garden.
“I have seen aaamazing flowers over on this side earlier and ma’ gave me permission to pick them up. It’s going to be amazing!”
Regulus slowly opened his eyes. He was still scared, but there was something about this girl that immediately calmed him down. It felt even better than when his big brother hugged him tight at night when he came over in his bed after he had a nightmare.
He was still looking down, careful now to step on her feet or careful not to fall down. He was surprised to see that the girl was barefoot.
When he finally looked up his eyes got big in surprise and in awe.
It was a magnificent view.
It was an immense meadow, with all kinds of wild flowers everywhere.
And the girl ran as ever in that paradise, never letting go of his hand.
“See?! It’s pretty, isn’t it?!”
He didn’t have any words left to describe what he was seeing.
He just nodded.
“Come on Reggie, we’re going to make the most magnificent flower crowns ever!! I have an amazing idea of which flowers to put in yours too!”
“Fine, fine! I’m coming, Panda!” Regulus finally replied, with a small timid smile on his face.
“And that’s just how my sister is,” Evan said from behind him, startling him. He hadn’t even heard the other two boys arrive.
Regulus shrugged, a smile on his face.
He could live with that.
“Oh no… Rosieee help me! a bee is following me!!!!” A cry came from Barty which saw said bee had just begun to run.
“It's going to eat me!!! please please! Help me Ev! don’t just stand there! Be useful !!” Barty yelled, almost with tears in his eyes as he continued to run.
Regulus for what could have been the first time ever, openly laughed at the scene in front of him. And of course Evan joined him, before shaking his head and actually making his way to Barty and shooing away the bee.
“You are my savior Ev! I’m going to marry you one day!”
“They are absolutely going to get married” Pandora whispered in Regulus’ ear, smiling at the scene, before adding “Trust me… I saw it in my dreams”
—
It was the middle of then in the Rosier manor a sound of footsteps filled the silent hallways.
She didn’t even knock, she opened the door as quietly as she could.
“Panda?” a sleepy voice asked, followed by the sound of moving sheets.
“Ev….” She just ran to her twin. Running in his arms and beginning to sob uncontrollably.
“Ssh calm down Panda. I’m here, everything is alright. It was probably just a nightmare.”
“noo!”
She looked up at him straight in his eyes. The moonlight, filtering in from the window, shining in her eyes. “I saw it! the boy!! He was… There were so many hands ev… they were drowning him”
“He couldn’t breathe.”
“Who Panda? Who is this boy you are talking about?”
“Kids… is everything okay?” Odette's voice filled the room. She always looked regal, her silk night robe was swishing around her at each step that she took, she was calm as ever, but with worry clear in her voice too.
“MOM! I-I don’t know… Panda just came into my room and started crying! She was talking about a boy drowning? I don’t know… I think it was just a nightmare”
“Calm down kids. I’m here now. Pandora, can you tell me your dream sweetie?” Odette asked as she sat on her son’s bed, taking a still sobbing Pandora in her arms.
“Momm… T-the boy, there were so many hands, it was wet, they were dragging him deeper and deeper in the lake. He struggled but… the monsters drowned him…. “ She tried her best to explain while still crying.
When she finished talking she just stopped.
Her eyes turned completely white.
No one talked.
It wasn’t the first time something like this happened. and it certainly wouldn’t be the last either.
Odette had feared for her daughter when she had found out that she was a seer. The first few times had been very scary for everyone.
Pandora turned her head ever so slowly toward her twin.
Looking at him in the eyes without even ever blinking once.
And then after a long silence she began talking.
“The cat will drown… the fennec has to save the cat. Ask the racoon for help and together you could save the cat. The hands will take him otherwise and the cat won’t be able to finish his mission.”
And just as she finished to say those last words she passed out in her mother’s arms.
“Maman I’m scared.”
“I know little one, it’s ok to be scared. Come on let’s go, I think dad is getting worried, how about we all sleep in mom and dad’s bed just for tonight?”
Evan nodded quickly, now too scared to go back to sleep alone.
They quietly made their way to the master bedroom, where Vincent Rosier, the head of the family and Pandora and Evan’s dad was waiting for them, sitting up in the bed.
“I was about to come and see if everything was alright… did something happen, love?”
“Dad!” Evan quickly said when he entered the room, running toward his father and jumping on top of him.
“Pandora had one of her visions, and she went to Evan’s room because she was scared, dear. Everything is fine, no need to worry.”
“Okay… We can talk more about it in the morning, I think this little one is getting very sleepy too” Vincent said, seeing his first born yawn and cuddle closer next to him.
"Good night dear” Odette replied when they were all settled in the bed together with the two kids in between them.
—
“Reggie… Can I ask you a question?” Barty asked, looking up from the book he was reading.
“Yes. Do you need help with what you are reading?”
“No no…. It's not that. I was just wondering who is this Riri you keep talking about?”
“Ops… Sorry, he's my big brother. That's a nickname we use between us. He's the heir of my family even if I don't know how much he really wants it. He's the most amazing big brother ever!” Regulus replied, a small smile on his face.
He didn't say much more than that. He didn't say that Sirius covered for all the mistakes he did and that he took all the punishments instead of him. Didn't tell them that Sirius held him close at night to make the nightmares go away.
He loved his brother even if he was a bit sad that he always had to protect him. That's why he wanted to study hard, so that one day when he was all grown up he could help his brother too.
“That makes sense! Maybe you could take him to one of our play dates too! I would love to meet him too!”
“I don't think mother would let him. But I can try to ask" Regulus compromised, knowing very well that deep down, his mother and father would never agree to such a thing. After all they always said that Sirius had to study to become the heir, he didn't have time for silly things like play dates.
“Can someone help me reading this page… all the words are continuing to move and change and … i- I hate reading.” Evan said out of nowhere, frustrated. Putting down the book he was reading violently on the table in front of the sofa he was sitting on.
“Wait … let me see Rosie. “ Barty picked up the book, rereading the page where Evan had been stuck on reading and rereading for the past hour.
“The words aren't moving” Barty said and Reggie, who in the meantime had gotten up and walked to them too.
“Yeah and they aren't changing either.”
“I think you should tell your maman about this. Maybe you've been cursed or something! But don't worry even if you've been cursed I'll always read to you whenever you want, that way you can listen and you won't have to read!”
“I'll help you too!” Regulus nodded, looking up at Evan.
Evan had tears in his eyes. Scared that someone might have cursed him without him knowing.
“Let's go” Pandora, who came out of nowhere, took her twin's hand and began walking out the library, Reg and Barty following like ducklings.
They found her in the sun room, where she was hand stitching something.
“Maman! Someone cursed me! I can't read! The words all keep moving and changing everytime I read them!” Evan ran to his mother, sobbing in her arms.
“Sssh child, don't worry. I'm here.” She continued to comfort her child, until he had calmed down.
“Are you feeling a bit better?” She asked, her voice sounding like honey.
He nodded, not really moving from his position.
“Now can you explain to me what you're talking about dear? I don't sense any curses on you.”
“B-but… it's not the first time… but this time I reread the same page something like 10 times and every time it said different things and the words keep moving and they change even while I'm reading them! And Barty said that it could be a curse since neither him or reg could see the words move.”
“No, child. Don't worry. I had a suspicion that something like this could be happening. But why didn't you say anything if this isn't the first time that this is happening?”
“I don't know… I thought that it was a one time thing. And then it happened again and I thought that everyone saw the letters and words move while they read. But today I got so frustrated while I was reading because the words kept changing so much and I couldn't understand what it was talking about and then I found out that not everyone saw them move and everything. I thought I could manage it alone.”
“Evan, listen to me, and you children too. This is very important that you remember, asking for help doesn't make you weak by any means, if anything it's one of the bravest things one can do. Now, child, I am not a specialist over this but I think you might have a thing that in the Muggle word is referred to as dyslexia. To put it simply, your brain works a bit differently than other people. We'll have to find a special doctor, that way we can find out exactly how to help you, my child. But don't worry you've not been cursed. All the protections around you and your sister are perfectly intact.”
“Does that make me weird?” Evan asked, looking in his mother's eyes.
“No, never my child. It just makes you different, but that is not a bad thing”
“We're gonna help you read!!”
“Mhm whenever you need it!” Reg nodded in unison with Barty.
“Thank you for taking care of my child, little ones” Odette Rosier replied to them, a proud smile on her face.
—
Barty and Evan had picked up a habit of holding each other's hands whenever they could.
If there was one then most probably the other was there with him, and even if they weren't physically close to each other they were always close in their souls.
They were 7 now. Their play dates had continued as usual, Evan’s dad had even managed to convince Reggie's mother to let Sirius play with them once in a while, he was really fun to play with if not a bit uptight in certain moments. Unfortunately no matter what even Vincent hadn't been able to convince Walburga to let Sirius play with them more often like Regulus did. Walburga had said that he had his lessons and that he was too busy anyway to come and play childish games with them.
But none of that mattered now. Now it was just Barty and Evan.
They were sitting under one of the big trees in the garden, the roses were all in bloom around them, even if it was a bit strange given the period it was.
Barty was holding a red rose in his hand. His cheeks were dusted in a pinkish colour.
His mother had told him that people gifted red roses to the people they loved but she also said that in their family they used to tie a black ribbon around the stem, it was a symbol of their family.
That black ribbon had another deeper meaning too, it was a wish to be tied to the person to which the rose would be gifted to.
Barty had liked that idea very much and there was only one person he wanted to be tied with for life, one person he cared deeply about.
His Rosie.
That was the reason for the small black ribbon tied around that red rose.
“I really like you Rosie, I want to be with you forever. My mom said that people give red roses to the people they like and- and the black ribbon is a family tradition. My mom said that it represents a wish to be tied to a person forever.”
Barty ranted when he was nervous.
Barty also had a habit of closing his eyes very tightly, a bit scared that Evan didn't reciprocate his feelings. That he maybe didn't wasn't to be tied for life with him.
Evan's eyes were very big at that moment. He smiled at the scene in front of him.
He accepted the rose, and he lightly kissed Barty's cheek.
The sun was setting, and the light surrounding them had become of a golden color.
Barty's eyes snapped open in surprise.
“ So you-”
“ Yes you idiot, always. I actually… well- I was planning on giving you something too. But I just didn't have the time to pick what and you preceded me. “
Barty's eyes grew even bigger, like the smile on his face.
The next thing Evan knew was that he was now laying in the grass, Barty had jumped on top of him and was now littering his cheeks with small kisses.
They were happy.
—
Years had passed, Sirius had entered Hogwarts two years ago, obviously creating a scandal in the pureblood community when he was sorted into Gryffindor, the house of courage, bravery and determination.
After that when he had returned home, each holiday, he was hidden away from society, looking in his room most of the time, unless it was some kind of important event where his presence as the heir was essential.
Regulus had managed to keep in contact with his brother, thanks to exchanging letters back and forth during the school year and thanks to sneaking in his brother’s room at night, when their parents were deep asleep. It was then that Sirius would tell him all amazing stories of what happened at Hogwarts, of all those pranks that he and his Gryffindor friends played on the other students. Both of them tried their hardest to stay in contact with the other, trying not to let what their parents said about the other influence them but it was hard, and Regulus could see that more time passed and more his brother distanced himself from their parents and involuntarily formed him too.
It was that summer that their Hogwarts letters had arrived.
They were all very excited and they were making bets between themselves over what house each of them would end up in.
They were all standing outside that huge door, excited voices coming from inside, the magic of that place was almost overwhelming but it was warm and protective. It felt almost like a warm hug.
After they entered those doors their lives would probably change forever.
“Let’s promise each other that no matter which house we end up in we’ll always be friends no matter what” Barty said, loud enough for them to hear over the chaos that the other kids their age were making. Barty stuck out his pinkie finger.
Pandora nodded.
“Always” replied Evan, not skipping a beat.
“Obviously” he replied after a second. His brain stopped overthinking for a second.
Their pinkies intertwined and their promise was sealed.
The sorting ceremony went on smoothly, even if Evan’s almost had a hat stall from how long it was taking.
“You owe me 5 galleons” evan whispered in his ear after the sorting ceremony ended.
“fine… you won, I'll give them to you when we are in our dorms. I still think that Barty would have been a good addiction to slytherin, but I guess it makes sense for him to end up where he did”
“You are just a sore loser Black”
“whatever, but why did it take the hat so long to sort you?”
“Oh right, we all owe Pandora 5 galleons. she was right, the hat almost put me in Hufflepuff, but in the end said that I was too loyal and because of the people I was loyal to, I would make a good slytherin.”
“Awe, you love us in the end Rosier” Regulus teased his friend with a smile, happy to not have ended up there alone.
Dinner passed quickly and soon the headmaster was telling the prefects to lead them all first years to their respective common rooms.
from the Ravenclaw table Pandora waved at them, wordlessy telling them goodnight, while Barty, the attention seeker that he was, waved over at them and after winking at Evan he threw him a kiss, making Evan blush as red as the rose Barty had given him all those years ago when they had first gotten together.
The next morning they all sat together at the Slytherin table, uncaring of other people's stares.
It was a bit unusual to sit at a different table during the meals but none of them cared one bit about other people's opinions, and it wasn’t against the rules either, if nothing that encouraged more people to sit with their friends outside of their own house too.
They were in the middle of Breakfast when Barty began staring at a girl, a couple years older than them.
“Hey, you know that it’s rude to stare at people, Barty”
“I know! I know ! but look! She has piercings! I need to talk to her! “
Before any of them could manage to stop him he was already gone from where he was sitting.
The only thing they could do was watch the scene unfold.
Barty sat in the seat next to this girl since it was free.
“Hii! My name is Barty Crouch Jr. but You can call me Barty. I saw your piercings! They are amazing!”
“Oh … err- well hi to you too kid, and thanks I guess?”
“I’m not a kid. Did you do them yourself? ”
“Just one of them but I know how to make them. I took a course over the summer.”
“Really?! Can you teach me too? Or- or can you pierce my ears too?!”
“Fine, but don’t come crying to me if it hurts, if you don’t like them or if your parents say something about it! By the way, I didn't even introduce myself. My name is Dorcas Meadowes, pleasure to meet you Barty!”
“Nice to meet you too! Do you want to come and sit with my friends? we’re just over there”
“Sure… why not!”
“She said she’s gonna teach me how to give piercings and she’s gonna give me ear piercings Rosie!” Barty said excitedly as he sat back down next to his love.
“Oh right! introductions. She is Dorcas Meadowes. These are my friends. Regulus Black, Pandora Rosier and my love Evan Rosier.”
“Just call me Dorcas or Cas if you want to!” she replied, smiling bright as she sat down.
it was like that that a new friendship was born.
—-
Years had passed quickly.
It was close to the winter holidays of their 4th year now and they were all chilling in Reggie and Evan dorm room.
Regulus was absorbed in a book of muggle poetry, Dorcas was cleaning her tattooing gun, Barty was relaxing in Evan’s lap reading to the other a book they had to read for class.
Pandora was shuffling her tarot cards, keeping her mind clear of any thoughts.
As always a bored Barty is a dangerous Barty. That’s how they had ended up, in the last few months, trying to become animagi. It was difficult, and a very complex process. It had taken them quite a while of researching before they were all confident enough to begin their journey.
They had found out just the other day what their animagus forms were and thankfully they were all quite happy with them even if some of them had been a bit unexpected.
Two cards jumped out from the deck.
They laid there on the floor.
Clear for all to see.
Pandora’s eyes widened.
After years finally that prophecy that she had made as a small child finally made sense.
The answer had been right in front of their eyes to see this whole time.
The death and The star.
Those were the cards laid out in front her.
She looked up at her twin, finding him already staring at her.
“Ev… I think I found the cat. He's always been right there with us since the beginning.” Were the only words that she whispered at her twin.
Evan’s eyes widened in realization.
The heart of the lion clear in his mind. Their twin link being as strong as ever.
–the end–