burned down my house to build it up again.

evan had never had that much fun of a time when it came to family holidays and he had his parents to blame for that. it was always some kind of alternative plan for his father to do business with foreign officials and spinning it in some way where the family could go. his youngest sibling always had more fun than him and jess and he was fine with that, the two eldest had always been closer than most but this last holiday was spent in a lot of silence and looking over at each other wondering when it would get better. he can hear from the hallowed halls his mother making pleasantries with tory’s mother and he knew that he was meant to eventually be married to tory but he was trying to prolong as much as possible given the political climate and the fact that: evan had no idea what he was doing with his life much less getting married. when she opens the door he gives her a soft smile before entering and shoving his hands in his pockets listening to her adventures. “we went to romania.” he says with a sigh, “it was more my father’s business than anything.” he shakes his head now, rolling his eyes. “parthenon, yeah?” he had heard many things but never experienced himself. he had looked over at her for a moment before he walked towards her bed and sat down. “i brought you something.” he had grabbed it from his small bag that he had brought. “they’re chocolates, though maybe i’m biased and say that ours are better.” it was meant to be a nice gesture but he didn’t know if it came across that way. “are you alright?” he asks, it’s not that he would clearly know if she was being herself, but she seemed much sadder now than when they had last seen each other at a family dinner party. “did you get into any kind of chaos you want to spare? our trip was pleasantly boring.”

he had been thrown back, into what? he wasn’t sure, but he couldn’t see anything for a minute the smoke clogging his throat and his eyes. he remembers closing them for a moment and when he had woken up again there was screaming, he had forced himself to get in upright position trying to look around for anyone that he knew, the impact of the hit had discombobulated for him for a moment before hearing the sound of emme’s voice in the crowd. he snapped right up then, shaking it off and grabbing his wand that was still, thankfully, on his person and pointing it towards the monster fire looking around him again and shaking his head. “what the fuck just happened?” he says, still coughing up smoke.

the greengrass house had been one that he had been to plenty over the years, their families been close friends and a betrothal hanging over both of their heads. his mother had come with gifts of the rosier family vacation that they took themselves on, and he could honestly say that it wasn’t very fun, but he tried to make it that way for his siblings. by the time they had arrived to the house he had gotten that cold chill that he always seemed to get in big estate manors, too much room, too much space, not enough light to fill the voids of the long halls. he had knocked once on tory’s door before knocking again. “it’s evan,” he says, never really know what to say or how to act around tory—its not that they didn’t not get along—and evan could say they were friendly enough but that was about it. “how was your trip? did you do anything fun?”

he hadn’t realized it until it was almost too late, he had ducked seeing the bludger just a second before it had hit him square in the face, “thanks,” he breathed out a sigh in relief before shaking his head, “are you alright?” he had placed a hand on his arm, trying to assess any damage knowing he wouldn’t be able to do much either way. 

“what can you tell me from what you saw?” evan had asked the young wix, there were a lot of things happening behind the scenes, but had genuinely cared about their opinion of what they had seen, “do you need me to help you with that wound?” he eventually asked, seeing that they hadn’t gotten the wound looked at.

if it had been up to him he would’ve chosen a different kind of career path, maybe playing on some quidditch team and things would’ve been easier, but because of who his father was all of that seemed impossible now and he didn’t know what to do with it. when he looked at the girl it had reminded him of his younger sister, one that he would do anything to protect from this world even if she was moving up in the ranks much faster than he did when he was her age. what he sees now is a scared girl trying to make it through day by day. “i’m not that great at healing spells but i can do my best,” he offers with a small smile, grabbing his wand. “that always seems to be the case, doesn’t it?” messing with the wrong person, there were many death eaters that took the kill because they could but not because it mattered. he used to think that he’d be one of them but now he couldn’t see much of a reason to. it was all just so useless, the whole thing. he hears her worries and he shakes his head. “not if i have anything to do with it.” he says, now vowing to himself to protect this girl that felt like she had the world on her shoulders. “i’m evan, by the way,” he says, grabbing a wash cloth and the bowl of water and reaching out to dab some of the dried blood. “i can try and keep you safe as much as i can,” since he was more trusted than most. 

“i somehow don’t believe you,” he says, his eye crinkling as he gives her a smile and attempting to finish what was left in his bottle before closing time. he had understood all too well the want to not be home, which was why he couched surfed as much as he could until he was forced to actually be home. it’s what made them so compatible. there was an understanding there that no one else got. “there should be,” he thinks, before shaking his head, “and even if there isn’t i have a bar full of things we could drink,” together, alone, he thinks before placing the glass down. “up to you.”

it had been a case gone bad, and he knew that he should’ve gone to st. mungos like someone had suggested but he had just wanted the day to be over with, there was a part of him that had thought about going back to his old home but he found himself here like he always did, using the key that was kept secret and walking in and laying in the bed until rosine had gotten home. he knew that she would see his face sooner or later and when he had tried to explain what happened he had just sighed and laid back down until she forced him to deal with it. he wasn’t very good at dealing with a lot of things as of late with how this case was going. he had been out of town for a couple times a week catching up on leads and reporting back to emmeline with what he could find. this was one of the first days that he had time for himself after the direct hit. they had casted a stinging jinx and it was finally starting to sting less by the time that rosine had looked over it. he winces slightly at her assessment smiling briefly, “you do care for me.” he says, jokingly, knowing that there was some kind of unspoken agreement between the two when it came towards caring for the other. it had always been that way. “it’s okay now,” he says, thinking that it was at least better now that he was here. he moves a hand to rest on top of her arm moving so she could get a better look at it. “i’m just tired more than anything.”

“i’m here on the basis of getting drunk and having a good time,” he says as he walks through the door with a bottle of whiskey and some food that was partly cold now, though he didn’t think that mattered as much as the whiskey. “i’ve had a long fucking week and there is nowhere i would rather be than right here,”

“are you though?” at this point, evan was causing problems because he could and he had checked the wix that she was looking out, rolling his eyes at them from across the way before he turned his back to them. he grabbed the drink and pulled it closer towards him. “i like to think i know what i’m talking about given this situation but i’m willing to change the subject,” he says, not letting up, a smile still on his face as he took another drink from his pint. “you’ve been staring at them for a while now, is there something going on between you two or are they just a twat?”

evan blocked out a lot that happened during the last couple of years of school, too much trauma with his father and relationships that lead to nowhere, it was a surprise he remembered anything that had happened. but when rosine asks the question, he doesn’t know wha to tell her. “did you?” he asks, raising an eyebrow before letting it go. “i was a bit of a menace,” most of their professors would have agreed, he had a secret relationship with a man that wasn’t ready, and josie who he swore never loved him, then his father died. he was a bit numb after that. “i had good intentions.” he finally says, watching her hand on his chest and then watching her grab the bottle of alcohol, tipping it back, he gulped and saw bits of alcohol run down her lips, past her mouth and then on her neck. he had a smirk on his lips, getting closer towards her, his hands on the small of her back bringing her closer towards her, “can’t say the same for now,” he whispers, his mouth inches from her before leaning down to lick the alcohol off of her neck and then where her shirt cuts to a close V; he looks her in the eyes, pressing small kisses where he can before he says, “i guess we’ll just have to stay here for a while,” he muses, trying to get her as close as he can; he makes small marks on her neck, tasting both the alcohol and her perfume, his hand going lower than her back to pull her close, and his hand traveling up her skirt. 

“i’m not even done with my drink,” he wasn’t that drunk, but he knew that he was pretty buzzed for his standards, the room wasn’t spinning or anything but he had quite the appetite now after all the drinks and the lack of food he ate today. “well, down the hatch,” he says finishing the rest of his drink in one gulp looking at amelia, challenging her. 

“some money,” he says with a humourless laugh. “could get paid more,” he muses, “especially since i’m the one who is always tasked to train your arses,” he jokes, he didn’t mind it, but the first few weeks of training were the worst trying to break every eager young hitwixes bad habits.