So help my lifeless frame to breathe
And God knows I'm not dying
But I bleed now
And God knows
It's the only way to heal now

Monday, December 20th, 1976

Barty and Evan hugged and kissed goodbye at the Hogsmeade Station. Evan had received a letter that morning from his parents saying he was required home for this Christmas.

"Write me everyday, especially on Saturday" Barty softly demanded, kissing Evan's neck while in his embrace. "I promise I will. Hey, don't give me a hickey, I can't explain that to my parents" Evan said, noticing Barty start to gently bite down on his neck.

"Sorry, love" Barty apologized, instead kissing Evan's lips.

"Okay, c'mon, Ev. You two can chew each other's faces off when we get back" Pandora shouted from the compartment window. Evan chuckled and gave Barty one last hug before finally getting on the train.

They trudged off, and Evan watched Barty sadly begin to walk back to the castle with Dorcas.

Wednesday, December 22nd, 1976

"Evan, Mother and Father wanna talk to us" Pandora said, peeking her head into Evan's room. "Okay. I'm coming" Evan replied, closing his book and placing it  on his nightstand.

He stood up and followed his sister down the stairs. Their parents were sitting at the dining table, a few other people around them. Evan recognized them as the parents of a few people from school, including Regulus' parents.

"Sit. Sit." Evan's father said, dangerously calm. Evan and Pandora sat beside each other at the long table.

"What's all this about?" Evan asked, trying to be as respectful as he could but also try to understand what was happening.

"Well, Evan, as you know, there's been news of a Dark Lord rising to power, and then of course, the current war.." Evan's mother started.

"You two are old enough to accept the mark of one of his followers. See, you'll get protection from him, along with our entire family. So the both of you are going to receive the mark. With NO objections" their father explained and ordered.

Pandora's eyes widened and her mouth was agape. "No. No way. I'm not doing that" she said and stood up. Evan was shocked by her response. She was never the one to defy their parents, especially with their 'friends' around.

"You sit down and listen, young lady!" Their mother shouted, also standing up. "No! There is no way you can make me do this" Pandora stormed away, up to her room.

"I'll handle her" Evan's mother muttered and followed Pandora.

"Anywho. Evan. Mrs Black here is the one who's going to administer the mark" Evan's father said, gesturing to Walburga. Evan flashed an extremely uncomfortable smile at the woman.

"Wait a second, what exactly is this mark?" Evan asked, suddenly very concerned for his body.

"Oh, it's like a tattoo, dear. Except it moves around occasionally" Mrs Black answered. Evan wondered why she was pretending to be so nice.

"I don't know..I'll be one of his followers if I take it?" Evan asked. He could tell just by looking in his fathers eyes that no matter what he said, it was not an option for him to not do it. His parents were always cowards, no wonder they would force a 16 year old to do what they should be doing if they want it so bad.

"I don't-'' Evan started but a look from his father made him quiet. He knew if he didn't accept this mark, he would be in loads more trouble than he would be after he'd gotten arrested that one summer.

"He'll do it" Mr Rosier said to Walburga.

"Wonderful" she flashed an evil grin before forcefully taking Evan's arm. She pressed her wand against the underside of his forearm, and after a moment, a shooting pain when through his veins.

"Ow! Fuck!" Evan shouted, holding his arm with his free hand. "Language!" Mr Rosier yelled.

After Evan got his arm back, he inspected it. "Oh..it's the same sign that's in The Daily Profit" Evan nearly whispered. It suddenly sunk in what he had just done.

"Welcome to the Death Eaters, Rosier" Mr Black patted him on the back.

Evan Rosier was now a Death Eater. And he couldn't change that.

Saturday, December 25th, 1976

As usual, Evan opened his gifts in the morning. Although this time on his own. Normally he would do it with Pandora when they were home for Christmas, but their parents had kicked her out and apparently disowned her.

In the evening, Evan had to pretend he was perfectly okay. His family attended the Black's annual Christmas Gala. He had to shake hands, smile appropriately, and make idle chit chat with his parents' friends and colleagues.

Halfway through the night, Evan had managed to get  away. He hid in Regulus' bedroom, per usual. He wished he could have seen Barty there. Barty's mother and father had attended, but Barty was at school.

Evan sat on the floor of the opposing side of Regulus' bed. He brought his knees up to his chest, and wrapped his arms around his legs. He put his head down and started to cry.

He cried because he missed his sister, he cried because of the Dark Mark, he cried because he couldn't even have Barty there to console him.

"Ev? You in here?" Regulus asked, not seeing Evan.

"Yeah" Evan replied, wiping his tears.

Regulus sat down on the floor beside him. "Are you okay? What's wrong?" He asked, trying his best to sound comforting.

"Everything is wrong. Panda left, I was basically forced into something I didn't want that probably ruined my life, and I miss Barty. Oh, I miss him so much" Evan complained.

"Wait, Panda left? What do you mean?" Regulus asked. "I mean, my mother kicked her out and now she's disowned and stuff. She's gone" Evan explained.

"Oh" Regulus let that ponder for a bit. "That really sucks," he said after awhile, "I know how it feels to have your sibling leave. Do you, er, want a hug or something?" Regulus asked, extending his arms.

Evan accepted the embrace and comfortably stayed in Regulus' arms. It was weird to be hugged by Regulus, it might have only happened a few times during their entire friendship, but it was nice.

Monday, January 3rd, 1977

Evan sat on the train by himself. Regulus offered to stay with him, but he just couldn't bear to have to make conversation, so Regulus elected to sit with his brother instead. Evan had been quiet ever since Christmas.

He refused to let anyone sit with him, and it probably became a problem. He turned away every person who asked to sit in the compartment.

Monday, January 3rd, 1977

When the train arrived at Hogsmead Station, Evan walked next to Regulus silently as they made their way up to the castle.

They entered their dorm, finding Barty and Dorcas in there playing Wizard's Chess. Barty looked up with a huge smile and stood to give Evan a hug, but Evan disregarded him and threw his stuff on his bed. He climbed in and shut the curtains, leaving everyone else in the room to do their own thing.

Barty and Regulus were whispering back and forth. Evan couldn't hear exactly what they were saying but he knew they were talking about him.

After a few minutes, he heard Barty mutter "shit" and then open up Evan's curtains just a smidge. "Can I come in?" He asked. Evan just turned away, not having the energy or willpower to interact with anyone.

Barty just laid down behind Evan, and wrapped his arm around his waist.

"Love, Reg told me what happened with Pandora" Barty said, caressing Evan's hair. Evan's eyes widened. "What exactly did he tell you?" Evan asked. That was the first thing he'd said in 2 days.

"He said she got in a really big fight with your parents and got kicked out" Barty replied.

"Did he say what the fight was about?" Evan asked, suddenly beginning to panic.

"No, he just said it was a big fight. Are you okay, Ev?" Barty asked, stopping his playing with Evan's hair to look at the blond in his eyes.

"No, I'm not fucking okay" Evan said, angrily. A tear slipped from his eye.

Barty held Evan closer, and just talked. Not about anything particular, just random things. Evan eventually fell asleep, and subconsciously decided he would skip dinner.

Tuesday, January 4th, 1977

Evan didn't feel like getting up out of bed the next day. He didn't know if Pandora was at Hogwarts, but he didn't think he could take the risk of seeing her. He might break down in front of everybody if he were to see her.

"Ev, are you getting up?" Regulus asked, drying his hair with a spell.

"No" Evan muttered. He pulled his blanket up higher to hide his head.

"Evvy, baby, you have to get up. We have classes today" Barty said, he pulled the blanket down, accidentally also slightly pulling up Evan's sleeve. He didn't seem to have seen anything, but Evan very quickly pulled his sleeve back down. He got out of bed very fast and hid in the bathroom, locking the door and hiding in the space in between the toilet and counter.

Barty knocked on the door, and instinctually, Evan used his wand to shoot a curse at the door. Barty yelped on the other said, and Evan stared wide-eyed at the singeing hole in the door.

"Fuck! Evan! What the fuck?!" Barty yelled from the other side. Evan felt his eyes well up. He recognized his own behaviour as something his parents, specifically his father, has done to him many, many times.

"I..am so fucking sorry" Evan managed to get out. He left the bathroom as fast as he could and left the dorm. He hid behind a tapestry near the common room's entrance, and cried silently.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck" he whispered to himself.

Not only was he a Death Eater, he was an asshole. He didn't mean to curse Barty, it just happened. Even worse, Evan knew exactly how much that curse hurt.

Evan stayed there for awhile, trying to calm himself down and reason with himself.

____________________________________

DRAMAAAAAA!!!!

Idk how I managed to be late on this chapter, I've had it written since Monday.

The song at the beginning is 'My Blood' by Ellie Goulding!

No new fan art, unfortunately :(