𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬 || 𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐄𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐬

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐨: 𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬 & 𝐈𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐬

"About time you found us," Barty quipped, his arms crossed, as Evan Rosier entered their compartment. Barty watched with an amused smirk as Evan struggled to bring his giant trunk into the compartment but made no move to help him. Evan only rolled his eyes in response to Barty's remark and silently grunted from the weight of his trunk. Barty shifted his gaze, expecting to see Regulus behind Evan since Regulus is usually not too far behind from him. However, he found no one there.

"Where's Regulus?" Barty questioned, his curiosity tinged with a hint of suspicion.

"How the hell am I supposed to know? I'm not baby Black's babysitter," Evan scowled, a visible edge in his voice that caught both Barty and Silas off guard. They shared a quick, knowing look with each other. Evan's unusual reaction at the mention of Regulus had confirmed their suspicions that something had happened between Evan and Regulus over the summer.

Barty, who was more than eager to speak about the situation, was ready to bombard Evan with hundreds of questions. However, Barty stopped himself at the last second from doing so when Silas gave a subtle warning look to him, telling him that it wasn't the right time to ask Evan questions about it yet.

Barty understood and gave a slight nod back, before he averted his eyes to Evan who was thankfully too busy talking about his summer to notice Barty's and Silas's silent interaction together.

"Nothing much happened over the holidays, except a few of Father's friends staying there for a short time," Evan explained, though his mind was fixed on a particular distant memory. However, he forced himself to stop thinking about it and turned to Silas. "Which reminds me- Silas, you must visit me the next time you're in Paris. I heard from Flint that you went there for a trip over the summer. If I had known, I would have invited you to stay at my home or at the very least invite you for tea." Evan said, showing his displeasure over the fact that Silas didn't even bother to write a letter to Evan to inform him of his travels to Paris, much less visit Evan in his own home.

"It was a sudden trip and I didn't have the time to write a letter," Silas explained shortly.

"A business trip?" Evan inquired, wanting to know further.

Silas paused for a moment. "The old man's health is getting worse," he finally revealed, and the weight of those words settled heavily on the compartment, thickening the air in it.

There was a good long silence between the three wizards before it was broken by Evan, "How long does he have?" He questioned slowly, careful not to press too hard on the matter.

Silas shrugged, seemingly unbothered by the situation. "The healer doesn't know but he's one tough fucker. It won't be long before he is back on his feet and finish our entire stock of firewhiskey again," Barty let out a small chuckle at Silas's remark.

"Uncle Damian was so pissed- I thought smoke was coming out of his ears," Barty added, shaking his head at the hilarious memory of Damian Hayes scolding his own father like a child.

Evan, however, was still unconvinced about Silas's grandfather's health. Despite Silas's casual behaviour towards the situation, Evan sensed a deep worry beneath the surface. He knew Silas's grandfather wasn't weak but he had been battling his illness for a long time now. Evan was just worried about how Silas was actually coping with it because he knew how close Silas is to his grandfather. Evan wanted to address it but he stopped himself. Knowing how delicate the matter was, he decided that it was best for him to speak with Silas about it in a more private place later when they reached the castle.

But for the time being, Evan put his worried thoughts aside, steering the conversation toward a different subject. "You two are the first Slytherins to board the train while I was dealing with our parents, and of all the places you could have chosen, you picked the one where those imbeciles love to bother us the most," Evan said with an unimpressed look