Evan Rosier/Barty Crouch, Jr.

Pairing
Pairing:	Evan Rosier/Barty Crouch, Jr.
Alternative name(s):	Rosekiller
Gender category:	Slash
Fandom:	Harry Potter
Canonical?:	No
Prevalence:	Typically used as a secondary or background ship in Marauders fanworks
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Evan Rosier/Barty Crouch, Jr. (most commonly known as Rosekiller) is a pairing in the Marauders subsection of the Harry Potter fandom.

Canonical Background

Both Evan Rosier and Barty Crouch, Jr. are canonical characters in the Harry Potter universe. They do not interact in canon, but presumably would have known each other.

Evan Rosier

Evan is mentioned briefly in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire book and movie. During the trial of Igor Karkaroff after Voldemort's first defeat (c. 1981/1982), Karkaroff names Evan Rosier as a fellow Death Eater. However, he is informed that Evan Rosier was killed in duel by Auror Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody while Rosier resisted arrest. Moody says that Rosier permanently disfigured him during that confrontation. Barty Crouch, Jr. is present during this trial and is subsequently also named as a Death Eater.

It is further mentioned that a Rosier was in a friend group of Slytherins that also included Severus Snape, nearly all of whom (according to Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) became Death Eaters. This is presumed to be the same Rosier mentioned in Karkaroff's trial.

Supplemental material also reveals that Evan's family, the Rosiers, were part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight Pureblood Families of the British Wizarding World.

Barty Crouch, Jr.

Bartemius "Barty" Crouch, Jr. is a character in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire book and movie. In the film, he is portrayed by David Tennant.

Barty is the only son of Bartemius "Barty" Crouch, Sr., head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement with whom he had a negative relationship. He is described as being about the same age as Regulus Black. A pureblood, Crouch, Jr. became a devoted (and fanatical) follower of Voldemort during his teenage years. He became a Death Eater and participated in the torture of Frank and Alice Longbottom, a crime for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban. Using polyjuice potion, he and his mother later swapped places. Mrs. Crouch died in Azkaban, leaving the world to believe that Crouch, Jr. was dead. Meanwhile, Crouch, Sr. controlled his son via the Imperius curse for many years.

Barty, Jr. eventually breaks free from the Imperius curse in 1994 and participated in the plot to resurrect Lord Voldemort. He captured and imprisoned Moody, and impersonated him during his tenure as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. He also was responsible for submitting Harry Potter's name to the Goblet of Fire, forcing him to participate in the Triwizard Tournament despite being a minor. Towards the end of the book, the younger Crouch is discovered and murders his father, but is ultimately captured and given the Dementor's Kiss as a punishment for breaking out of Azkaban. He presumably dies not long after.

Fanon Interpretation

History

The first fanfic pairing Evan and Barty posted to AO3 was Untitled by user eroticincubi. This work was posted on 25 May 2013. Not much else about the ship's history prior to the 2020s is known, other than it presumably existed in some form as a rarepair.

This tag would not be used again until 12 April 2021 when two fics titled Rosier's Downfall by Orphan_Account and A Letter to a Loved One by Orphan_Account. These fics can be assumed to have been written by the same author as they are paired in a series titled Uprising and Downfalling. The use of the pairing picked up steam later that year and into 2022. As of 1 July 2024, there are 4,946 works tagged with the pairing on the Archive, all but the aforementioned three having been posted between November 2021 and July 2024.

The early 2020s, saw Rosekiller gain considerable popularity in the Marauders fandom via MaraudersTok. This likely has to do with the rise of Jegulus as these ships are often written in tandem and gained widespread notoriety around the same time.

In studying the Marauders fandom, tumblr user sunshinemauraders commented on the potential origin behind ship's rise to prominence.

"The first and most prominent [fanfic] that Rosekiller... appears in is Just Lovers (like we were supposed to be) on ao3 by bizarrestars. Here, they are playful and sarcastic best friends of Reggie who help him through his lil emotions. Everyone loved them so much that the zar (the author) gave us their own lil intermission of it.... [I] think it’s because they got popular in a fic where they were never evil in the first place. i could be wrong, but from what i noticed barty and evan only became liked characters in Just Lovers, which is a no-voldemort AU, meaning they were never death eaters. and they were given nicer roles in the story to serve the plot and further regulus’ character development. like they only got a better reputation because the author needed them to for the plot and they were in a setting where that made sense, and ever since then they’ve been big characters... i don’t think it’s necessarily about them in canon at all. i think people liked who they were in that one story and it just kind of exploded from there and now they’re being written with redemption arcs in other works too. and really, i don’t see anything wrong with that." Tumblr user sunshinemauraders, May 2023

Sunshinemauraders also noted that Evan and Barty's popularity could also be attributed to the lack of canonical characterizations of either, especially during their Hogwarts years. This allows creators to utilize them as blank canvases instead of utilizing self-inserts or original characters.

The ship name most likely originates from the work "Rose" in Evan's surname and the fact that Barty killed his own father ("Killer").

Characterization

The Marauders fandom most commonly portrays Barty and Evan as close friends with Regulus Black. Barty, Evan, and Regulus are usually considered to be the same age and in Slytherin, though some fans interpret Barty as a Ravenclaw. Regulus, Barty, and Evan (usually paired with the character Dorcas Meadowes and Pandora Lovegood) form a friend group the fandom has dubbed "the Slytherin Skittles" (despite not all of the members always being portrayed as Slytherins) or, less commonly, "The Pantheon."

Evan Rosier is frequently portrayed as Pandora's twin brother. Since Pandora (whose maiden name is canonically unknown) is Luna Lovegood's mother, this means that Evan is her uncle in these fanon interpretations.

Some fans disagree with the decision to reclaim Evan and Barty due to their actions in canon.

Common Tropes in Fanworks

Rosekiller is a popular side pairing, typically in works featuring Jegulus. However, some fans have centered their fanworks on the duo.

Example Fanworks

Fanfic- Rosekiller Centric

• Tender Curiosities, Baby! by otrtbs is a Rosekiller-centric spinoff/sequel of the author's fic Art Heist, Baby! in which it is a minor pairing. [1]
• Intermission by bizarrestars [Rosekiller-centric companion to just lovers (like we were supposed to be)] [2]
• Killer by MesserMoon [3]
• Evan Rosier and the Unbearable Weight of his Own Decisions by lemmylover1 [4]

Fanfic- As a Secondary Pairing

• Kill Your Darlings by MesserMoon [5]
• Art Heist, Baby! by otrtbs [6]
• Only The Brave by Solmussa [7]
• Whatever happened to the young, young lovers? by georgia_sk [8] [Contains a Rosekiller-centric interlude]
• just lovers (like we were supposed to be) by bizarrestars [9]
• Of His Bones by MesserMoon [10]

Archives and Communities

• Works tagged Barty Crouch Jr/Evan Rosier on AO3
• Works tagged Rosekiller on Wattpad
• Works tagged with pairing Barty C. Jr., Evan R. on Fanfiction.net