i.
there are two abilities in dean's life
that he's truly proud of
his talent in football
and in art
if it weren't for those
he knows he'd be the weird kid in school
(after all
odd things always seem to happen around him
don't they?)
it all makes sense on his eleventh birthday
a wizard?
magic really exists?
(his mother and he exchange knowing looks
is this who his biological father was?
is this the reason he left?)
ii.
don't get him wrong
he loves hogwarts
he does
but one of the first thing he realises
is that in this new magical world of his
(and he still can't believe
that this is his world now
spinning with possibilities
and a life that he hadn't known existed
but on where he actually belongs)
football doesn't matter
(quidditch is more important)
his art is all he has left
so he takes to it with a vengeance
if he can't become a professional footballer
in this new world
then he'll damn make sure
to become the best damn wizarding artist
there ever is
iii.
it's his art that helps him make
his first (and best) friend in the world of magic
(he's not surprised
his art always was one of the best things
about him)
the first time seamus sees him drawing
sketching away furiously
trying to capture every aspect of the castle
he sits down beside dean
staring at his sketchbook intently
entranced with the life
that this boy can create
from paper and
a stick of charcoal
and when the dark-skinned boy's done
he grins at him,
holds out his hand
and tells him that the two of them?
they're going to be the best of friends
from that day
it becomes a little tradition of theirs
whenever dean's sketching
seamus is always by his side
iv.
his years in hogwarts
seem to pass him so quickly
snap
and he's a seventh year already
sure, the last few years
have had their share of
ups and downs
(not to mention
that pesky little war
that's been on
since the end of his fourth year
and those dead bodies
that just seem to keep piling up)
but even with all that
dean loves hogwarts
and this (still so new) magical world
and then
the letter comes
"dear mr thomas…
muggle-born registration act…
hearing…"
he knows exactly what this means
well
voldemort may have taken over the ministry
but he wasn't going to get
a hold of dean
so easily
so he pens a letter to seamus
explaining everything
and promises to return when he can
he finally tells his mother the truth
about the war
tells her he loves her
kisses his sisters goodbye
packs his bags
and leaves
(they won't find his family
through him)
v.
on the run
he meets a bunch of new people
ted tonks
(his daughter just married professor lupin)
dirk creswell
(muggle born, used to be important at the ministry)
griphook
(a goblin who knows harry)
but through it all
the only people on his mind
are his family
and seamus
everything he's brought with him
reminds him of his family
but seamus
he needs a way to keep a hold
of Seamus
so when he finds a sketchbook
and a couple of pencils
buried deep inside his bag
he knows exactly what he's going to do.
he draws
not seamus
there's no chance dean can forget him
he draws everything
(he does mean everything)
he sees
sure, it's a piece of war history
that might inspire people one day
but more than that
to him
it's a new
(and the only)
way
he has
to stay close to seamus
(and it's not like
being on the run
doesn't have silver linings
it forces him to re-examine his feelings for seamus
and admit
that he cares about the sandy-haired boy
as much more
than just a friend
and at least he can promise himself,
now that he knows how fragile life is,
that the next time he sees seamus
he'll tell him)
vi.
he's at the weasleys' aunt's house
when his galleon burns
at least the time for waiting
for being on the run
is over
when he finally
(finally)
gets back to the castle
that is his second home
(or is it third?
seamus' home counts too)
he's shocked by the transformation
that these people he knows so well
have undergone
but through it all
seamus is still the boy he remembers
still the boy he fell in love with
so even though he's scared to death
(courage is not the absence of fear
it's fearing
and doing it anyways)
dean throws caution to the wind
walks up to him
and kisses him
(and
seamus
kisses
back)
vii.
yeah
that's what he's learned
in these last seven years
everything
has a silver lining
even running for your life
For:
Fanfiction Tournaments, April
The if You Dare Challenge, Prompt 524. Silver Light
Magical Creatures Challenge, Porlock