Dean awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of someone sobbing. He supposed it wasn't the actual crying that woke him; he was a heavy sleeper, after all. It was the person sobbing that made Dean wake up.
He pushed the covers off of the bed, and let them tumble onto the floor. He shivered slightly as his bare feet hit the cold stone floor, but he stood up nonetheless.
Dean tracked down the sobbing to a bathroom stall. He tugged on the door handle, but the door wouldn't budge. It was locked from the inside. Dean frowned; he had left his wand back at the bed, and he didn't want to go back and get it. So he knocked.
The sobs stopped instantly. "W-who's there?" a voice asked from inside the stall.
"It's me," Dean said. There was a pause, then Dean heard some shuffling and the sound of the door being unlocked. Dean slowly pushed it open.
Seamus was sitting on the floor with his back against the side of the stall. His head was buried in his crossed arms. Dean knelt down in front of the boy.
"Seamus?" he asked softly. Seamus sniffed. "Seamus, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing!" Seamus said. His voice was raspy. Dean took hold of Seamus' shoulders.
"Seamus, you know you can tell me, right?" Seamus buried his head deeper into his arms. "Seamus—"
"She disowned me, okay?" Seamus blurted, his head snapping up. His eyes were red and puffy from crying. "My own mother disowned me." He broke out in sobs once again.
"Oh, Seamus," Dean said. He scooted closer to the other boy and gathered him in his arms. Seamus was still curled up, so it was a little awkward, but Dean didn't mind.
Dean rubbed Seamus' back until his crying subsided. When all he heard was the occasional hiccup, he raised Seamus' head off of his shoulder. Dean's shirt was soaked with tears. Dean cupped Seamus' face in his hands and wiped away his remaining tears with his thumbs.
"No more crying, alright?" Dean told him. Seamus nodded. Dean hugged him. "Let's go back to bed."
Dean stood up and offered a hand to Seamus. Seamus took it and stood alongside Dean, who led him back to the dormitory. He walked Seamus over to his bed and pulled the covers up to Seamus' chin. Dean turned to leave, but was stopped by a hand on his sleeve.
"Can you-can you stay for a while?" Seamus asked quietly. Dean smiled and climbed into the bed. Seamus turned towards Dean and snuggled up to him. Dean wrapped his arms around Seamus and watched over him while he fell asleep. Watching someone sleep, however, was incredibly boring, and soon Dean himself was snoozing. Just before he slipped into oblivion, Dean could have sworn he heard a quiet "Thank you" whispered. He slept with a smile.
Early the next morning, as Harry was getting ready for Quidditch practice, he happened to notice that Dean was not in his bed. This was not unusual; Dean had fallen asleep many times in the common room while working on homework. What was unusual, however, was the mound of covers at the foot of his bed. Harry went over to Seamus' bed to see if he knew what had happened to Dean. Harry grinned when he spotted the bed and flicked his wand to close the curtains over the four-poster. That particular discovery could wait a few more hours to be made.
