For the Quidditch League. Position – Beater, write a friendship using the same pairing as the Keeper. Also, I used the prompts "Sometimes, your life boils down to one insane move" and "leaving".
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He's Dean Thomas and you're Seamus Finnigan.
And, like everything else in your life, your friendship starts with a bang.
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You're flipping over the cards as quickly as you can, scanning them to find the match. Another flip and the match still does not show up. Your time interval between explosions is decreasing as you flip more cards.
Before you have a chance to flip some more cards, the door to the compartment slides open and diverts your attention. The cards on the table before you explode with a loud bang. You feel a slight burn on your face and inhale a little bit of smoke, causing you to cough.
"May I sit here?" the boy asks, standing in the doorway.
You turn your head to look at him. When his dark eyes meet yours, you give him a lopsided smile and motion to the seat across from you. "Name's Seamus. Seamus Finnigan," you introduce yourself proudly, offering your hand to him.
He takes it. "Dean Thomas," he replies as he sits. He looks down at your cards and glances back up. "Now, what are you doing?"
You tilt your head, studying him for a hint of a joke. When he gives you none, you figure he's a Muggleborn and really doesn't know what you're doing. "Trying to beat my record," you say. "I've gotten seven matches before it exploded." You shuffle your deck and set it back down. "Would you like to play?"
"I don't know how," he admits. It's a quiet explanation, almost as if he's ashamed that he doesn't know. It's in that moment that you know that he is a Muggleborn; probably bullied because of it – because he's different.
You give him another smile. "I'll teach you how, then. It's easy," you tell him. You pull out your wand and start to explain the game to him. After you're done with that, you show him a round. Then you finally decide that he's ready.
As the cards explode in his face, you smile, knowing that you're going to be best friends with him.
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He's Dean Thomas and you're Seamus Finnigan.
And this time, you can't help him.
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It's late afternoon, just days before you're due back to Hogwarts. As always, Dean has been spending most of the summer with you. He's sitting across from you, Exploding Snaps on the table between you. But when the cards explode in your face, you're reminded just how far away your thoughts are.
"Seamus?" he asks, breaking through your thoughts. You glance up, watching him sigh. He goes to say something, before stopping himself. He seems to decide something because he says, "I'm sure you've read the Prophet."
You nod. "You leaving, aren't you?" you question even though you know the answer. Muggleborns and those that can't prove their magical backgrounds aren't allowed back in Hogwarts and are being forced to go on trial to prove how they obtained their abilities.
He looks away from you, shaking his head. "No, Shay, I'm not," he whispers. "Since my dad left, I don't know if he's a wizard or not, and the Committee won't like that answer. We both know that."
"It'll be dangerous," you tell him. "They won't just accept that you have disappeared. They might go after your family." You close your eyes, inhaling because you hate the mere idea of them hurting his family, of them hurting anyone.
You don't have to open your eyes to know that he's nodding. "I know. But there's nothing else I can do. I won't meet with the Committee because those who have…well, they haven't returned yet and I don't want to find out where they went. I'll just have to send my family away."
"Where are you going to send them?" you ask him.
He shakes his head. "Best if I don't know," he replies quickly. And you know exactly what he means - just in casehe gets caught.
"Where are you going to go?"
You're not expecting an answer so you aren't disappointed when he says, "Best if you didn't know."
You sigh, defeated, and nod your understanding, because you know that it's just him trying to protect you. In the end, you shuffle the cards that were left disregarded earlier. Dealing them, you shove your thoughts to the back of your mind.
For now, you enjoy what might be the last day you ever have with him.
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He's Dean Thomas and you're Seamus Finnigan.
And sometimes, your life boils down to one insane move.
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He's back, and it's time to fight. And for some reason, he's wandless. But that doesn't matter to him because he gives you a grin and holds up his fists. "I still have two weapons," he assures you with a grin.
And you know that he's just insane.
You follow him out of the room anyways, because he's going to need some help, or at least some protection since he only has his fists. But he's bound and determined to fight in this war, and it makes you wonder exactly what happened while he was gone. Now isn't the time to ask, though.
The first pair of Death Eaters that you run into has smirks on their faces and murder in their eyes. Dean, however, isn't afraid. He lunges forward, surprising the pair. You stand motionless as he beats one of them with his fists.
You're pulled out of your shock when you see the other Death Eater take out his wand. Before he has a chance to turn it on Dean, you fire spells.
In the end, Dean beats the Death Eater he's dealing with nearly to death. He steals the wand off the ground, and turns toward the Death Eater that you're fighting. It doesn't take long before the Death Eater is on the ground. You take the time to tie up both of them before heading toward all the other action. He now has a wand and can protect himself.
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He's Dean Thomas and you're Seamus Finnigan.
And you know that everything is going to be alright.
A/n – So many thanks to Allie for beta-ing this for me! You're a doll!