The End of Time
(Deamus)
The castle was in shambles. Empty frames hung haphazardly on the walls, canvases ripped and marred. The Great Hall was ruined; tables smashed and broken, shoved out of the way to make room for the dead. Bodies were cast every which way, some mangled beyond recognition. Families were huddled together, celebrating the fact that they had managed to come through almost completely unscathed. Of course there were those that cried, mourning lost ones, but all in all, the entire castle seemed in a happy mood.
They were done fighting. It had been a long time, almost thirty years since Voldemort first rose to power. Those years had been full of pain and torment and heartbreak, but there had also been the moments of triumph and happiness and pure elation.
It was of these moments Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan would remember. Now, as they sat close to each other for the first time in a year, they laughed and spoke of all the times Seamus had caught himself and others on fire. Dean reminisced upon all the drawings he had done of his home. But there were the few odd silences when neither boy would talk; they simply stared at one another. Abeforth watched the two boys, smiling slightly. He leaned forward and elbowed Seamus while Dean was distracted.
"Are you with him?" Abeforth asked, his eyes twinkling. He gestured toward Dean, who was laughing at something Dennis Creevy had just brought up.
Seamus blushed. "N-no, he's not like that, like me."
"Not a thing in the world wrong with being like that, boy." Abeforth said sternly.
Seamus nodded, taking a drink of pumpkin juice. He looked at Dean and felt something warm grow in his chest. He smiled, taking another gulp. He decided that now was as good a time as ever, though he'd much rather have told Dean privately.
"Oi! Dean!" Seamus picked up a bit of paper; he recognized it as a Potions worksheet.
Dean jolted around to face him. "Yeah, Shay?" he asked, a grin lighting up his face.
"Yougoonadatewithme?" Seamus asked, his words coming out in a rush. He blushed and let his head drop to his chest.
"Blimey, Seamus. You might want to get that checked out." Dean joked.
"Will. You. Go. On. A. Date. With. Me?" Seamus said, punctuating each word.
"God, Shay." Dean laughed, looking Seamus in the eye. "Took you long enough, didn't it?"
"That a yes?" Seamus asked excitedly.
"Of course it's a yes, you absolute idiot." Dean said happily. "I've only been waiting six years."
Seamus looked at Abeforth. "Did you know that?" he demanded.
Abeforth brought his mug to his lips. "Boy told me on the way here. Said if he died tonight, he wanted you to know, figured I'd find you. Wasn't hard to be honest. You're the only Irishman that has 'eyes that twinkle like stars'."
Dean groaned. "You weren't supposed to tell him that…" Dean laughed, hiding his face.
"Oh? My eyes twinkle like stars do they?" Seamus laughed, batting his eyelashes.
"Only when you're drunk." Dean countered.
"So all the time, then?" Seamus laughed.
"Oh shut up, Shay." Dean said. But he got up and moved his block of concrete over to Seamus. Seamus tried not to gasp when Dean slipped his hand into Seamus'.
"What?" Dean asked innocently.
The boys didn't know that this very moment had been planned for from the beginning of their friendship. They had been together for six years and would stay that way, until