"'Deamus'? That's a thing? Really? Huh. Let me just, check the tumblr tag and..." *skip forward two hours* "DEAMUS IS REAL, they're so cute, Harry's so oblivious, aww"
-the result of drinking coffee after midnight, gandalf537's "101 names we could have used", and shipping the gays-
featuring demisexual seamus and bisexual dean
"Isn't that Dean's shirt?"
Seamus looked up to meet the sparkling eyes of Ginny Weasley, and felt a blush crawl into his neck, accompanied by a faint nudge of irritation at seeing her. He forced the irritation down; she was with Dean now, and that was that. So what if his best mate was spending more time with her lately? That was no problem for Seamus.
"What's it to you?" Seamus asked. "Dean and I have swapped closed for the past four years, can't really remember whose shirt this is."
It was the blue-and-gray striped v-neck, and Dean had only just gotten it over the summer. Seamus knew it was Dean's and had never once borrowed it, till today.
"I borrowed it last week when we were down at the lake," Ginny said. "Thought it was his, is all."
"Well, we can't really say." He dropped the book he'd been reading on the table. "I've got to go."
He rose abruptly and left, taking frustrated strides down the corridors till the walls blurred around him. The source of that little nudge of irritation remained a mystery to him; something about Ginny just rubbed him the wrong way lately. He'd been fine with her before- for years, even- but it was the same spark of irritation he'd felt in fifth year, when Dean fancied Angelica Johnson, and in third, when Dean fancied Padma Patil. He chalked it up to being that Dean was annoying when he fancied a girl, and usually spent too much time trying to impress her, which meant Seamus would have nothing to do for long periods of time.
Seamus had come to the conclusion he just didn't feel attraction a long time ago. He'd never had a crush on anyone; he could admit some girls were, yeah, very pretty, and had amiable qualities, but he hadn't... Felt the way about anyone how Dean felt about Ginny.
The Clocktower Courtyard appeared before him with a gust of fresh wind, a breeze blowing in off the lake smelling of rain, though the sun shone yellow overhead. Seamus leaned on a column of brick and for a heartbeat closed his eyes.
"Oi, you slim git! Heard you nipped my shirt again!"
Seamus opened his eyes with an automatic grin as he saw Dean strolling toward him. "And what are you gonna do about it, mate?"
"Nothing," Dean shrugged as he reached Seamus, folding his arms across his chest. "You've been stealing my shirts for the past four years. It'd feel weird if you weren't wearing something of mine."
Seamus chuckled and felt he had to agree. "Well, much as this shirt looks good on you, I think it looks better on me."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Seamus." He leaned a bit closer. "Keep the shirt; I don't care. If Ginny asks, it's yours."
Seamus chuckled again and Dean walked off. He noticed that blush had moved back into his neck. He lifted the v-neck collar to his nose for a heartbeat, inhaling the familiar scent of Dean, and then exhaled slowly.
The realisation hit like walking into a brick wall.
Holy shit- he had a crush.
On his best mate.
-TTT-
"And she ACTUALLY thinks I shoved her! She's tough, but I'd never lay my hands on a girl like that! I could never shove Ginny! The breakup was inevitable, of course, but not for that reason! I'm not- I'm not abusive!"
"Of course you're not," Seamus sighed.
He'd been happy for the first hour, even, to sit and listen to Dean recount the details of his and Ginny's breakup. Seamus hadn't minded a bit, because some desperate part of him was happy at just the fact he'd no longer have to watch Dean snog someone. It was just easier when Dean wasn't showering someone with affection right in front of Seamus. But now it had been three hours of breakup ranting, and part of Seamus was just ready to get some rest.
"Sorry, am I boring you?" Dean snapped, his tone drenched in sarcasm. Seamus's eyes flashed to his best friend's.
"Well, it HAS been three hours," Seamus answered, and Dean glared.
"Great, first my girlfriend, now my best mate doesn't even care."
"Dean."
The other boy collapsed onto his bed, and then chuckled softly. "Sorry, mate. Just been a long night."
"You might want to watch who you take that out on," Seamus suggested, keeping his tone amiable.
"You're right, you're right." Dean sighed. "Hey, Seamus?"
"Yeah?"
"Think I'll ever find love?"
Seamus chuckled, ignoring his own flares of panic and hope. "Yeah, mate. You'll find love."
"But with who?"
Seamus held in his laugh and leaned over, patting Dean's knee. "You'll figure it out one day. There's someone out there perfect for you."
Dean groaned, and Seamus let it rest for the night.
-TTT-
The castle was in complete disarray, but the song of victory rang through it. Everywhere, couples reunited, friends hugged, families cried. Death existed alongside the triumph and it filled the air just as potently. Seamus searched the halls for one single face- one he had painfully lost sight of an hour before. They'd stuck together all through their horrid last year of Hogwarts, enacting the old Dumbledore's Army operations in the Room of Requirement; Ginny Weasley was not only tolerable- she was basically their leader.
Then, in the midst of all the fighting, Seamus has spotted one of the second-years nearly get stunned by a Death Eater. He'd had to leave Dean and now part of him regretted ever losing sight of his best friend. He'd managed to get the second-year back to the Dungeons, where the Slytherins watched the kid, and when he came back he'd been so caught up trying to stay alive he hadn't had time to find Dean through the chaos. Now the battle was over, Voldemort defeated and the Death Eaters powerless and being captured, but Seamus had yet to find Dean.
He refused to search in the Great Hall among the corpses. His friend wouldn't be there. He was determined of it.
There- someone. He grabbed on to the sleeve. "Neville! Have you seen Dean!?"
Neville turned in surprise, looking like the bedraggled hero he'd become. "Real quick, before I answer that, have you seen Luna?"
"Just passed her at the edge of the Clocktower Courtyard," Seamus answered, panting. "Where's Dean?"
"Headed back to the Common Room, last I saw."
"Thanks, Neville!"
Seamus was already turned back and making quick strides away. He reached the Common Room in what felt like heartbeats, aching to do what he should've done before the Battle. He NEEDED Dean to know how he felt- but right now, all he cared about was that Dean was alive.
He burst into the Common Room and found Dean standing in the middle of it looking hopelessly distraught. Seamus strode quickly forward and Dean turned around just before Seamus reached him. All the hopelessness vanished from Dean's posture as the two embraced in a hug that held all the grief and all the triumph and all the fear and all the love that the last night had heralded. Seamus gripped Dean to him, inhaling his best friend's scent and letting it surround him and comfort him the way nothing else could.
Dean withdrew from the hug and placed his hands on Seamus's cheeks in a gesture far too amorous. "I was so damn worried, Seamus. Where'd you disappear to?"
Seamus's heart was pounding in his chest. He'd witnessed a lot of love confessions in the last night, a lot of desperate couples finally uniting, and the shape of Dean's lips nearly had him convinced to join those confessing groups.
"One of the second-years got out and nearly got stunned," Seamus answered. "Had to save him."
"I turned and you were gone," Dean breathed, and they were still standing too close, and Dean's hands were still on Seamus's cheeks, and it was all Seamus could think of. "God, I was so scared."
"I've been looking for you everywhere," Seamus said, because it was the only words he could find. "I'm so- so-"
But "relieved" didn't cover it, and he was far more focused on the proximity of him and Dean, and- and now Dean was leaning down and the silence was full of sparks and-
Then Dean was kissing him.
For a moment, Seamus couldn't believe it was happening. He was convinced he had actually died in the battle and now had ascended to heaven. Then he woke from that thought and was shocked to find this was reality, this was Dean, this was kissing Dean.
Dean moved to pull back and Seamus grabbed him with desperate fingers and searching lips and kissed Dean with five years of need. Their bodies collided and Seamus felt the warmth and muscle of Dean's neck beneath his fingers. Thick, chapped lips were on Seamus's, and it was nothing like he'd ever imagined and it was infinitely better because it was REAL. It was finally real, and it was everything he'd hoped for and dear God he loved it.
When the kiss finally ended, Seamus looked at Dean, and Dean looked at Seamus, and there were no words to encompass the feelings that stretched between them.
Dean's dark eyes were all the grounding Seamus needed, and then Seamus needed just a little bit more. He hugged close to Dean, his head against the taller one's chest, and heard the heartbeat against his ear. For the first time since all this had started, he felt peace.
-TTT-
"So, how long?"
It was three months after the Battle of Hogwarts, just after midnight, and Seamus couldn't be happier. He lounged across Dean's lap on their couch in their flat, some film on the tele in the background, and the smell of freshly brewed tea filled the air.
Seamus looked up at Dean's question. "Hmm?"
"How long have you- you know? ...Me?"
Seamus grinned as his eyes spotted Dean's torso. "Sixth year. I dunno. Longer than that, probably."
Dean's eyebrows rose. "Really?"
Seamus laughed lightly. "I dunno if you realized it but I've been stealing your shirts for quite a long time. It was sixth year when I figured out why."
Dean's eyebrows creased and he glanced down at the v-neck he wore. "Wait- this-?"
"That's the very one, Deanie." Seamus laughed. "It was when Ginny Weasley seemed to want it back and you said I could keep it that I realized I was into you."
"Really? I thought it was longer."
Now Seamus's eyebrows creased. "Wait, why?"
"Just- looks you got. And you were always jealous when I had a girlfriend."
Dean's arm was laid across Seamus's chest and Seamus reached and took Dean's hand possessively. "Well- I tried not to be, at least. Just hard, ya know, when you've got a crush on your best mate and get to watch his every relationship."
"Why didn't you ever have a relationship, Seamus? You just always seemed content so I didn't question it, but I can't remember you ever fancying anyone."
"Just you, mate. For five long years. Just- didn't really feel that way about anyone else."
"If it helps you any, I think I had those feelings for you, too. Used to write to my mum about you all the time. She sat me down after third year to tell me if I were, ya know, gay, she didn't mind."
Seamus frowned. "Wish my mum had been so accepting."
They'd finally told her a month ago, by which point they already lived together, and Mrs. Finnegan had been thoroughly repulsed. Seamus didn't care that much, because he had Dean, and he'd lost so much in the Battle of Hogwarts that it just felt like another casualty.
Dean's hand swept comforting over Seamus's forehead and nestled in his hair. "Hey, love, it's gonna be alright. She'll come around."
"Hopefully," Seamus sighed. "I like to think she will."
"She will."
-TTT-
"So how will we tell him?"
"He won't care, mate; he had the biggest crush on Cedric Diggory. I wasn't the only bi kid at Hogwarts."
"What? He didn't have a crush on-"
"He was so gay for him. It was the weirdest love triangle. Now shut it, he's coming in."
The door swept open and through it came Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley. Seamus took a quick breath through his nose, attempting to stay calm. He won't care, he won't care, he won't care, he repeated to himself. Dean and Seamus had gotten the letter a week ago asking if they'd like to catch up sometime; it seemed Harry and Ginny had news to share as well. Dean and Ginny had made up beyond their past fights in seventh year, and Seamus didn't mind seeing her again, but it was bound to be weird for a moment, since none of them had seen each other in six months.
"Dean! Seamus!" Harry greeted them, and hugs were quickly exchanged, and then the four sat down. A waiter came by in the muggle diner Harry had chosen, and they each ordered their drinks, and then Harry glanced at Ginny. "Shall we go ahead and tell them, then..?"
"I think you should," Ginny replied, and Dean's eyebrows rose while Seamus smiled nervously.
"Okay," Harry said, and turned to the other two. "Ginny and I would like to invite you to our wedding. Both of you."
Seamus chuckled, and Dean congratulated them, "That's fantastic! We'll definitely be there." Dean glanced at Seamus. "I think we have some news as well."
Ginny looked a little over-eager, and Harry had his usual obliviousness. "Oh? What's that?"
Seamus smiled and Dean held his hand under the table.
"Well," Seamus said, "Dean and I are together."
Ginny and Harry glanced at each other, and Harry asked, "In what way?"
"In the same way you and Ginny are together," Dean replied, and Ginny's jaw dropped.
"You're-?"
Dean nodded once, and then Ginny glanced at Seamus, who, conveniently, was wearing that same v-neck.
"And that's why- oh, you two! This is marvelous!"
Dean laughed lightly, and a grin broke out on Harry's face as he asked, "How did I miss this?"
"We were kind of in denial about it ourselves," Seamus answered. "A rather recent development."
"Oh, that's so cute, though!" Ginny exclaimed, clasping her hands together. "When's the wedding? Can I help plan this?"
"Gin," Dean said, "You're not weirded out by this at all?"
"I had my thoughts," she said. "And possibly a bet going with Luna on how long it would take you two to figure it out."
"Ginny!"
"I was right, wasn't I?" She chuckled, and then pursed her lips. "Actually- Luna was. I bet you'd figure it out before you left Hogwarts. She thought it would be after. Damn. Well, I've never minded giving anything to Luna. Oh well."
"Ginny," Dean spoke up, "Have you ever..? I mean, are you also bi?"
"Oh, yes," Ginny answered. "Harry is too, though he doesn't think so. We all saw how he crushed on Cedric in fourth year."
"That's what I said!" Dean exclaimed, and Harry groaned.
"I did not have a crush on Cedric!"
"No, not at all," Seamus said. "You just pined over him a little. Nothing gay about that, not a bit."
Harry sighed, and Ginny grinned at the three. "Oh, this is wonderful. I've met people of the mind we simply don't have 'gays' at Hogwarts. But really, can I plan your wedding?"
Dean laughed, and Seamus replied, "You can help, when we get to that point."
And that was when he realized the idea of his and Dean's wedding had gone from 'if' to 'when' and there in that diner Seamus was the happiest he had ever been.
And it felt, in the moment, all thanks to a certain striped t-shirt.
(and they all lived gaily ever after
that was a pun
i need to go to sleep)
