Here is the rewritten chapter 2!
Seamus woke up annoyingly early the next morning by Teddy jumping on his bed. He gave the child his best death glare and told him to go back to bed but the ten year old was unfazed. He shook his uncle roughly, kindly demanding pancakes for breakfast. Seeing that he wouldn't be getting any sleep, Seamus got up while muttering about evil nephews. Teddy giggled and joined him in the kitchen, sitting on the countertop as he watched.
As Seamus poured the ingredients in a bowl, his thoughts wandered back to yesterday. He'd been shocked that Dennis actually came to see him and even more shocked when he accepted his offer for dinner, course that was for another night but still. The fact that he didn't immediately deny it but amazing.
He felt bad for Dennis. He'd lost his best friend and hadn't been the same ever since. He wished he could do something. Dennis didn't deserve this. He'd been a bright, extremely happy kid when he came to Hogwarts. But everything changed his fourth year. He changed. Heck, everyone changed.
He flipped the pancakes in a daze. He needed to do something for Dennis but what? His face scrunched up with concentration. Hmm. It had to be something elaborate and big, too. Something that would finally make him happy, at least for a little bit. Seamus was jarred from his thoughts by smoke reaching his nostrils.
"Oh, Merlin!" he quickly turned the stove off, staring at the burnt pancakes when suddenly, he had an epiphany.
"That's it!" he cried, startling Teddy. He hurriedly put the food on a plate and practically shoved them on the table. "Here eat these."
"They're burnt, Uncle Seamus," the ten year old whined.
"Eat them anyway," Seamus said distractedly. "Hurry up."
"Why?' Teddy demanded. "What are we doing?"
"You are going to see Dennis."
"Really?" he said happily.
"I've got errands to run so he can watch you for a bit," Seamus gulped down a cup of pumpkin juice in two swift chugs. Teddy watched him, unimpressed.
"You did your errands the other day, remember? We went to the park afterwards."
Merlin the kid had a good memory. "Yeah well I need to run some more."
"What's really going on Uncle Seamus?" Teddy crossed his arms.
Seamus sighed. "I really don't know yet, kid. I want to do something for Dennis and I'm going to Harry for help. I'll tell you when I know, okay?"
"Okay," Teddy grinned boyishly.
Seamus chuckled. "Now eat up. And maybe I'll get us ice cream when I come back for ya." Teddy perked up at hearing his favorite treat. He dug into the pancakes with full force.
Dennis woke up with a pounding migraine. His head felt like it was splitting open as soon as the light reached his face. He gingerly got out of bed, heading for the kitchen with his eyelids half open half closed. Pouring himself a cup of pumpkin juice, he sat down at the table while thinking the previous day over. Even if his reason for visiting Seamus hadn't a happy one, Teddy had managed to brighten his day up just a smidge. The kid reminded him of Colin when he was young. He was cute, too, like all kids were at that age. At one point in his life, he hoped to have a family of his own. But that idea was shot out the door after Colin died. He was too depressed to commit to a relationship. Seamus insisted having a girlfriend would do him some good. He snorted. He'd only neglect her and it would lead to problems for the both of them. It was better he stayed single.
Dennis didn't bother eating, just drank his juice and preceded to get dressed. He pulled a short sleeved blue tee-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts on. When he returned to the kitchen, he found an owl impatiently waiting for him. "Hey, girl," he petted her feathers. She cooed at him as he untied the letter attached to her leg.
Dennis,
I hate to ask this of you but you seemed to have forgotten to grade some papers. Argus came across them when he attended to your classroom. Would you mind coming back and grading them? If you cannot, I would be more than happy to do it for you.
Minerva
Dennis slapped his forehead. He'd been so distracted he hadn't even thought about grading. He hastily wrote her back saying he'd be right in. He brushed his teeth and was about to leave when he heard a voice calling his name from the living room.
"Dennis!" Seamus sounded out of breath. "Could you watch Teddy for a couple hours? I've got errands to run and I don't want to drag him through all of it."
Dennis hesitated for a moment. "Well, I suppose. I've got to go back to Hogwarts and grade some papers I'd forgotten but I'd love to take the little guy." Seamus sighed in relief,
"Thanks mate. I owe you one."
"Nah," Dennis waved it off. "You're my friend. It's part of the contract."
Seamus pulled the shorter man in for a hug. "You're the best. I'll be back around lunch time. Bye Den. Bye Teddy," he ruffled the child's hair and disapparated away in a flash.
Teddy twiddled his thumbs, smiling shyly. It was one thing to be with Seamus and Dennis but to just be with Dennis was an entirely new situation.
"So," Dennis didn't have much experience with children, so he'd have to try his best. "You've apparated before, right?"
The child stared at him with a 'duh' expression. "Oh," Dennis said, realizing his mistake. "Right." His cheeks went a light pink. "Well, we can apparate and I'll find you something to do while I grade. How's that sound?"
Teddy didn't respond but he didn't contradict him so Dennis assumed he was okay with the agenda. He held out his hand to which Teddy held onto tightly and with a flick of his wrist they apparated away.
Teddy had never been to Hogwarts before, not even when he was in the care of Harry. His eyes were wide as saucers as he observed his new surroundings. Dennis was dusting himself off when Teddy gasped in delight. "What?" Dennis turned around.
"It's the giant squid!" Teddy crowed in happiness. "Harry told me one boy fell in when he and the other first years were coming across the lake! And the squid rescued him!"
Dennis felt a simmer of warmth knowing that Harry had talked about him, even if it wasn't his finest moment. "Well that boy was me," he told an amazed Teddy. "It's all true. I leaned over the boat too much and fell in face first."
Teddy stared at him as though he were a legend. "Wow."
Dennis chuckled. "C'mon, let's go inside." They roamed the empty halls, Teddy had a firm grasp on his hand. He ooed and awed at the moving portraits, the long staircases, everything.
"Hello Dennis!" Nearly Headless Nick greeted him by McGonagall's office. "Quite a treat to see you here, eh! And who's this charming lad?" He motioned to Teddy, who'd squeaked and hid behind Dennis' leg.
"Hey Nick. This is Teddy's, he's Harry's godson. Seamus usually watches him in the summer, but he had errands to run so he asked me to. It's okay, bud. Nick won't hurt you," Dennis gently pried the young boy from his leg. "That's Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost."
"Actually, I prefer Sir Nicholas De Mimsy-"
"Oh, can it," Dennis snorted.
Teddy stepped forward a bit. "H-hi I'm Teddy. Why are you called Nearly Headless Nick?" The ghost looked miffed at the question and Dennis had to stifle back a laugh.
"Because of this," Nick said dully. He pulled at his ear and almost his entire head came off, it landed on his shoulder which Nick held as if it were a platter of appetizers.
Teddy gasped. Dennis expected him to turn green or puke, but he didn't; he looked as every bit of excited when he'd told him Harry's stories of the boy had been him. "That's so
cool!" he cried, startling Nick. "Can you do it again?" he asked excitedly. Dennis heard Nick's scoff and took the opportunity to usher Teddy to his classroom.
"Sorry, Nick. Gotta go, lots to do."
Now Nick looked positively peeved. With his hands on his transparent hips, he said, "Don't you want to hear my plans for Halloween? I have a treat that absolutely scare the first years' pants off."
Dennis shook his head. "Sorry. You can tell me at the welcoming feast-bye!" He closed the door to the classroom, sighing with a fond smile. Nick became a great companion since Colin died. He'd first sought him out to find out if ghosts could find and talk to another fellow ghost. Unfortunately, seeing that Colin hadn't been afraid of dying, his spirit simply crossed over; leaving Nick without a way to communicate to him. It had been disappointing, but now he and Nick chatted about almost anything. It was a great friendship, er, ghostship.
"What do you want me to do, Dennis?" Teddy was sitting in a chair in the front row, swinging his legs absentmindedly.
Dennis sat in his big chair which overlooked the entire classroom. He was quite proud of 'his' room. It was medium size, with multiple large windows. The walls were painted in a maurel style courtesy of the volunteers who helped rebuild and repaint Hogwarts after the war. His room had several random objects, all muggle, of course. Posters of musicians like Paul McCartney, a beaker and test tube, a map of the world (Dennis was astounded to know that half of his students weren't even aware there was much life outside of England and Ireland); small toys such as a jump rope and chalk and other similar things. Once a month, depending on the chapter, Dennis took a day where the students got to play and explore different muggle contraptions. He'd completely revised the curriculum for Muggle Studies, something he was proud of.
"I dunno, kid. What do you want to do?"
Teddy frowned and shrugged. Dennis didn't want to leave him bored while he graded, who knows how long that would take, so he opened one of the drawers in his desk, pulling out two coloring books and a package of colored pencils. "Here you go."
The ten year old's eyebrows furrowed. "What do I do?"
Dennis demonstrated for him. "You just color in whatever colors you want."
"So, I can make my tree pink and blue and green and yellow and brown with polka dots?" Teddy's eyes gleamed.
Dennis laughed. "Of course. If you need anything just tell me." But Teddy had already started coloring, Dennis' words just went in one ear and out the other. The older man got to work immediately. He frowned, rolled his eyes or occasionally smiled at what he read from his first years. Some made an effort, some didn't; and it was clear which path they took when they wrote. Dennis hoped the new batch of first years coming in the fall would prove to be better listeners than his previous ones.
It was a warm, sunny day when Seamus strolled into the Auror Department with a bright and cheery smile. Most of the females disliked him, Harry said it was because he's a flirt, but Seamus said it was because they were jealous.
"Hello Serena!" he greeted the secretary who looked far from pleased to see him.
"Finnigan," she drawled.
"Oh, don't be like that, Ser," he winked. "We both know you've been dying to see me."
She scoffed, mumbling something unintelligible. "Why are you here anyway?"
"Oh, just making the rounds. Say, where are Harry and Malfoy?"
"Auror Potter and Auror Malfoy are busy," she said icily.
"I'm sure they won't mind," he attempted to get around the counter when he felt something hot on his arm. He yelped, covering the spot protectively with his hand.
"I said they're busy!" she hissed, lowering her wand. "What part of that did you not understand?"
"All of it," Seamus grinned cheekily. He dodged another shot by Serena's wand and heaved his legs down the hall until he saw an office door with the name Potter carved on the sign.
"Hiya Harry!" he said cheerfully. As if he owned the place, he plopped down in a chair, stretching his legs out. "I think your secretary is on her womanly thing or something. She's a bit angry, you know."
Harry Potter glanced up from his mound of paperwork, glasses askew on his face and heaved a sigh. "Hello Seamus. Teddy's not giving you a hard time, is he? Speaking of which," he blinked to properly look at his Irish friend. "Where is he? Oh, Merlin, Shay! You didn't lose him, again did you?"
Seamus scoffed. "As if. Dennis Creevey is watching him for me."
Harry looked surprised. "Dennis Creevey? Merlin, I haven't seen him in years. How is he?"
Seamus' grin turned grim. "He has his good and bad days."
"I see. He's what, twenty now?"
"Yeah," Seamus leaned over to snag a pastry from Harry's desk. He munched on it happily as his raven-haired friend pursed his lips. "You have good taste in pastries, Harry." He licked the chocolate from his fingers.
"Is there a reason you came here? Besides taking my food?" Harry realized he wouldn't get any work done with Seamus being there, so he sat his pen down.
This snapped Seamus back to his original intent. "Oh, yeah! So, I was thinking we should do something for Dennis."
Harry's eyebrows flew up to his hairline. "What kind of something?"
"I dunno. Like a memorial for Colin maybe," Seamus suggested. "It 'll cheer him up!"
"Because reminding him about his dead brother would definitely cheer him up," Harry said dryly. "Shay, what brought this on?"
"He came over yesterday wanting to talk so I let him, and he started crying because Colin's death anniversary wasn't that long ago. He cried, and I held him and I dunno. I just want to cheer him up. He doesn't deserve this, Harry!" By now, Seamus's voice rose to a higher volume.
"I know, Shay," Harry tried to placate him.
"Harry, is everything alright?" Draco Malfoy stuck his head in, concerned.
"Yes," Harry assured him. "Shay was just getting a little loud." Seamus grinned in embarrassment.
"Oh, I see. Hello Seamus! How are you? How's Teddy?" After the war, Draco redeemed himself and became friends with most of whom were in the DA. Some, like Ernie MacMillan, were hesitant and suspicious of him but they soon came around.
"Oh, I'm fine. And he's good, rotten as ever," Seamus said fondly.
"That's great to hear," Draco said. "So why are you here for? And why were yelling?"
"You remember Dennis Creevey, don't you?" Draco thought for a moment before answering.
"He was related to, what's his name? Colin? The kid with the camera?"
"Yes," Seamus nodded. "So, he came by yesterday and was understandably upset because it was the sixth anniversary of Colin's death. I think we should do something for him. Like a memorial or something."
"But won't that upset him more? Reminding him that his brother is dead?" Draco furrowed his eyebrows. Harry gestured wildly in his direction.
"Thank you! That's exactly what I was trying to tell him."
Seamus scowled. "Well what do you suggest then?"
"We leave it alone," Harry said firmly. "That's what we do." His friend's jaw dropped.
"Harry! We have to do something!"
"Shay.."
"Please!"
Draco watched them bicker with interest. Even though he didn't know Cree-Dennis, well, he still was interested in helping. He couldn't imagine losing so close like that. What if we could do something? He thought. Something better?
He rushed out of the office and to his own without them noticing. He rummaged through his desk drawers, the filing cabinet and his bookcase before he found anything. Aha! He grinned.
He arrived back to find Harry was standing with Seamus holding onto his leg like a child would his father. "Please," Seamus begged. "C'mon Harry!"
"No! Now get off my leg!" Harry exclaimed, trying to jerk him off. But their Irish friend was stubborn; he held tighter.
"If you girls are ready," Draco began dryly, effectively grabbing their attention, "I have something that just might fix our problem." He laid a think book on Harry's desk, wiping the dust off it.
"What is that?" Seamus glanced apprehensively at the book.
"It looks like something Hermione would read," Harry muttered.
"The Timeline of Every Spell Ever Made," Draco read the cover.
"Definitely something Hermione would read," Seamus rolled his eyes. "But how does this help us? I'm not reading that."
Draco ignored him. He flipped through the book until he found his desired page. "There," he pointed. "That's what will help us." Harry and Seamus were dumbfounded.
"Draco, you can't be serious..."
"This is perfect!"
Seamus, in his glee, let go of Harry's leg, jumping around. Harry, on the other hand, stood rooted on the spot, rubbing his face tiredly.
"We can't use this." Draco and Seamus stared at him.
"Why not?" their Irish friend cried. "It's perfect! We'll bring him back and Dennis will be happy again!"
"Do you know how much trouble we could get into for this?" Harry hissed, his voice lowering when a passing co-worker raised his eyebrows at the trio. "This would get Kingsley involved and possibly even Azkaban. Do you want that, Shay?"
"Well, no," Seamus faltered. He turned to their blonde friend for help. "It'd work, right?"
"Errr," Draco wanted nothing more than to stay out of their disagreement. "I suppose so. Yo see there's-"
"See Harry!" Seamus interrupted. "It would work! Can we please do it?"
Harry sighed in defeat. 'We won't get permission for this," he pointed out lamely.
Seamus grinned, throwing his arm around the other man's neck. "That's why we have you, Mr. Boy-Who-Lived."
Harry tore away from him, shaking his head vigorously. "I'm not using my fame to get permission."
"But Harry," Seamus whined, stomping his foot.
"No," Harry all but growled.
"Putting that aside," Draco cut in. "I think the spell might work. We just need four other people to make it work."
"Why four?" Harry said.
"Someone needs to hold the book." Seamus muttered about slave work. "Someone needs to cast the resurrection spell and two other people are needed for the two other spells we need."
"Hold up," Harry read a section. "It says we need the Elder Wand for it to work completely."
"So?" Seamus shrugged. "It's in Dumbledore's tomb, we can just get it."
"You think Minerva will allow us to do that?" Harry said skeptically.
"If not then we break in, no biggie," Seamus plopped down on the chair again.
"Please tell me you have better ideas?" Harry pleaded to Draco.
"Sorry, but if we want a shot at this we have to use it," Draco sighed.
"I still don't like it," Harry adjusted his glasses. "Why was it outlawed anyway?"
"Someone used it to bring back an evil sorcerer who tried to wipe out the earth," Draco explained. "That was in the fourteen hundred's. The Ministry put a stop to it so we wouldn't be found out by the muggles."
"Fantastic," Harry said sarcastically. "Bloody fantastic. You want to use an outlawed spell."
"It's only outlawed if you think of it that way," Seamus said, hitting his noggin, winking.
"So, are we doing this?" Draco wanted to know.
"I-Seamus, let go of my leg! I suppose," Harry relented. "But we'll have to be secretive about it."
"Of course," Draco nodded seriously. 'Are we involving anyone else?"
Harry thought about it. "Hermione, Neville, Luna and Ron.'
"Gotcha. Speaking of which, where is Ron?" Draco hadn't had as much luck with him as everyone else. The redhead was still in belief that the blonde was a death eater in disguise.
"Helping George at the store. He's having a rough time too," Harry frowned.
"Maybe if it works we could bring Fred back too!" Seamus bounced off the floor and onto his feet.
"Keep your voice down," Harry instructed. "If anyone hears we could be in huge trouble."
"Shutting up," Seamus clamped his mouth down.
"So, operation bring Colin back is a go?" Draco grinned.
"You've been watching too many muggle movies," Harry rolled his eyes.
A groan escaped Dennis' lips. His 'few' papers he had to grade turned into a never-ending pile. Teddy, thankfully, never complained. He was engrossed in his coloring, never even looking up once. He was certainly calmer than his students, although that might change by the time he arrived for his first year.
"Half an hour and I'll ask the house elves to make us something to eat, alright?" Dennis spoke up. Teddy jerked his hand in a way that Dennis assumed meant he heard. It was amusing to watch him. He'd never seen somebody so interested in coloring before. He made a mental note to get him some more for his birthday.
Dennis crossed his arms, glancing around his classroom again. His eyes caught a particular picture on his desk. It was one of the last pictures of him and Colin during Colin's fifth year. They were outside, standing under a tree. It was a moving picture, so Colin's arm would loop around his neck and he would ruffle his hair, laughing. Picture Dennis grimaced jokingly.
The real Dennis gently caressed Colin's face with his thumb. Oh, how he wished he could return to that moment and relish in it. He'd always taken for granted the time they shared. Despite what everyone assumed, he did get annoyed with his brother sometimes. Colin didn't have really any friends of his own, except for Luna occasionally, but that flickered away because Colin could never get the courage to face his shyness he had when it came to girls. So, he typically tagged along with Dennis and his friends. At first, they didn't mind; his friends had thought it was somewhat cool to have an older guy hang out with them. But soon, Colin overstayed his welcome. He chattered too much and his picture taking tendencies bothered Dennis' friends. They gave Dennis a choice-get Colin to leave them alone or get new friends. Not willing to abandon his brother, Dennis chose the latter.
A single tear fell down his cheek. He hadn't had the heart to tell Colin that 'their' friends abandoned them because of him. He lied and said he had a fight with them over blood status. Colin had that skeptical look to him but seemed to believe his story. Dennis hated lying to his brother, but he knew he'd be crushed if he knew the real reason.
"Dennis?"
Teddy had awakened from his coloring coma and was glancing at him with childish innocence.
"Yeah?" Dennis hurriedly wiped his tear away, sitting up straighter in his chair.
"Are you okay?" The question was simple, but for Dennis, it opened a huge can that he would rather stay shut.
"N-No," he choked out. "Not really." Teddy did something unexpected: he slid out of his seat, coming over to envelop him in a hug. He stood on his tiptoes so he could reach Dennis' hair, to which he gently ran his fingers through.
"Harry does this when I have a nightmare," was his way of explanation.
Dennis' instincts told him to push the child away. He didn' let anyone but Seamus touch him; yet, the more he felt it, the more he didn't mind.
It felt good to have someone else care.
