"Why don't you believe Harry?" Seamus looked up from The Daily Prophet and studied his best friend closely. Dean was sitting up in his bed, with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders in an attempt to fight the cold. The other boys in the dorm were fast asleep but Dean still whispered the question.
"Why do you believe him?" Seamus watched as Dean frowned slightly and looked over at Harry's bed.
"Simple. Why would he lie about that?" Dean shrugged. Seamus honestly didn't know, but then again The Prophet wouldn't lie.
"Attention." Dean snorted.
"Yeah, right. As if the great Harry Potter needs more attention. Seamus mate, that's probably the last thing Harry wants, right behind being a giant hairy spider with one leg." Seamus sighed. Deep down Seamus knew that Dean was telling the truth. So why didn't he believe someone he'd known since they were eleven? Because The Daily Prophet said he was liar. Because his Mam said Harry was an attention-seeking liar. Because everyone said so. Except the teachers (who actually didn't comment), Granger, the Weasley clan, and his best mate who may as well be his brother.
"Well, night." Seamus merely grunted in reply. Once Dean's light snoring had filled the room, Seamus got up and sat down on the window seat overlooking the grounds. A bright full moon hung in the sky, in the distance Seamus could see dark shapes flying through the sky just past the Hogwarts gates. Assuming that the shapes were animals from the Forbidden Forest, Seamus cast them out of his mind and stared at the moon. He had always loved watching the moon as a child, but he hadn't done since coming to Hogwarts thinking that it was too childish. The Man in the Moon appeared to be sadder than he had used to. Seamus figured that it was simply because he wasn't in Ireland anymore. Seamus sighed and looked around at Harry's bed.
There was a reason that he didn't believe Harry. It was too painful for him or his mother to think that Voldemort could be back. In the last war, Death Eaters had attacked Seamus' mother's family. Ten people had been killed and those left behind had never recovered from the horror of the loss. And chances were they never would. Seamus had known the story his entire life and had been delighted to meet Harry Potter in his first year. He had never said anything to Harry because he didn't want anyone to know about his family's loss, but he had been so happy to be friends with the boy who had destroyed the man (Or thing) that was responsible for the deaths of his own family members. For that man to now be back was too much for the Finnegan family. Too painful.
The moon hung in the sky, moving very slowly across the dark sky, and Seamus continued to watch the shapes flying around near the school…
Seamus understood why his mother hadn't wanted him to return to Hogwarts. She was scared of the possible implications of Harry's story if he were right. Everyone was deep down. But their were those who were doing something about that fear. Dean joining the "D.A", for example. Seamus was proud of his essentially Muggle-born friend doing something like that, but truth was, Seamus himself was too scared too join. What would happen if people found out? What would happen to him? What would happen to his Mam?
The bright moon had moved all but a few centimeters and the shapes outside the school began attempting to get inside the barrier protecting the school and it's students…
Seamus was a smart lad and he knew that there were consequences for everything. He had learnt very early on in his life that he should think before acting and speaking. And he did. There was nothing he didn't do without thinking it through thoroughly first. It was a much better way of doing things, even if other teenage boys didn't do the same thing. It didn't matter. His Mam had taught him to think and he'd be damned if he didn't.
Seamus buried his face in his hands when his eyes began to sting from un-shed moisture. He was bloody Irish! They didn't cry! He breathed deeply and slowly, calming himself down. There was no point in getting worked up over everything. That would only make him act irrationally. He had to stay strong for Mam… who wasn't there to see him… Seamus' head sprang up and he stared out the window as the realisation finally hit him. If he were to stay strong for Mam then the best thing he could do was to join the D.A and learn how to fight, to protect himself, to protect those he cared about. It was simple and his Mam didn't have to know. It wasn't irrational, it was the right thing to do. Seamus knew it.
The moon hung brightly and one of the shapes ran into the barrier that protected Hogwarts. With the impact came a shock through the barrier and a flash of light…
Seamus started back and saw the shape turn into a man momentarily before becoming a blob of smoke again. In that moment Seamus had seen that the man was dressed as a Death Eater. Seamus watched as the shapes, men, Death Eaters, flew away from the castle and Hogsmeade.
-_-_-_-_-
Seamus joined Dumbledore's Army after Christmas, and told his Mam that he was going to. The D.A was found that same night, but Seamus loved it. And he never looked back.
