If Hogwart's noticed a shift in Neville and Seamus' relationship, everyone was smart enough to not mention it.
True, it was subtle.
Maybe they sat too close at meals. Keeping an eye on the door, looking for the other to show up. Smiling too much, especially when no one else was around. Walking from class to class, chatting about nothing while their classmates looked on. Laughing. Onlookers did notice that the duo laughed a lot. More than anyone else. On some days they provided the only laughter.
A bright light in the surroundings of the dour school.
Hogwart's was worse than ever. Snape passed more and more rules to keep the students separated, he knew only too well the danger in letting the teens time to plot. All clubs disbanded, no Quidditch, every moment crammed with homework and revision. That is, if you still cared. Most of the students did the bare minimum, just enough to keep the Carrows off their back. It was safer to not raise expectations.
But Neville still kept the resistance aloft. He, Seamus, and Ginny snuck around the halls late night; setting booby traps for Slytherins to trigger, stealing potion ingredients to brew remedies, releasing students from the punishments that Filch was doling out. There were close calls. Pansy Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle were also in the halls at night. Snape had given them the authority to stun anyone out of bed and they liked to excercise it often. They used more than just stunning spells in the wee hours of the day. Which is why if fell to Ginny and the guys to do most of the dirty work, they weren't willing to risk anyone else getting caught red-handed.
Neville and Seamus had most afternoons to spend together in their lonely dorm room, as everyone else had since the new curfews. Small wonder they were so happy during the day.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Professor Sprout really needs to stop using me as her professional slave. I have to scrub extra hard to get this crud off today. Dragon dung and molasses, who thinks of this shit?
Four shrill notes whistled through the bathroom above the sound of my shower. Turning, I see Seamus watching me lather up, the soap stinging my eyes as I freeze. When the pain gets to be too much, I step back under the water spigot to clean off the lather. When my eyes clear, I see that Seamus is rocking new cuts and bruises on his face.
Ignoring my wet nakedness, I ask, "What the hell happened? Are you all right?"
"I'm okay." I give him a hard look, so he adds, "What do you want me to say, Nev? I'm still walking." To prove it, he steps into the shower area obviously checking my body out. I can tell he's just trying to get me off topic, avoid telling me what happened, but I blush under his roguish gaze.
The truth is there isn't much more to say, I'm just glad he seems alright, but I want the story anyway. I lean out of the shower spray to give him a kiss, successfully diverting soapy water back into my eyes.
"Nev, finish your damn shower." I can just see his smile as my eyes burn, I can't see that I had splashed his fresh cuts.
"I'll be done in a minute, I've got some healing potion around here, somewhere. And I still want to know what happened, Shay." He grunts in response but heads back to our room.
It takes some time but eventually I'm clean and headed out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my waist. Seamus has already changed out of his uniform, lounging on my bed in his pyjama bottoms. I can see his toes wiggling which is so fricking cute.
Tightening my towel, I have to fish my box of potions from under the bed, looking through the bottles for the one I want. I sit, surprised when Seamus positions himself to kneel in front of me, elbows on my knees. He gives me a small wave and a smile, "Hi!"
Closer now, I can see how deep the abrasions are, it is gross. "Hi." He doesn't flinch as I fumble against the cuts, his breath hitches a couple of times but he won't complain about the stinging. Irish machismo, I guess.
When I've attended the scrapes, he sighs deeply and lays his head on my legs, his hands moving up to rest above my towel, fingers caressing my moist skin. "Thanks for taking care of me."
His eyes close like he's going to take a nap.
I can see the muscles relaxing in his back and face. He means every word. It was way more familiar than I expect.
We've slept in the same bed, making out almost daily but this was new. The relationship had been fairly innocent given Seamus' experience level. I got nervous any time our hands drifted below the belt. Afraid. Afraid that I would like it. Afraid that I would like it and one day Seamus wouldn't make it back from class. We didn't talk about it, but I know he thinks about it too. For now I'm protected, being pure-blood makes Voldemort want to keep me around. But Seamus is halfie, he's not as rare. We both know he's the one they'll kill.
"Seamus, tell me what happened." I stroke his sandy-brown hair as he tells me the story. Bare facts, he keeps the worry and fear to himself. Doesn't want to scare me.
"I was walking by the Dark Arts class, Amycus was showing the third years the Cruciatus curse. One of the tots landed hard when his partner messed up the spell, accidentally levitating him instead. I heard his leg break from the door. When the partner refused to attack while the boy was down, Amycus turned on them both. I had to do something, so I burst into the room, yelling at Amycus for being a complete shit."
"It was enough to take his attention from the kids, I saw a couple of students get the boys out of the room before Amycus decided to use me as his lab rat. And that is how I got all these cuts." He sighs again, releasing the hard grip he has on my waist, the only sign of how bad the situation had gotten.
He plays his fingers up my side, tickling me.
"McGonagall showed up and ripped Amycus a new one. She's bought a lot of trouble for herself by stepping in, but I owe her. She's a tough old bird, I'll give her that. Probably saved my life. I didn't know she liked me that much." Seamus flipped his head, allowing me access to his other side.
"She likes you, if you weren't around she'd never have any fun. She probably just wishes you'd stop lighting stuff on fire."
"The owl wasn't my fault. You breathed on my neck. How was I supposed to concentrate?" In a smooth motion, he got up from the floor, straddling me, his steamy breath warming the skin on my neck. "How can anyone concentrate like this?"
And he's right. He starts nibbling my neck and running his finger around the edge of my ear. In retaliation, I zip my knuckle down his spine, causing him to rear back tingling in surprise. "Hey, don't play with my ears if you don't want me zinging your back." I laugh and kiss his collar bone.
His eyes light up at the ultimatum, "Sounds more like an invitation than a threat, Longbottom." His voice is dark and sexy as he traces both my ears at once. I try to hold on, biting my lower lip but the spasm of ecstasy arches my back. I do bite back the moan that wants to escape me, I know that's what he really wants but I'm not giving in that easy. He pouts at losing his prize, I smile and wink at him.
His impish laughter is cut short when I zing him again, replacing it is a carnal moan I've never heard before. His eyes dilated so much that his pupils crowd out the hazel, leaving dark pools for me to stare into as he hangs on the rush.
Seamus falls forward, nuzzling against my neck, "You are the only thing I like about my entire day, Nev."
And I know he means it.
Because that's the real thing that has been taken away from all of us. The certainty that you'll see the person you love again, that you'll see your friends again, that tomorrow will come if you're patient. None of that is guaranteed anymore. Not with Voldemort on the rise, not while living in fear.
Fear is stupid. Fuck fear.
I unknot the towel at my waist.