23. Zoo

Pairing: Deamus


The aftermath if the Battle of Hogwarts was nothing short of an absolute zoo.

Amid the chaos of the dead and the dying, An oddly apathetic Seamus was sitting completely still beside Dean on the grass outside. The ground was cold and hard beneath him as he kneeled, but he did not feel it. Absently, he carded his fingers through Dean's curly locks; his other hand was loosely twined with Dean's and resting on the ground beside where Dean's body was laying.

Dean's blood, splattered across Seamus's face, had long since dried and had begun to feel itchy. Seamus began to hum quietly to himself under his breath.

The air around him was filled with the screaming, sobbing, and whimpering particular to mourning. Rubble was being overturned and bodies were being uncovered at an otherwise alarming rate. Seamus twirled a single lock around his finger and watched without interest, stroking the back of Dean's hand with his thumb. Dean had always liked have his hands stroked. He said it calmed him. Seamus pressed down in tiny circles against his unresponsive knuckles.

Neville approached him some time later, looking worried. He sat down in front of Seamus and tried to talk to him. Seamus stared right past him, content to stroke and swirl in silence. Neville looked at him with such a heartbroken expression, but Seamus didn't care. His thumb on Dean's knuckles went round and round.

The sun began to set in the distance, and Seamus finally stopped staring into space to watch it descend. Dean always liked to paint the sunset. He would sit up in the astrology tower with his paints and work feverishly to capture it before it was completely gone from the sky. He would often finish with streaks of red and purple on his cheeks and a wild sparkle in his eyes; on more than one occasion, the two of them would then sit and dangle their feet over the edge and talk.

Or not talk. They had been in the astronomy tower, after all. His thumb on Dean's knuckles went round and round.

Night eventually fell and the air began to grow cold around him. His body shivered, but he barely registered the sensation. He watched with cool detachment as George Weasely wandered by looking lost and listless. Their eyes met, but neither seemed to register the other's presence. Both boys were off in their own little worlds. Seamus's thumb went round and round.

The workers began to rotate shifts, those who had cleared wreckage and moved bodies all day apparated elsewhere to eat and rest up. Harry came, looking haggard and exhausted. He sat next to Seamus and Seamus didn't acknowledge his presence. He stared straight ahead in complete silence. The thumb went round and round.

Harry tried to speak to him, but Seamus didn't register any of his words. Harry touched his shoulder and Seamus never felt a thing.

When Harry eventually shifted and nudged Dean's body, though, Seamus's vocal cords finally made their first noise in several hours.

As soon as Harry's hand made contact, Seamus Finnegan began to scream.


A/N: I am of the opinion that if either Seamus or Dean had not survived the Battle of Hogwarts the other would have most likely become catatonic for a good time. Whether you ship them as a romance or just as a bromance, you know this to be true. My Seamus here is especially traumatized because Dean was killed while he was standing close enough to be splattered with blood.