Chapter 1 Secrets
Seamus strode into the Gryffindor common room with a maniacal grin spread across his face. He was in a very good mood.
"You've been snogging again haven't you?" Harry demanded. He knew Seamus was seeing someone, but he had no idea whom it was. It didn't bother Harry that Seamus hadn't told him who it was. If Seamus wanted some privacy that was his choice. Merlin knew privacy was a rare thing at Hogwarts.
Seamus grinned. "What gave it away?" he asked. He was always really happy and relaxed when he returned from these rendezvous. It was as if this time drained all the stress out of him.
"Oh I don't know." Harry replied to the question as to the blonde's give away. "Maybe it's my unrivalled powers of deduction. Or maybe it's because there is this 'just been snogged' glow which radiates from you. Or it could just be that hickey growing on the side of your neck." Harry ended anticlimactically. Seamus was deluding himself if he thought he could hide a hickey of that monstrous size. Hearing Harry's last statement and noticing said hickey; Fred and George walked over to the two boys, being careful to draw as much attention as possible.
"George, did you know Seamus has a GIRLFRIEND?" Fred asked as loudly as he could, looking around to see who had noticed.
"No Fred," George replied "I did not know that Seamus has a girlfriend." George's answer was louder than his twin's question, to ensure every person in the room had heard. A few people were looking over in their direction, curiosity clearly written on their faces.
"I do not have a girlfriend!" Seamus denied loudly. Seamus cursed. If Fred and George had noticed, then they would soon ensure that everyone else did as well. All the people in the room who had noticed Seamus hickey stared at him in total disbelief. Not a single one of them believed him.
"OH, well George, he says he does not have a GIRLFRIEND." Fred emphasised the last word "He's our friend he wouldn't lie to us. But where did he get this hickey? These things don't come out of thin air you know."
"If Seamus does not have a girlfriend then there is only one explanation I can think of Fred," replied George "And that is that Seamus must have a boyfriend. I mean after all, someone had to give him that mother of a hickey." At this every person who wasn't already watching the exchange look up at the four boys. Seamus began to turn a brilliant shade of fuchsia. He knew his secret was about to be revealed.
"I do not have a boyfriend." He denied weakly in a lame attempt to keep his secret. Fred, George, Harry and every other person in the room gave Seamus a look that said they did not believe a word of it. Seamus always had been a terrible liar.
"Are you sure about that?" the twins asked, already know the truth of the situation.
"Yes?" the questioning tone in his answer was that was needed for Fred, George, Harry and everyone else to be convinced. "Who is it? Who is your boyfriend?" the twins demanded loudly.
"Has anyone ever told you two that you can be quite scary when you get like this?" Seamus tried lamely to change the subject.
"Yes they have, and you're changing the subject. Who is he?" Fred demanded.
I'm not changing the subject because I'm not going to tell you!" Seamus replied defensively. Silently he was cursing his boyfriend's carelessness, which had landed him in this situation. If he'd just been a little more careful not to leave a mark like Seamus had asked… Seamus sighed, resigned to his fate as the towers latest item of gossip.
"Why won't you tell us who your boyfriend is?" George whined loudly, confident in the knowledge that eventually he would find out who this boy was.
"I'm not going to tell you, because if I tell you, you will tell the whole of Hogwarts." Seamus replied. "He has a point there." Fred conceded. "If he doesn't want the whole of Hogwarts to know who his boyfriend is, then he probably shouldn't tell us."
"Yes, but that's still no reason to keep secrets from us. Where supposed to be his friends! He's supposed to what to tell us who his boyfriend is." George argued, emphasising the last statement to make sure everyone heard
"He's trying to keep the identity of his new boyfriend a secret." Fred argued back loudly "That's a perfectly good reason to keep secrets from us. If he wanted to spread a rumour, then he would tell us. Merlin knows we're good at that." The twin's argument had attracted quite a curious crowd whom were all demanding to know who Seamus' new boyfriend was. Fred and George quietly congratulated themselves.
"I'm not telling you, so you may as well stop asking." Seamus replied to the bombardment of questions that were being thrown at him. "Is it Harry?" a voice called from amidst the crowd.
"I already said that I am not telling." Seamus re-established. "Is it Ron? I bet it's Ron." When Seamus did not respond to this the questions began to be directed not so much to him, but to anyone who was willing to answer.
"Is it Dean?" "Which house is he in?" "Is he in your year?" As the stream of questions appeared not to be quelling, Seamus glared at the trouble-making twins. At the sight of his classmates' distress, it took all of Harry's limited self-control to keep from laughing. "Look everyone," Seamus called over all the other voices. There was a slight expectant hush. Enough of a lowering of volume so that everyone could hear. "I'm not going to tell you who it is, so you're just going to have to work it out for yourselves." Realising his mistake too late, Seamus groaned. Every last person in the room had heard what he had just said, and they were all willing to take up the challenge. They were never going to give up. Fred and George grinned. They couldn't have done it better themselves.
"Cheer up," Fred ordered "Its not all bad."
"No," George continued "At least you've given everyone something to do while the weather is too awful to go outside. It's a pity it means you and your boyfriend won't have a minute's privacy until everyone knows." Seamus looked over towards Harry for support. The dark-haired boy merely shrugged and laughed.
At the beginning of lunch the next day, only two students remained in the Potions classroom after the others had left. They made the most of the rare opportunity for privacy. "We'll do it a dinner in the Great Hall." One whispered to the other.
"I don't see why we have to do this at all." The other objected. He resented that he was being force to do something he wasn't altogether comfortable with.
"We need to do this because if we don't, we will not have a moment of privacy until everyone finds out." He tried to explain "At least this way we are in control and we can maintain some degree of dignity. If we tell them, then they just might leave us alone."
"And if we do this, it's more than likely I will be taken out of school." It was obvious he was afraid of this happening.
"It'll be all right." The other boy reassured him. He quickly squeezed the other boy's hand and they went their separate ways.
Seamus arrived in the Great Hall that evening after everyone else had arrived. As Seamus walked to the front of the hall a murmur began to spread through the room. There was something in the air. Everyone could feel that something was about to happen. At least he knew he had their attention. Seamus reached the front of the Hall and muttered "Here goes nothing." He stood in front of the teachers' table facing the students. He coughed to clear his throat.
"I know a lot of wild rumours have been flying around about any relationship I may be having." At his he stared directly at Fred and George, accusation written clearly across his face. They looked down guiltily at their plates, trying their hardest not to laugh at Seamus' discomfort. Seamus continued "As a result of the curiosity of some, no, most of the students of this school, our privacy has suffered. Because of this, we have decided to go public in the hope that you will all leave us alone." With that he reached out into seeming nothingness and dragged something towards him. He started to kiss his boyfriend. The invisibility cloak fell away to reveal…
Draco Malfoy.
There was a stunned silence.
