Seamus was attempting to get some of his potions essay out of the way so that there wouldn't be any reason for the Carrows to throw him in detention when he saw a pair of knees level with his parchment. Slowly his eyes tracked up when the person didn't speak and his eyes met with Ginny's. Her eyes were red and blotchy but he decided he better not draw attention to this fact. Ginny was known for her temper after all.
"Hi?" He asked, mostly expecting her to ask where Neville was. The two of them were close after all.
"Hi." She said quietly as she dropped into the armchair beside him, her body crumpling over wearily. "I...I have some news."
Seamus put his quill down, his heart now pounding in his chest as he stared at her. She looked too calm to be delivering the news that Harry had died, but then he didn't know what her grieving looked like. Maybe she was the type to put on a brave front? He couldn't tell.
Ginny cleared her throat before continuing. "It's not much news, but I thought it might help you, might give you some peace of mind or something. Um. Dean. He's alive. Safe, mostly."
"How do you know this?" Seamus asked slowly, wondering if he should question what the 'mostly' part meant or if he was best to leave that well alone.
"I've had word that… Um. He was with a friend of my family." Ginny told him and he saw her look down and heard the sob rising in her throat that she quickly swallowed down. "The friend - he was Lupin's father-in-law actually - he talked about Dean in his…" She trailed off.
Seamus gave a small nod. He didn't need to ask what she meant by that. The fact that she was using past tense to talk about the man gave more than enough away. He leaned over to pat Ginny's arm gently, comforting her awkwardly but as best he could; they weren't close and while he wanted to be sympathetic for her, his heart was singing that Dean was alive and well.
Seamus watched as Ginny gave him a small, half-smile before she stood up again. "I just thought you'd want to know."
Seamus paused as he remembered that just last year, Dean had been in a relationship with Ginny and he wondered how he could have managed to forget that but then he supposed that last year felt like it was a lifetime ago.
"I - thanks." He said quietly as he looked up at her. He wondered if she still cared for Dean. She knew that she was in love with Harry - that she had been for years, Neville had told him during one of his insecure meltdowns the previous year - but he also knew that feelings didn't just go away overnight and Dean? Well, Dean was just… great.
Ginny nodded before she headed on over to a group of sixth years that he knew she was friends with, leaving him to his thoughts.
Seamus drew in a slow, steady breath and let himself silently rejoice in the news that Dean was okay. He let himself cling onto the hope that Dean would still return to him one day, one day when this was all over. He couldn't wait to tell Lavender.
Lavender met Seamus as requested in their usual abandoned classroom where she sat up on a desk, crossing her legs up underneath her as she tapped her fingers on the cold wood. He was late, but then she knew that was to be expected. You had to be extra careful when sneaking around Hogwarts these days so there was usually no such thing as a planned meeting time.
She wrapped her arms around herself as a cold chill ran down her spine. This castle was always freezing - though she supposed that was true of most castles, but it seemed to be a lot colder nowadays. She rubbed her arms and jumped when she heard the door creak.
"Hey, sorry." Seamus' voice met her ears as before she turned to look at the door, a smile coming over her face despite herself. And he was smiling too. That was something new. He didn't often smile anymore.
"No worries." Lavender said as she swivelled around on the desk to face him, her hands dropping to her lap. "You're in a good mood?" She commented with a soft hum.
"I've heard from him. I've heard from Dean."
Lavender froze, her eyes scanning his face as she slowly let herself realise that he wasn't joking. Her stomach sank. She didn't understand why though. Hearing from Dean was a good thing and she knew that.
"You did?" She asked, her eyes widening slightly as she tried to let herself process the news, because that had to be the problem, right? She just wasn't processing what he was saying properly. She just didn't understand what he was saying. That had to be it.
"Well, in a roundabout way. I know through Ginny that he's okay. He's on the run, like we expected, but he's okay." Seamus explained.
Lavender nodded slowly as she stood up and moved to wrap her arms around him. "That's great then. I told you he'd be okay."
Seamus held her close and she rubbed a hand over his back, knowing that she needed to be there for him. She needed to push away all of her own emotions to make room for his. Her own emotions were far too complicated for her to be able to deal with anyway.
Lavender just held him for a long time, let him keep her as close to him as he wanted. She wasn't going to argue with him anyway. She was more than happy to be close to him, she felt like she needed to be close to him. She'd even go as far as to say that she loved being this close.
And when he eventually let go, she felt a pang in her chest that made her feel like the world, well her world, would never be the same again. She still didn't understand the emotions that she was feeling. They seemed to be completely unwarranted at any rate. Dean wasn't back yet and he was still her Seamus.
Her thoughts stopped in their tracks. He wasn't hers. She found herself staring at him as those two words rang around her head, 'her Seamus'. Was that what she wanted? Did she really want him to be his? Was what she was feeling jealousy?
"You okay?" Seamus asked slowly as he reached out to touch her hand.
Lavender flinched away from him without meaning to, her eyes fixed on his before she shook her head and moved away from him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just. Letting it sink in." She said quietly. It was the truth at least.
Seamus nodded slowly, his hands now clasped in front of him. Lavender could feel him watching her as she moved to lean against the desk, one ankle crossing over the other. She couldn't believe that she had allowed this to happen, but she knew that she had to remain somewhat calm now or he would know that something was up. She couldn't risk him knowing what she was starting to suspect.
"What else did Ginny say?" She asked after a few moments as she realised that sinking into an awkward silence was just about as telling as anything that she could have said just then.
"She said that the man that Dean was with died. So I guess now he's alone out there somewhere…" Seamus trailed off, swallowing thickly and Lavender bit down on her lip before she stood up and moved to hold his hand.
Once again, she needed to push her own feelings away, push away everything that was going on through her head, through her heart, so that she could be there for him.
Dean wrapped himself in his sleeping bag, his eyes on the floor of the forest though he could only just see it by the light of the fire. He had never felt as alone as he did now. He'd never been as alone as he was now. Ted had been gone for two days and he had no idea what he was meant to do now.
Part of him said to jack it in and make his way back to Hogwarts. He knew the Ministry was there and that it wasn't exactly safe for people like him there, but he didn't know what else to do. He didn't know how else he was meant to go on. He was lost without having anyone by his side.
He dropped his head into his hands and let out a sigh as he tried to get himself to calm down. He knew it wasn't as dire as it all sounded. He was alive. He'd gotten away from the snatchers and he hadn't seen anyone since.
He drew in a breath before he stopped and quickly rose to his feet. His sleeping bag dropped to the ground behind him. He raised his wand as he looked around. He'd heard something. He supposed it could have been an animal, but he wasn't prepared to take that chance.
"Hello?" He called out as he moved away from his sleeping bag, moving around the trees. He lowered his wand when he couldn't see anyone and realised that he was probably imagining things. He hadn't slept in what felt like a lifetime now, so hallucinations were to be expected, right?
Slowly he sat down on top of his sleeping bag and decided to root around inside of the backpack for something to eat. He knew there wasn't much left in it, he needed to find a shop or an empty house or something so that he could stock up on supplies, but he didn't even know how far away he was from civilisation. He could be miles away, or he might have just had to go over the next hill. He didn't really know where he was.
Finally he found a rice cake buried at the bottom of the bag and fished it out, unwrapping it. He hated rice cakes but he knew that he couldn't exactly be picky when he didn't know when or where his next meal was coming from. He crumpled the wrapper up in his fist and stuffed it into one of the pockets before he froze again.
He had definitely heard a voice nearby that time. His head snapped up as he looked around him. But he didn't see anything before everything went dark.