Seamus couldn't help but go about with a little more pep in his step now. Knowing that all was not lost had made him feel like he could take on the world again, that was a feeling he had lost when he'd lost contact with Dean. He tried to tone down his optimism a little though as he realised that not everyone was able to share his newfound outlook on life.

One of those people was Lavender. She seemed to be a bit quieter, but he did wonder if she had been like this for a while and he just simply hadn't noticed because he'd been so wrapped up in himself, in how this war was affecting him. He'd been pretty selfish, he knew that. But he certainly didn't want Lavender to suffer because of his oversights. He didn't know how to make it up to her though, except to make sure that everyone avoided detentions as much as possible - which wasn't easy when you could land in detention for so much as breathing at the wrong time or in the wrong tone.

Seamus hadn't realised that breathing could have a tone before he had met the Carrows, but they seemed to be under the impression that you could. He had to admit that the pair of siblings terrified him. He tried his hardest to avoid them, but that wasn't always possible, especially not with Neville's suggestion that they protect those younger than them.

He let out a sigh as he made his way from the RoR up to the Gryffindor tower. As much as Neville wanted him to sleep down in the makeshift dorm room, Seamus couldn't make himself. It just didn't feel right. For seven years he had slept in the same room, in the same bed, and that wasn't going to change now. He didn't even particularly care that he was the last one left in the dorm. He had gotten used to the absence of his four friends, but then he supposed he had also filled their places (but not really) with Lavender.

He gave the password to the Fat Lady before climbing through the portrait hole and dropping into an armchair by the fire where he waited for the girl. He wouldn't go to bed without her there, though he knew that they hadn't actually arranged to meet up that night. In fact, he'd barely seen her all day, but they didn't always spend time with each other. It was rare that he didn't spend at least some time in the company of Lavender, but he supposed it wasn't totally unheard of.

He shrugged off the weird feeling that had accompanied that thought and closed his eyes instead as he allowed for the fire to just simply warm him. Before he knew it, he had dozed off, however.

Lavender found Seamus asleep in the Gryffindor common room and she gave a soft sigh as she pulled a throw off of one of the sofas. She covered him over with a small shake of her head before she paused.

Part of her said to just curl up under the throw with him, because that was what was normal. The other, more rational side of her knew that she needed to protect herself from having her heart broken, so instead she just sat on one of the other armchairs, grabbing a book from her bag.

Lavender didn't know how long she had been reading for when she heard a rather groggy voice coming from Seamus' direction.

"Why no wake me?"

Lavender looked up over the top of her book, raising an eyebrow slightly as she watched the boy rub the sleep out of his eyes. "You looked like you needed it." She said with a slight shrug before the marked her page and set her book down in her lap. "Good sleep?"

"Mm, you could say that." Seamus hummed, his arms slowly reaching out in her direction.

Lavender knew that he was expecting her to just simply move into his arms, to let him wrap his arms around her and for her to curl up in his lap, but she ended up just staring at him instead. She wanted nothing more than to let him hold her, to be close to him, to let his body heat hers, but she knew that she needed to protect herself from further heartbreak. It already hurt enough that Seamus was ready for Dean to come home.

"Going to bed?" She asked as she nodded in the direction of his dorm. She hoped that the slight subject deflection would at least distract him from her awkwardness.

Seamus was on his feet and reaching a hand down to her within moments. Lavender knew he realised that something was up, and she was grateful that he seemed to have the sense not to push her. She'd have to explain to him sooner or later, she knew that, but for now she really just needed the chance to actually process her thoughts.

She let herself take his hand though, and let him lead her up to his room where she changed into the pyjamas that she kept there. She paused before allowing herself to sit down on the end of his bed, a yawn escaping her.

They had a pattern that they seemed to follow and it never occurred to her to be self-conscious about changing in front of him. He'd seen her at her worst after all and that was far more embarrassing. She did tonight, however, find herself wondering just how much of that would change if she came clean about the way that she felt.

She shook those thoughts away as Seamus wrapped his arms around her from behind and pulled her down. It didn't matter, she decided as she closed her eyes and snuggled close. They were together and that was what mattered.

Dean woke up on a cold, stone floor and blinked rapidly as he looked around himself. It was dark, mostly too dark to see, but the low hum of voices told him that he wasn't alone. He didn't know if that was a good or bad thing yet though.

He winced as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, realising quickly that he was wounded but as he tried to move his arm to check himself over, he saw that someone had attempted to bandage him up.

He used his good arm to check his pockets for his wand, but unfortunately there was no such luck. He let out a sigh and decided to go and check out where the voices were coming from. He stood up and moved towards them, a little tentatively as he still had no idea where he was.

"Luna!" He exclaimed when he caught sight of the blonde who was sitting chatting to an elderly man he recognised but couldn't name.

"Hello Dean." Luna greeted him, patting the ground beside her.

"Where are we?" Dean asked as he sat himself down next to the girl, his eyes still scanning the room for any clues.

"A dungeon." Luna said matter-of-factly. "I think it's Malfoy's." She added. "Dean, this is Mr Ollivander."

Dean stared at her. She baffled him at the best of times but he didn't understand how she could be so calm when they were literally being kept in a dungeon. But then he'd always shared the theory with the rest of their friends that she lived in a world of her own. He supposed it would help to protect her at times like this.

Dean shook his head slightly, trying to snap himself out of it before he looked to Ollivander. The elderly man didn't look good at all. He wondered how long he and Luna had been down there in that dungeon, but he doubted they would know if he asked so he just looked between the two of them before nodding.

"Was it you who patched me up?" He asked Luna instead as he indicated his arm - though he didn't even know how he hurt it. The last thing he remembered was being in the forest, and nothing after that.

"Yes. I did what I could. They have our wands though so I can't do much more." Luna told him, giving his shoulder a gentle pat. "Would you like some bread?" She asked as she reached for a plate of some rather stale bread.

Dean paused for a moment before nodding. He was starving and if stale bread was all that was on offer then he would have to take it. "Yeah, thanks." He took the bread from her and moved so that he could lean his back against the wall.

His life was surreal as it was, so though he was once again terrified for his life, it was something that he was getting used to by now.