Lavender was getting treatment for a wound on the back of her neck from a run in with a particularly savage Death Eater when she saw Dean enter the Great Hall. She knew something was wrong. She could feel it in her bones and when she saw that he was carrying Seamus, she could practically taste her heartbeat as she watched as Dean lay Seamus down on the floor.
Her neck was suddenly the least of her problems as she jumped to her feet and ran over to where Dean was now slowly reaching over to close Seamus' eyes. He didn't need to tell her, and one look at him, Lavender could see that Dean wouldn't have been able to tell her anything even if she had asked.
The world was suddenly icy cold and everything around her appeared to be getting dimmer, except for Seamus. Seamus' chest was glowing silver. She found herself staring as a silver fox rose up from his body. She knew the fox wouldn't have to go far to find Dean. She'd never seen a soulmate message before, but she didn't think that was the reason that she couldn't tear her eyes away.
She watched as the fox moved to press its nose to Seamus' forehead and found herself frowning as it started violently vibrating. She didn't think that this was meant to happen but she didn't have anything to compare it to so she stayed silent.
It was a few moments before the fox stopped and as it turned around, Lavender saw that there were now two foxes. Her frown deepened and she glanced sideways at Dean who hadn't moved from his position kneeling next to Seamus. His skin had lost its colour and he looked like he was about to throw up. Her eyes were back on the foxes in an instant as she saw them start to move.
One fox walked towards Dean as was to be expected, but the second fox was making a beeline for her. Lavender stood frozen to the spot. A voice in the back of her mind was telling her to start running and to not stop, but she couldn't make herself move.
Dean opened his arms as one of Seamus' patroni came towards him and let the fox walk directly into his chest. He hadn't ever been told how to accept a soulmate message; he just seemed to know. As the fox entered him, he could hear Seamus' voice in his head, his words clear as day.
"I love you. Thank you for coming back to me. I'm sorry I never got the chance to talk to you about Lavender. You two mean everything to me. Please look after each other. Until we meet again, my love."
Dean closed his eyes tightly as he tried to let Seamus' final words sink in. He didn't need any more of an explanation about what he meant about Lavender. He'd watched the other fox patronus walk straight to her, after all. Which could only mean that she was his soulmate too. Surprisingly, this didn't make him as mad as he thought it would. No, instead he seemed to just feel… Well, he didn't think that there actually was a word to describe the way that he felt in that moment.
He opened his eyes slowly when he felt a hand on his shoulder and slowly he looked up at Neville. Neville whose eyes were red and full of tears, Neville who looked so much older than when they had said goodbye last summer. He knew that a lot had happened over the last year and that they had all had to grow up far too fast.
His eyes moved back to Seamus' body and slowly he reached out to take his love's hand into his own. He was growing colder by the minute, but Dean wasn't ready to let go. He didn't care that time was running out, that soon they needed to prepare for battle again so that Harry could finish this once and for all.
Neville squeezed his shoulder gently. "I'm… I'm sorry." He whispered.
Dean couldn't look at him. He knew that if he did then he would start sobbing and as he looked down at Seamus' lifeless body and her the sniffling coming from behind them, he knew that he couldn't afford to break down. He knew the sniffling was Lavender and he knew that Seamus had asked him to look after her, but while he was feeling this indifference towards her, he wasn't sure that he could.
Eventually Neville let go of his shoulder and he heard him shuffle away. Without looking, he knew that the man was doing what he was unable to and comforting Lavender. He could hear him shushing her like a child and it was that sound that snapped him out of his own head.
He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Seamus' hand and then his cheek before he stood up.