Lavender blinked open her eyes as the morning sun streamed in through the slightly ajar curtains. She turned on the bed slightly to find that she was alone, which was something that she definitely wasn't used to. She sat up slowly as she looked around for Dean. She knew what today was. She knew how hard it would be for the both of them, which was why it was so surprising to find that he wasn't next to her.

The two of them had found solace in each other over the last year. Dean would never be Seamus, but then, she would never be Seamus either. It was a friendship neither had expected, but both knew that they needed.

"Dean…?" Lavender called to him when she saw him sitting over by the window, staring out into the grounds. She knew what he was looking at, where he could see from where he was sitting. Slowly she moved over to sit next to him, her hand sitting on his arm.

They didn't have to do or go anywhere today, which was somewhat comforting. Class had been cancelled for everyone, and the only person that had planned anything was Neville who had organised a memorial service for all the Fallen in the Great Hall at midnight.

Dean glanced sideways at her, acknowledging her existence with the corners of his lips twitching. He moved slightly to lean against her, something that they often did if either of them ever needed comfort. Words weren't often required to exchange between them. What they had went above and beyond that.

It wasn't as if the two of them didn't talk though. They talked a lot. They talked about Dean's experience while he was on the run. They talked about the year Lavender had spent with Seamus. And they talked a lot about Seamus. He was never far from their minds, but they were helping each other to move on.

The plan wasn't to forget him. That was why they always talked about him, to keep his memory fresh. The plan was to be able to remember him without them both feeling as though their hearts were being ripped out. The plan was to be able to remember him together. Lavender wasn't sure if this plan included going to Neville's memorial later though. That was something that they hadn't actually talked about.

She knew that Dean planned to spend most of the day hiding here, but she also knew that the memorial would provide both of them with some closure. They'd lost more than just Seamus that day, after all, but sometimes it felt like he was the only one that mattered.

She didn't bring it up though, she couldn't. She didn't want him to have to be forced to go and she knew she couldn't leave him alone, not today. They spent pretty much every waking minute together, even took the same classes, though that was mostly because all the eighth year students took the same classes.

She closed her eyes as she leaned her head on his shoulder as she decided just to let the subject drop and let herself relax in his company. The memorial wasn't for at least twelve hours so she didn't have to worry about whether they were or weren't going.

Dean glanced up at Lavender, watching her from over the top of his sketchpad. He could tell there was something on her mind but he was mostly too afraid to ask. He wondered if it mirrored his own thoughts or if there was something else going on.

He traced his pen along one of the lines on his paper and gave a small sigh as he realised that he couldn't exactly let it lie. He set his sketchpad down and crawled along the bed towards her.

"Sickle for your thoughts?" He asked softly as he tried to see what she'd been staring at but he realised that she had probably just been staring into space.

Lavender turned her head slightly to look at him and he saw her give him a small smile. Her smile made him feel that there was a little light in a world that had turned so dark for him. He'd been fighting for the rest of his world to get the same light that this dorm did, but so far it hadn't worked.

"I'm just… thinking about the memorial." Lavender admitted. "I want to go."

Dean felt a knot form in his stomach. It wasn't that he didn't want to go to support everyone that had also lost someone. He did. But he also wanted today to just be all about the two of them and the man that they had lost. It was selfish, but he figured that they deserved to be more than a little selfish.

He was silent for a little while before he slowly allowed himself to nod. "I know." He said eventually. "And if you really do want to go, then we'll go."

Lavender moved to press a kiss to his cheek and Dean allowed his eyes to close for a moment as he came to terms with what he had just agreed to. When he opened his eyes, he found that Lavender was still looking at him.

"What?" He asked, his head tilting slightly as he met her gaze.

But instead of an answer, he found that her lips were pressed against his. And what's more is that he was kissing her back. It was weird, but at the same time it felt right and as he pulled back, he realised that the world was a lot brighter than it had been.

He stared at her, his eyes scanning over her features. He didn't want to sound like a living cliché but it was as if he was seeing her for the first time, or at least in a new light. It wasn't what he had expected, especially not today, but he definitely wasn't opposed to it. He'd been completely blindsided by his own developing feelings, not to mention hers. He watched as she dropped her eyes downwards and he knew he had to say or do something.

He reached out quickly to cup her cheek in the palm of his hand. "Thank you." He whispered. He didn't exactly know what the kiss they'd just shared meant to either of them but he knew that it was something that had made today feel a lot less like it was the end of the world to him. He leaned forward and kissed her again. For the first time since losing Seamus, he didn't feel like he was completely broken.