Notes: Dean was actually quite hard to write, I've discovered. Parts of this chapter I like, but joining those bits together... those parts I really don't like... may revise this later on.
Anyway, Dean's turn.
Chapter 2: Dean – Comes Down to Blood
Dean dodged another curse from a black-robed figure as he ran towards the courtyard. Aiming blindly, another non-verbal stupefy is sent in the direction the curse came from. He can see Seamus and Parvati struggling with another Death-Eater up head, and he fights to come to their aid. In the grips of battle-fever, it is easy to ignore the damage wrought to the familiar corridors of Hogwarts, much harder to ignore is the familiar faces falling never to rise again. His heart constricts when he sees his ex-girlfriend Ginny running through the mayhem (he pushes that aside, because he'd realised a while ago that for Ginny, it had always been about Harry).
Even while he's fighting, he can't quite believe the so-called importance of blood purity has come down to a war (again). It seems such a waste, and it clearly has no impact on magical abilities. Even with his own heritage, it didn't seem to make a difference to his own outlook. It was only the mania of the pure-bloods that determined the importance.
The year he turned eleven, his world had expanded in ways he'd never dreamed of.
In his family, he'd always had a vague sense that he was different. It wasn't anything he could pin down, so he'd ignored it. Immersed himself in football, became the protective older brother as his sisters began primary school, and amused his classmates and family with his cartoon versions of people they knew.
Then the letter came, and his world suddenly included witches, wizards and actual magic. Boarding school was an adjustment, and his first weeks were plagued with bouts of homesickness. Eventually he'd settled in though, adapted to this new world that he was a part of. That first summer, he'd come back with stories to enthral his sisters, amaze his dad and make his mum shake her head. He'd left out the complexity of explaining the drama with the Philosopher's Stone, or what he'd learnt about the dark history of the Wizarding world. He didn't want to give his family reason to keep him from Hogwarts.
While he loved his family, and shared as much as he could with them, there was much Dean didn't tell them. He skimmed over the Chamber of Secrets in second-year, and neglected to mention that the mad killer on the news the following summer was actually a dark wizard (or that he'd actually managed to get into Dean's dorm). Nor did he inform them that one of his best teachers had been a werewolf. He also realised, as the school was still in shock over Diggory's passing, that this was another thing he wasn't going to tell his family about. He only recognized the wisdom of this course of action when he heard that Seamus' mother was trying to keep Seamus from returning to Hogwarts.
It didn't matter if you believed Harry and Dumbledore or not, anyone with eyes could see that things were far from well. And it was going to come down to another war about blood purity. As a muggle-born, Dean was in a precarious position, and despite the surly attitude of his best friend, he was eager to see what Harry was doing with the proposed defence group. Partly because it was amusing to be carrying on right under Umbridge's toady nose, but practically, Dean suspected he was going to need his defensive spellwork.
Then the ministry changed its tune, and the wizarding world grudgingly and fearfully admitted Voldemort was once again at work. He felt he could no longer keep his family completely in the dark. He explained everything to his mother, who listened intently but silently as Dean talked. Worry was etched into her face as he finished, and Dean was surprised to see guilt in his mother's eyes.
"I should have told you everything as soon as you got your letter," she murmured softly.
Dean was puzzled. "Told me what?"
Sarah Thomas took a deep breath. "About your father."
Dean's confusion increased. "What's dad got to do with this?"
Sarah shook her head. "Not Alex, Dean. He and I married when you were a year old, and he adopted you as his own. Your biological father..." she trailed off. "Well, I don't know what happened to him."
His mouth was hanging open, he knew. He went to speak, but no sound emerged from his mouth at first.
"Why... Why are you only telling me this now?"
His mother bit her lip nervously. "Your father and I... we weren't together very long," she sighed. "He was a great guy, and we were so happy..."
"I knew there was something he was keeping back, one of his friends had let something slip about 'their world'..." Sarah ran her hand nervously through her hair. "I didn't really think anything of it until he disappeared."
"He abandoned you?" distaste tainted Dean's voice.
"No!" his mother responded immediately. "Well, I don't know..." she sighed again. "He just vanished. But I've never believed that he left us intentionally..."
Dean's face was arranged in a grimace of scepticism as his mother continued.
"But he never came back, and I met Alex, and it seemed pointless to keep waiting. Then you got your letter, and I wondered if he was part of the wizarding world. But it seemed too hard to explain then, so I kept my mouth shut."
"Wait, you think he was a wizard?" Dean's head was spinning. "Why?"
"The one friend of his I met, they argued when they thought I wasn't there. I remember the word muggle being used... and they mentioned a war..."
"The First Wizarding War," Dean said softly.
"...And now you're telling me that war's been looming these past through years... I realise I've been selfish keeping this to myself..."
"I might be a half-blood after all?" Dean had been stunned.
Eventually he had got up from the table, hugged his mother, and gone to his room. For some time he lay on his bed, thinking about what he'd just been told.
For six years, he'd considered himself a muggle-born. He'd been content with that, willing to ignore the slander from the Slytherins. He was proud of his muggle heritage. Then the revelation that his long gone father may have been a wizard temporarily threw his sense of identity. Then he realised it didn't matter. Not to him, not to his friends.
Then the unthinkable happened. Dumbledore was dead, the ministry was under Voldemort's control, and Dean knew he had to run. He had no proof that his biological father had been a wizard (he didn't need any personally, but Umbridge's commission would), so fronting up to the Muggle-born register would be suicidal.
His Gryffindor courage failed once again when it came to confronting his family. He explained the raw details in a letter to his mother, and stressed the need for them not to try and contact him. He argued to himself that it was better this way.
He was initially lucky in his avoidance of snatchers. A group of them formed, enabling them to double up protective enchantments and generally watch each other's backs. Ted, Dirk and Dean would discuss the war, and Dean found himself having to defend Harry to their goblin companions, whose trust of wizards in general was rather poor. He knew Harry well enough to know that Harry would never give up or run away, and he fully believed that whatever Harry was doing, he was helping in the war effort.
Then the snatchers finally caught up with them after months of dodging them. Greyback was vicious in his methods of capture, and only Dean and Griphook were left alive to be dragged away to Malfoy Manor. Having his wand forcibly taken from him left him strangely bereft after a year of never having it out of sight.
The hectic escape with Dobby, Luna, Harry, Ron and Hermione, followed by hiding at Shell Cottage, left Dean itching for action. Luna was able to help him forget some of his frustration with the odd things she would say. But that small sense of the normality of Hogwarts made him miss everything more.
When the word went out to prepare for battle at Hogwarts, even the lack of a wand was not going to keep him away. He would aquire a wand somehow.
Entering the Room of Requirement and finding all his classmates there filled him with a sense of joy he hadn't expected. Seamus enthusiastic greeting was returned with equal enthusiasm, and it was Seamus that helped him appropriate a wand off a fallen Death Eater in the opening chaos of the battle. The pair of them had then been split up, and Dean ended up tag-team duelling Dolohov with Parvati backing him up.
Then Parvati stumbled, hit by debris from a nearby explosion. Screams filled the air as combatants tried to avoid the shrapnel, and Dean dimly registered a roar of rage and despair across the other side of the room. Dolohov had recovered much quicker than expected, and was gleefully pointing his wand at Parvati's exposed side. Without thinking, Dean leapt to shield Parvati-
His world dissolved into black.
Thoughts? I know this is a bit rushed... please tell notify me of any issues with this chapter!