Time: Three years after the Battle of Hogwarts

Place: Dean and Seamus's flat

It was rare for a single night to pass without one of them waking up because of a nightmare. Today, it was Seamus who woke, white-faced, and straining for breath. He glanced over at Dean's sleeping form and quietly eased himself from the bed, trying not to disturb him, although it seemed that his heart was pounding too loudly to go unnoticed. Dean shifted in his sleep, arm flopping over to where Seamus normally lay. Seamus silently made his way into the bathroom and turned on the faucet to a water temperature that was almost unbearably cold. Hissing at the frigid water, he splashed his face once, twice.

"Shay?" Dean's sleepy voice startled Seamus as he lifted his dripping face to meet Dean's eyes in the mirror.

"Hey, Dean," Seamus murmured, drying his face on the nearby towel. "Go back to sleep."

Dean wrapped his arms around Seamus's chest and Seamus relaxed marginally into the warm embrace. "Not without you."

The corners of Seamus's mouth tugged upwards in a slight smile. "I'm not gonna sleep for a while."

Dean frowned, turning Seamus to face him and gripping his shoulders. "What's wrong? Nightmare?"

Seamus nodded mutely. Dean sighed and looked up at Seamus's face. "Oh, darling."

Seamus couldn't help the tears as they spilled over the corners of his eyes. "Sorry," he muttered, hastily wiping them away.

Dean shook his head. "Don't be, Shay."

Seamus shuddered once before choking out a sob and burying his face into Dean's shoulder. Dean held him, stroking long, calming lines down Seamus's back and whispering small measurements into his ear.

"C'mon. Let's get you sleeping, yeah?" Dean led Seamus back to the bed, tucking the blankets around him before crawling beside him. "You okay?"

Seamus snorted and curled up to Dean's chest. "Seriously?"

Seamus could make out the flash of Dean's teeth in the darkness when he spoke. "Bad choice of words. Want to talk to me about it?"

"It's fine."

"You-Seamus. 'S not fine, love."

Seamus nestled closer to Dean. "Same thing. I'm looking for you, in the Great Hall, see, and then I find you, but y-y-you're dead."

Dean's hand stilled for a moment before drifting to Seamus's torso. Blue eyes met wide brown ones as Dean traced the contours and scars of Seamus's body, almost as if he was drawing him. Dean didn't speak for several minutes, focusing instead on his slow and careful mapping of Seamus's torso.

"Shay…" Dean pressed a kiss to Seamus's forehead. "Shay, I'm sorry."

Seamus leaned up to brush his lips against Dean's. "Don't be." He huffed a small laugh. "Who else is gon' stay with me through my nightmares?"

Seamus yawned, somehow cuddling even closer to Dean. "G'night."

"Good night, Shay."

.oOo.

The next night, Seamus gasped awake again, panting with the effort to catch his breath.

"Shay?" The bed dipped with the weight of another person sitting next to him and Seamus felt comforting circles being rubbed into his back.

"Yeah, yeah, 'm here…" Seamus rasped, his throat raw. "Wha...my throat hurts."

"You were screaming, love," Dean replied, handing Seamus a glass of water. "Here."

Seamus's eyes snapped to Dean's. "What?"

"You were screaming. My name, over and over again. I was already up, I tried waking you up but…" Dean's eyes shuttered with guilt. "I'm sorry."

"No, it-it's ok, Dean, I just…" Seamus let out a long slow breath. "Why were you up?"

"I had a nightmare and...I couldn't sleep, and I didn't want to wake you up."

"How...how long were you up?"

"A while. I was sketching."

"Can I see?" Seamus asked, propping himself up on an elbow. He knew Dean's coping mechanism was drawing. He had several notebooks filled with doodles and elaborate pictures alike. Seamus often woke up near 6AM to find Dean had been working on a sketch for the past three hours.

"Yeah, hold on…" Dean flipped through a sketchbook that had been bought two weeks ago, already half-filled. "Here," he said finally, pointing to a page.

Seamus's breath caught in his chest. The page was filled with a drawing of him. It was a simple enough pose: he was just smirking slightly, but Dean had turned it into something extraordinary. Dean blushed as Seamus gaped. "It's...amazing, Dean."

"Thanks," Dean grinned sheepishly.

Seamus kissed Dean's cheek. "I love you."

"Love you too, Shay. Go to sleep."

Dean ducked under the covers with Seamus, softly caressing his arm.

"I'm here."

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