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Seamus lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling.
As he lay there the door opened and let someone into the dorm.
“Seamus? You okay?” the voice of fellow third-year student Harry Potter.
Wordlessly he pointed to the letter he had dropped on the ground.
Harry picked it up and began to read.
He knew what the boy was reading, the most notable of which was: It does not matter what you write your mother an abomination like you will never be allowed back in my home.
He whistled after he was done, “He gives the Dursleys a run for their money.”
He laughed dryly, “That’s the thing. He was a great dad until I came out. He told me he loved me and always would. That he would never do to me what his da’ did to him.”
He laughed dryly again and wondered at the lack of tears. He supposed he had cried himself out over this over the holiday break. Now he just felt numb.
“Came out?” Harry asked quietly.
Seamus flinched a little bit. Harry was muggle raised, he may be like his father. In an empty voice, he said, “As gay.”
“Oh. That’s horrible.”
Seamus flinched again and looked away.
Suddenly Harry rushed to explain, “Not you! Your father! No one should be kicked out for things they can not control!”
Seamus relaxed and sighed, “Yeah well, my da’ apparently doesn’t agree. I had to stay at Dean’s for the rest of the Holiday break but they told me I couldn’t come back over the summer. Not that it matters, I don’t have the money to keep coming to Hogwarts after this year. The only reason I’m here now is that they paid for the year ahead of time.”
Harry was silent and Seamus didn’t blame him. There wasn’t much that could be done. He would soon be homeless and without an education.
“I—I might have an idea but I have to check on some things first. I will let you know if it pans out.”
Seamus frowned and sat up now, “What are you planning?”
“I will let you know if it all works out. For now, just know things will work out, somehow.”
Seamus stared at Harry for several long seconds as the boy rushed to his desk and began to write. He was tempted to go over and read over his shoulder but decided that he did not care enough and instead flopped back down onto the bed, still feeling mostly empty.
_+_+_
For over a month Harry did not say anything about it to the point where Seamus was fairly certain he had forgotten about it. Or he would be if he had not noticed that Harry was making a concerted effort to involve him.
Then, one day in early February, right before the next Quidditch match, Seamus received a letter.
Dear Seamus Finnigan,
Please come to my office after the game.
Professor McGonagall
Feeling dread he wondered if his father had managed to get him kicked out of the school. Maybe he had demanded a refund.
He could not bring himself to go to the game and instead found himself sitting on the floor outside Professor McGonagall’s office. He found himself crying until he had no more tears left. Then he just sat there, stared at the wall, and counted the bricks.
Finally, around two, Professor McGonagall arrived. She looked surprised to see him there, “Mr. Finnigan what are you doing here? The game only just ended, I would think you would be with the rest of the Gryffindors celebrating.”
Seamus forced himself to his feet, “Just say it. I know I’ve been expelled.”
She looked shocked, “What? What have you done? How have I not heard about it?”
“I’m gay. I know my dad must have talked to you about it to get me expelled,” he said softly staring at his feet.
A hand landed on his shoulder, “Mr. Finnigan please look at me.”
Seamus forced himself to do so.
“There is nothing wrong with being gay. Most magicals know that. The fact that your father does not speaks poorly about his character, not about you.”
He swallowed back the tears that threatened to overwhelm him once more.
“Come into my office, dear.”
He was rushed to the seating area and offered biscuits and tea.
When he had finally calmed she said, “Well what I have to say now makes more sense now. Your education has been paid for by an anonymous donor all the way through your seventh year. Whomever you told about this evidently took things into their own hands to ensure you would always have a place to go.”
Seamus felt like he had been slapped. He had only told one person about what was going on. Could Harry have– but how?
He suddenly felt bad for thinking the boy had forgotten. All this time he had been working in the background to help him out without saying a word.
He suddenly found himself crying once more and Professor McGonagall soothed him, rubbing his back and making him drink tea until he was finally calm once more.
He numbly walked back to Gryffindor Tower at his Professor’s urging. When he got past the portrait (which was always a challenge these days) he was confronted by the sight of Harry on the shoulders of the twins as they crowed about something to do with Malfoy.
Slowly Seamus sat in an empty seat on the edge of the room and watched as the Quidditch team partied like there was no tomorrow.
It still did not feel real. He would be able to go to Hogwarts until his NEWTs. He vowed to himself to work as hard as he could to make it worth Harry’s money.
Maybe he would be able to pay him back one day. He hoped so.
Finally, Harry laughingly pulled away from the team to go to the refreshments table the twins had set up. As Seamus watched he saw Harry eyeing the prefects in the room. When he was sure none of them were watching he went for the spiked punch.
Slowly, painfully after a day sitting on cold, hard stone, he got up and approached Harry. The boy was making a face at the taste of the alcohol, clearly not enjoying it.
When he noticed Seamus he smiled at him, “Seamus!”
“Enjoying your spiked punch?”
Harry grimaced, forced himself to take another drink, and then said, “Being drunk better be worth it.”
Seamus changed the subject, “Can we go talk in private, please?”
Harry’s eyes widened a little bit and he put the cup down on the table at once, ready to follow him without question.
When they were alone in the dorm room Harry asked, “Have you gotten another letter? Is everything okay?”
Seamus searched for what to say for a time before finally saying, “Professor McGonagall spoke to me today.”
Harry’s eyes widened then he ran his fingers through his hair, “Damn, I was hoping she would wait awhile until it was all ready.”
“What— There’s more?”
Harry nodded and moved to sit on his bed, gesturing for Seamus to sit on Neville’s.
“See, the thing is, the Dursleys are, well they are bloody awful.”
Seamus nodded, he had overheard a few things over the year and it had left him feeling bad for the boy. And confused at how someone so important to the world had gone through such things.
“So anyways I tried to talk to people about it but they have all just reassured me that it is the best place for me. But then we talked and I decided; bugger that! Why should we be homeless or stuck with people we hate?”
Seamus frowned, “So you want to what? Live together?”
“Exactly. I contacted Gringotts first to see how much money I have. I was kind of shocked by the number. Then I contacted a lawyer, well a few lawyers. Hermione helped me reach out to them. I finally got one who was willing to work with me despite being a kid.”
Harry took a deep breath and then continued, “I can not be emancipated, which sucks. I am too young, they say. The good news though, is that there is no legal age in the magical world for when you can buy a house. You are supposed to have a guardian living with you, but if you do not do magic there and do not tell anyone the Ministry will have no reason to look up on you.”
Seamus stared at him, then said slowly, “So you are buying a house.”
Harry nodded, “We are looking for one that is appropriately far away from a town where no one will notice if we do not have a guardian but close enough that we can still buy groceries and the like.”
Seamus processed that for several long moments.
He would not be homeless.
He would get to go to Hogwarts.
Without meaning to he was crying again. Harry, clearly alarmed, jumped up from his bed and rushed over to him. Awkwardly he began to pat Seamus’s shoulder.
Without thinking he suddenly launched himself at Harry and kissed him.
Suddenly realizing what he was doing he pulled away and pinked, “Sorry.”
“Um—”
He looked at Harry who was touching his lips and staring at Seamus in shock.
Suddenly it occurred to him that he had kissed the only person who had helped him, the only person who could help him. Had he screwed everything up?
Mortified, he began to babble, “I was just so shocked. I should not have done that. I am so sorry. I was just so shocked. I hope this has not messed everything up. I am so sorry.”
“Seamus,” Harry said quietly, shutting Seamus up. “It is okay. I was just surprised. You have not messed up anything.”
“Oh. Right.”
“I uh—I think I am going to go back to the party.”
“Right,” Seamus squeaked, horribly embarrassed.
“Right,” Harry said, still looking stunned, then walked out to rejoin the party.
_+_+_
As Seamus walked out to the dining area he sighed to himself. There was Harry, as always. The other boy refused to let Seamus go to work alone.
Seamus had gotten a job at the only Italian restaurant in town as well as the bookstore that was down the street. Both were only part-time jobs, which at fourteen was the only kind of jobs he could have, so they did not conflict with each other.
He had decided from the moment Harry had told him that the house had been bought (standing well away from Seamus, no doubt to prevent a repeat of the first time they had discussed it from happening again) Seamus had decided to work. He would pay Harry back for everything.
Harry had tried to turn him down saying that it was okay and he had more money than he could ever spend in his lifetime but Seamus had worn him down after weeks of nagging him about it.
Now he knew how much Harry had spent on his education and their house. Harry had insisted that Seamus only pay him back half of the house’s worth which was fine and made sense. After all, Harry would be living there too.
The house had cost about £59,939 and the schooling had cost £30,000 per year, so he owed him a total of almost £150,000. It would no doubt take a long time to pay him back but Seamus was determined. He was only making £1.00 an hour at both jobs and considering he only got ten to fifteen hours a week at both jobs he was basically just paying for most of their groceries, which Harry insisted was fine.
From what Harry told him he would never need to work and saw money as nothing to worry about, which was a big change for the boy from being told he was a useless, penniless burden.
Still, he was doing Seamus a huge favor. If not for him he would be living penniless in the streets of London dreaming of the days he had been able to do magic.
Seamus was not sure why Harry would not let him go to work alone but the boy was insistent about it. It was not Sirius Black being a danger, Harry had told him the full story of that. For a bit, Seamus had thought the convict would be living with them but instead, he had left the country. It seemed to upset Harry but Seamus had no idea how to comfort the other boy.
Perhaps that was why Harry insisted on going to work with him, he did not want to be alone.
It mercifully did not upset his bosses who found it amusing that the brothers were so close and yet one of them was not working. It was not like Harry was taking up a table or space in the bookstore without paying for anything. He always bought several books while there, sending most of them to Hermione Seamus thought, and always had food and drinks at his table.
So Seamus and his bosses left him to it. Seamus would clean up the dirty dishes when they occurred and take his order for more.
Secretly Seamus was glad Harry was eating so much. It was obvious now that he was paying attention that the Dursleys had not fed Harry much, he was underweight and short even with the food they ate at Hogwarts.
After a few hours of a mostly boring work day, serving Harry more than he did other customers except during the lunch rush, they walked home in companionable silence.
When they reached the property the quiet hum of magical wards was music to Seamus’s ears. Harry had gone all out setting up wards that would make it so no one thought it was odd that they did not see Mr. and Mrs. Potter around ever. After all, they were both high-powered lawyers in London that did the agonizing daily commute, even on the weekends, and so could be forgiven for not being that involved in their boys’ lives.
The wards worked even outside of the property so long as you spent at least eight hours a day under them, like when you were sleeping. Other than that they had free range.
As they approached the house Hedwig flew up to Harry and offered him her leg.
He skimmed the letter quickly, his face lighting up. “Ron got tickets to the Quidditch World Cup!”
Seamus was about to cheer when suddenly Harry’s face fell, “But he only got enough tickets for me to go.”
Seamus’s excitement dimmed. Glumly he said, “Oh, have fun I guess.”
“Do not be ridiculous, we are a unit now. I am not going without you,” Harry said with a shake of his head.
Seamus frowned, “You can not turn down tickets to the Quidditch Cup!”
“I can and I am,” Harry said firmly.
Feeling warm Seamus could only mumble his acceptance.
Harry sent out Hedwig with two letters that afternoon then they spent some time flying around on brooms. At the start of the summer, Harry had bought Seamus a Nimbus 2000, and ever since they had been flying nearly every day, except when it rained. Seamus, who had never been much into flying before, having only ridden the school brooms, found himself gaining a sudden interest in it.
Perhaps, he admitted to himself, as he watched Harry pull off a fantastic loop and then go into a dive it was because Harry just looked so handsome when he was riding. So free and happy. He was normally so serious that it was nice to see him this way.
Of course, it was a doomed crush probably brought on by the way Harry had saved him from a life of poverty. Given how Harry had reacted to the kiss he was straight as a board.
Oh well.
The next day he worked at the bookstore and spent most of it stocking shelves. Harry spent it reading one of the books he read while quietly sipping on coffees he bought from the coffee shop next door.
That evening Harry got two letters; one from Hedwig and one from a halfdead looking owl.
Harry ignored the letter from the halfdead owl and quickly wrote back to the one from Hedwig.
He had the next day off and they spent it inside playing chess and working on homework as it rained off and on. In the afternoon Hedwig arrived with another letter and a package and Seamus began to wonder if Hermione was back in town from France.
Suddenly Harry whooped and waved two tickets in the air along with a moldy old boot.
“Two tickets to the Quidditch World Cup in the Red Box, the best next to the Minister’s Box!” Harry exclaimed.
It only took Seamus a moment to realize what Harry had done then he whooped too. Without thinking he got up and spun Harry around for a moment. When they separated they were breathless with laughter and standing very close. He suddenly realized this and he took several steps away his face burning.
Harry did not seem to realize what was going through Seamus’s head as he waved the moldy boot around, “A private portkey scheduled for the day before the Cup and a private plot near the stands where we can camp out if it runs long! I will need to buy a tent but there should be food there.”
As Harry began to plan Seamus just watched his friend with amusement.
_+_+_
When Harry’s name came out of the Goblet of Fire he knew at once, just from looking at Harry’s shocked face, that he had not put his name in.
When Ron was later mouthing off in their dorm Seamus felt fury and it consumed him so much that he launched up from the bed and shoved Ron. “What the bloody hell is your problem? He said he did not put his name in, which means he did not! Are you his friend or not?”
“Whatever,” Ron sneered before storming off to the showers.
“Thanks,” Harry whispered, staring after his first friend.
Seamus had learned a lot about Harry over the summer but even before that, he had known one thing about him, “You are not a liar. You are a good guy, you just want to help people.”
Harry just nodded looking lost before getting ready for bed.
_+_+_
When the Yule Ball was announced there was only one person he could think that he wanted to go with. Of course, that was impossible. If he agreed it would only be out of pity. Seamus did not think he could handle it if Harry only agreed to go with him out of pity.
So Seamus planned to go alone until he was approached by someone.
“Will you go to the Ball with me?” Lavender Brown asked one day, out of the blue.
“Uh—I am not really interested in dating you, sorry.”
She shrugged, “We can just go as friends. I am not really interested in dating you either.”
Relieved Seamus agreed and they set about discussing their outfits.
Seamus had been giving all of his money that had not gone to groceries over the summer straight to Harry, not that it made almost any dent in how much he owed the boy. This meant that when the time came Harry had to pay for his school things, including his dress robes. He had tried to insist on used ones but Harry had rolled his eyes and made him get fitted at Madam Malkin’s so his dress robes were very nice and met Lavender’s approval.
Seamus had not realized just how much it would hurt to see Harry with Parvati. It almost hurt worse because it was clear that Harry was not enjoying himself.
When Harry and Ron sat down at a table, brooding, Seamus had shooed Lavender off to comfort her friend and joined them.
He began to tell them an outrageous story he had heard from one of his coworkers over the summer. Despite already having heard it Harry was soon laughing.
Point for Seamus, he thought.
_+_+_
“You need to leave Harry alone,” Ron announced, having cornered him one day on his way to go for a flight.
“What?”
“You need to leave Harry alone. I am his best mate, not you. Leave him alone,” Ron said in a way he probably thought was intimidating.
Not intimidated in the least Seamus shoved him, forcing him to back up several steps. “If I remember right you are the one who spent a month ignoring him because you thought he was lying. That does not seem much like a best mate to me.”
With that Seamus stormed off, fuming.
How could Ron do that? He had noticed Ron looking at him strangely lately but he had not realized that he was so upset with him. He had thought they were friends.
After that Seamus began to avoid Ron, ignoring him when they were both with Harry and refusing to pass him things at meals.
Finally, Harry confronted him about it, “What is going on with you and Ron? Ron is glaring at you and you are ignoring him.”
Seamus almost told him, but then he was reminded of how happy Harry had been to have his friend back. He could not cause another fight between them.
“It is nothing.”
“It is not nothing, tell me.”
“I—I got jealous. I saw how close you two are and— well I still have a crush on you and I thought maybe you two were— so I confronted Ron but he got really mad at me and told me to bugger off. I guess I deserved it.”
Harry was staring at him for a long time before at last saying, “You are lying. Not about everything but about something.”
Seamus grimaced and Harry sighed, “Fine, I will ask Ron and see what he says.”
“No! It is the truth!”
Harry shook his head and walked off.
Dreading the confrontation that would come from this Seamus could not focus on his homework anymore so he went out for a flight.
Harry joined him after a while but said nothing, instead pulling off his usual daring stunts.
After a while Harry glanced at his watch and then gestured for them to land, shouting “Dinner time!”
Seamus thought Harry might want to talk about what he had found out from Ron, or perhaps Seamus’s confession earlier, but instead, they walked up to dinner in silence.
When they sat down Ron, looking shamefaced said, “Sorry I was an arse.”
_+_+_
Watching Harry fight his way through the maze was at once more entertaining and scarier than watching a lake do nothing for an hour. It was, mercifully, several orders of magnitude less scary than watching Harry outfly a dragon.
Then, inexplicably, when Cedric and Harry reached for the Cup, they just disappeared.
At first, there were cheers and people began to look at the stage where the winner was announced.
Slowly the cheers died down as people looked around in confusion.
Panic had long since set in when Harry and Cedric arrived on the stage, Cedric dead in Harry’s arms while Harry sobbed hysterically and screamed about Voldemort.
It was several days before Seamus saw Harry.
In the intervening time, rumors flew around wildly and the Minister made a statement that the Headmaster was manipulating a traumatized boy and trying to incite panic.
Harry looked traumatized and refused to talk about what happened, causing even more rumors.
The day before they were set to leave, the day after Harry got out of the Hospital Wing, the Headmaster made an announcement.
“The Ministry does not want me to tell you this. Cedric Diggory was murdered by Voldemort.”
The Great Hall collectively freaked out and it took a long time to calm everyone down.
When they were taking the cab back to their home Harry quietly said, “You are not working this year.”
“But—”
“No. We will be ordering groceries from a grocer by owl. We will not leave the property. It is, at this moment, receiving significant ward upgrades.”
Seamus was quiet, thinking.
“Whatever happened, it really scared you, right?”
“Yes,” Harry said simply.
“Nothing I say will convince you to let me work?”
“No.”
Seamus sighed, if it made his friend feel better to have him close he supposed he could do that. He could wait to pay him back until he was an adult and making real money.
The wards were not done when they got there because they required being tuned to Harry and Seamus. Harry assured him at dinner time that they would be obliviated of the knowledge of what the wards were and where they were living. Seamus was a little alarmed at the paranoia his friend was suggesting, but then considered that he had been kidnapped, tortured, and forced to watch someone he admired die and so he said only that it sounded like a good idea.
That night Seamus was in bed sleeping when suddenly a loud scream woke him.
Groggily he glanced at the clock next to him. Twelve thirty.
Another scream startled him and had him launching himself out of bed and went running into Harry’s room.
The boy was twisted up in his sheets, sweating profusely, and screaming.
Seamus rushed forward and began to shake Harry, “Harry! Harry wake up!”
Harry seemed to wake and stared at him with uncomprehending eyes for several long moments. Then he collapsed back into the bed and Seamus slowly sat back on the edge.
“Want to talk about it?”
Harry was quiet.
“I will be right back,” he said. He went to the kitchen and poured a glass of milk then went back to Harry’s room and offered it to him.
Harry stared at him like he was crazy.
“It is milk. It will help, my mum always used to give it to me when I had nightmares.”
Slowly Harry sat up and accepted the glass of milk.
Seamus began to rub his back and Harry startled and then began to relax.
After a while, Harry began to look sleepy so Seamus got up and left the room, and went back to bed.
That became the new norm for them over the next week. Every night Seamus would wake to Harry’s screams and would grab him a glass of milk and rub his back, then leave when Harry began to look sleepy.
After about a week of this, Seamus was once more following the routine and was about to leave when Harry said, “Wait. Do not leave. Please.”
Seamus froze then slowly lowered himself back to the bed, “Sorry, I thought you were going to go back to sleep.”
“I—Can you spend the night here?”
Seamus stared at him in surprise, “What?”
“Sorry,” Harry muttered, “It was a stupid idea.”
Seamus shook his head, “No, it is okay. I was just surprised. But if you think it would help the nightmares I can stay. Let me just grab my blankets and I will set up on the floor.”
Flushing Harry shook his head, “You could uh—You could sleep in the bed. With me.”
Seamus was quiet for a moment. Seamus had as good as admitted that he still had a crush on Harry last semester so Harry must know what this would sound like, at a glance. But then Harry just seemed to think that having someone close would stop the nightmares. Seamus could not exactly blame him for that.
“All right,” he agreed after a while.
Harry let out a quiet breath and drained the last of the glass of milk, then set it on the window shelf that was behind his bed. Slowly they both got back under the covers. They stayed far apart and slowly went back to sleep, though it took them both a long time.
He was woken sometime later, when it was still dark out, by the feeling of having a body wrap around his. His heart thudding wildly in his chest Seamus stayed perfectly still. Eventually, he went back to sleep.
Harry was up first in the morning and did not say anything all day about the fact that they had slept in the same bed together.
That night they repeated the process, sans the discussion. Harry simply asked him to stay after Seamus woke him from his nightmare.
The night after that Harry did not even ask, he just pulled the covers back.
On the third night, before they went to bed, Seamus asked, “Do you want me to just uh—”
Harry nodded rapidly and so Seamus went to bed with him right away. He was woken a few hours later by whimpering and Harry squeezing him tightly so Seamus gently shook him awake and got him some milk. Then they went back to bed.
A few days later, after Seamus had woken him from his nightmare, Harry lay in bed with him, not holding him as he was wont to do when they were sleeping, instead keeping a good distance between them.
Seamus was close to falling asleep when Harry began to whisper.
What he told him was so horrifying that Seamus found himself pulling Harry close to him and holding him tightly. Harry did not complain and simply continued to speak.
When he was done speaking Seamus said, “I believe you.”
And he found he did, despite the Minister’s claims. Harry was so sincere and so afraid that Seamus believed him wholeheartedly.
_+_+_
Seamus was going a little crazy being cooped up on the property. Sure, they could go for flights but other than that they were largely inside due to the heat. It was a good thing the house was enchanted with temperature controls so they would never be uncomfortable.
They were getting ready for bed and Seamus was trying to figure out how to tell Harry they should leave the next day when an owl suddenly tapped on the window.
Hedwig, who was in the corner of the room on her stand, looked very offended. No one had been willing to write Harry this summer for some reason so she had not had much to do. She took it personally.
Harry crossed the room while still shirtless and let the owl in.
Even from here, he could see a piece of parchment pinned to the letter which read Notice: Tracking Charms Disabled.
Harry tossed the notice in the trash and began to read the letter. After a moment his face twisted with fury and he crumpled the letter up.
“Shoo! I am not writing back!” Harry snapped at the waiting owl. Looking offended the owl flew off.
As Harry tossed the crumpled letter into the trash Seamus asked, “What is going on? What was that about?”
Harry was quiet for a moment as he collapsed onto the bed. At last, he said, “Someone sent dementors after me, except they sent them to Private Drive. When they could not find me the dementors started attacking at random. Five muggles are without their souls.”
Seamus felt his blood run cold and he suddenly felt very grateful that Harry had not let him off of the property this summer.
Harry continued, “The Headmaster just now figured out that I have not been back either last summer or this summer and is demanding that I return at once. As if the blood protection even matters with the blood Voldemort took during the ritual!”
Seamus wondered what that meant but instead of asking sat down on the bed beside Harry.
“I guess not writing back is your way of telling him to bugger off,” he said.
Harry nodded still staring at the ceiling and said with certainty, “If he can not find me neither can Voldemort.”
Seamus was not a hundred percent sure that logic tracked but he was not about to argue with Harry on the point.
“Roll over,” he said softly.
Harry looked at him like he was crazy.
“Trust me, roll over.”
Slowly Harry did as Seamus suggested and Seamus began to give him a massage as best he could. It took a while before Harry relaxed but when he did he began to make low hums to himself indicating how good it felt.
_+_+_
Seamus had decided to research the last war. It was slow going, there were only so many books on the subject and the newspaper archives were dusty, disorganized, and covered in tea cup stains.
Still, afraid for his friend, Seamus was determined and he found himself completely reorganizing the archives to find what he was looking for.
It took him nearly a month to get it all sorted during which time tensions in the school rose to an all-time high. Even back when people were being petrified things had not been this tense.
Harry had detention nearly every other night and always came back with his hand bleeding.
The moment they had come back to school Harry’s nightmares had come back in full force. That is not to say that they had stopped entirely over the summer, but Seamus had been able to wake up when they started before they got too bad, and calm Harry.
At first, Harry had tried to power through them but it was quickly clear that all that led to was him not sleeping.
So, on their sixth night here Seamus climbed into bed with him after everyone had already gone to bed though before Harry had fallen asleep.
Harry tucked himself into Seamus at once and Seamus found that with how close they were they had enough room in the bed for both of them.
After that either Harry or Seamus would climb into bed with the other after lights out and they would fall asleep together, Seamus waking Harry up when the nightmares began, though he could not offer him a glass of milk. Still, it helped and that was what was important.
After nearly a month Hermione and Ron gave up trying to suss out the location of where Harry had been hiding. It had not worked in the slightest and just served to make Harry, who was irritated at the best of times these days, incredibly mad.
Instead, they began a new crusade; making Harry teach Defense to a lot of people who did not believe in him.
Frankly, Seamus could not understand the audacity of them and he told Harry as much in a whisper the night after they had first suggested it.
Harry nodded in the dark and snuggled closer, “They can not stand to look at me, let alone be taught by me.”
“They do not deserve to be taught by you,” Seamus said softly.
Still, Harry soon gave in and Hermione arranged a meeting at the Hog’s Head. Seamus went but before they entered Harry pulled him to the side and said softly, “Let me handle it. They are going to harass me about Voldemort, it is okay. I can handle it.”
Seamus sniffed, “You should not have to handle it.”
Harry just shrugged and waited for Seamus to give in.
“Fine,” Seamus agreed at last.
It was hard staying silent as the group lambasted Harry and Harry all but had to give his credentials to prove himself.
It ended with the group signing the parchment Hermione had produced and then they were off.
_+_+_
It was the last session of the D.A. before winter break and Seamus, Hermione, and Ron were cleaning up the room as people left while Harry said goodbye to everyone.
Abruptly, before it was entirely clean, Seamus was dragged out by Hermione and Ron.
Noting that Harry was not with them Seamus was about to head back in when Ron grabbed his arm, “We need to let them have some alone time.”
“Who?” Seamus asked in confusion.
“Cho and Harry,” Hermione answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
With his heart in his stomach, Seamus allowed himself to be dragged down the halls and to the Common Room.
They sat by the fire and waited for Harry to come back.
And waited.
And waited.
Finally, the portrait hole opened and admitted Harry.
He sat with them and was quiet until Ron asked, “So did you kiss her?”
“She uh—she kind of kissed me.”
Seamus could barely hear Ron asking excitedly how it was because of the blood pounding in his ears.
“Wet,” Harry answered Ron and Seamus thought he might die.
“Wicked,” Ron said.
“What? No, she was crying.”
“What? Why?” Ron demanded.
Seamus too wondered why but mostly he felt disconnected now. Harry had kissed someone else. Harry had kissed a girl.
Not that he and Harry had ever kissed but they spent every night sleeping in the same bed. Surely that had to count for something?
Deciding that he was done with the play-by-play Seamus got up suddenly in the middle of the conversation and went to the showers.
He took a very long shower and when he got out Ron was in bed and Harry was sitting on his own bed and staring at the ground.
Feeling awkward and jealous and angry Seamus stood there, not knowing what to say.
Then Harry climbed into bed and pulled the covers back.
With a sigh, Seamus climbed into bed with Harry, pulled the curtains closed, and allowed Harry to wrap himself around him.
Was this all it would ever be? Just sleeping in the same bed, Seamus comforting Harry when he needed it? Could he handle that?
“Seamus,” Harry said in a whisper.
“Yes?”
“Are you—do you still have a crush on me?”
Seamus sighed, “We sleep together in the same bed every night. That is not exactly a platonic thing.”
Harry was quiet for a bit until he suddenly began to move his head so he was no longer resting on Seamus’s chest but instead looking at Seamus.
“Yes?” Seamus asked after a moment of being stared at.
After a moment more Harry leaned in and placed a kiss on Seamus’s shocked lips.
When Harry pulled away he looked vaguely afraid. Seamus was vaguely afraid too.
“Was that— was that pity or obligation or—what was that?”
Harry stared at him for a long moment and then kissed him again. This time Seamus relaxed into it and began to kiss him back.
When they separated Harry whispered, “I would never kiss someone because of pity or obligation.”
Seamus’s breath caught then something occurred to him, “What about Cho?”
Harry shrugged, “She kissed me. And it was not any good anyways.”
Seamus swallowed the lump in his throat at that.
It took Seamus a long time to fall asleep after that and when he did it felt like no time at all had passed before he was woken by Harry screaming. Not whimpering as he usually did at the start of his nightmares but full-blown screaming.
Seamus spent several minutes trying to wake Harry and growing increasingly panicked as he could not do so.
By the time Harry had woken so too had Ron, Neville, and Dean, and they were all crowded around Harry’s bed.
“Ron! Your father! A snake!”
_+_+_
Seamus was brought to somewhere called Grimmauld Place at Harry’s request. The whole house was cursed and filled with pests. It was also occupied by Sirius Black and the entire Weasley family.
Also on Harry’s request, Seamus was not given his own room but a camp bed in Harry and Ron’s room.
That first night Seamus sat on the camp bed cross-legged and watched Harry and Ron play chess while feeling very awkward.
As the chess game ended Harry took a deep breath and said, “Seamus and I are sleeping together tonight.”
“What?” Ron yelped.
“Not sex, sleep,” Seamus said, correctly interpreting Ron’s thoughts.
Ron relaxed some then looked perplexed, “You are sleeping together?”
“Yes,” Harry said firmly.
“But why?”
Harry did not seem to know what to say so Seamus said, “I help him sleep. I wake him before the nightmares get too bad, usually.”
“Oh, so you are like a security blanket or something.”
Seamus chaffed under the description but just nodded. It was not inaccurate, after all.
“Oi! Seamus is more than a security blanket! He is my best mate!”
Seamus warmed even as Ron began to look angry, “I thought I was your best mate!”
“I can have more than one!”
Seamus nodded, not minding the idea in the slightest. It was clear that Ron did not agree though as he argued some more and then stormed out.
Harry sighed in frustration and Seamus decided to take a chance. Standing, he walked over to Harry and pulled him into a hug.
Harry relaxed into it at once and muttered, “Ron is a real berk.”
Seamus just shrugged and squeezed Harry, reveling in being so close to him when they were not even sleeping.
Things were awkward around the house after that. Harry and Seamus spent most of their time with Harry’s escaped convict godfather and Hermione spent it with Ron trying to figure out why he was pouting and avoiding Harry. At least Sirius was funny.
One thing that Seamus could not get out of his head was the two kisses they had shared before things had gone sideways. They had not repeated the experience and Seamus was beginning to wonder if they had been mistakes, at least on Harry’s side.
Did he feel the same as Seamus felt?
On Christmas, he got his answer about that.
After a long day at the Hospital where he saw the horrifying visage of Mr. Weasley, the sad image of Neville’s friends, and the frankly deserved state of Professor Lockhart Seamus moved to collapse onto the bed. Ron had demanded his own room after the fight so they did not have to worry about censuring themselves around him.
Instead of allowing him to collapse on the bed though, Harry grabbed his arm and pulled him to him, causing Seamus to stumble and almost fall.
“Sorry,” Harry muttered.
“Uh, that is okay,” he said, his heart pounding.
“Look up.”
Seamus obliged and found them beneath some mistletoe that surely had not been there that morning. “Did you uh— set that up?”
Harry nodded and said, “We had better be careful though, nargles hide in mistletoe.”
It took Seamus a second to place the nonsense word but when he did he laughed.
“I like it when you laugh,” Harry whispered when he was done.
Deciding to take a chance Seamus leaned in and kissed him. Harry kissed him back and began to wrap himself around Seamus.
It may be hellish out there but in here things could be good sometimes.