HP Fic: When It's Gone (Part 3 of 3) Seamus/Dean
Title: When It's Gone
Fandom: Harry Potter
Author: wook77
Pairing: Dean/Seamus, Harry/Ginny, Neville/Susan, Dennis/Parvati
Rating: R
Wordcount: ~20,000
Warnings: graphics, timeline jumping, Spoiler Warnings (highlight to read)*possible violent content, discussions of character death, canon compliant, epilogue compliant, minor character death*
Summary: Sometimes, you don't know what you've got until it's gone. Dean is about to understand just what Seamus's incessant babble means to him. Harry's left to piece together just what went wrong.
A/N: See Part 1 for A/N
Part 1
Part 2
Time Unknown
Seamus's muscles ache worse than when he'd gone to sleep, new twinges coming from his ankles and knees. Yet again, he wishes for a wand.
"Seamus? Oh Merlin! You're alive! Oh Seamus, you're alive, oh Merlin, oh Seamus!" Seamus opens his eyes to see Lavender running across the room at him. She tosses herself on top of Seamus, hugging him fiercely just like… he shakes his head and then wonders how much of a number the Carrows had done to him that he keeps losing thoughts.
"Course I am, Lav," he says as he hugs her back and tries to keep her elbows from hitting Neville. "Nev's here, too."
"Oh Neville!" Lavender cries out and then hugs Neville, too. "I heard about Susan. I was so scared that you were dead, too."
"No, I'm as right as I can be. As anyone can be with all this shite."
"What's going on?" Lav asks as she takes in the small room and the bruises all over Seamus and Neville.
"Carrows chase you in here too? They got me first and then Nev and Colin."
"Colin? But, he's - " Neville covers Lavender's mouth with his hand, silencing her.
"Colin's here."
"But he can't be," she whispers after Neville removes his hand.
"He is, far as we're concerned."
"But - "
"You'll see."
Nineteen Years and One-Hundred-Thirty-Three Days Later
One of the oddest things to come out of the war is the friendship between Luna Lovegood and Parvati Patil. Had anyone asked them, back in Hogwarts, if they'd ever even be polite to one another, Parvati would've laughed at them. Friendly with Loony Lovegood? No way, she would've scoffed.
However, here they sit at lunch together in the middle of Diagon Alley after a day of shopping. Parvati's loath to end the visit but she's due home soon.
"When are you back in England again?" she asks as they gather their bags and head towards The Leaky.
"Possibly in a few months. It depends on whether the twins want to spend the holidays at school."
A breeze plays with Parvati's hair, causing a ribbon to blow out of it. "Oh, bugger! Dennis got me that for my birthday!"
Parvati ducks down the alleyway after the ribbon, Luna chasing after her. They're making a right sight of themselves as they chase further down the alley after the ribbon.
"Got it!" Parvati shouts as she turns with the ribbon in her hand. Just as quickly as she had gripped it, she drops it in shock at the sight of Luna lying in the middle of her bags of shopping, legs twisted awkwardly. "Luna?"
Luna doesn't answer and as Parvati approaches, her vision blurs, her knees wobble and then she remembers nothing else.
Eleven Years and Six Days Later
"I think we need a bigger flat," Seamus says as he walks through the door. "Maybe closer to the Ministry or something."
"Why?" Dean doesn't look up from his sketch except to reach for the pens that have somehow worked their way between the cushions of their sofa.
"Maybe so you could have studio space?" Seamus pushes Dean over, yanking a pen from underneath his arse. "And we'd have a sofa we could cuddle on rather than a crap artist's table that doubles as a rundown sofa, complete with paint stains?"
"There aren't that many. Besides, this sofa has character, which is more than I can say for you."
"I'll have you know I have more character in my pinky finger than you do in your entire body!" Seamus cries out and then tackles Dean to the sofa, kissing him during the tumble. Automatically, Dean's hands encircle Seamus's waist and pull him even closer as they force their way under Seamus's shirt.
He takes a moment to yank Seamus's shirt over his head and then his hands roam over the exposed skin. "Love the feel of you."
"Love the feel of you, too. Love the taste of you," Seamus says as he licks Dean's collarbone before nipping it and then sliding his way down Dean's chest. "Love you."
"Me, too, so much, there, Seamus, bite it," Dean mutters as Seamus nips at his nipple. He arches into Seamus's hands as papers crinkle under him.
"There's an awkward noise." Seamus stops licking at him to yank at the paper under Dean. "Whatever would Harry say to know that we were making out on his face?"
"Huh?" Dean's still fixated on the way that Seamus's hands are no longer on his body. "Why would we be making out on Harry's face?"
"Because he's in The Daily Prophet in an article about Dark Arts being used against Marcus Flint and Millicent Bulstrode while they were honeymooning in the South of France."
"Way to kill the mood, Shame. Just what I want to think about while we're making out. Oh Bulstrode, please invade our moment with thoughts of you and Flint fucking like rabbits."
"Oh Marcus," Seamus coos in a falsetto voice as he bats his lashes, "Take me, big boy. You and your awful teeth, take me hard, you strong ox, you!"
"I hate you."
Time Unknown
Who was Dean?
Nineteen Years and One-Hundred-Thirty-Three Days Later
Harry hates these moments, hates having to tell loved ones that they're never going to see someone again. It's even harder when it's a friend. Harry still remembers having to tell Oliver Wood's mother about his disappearance and that, in all likelihood, she had lost her son. It had been the first time he'd ever had to tell someone about a friend. She'd cried and soaked his shirt and robes but he'd held on to her as she collapsed in front of him. They'd sat on that floor for hours. Harry had talked to her until his voice gave out about everything that Oliver had done.
"Hi, Harry. What brings you here?" Dennis says as he opens the door.
"May I come in, Dennis?"
"Sure! Of course." Dennis pulls the door open wider and then gestures for Harry to come in. "Want something? Dunno what we have, that's all Parv and she's out shopping but I'm certain I can manage some tea."
"Let's just sit, all right?" Harry waves a hand towards the sofa. "It's about Parvati."
"Yes?"
"When did she leave the house?"
"After I went off to work so after half-eight this morning? Why?" Harry hates the way that fear starts to creep in around the edges of Dennis's voice as it increases in volume and pitch.
"She's missing, Dennis."
"That's not right. She's out shopping with Luna. They're in Diagon Alley. Should we Floo over and see?"
"She's missing, Dennis."
"Was it Dean?" Dennis leans forward and stares at him intently, eyes roaming all over and Harry feels for him with the way that he's searching for an answer.
"Can't tell right now, it's too soon. We're still investigating."
"Bet it was. He's been with everyone so far, hasn't he? Suspicious that he can't remember anything and that his wand signature's been found at every scene." Dennis leans back against the couch, arm slung over the back of it.
Something teases at the edge of Harry's brain. Shaking it off, Harry reaches out and pats Dennis's knee. "We'll find out who did this and we'll find Parvati."
"Never did find Oliver Wood, did you? Nor a bunch of others."
"This case is different." Harry stands and starts pacing as he figures out what he can tell Dennis and what he can't.
"So you don't know where Parvati or any of the others are? Dean hasn't told you?"
"We're exploring all avenues." Harry looks around the room as he avoids the question. He sees the same photo that Dean and Seamus had up in their flat, the same photograph that Harry, himself, has. It's on the mantle just next to a photo of the memorial, the Gryffindor Crest and the names scrolling past in the photo.
"Come on, Harry, we're friends. Stop with the official speak and tell me what's going on, please."
"Dean's not said a thing and we're still investigating. The witness from today only saw a black-robed figure and then the three of them Apparating away."
"So they didn't see Dean take them?"
"Not that I'm aware."
"You'll keep me updated?"
"Of course." Harry picks up the photo of the group and waves it at Dennis. "What the hell happened since this photo that we're all so messed up? Who would hurt any of us? Why would they?"
"Probably something you've forgotten." There's an edge to Dennis's voice that Harry's only heard when Dennis speaks of Colin.
"I'll figure it out," Harry says as he sets the photo back on the mantle and then Dennis is ushering him out the door. Harry hears something crash against the door and he shakes his head. Poor Dennis, first he loses friends and then his wife disappears.
Time Unknown
The next time Seamus wakes up, there are even more people in the room. "Luna? I thought they got you on the ride back."
"No, Seamus, I was snatched just now."
"Parvati?"
"She's not well, Seamus," Luna says as Seamus struggles to get up from the bed and approach the three women where they huddle in the far corner.
"Where's Colin?"
"Gone," Neville answers while Parvati sobs harder.
Transcription: Seamus,
Thought maybe if I got more information, you might be willing to at least think about it. Can you at least think about it? Please?
Dean
Enclosures: Petition for Magical Adoption with Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan filled in as prospective parents.
Nineteen Years and One-Hundred-Thirty-Four Days Later
Draco startles at the way that the doors to his house slam open and Aurors pour in. There's at least ten of them, probably the entire department, that invade and point wands as they scatter through his house. He has four of them pointing their wands at him by the time his brain catches up to what's going on. "Pray tell me what, exactly, brings you to my house."
"Malfoy, we are here to arrest Dean Thomas in the murder of Susan Bones along with the disappearances of Seamus Finnigan, Neville Longbottom, Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil and Luna Lovegood." Potter enters the room and gestures towards the Aurors. "You will accompany us to the Ministry."
"Am I a suspect in this, as well?"
"No."
"Then order your men to get their wands out of my face."
"Stand down, men," Potter says. "Start your search for any and all evidence while I talk to Malfoy."
"I assume you have all the proper paperwork to justify the unnecessary use of force currently being exhibited?"
"Of course." Potter pulls out scroll after scroll.
"Draco? Harry? What's going on? What happened?" Dean shouts as he's floated past.
"We'll figure this out - " Draco starts to comfort Dean as Potter says, "You are being remanded into custody. I told you to be honest with me."
"I didn't do anything!"
"Why is he able to talk?" Potter asks his men, tone cold and harsh. Draco, for all their animosity growing up, has never heard that tone coming from Potter.
"Sorry, sir." Dean's lips freeze in mid-plea.
"As we were discussing, Malfoy, here are all the orders, signed by the Minister himself and approved by the entire Wizengamot." Harry shakes the scrolls before tossing them on the desk. "Unanimously."
"When did Lovegood and Patil disappear?"
"Yesterday, snatched right off of Diagon Alley in bright daylight with plenty of people around."
"Dean was with me the entire day."
"The entire day? I doubt that as his wand's signature was found all over the scene."
"All day, Potter. We were working on his defence except for a few breaks for meals."
"Bullshit, Malfoy. Lie for him but that just means that I'll take you down for perjuring yourself."
Draco stands, crossing his arms and glaring at Potter. "More people are going to disappear if you don't get away from the idea that Dean didn't do this, regardless of his wand's signature. There could very well be another wand similar to his out there. It's not like Dragon Heartstring is all that uncommon."
"You can use that in the hearing. I just want my friends back."
"That is exactly what Dean and I want, as well. You think Dean doesn't want Seamus back, Potter? Do you know that he cries, at night, while he's wrapped up in that silly blanket from their bed? He sleeps with a little wooden bowl from their flat, for Merlin's sake! He wants his partner back more than you want your friend back but when you're so focused on Dean as the perpetrator that you're failing Dean just like you're failing Seamus and Longbottom and Patil and the rest!" Draco slams his hand on the desk and then stares at it, wondering the last time that he'd lost his temper to this point. He’d always thought Potter was an idiot, but Draco couldn’t believe that he was willing to be so blind.
"Nice attempt at the guilt-trip but I'm not taking it." Potter glares and then walks out of the room, following the path that his men had taken with Dean.
Rather than following Potter, Draco opens and scans the scrolls, cursing at the way that Potter's sealed up any possible legal wrangling that springs to Draco's mind immediately. Draco knows that Dean had been with him the entire day. He wishes he knew the words that would make Potter believe him. Then it comes to him, he can volunteer for Veritaserum about this.
Just when Draco had become so committed to Dean Thomas, he has no idea. Sure, he's Dean's counsel and he's committed, professionally, to the man. Personally, though? His father had to be rolling about in his grave to think of Draco having some sort of personal attachment to a Muggleborn. Add in that Draco had clearly invited a Muggleborn to stay in his ancestral home, had offered up the spare bedroom that Aunt Bellatrix had once slept in and Draco's quite certain that he'd never be able to explain this to his father because he can't think of a way to explain it to himself.
But he's in it now, in it far enough that he can no longer pretend that it's the challenge of beating the evidence that makes him want to free Dean. He actually cares what happens to Dean. It might've been the way that Dean had seemed so attached to that silly little bowl or the way that he'd cuddled into a pillow, wrapped in that blanket from his bedroom and had murmured Seamus's name so lovingly and brokenly. It might even be the way that Dean softens when he talks about Seamus, sighs when he thinks no one is paying attention and fingers at the worn edge of the Kestrals shirt that he sleeps in and wears incessantly.
Draco knows that Dean loves Seamus more than he loves himself and there's no way that with that sort of love, that Dean hurt Seamus as badly as the photos of his flat suggest.
Time Unknown
Seamus can feel blood trickling out of his nose and it tickles as it traces along his cheek and pools at his ear. For a second, he wonders if the rushing noise in his is the result of blood or if something's happened to damage his hearing but then his mind skitters away from that thought as he watches the door open and hears the snap of a glove.
"How's it feel to really forget, Seamus? You like that feeling?" The voice is familiar but Seamus can't remember anything.
"Please." It's the only word that he can get out through his cracked lips and dry, cotton-y mouth.
"Oh I will do as I please." Soon, it's not just his face that he can feel trickles of blood.
Nineteen Years and One-Hundred-Thirty-Four Days Later
"Dammit! Stop pretending, Dean! Did you fight over kids? Did you fight over something else? Just tell me already!" Harry shouts as he throws his hands in the air.
As he leans on the table, looming over Dean for once in their lives, there's a knock at the door. "What?!"
Sidney sticks his head in the door. "Sir, it's - "
"What exactly is so important that you would interrupt right now? Forget it, I'll discuss this outside with you." Harry shoves past Sidney into the hallway and then takes a deep breath, rubbing his hands down his face. It takes him a few minutes to achieve a sense of calm but he does it. "What is it, Sidney?"
"It's your wife, sir. She's missing."
"What?!"
"It's your wife, sir. Mister Weasley, err, that is, Ronald, is waiting in the lobby and reports that Mrs Potter is missing."
"When?" He can barely get the word out.
"This morning."
"Is there a crew over there?"
"On their way, sir."
"Thank you," Harry says as his knees wobble and he presses a hand against the wall. "I'll be in my office."
"What about Thomas, sir?"
"Just… just leave them in there for a moment." Harry hurries to his office, his legs only lasting just long enough to get him into the visitor's chair just inside the door. He has no idea how long he's there before Ron comes into the room and sits next to him.
"Ginny?" he whispers.
"Gone. The place is trashed. Might not still be an Auror but it all came back. There's a team going through right now. They'll Floo us as soon as they find out anything." Ron pats him on the shoulder and then stands to pace.
"I just saw her this morning."
"I know, mate. We'll get her back."
"Oh, god, what will I tell the kids?"
"Just breathe for now, yeah? Don't go bothering trouble."
"Sir?" Sidney's head pops up in the Floo.
"Report?"
"Same signature, sir. From what we can determine, we can tell that it's the same wand."
"The same? That's not possible, Sidney. Thomas has been in custody all night. It can't be the same."
"It is, sir."
"Then it couldn't be Dean and if it isn't Dean then…" Harry collapses further into the chair.
"Then it wasn't him at all," Ron finishes his thought for him.
"Sir?"
"Continue your investigation, write up your report. I need to go speak to Thomas."
"Yes, sir."
"Want me to come with? For old times' sake?"
"Crow'll taste bad enough with Malfoy there." Harry rubs his hand over his face and then skims it through his hair. "I'm so fucking stupid, Ron. Why didn't I believe in him?"
"Who else could it be? He was there for each of them."
"He says he wasn't there for Luna and Parvati. Says he was sleeping through Lav's disappearance."
"I wanted to think he's innocent here, too, but it was his wand. He was covered in Seamus's blood, he argued with Nev and Susan."
"Ron, you've known Dean just as long as I have. You think he did all of these? Be honest with me."
"No way. Dean's not capable. You and me? Maybe but Dean? No way."
"Who else could it be?"
"Who else would want to hurt any of us? Seamus wouldn't ever shut the hell up but it couldn't have driven someone to murder, right?"
"And why set Dean up for it? We're missing something."
"Go talk to Dean."
"Yeah, all right."
Time Unknown
Seamus's head throbs so much that his vision goes in and out of focus in time with his pulse. It reminds him of the dance clubs that he'd visited with Dean back in La Concha, Spain. The flashes of vision and the throb of his pulse mirror the strobe lights and the loud pounding music. All he needs now is Dean's body against his and it would be just about perfect, especially now that he knows what Dean's body feels like underneath him.
"Seamus?" Neville comes over and presses his hand against Seamus's forehead, forcing his eyes to open.
"Why're you here?"
"Carrows took me," Neville says, gaze skittering to the side.
"But…"
"But what?"
"But what about La Concha?" Seamus whispers it, afraid of why he can't quite remember anything when he thinks about it but when he doesn't, images flood back. He sees Dean smiling at him after they'd kissed, sees Dean glaring at him when he'd forgotten some party or another. He can see that there is no way that this little room is the Room of Requirement just like he can see that Neville isn't looking so good and that they're stuck somewhere awful.
"What's a La Concha?"
"It's a place, a beautiful place in Spain. I almost kissed Dean there."
"Kissed Dean?" Neville looks surprised at the idea of it and Seamus wonders why Neville doesn't remember that the pair of 'em have been together since… since forever it seems. His brain can't quite come up with the time but they've been together for so long that surely that's to be expected.
"Yeah. We've been dating for years, almost as long as you and Susan."
"Susan? I miss her. Why do I miss her? Who is she?"
"Yeah, Susan Bones. You've been together for a really long time." Seamus doesn't like the way that Neville pales, clutches at his stomach and drops in half.
"I don't feel so good."
"Where are we?"
"Room of Requirement."
"But that's impossible."
Nineteen Years and One-Hundred-Thirty-Four Days Later
When Harry walks back into the room, Dean just watches him approach while his stomach churns and feels like a rock in his gut. As soon as Harry had left the room, Draco had questioned him until his head ached. Nothing triggered a memory, not a single question, leaving Dean a confused and scared mess.
"Dean, I need you to go over what happened the night that Seamus disappeared."
Harry's tone doesn't give Dean anything to judge by. Before, it had been easy to figure out Harry's mood with the aggressive body language and the anger in his voice. This, though, this is just matter-of-fact and Dean's worry increases. After checking with Draco, Dean recites everything that he can remember.
"Shame and I met up after work for dinner with a bunch of people and then we went home. We were bickering on the way home, it's what we do. It was just bickering and then one of us opened the door and…and… nothing. I can't remember anything until that kid was standing over me."
"Who did you go to dinner with?"
"Just the regular group. It was me and Shame, Lav and her boyfriend and Parvati and Dennis. We were all laughing about the triple date because it's the first time we met Lav's boyfriend."
"You have his information?"
"No, can't even remember his name."
"Anything out of the ordinary?"
"No."
"And what about the night that Lav disappeared?"
"I went to work, came home, heated up some soup and then slept."
"What about Neville and Susan?"
"I can't believe I went to the pub but I didn't have anything to do with."
"Take me through it once more."
"Went to The Leaky just for a pint. Wanted a Mangers cause that's what Seamus likes and Dennis and I just had a bit of a chat. Then Nev and Susan came over and started talking about Shame like he's dead and gone and I admit it. I was pissed that they were writing him off. He's got to be out there somewhere. I'd know if he was dead." Dean can't think of anything else. They've been together for so long that, of course, Dean would know if something had happened to Seamus. It's been too painful missing him that Dean can't face spending the rest of his life like this. Shame drives him nuts but it's so obvious that Shame loves him and he loves Shame.
"You had a brush burn on your chest." The statement makes Dean rub his chest. The burn mark still itches.
"I don't know where it came from, honest, Harry."
"How'd you get home?"
"Walked."
"You stop anywhere else on your way home?"
"You've already asked these questions, Potter. You have a point you'd like to reach because otherwise, Dean has answered them, in the same way, multiple times previously."
"Ginny - "Harry starts to say and then bites at his fist as Dean watches. "I think you might - "
"When did the incident happen to Ginny?"
"Sometime this morning, after eight and before noon."
"My client was incarcerated in his cell at the time, Potter. There is no way that he could've passed the Anti-Apparition barriers, the various agents and Ministry security to do whatever it was to your wife."
"I know that!" Harry snaps at Draco and then turns to Dean. His voice softens once more. "Your wand's signature was still all over the location. I think you've been framed. I'm just trying to figure out who did it and find out what the hell's happening."
"I didn't hurt Seamus?" Hope twists inside him.
"I don't think that you did. I think someone wants us to think that and I think that they did a very good job at it and I fell right into it. I'm sorry is never going to cut it for how I thought that you were guilty."
"So you're saying that my client is no longer guilty and is, instead, a victim?"
"I'm saying that we're investigating other possibilities."
Dean'll take that much but he still has to ask, "You think any of them are alive? Maybe Shame?"
"I don't know, Dean. It's been how long?"
"Thirty-six days and at least fifteen hours and I just want Shame back."
"So when you walked home, did you stop anywhere?"
"Stopped at that little park where Shame and I used to go all the time. We'd play a bit of footie every Sunday. Just sat on a bench for an hour or so and then went back to the flat. Next thing I know, there's lights everywhere and I had that mark on my chest."
"Anyone walk with you?"
"Dennis walked with me for a bit but then he hared off to go back to Parvati, said something about her nagging at him to spend less time in the pub and giving him a curfew."
"So Dennis was there before Seamus disappeared and then again before Neville and Susan?" Draco starts scribbling madly.
"Harry, send a team to Creevey's flat." Draco looks up from his paperwork while Dean looks between the two of them. "He's got to be next."
"Just thinking the same thing."
Time Unknown
Seamus dreams of Spain, walking along the beach with Dean, their hands brushing one another as they stroll. The tension in his body is bursting with promise, with the need to seize the moment. The next time Dean's hand brushes his, the need to just reach out and grab it, entwine their fingers and tug Dean into his body, is so strong that he can already taste Dean's lips.
The dream slides until they're in the park next to their flat, playing footie with one another. Dean makes one of his silly, overly complicated moves, and Seamus steals the ball from him. Dean tackles him, sends him to the ground and then sprawls over him before leaning so close that Dean's breath brushes over his lips and teases at him. Their cocks are hard and so close. He's muttering curses at the clothes between them but Dean's only laughing and saying something about stealing the ball.
When he pushes up to kiss Dean, Dean disappears and Colin stares down at him, a twisted, disturbing smile on his face.
Nineteen Years and One-Hundred-Thirty-Four Days Later
Harry's team scrambles to keep up with him as he Apparates near the house that Parvati and Dennis share. Knocking on the door, he waits a moment for Dennis to answer and when he doesn't, he forces his way into the house.
"Look for hidden rooms, random walls, that sort of thing. There has to be something here."
"Sir?"
"It's Dennis, not Dean. Find the hiding place."
That's what had tickled at his brain yesterday. Dammit, Dennis had known that Dean's wand signature had been found at every scene but they hadn't released that information to the media. Harry had withheld it because he'd been trying to protect Dean. There's no way that anyone could know about Dean's signature at the scene unless he or she had been there.
Harry picks up the photo of the memorial, looking over the mantle for a small catch, and doesn't find anything. Frustrated, he slams the photo down and watches as the image shudders and then stops while he stares at the list of names frozen on the screen.
Bones, Amelia.
Dobby the House-Elf.
"Sir? You're going to want to see this," Sidney says behind him. Harry turns and follows Sidney deeper into the house, into a room the size of a large closet, to see clippings from the Daily Prophet all over the walls. There are photographs beside each of the articles, candid shots taken as if the subjects hadn't quite seen the photographer. There are articles about Greg Goyle's murder, the disappearance of Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson, even one about Millicent Bulstrode. There's a large photograph of Colin in the middle of the wall.
"Anything at all?"
"No, sir. We haven't found a room."
"Keep looking. Get more people here. Have we searched the outlying buildings?"
"Starting now, sir."
"Hurry," Harry says as his brain races to figure out how he'd got it so wrong and where his friends could be.
Time Unknown
"Colin?"
"Come now, Seamus, the drugs should've worn off by now." Dennis claps his hands together as he prepares the tools next to him. He's lost the opportunity to frame Dean for the rest of their deaths but by the time anyone finds his hidden area, he'll be lost in the world of Muggles. With their deaths, Colin's memory will finally be complete.
Seamus blinks at him, bleary-eyed and confused. "Dennis?"
"Very good, mate. You can remember things." Dennis smiles at him as he toys with the scalpel, the syringe and then moves his hands over to the wand.
"What're you doing? Did I have too much to drink?" Seamus struggles against his bonds and Dennis enjoys the way that fear creeps into Seamus's face. It's happened before, while he's had Seamus here, but Dennis enjoys it as much as he had the first time. Maybe even more because Seamus acts like it's so new. "What's going on?"
"If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. Buildings burn, people die but real love is forever," Dennis says, quoting a favorite Muggle movie. "And we can show that love through remembering them."
"I don't understand."
Dennis wants to tell Seamus how his memory won’t fail the way they all forgot Colin. How Oliver Wood had failed Colin and he'd paid for that. How the Slytherins that ran off and left Colin to stand up against the Death Eaters alone were now taken care of. He can feel the words on his tongue as he wants to tell Seamus about how much he’s enjoyed making Seamus and the others believe they’re back at Hogwarts. But that would make him a stereotypical villain and he's not that stupid. He knows that speed is necessary here and so none of the words leave his mouth. Colin can explain Dennis's devotion when Seamus and Colin meet on the other side.
"Goodbye, Seamus." Dennis steps away from him and then freezes in place before toppling over.
"Seamus?"
"Harry?"
Dennis curses to himself even as he feels the tears prickle. He's failed Colin just like everyone else.
Nineteen Years and One-Hundred-Thirty-Four Days Later
It takes hours to secure the scene and start the investigations. After finding the rest of his kidnapped friends, Harry escorts Dennis back to Headquarters, floating him past the cell where Dean sits. Harry would've appreciated a few more hours before he had to talk to Dean but he can't do that to Dean, not with Seamus at St Mungo's and asking for him.
After confirming that everything was covered, Harry unlocks Dean's cell and escorts him up to his office. "Dean, mate, I - "
"What's going on? Why's Dennis in a cell? Did you find Seamus? Can I see him? I just want to see him. Please."
"On behalf of the Ministry of Magic and the Department of Aurors, I would like to extend my formal apologies for the intensive questioning and treatment that you were subjected to," Harry says, retreating into formalities for a moment as he gathers what he wants to say. "However, as a friend, I realize that I can’t apologize enough to ever have you forgive me for suspecting you. I'm a rubbish friend and I won't make you sit here while I beg for your forgiveness. Seamus is at St Mungo's and I've asked for a Floo connection directly to St Mungo's so you can see him."
"Seamus is, that is, is he, please - "Dean looks between the fireplace and Harry, desperate hope radiating through everything from his words to his body language.
"Seamus is alive but extremely battered. As of about an hour ago, he was still undergoing testing, just like everyone else."
"They're all alive?"
"Yes. Dennis kept them hidden in a small shed in the back of the property." Harry stands and then gestures towards the Floo. "Once you step through, you should be near his room."
"Thanks, mate. Thank you for finding him. Thank you!" Dean stands and then hugs him fiercely before grabbing a pinch of powder and stepping through the Floo.
Nineteen Years and One-Hundred-Thirty-Four Days Later
Dean's brain is chanting SeamusSeamusSeamusSeamusSeamus as he rushes along the hallway towards the room the nurse had pointed out to him. He hears it in the pounding of his feet as he barely keeps himself from running. He hears it in his heartbeat as it thrums in his ears.
Once he's in the doorway, though, he freezes, the sudden stop making his shoes squeak on the floor. There's no way that the emaciated and wasted body in that bed is Seamus. There are too many bruises and extruding bones to be Seamus.
"Dean?" The body speaks with Seamus's voice and…and that has to be Seamus but it can't be. Dean's knees give way and he slumps against the doorjamb. "You gonna just stand in the door or you going to come here?"
"Shame," Dean breathes out.
"Dean," Seamus responds and holds out his hand. Dean's across the room and gripping it between his hands before he realises.
"Missed my gallery showing, you wanker," Dean says and is proud of the way that his voice doesn't shake overly much. "Left the place a mess, too."
Seamus gives a watery laugh. "I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again."
"Too right." Dean leans over Seamus and brushes his lips over Seamus's as he brushes his hand across Seamus's forehead, smoothing away the wrinkles there. "Missed you."
"Me, too," Seamus says.
Dean watches as he struggles against the bed. Cupping the back of Seamus's neck, Dean lifts him up and then kisses him again, this time it's all tongue and lips and teeth as they kiss. He's never felt anything as amazing as Seamus's hands on his cheeks and thrusting into his hair. The pinch of hair being pulled as Seamus's digs his hands in further feels glorious, makes him feel alive and eases the numbness he's had since this started.
"I remember your taste," Seamus murmurs against his lips when they break apart, foreheads pressed together as they pant for air. "I remember your taste."
As always, I'd love to hear what you thought.
Fandom: Harry Potter
Author: wook77
Pairing: Dean/Seamus, Harry/Ginny, Neville/Susan, Dennis/Parvati
Rating: R
Wordcount: ~20,000
Warnings: graphics, timeline jumping, Spoiler Warnings (highlight to read)*possible violent content, discussions of character death, canon compliant, epilogue compliant, minor character death*
Summary: Sometimes, you don't know what you've got until it's gone. Dean is about to understand just what Seamus's incessant babble means to him. Harry's left to piece together just what went wrong.
A/N: See Part 1 for A/N
Part 1
Part 2
Time Unknown
Seamus's muscles ache worse than when he'd gone to sleep, new twinges coming from his ankles and knees. Yet again, he wishes for a wand.
"Seamus? Oh Merlin! You're alive! Oh Seamus, you're alive, oh Merlin, oh Seamus!" Seamus opens his eyes to see Lavender running across the room at him. She tosses herself on top of Seamus, hugging him fiercely just like… he shakes his head and then wonders how much of a number the Carrows had done to him that he keeps losing thoughts.
"Course I am, Lav," he says as he hugs her back and tries to keep her elbows from hitting Neville. "Nev's here, too."
"Oh Neville!" Lavender cries out and then hugs Neville, too. "I heard about Susan. I was so scared that you were dead, too."
"No, I'm as right as I can be. As anyone can be with all this shite."
"What's going on?" Lav asks as she takes in the small room and the bruises all over Seamus and Neville.
"Carrows chase you in here too? They got me first and then Nev and Colin."
"Colin? But, he's - " Neville covers Lavender's mouth with his hand, silencing her.
"Colin's here."
"But he can't be," she whispers after Neville removes his hand.
"He is, far as we're concerned."
"But - "
"You'll see."
Nineteen Years and One-Hundred-Thirty-Three Days Later
One of the oddest things to come out of the war is the friendship between Luna Lovegood and Parvati Patil. Had anyone asked them, back in Hogwarts, if they'd ever even be polite to one another, Parvati would've laughed at them. Friendly with Loony Lovegood? No way, she would've scoffed.
However, here they sit at lunch together in the middle of Diagon Alley after a day of shopping. Parvati's loath to end the visit but she's due home soon.
"When are you back in England again?" she asks as they gather their bags and head towards The Leaky.
"Possibly in a few months. It depends on whether the twins want to spend the holidays at school."
A breeze plays with Parvati's hair, causing a ribbon to blow out of it. "Oh, bugger! Dennis got me that for my birthday!"
Parvati ducks down the alleyway after the ribbon, Luna chasing after her. They're making a right sight of themselves as they chase further down the alley after the ribbon.
"Got it!" Parvati shouts as she turns with the ribbon in her hand. Just as quickly as she had gripped it, she drops it in shock at the sight of Luna lying in the middle of her bags of shopping, legs twisted awkwardly. "Luna?"
Luna doesn't answer and as Parvati approaches, her vision blurs, her knees wobble and then she remembers nothing else.
Eleven Years and Six Days Later
"I think we need a bigger flat," Seamus says as he walks through the door. "Maybe closer to the Ministry or something."
"Why?" Dean doesn't look up from his sketch except to reach for the pens that have somehow worked their way between the cushions of their sofa.
"Maybe so you could have studio space?" Seamus pushes Dean over, yanking a pen from underneath his arse. "And we'd have a sofa we could cuddle on rather than a crap artist's table that doubles as a rundown sofa, complete with paint stains?"
"There aren't that many. Besides, this sofa has character, which is more than I can say for you."
"I'll have you know I have more character in my pinky finger than you do in your entire body!" Seamus cries out and then tackles Dean to the sofa, kissing him during the tumble. Automatically, Dean's hands encircle Seamus's waist and pull him even closer as they force their way under Seamus's shirt.
He takes a moment to yank Seamus's shirt over his head and then his hands roam over the exposed skin. "Love the feel of you."
"Love the feel of you, too. Love the taste of you," Seamus says as he licks Dean's collarbone before nipping it and then sliding his way down Dean's chest. "Love you."
"Me, too, so much, there, Seamus, bite it," Dean mutters as Seamus nips at his nipple. He arches into Seamus's hands as papers crinkle under him.
"There's an awkward noise." Seamus stops licking at him to yank at the paper under Dean. "Whatever would Harry say to know that we were making out on his face?"
"Huh?" Dean's still fixated on the way that Seamus's hands are no longer on his body. "Why would we be making out on Harry's face?"
"Because he's in The Daily Prophet in an article about Dark Arts being used against Marcus Flint and Millicent Bulstrode while they were honeymooning in the South of France."
"Way to kill the mood, Shame. Just what I want to think about while we're making out. Oh Bulstrode, please invade our moment with thoughts of you and Flint fucking like rabbits."
"Oh Marcus," Seamus coos in a falsetto voice as he bats his lashes, "Take me, big boy. You and your awful teeth, take me hard, you strong ox, you!"
"I hate you."
Time Unknown
Who was Dean?
Nineteen Years and One-Hundred-Thirty-Three Days Later
Harry hates these moments, hates having to tell loved ones that they're never going to see someone again. It's even harder when it's a friend. Harry still remembers having to tell Oliver Wood's mother about his disappearance and that, in all likelihood, she had lost her son. It had been the first time he'd ever had to tell someone about a friend. She'd cried and soaked his shirt and robes but he'd held on to her as she collapsed in front of him. They'd sat on that floor for hours. Harry had talked to her until his voice gave out about everything that Oliver had done.
"Hi, Harry. What brings you here?" Dennis says as he opens the door.
"May I come in, Dennis?"
"Sure! Of course." Dennis pulls the door open wider and then gestures for Harry to come in. "Want something? Dunno what we have, that's all Parv and she's out shopping but I'm certain I can manage some tea."
"Let's just sit, all right?" Harry waves a hand towards the sofa. "It's about Parvati."
"Yes?"
"When did she leave the house?"
"After I went off to work so after half-eight this morning? Why?" Harry hates the way that fear starts to creep in around the edges of Dennis's voice as it increases in volume and pitch.
"She's missing, Dennis."
"That's not right. She's out shopping with Luna. They're in Diagon Alley. Should we Floo over and see?"
"She's missing, Dennis."
"Was it Dean?" Dennis leans forward and stares at him intently, eyes roaming all over and Harry feels for him with the way that he's searching for an answer.
"Can't tell right now, it's too soon. We're still investigating."
"Bet it was. He's been with everyone so far, hasn't he? Suspicious that he can't remember anything and that his wand signature's been found at every scene." Dennis leans back against the couch, arm slung over the back of it.
Something teases at the edge of Harry's brain. Shaking it off, Harry reaches out and pats Dennis's knee. "We'll find out who did this and we'll find Parvati."
"Never did find Oliver Wood, did you? Nor a bunch of others."
"This case is different." Harry stands and starts pacing as he figures out what he can tell Dennis and what he can't.
"So you don't know where Parvati or any of the others are? Dean hasn't told you?"
"We're exploring all avenues." Harry looks around the room as he avoids the question. He sees the same photo that Dean and Seamus had up in their flat, the same photograph that Harry, himself, has. It's on the mantle just next to a photo of the memorial, the Gryffindor Crest and the names scrolling past in the photo.
"Come on, Harry, we're friends. Stop with the official speak and tell me what's going on, please."
"Dean's not said a thing and we're still investigating. The witness from today only saw a black-robed figure and then the three of them Apparating away."
"So they didn't see Dean take them?"
"Not that I'm aware."
"You'll keep me updated?"
"Of course." Harry picks up the photo of the group and waves it at Dennis. "What the hell happened since this photo that we're all so messed up? Who would hurt any of us? Why would they?"
"Probably something you've forgotten." There's an edge to Dennis's voice that Harry's only heard when Dennis speaks of Colin.
"I'll figure it out," Harry says as he sets the photo back on the mantle and then Dennis is ushering him out the door. Harry hears something crash against the door and he shakes his head. Poor Dennis, first he loses friends and then his wife disappears.
Time Unknown
The next time Seamus wakes up, there are even more people in the room. "Luna? I thought they got you on the ride back."
"No, Seamus, I was snatched just now."
"Parvati?"
"She's not well, Seamus," Luna says as Seamus struggles to get up from the bed and approach the three women where they huddle in the far corner.
"Where's Colin?"
"Gone," Neville answers while Parvati sobs harder.
Transcription: Seamus,
Thought maybe if I got more information, you might be willing to at least think about it. Can you at least think about it? Please?
Dean
Enclosures: Petition for Magical Adoption with Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan filled in as prospective parents.
Nineteen Years and One-Hundred-Thirty-Four Days Later
Draco startles at the way that the doors to his house slam open and Aurors pour in. There's at least ten of them, probably the entire department, that invade and point wands as they scatter through his house. He has four of them pointing their wands at him by the time his brain catches up to what's going on. "Pray tell me what, exactly, brings you to my house."
"Malfoy, we are here to arrest Dean Thomas in the murder of Susan Bones along with the disappearances of Seamus Finnigan, Neville Longbottom, Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil and Luna Lovegood." Potter enters the room and gestures towards the Aurors. "You will accompany us to the Ministry."
"Am I a suspect in this, as well?"
"No."
"Then order your men to get their wands out of my face."
"Stand down, men," Potter says. "Start your search for any and all evidence while I talk to Malfoy."
"I assume you have all the proper paperwork to justify the unnecessary use of force currently being exhibited?"
"Of course." Potter pulls out scroll after scroll.
"Draco? Harry? What's going on? What happened?" Dean shouts as he's floated past.
"We'll figure this out - " Draco starts to comfort Dean as Potter says, "You are being remanded into custody. I told you to be honest with me."
"I didn't do anything!"
"Why is he able to talk?" Potter asks his men, tone cold and harsh. Draco, for all their animosity growing up, has never heard that tone coming from Potter.
"Sorry, sir." Dean's lips freeze in mid-plea.
"As we were discussing, Malfoy, here are all the orders, signed by the Minister himself and approved by the entire Wizengamot." Harry shakes the scrolls before tossing them on the desk. "Unanimously."
"When did Lovegood and Patil disappear?"
"Yesterday, snatched right off of Diagon Alley in bright daylight with plenty of people around."
"Dean was with me the entire day."
"The entire day? I doubt that as his wand's signature was found all over the scene."
"All day, Potter. We were working on his defence except for a few breaks for meals."
"Bullshit, Malfoy. Lie for him but that just means that I'll take you down for perjuring yourself."
Draco stands, crossing his arms and glaring at Potter. "More people are going to disappear if you don't get away from the idea that Dean didn't do this, regardless of his wand's signature. There could very well be another wand similar to his out there. It's not like Dragon Heartstring is all that uncommon."
"You can use that in the hearing. I just want my friends back."
"That is exactly what Dean and I want, as well. You think Dean doesn't want Seamus back, Potter? Do you know that he cries, at night, while he's wrapped up in that silly blanket from their bed? He sleeps with a little wooden bowl from their flat, for Merlin's sake! He wants his partner back more than you want your friend back but when you're so focused on Dean as the perpetrator that you're failing Dean just like you're failing Seamus and Longbottom and Patil and the rest!" Draco slams his hand on the desk and then stares at it, wondering the last time that he'd lost his temper to this point. He’d always thought Potter was an idiot, but Draco couldn’t believe that he was willing to be so blind.
"Nice attempt at the guilt-trip but I'm not taking it." Potter glares and then walks out of the room, following the path that his men had taken with Dean.
Rather than following Potter, Draco opens and scans the scrolls, cursing at the way that Potter's sealed up any possible legal wrangling that springs to Draco's mind immediately. Draco knows that Dean had been with him the entire day. He wishes he knew the words that would make Potter believe him. Then it comes to him, he can volunteer for Veritaserum about this.
Just when Draco had become so committed to Dean Thomas, he has no idea. Sure, he's Dean's counsel and he's committed, professionally, to the man. Personally, though? His father had to be rolling about in his grave to think of Draco having some sort of personal attachment to a Muggleborn. Add in that Draco had clearly invited a Muggleborn to stay in his ancestral home, had offered up the spare bedroom that Aunt Bellatrix had once slept in and Draco's quite certain that he'd never be able to explain this to his father because he can't think of a way to explain it to himself.
But he's in it now, in it far enough that he can no longer pretend that it's the challenge of beating the evidence that makes him want to free Dean. He actually cares what happens to Dean. It might've been the way that Dean had seemed so attached to that silly little bowl or the way that he'd cuddled into a pillow, wrapped in that blanket from his bedroom and had murmured Seamus's name so lovingly and brokenly. It might even be the way that Dean softens when he talks about Seamus, sighs when he thinks no one is paying attention and fingers at the worn edge of the Kestrals shirt that he sleeps in and wears incessantly.
Draco knows that Dean loves Seamus more than he loves himself and there's no way that with that sort of love, that Dean hurt Seamus as badly as the photos of his flat suggest.
Time Unknown
Seamus can feel blood trickling out of his nose and it tickles as it traces along his cheek and pools at his ear. For a second, he wonders if the rushing noise in his is the result of blood or if something's happened to damage his hearing but then his mind skitters away from that thought as he watches the door open and hears the snap of a glove.
"How's it feel to really forget, Seamus? You like that feeling?" The voice is familiar but Seamus can't remember anything.
"Please." It's the only word that he can get out through his cracked lips and dry, cotton-y mouth.
"Oh I will do as I please." Soon, it's not just his face that he can feel trickles of blood.
Nineteen Years and One-Hundred-Thirty-Four Days Later
"Dammit! Stop pretending, Dean! Did you fight over kids? Did you fight over something else? Just tell me already!" Harry shouts as he throws his hands in the air.
As he leans on the table, looming over Dean for once in their lives, there's a knock at the door. "What?!"
Sidney sticks his head in the door. "Sir, it's - "
"What exactly is so important that you would interrupt right now? Forget it, I'll discuss this outside with you." Harry shoves past Sidney into the hallway and then takes a deep breath, rubbing his hands down his face. It takes him a few minutes to achieve a sense of calm but he does it. "What is it, Sidney?"
"It's your wife, sir. She's missing."
"What?!"
"It's your wife, sir. Mister Weasley, err, that is, Ronald, is waiting in the lobby and reports that Mrs Potter is missing."
"When?" He can barely get the word out.
"This morning."
"Is there a crew over there?"
"On their way, sir."
"Thank you," Harry says as his knees wobble and he presses a hand against the wall. "I'll be in my office."
"What about Thomas, sir?"
"Just… just leave them in there for a moment." Harry hurries to his office, his legs only lasting just long enough to get him into the visitor's chair just inside the door. He has no idea how long he's there before Ron comes into the room and sits next to him.
"Ginny?" he whispers.
"Gone. The place is trashed. Might not still be an Auror but it all came back. There's a team going through right now. They'll Floo us as soon as they find out anything." Ron pats him on the shoulder and then stands to pace.
"I just saw her this morning."
"I know, mate. We'll get her back."
"Oh, god, what will I tell the kids?"
"Just breathe for now, yeah? Don't go bothering trouble."
"Sir?" Sidney's head pops up in the Floo.
"Report?"
"Same signature, sir. From what we can determine, we can tell that it's the same wand."
"The same? That's not possible, Sidney. Thomas has been in custody all night. It can't be the same."
"It is, sir."
"Then it couldn't be Dean and if it isn't Dean then…" Harry collapses further into the chair.
"Then it wasn't him at all," Ron finishes his thought for him.
"Sir?"
"Continue your investigation, write up your report. I need to go speak to Thomas."
"Yes, sir."
"Want me to come with? For old times' sake?"
"Crow'll taste bad enough with Malfoy there." Harry rubs his hand over his face and then skims it through his hair. "I'm so fucking stupid, Ron. Why didn't I believe in him?"
"Who else could it be? He was there for each of them."
"He says he wasn't there for Luna and Parvati. Says he was sleeping through Lav's disappearance."
"I wanted to think he's innocent here, too, but it was his wand. He was covered in Seamus's blood, he argued with Nev and Susan."
"Ron, you've known Dean just as long as I have. You think he did all of these? Be honest with me."
"No way. Dean's not capable. You and me? Maybe but Dean? No way."
"Who else could it be?"
"Who else would want to hurt any of us? Seamus wouldn't ever shut the hell up but it couldn't have driven someone to murder, right?"
"And why set Dean up for it? We're missing something."
"Go talk to Dean."
"Yeah, all right."
Time Unknown
Seamus's head throbs so much that his vision goes in and out of focus in time with his pulse. It reminds him of the dance clubs that he'd visited with Dean back in La Concha, Spain. The flashes of vision and the throb of his pulse mirror the strobe lights and the loud pounding music. All he needs now is Dean's body against his and it would be just about perfect, especially now that he knows what Dean's body feels like underneath him.
"Seamus?" Neville comes over and presses his hand against Seamus's forehead, forcing his eyes to open.
"Why're you here?"
"Carrows took me," Neville says, gaze skittering to the side.
"But…"
"But what?"
"But what about La Concha?" Seamus whispers it, afraid of why he can't quite remember anything when he thinks about it but when he doesn't, images flood back. He sees Dean smiling at him after they'd kissed, sees Dean glaring at him when he'd forgotten some party or another. He can see that there is no way that this little room is the Room of Requirement just like he can see that Neville isn't looking so good and that they're stuck somewhere awful.
"What's a La Concha?"
"It's a place, a beautiful place in Spain. I almost kissed Dean there."
"Kissed Dean?" Neville looks surprised at the idea of it and Seamus wonders why Neville doesn't remember that the pair of 'em have been together since… since forever it seems. His brain can't quite come up with the time but they've been together for so long that surely that's to be expected.
"Yeah. We've been dating for years, almost as long as you and Susan."
"Susan? I miss her. Why do I miss her? Who is she?"
"Yeah, Susan Bones. You've been together for a really long time." Seamus doesn't like the way that Neville pales, clutches at his stomach and drops in half.
"I don't feel so good."
"Where are we?"
"Room of Requirement."
"But that's impossible."
Nineteen Years and One-Hundred-Thirty-Four Days Later
When Harry walks back into the room, Dean just watches him approach while his stomach churns and feels like a rock in his gut. As soon as Harry had left the room, Draco had questioned him until his head ached. Nothing triggered a memory, not a single question, leaving Dean a confused and scared mess.
"Dean, I need you to go over what happened the night that Seamus disappeared."
Harry's tone doesn't give Dean anything to judge by. Before, it had been easy to figure out Harry's mood with the aggressive body language and the anger in his voice. This, though, this is just matter-of-fact and Dean's worry increases. After checking with Draco, Dean recites everything that he can remember.
"Shame and I met up after work for dinner with a bunch of people and then we went home. We were bickering on the way home, it's what we do. It was just bickering and then one of us opened the door and…and… nothing. I can't remember anything until that kid was standing over me."
"Who did you go to dinner with?"
"Just the regular group. It was me and Shame, Lav and her boyfriend and Parvati and Dennis. We were all laughing about the triple date because it's the first time we met Lav's boyfriend."
"You have his information?"
"No, can't even remember his name."
"Anything out of the ordinary?"
"No."
"And what about the night that Lav disappeared?"
"I went to work, came home, heated up some soup and then slept."
"What about Neville and Susan?"
"I can't believe I went to the pub but I didn't have anything to do with."
"Take me through it once more."
"Went to The Leaky just for a pint. Wanted a Mangers cause that's what Seamus likes and Dennis and I just had a bit of a chat. Then Nev and Susan came over and started talking about Shame like he's dead and gone and I admit it. I was pissed that they were writing him off. He's got to be out there somewhere. I'd know if he was dead." Dean can't think of anything else. They've been together for so long that, of course, Dean would know if something had happened to Seamus. It's been too painful missing him that Dean can't face spending the rest of his life like this. Shame drives him nuts but it's so obvious that Shame loves him and he loves Shame.
"You had a brush burn on your chest." The statement makes Dean rub his chest. The burn mark still itches.
"I don't know where it came from, honest, Harry."
"How'd you get home?"
"Walked."
"You stop anywhere else on your way home?"
"You've already asked these questions, Potter. You have a point you'd like to reach because otherwise, Dean has answered them, in the same way, multiple times previously."
"Ginny - "Harry starts to say and then bites at his fist as Dean watches. "I think you might - "
"When did the incident happen to Ginny?"
"Sometime this morning, after eight and before noon."
"My client was incarcerated in his cell at the time, Potter. There is no way that he could've passed the Anti-Apparition barriers, the various agents and Ministry security to do whatever it was to your wife."
"I know that!" Harry snaps at Draco and then turns to Dean. His voice softens once more. "Your wand's signature was still all over the location. I think you've been framed. I'm just trying to figure out who did it and find out what the hell's happening."
"I didn't hurt Seamus?" Hope twists inside him.
"I don't think that you did. I think someone wants us to think that and I think that they did a very good job at it and I fell right into it. I'm sorry is never going to cut it for how I thought that you were guilty."
"So you're saying that my client is no longer guilty and is, instead, a victim?"
"I'm saying that we're investigating other possibilities."
Dean'll take that much but he still has to ask, "You think any of them are alive? Maybe Shame?"
"I don't know, Dean. It's been how long?"
"Thirty-six days and at least fifteen hours and I just want Shame back."
"So when you walked home, did you stop anywhere?"
"Stopped at that little park where Shame and I used to go all the time. We'd play a bit of footie every Sunday. Just sat on a bench for an hour or so and then went back to the flat. Next thing I know, there's lights everywhere and I had that mark on my chest."
"Anyone walk with you?"
"Dennis walked with me for a bit but then he hared off to go back to Parvati, said something about her nagging at him to spend less time in the pub and giving him a curfew."
"So Dennis was there before Seamus disappeared and then again before Neville and Susan?" Draco starts scribbling madly.
"Harry, send a team to Creevey's flat." Draco looks up from his paperwork while Dean looks between the two of them. "He's got to be next."
"Just thinking the same thing."
Time Unknown
Seamus dreams of Spain, walking along the beach with Dean, their hands brushing one another as they stroll. The tension in his body is bursting with promise, with the need to seize the moment. The next time Dean's hand brushes his, the need to just reach out and grab it, entwine their fingers and tug Dean into his body, is so strong that he can already taste Dean's lips.
The dream slides until they're in the park next to their flat, playing footie with one another. Dean makes one of his silly, overly complicated moves, and Seamus steals the ball from him. Dean tackles him, sends him to the ground and then sprawls over him before leaning so close that Dean's breath brushes over his lips and teases at him. Their cocks are hard and so close. He's muttering curses at the clothes between them but Dean's only laughing and saying something about stealing the ball.
When he pushes up to kiss Dean, Dean disappears and Colin stares down at him, a twisted, disturbing smile on his face.
Nineteen Years and One-Hundred-Thirty-Four Days Later
Harry's team scrambles to keep up with him as he Apparates near the house that Parvati and Dennis share. Knocking on the door, he waits a moment for Dennis to answer and when he doesn't, he forces his way into the house.
"Look for hidden rooms, random walls, that sort of thing. There has to be something here."
"Sir?"
"It's Dennis, not Dean. Find the hiding place."
That's what had tickled at his brain yesterday. Dammit, Dennis had known that Dean's wand signature had been found at every scene but they hadn't released that information to the media. Harry had withheld it because he'd been trying to protect Dean. There's no way that anyone could know about Dean's signature at the scene unless he or she had been there.
Harry picks up the photo of the memorial, looking over the mantle for a small catch, and doesn't find anything. Frustrated, he slams the photo down and watches as the image shudders and then stops while he stares at the list of names frozen on the screen.
Bones, Amelia.
Dobby the House-Elf.
"Sir? You're going to want to see this," Sidney says behind him. Harry turns and follows Sidney deeper into the house, into a room the size of a large closet, to see clippings from the Daily Prophet all over the walls. There are photographs beside each of the articles, candid shots taken as if the subjects hadn't quite seen the photographer. There are articles about Greg Goyle's murder, the disappearance of Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson, even one about Millicent Bulstrode. There's a large photograph of Colin in the middle of the wall.
"Anything at all?"
"No, sir. We haven't found a room."
"Keep looking. Get more people here. Have we searched the outlying buildings?"
"Starting now, sir."
"Hurry," Harry says as his brain races to figure out how he'd got it so wrong and where his friends could be.
Time Unknown
"Colin?"
"Come now, Seamus, the drugs should've worn off by now." Dennis claps his hands together as he prepares the tools next to him. He's lost the opportunity to frame Dean for the rest of their deaths but by the time anyone finds his hidden area, he'll be lost in the world of Muggles. With their deaths, Colin's memory will finally be complete.
Seamus blinks at him, bleary-eyed and confused. "Dennis?"
"Very good, mate. You can remember things." Dennis smiles at him as he toys with the scalpel, the syringe and then moves his hands over to the wand.
"What're you doing? Did I have too much to drink?" Seamus struggles against his bonds and Dennis enjoys the way that fear creeps into Seamus's face. It's happened before, while he's had Seamus here, but Dennis enjoys it as much as he had the first time. Maybe even more because Seamus acts like it's so new. "What's going on?"
"If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. Buildings burn, people die but real love is forever," Dennis says, quoting a favorite Muggle movie. "And we can show that love through remembering them."
"I don't understand."
Dennis wants to tell Seamus how his memory won’t fail the way they all forgot Colin. How Oliver Wood had failed Colin and he'd paid for that. How the Slytherins that ran off and left Colin to stand up against the Death Eaters alone were now taken care of. He can feel the words on his tongue as he wants to tell Seamus about how much he’s enjoyed making Seamus and the others believe they’re back at Hogwarts. But that would make him a stereotypical villain and he's not that stupid. He knows that speed is necessary here and so none of the words leave his mouth. Colin can explain Dennis's devotion when Seamus and Colin meet on the other side.
"Goodbye, Seamus." Dennis steps away from him and then freezes in place before toppling over.
"Seamus?"
"Harry?"
Dennis curses to himself even as he feels the tears prickle. He's failed Colin just like everyone else.
Nineteen Years and One-Hundred-Thirty-Four Days Later
It takes hours to secure the scene and start the investigations. After finding the rest of his kidnapped friends, Harry escorts Dennis back to Headquarters, floating him past the cell where Dean sits. Harry would've appreciated a few more hours before he had to talk to Dean but he can't do that to Dean, not with Seamus at St Mungo's and asking for him.
After confirming that everything was covered, Harry unlocks Dean's cell and escorts him up to his office. "Dean, mate, I - "
"What's going on? Why's Dennis in a cell? Did you find Seamus? Can I see him? I just want to see him. Please."
"On behalf of the Ministry of Magic and the Department of Aurors, I would like to extend my formal apologies for the intensive questioning and treatment that you were subjected to," Harry says, retreating into formalities for a moment as he gathers what he wants to say. "However, as a friend, I realize that I can’t apologize enough to ever have you forgive me for suspecting you. I'm a rubbish friend and I won't make you sit here while I beg for your forgiveness. Seamus is at St Mungo's and I've asked for a Floo connection directly to St Mungo's so you can see him."
"Seamus is, that is, is he, please - "Dean looks between the fireplace and Harry, desperate hope radiating through everything from his words to his body language.
"Seamus is alive but extremely battered. As of about an hour ago, he was still undergoing testing, just like everyone else."
"They're all alive?"
"Yes. Dennis kept them hidden in a small shed in the back of the property." Harry stands and then gestures towards the Floo. "Once you step through, you should be near his room."
"Thanks, mate. Thank you for finding him. Thank you!" Dean stands and then hugs him fiercely before grabbing a pinch of powder and stepping through the Floo.
Nineteen Years and One-Hundred-Thirty-Four Days Later
Dean's brain is chanting SeamusSeamusSeamusSeamusSeamus as he rushes along the hallway towards the room the nurse had pointed out to him. He hears it in the pounding of his feet as he barely keeps himself from running. He hears it in his heartbeat as it thrums in his ears.
Once he's in the doorway, though, he freezes, the sudden stop making his shoes squeak on the floor. There's no way that the emaciated and wasted body in that bed is Seamus. There are too many bruises and extruding bones to be Seamus.
"Dean?" The body speaks with Seamus's voice and…and that has to be Seamus but it can't be. Dean's knees give way and he slumps against the doorjamb. "You gonna just stand in the door or you going to come here?"
"Shame," Dean breathes out.
"Dean," Seamus responds and holds out his hand. Dean's across the room and gripping it between his hands before he realises.
"Missed my gallery showing, you wanker," Dean says and is proud of the way that his voice doesn't shake overly much. "Left the place a mess, too."
Seamus gives a watery laugh. "I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again."
"Too right." Dean leans over Seamus and brushes his lips over Seamus's as he brushes his hand across Seamus's forehead, smoothing away the wrinkles there. "Missed you."
"Me, too," Seamus says.
Dean watches as he struggles against the bed. Cupping the back of Seamus's neck, Dean lifts him up and then kisses him again, this time it's all tongue and lips and teeth as they kiss. He's never felt anything as amazing as Seamus's hands on his cheeks and thrusting into his hair. The pinch of hair being pulled as Seamus's digs his hands in further feels glorious, makes him feel alive and eases the numbness he's had since this started.
"I remember your taste," Seamus murmurs against his lips when they break apart, foreheads pressed together as they pant for air. "I remember your taste."
As always, I'd love to hear what you thought.