Deamus Fanfiction

Chapter One

Dean

The Yule Ball had only started an hour ago, but Dean already wished it was over.

The walls of the Great Hall glittered with artificial frost that he knew Professor Flitwick had charmed to keep it from melting, and the house tables had been replaced with smaller tables, all lit by lanterns and decorated festively. The teachers had gone all-out to impress the guests from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Dean wished he was sitting with Seamus, so they could have a good laugh at how over-the-top it all was. But Seamus was a few seats down, and by the looks of it, engrossed in conversation with Lavender, who was his date.

Seamus had asked Lavender to go to the ball with him last week. He and Dean were among the last boys in the year to secure dates, apart from Harry and Ron. Bloody hell, even Neville had found someone before they did. Dean had considered asking Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff - he'd heard from Ernie Macmillan that no one had asked her yet - but something stopped him. A tiny sliver of hope, buried deep inside him that try as he might, he couldn't ignore.

But one night Seamus had come into the common room slightly flushed in the face, flopped into an armchair beside him and said, "Guess who just got a date to the ball?"

"Oh, bloody hell," Dean had said. "Don't tell me it's Harry and Ron. If they did, we're the only losers left with no dates."

"Not them," Seamus had said, looking at Dean's shoulder as if determined to avoid eye contact. "Me."

Dean had felt a plunging sensation in his chest, like something was falling very fast and very far inside him.

"You?" he'd said, and he'd been dismayed to hear the note of disappointment that had crept involuntarily into his voice.

"I asked Lavender just now, and she said yeah." Seamus' eyes had flicked up to meet his for a moment. For once, Dean couldn't read the expression on his best friend's face.

"Oh."

"Don't worry, there's still a few girls no one's asked yet. You might even get a Beauxbatons one."

"Yeah," Dean had found himself saying. "Yeah, you're probably right."

They hadn't discussed the topic of dates again, but the next day Dean had asked a girl named Céline from Beauxbatons if she'd go with him and thankfully, she'd agreed. She was nice enough, Dean thought, but sustaining a polite conversation with her was exhausting. Nothing like the easy banter between him and Seamus, which was effortless. He'd also noticed that Céline didn't have much in the way of a sense of humour; he'd gotten so used to Seamus laughing his head off at every joke he told that he'd forgotten some people didn't find the same things funny they did. He imagined how much he'd be enjoying himself if neither he nor Seamus had gotten dates; they could have stuffed themselves with all the delicious food being served, sussed out who was here with who, and laughed at Ron's hideous dress robes. Instead, he just wanted the night to end so he could go back to the Gryffindor dormitory.

When everyone had finished eating, Dumbledore asked them all to stand up. He then waved his wand, making the tables shoot back against the walls and clearing the floor. He conjured up a stage on one side of the room. The Weird Sisters, who Seamus had introduced him to in their first year, climbed up on stage and began to play a slow, sad song. The lanterns dimmed as the dance floor lit up, and the four champions and their partners stood up. Dean saw Parvati Patil nudging Harry, who looked like he had no idea what was going on; he tripped over his dress robes when he stood up. Instinctively, Dean leaned forward and looked down the table at Seamus. As they made eye contact, they both grinned. Dean felt that flood of warmth that came with sharing an inside joke, and maybe with something else too.

As soon as the champions finished their first dance - during which Harry looked hilariously awkward - everyone else flooded onto the dance floor. Dean saw Hermione Granger, barely recognisable with sleek hair and a blue dress, dancing with Viktor Krum. His first impulse was to turn to Seamus and point this out, but Seamus and Lavender had left the table. In fact, everyone had, except him and Céline.

"Can we dance now?" Céline asked.

"Sure. Let's go." Dean tried to smile at her, but it fell flat.

As they weaved their way onto the crowded dance floor, Dean felt his eyes searching the crowd for Seamus.

"Ees sometheeng wrong?" Céline said, watching him. "Deed you lose sometheeng?"

Dean shook his head. He tried to dance with Céline like he was having a good time, but he couldn't stop wondering where Seamus was. If he was dancing with Lavender. Why he'd even asked her to the ball in the first place. Did Seamus fancy Lavender? Surely he, Dean, would have noticed if that was the case?

After a couple of songs, Dean told Céline he had to go to the bathroom. He squeezed through the crowd and walked quickly away from the dance floor. The Weird Sisters were now playing a fast song with a pounding bass line that he could feel vibrating in his chest. He caught sight of Harry and Ron sitting at a table by themselves, looking thoroughly depressed. It seemed to Dean that their dates had abandoned them. He considered joining them for a split second, but decided against it.

Instead, he went to the nearest bathroom, locked himself in and sat down on the closed toilet lid, his head in his hands.