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THE WAR IS GETTING CLOSER, and he can feel it.
The Room of Requirement is more crowded than it had ever been, and the Room has expanded itself to four times the size it had been when they had come here for the DA meetings. The few people who don't pose enough threat to the Carrows remain outside, and continue to do the work in secret, and despite being cut off from the outside world, Seamus can sense, almost see, the war drawing closer to them, like a dense black cloud that is visible near the horizon, slowly sailing towards them. It isn't near enough to shower its contents upon them, but close enough for the strong gusts of wind to be felt.
Seamus doesn't mind. He isn't scared, surprisingly for him. He is being asphyxiated inside the closed walls of the Room, and he desperately wants out. At times when he isn't busy treating the wounded, he paces around restlessly, his soul hammering inside him, screaming to be released, and his hands itch to tug at his hair and tear them up. The pain that has accumulated inside him over the months are beginning to take a toll on him, and he feels that he will simply drop dead if he doesn't leave the castle soon.
But thoughts of death easily evaporate from his mind when someone comes up and grasps his shoulders gently, stopping his pacing. His mind goes completely blank, and he just gazes into Dean's face, memorising the exact shade of his irises, the shape of his eyebrows, the way his cheekbones glisten in the dim light of the Room; and when he pulls him into his loving embrace, Seamus feels himself wrapping his arms tightly around him, feeling the shape of the crook of his neck beneath his chin, and he thanks the universe for keeping him safe and close to him.
They don't talk much – they never can find anything worthwhile to talk about in the containment of the Room, but none of them are bothered by it. The presence of Dean near him is more than enough for him, and he loves the way their hands fit together perfectly, and the way their bodies mold into each other when Dean crawls into his hammock at night, when everyone else is asleep.
Just when he is beginning to get used to this routine, the spark that has been flickering for ages, ignites.
A fire roars into existence, and it spreads through the whole castle. People storm into Hogwarts – death eaters and Aurors and those who have graduated long ago. The fire inside Seamus burns brighter, and after having been compressed for so long, it's stronger and far more vicious than it has ever been and it's ready to burn everything down.
Hours upon hours pass, and Seamus has the sense of people running around him, shoving past him, spells being shot left and right. But the only thing that matters to him is Dean, and the fact that they are fighting together. They never leave each other's sides, both have each other's backs, and take down one death eater after another.
Sir Cadogan, waving his sword menacingly and hurling shockingly nasty words around, waves at Seamus from one of the portraits, while the original resident of that portrait smacks him repeatedly to get him out of there.
At one point, a large crowd floods past them, and he loses contact with Dean, and there is a moment of insane panic during which he forgets where he is and what he is doing. He weaves through the crowd, calling out his name desperately. He almost begins to think that he has lost him, when Dean appears suddenly, flooding him with immense relief and they dissolve into a kiss that drowns out all the noise and chaos from around them.
The exasperated voice of the Chosen One himself interrupts their moment. "For Merlin's sake, why do people need to kiss in the middle of a war?"
