「 ANGRY FRIENDS 」

SEAMUS LET OUT A STREAM of colourful words when Theo took off his jumper.

After leaving the dungeons, Daphne had left Theo in an empty classroom and ordered him to stay there. Not wishing to anger her further, he obeyed. She returned a couple of minutes later with a very confused Seamus, glared some more at Theo, and stalked away.

"Is it bad?" Theo asked lamely, not knowing what else to say and thoroughly embarrassed by Daphne's outburst.

Seamus looked at him incredulously. "Are you serious? What the hell have you done, Theo? I may not be an expert, but I'm sure I didn't do such a lousy job."

Theo tried to grin. Why was he making everyone angry today? "I know. It's my fault. I took a shower and peeled off the bandage."

Seamus shook his head like a parent disappointed at their child. He took the jumper from Theo's hands and examined it for blood. "Well, sit down," he ordered. "Let me take a look. I don't know how you are still standing. Why did you even have to take a shower today?"

"I had to," he muttered quietly.

Theo sat on the floor, in the same position they had been last night. He peeled his shirt away from the wound and hitched it up to expose the damage, but it was too bloody and left a trail of blood on his skin, so he took it off entirely. "I suppose you'll have to give me another shirt," he tried to joke, but Seamus's mind was now concentrated entirely on the wound, so he stopped talking.

Seamus had a stash he kept hidden in his backpack, he explained to Theo while working on his wound, in case he came across anyone needing assistance and he didn't have time to run to his dormitory. The stash, Theo saw, was a small pouch which was tucked inside a secret pocket in his bag and concealed with a charm. There was no guarantee what the Carrows would do if they happened to check their bags and find the potions so they had taken every precaution possible to ensure that they were safe and invisible.

Theo winced as Seamus pressed a wet cloth over the wound, though sighed in relief a second later as a comfortable coldness spread over him and soothed the pain on his side. He tried not to look, afraid of the degree of damage he had incited on himself, almost sure that his skin was gaping open and revealing the organs inside. He stared at the wall opposite and tried not to think about the Carrows, or about Blaise or Luna. He wondered what would happen if one of the Carrows walked into the classroom. A chilling dread spread over him at the thought and the cut on his throat began to hurt once more. He closed his eyes and tried to think of something that made him happy. He couldn't come up with anything special, although his mind kept drifting back to Blaise. He did make him happy, didn't he? Or at least he used to. He could not think of Blaise now without feeling a searing pain in his gut.

Seamus asked him to lie on his side. Once he did, Seamus leaned over him, his wand held tightly between his fingers. He looked nervous. "I'm going to try to close the wound," he said slowly. "I've done it a few times, but with only small cuts. I'm not sure if this is going to work, but I don't know what else I can do." He looked pleadingly at Theo like he was asking for his permission. There was no need for that though. Theo had no choice but to trust him.

"Go ahead," he said with a reassuring nod.

Seamus got to work. As soon as the wand touched his skin, he groaned in pain. But Seamus continued, not letting anything interrupt him while he worked. Theo felt like his skin was being cut open by the knife once again. But it ended soon. The wound throbbed at his side like an amplified heartbeat as Seamus set aside his wand and drew some clean clothes out of his bag. He smeared a thick yellow potion over the now-closed cut and covered it with a strip of cloth. Then he pasted it to his skin with adhesive paper.

"There," Seamus said with what sounded like a mixture of relief and pride. "It's done. As long as you don't tear off the bandage again, it should be fine. Can you sit?"

Theo slowly sat, grasping Seamus's arm as a sharp pain shot through him. He leaned back against the wall and finally allowed himself to look at his surroundings.

There were small bottles and rolls of white cloth lying around Seamus, who sat grinning, proud of the work he has done. His sleeves were spotted with dried blood. Theo's stomach was clean of any blood - in fact, it looked almost as good as new, save for the bandage covering his side. He reached for his shirt which lay crumpled and bloody on the floor.

He picked up his wand and tried to think of a spell to clean the blood whilst Seamus began to remove all evidence of any illegal medical practice going on in the classroom.

"Scourgify," he muttered, the tip of his wand touching his shirt. The blood slowly seeped out from the fabric, leaving a brownish shadow over what was once white. Once all the blood was removed, Theo smoothed the shirt and laid it on the floor, watching with disappointment his spellwork.

"You can borrow another one of my shirts," said Seamus, "if you want."

Theo smiled and thanked him. He pulled on the shirt and then his jumper. "That's okay. I don't want you to run out of clothes."

He watched as Seamus shoved his pouch of secret and illegal contents into his bag, then did a flourish with his wand that caused the bag to return to its original size, as though it contained his books and nothing more. Zipping the bag shut, he looked at Theo, casting an amused glance at him. "So you have plans to run into the Carrows again, do you?"

Theo tried to smile. No, he did not have any such plan. He wasn't even particularly looking forward to the Carrows' classes. He didn't know how he would bear being in the same room as them after what they had done to him, even if there were other people in the room with them. He wondered how Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley did it. How Seamus continued to risk his safety to help others, every single day, knowing what would happen to him if he got caught. Thinking of them made Theo feel incredibly small.

Seamus seemed to have read his mind. The teasing smile vanished from his face and he said softly, "You can sit with me in class." Theo looked at him, surprised at the offer. "I know you aren't going to sit with Zabini. If - if you like, I'll save a seat for you."

Theo thought of Daphne. He had been planning to use her as a shield to hide him from Blaise. He knew she wouldn't let Blaise come anywhere near him. But the idea of sitting next to Seamus appealed to him strangely - how it would piss Blaise off when he saw them together! And anyway, Daphne was mad at him; she would be happy to sit next to Tracey Davis for a few days.

Suddenly Seamus blushed and hurriedly added, "Never mind. You have other friends. I shouldn't have asked. It was silly."

Theo laughed. "It's okay. I'll sit with you." He paused and looked at his companion, smiling internally at how red his pale face had become. "You wouldn't mind sitting next to a Slytherin?"

Relaxed, Seamus scooted over next to him and leaned against the wall. "You aren't like typical Slytherins. It's fine."

Theo raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly do you mean by a typical Slytherin?" he asked, voice a tad defensive.

Seamus squirmed, clearly regretting his poor choice of words. "Sorry, I just mean that - you know," he shrugged.

But Theo urged him on, not because he was offended or anything, but simply because he enjoyed seeing how embarrassed Seamus has become. "I don't. Go on. Tell me what you meant."

Seamus scowled in response. "You know -" He did some wild gestures with his hands as though expecting them to speak for him. "Well, I wouldn't say prejudiced -"

"And yet you just did."

His face turned a horrible scarlet and it was all Theo could do not to burst into laughter. "I'm sorry," Seamus blurted out, visibly struggling for words. "It's not my fault that all Slytherins I have met are snarky and - and - rude and all support You-Know-Who."

Theo looked at him pointedly. "Do you know that Daphne won't let her sister date Draco because he's a Death Eater? Not all of us support him, you know? Some of us just want to fit in."

Seamus groaned, hiding his face in his palms. "Please, don't. I'm tired of Neville talking about Daphne all the time. Not you too."

Theo was astonished at this new piece of information, but he decided to stow it away for later and said, "You guys aren't any less prejudiced than us, you know? You would do well to admit it."

Seamus stared at the floor in front of them. "I know. I'm sorry."

Theo felt bad for him. He wasn't trying to pick a fight; it just felt good teasing Seamus. He nudged him with his elbow. "So where did Daphne steal you away from?"

A bubble of laughter escaped Seamus's lips that made Theo feel a little less guilty. "Arithmancy. Professor Vector was so confused when she stalked into the class and announced that I was needed."

"And she just let you go?" Theo asked, amazed.

"I suppose she assumed that the Carrows wanted me for breaking some rule or other. Daphne was wearing her Slytherin robes so it helped the assumption." He straightened suddenly, looking at Theo with fear. "Not that I mean that all Slytherins are in alliance with the Carrows," he added quickly.

This time, Theo did laugh. "I know what you mean. And I was just teasing you earlier; you shouldn't take me so seriously all the time."

Seamus scowled.

They stood simultaneously, deciding that it was now time to leave the safe bubble of this empty classroom and face the world. Seamus stepped toward him and gestured toward his stomach, where the wound lay bandaged. Obediently, he slid aside his jumper and shirt, exposing the wound. Seamus examined it for a minute. "Well, don't go around ripping off the bandage again," he scolded.

"I won't. I promise."

Seamus looked up at him, biting his lip like he was debating whether or not to say something to him. Finally, he said, "What did you mean you had to?"

Theo frowned, puzzled. "What?"

"When I asked you why you showered, you said you had to," Seamus explained, not quite meeting his eyes. "Why?"

Theo looked away. "I don't know," he tried to sound nonchalant, which possibly made him sound as chalant as ever. "I couldn't stop feeling their hands on my skin. So ..." he trailed away, afraid that he wouldn't be able to stop himself from telling Seamus what Alecto had done to him afterwards, the things she'd said.

Seamus nodded. "I understand. I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Theo met his eyes, which were splashed with such concern and empathy that a warm, affectionate rush spread through him, soothing the pain in his body much better than any potion did. He couldn't help it. He leaned in and pressed his lips over Seamus's mouth.

Seamus stepped back, gasping in surprise. A second later, his hands came up to grip Theo around the jaws and his fingers stroked the back of his neck. Their lips worked slowly and gently, and Theo enjoyed the delicious tingling sensation that crawled down his spine and spread across every nerve ending through his body, down to the tips of his fingers. Seamus grabbed his waist and pulled him close.

Blaise's face flashed before his mind. His best friend, whom he was in love with. His best friend, who had betrayed him and who would probably never reciprocate his feelings. Theo abruptly pulled back from Seamus, who looked just as stunned as he felt. Blushing furiously, he turned away, resisting the urge to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand.

"I'm so sorry," he said in a hoarse voice. "I don't know - I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry."

Seamus said something behind him but Theo didn't hear it because he had already left the classroom and was rushing away in an attempt to get as far away from Seamus as possible.

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thank you all for reading; stay safe and wear a mask! love you all <3