Yay! I wrote this in one night! Woo-hoo! I was just feeling like a bit of Seamus/Dean fluff, so I wrote something for it. And I love how it turned out! Sometimes I amaze myself. Please read and review.

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The nightmare was back again.

Seamus had been fighting it all night; every time he felt it creeping in upon his sleep, he chose to think of unicorns and rainbows instead. But he had run out of fluffy, cuddly things to think of, and so relented under the nightmare's onslaught.

It started out like usual; he saw the faces of his family, all smiling. Then, suddenly, the smiles transformed into grimaces of pain, the faces became covered in blood, the mouths were open in silent screams. The faces swirled around Seamus' head like a kaleidoscope and made him dizzy, even in sleep. Then they disappeared. Seamus felt himself drop and fell for what felt like hours. His scream was lost in the wind whipping around him and his flailing came to no avail. Then Seamus found himself in the dungeon of Hogwarts, in the Potions classroom. Snape had transformed into a horrible bat-like creature and was prowling the room. He randomly swiped his sharp claws at students, who in turn screamed as boils and pus erupted from the welts. Snape turned on Seamus and came at him with his claws held ready. Just before his hand met Seamus, though, the scene shifted again and Seamus was surrounded by darkness. This was a part of the nightmare Seamus had never seen before, and he didn't particularly want to find out what happened in it.

Suddenly Dean appeared in front of Seamus. He was smiling gently and seemed to glow with happiness.

"No," Seamus whispered. "Not him." Seamus knew if Dean was in his nightmare, nothing good could come of it. And he was right. As soon as Seamus spoke these words, Dean's face split in two. Literally. His mouth opened wide, wider. It suddenly split at the corners of his lips, leaving a jagged strip of flesh. Seamus tried to cover his eyes, but his arms were paralyzed. Dean's face continued to rip, and all the time his eyes still smiled at Seamus.

"No!" Seamus screamed. His eyes opened in terror. All he could see was the curtains of his four-poster bed. He gasped for breath and tried to orient himself into reality. All he could picture was Dean, slowly dying in front of him. Seamus caught his breath and tried to forget the nightmare. But he couldn't. Not when Dean was in it.

Seamus pulled the sweat-soaked covers off of him and stumbled out of his bed. He glanced across the room to where Dean slept. Seamus could barely see Dean's eyes through a crack in the curtains, closed in sleep. But it wasn't enough. Seamus went over to Dean's bed and quietly pulled back the curtains.

"Dean?" he whispered. Dean sighed in response.

"Dean," Seamus said again, a little louder. Dean rolled over.

"Curse you and your bloody deep sleep," Seamus muttered. He shook Dean's shoulder. "Dean!"

Dean finally blinked open an eye. "Whasit?" he asked groggily.

"I had the nightmare again," Seamus explained. "And this time you were in it. You, you…"

Dean woke up more thoroughly at this. "It's okay, Shay. It was just a dream. I'm fine, see?" he consoled the smaller boy.

"Yeah, but—" Seamus began. Dean put a finger on his lips.

"Look, I'm not going anywhere, okay? Now come here." Dean pulled Seamus onto his bed and wrapped his arms around him. "Dreams can't hurt you. It's not real."

Seamus sighed. "I know, it was just…I know." Dean smiled and rubbed Seamus' back.

"You'll be fine. Do you want to stay here tonight?"

Seamus nodded slightly. Dean scooted over to the fall side of the bed and pulled the covers back.

"Hurry up before you let all the warm out," Dean said. Seamus quickly moved under the covers and pulled the curtains closed.

"Thanks, Dean," he said.

"Anytime, Shay."

When he awoke the next morning, Seamus was warm and content. Which was strange, considering the lack of sleep he'd been getting the past few nights. When he rolled over, however, he knew why he was so comfortable. Dean was snoring softly beside him, one arm around Seamus' waist and the other pillowing Seamus' head. Seamus blushed and tried to get up before anyone found them. But he couldn't. Dean, even while sleeping, had an iron grip.

"Dean, wake up!" Seamus whispered. He poked Dean in the chest. "Dean!"

The other boy slowly opened his eyes. "Morning," he mumbled. Seamus blushed even deeper.

"Uh, I can't get up," Seamus said. Dean surveyed the bed.

"So you can't," he stated. When Seamus glared at him, he laughed. "Fine, fine." Dean let go of his grip on the other boy and sat up. "Jeez, what time is it?" he asked.

"Dunno," Seamus replied, gathering his bathing supplies. "Seven, maybe?"

"Bloody hell," Dean said. "That's five hours earlier than I should be up." Seamus shrugged.

"All the better for you to work on homework," he commented. Dean groaned, but got up too. He grabbed clothes to change into and followed Seamus into the community bathroom.

"So how many days has your nightmare been going on, again?" Dean asked. He was in the stall changing while Seamus was showering.

"A week or so," Seamus said. His voice was muffled by the running water.

"Huh," Dean grunted. He finished dressing and went on to brush his teeth.

"Thanks, by the way," Seamus said a few minutes later from the shower. Dean looked up from spitting out the toothpaste and smiled gently.

"No problem, Shay."

Classes continued as usual that day; at dinner Seamus and Dean exchanged banter about everything from Snape to the latest Transfiguration essay. When they went to bed, Dean cast an anxious glance at Seamus, but Seamus waved it away. The dormitory said their goodnights and soon all of its occupants were asleep.

The nightmare was back. And Dean was first in line, this time. Seamus wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing; he had to watch Dean's dying smile, but he woke up directly after that portion and once again found himself going to Dean. Dean barely woke up this time, just scooted over and wrapped his arms around Seamus. Seamus soon relaxed in Dean's embrace and drifted off to sleep. When they awoke, it was midmorning on Saturday. The rest of the dormitory was gone, off to relish their temporary freedom.

"Crap," Seamus said. Dean glanced at him.

"What?" he murmured sleepily.

"The dormitory is empty. That means everyone saw us. Sleeping. In the same bed." Seamus explained. Dean raised an eyebrow.

"So? They all think we're gay on each other anyway, it's not like this was unexpected."

Seamus gaped at him. "W-what?" he asked incredulously.

"You mean you really didn't know?" Dean replied. "Did you not get all the comments and jokes? Wow, you're thicker than I thought…"

Seamus was flabbergasted. He honestly hadn't noticed the rumors flying around. "So if people already thought we were gay, why did you let me sleep in your bed?"

Dean shrugged. "Cause you needed me. And I couldn't help it," he said simply.

"Oh. Okay," Seamus said, blushing.

"So, how about lunch? I'm starving," Dean said. Seamus nodded. The two boys quickly dressed and headed down to eat.

As the boys were getting ready for bed that night, Dean asked, "Do you just want to start out over here tonight?"

Seamus stared at him. "Umm…"

"You know you're going to end up over here anyway, why not just start out here and save us both some sleep?" Dean said bluntly.

"O-okay," Seamus said shyly. He abandoned his attempts at getting comfortable in his own bed and crawled into Dean's. Ron, who was passing by the bed on his way to his own, grinned and gave them a thumbs up. Seamus blushed furiously, but Dean simply waved back. Ron chuckled and continued to his bed.

"Dean!" Seamus hissed. Dean grinned.

"What? It's not like they don't already know," he defended.

"Still…"

"Just shut up and sleep," Dean silenced him. Seamus obeyed. And he had no nightmares.

The next morning, Seamus and Dean caught all kinds of comments about their sleeping arrangements. Apparently Ron had leaked to Harry who leaked to Ginny who leaked to Hermione, who was overheard by Fred and George, who announced it to the entire school. But somehow, neither Seamus nor Dean cared much about what the rumors said. After all, nearly all of them ended up being true.

In the sixth year boys' dormitory, there was an empty bed. Those who passed it smiled, and the boy who abandoned it found that he really didn't miss it at all. He had a far more comfortable place to sleep now. And he never had another nightmare.