The Marked

It was the slowest three days of Seamus's life. Class after class, meal after meal, all he thought about was the letter. And who had sent it. The only person that came to mind was Voldemort, or one of his Death Eaters. They had originally been after the Delving Curse, hadn't they? But, what if it was someone else?

It was obvious what the sender wanted, at least. The Keepsake. He had been pouring energy into for months, at least four times a week since he had gotten the gem. He always wore it around his neck, hidden under his robes. Dumbledore had warned him against ever taking it off, and had even gone as far to put a protection charm on it to prevent someone from forcefully removing it. Somehow though, Seamus didn't think whoever had sent the letter was about to come and start a fistfight for the Keepsake.

The letter hadn't given a specific time, so Seamus had gone to the North Tower immediately after dinner, slipping away from the group when no one was watching him. While it had been a warm day, the wind whipped about the top of the tower, leaving the cloak-less Seamus shivering. When ten o'clock rolled around, and he was beginning to have thoughts of pneumonia, the same eagle owl from before suddenly appeared in the sky and perched itself on the edge of the tower.

"I was beginning to wonder whether you'd show up at all. Well, here, give this to whoever sent you. He can't have the Keepsake. No one can." He slipped a letter out of his pocket that briefly explained how Seamus felt about the topic. More or less it stated exactly what he had told the owl. "Now get going, it's freezing and I want to get to bed." The owl firmly clamped the letter in its beak and once more took flight. Seamus watched it fly out sight before turning and heading back to the warmth of the castle. As quietly as possible he slunk through the halls of the school and slipped into Gryffindor Tower.

"Hey, Seamus! Where've you've been?" Dean looked up from the game of chess he was playing with Parvati. "You just sort of disappeared."

"Yeah...I know," offering no further explanation, he threw himself on a couch beside Parvati, who was winning fantastically. "Where is everyone? It's awfully dead in here."

"Hmm...checkmate." With a final wave of her hand, Parvati put Dean out his misery, then turned to Seamus. "Ravenclaw's having a bit of a...get together, shall we say."

"They're throwing a party? How?"

"A lot of built up silencing charms and sleeping draughts for the professors. "

"Why aren't you two there?"

Dean looked at him strangely. "Because we were waiting for you to get back, of course."

"...oh. Erm...thanks, but you didn't have to. Actually, just go on, I'm really tired as it is." He yawned to prove his point.

"You can't stay here by yourself." Dean looked at him blankly, crossing his arms.

"Why not? It's not like I'm eight. And besides, I'm willing to bet the third years and below have been left out once more. They're all tucked away in bed, aren't they?"

"...well....yes, but...still! If you don't want to go, I'm staying here with you."

"I'll stay, too," Parvati put in, stretching catlike across the couch. "I'm not in the mood for a party. Besides, they're going to get caught. I know it."

"Yeah," Dean agreed, "I'll bet Snape's showing up right about now. I'd hate to be in Neville's shoes."

Seamus sat up, eyes wide. "Neville? Neville went?"

"Yeah," Dean grinned. "With a girl, too! Some Hufflepuff fifth year." He kicked his feet on top of the chess table. "Not bad looking, either, is she Parvati?"

She smiled knowingly. "She's quite pretty, as a matter of fact."

Letting a low whistle out, Dean sunk further in his chair. "Guess we underestimated the power of Herbology." He paused, then looked at Seamus for a moment.

They both erupted in uncontrollable laughter.

"You two are so mean!" Parvati was smiling despite her words.

"What's so funny down here?" A voice questioned them from the girl's staircase. The three sixth-years turned to see Ginny leaning against the wall and looking at them curiously.

"Ginny! What are you doing here?" Parvati scooted down on the sofa to make room for her as the redhead came to join them.

"I'm not really in a party mood. Especially with all the Ravenclaw girls." She sighed and sunk lower in her seat. "The death threats had really better stop soon."

"Hmmm, I'll talk with Padma about it," Parvati assured her.

"What's this?" Dean perked up. "Seamus, aren't you standing up for your girlfriend's honor?"

Ginny and Seamus groaned simultaneously. "We aren't dating!" They'd both been getting hell for that little stunt of Ginny's all week. One day at lunch, Ginny's food had mysteriously transfigured into a plate of snapping turtles. Another time Seamus's boots had been charmed so that he tangoed everywhere instead of walking. Lavender thought it a pity with the charm had been removed, claiming him to be the best dancer in the school. Seamus hadn't agreed.

"Hey Seamus, they posted a notice about Quidditch try-outs tonight. Saturday at three."

"Great!" Seamus relished the idea of something to take his mind off his mysterious correspondent. "Who all is trying out?"

"I heard some fourth years talking about trying for Chaser, but so far the only opposition I've heard for Beater is from the Creevey brothers."

Ginny snorted. "Well, you don't have any competition there. Colin doesn't even which end of the broom is the tail."

Watching as his friends erupted with laughter, Seamus began to hope whoever had been writing him would take the news lightly...

***

"Nice one, Seamus!" Ron Weasley, Gryffindor's Keeper and Co-Captain, shouted his encouragement as Seamus expertly sent a Bludger flying towards Isaac Krayborn, a fifth-year trying for Chaser. He and Dean were doing pretty well so far, and Ginny had been right when she'd claimed Colin hopeless. His little brother Dennis, however, was proving to be a nuisance. He flew with ease and grace and was quick to get to the Bludgers. And while his aim wasn't always exactly on mark, he was fairly precise. After awhile long, Harry, now Quidditch Captain, called them down to the ground.

"Alright, Seamus, you stay in, Dean, go in for Dennis. Isaac, you sit out this one. And Dennis..." Harry turned to fourth year with interest, "I want you to go in as a Chaser."

"What? But I'm trying for Beater!" Dennis seemed to tense up after arguing. Colin seemed as angry as his brother.

"I'm well aware. Just get out there as a Chaser for now."

No one except Harry, Dean, and Seamus seemed happy about this. Even Ron seemed confused at his friend's order. Those there for the part of Chaser looked livid.

Kicking off the ground once more, Seamus and Dean went about doing as best they could. When Seamus sent a Bludger toward one of the hopeful Chasers, Dean waited until the last moment before swooping down and knocking far off in the distance, and vice versa. As it turned out, Dennis was just right for Chaser. Where as a Beater you're aim had to be one hundred percent accurate and his was only slightly off, as Chaser, you were allowed the small marginal difference through the size of the hoops. A three-foot wide hoop was a much easier target than a small, moving person. He successfully evaded most of Ron's attempts to block the hoops and was too quick to be hit with the Bludgers. The other Chasers seemed at a loss with him.

"Alright, come back down!" Harry's voice hollered through the air. When everyone had come back in contact with the ground, he spoke once more, grinning as he did so. "Alright, good job everyone! We'll post the results after dinner tonight. See you all then!"

Normally, Seamus and Dean would walk back to the castle with Harry and Ron, but they figured the two would be deep in conversation over the decision. So instead, they sauntered leisurely by themselves, taking their time before going in to wash up and change.

"I think we safely secured the Beaters position," Dean was grinning from ear to ear. "I can't believe no one but the Creevey's and us tried for that position."

"I don't think anyone wanted to try and replace the Weasley twins," Seamus put in with a shrug, "but you're right, I think, about getting the position. Dennis was probably better than us in a sense, but Colin was a joke!"

"Yeah, I think Dennis will probably be put on as Chaser. Kate Ports was pretty good too, I think she'll make it."

There had been two Chaser positions available. In the year previous, Angelina Johnson had been Captain and Katie Bell her Co-Captain. Alicia Spinett had unfortunately had to drop the team because of her extra classes. She was studying to become a medi-wizard and once a student enters their seventh year at Hogwarts, they may begin taking night classes to get an early start on certain careers. Celine Truman, now a seventh-year, had taken her place.

"I'm a little surprised Ginny didn't audition," Dean continued. "Ron says she's really good."

"Eh," Seamus shrugged. "She probably didn't want to do exactly like most of her brothers did. I mean, most of them were pretty big on Quidditch. She's trying to keep her name separate from them as much as possible."

"Oh." They continued in silence until they had reached their common room.

"What time is it?" Seamus glanced as Dean checked his watch.

"Five-twenty."

"You think the girls are in?"

"No, they had some Divination they wanted to work on in the library."

"Oh. Neville?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Out with Lianna. You know, his girlfriend."

"I still can't believe it."

"I know."

"The best-looking girl in Hufflepuff..."

"Practically in the entire school."

"And she's dating Neville."

"It's not fair."

"It's mind-boggling."

"We're such losers!" Dean shook his head. "Neville has a girlfriend! Harry's got a date with Cho Chang next Hogsmeade, and Ron and Hermione are practically dating! What's wrong with us, Seamus?"

"Hey, I've got a stalker thank-you. And an imaginary girlfriend. Speak for yourself." Seamus grinned.

"You're such a good friend."

***

Dinner was going slowly. Too slowly for Seamus's liking. And only he seemed to notice. Dean was in conversation with Ron and Harry about differences in muggle sports and wizard sports, Parvati and Lavender were busying themselves in an argument over who had been cuter (Oliver Wood and Roger Davies), Ginny and Hermione were discussing the OWLs and Neville kept making googly-eyes at his, Seamus shuddered at the thought, girlfriend.

A sharp pang issued out through his head, suddenly, causing him to hiss in a sharp breath and draw his hand up to his temple.

"Hey, you ok?" Ginny looked up from her conversation with Hermione to give him a look of concern.

"Yeah, it's nothing, just- ah!" A second wave washed over him, and he gripped the table for support. "Actually, I'm going to go...lie down." Shakily, he stood from his seat.

"Do you want someone to come with you," Hermione asked him.

"No, I'll be fine. It's just...you know." Without another word, he made his way out of the Great Hall and into the corridor to it's immediate left. There, he slumped against and slid to sit on the ground with his eyes closed. Soon, footsteps could be heard approaching.

"Mr. Finnigan? What's the matter?" Sirius sounded oddly formal.

"Headache. I just need to get up to my common room. I'll be fine." Taking his head out of hands, and opening his eyes, his saw that Professor 'Steve' was by himself.

"Hmm...I'll walk you there." Sirius strode forward and offered Seamus a hand up.

"No really, you can go back to dinner, I'm fine."

"No trouble," he began walking. "Has this happened a lot before?"

Rushing to catch up (Black's legs were much longer than his), Seamus shook his head. "No. I usually get a small headache when...you know, but it's never been this bad since it first started."

"I'll ask Remus...er...Professor Lupin about it."

"Er...thanks." Walking in silence thereafter, they soon reached Gryffindor Tower. "Well, I'll see you in class."

"Good evening Mr. Finnigan."

***

"Alright everyone!" Harry, with a knowing smile plastered on his face, stood on one of the tables in the Gryffindor Common Room. "I know most of you have been waiting since last year for this, excepting you, of course, Hermione," the crowd heaved in laughter. Hermione's disdain for the sport of Quidditch was legendary. "So, while I have been up here distracting you, my Co-Captain Ron Weasley has been posting the results of the Quidditch auditions held earlier today! Everyone...did their...oh forget it," with a short wave of his hand, he hopped down from his place on the table. No one was listening anymore, they were all crowding around the list.

"WE DID IT!" Before Seamus, now headache free thanks to a quick Extracting, could anywhere near the list, Dean had thrown himself on Seamus, hopping up and down in joy. "WE'RE BEATERS! WE DID IT!"

"YES!" Giving Dean the manliest hug he could muster in his excitement, he joined his best friend in his victorious dance of sorts.

Dennis Creevey and Kate Ports ended up securing the Chaser positions. Kate was obviously overjoyed, surrounding by all her well-wishing friends, but Dennis looked...unsure. His brother, however, was quite shocked. Colin had taken one look at the list, given Harry a glare of utmost discontent, then stormed up the stairs to his dorm. Seamus could tell Harry couldn't decide whether this was bad or good.

The excitement carried on for several hours until a sudden appearance hushed everyone up. It was Professor McGonagall. And she didn't look pleased.

"Students?" Her voice was...not harsh, as Seamus had expected, but rather, gentle. "Students!" The entire room quieted down. "I'm very sorry to break up the celebration but, I'm afraid I have some...terrible news."

"This can't be good," Ron muttered under his breath, casting his eyes to the floor. Seamus didn't notice, however, as suddenly, the bottom fell out of his world and a new one replaced it.

It was sunset, which was odd because the sun had gone down hours ago, and it seemed he was standing by the lake. A lone figure, shadowed against the setting sun, stood, hands on their hip as though impatiently waiting for something, at the edge of the water. A deep sigh, and a flip of long hair gave the figure away as a girl.

Before long, footsteps could be heard approaching, and the girl turned around to the greet them. It was Mandy Brocklehurst.

"Seamus?" She called out. "Is that you?" The person didn't answer, but the footsteps continued. "Hello?" Another person could now be soon, cloaked in a deep green, and pausing just before Mandy. She backed away a little. "W-what do you want?"

"Nothing much," a deep, drawn-out voice answered. "Just a little persuasive action." Confusion flashed over Mandy's face but before she spoke anymore, the figure withdrew a wand and with one small word she was sent flying straight into the lake. Briefly, she surfaced, but it was as though a giant hand were hovering above her and she was quickly pushed back under. This time, she didn't resurface.

The world faded once more and Seamus was now back in the Gryffindor Common Room. Not a moment seemed to have passed during his vision, Professor McGonagall was still speaking.

"Earlier this evening, one of your fellow classmates was found at the edge of the lake, drowned. It appears to have been an accident. She was a sixth-year Ravenclaw, Mandy Brocklehurst. I'm sure you will all need time to cope with this, and as such, classes for the following week have been canceled, and also, the lake is temporarily off limits to students. If any of you wish to speak with someone about this, feel free to come to any of the staff. We all understand your grief."

"P-professor McGonagall, my sister..." Parvati Patil seemed as though she were torn between running away and collapsing in a heap of tears. "May I...?"

"Of course, Miss Patil. Miss Brown may come with as well, of course." With a last nod of her head, the Head of House left, following the two distraught girls. The House was left in silence. Most of the younger students wandered off to bed in groups, while the older ones settled back down in the common room.

"Oh man..." Dean shook his head. "I can't believe...I mean, it's Mandy!"

Seamus, sitting in one of the oversized armchairs rested his head in his hands. He upset for an entirely different reason. The others would grieve, but Seamus knew that this death was his fault. Whoever that had been that had killed Mandy, had also been the one to send him the note.

"Yeah," he managed to say. "I know."

Ginny Weasley suddenly appeared at the side of his chair. "Hey, you alright, Seamus?" She looked genuinely concerned.

"Yeah...I'll be fine, I'm just going to go up to bed. See you all...sometime." With the briefest of waves, he hurried up the stairs to the sixth-year boy's dorm. When the door closed behind him, a terribly familiar sight awaited him.

It was the eagle owl, with a note clutched firmly in its beak.

"WHAT NOW?!" Angrily, he crossed the room to where the owl sat on by the window. Once he gripped the note in his hand, the owl took flight through the window. As the figure disappeared into the night, Seamus opened the note.

I warned you, little Gryffindor boy. I warned you there would be consequences. But perhaps you enjoy having the little brat out of your way? In three more days I will send my owl once more. Give it to me. Next time, tragedy will be closer to your heart.

Slowly, he lowered the note and moved to his bed. He placed the piece of paper with the other, between two of his book on Quidditch on his bookshelf. Sinking on to the bed, he heaved a sigh and drew the curtains back. He lay down and threw the covers over himself, knowing full well sleep would not be coming for a long time.