The Marked

You see Lady Luck is my mistress

And you'll have to play second to her wish

And the Jacaranda tree

She's telling me it's not over yet

Just by the way she bends

-don't make me come to Vegas Tori Amos

"Should we wake him up?" That was Harry.

"No, let him sleep." Dean.

"Is he...going to be ok?"

A sigh. "I don't know. He takes these kind of things really hard."

Seamus gave an inward groan and rolled over on to his stomach, tossing hi pillow over his head. He hadn't even bothered to change into his pajamas. Even his boots had remained on, though sometime in the night they had become untied. Three days. He had three days in which to come to a decision. He'd considered several times in the night rushing down and telling Dumbledore that it had been his fault Mandy had...died. But the warning in the first letter still made him hesitant.

Mandy had died because of him. She was gone. She would never come back, she was dead. And they'd said it would someone closer next time. Who? Dean? Erron? His father? Either someone else died because of his decision, or he handed over the Keepsake to...to whoever it was. Neither was an option, really. If he gave this mysterious murderer the Keepsake, not only would hundreds of more people die (because why else would they want it, really?) but he wouldn't anything to Extract with. Seamus had a feeling that Keepsake's weren't something you could just come across in a store. Plus, if he had nothing to Extract into, he wouldn't last long. All in all, it was a lose-lose situation.

"Come on," Dean said to Harry. "Let's go down. I'm sure Dumbledore will be giving everyone a speech."

As the sound of the shutting door reached his ears, Seamus curled his knees up to his chest and shut the world out once more.

***

The Great Hall was quieter than Remus Lupin had ever experienced. Even Sirius, who normally never shut up, sat silent beside, head bowed in respect for the mourning. As Lupin glanced around at the tables, there were many empty seats, most occurring at the Ravenclaw table, where it seemed none of the remaining sixth-years were present. Several of the Gryffindor's were absent as well, including, Lupin noticed, Seamus Finnigan.

With a frown on his face, he turned to Sirius and tapped him on the shoulder. After some quick miming, Sirius had become an expert on figuring out what Lupin meant, Sirius nodded.

"Yeah, he got up in the middle of dinner while you were with Dumbledore, Flitwick and Pomfrey tending to...well, you know." Lupin had indeed been absent from dinner last night, as he, and the others Sirius had mentioned, had been called down to the lake by a frantic Ravenclaw third year. "Anyway, he looked a little off so I went after him, and found sitting against the wall. Said his head was hurting something awful, not like normal. So I walked him up to his dorm. Haven't seen him since." Lupin frowned at this recap and tapped his own head. "Oh yeah," Sirius continued, noting the gesture, "I told him I'd ask you about that. Any ideas?"

Lupin gave a thoughtful pause before shaking his head. He'd have to look into it later. Breakfast continued on in silence, punctuated now and again by a soft sob from the Ravenclaw table. The clanging of silverware had never seemed as loud as it did that night. Even the banners, black in respect to Mandy Brocklehurst, could be heard in their soft rustling.

The meal dragged on for too long. Hardly anyone ate anything. It had been one thing, two years ago, when Cedric Diggory had been murdered by Voldemort. Then, the students had had anger to drive them through the days. It had been off of school grounds. Now though, the students felt their safety shaken. No one had even had an accident involving the lake before, and now someone mysteriously drowns in it? Mandy had been an adept swimmer, according to her friends. Not one to panic if she had fallen in. There were no markings on her, so no one even thought to accuse the giant squid.

No, something had happened down at the lake. And Lupin was determined to find out what.

***

The door to the Gryffindor sixth-year boys dorm creaked open slowly after a quiet knock had disrupted the morose stillness. "Seamus?" A small, young voice called out. "Can I talk to you?" It was Erron. He didn't move any farther into the room than the doorframe, Seamus could tell even from where he lay on his bed, shrouded by the curtains. "I-I know you're in here. Dean Thomas told me. We're all...we're really worried. You missed all three meals today! Even the Ravenclaw girls at least made an appearance." He paused, apparently waiting for Seamus to say something. "Come on!" He finally explained, hurrying over to his brothers bed and throwing back one of the curtains, only to have it snap back in place without even so much as a physical movement on his brothers part. "Fine, if you're going to be that way, I'll leave you alone. I guess I just thought since you were the oldest child you might act like it." Angry footsteps echoed out until the door slammed shut once more.

***

"Can you survive this long without food?" Ron looked up from the Quidditch magazine he was reading. "I mean, he's been up there for three days now."

Dean groaned, throwing his face into his hands. "I know! I know...but what can we do? It's not like we can forcibly make him get up. He could probably blow us all to smithereens with one thought!"

"Maybe he just needs someone to talk to?" Harry suggested. They were all sprawled out in the common room, minus Parvati, who had been spending as much time with her sister as possible.

"No, his brother already tried that. He wouldn't even talk to Erron," Dean looked frantic. "I mean, I know he gets annoyed with his little brother now and then, but he's never flat out ignored him! I'm really getting worried."

"Should we tell someone?" Lavender suggested, feet drawn up under her as she sat on a sofa. "A teacher?"

"Let's wait a little longer," Dean was hesitant at involving teachers. He knew personally that Seamus hated people thinking him helpless. "Give him another day. I'll try and talk with him. Who knows, maybe he's just been really tired?"

Lavender shook her head. "Alright, another day. But after that, I'm going to McGonagall."

"No," Harry interjected. "Go to Lupin and Steve." Dean nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, Lupin's the teacher he's most comfortable with. He'd probably freak out if McGonagall knew he was having...emotional problems."

"I think we can safely say this is a bit more than emotional problems," Sternly, Hermione looked up from the book she was reading, and set her mouth in a firm line. "It's obviously a well developed guilt complex." She slammed the book shut. "He needs help. Now."

"No! Not now! You don't know Seamus!" Dean leapt to his feet, face plainly painted in fury. "You can't just use books to base your decisions! They don't always know everything Hermione! Maybe if you took your head out of long enough to actual get to know your classmates you'd have realized that way back in first year!" Quickly, Neville grabbed his friend's hand and pulled him back to his seat.

"Calm down, Dean" he cautioned nervously, voice cracking. "Hermione's only trying to be helpful, right Hermione?" He looked over at the seething girl. "Right?"

"Yes, but I can see my help isn't wanted. So, I bid you all goodnight." Standing up rather haughtily, she carelessly threw the book down on the end table next to her armchair and strode quickly to staircase.

Ron groaned. "Wait to go Dean, do you have any idea what it's like when she's acting this way?"

"I don't care," Dean replied. "She shouldn't talk about things she doesn't know."

"That's actually quite a small category," Harry put in, trying to lighten the mood.

"Whatever," Dean stood up once more and stomped up the dorm. The mood he left behind was tense and the others glanced each other nervously for some time. Lavender began to say something, but suddenly, Dean came tearing down the stairs.

"SEAMUS IS GONE!"

***

The eagle owl flew off in the distance once more. It was becoming an all too familiar sight to Seamus. As he watched the owl grow smaller and smaller, he prayed he had made the right choice. It had been difficult, indeed. He knew his friends wouldn't understand. They couldn't. But then, they would never know. They would continue to believe that he had merely been tearing himself up over Mandy's death. It was partly true, of course, but the decision had weighed on him ever more.

Most of his friends had been gathered around one of the sofas in the common room when he had left. They hadn't even noticed him slip by, and instead went on arguing. As he been closing the portrait hole, Hermione had angrily been climbing the stairs to her dorm.

He had had to wait for the owl even longer this time. Luckily, he'd brought his cloak to keep him warm. He was rather glad for it, when the messenger finally drifted out of eyesight, because he didn't relish the idea of heading right back for Gryffindor Tower. No doubt they would have taken notice of his absence and would be wondering where he was. So, he decided to stay atop the North Tower awhile longer, and clear his mind.

He had no idea how long he sat there, whether minutes or hours, but suddenly he was aware of someone standing behind him.

"Hello, Professor Lupin." Seamus greeted his teacher, who nodded in reply. Walking slowly to where Seamus sat along the edge, he gestured to the empty space beside him. "Oh sure, go ahead, I don't mind." It was odd, seeing his Defense Against the Dark Arts professor sitting beside him, legs dangling over the edge of the tower like a young boy. "Did my friends tell you I was gone?"

Lupin nodded slowly and mouthed a single word. Worried.

"I know," he let out a sigh. "But...I'm fine." Lupin raised an eyebrow. "Really, I am." I hope, he added silently to himself.

Lupin only nodded, staring off into the dark. His eyes were unfocused, as though he were deep in thought. Before long, he turned back to Seamus. Why here? He mouthed, pointing to the tower beneath them.

His breath caught in his throat. "I-I don't know..." but he could Lupin wasn't buying it. Frowning, he raked his hand through his hair. It was in need of a trim. "I can't say, alright? I just...can't."

Lupin nodded once more, before lightly patting Seamus's shoulder with his hand and standing up. He offered the teenager help up.

Cold. Go inside.

"Ok."

It was a silent walk, Seamus shuffled along beside Lupin as they made their way back toward Gryffindor Tower. Vaguely, he noticed that Lupin was taking a needlessly long and complicated path back. It took another thirty minutes to make it back.

"Well...goodnight, Professor."

Goodnight.

***

For once, they didn't ask questions. The other boys were silent, Neville and Dean both sitting by the window, and Harry and Ron were sitting up on their beds. It was obvious they had been talking.

About him.

"Hey," Seamus muttered, crossing to his bed and slipping off his cloak.

"Hey Seamus," Dean greeted him in very guarded sort of voice.

Quietly pulling his pajamas on for the first time in days, he got into bed.

"Goodnight."

"'Night."

***

Classes had resumed, and Seamus couldn't be gladder. It had been four days and nothing had come from the letter. He'd taken to running his finger over the shape of the Keepsake through his clothes, glad every minute that he had decided not to give it up. The sender had probably been scared off by the threat of Dumbledore. Mandy's death was being investigated thoroughly, but the offender had left no evidence whatsoever. Almost as if they had never been there.

But then, Death Eaters had always been careful.

He hadn't let himself get too at ease, however. Every morning when the mail came, he kept his eyes open for the large eagle owl. So far though, all was in the clear.

Potions was...irritating. There was no other word for it. The Slytherins had feigned sobs of mourning as soon as Seamus had entered in the dungeons with Dean. Apparently, the entire school had taken notice of his absence. Draco Malfoy, however, had remained neutrally silent, giving Seamus the smallest of looks before busying himself with his textbook. The two hadn't a so much as an exchange of words since the year before. But other than that, things went smoothly. Or as smooth as possible given the situation.

The best thing about getting back to normal was finally working with the Quidditch team. Harry was a brilliant captain, he really knew what he was doing. They're team was young, there was no denying that fact, and it made their chances at Quidditch Cup slim for the year. Next year though, there was no denying they would be fantastic.

"Alright, Seamus, Dean, Ron, you all take a break, I'm going to work with the Chasers a bit." Harry directed the three boys to the ground, and they complied. As fun as Quidditch was, it was a workout. He and Dean weren't using real Bludgers yet, Ron said they'd probably start with those by next week (which Dean argued to no end, after all, they'd handled the real thing at tryouts, hadn't they?), so they were currently chasing after enchanted pumpkins.

"You guys are great!" Ron gushed, slapping Seamus on the back. "Naturals! Slytherin won't know what hit them!" With a bright smile, he looked skyward, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Boy, that Dennis Creevey is unbelievable, isn't he?" Harry had Dennis and the girls running simple formations, but even at the level of skill involved, it was obvious Dennis was born to be a Chaser. "No experience as a Chaser ever before!"

After fifteen more minutes of solid Chaser practice before Harry called to Ron to run Seamus and Dean through some more drills. Once more, the two began diving after the flying pumpkins, this time at Ron's command. It went on for awhile more until Dean suddenly slowed.

"Does anyone else hear that?" He raised an eyebrow curiously when a shout from Harry shook them all.

"WATCH OUT!!" He was wildly gesturing to a vague spot behind them.

"Huh?" Ron turned around and gasped. Seamus quickly saw why.

"Dean! Mo-!" But it was too late.

Specks of blood flew through the air as a Bludger slammed into the back of Dean's head, sending the boy plummeting rapidly toward the ground below them.

"WHO LET OUT THE BLUDGER?!" Ron roared furiously, but Seamus didn't hear him. He was racing toward Dean, as was Harry. Harry flew on his Firebolt, which was still one of the top brooms available. Seamus used a Nimbus 3000, which was quite good for a school broom, but no match for the international standard Harry was riding. Harry beat Seamus to Dean by miles, but only just in time, catching his classmates limp body moments before it made contact with the earth.

"Dean!" The moment Seamus's feet touched solid ground he rushed over to his best friend. "Is he alright? Harry?!" The black-haired boy was looking very grave as he crouched near Dean's still form. There was a mass of blood on his training robes. "Let me see him!"

"Seamus...no!" Standing to his full height, Harry stopped his friend before he reached Dean, grabbing him by the shoulders. "I need you to go get Madame Pomfrey. You hear me?"

"No! You go! I want to see him!" Angrily, Seamus shoved against his Captain, but as Parvati had noted at the beginning of the term, Harry now towered over him.

"You can't! He's-" The others finally landed, interrupting him.

"What's going on? Harry? Is he..." Ron looked more worried than Seamus could ever remember seeing him.

"No..." Harry shook his head. And Seamus prayed that Ron had meant dead and not alive. "Ron, I need you to go with Seamus to the Hospital Wing and get Madame Pomfrey."

"NO!" Once more, Seamus struggled against the other boy, but Harry had a firm grip on him. He knew that if he kept this up, he could seriously hurt Harry, his Marked powers manifested themselves in odd ways when he was angry, but all he could think about was Dean lying there as if he were...

"SEAMUS! You aren't helping him like this! Now go!" He was speaking the truth, and Seamus knew it. Finally, he relented, slide backward out of Harry's grip and quickly turning around, racing to the castle as fast as he could, Ron directly at his heels.

As soon as they burst in to the Hospital Wing, panting so hard they could hardly speak, Madame Pomfrey gathered some things together and hurried out the door, hollering at the two of them to go and tell Professor McGonagall. So when the nurse was out of sight and they had caught their breath, the two boys once more sprinted away, heading towards the Transfiguration corridor. After several minutes of pounding on her office door, it became clear to them that she wasn't there.

"Maybe she's in the staff room?" Seamus suggested, looking around nervously.

"Or Dumbledore's office. You check the staff room, I'll go to the Headmaster's. We'll meet on the third floor main landing. Ok?"

"Yeah!" Before Ron had even finished, Seamus had taken off again, his feet pounding against the stone floor. The staff room was on the opposite end of the castle from the Transfiguration hall. It took him nearly ten minutes to reach. When he approached the door, it was with caution. He wasn't entirely sure what to do. Student's weren't allowed in the staff room. Ever. In the end, he raised his hand and rapped violently on the door until Snape, of all people, threw it open.

"Mr. Finnigan! I'd advise you not to pound incessantly on this door, it will only-"

"I NEED PROFESSOR McGONAGALL! NOW!"

"Too bad. She's not here." Snape seemed much too happy. The only thing Seamus wanted at that moment was to deck him square in the jaw.

"What? She isn't? Do you know where she is? It's important!"

"Has Potter forgotten how to tie his shoes?" Snape rolled his eyes. "Good day, Mr. Finnigan."

"No wait!"

"Loop, through, and pull."

"Severus. Move out of the way," a familiar voice came, very calm, from behind the door.

"Sir- Professor Steve! Please, where's Professor McGonagall?"

"She's in a meeting with the Headmaster, why? Seamus, what is it?" Sirius appeared in the small opening of the door, pushing it farther back to reveal the staff room. Flitwick was seated at a table, not paying any attention to the events at the door, and Professor Sprout was turning through her lesson book by the fire. Snape still stood, arms crossed, by the door. Other than the four of them, the room was empty.

"It's Dean! We were practicing on the pitch and...someone let out a Bludger when we didn't know! He's- he's hurt. Really bad!" Tears were welling up in his eyes, but he ignored them. "Madame Pomfrey told us to get Professor McGonagall."

"We?"

"Ron. He went to Dumbledore's office."

"Well then, he's found her! Come on, let's get you into you're common room." Sirius went to take Seamus by the shoulder.

"NO! Stop treating me like a little kid! I'm going back down there!" Black's light, friendly grip suddenly tightened to confining hold.

"Seamus, no. You can't-"

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN AND CAN'T DO!"

"You have to listen to me-"

"Let me go."

"No, Seamus."

"LET ME GO!" As the infuriated words flew from his mouth a great change came over Seamus. His vision grayed momentarily before a flashing white. A crash rang out in his ears and when he could see again, Sirius was no longer standing beside him, hand on his shoulder. He was lying in the middle of the remains of what had once been a large coffee table. He wasn't moving. Flitwick and Sprout were both rushing over to him, but Snape still stood exactly where he had. He was looking at Sirius's crumpled figure, but slowly his head turned toward Seamus. He spoke one word.

"Run."

***

"Hey! Seamus! I found McGonagall! Hey...are you alright? You look pale." Ron was waiting for him when he reached the third floor landing.

"I'm fine! Let's go back down to the pitch, ok?" Seamus shrugged off Ron's concern and began to hurry down the steps.

"McGonagall said to wait in the common room."

"I'm not waiting."

"I rather figured that." Ron's footsteps soon joined his own. "You know though, they're probably already off the pitch and in the Hospital Wing. Let's go there first."

"Yeah, ok." He glanced nervously over his shoulder. No one yet. "Let's hurry."

He had attacked a teacher. Hadn't he? Of course he had! Maybe not intentionally but he had still attack Sirius. Why had Snape helped him? It made no sense.

"You sure you're ok?"

"Yes!" Seamus took a moment to calm himself. "Yes. I'm just...worried."

Worried. That seemed to be all he felt anymore. Worried. Worry was beginning to smother him. It was beginning to make him lose his mind.

And self-control.

***

"They aren't here yet." Seamus sat on the edge of the nearest bed dejectedly, head sinking into his head.

"They will be. They can't be far behind. We were-"

Ron was cut off by a screech from an owl. A familiar sound, yet it sent a chill down Seamus's back. Turning toward the end of the room, both saw a large eagle perched on the back of a chair. It took flight, flying over toward them, and dropped a folded note in Seamus's lap before leaving through the open door. With shaking hands, he unfolded it.

No more warnings. Your move.