"Right, so, any reports from you?" Neville had never been one for standing in front of the group; he was seated in a chair with the rest of the DA. Seamus liked his modesty; actually, just about everything Neville did made Seamus respect him more. He was so glad they'd had the opportunity to get to know each other better, with Dean gone -- but Seamus tried not to dwell on Dean's absence.
"Ellie Branstone, she's a fourth year, got detention in Potions today," Ernie Macmillan said worriedly. "Amycus was there monitoring, there was no way Slughorn could've gotten out of it."
"Stewart Ackerley, too," Terry Boot put in. "Same class."
Neville frowned. "Anyone know who's scheduled for Dark Arts practice tonight?"
"Nott and Bulstrode," Susan Bones said promptly, checking her list. "Eight p.m. Usual place, as far as I heard."
"Thank you, Susan." Neville looked around the group. "Any volunteers?"
"Let me, Neville," Seamus said quickly. "I can do it."
"Okay." Neville thought for a moment. "Two students, two volunteers, I think. Not that I doubt you could do it on your own, Seamus."
"No worries," Seamus said, hiding his pleasure when Padma Patil raised her hand. She was beautiful (just like her sister, of course), but more importantly she had a quick wit and a swift wand. She was a grand partner in crime.
"All right, Padma, you're up. Michael, you were just a little too slow. How about next time?" Neville asked. Michael Corner nodded, satisfied with that.
"Any other concerns? Okay, great. Thank you for coming, everyone! We're doing an important work."
The meeting was dismissed; Seamus stuck around for a minute to help clean. "Great job, Neville," he said.
Neville smiled a little. "Thanks. I'm not Ginny, but I do my best."
"You do great." Seamus leaned in a little. "Hey, can I take some paint? Thought I might do some tagging while we're out."
"I suppose. Don't do anything too stupid."
"What do you take me for?" Seamus said with a laugh.
"A stalwart member of Dumbledore's Army," Neville replied with a grin. "Go work out the details with Padma; I'll see you at dinner."
Padma was indeed waiting for Seamus outside the door. "Hey," she said with a smile.
"Hello." Seamus grinned back. "Are you excited?"
"Yeah. A little nervous, too."
"Don't worry, we won't get caught. We'll be extra careful, trust me."
"What time do you want to meet?" Padma asked.
"How about seven-thirty? That'll give us time to eat dinner and get everything ready."
"Okay. I'll meet you here at seven-thirty!"
"Bye." Seamus headed to Gryffindor Tower for some supplies, then down to the Great Hall for dinner.
"I can always tell when you're here, whether or not I can see you," he remarked to Neville as he sat down.
"The glares?" Neville replied, glancing at the head table.
"Yeah, the glares. The Carrows don't like you much, you know? Hate to break it to you."
"Oh, well." Neville didn't look too torn up about it.
"Why would you want someone awful to like you?" Lavender put in. "It'd be like me wanting to be friends with Pansy Parkinson."
Seamus blinked. "My respect for you just went down a few notches for considering it. It's back up, though, since I know you're making a point," he said hastily, when Parvati and Lavender turned their twin glares on him.
The rest of dinner passed quickly, with comments about homework and whispers about Harry. Before he knew it, Seamus found that he was due at the Room of Requirement in ten minutes.
"Good luck," Neville murmured as he stood up, shouldering his bag.
"Thanks," Seamus replied, grinning at the table at large. "See you later tonight."
Not many students were in the halls that time of evening, either still eating dinner or already in the library working on homework. So it surprised Seamus when someone behind him said, "Hey, you."
Seamus turned around, then stopped in horror. Theodore Nott was standing there, holding Seamus' spray paint can. I must have dropped it, he thought, chagrined.
"This yours?" Nott said coolly, gesturing to the can, the words "Potby's Perfect Paint" clearly visible.
"Ah, um, no," Seamus replied. "Never seen it before in my life."
"Odd." Nott surveyed it. "Perhaps we should turn it in to a teacher."
"I -- don't think that's necessary," Seamus said quickly, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. "Here, why don't we just toss it? That way neither of us get in trouble."
Nott glanced sidelong at him, clearly amused. "In trouble? Me? I'm sure the Carrows would be astounded at this blemish on my perfect record. You, on the other hand..." He tossed the paint can from one hand to the other.
"You know I'm doing the right thing," Seamus found himself saying heatedly. "Just because you're too much of a coward --"
Nott laughed derisively. "Ah, yes, the Gryffindor's refuge." He threw the can at Seamus, who was almost too surprised to catch it. "Bravery is another word for stupidity. Don't be stupid enough to run into me again."
He strode past Seamus, knocking his shoulder as he went. Seamus gulped and continued on to the seventh floor. Padma was waiting for him, just surveying the famous tapestry.
"Sorry I'm late," Seamus murmured. "Ran into Nott on the way up; he caught me with the spray paint."
Padma shook her head. "What do you have that for? We're not on a graffiti mission."
"I thought we could multi-task," Seamus said, abashed. "But that's not the important thing right now. Do you know the drill for rescuing detention students?"
"Ginny pounded it into our heads enough times," Padma said with a smirk. "Luckily it's Slytherins so they won't be watching as closely."
Seamus' heart sank. "I forgot about that. Nott told me to avoid him."
"I'll take care of him, then. If we're lucky, we won't see him or Millicent at all." She twirled her wand idly in her fingers. "Let's go."
Detention was typically held in the dungeons, of course. The first dungeon past the Great Hall had a large stone gargoyle statue next to it, and members of the DA had found it to be a useful hiding place when staging such rescues. Seamus was murmuring to Padma that he'd conceal himself there while she did the initial check when they turned a corner and nearly collided with Professor McGonagall.
"Oh, hello, Professor," Padma said, holding Seamus' arm to not overbalance.
"Hello, Miss Patil. Mister Finnigan," McGonagall said, looking at both of them. "Out for an evening stroll?" Her eyes fell to Seamus' bag; he hoped that the spray paint can wasn't obvious.
"Yes, just enjoying our evening together," Seamus said, glancing sidelong at Padma and hoping, for once, that he was blushing. "You're not patrolling, are you, Professor?"
"No," McGonagall said slowly, "but I should remind you that curfew is coming up soon. Try to be back in your dormitories by then. Actually, please do your best not to get caught by any other professors."
"We won't," Padma assured her with a winning smile.
McGonagall looked long-suffering, but nodded. "Good luck this evening." With a final skeptical glance at Seamus, she continued on her way.
"I think you're famous," Padma whispered. "Did you see the way she looked at you?"
Seamus puffed out his chest a little. "You think so? Anyway, I'll keep an eye out for the Carrows. If we time it right we may be able to get a clean rescue. If not, well, you've got a quick wand."
"Yeah, I never knew that I could do all those defensive spells until Parvati had me join the DA during fifth year, remember?"
"Well..." Seamus began, but Padma had realized her mistake.
"Oh yeah, you weren't there."
Seamus frowned; he'd always regretted the wasted year at odds with Harry, not least because he'd missed out on the opportunity to be in Dumbledore's Army before. When Neville had asked him to join at the start of this year, he'd jumped at the chance.
"I'm sorry," Padma said, seeing his expression. "I didn't mean to upset you; you're such a great revolutionary now that it's easy to forget that you weren't in the original one."
"Well, thanks." Seamus managed a smile at her use of the word "revolutionary". He stopped in the Entrance Hall. "Are you ready?"
Padma gave him a salute. "Ready!"
"Okay." They proceeded toward the dungeons and concealed themselves behind the convenient statue.
Padma peered in. "Stewart's chained, Ellie's not. Only one Carrow there, neither Slytherins yet."
"Excellent. Create a diversion; I'll keep watch for the other Carrow and the Slytherins." Seamus held his wand ready while Padma pulled out a small disc. This was one of Luna's more ingenious inventions, though they had to use it sparingly. She rolled it down the hall; when it stopped, a loud sound like a fight emerged. There were raised voices -- Seamus always liked to pick his out of the bunch -- and shortly the first hex would be thrown, then some punches. It was a great piece of work, and never failed to get the Carrows out to spectate and recriminate.
Indeed, from out of the dungeon room came Alecto Carrow, flexing her fists and stroking her wand. "A little brawl, is it?" she was saying; she didn't even notice Seamus and Padma pressed against the wall, behind the statue. "We'll just see what's going on."
"Go!" Seamus hissed to Padma, but she was already gone, undoing Stewart's chains and helping Ellie to her feet. Seamus kept one eye on the detention room and one eye on the hallway -- it was almost time for the Slytherins to show up for Dark Arts practice.
"Come on!" Padma said, racing out of the classroom with her wand high. "Let's make for the first hallway and see if it's clear!"
Seamus followed her and the two fourth-years to the rendezvous point Ginny had designated earlier that year. He heard a noise that made his heart stop. "She's coming back!" he said breathlessly, and put on a burst of speed, pushing the others in front of him. "Hide here!" he said to Ellie and Stewart. "Don't come out until we get you!" He got them behind a suit of armor, but there wasn't room for Padma.
She glanced at him quickly, surely hearing as well as he could Alecto's voice starting to echo through the dungeons, shouting about the missing troublemakers and the hell that was due to pay. Any second she would come thundering through the school, no doubt with her brother in tow, maybe even Nott and Bulstrode.
"Corner," Padma said, pulling him around the corner. It wasn't a place to hide -- the suit of armor was the only one within reasonable distance -- but Seamus soon found that hiding wasn't what she had in mind.
"Wha --?" he squeaked as she backed against the wall and pulled him to her. Before he had recovered from the surprise of their bodies in such close contact, she'd brought her lips to his. Her hands tangled in his hair and she moaned.
Seamus' brain shorted out; something like this had never happened before, not even with Lavender on rebound. Padma opened her eyes for a moment, saw his were still open, and murmured against his mouth, "Make some noise."
Oh! It was a distraction. Of course. He pressed Padma against the wall and kissed her back, not worrying about how sloppy it was, or the way both of them were gasping for breath. When she hitched her leg around him he let out a very audible sigh, which she reciprocated when his hand found her hair and the nape of her neck. He was so caught up he'd almost forgotten why they were doing this until they heard someone say, "There's somebody over here."
Padma stiffened, but didn't let go of Seamus; in fact, she tightened her grip on his hair so that he gasped in surprise and pain.
"Oh, it's just some students foolin' around. It's not curfew yet, more's the pity."
Seamus decided it was safe to stop; he loosened his hold on Padma, whose hands fell away from his back. He rested his forehead against hers, praying that they'd move on, that their distraction had worked.
"But this one's a Gryffindor!" Seamus felt a hand peel him away from Padma. He looked into Amycus' face and immediately wished he hadn't; the wicked leer didn't bode well. "Know anything about some missing squirts in detention tonight, Gryffindor?" he said raspily, his hand tightening on Seamus' shoulder.
Seamus wiped his mouth. "I didn't -- we came down here for more privacy. I don't know anything about anyone in detention. If I'd known it was detention night we'd have chosen somewhere else." He braved a glance at Padma, who was looking at him wide-eyed, betraying nothing. "The screams kind of ruin the mood."
Alecto thought that was funny; she chuckled wheezily. "To each his own, I guess," she said roguishly. Seamus shuddered.
"Maybe they went further into the dungeons. You think that fight had something to do with it?" Amycus said.
"Oh, could be. Might explain why I couldn't ever see hide nor hair of the brawlers, if they were spiriting away our practice dummies." She snorted at her own joke. Casting a speculative glance over Seamus and Padma, she added, "We could always use them. Who's got the homework tonight?"
"Nott and Bulstrode. They're probably in the room now, wondering what's up."
Seamus tried not to betray any fear; he didn't trust Nott not to rat him out if he saw him.
Alecto pursed her lips, then sighed. "They're pretty good already, and Snape does hate it when we torture kids just for fun. We'd better let them loose."
Amycus released Seamus' shoulder. "You got off easy this time, Gryffindor boy. Next time pay attention to when detention is. Let's go search the dungeons, Alecto."
And with that, the pair went loping back into the dungeons. Padma collapsed with relief against the wall, and Seamus put out a hand to help her stand.
"That was close," he murmured, leading her to the suit of armor. "Way closer than usual."
"But we're in the clear now," Padma replied. "If we can just get them back to their dormitories." She peered into the hiding place. "Let's get you home."
Ellie and Stewart stood up. "Ellie should go first," Stewart said gallantly; Seamus noticed the way Ellie looked at him and hid a smile.
"Seamus can take her while I take you up to our common room, Stew," Padma suggested. Unsurprising to Seamus, Stewart shook his head stubbornly.
"I want to stay with her."
"We can all go together, then," Padma said, amused.
They walked down to the Hufflepuff common room; Seamus could see a ghost outside the painting he knew led to Hufflepuff. It was the Fat Friar, floating worriedly back and forth.
"Hey, Friar!" Ellie called. "I'm okay."
"Oh, good!" The Fat Friar smiled widely, holding his hands out to Seamus and Padma. "Ernie said that a rescue mission had been organized, but we didn't know how it would go."
"They did a great job," Ellie said, smiling at Seamus (Stewart scowled). "Thanks for waiting for me; I hoped you would."
"It's an honor," the ghost replied. "Makes my old heart fail to see any students of mine in danger; waiting is all I feel I can do." He glanced at Padma and Seamus. "Thank you. Thank you for the work you do."
"You're welcome," Padma said graciously. "You'd better get inside now, Ellie, curfew's about to start."
"Bye, Stewart," Ellie said, hugging the younger boy. "See you in class." To everyone's general surprise, she kissed his cheek then backed away hurriedly. "Thanks for, you know, sticking up for me."
"Anytime," Stewart said dazedly. After Ellie was gone, Padma had to pull him along for a few minutes.
When they reached the hallway where Gryffindors and Ravenclaws went different directions, Padma came to a halt. Anxious to get the first word in, Seamus said, "Thanks for coming along tonight. You're a great partner."
Padma raised her eyebrows and Seamus winced. He hadn't meant it that way...even though that was true too.
"So are you," she replied, smiling. When they locked eyes for a moment, she winked. "I enjoyed our evening stroll. See you later."
She turned and started walking. Seamus watched her, an internal battle raging. Finally, he decided to be courageous and reckless like a Gryffindor should be. "Padma," he said. She looked back at him, a question in her eyes. Heedless of the spectator (Stewart had his own girl, anyway), Seamus strode up to her and bent toward her. Right as he got to her, his nerve failed. He aimed for her cheek instead, but once Padma realized what she was doing she turned her head and met his lips right on her mouth.
"See you later," Seamus whispered, unable to keep from grinning. He watched a grinning Padma head up her own staircase before turning toward his. As he took the first upward step, his bag banged against his knee and he remembered the spray paint. He took it out and surveyed it, then glanced at the staircase where Padma had disappeared.
"I think I've taken enough risks tonight," Seamus decided, safely stowing the can to give to Neville when he got back to the dormitory. He looked forward to reporting his success on the mission, though he wasn't sure just how much to tell. He didn't think he was ready for that quite yet.
Rescue Mission by Cinderella Angelina
Chapter Endnotes: Many thanks to Equinox Chick, who hosted a great class on Missing Moments!