George finds himself awakening just past midnight, alone in the bed he usually shares. SIghing softly, he swings his legs over the side of the bed and pulls on his slippers. Softly, he treads out to the kitchen.

Seamus is sitting at the kitchen counter, his head in his hands, looking woebegone. The radio is playing softly in the background.

"Nightmares again?" he asks quietly. Seamus whirls around. His eyes are bloodshot, his face tear-stricken. He sniffs once, and then nods.

"Oh, honey," George says.

"I'm fine," Seamus claims, but then his face wobbles, and he can tell the lie holds no ground. "They made me kill Neville," he says instead.

George moves forward, turns the barstool that Seamus is sitting on, and wraps his arms around him.

It's been four years since the war ended, but it's not really over. It lives in both of them. It lives in their guilt and their grief and their sadness. It haunts their dreams and their memories both. Some nights, like tonight, it chases them awake and keeps them there, wallowing. Some nights it's Seamus who wakes up screaming or silent with nightmares of his year at Hogwarts. Some nights it's George who wakes up and starts looking for something, not understanding what he's searching for, until the loss of Fred hits him all over again and he winds up curled up in a ball, sobbing with grief. Some nights it's both of them, and there's no one else to make tea and lend a comforting hand.

George grips Seamus's shoulders tightly even as they start shaking with fresh sobs.

"Do you need me to Floo Neville so that you can see him?" See he's still alive, George doesn't say.

Seamus shakes his head. "He had a long shift today." Neville is an Auror, and works weird hours that George is sometimes surprised Seamus can even keep track of.

"He wouldn't begrudge you this."

Seamus just shakes his head again. "It's okay, George. I know it wasn't real. I just needed a minute."

The tears are slowing, and that's the only reason George really believes him.

"Okay. Do you want a sleeping potion for the rest of the night?"

Seamus hesitates, but finally says, "I do."

"Okay." George moves to get it, but Seamus doesn't let him go. They stand there in peaceful quiet, something slow and crooning on the radio, until Seamus's grip eventually loosens. George moves to the potions cupboard and Seamus to the bedroom. George brings him the potion and a glass of water, and Seamus downs both before making grabby hands at George, who grins and curls up next to him. George watches Seamus drift off, and he smiles.

..**..

For Amber's Valentine Drabble Challenge GeorgeSeamus - "Nightmares again?"

For Hogwarts: Stickers (Knight Bus — set at night) Insane House (460. Word: woebegone), Resolutions (50 fics), 365 (342. Word: awakening), WC Buttons (item: radio, word: claim(s), Dialogue: "I do"), WC Days of the Month (write about someone taking a sleeping potion), WC Liza's Loves (Title: In a Lonely Place), WC showtime (Emotion: grief), Weekly Tea (Honey Honey - someone using the nickname Honey), Bath Bombs (set your story in the dead of night), Dragons (WC), fanfiction month (WC)