2 YEARS LATER

"Seamus, stop stressing out," I said watching as he fiddled with the button of his shirt. He didn't listen to me and instead started fiddling with his buttons on his sleeve cuffs instead. I swatted his hand away, "Stop it. Will you please relax? I'm sure my parents will love you, I think they already do."

"It's not your parents I'm concerned about," he said quietly as we walked towards the fireplace of the apartment he had bought once he graduated from Hogwarts. He stopped short of actually reaching the fireplace, stalling the inevitable. "I'm more concerned about the skyscrapers known as your brothers."

"I can't help you with that," I said teasingly as I nudged him with my shoulder, "They're definitely worse than my parents."

"Merlin, the way I first met them doesn't help either." He sighed heavily, working himself back up again. I patted his back soothingly, unable to contest what he'd said.

"It doesn't," I agreed thinking back to when he was first personally introduced to my brothers. It hadn't been ideal.

It was hard to believe that everything was finally over; that the yearlong war had culminated with a final battle and then Voldemort was gone. Forever. He would never come back to terrorise the life we lived and wouldn't wreck the peace we'd fought so hard for. But it didn't end without casualties. They were still putting together list of the dead and so far Seamus' name hadn't been added to it. The last I had seen of him was moments after Professor Snape had left the great hall before we had gone our separate ways.

I needed to find him, to see that he was still –

Entering the wreckage that was the great hall, I looked around, scanning each face in the crowd to find him. I walked through the hall looking for him only to stop a few steps later. The tension ebbed out of my shoulders. He was there – talking to an injured Dean and an equally injured Neville but he was alive. His eyes left their direction momentarily and landed on me.

He rose to his feet, leaving the conversation and made his way over to me. Merlin he was alive.

I ran over to him, pushing through the crowd as I went. Once I'd reached him I wrapped my arms around his neck, his own slipping around my waist. Squeezing myself tight against him, I buried my head into the junction of his shoulder and let out a deep breath. The relief I felt at being able to hold him like this was overwhelming.

"Thank Merlin you're alright," he muttered when he pulled back.

"I'm fine, truly." I looked up at him with a smile, scanning his face for any visible injuries, "What about you?"

"A little injured, but that's what I get for playing with fire." His arms tightened around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

"Nice work with the bridge."

Then there were no more words as I rose onto my toes to press my lips against his. He pressed back firmly and we lost ourselves in that moment. There would be no more fear, no more life threatening situations, only hope for the futures we wanted. At the sound of a throat clearing I pulled back from Seamus to look at the man standing behind Seamus. The blood drained out of my face as my eyes widened. The man glared very pointedly at the back of Seamus' head, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Shit."

"What?" Seamus said, panicking. He removed his hands from my waist, worried that something was wrong. "What's wrong?"

"I take it this is the boyfriend then, little sister?"

Seamus turned to look at the man standing behind him and paled more than I thought his complexion would have allowed of him. He made his way to my side and let his eyes trail up to meet my brother's eyes before turning to look at me.

He muttered to me, fear evident in his voice, "Your brother?"

"Edgar," I said back, wondering how to navigate through the situation, "The eldest of my brothers."

Edgar looked over his shoulder and called out, "Johnathon! There's someone you need to meet!"

"Johnathon?" Seamus repeated as Johnathon came to stand beside Edgar, both of them towering inches above Seamus and I. It was obvious that their height added to how much they intimidated Seamus.

"My other brother; the middle child."

"What's going on?" Johnathon asked and I took that as a chance to step in.

"Ed, John I've missed you so much." I stepped towards my brothers and hugged each of them. They didn't let me return to Seamus' side once I'd pulled away. Instead they kept me stood between them, away from Seamus.

"John," Edgar said, looking at him over my head, "This is our little sister's boyfriend."

Johnathon raised an eyebrow and looked back at Seamus, "Oh he is, is he?"

"It'll be fine," I said rolling my eyes, "I've told them to play nice."

He clearly wasn't swayed by my words but wrapped an arm around my waist to apparate us away. Once we apparated into the hall of my house, we were greeted by the sight of my two brothers waiting for us.

"Mum's waiting for you in the kitchen," John said to me dismissively.

"You're not even going to greet your sister before you start using your scare tactics?" I asked, setting my hands on my hips.

"You still live here," Edgar said from beside him, "We can greet you whenever we visit Mum and Dad. Now Seamus, was it? Let's have a talk."

"Play nicely," I warned as I turned to leave the room. Seamus shot me a look and I shrugged helplessly. If I interfere then my brother's would like him less. They needed to conduct their interrogation and then they would open up to him.

"We always play nicely." John said with a grin, "You should worry about when we stop playing nicely.