Seek And Ye Shall Find (Shay)

[Deleted]

Dom was annoyed. Honestly, it wasn't something that happened often, but it was happening now and there really wasn't anything she could do about it. The thing was, she was doing her homework. Honestly that was quite normal for Dominique Weasley, but the not-so-normal thing was that she was having a hard time with it. Transfiguration was normally a pretty easy subject but something about this was throwing her off, so she went to the library to grab a book her professor mentioned in class. No problem, that sometimes happened too. The annoying thing was that the book wasn't there! She looked all around the area where it should be before deciding to go to a higher authority: the Librarian. Apparently someone named Seamus Krakauer borrowed it. Who the heck was Seamus Krakauer? She'd never heard of him before; how in the world was she supposed to find him? Of course, Dom could be patient and wait for him to return the book, but no. That wasn't her. She was doing transfiguration homework now and she needed it. She asked the librarian if she knew Seamus or where he would be likely to be and the woman actually said yes, to Dom's surprise. Great! If he was in here, Dom would find him. "Séamus," Dom whispered as she crept around the library, pretending like she was looking for someone she knew. Hopefully he would respond if he was here. If not she was going to be very put out. "Séamus," she said, walking near a small corner with a bunch of comfortable seats. Where was he?

@seamus

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Séamus was never pleased to hear a stranger saying his name. Never once had someone he didn’t recognize saying him name end in anything but heartache for him, so generally Shay tried to ignore it when he heard his name called. He used a litany of excuses to keep himself from feeling totally rude – Séamus was a pretty common name, wasn’t it? And he was trying (futilely) to study, which was always a good reason to ignore people. Eventually, though, Shay had to admit to himself that someone was probably looking for him, and he was only going to end up annoying the rest of the library if he let the girl, whoever she was, continue to whisper-scream his name throughout the entire library. Standing up from the seat he was tucked into in a far corner, Séamus approached the red-head. “Th-that’s m-me.” He said, trying to exude confidence despite how nervous he was that he was about to get in some sort of trouble with her.

@dominique

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Dom was not a very patient person, but she was trying her best. She didn't want to annoy other people that were studying and there was every chance that Séamus actually left the library without the librarian noticing. She shook her head, determined to at least try to find him in here. So she continued walking aro,und, whispering his name. After what seemed like an eternity, someone stood up and started walking toward her. As he approached, Dom stopped calling out the boy's name and waited. Maybe this was him! Or maybe it was someone that was annoyed at her for disturbing them. No matter. If they got angry at her, Dom could defend herself well enough. Or she could just flirt her way out of any struggle. After all, he was kind of cute. As he got closer, he spoke, stuttering that he was Séamus. Awww, poor thing. She didn't know if he normally had difficulty speaking or not, but maybe he was intimidated because a stranger was calling his name determinedly. Dom gave a smile. "You're Séamus?" She asked, looking him up and down and letting her smile widen. He really was cute, and he didn't actually look too much younger than her. She didn't think he was in her year though; if he was she probably would have met him before now and Dom was really good with faces. She shrugged a shoulder and tilted her head slightly to she side, still smiling at him. "I'm Dominique. Well, that's my full name. You can call me Dom though," she said, trying to put him at ease. Then she decided to just get along with things. "I was looking for a book on Transfiguration and the librarian said you have it?" Dom made the statement a question, unable to just talk idly without telling him why she was looking for him. Surely he wanted to know. 

@seamus

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The girl was looking at him, surveying him, really and Séamus was infinitely glad that his complexion wouldn’t betray his blush. He didn’t like to be looked at, especially not by people who were prettier than him – which was most of the female population of the school, and at least half of the males, too. He cleared his throat when the girl repeated his name, and then decided nodded to speak, nodding instead. She was smiling at him, which was strange. Not many Slytherins smiled as much as this girl was smiling, Shay himself included. The girl introduced herself as Dominique, and Séamus nodded. She was probably a Weasley, given the hair. Dominique Weasley – that name sounded right. He had probably heard it before. “N-nice to m-meet you.” Shay said when Dom had finished her introduction. It suddenly became a lot less nice, though, when Dom asked about the book Shay had just been poring over. He gestured to the table he had been sitting at, where the book was laying open, a parchment page of messy notes beside it. “I d-do.” It was obvious by the setup, though, that Séamus was still using the book. “D-do you n-need it?” That answer was obvious, too, and Shay kicked himself. She wouldn’t have gone calling his name through the library if she hadn’t needed the book. “I c-can just f-finish my notes later, I g-guess.” He sighed. He probably wasn’t ever going to get back to the notes, which would just mean that his essay would be half-finished. Again.

@dominique

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"Nice to meet you too," Dom answered easily, intrigued by his stuttering but trying to be polite at the same time. What? She could be polite. Sometimes. That aside, Séamus definitely did seem nervous and Dom was curious about why, but that wasn't something polite people really asked others. Still ... when had Dom ever been polite? Her smile widened and she lifted one shoulder as she looked at him curiously. "Do I make you nervous?" She asked, unable to help herself. If she did, then he would probably have a very hard time answering. She wasn't trying to be mean, she just didn't have a filter. At least, not today. 

Then he answered her question, gesturing to the book, which was on the table where he'd been sitting. Dom looked over there, her expression growing slightly more serious when she saw it open and in the middle of a bunch of notes. She hadn't been expecting him to actually be using the book right then! That made things a little more complex, for her at least. Homework was important, but her homework wasn't more important than somebody else's. As a Ravenclaw, she was unwilling to take a book from someone that was using it. "I do ..." she trailed off for a moment, frowning when he said that he could finish his notes later. No, she wasn't about to do that. "No, I can wait a bit. I have some other things to work on and you're in the middle of your work. Mind if I join you, so I can use it when you're done?" She wasn't sure how he would respond to that, but she wasn't about to take the book right now. If he didn't want her here, she'd come back later. 

@seamus

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Séamus cursed internally when Dominique asked if she made him nervous. The answer was yes, of course, but it wasn’t because she was a girl, or really pretty, or anything of the sort. People in general made him nervous, but that wasn’t something that he cared to admit. He was enough a laughingstock already. “N-no.” Séamus said defiantly, looking Dominique straight in the eye so that she couldn’t think that he was avoiding her gaze because he was lying to her. “St-stuttering isn’t always b-because of n-nerves, you kn-know.” Shay informed her, voice slightly tart. “F-for m-me, it’s just b-been something I always d-did.” He couldn’t remember a time he didn’t stutter. Even the home videos his parents had from when he was a toddler featured a stuttering Séamus, which was all the proof he needed that the stuttering had been the cause of his shyness, and not vice versa.

When Dom said that she could wait for him to be done with the book, Séamus frowned. “It’s g-going to b-be l-longer than a b-bit.” He told her. “I d-don’t t-take n-notes quickly.” Shay winced. That hadn’t been a particularly good pair of sentences as far as his stutter went; there were definitely too many consonants. “B-but if you w-want to w-wait…” He trailed off. He wasn’t going to reject her offer of sitting with him, that was for sure, but he wanted to make sure that Dominque didn’t have any unrealistic expectations about when he was going to be done with the book.

@dominique

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He was looking straight at Dom and she could tell that she'd offended him, a sense that was confirmed when he started speaking. She smiled to herself, pleased that she could sense his irritation before he actually said it out loud. "Sorry," she answered with a tiny shrug. Her eyes widened when he went on to explain that a stutter didn't always mean one was nervous. Her inner Ravenclaw rejoiced in the fact that she just learned something she hadn't known before. "I didn't know that," she told him honestly, not offended at all. Dom wasn't one to get easily offended at all. "Sorry if I upset you. I have no tact." Most people already knew that about Dom, but she'd never met this boy before, so he had no reason to know that and she had no problem admitting it openly. 

He said it was going to take him a while, but Dom already made up her mind. Time wasn't going to change it. "That's fine. I'm not in a rush," she answered. It wasn't particularly honest, but she wasn't going to take the book in the middle of him studying it. She smiled at him and then bounced past him and moved to sit in a comfortable chair right e table he was studying at. She made herself comfortable and pulled out a book, then looking up at him. "Don't worry, I have other things I can do," Dom told him with a smile. 

@seamus

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Séamus shook his head when Dominique apologized. It wasn’t something that he liked having to explain, but it was a common assumption, especially upon his first meeting people, especially given his reputation for shyness. “I c-can s-see that.” Séamus said drily when Dominique said that she had no tact. “Is that a c-common thing with R-Ravenclaws?” He asked. All he really knew was Slytherins, and they had tact abounding, mostly because they were purebloods, and purebloods were taught that sort of thing from the cradle. Séamus had learned it as a survival mechanism during his first and second years, but was still working on perfecting the silver-tongued ministrations that some of his classmates seemed to favor. The stutter didn’t exactly help him in that department.

“O-okay.” Séamus responded when Dom said that she wasn’t in a rush. He had tried to warn her, so she couldn’t be mad when he inevitably took longer than she was imagining to finish the book. Dom also added that she had other things to do, and Séamus nodded. “W-what do you n-need the b-book f-for in the f-first place?” Séamus asked. Shay had thought that it was a lower-level thing, but if a seventh year needed it for something, obviously there was more to it than met the eye.

@dominique

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Séamus seemed to be upset with Dom, which wasn't something entirely out of the ordinary. People had a tendency to get annoyed with her because she was so impulsive. She laughed when he said that he could see she didn't have any tact and then asked if it was common for Ravenclaws. She shook her head, still smiling. "Sorry again," she said before continuing, "No, I'm pretty much one of a kind. Most of the time Ravenclaws just want to talk about knowledge and information and such. I'm one of the strange ones," she told him factually. She didn't mind, it was just the way she was and she had no problem sharing that with others.

She looked up from her spot on the couch when he asked what she needed the book for. "It was mentioned in Transfiguration class for what we're studying and I'm pretty thorough when it comes to my classes, so I wanted to look through it a little bit to make sure I have things right in my homework," Dom explained. When it came to her homework, she was extremely thorough, more so than anyone would expect from her. But she had plenty to work on, so she didn't mind waiting for this. "What are you using it for?" She asked curiously, figuring that if he wanted to talk she might as well ask her own questions. Besides that, Dom was never good at holding back her own questions.

@seamus

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“G-good to kn-know.” Séamus said when Dominique said that she was one of a kind. He could see that already, with the way she behaved. She looked like all the other Weasleys Séamus had heard about, with the bright red hair and pale skin and all, but she acted differently from the ones that Séamus interacted with – that was, the Slytherin Weasley girls, who didn’t seem all that interested in Séamus because he was so far beneath them. He wasn’t going to complain about that, though. As long as he wasn’t getting harassed, he was just fine, even if that meant being unnoticed. “Wh-what d-do you w-want to t-talk about then?” Séamus asked. If not knowledge and information and such, then what? He had to admit that he was curious to see what Dom would say, since everything Shay could think to talk about fell under the broader umbrella of knowledge, if you looked at it in a certain light.

Dominique asked what he was using the book for, and Séamus shrugged. “J-just n-notes.” He answered. Specifically, he was looking at the chapter on animal-animal transfiguration. They had been changing mice into snakes in their last Transfiguration class, and Séamus had done fairly well with the practical end of things, but he couldn’t explain why he had done so well, or the theory behind mammal-reptile transfiguration, much to his professor’s chagrin. “I h-have other st-stuff I n-need to d-do, t-too.” Séamus added, hoping that Dominique would understand that even if she did eventually rip the book from him, he’d have more to do.

@dominique

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Dom couldn't keep herself from smirking when Séamus said it was good to know she was different. It made sense, in a way, to want to know if you were talking to someone that was normal verses someone that was so totally impulsive like Dom. But she hadn't explained why she was different, so was it really good for him to know yet? Then she laughed when he asked what she wanted to talk about. She wasn't laughing at him, but she wouldn't be surprised if he saw it that way. "What don't I want to talk about is a better question!" She exclaimed enthusiastically. She cocked her head to the side and looked at him closely, measuring him before making her decision. She might as well tell him. "I like talking about everything. I love knowledge and learning, but I also like adventures and pulling pranks and making people laugh. It really just depends on what I'm in the mood for, to be honest." She shrugged, feeling like she'd explained herself quite well. She liked everything. Except for talking about her feelings, which is one reason why she went over the top on everything else. But no one had noticed that about her yet, and she didn't expect this boy to. "What do you like to talk about?" She asked, turning the attention from herself. 

She smiled, nodding when he said he was taking notes. Notes were important, especially if you were going to be looking back on them later. She giggled when he said he had other stuff to work on too. "Don't worry about me, Séamus," Dom told him after a second. "I'm starting on my seventh year, so with studying for NEWTs along with my classroom studies, I have plenty of things to keep me busy, no matter how long it takes to write your notes." It was almost like he was asking her to take the book, but Dom could be stubborn when she wanted to be and right now ... she definitely wanted to be. She would not get in the way of his studies. She wouldn't do it. No matter what he said. Then again, taking a break from studying ... she might invite him to do that with her in a bit. But she wouldn't be taking that book until he was done with it.

@seamus

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Dominique seemed very enthusiastic when she went to answer his question – or rather, went to answer the opposite of his question, since apparently she liked to talk about everything. He nodded along when she talked about knowledge and learning, but blanched a bit at the idea of adventures. Adventures meant talking to people, which was obviously not Shay’s favorite thing. Dom returned the question to him, which the Slytherin hadn’t been expecting. He was kind of hoping that she would just ramble on about what she liked to talk about, since the list was so extensive. “Fl-flowers.” Shay answered quietly. He loved Herbology, of course, but Muggle flowers were even more interesting than Wizarding plants, at least to Shay, since he had grown up with them. “Th-though r-really, I’d l-like n-not to t-talk at all.” Writing was so much easier, since he couldn’t stutter in writing, and if he made a mistake, he wouldn’t have to see the recipient’s reaction to it. Of course, that only extended to when he was writing for pleasure. Writing for school was a whole different monster.

Séamus sighed when Dominique said that he didn’t have to worry about her, nodding to show that he had heard. He sat back down in his chair, rereading his notes so that he could find where in the Transfiguration book he had left off. Right, something about respiratory organs in Transfiguration. Séamus read the passage in the book carefully, and scribbled down words that he thought might have been important, though he had no idea why. Shay made a soft frustrated noise, and set down his quill so he could reread the passage for the third time and try to draw some kind of meaning out of it.

@dominique

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Apparently he didn't like the idea of adventures. At least, the expression on his face when she mentioned adventures made her come to that conclusion. That was sad. Dom knew that it wasn't so common for people to want to do exciting things and shake things up, but apparently more people disliked the idea than she thought. "Flowers," she repeated, instantly interested. She didn't know very much about them, but she thought that flowers were pretty. "What types of things do you like about flowers?" Dom was now curious about why they were so interesting to him. Then he said that he didn't really like talking. Well, that wasn't going to work. Séamus seemed like an interesting person and Dom definitely wanted to get to know him better. She made a face as she tried to figure out how to tell him that she had no intention of respecting his wish to not talk. "How am I supposed to get to know you if you won't talk with me?" She asked in a slightly pouty voice, batting her eyelashes at him a little bit. That probably wouldn't matter at all to him, but oh well. 

Then he sat down, finally seeming to accept the fact that she wasn't going to take his book from him. Dom smiled as she snuggled herself into the chair and got comfortable, pulling her legs up so she was sitting on them as she curled into a ball reading. Séamus seemed to be focusing on his books and scribbling notes, not that she was really paying attention. She just smiled when she heard his quill scratching against the parchment. Then he started to sound annoyed and Dom looked up, watching him. His body language said he was upset and she got up off of her chair, moving over to him. "Hey, can I help?" she asked softly. She wasn't sure if he'd let her help, but she was offering and that was really all he could do.

@seamus

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Shay couldn’t tell whether Dominique was repeating what he had said because of disbelief, scorn, or interest. He glanced over at her, and decided it was either the first or last item on the list; she didn’t seem to be the kind of person to scorn someone else easily, from what he had seen so far. “Th-they’re not p-people.” Séamus said with a little laugh when he was asked to explain himself. That wasn’t any of the reasons he liked flowers, of course. Shay loved people, as long as they were the right sort of people. Dominique wasn’t so bad, as far as Séamus was concerned: she hadn’t yet mocked either his stutter or his accent, so that was a point in her favor. “N-no.” Shay said with a shrug, in case Dom hadn’t already figured out he was joking. “Th-they’re j-just…qu-quiet.” That didn’t make any sense, but it was too late to correct himself, so Shay just left it at that. Dom asked how she was supposed to know him if he didn’t talk, and Séamus chuckled. “N-not m-my pr-problem.” He teased. “You c-can submit your qu-questions in wr-writing if th-they’re particularly b-burning.”

Dom seemed to realize pretty quickly that he wasn’t having a good time with the whole reading and writing shtick, which was probably to be expected, since Shay wasn’t really trying to hide it. “C-can you m-make th-things m-make sense?” Séamus asked Dom with a sigh. “I j-just d-don’t g-get it.” He said, half-tempted just to slam to the book closed, even though that would only make himself more work in the long run.

@dominique

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Dom couldn't help but laugh when he said that flowers weren't people. That was obvious, but she was sensing that he meant a little more than that/ Like, did he not like people? "Soooo you don't like people then," she said, her words sounding something like a comment but also a question at the same time. She wasn't sure if that's what he meant to imply but she couldn't let it go without saying anything. Séamus said that what he liked most about flowers was that they were quiet and Dom laughed again. First it was a loud laugh, then she remembered where she was. The library. She lifted a hand to cover her mouth and stifle her laughter at least a little bit. "Well if you like quiet then you're definitely not going to like me at all because I'm rarely quiet." She thought for a moment before giggling softly, "You'll like me most when I'm studying, probably. That's about as quiet as I get." Dom wasn't quite sure why she was applying everything he said to herself, but oh well. It was still funny. Then he started to tease her outright about how she could ask him questions and Dom struggled to not laugh outright again. "Stop it!" She said as she fought to contain the volume of her laughter. After a few seconds she looked up at him and shrugged, "I might submit my questions to you in writing ..." she started, though her tone of voice directly implied that she was about to tease him back. "or I might just look for you and ask you my questions in person. It really just depends on my mood," Dom was being entirely honest. She wasn't sure how much Séamus would appreciate it, but she was going for honesty.

When he answered her question, it became even more obvious how frustrated he really was with his schoolwork. Dom's eyebrows furrowed in a mixture of concern and curiosity. What was he struggling with? "I can try ..." she offered after a few seconds. "What are you having a hard time with?" She wasn't really used to tutoring others; most Ravenclaw students knew how unpredictable she was so they chose to go to more consistent students for help. After all, one never knew when Dom was going to decide she was done with something and decide to move on to something more exciting. A part of her was in the mood for something fun right now, but Séamus was asking for help. She would do her best to help him, even though that meant restraining some of her impulses.

@seamus