Huh, as reactions went, wasn’t as deeply negative as Seamus realised he’d been expecting, but it was a little underwhelming. At least Ron didn’t think he was that mental. (It, he remembered to think, or they, but wasn’t it the same thing?) Ron took a sip; Seamus, thinking they were probably equally uncomfortable now, went to do the same, and finished off the last few drops (damn it.)
Classically, just as Seamus was casting about for something to joke about, Ron beat him to it; he chuckled, less weakly than he’d thought he would, and said, “Don’t plan on it.â€
Of course, Seamus’s experience of Dean and Ginny’s relationship had been through the pretty biased lens of being Dean’s best mate. He’d only ever heard Dean’s side of things when Dean was bothered about something (he’d been adamant that he hadn’t even touched her, on the night they’d broken up) but he’d found the whole thing irritating and senseless enough that he’d been pretty lousy support.
Ron’s next question came with the suddenness of having been thinking it for a few minutes, and Seamus’s response was with the suddenness of horror – “No – ‘course not. It’s been like – a few months. Like – I dunno, how’d you and Hermione sort yourselves out?†He’d never actually been clear on the details – he assumed it’d happened while they were on the run with Harry – but Ron and Hermione had been best mates for ages too, so it couldn’t be all that different.
