"It felt so real, it always feels so real," he said, sucking in a deep breath, trying to will his tears to cease. Seamus being gone was always one of his biggest fears, from when they were at odds during their fifth year, through the terrified flight of his seventh when they couldn't keep in touch, the confusion of he battle and Seamus' injury, right up to now with the pair of them not quite connecting with each other. Seamus who was the first instinct of where to go when he was hurting, who had brought him back from the depths of his own mind more times than he could count or was wiling to remember. He almost never had flashbacks about the battle, they were far more likely to be about his flight from Snatchers or Hermione's torture, but that gave them no less of an effect.
He blinked his eyes clear of the fuzz of tears, even though he still felt the threat of tears, and the odd one escaped they were slowing. "Hi, Shadow," he said, shifting slightly so he could reach over and let her sniff his fingers. She appeared to be white and fluffy. Trust Susan to choose a name like Shadow for something so white.
"I wish my brain would get the message about me not needing to worry," he said quietly, silently cursing his brain's various malfunctions.