AN: Written for Round 1 of the All Year Long Competition over at HPFC. Prompts used at bottom of fic.
The soft sound of Blaise's footsteps rang out loudly against the stone walls of the Astronomy Tower. Coming to the landing, he found the person he was looking for sitting on the edge of the battlements.
Joining Colin, he settled but a hairsbreadth away, their arms brushing together. As Blaise's feet hung over the edge, he noticed that Colin was in his sock feet – one blue and the other yellow. They moved rapidly back and forth, at odds with his body, which was stock-still. It seemed so incongruous with the background of the battle aftermath. Though the grounds were no longer strewn with human bodies, the corpses of spiders and giants were lying around, the grass marred with gore. Smoke still rose from the parts of the castle that had been set on fire, although the dust had settled.
They sat in silence, until Blaise finally worked up the courage to speak.
"What made you change your mind?"
Colin's movements stilled abruptly.
"Who said I have?"
"You asked me here," Blaise replied. "You know you did."
"It was only a glance. I barely even looked at you."
"You might as well have screamed."
Colin laughed suddenly at that, swinging his feet back round to solid ground, so that they were now sitting almost back to back.
"You're really annoying when you do that, you know. Come to your Slytherin conclusion before I've even made a decision." Despite the defiance in his words, his body slumped forward, and his eyes closed softly.
"I know you, Colin," Blaise said softly, as he turned as well. Laying his hand on Colin's, he noticed something crumpled in the tight fist.
"What's this?"
Colin remained stubbornly silent as Blaise worked his fist open, uncurling his fingers from what turned out to be a piece of paper. As Blaise stared at the old photo he had rescued, Colin began to cry. Tears trickled down his cheeks, and still Blaise stared. Looking back at him was an assembled group of people, waving and smiling. The Gryffindor members of Dumbledore's army.
Most of them didn't interest him, but there were two – two that had accepted him. As he stared at the smiling faces of Lavender Brown and Seamus Finnegan, he too began to cry.
"Oh, Colin," he sighed softly.
"They're dead," Colin wailed desperately. "They're dead!"
Slowly, Blaise pulled Colin into his arms.
"I know, my love."
"How can you be so- so- composed? Our friends are dead! The only people who accepted us are gone forever!"
"Many died. You know there are some who suffered worse fates. I wouldn't have wished those on anyone, especially stubborn Gryffindors that I counted among my friends."
"That isn't enough," Colin said, voice cracking in his desperation. "Please explain it to me. I don't know how to deal with this. Please."
As Blaise pondered that, he rubbed Colin's back in what he hoped was a soothing manner.
"Seamus and Lavender were good people Colin, and they were lucky to have found each other before the end. I will always remember them fondly, with love. It's hard that they had to leave us. I'm really not dealing with this any better than you are." Here, he paused, and thought for a bit.
Colin spoke up, his face still buried in Blaise's chest.
"I'll always remember trying to find a broom closet and stumbling into theirs. They were too drunk to care that they had seen us together, and when they finally sobered up, they took it surprisingly well."
"I think it helped that their drunken decision had led to a shockingly good relationship," Blaise said wryly.
They both gave watery laughs at that, and Colin lifted his head to stare into Blaise's dark eyes. Leaning forward, their lips met. They kissed with the desperation of those who had just escaped death's embrace, tears still running down Colin's face.
Breaking apart, Blaise's large hands cupped Colin's face, dark framing light. Hardly daring to believe it, he couldn't help but ask.
"So this really is your decision?"
Colin nodded softly. "I choose you, Blaise. The worst may be over now, and it may not be, but I can't help but choose you. I missed you so much this past year, I felt like I was being pulled apart. When I thought about the things I said to you I- I hated myself for it. I'm so sorry that I turned you away. I love you."
"I love you too."
And then they were kissing again, the final battle not forgotten, but won. They both knew their own battle was only just beginning, but they would not lose. Not this time.
Mandatory Prompts used: Rare pair Colin/Blaise, genre: romance, word: explain, dialogue: "What made you change your mind", object: an old photograph, romantic pairing Seamus/Lavender (mention - I don't know if that counts or not)
Bonus Prompts used: mismatched socks, "You're really annoying when you do that.", too drunk to care.