A/N: Written for SIYE challenge 2019-1. I've actually had this percolating in my head for ages, and the SIYE challenge gave me the push I needed to finally put it to paper (so to speak).

Mostly fits in canon, though there are a few things in book 7 that would play out SLIGHTLY differently after my version of events here.

Prologue

An eerie, blood-red glow lit the unused classroom on the second floor. Potions and strange devices littered the shelves, and buckets of steaming liquid lay innocuously along the large table against the wall. What seemed like miles of twine had been strung across the ceiling, rectangles of thick paper dangling from them and dancing in the faint breeze as a robed figure rushed throughout the cramped space.

Colin Creevey was a very busy wizard.

He still had one OWL exam to take tomorrow, but this was more important than his Astronomy score. He'd spent enough time watching Harry, Ron, and Hermione to know when something terrible was about to happen, and after Professor Dumbledore was killed and Harry and Ginny had broken up, it was obvious - at least to him - that things were about to change. Drastically.

Colin wasn't a great fighter. He wasn't clever and inventive like the Weasley twins, wasn't a strategist like Ron or an encyclopedia like Hermione, and he wasn't magically powerful the way Ginny was. He didn't see to the heart of things like Luna, or have the drive to fight like Neville. But there was something he was good at. It wouldn't help the war, but maybe, just maybe, it would help two of the people about to fight in it.

Back in his second year, he'd been given permission to use this classroom as a darkroom, and he'd been taking photos prolifically ever since. He'd learnt how to brew the potions that would develop his Muggle negatives into a moving photograph. And he'd gotten really good at watching people for the perfect moment to capture a candid shot that showed absolutely everything.

It was how he knew Harry and Ginny weren't really broken up. Not in the way that counted.

The last of the photos for his latest project had been developed and hung to dry yesterday. Colin pulled them down carefully, scrutinizing them to make sure they were completely finished, and grinned.

This was going to be perfect.

Colin and Ginny had become great friends in their second year, not least because neither of them had been able to really engage with their yearmates in first year. He'd never been extremely close with Harry - he had finally realised Harry hated being famous, hated how much attention he got, and Colin's enthusiasm about taking his picture had certainly not helped. But he'd still gotten to know the older boy over the years, and they'd come to an agreement of sorts: Colin could take as many photos as he wanted, as long as he kept them to himself or checked with Harry (and anyone else in the photo) before letting anyone else see them.

And as he'd seen Harry and Ginny first dancing around each other, then finally getting together, he'd taken full advantage, cataloguing as much as he could with the vague intention of gifting the photos to the couple on an anniversary or something.

Now, as he'd watched them pretend distance and disdain since their Headmaster's funeral, his work was about to pay off. He didn't know exactly what was about to happen, but Harry looked the same way he had when preparing for the Tri-Wizard tasks only magnified a hundred times. He and his two closest friends were usually either whispering furiously at each other or looking silently grim, and it was obvious to Colin that things were about to go very, very wrong in the Wizarding world.

He only hoped his gift would bring a bit of brightness to the boy he idolised who was under some horrible burden, and the girl who was his yearmate and friend.

Carefully, he pulled out the two identical photo albums he'd been compiling for the past month and added his last batch of pictures to each one. Satisfied with the layout, he painstakingly charmed each page to be impervious to water and sunlight. Then, he performed the twenty-three charms he'd looked up that would make the books shrinkable, able to turn into a wall portrait, and nearly indestructible even by spell damage. (If Harry's life so far were anything to go by, Colin figured his efforts were nothing more than a reasonable precaution.)

Finished with the spells, Colin carefully wrapped the books in nondescript brown paper, planning to sneak them to his friends at the earliest opportunity. They looked almost like a storybook, showing Harry and Ginny becoming closer, staring at each other across the common room, and finally getting together. He had more pictures of a smiling Harry in those few months than everything he'd taken in the past five years. Even after the funeral, when everyone else thought the couple had broken up, he'd seen through the subterfuge from behind his lens and knew there was more than met the eye. He hoped having reminders of a happier time would help them get through the difficulties ahead.

There were a few pages left blank at the back of the books. Colin hoped there would be a happy ending to this story, and he intended to be there to capture it in everlasting memory.

1. Snowy Day

Image: As she and Harry trudge through the snow carrying their brooms, a smirking Ginny hits Harry in the back of the head with a snowball. He's shocked for a moment, then grabs a handful of snow and throws it in her face. Laughing, Ginny drops her broom and tackles him into a snowbank.

Spluttering, Harry peered through his dripping glasses at the beautiful redhead sprawled on top of him. She was grinning, another handful of snow brandished in one fist. They were at a standstill for a moment as Harry gave her a playful scowl, but eventually she stuffed her hand down his Quidditch robes and he yelped at the cold.

He gathered more snow in his hand and flung it up at her; unfortunately, it was the fluffy kind and he hadn't packed it together, so most of it fluttered back down onto his own face. Ginny collapsed with laughter, her head pressed to his chest, and he felt suddenly very warm despite the rapidly melting snow under his robes.

She's dating Dean, he reminded himself fiercely, though it wasn't enough to convince his traitorous body to disengage from the play-fight. He pushed against the ground to roll them over, pressing Ginny back into the snow. Her hair was a bit distracting, a glowing red-gold against the white, and Harry felt an ache in his chest at the sight of her splayed out under him. Forgetting their fight, he let a soft smile creep across his face. Ginny giggled up at him, her brown eyes glowing warmly even as she half-heartedly pushed snow into his face again.

A clicking sound pulled their attention away, and they looked over to the path to see a grinning Colin Creevey lowering his camera. "Hi, guys!" he called cheerfully before turning away and running up to the castle.

Harry sighed, the mood thoroughly broken. He disentangled himself from Ginny's legs and pulled himself up, offering her a hand once he was on his feet. She grasped it immediately, sending a wave of heat up his arm as she let him help her up. She didn't let go as they retrieved their discarded brooms and made their way up to the castle, and even after they'd separated Harry felt warm the rest of the day.

She's still dating Dean, he reminded himself again…

But maybe not forever.