For the Light and Darkness Competition (Era: Trio's Era; Pairing: ColinCedric; Emotion: Pride; Character: Pomona Sprout; Word: rainbow; Song: Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars, specifically the lines "Oh, her eyes, her eyes / Make the stars look like they're not shinin'" and "And when you smile / The whole world stops and stares for a while"; Quote: "Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." - Lao Tzu; Dialogue: "I just wish you would go to hell."; Colour: light red ochre; Genre: romance); the House Cup Competition (action: a character must deny something; emotion: excited; BONUS PROMPTS: colour: yellow); the John Green Inspiration Competition ("Everything that we did and built and wrote and thought and discovered will be forgotten and all of this will have been for naught."); the If You Dare Challenge (588. Death by Love); the Song Fic Bootcamp (33. 'Just The Way You Are,' Bruno Mars) and the Fantastic Beasts Challenge (Swedish Short-Snout)
WARNING: Age gap. More notes at the end.
i.
Colin Creevey was fully aware of the fact that most people thought that he was in love with Harry Potter.
He'd be the first to admit that the way he followed the Boy-Who-Lived around did give that impression. After all, if even his own brother had thought that he was in love with the older Gryffindor, it really wasn't a surprise that the rest of Hogwarts thought the same.
Of course, just because they thought that didn't mean that it wasn't the furthest thing from the truth.
ii.
"Talking to you makes me feel like the fan's been turned off for a little bit. Like things could actually make sense. You completely unscatter me, and I appreciate that so much."
"Are you okay?" A handsome face peered over him, concern written in its every line.
Colin rubbed his head, wincing at the pain he felt as he gingerly got back to his feet. "Y-Yeah," he stammered, "What happened?"
"Neither of us was paying attention to our surroundings, I think," the other boy replied cheerfully, worry disappearing once he was sure that Colin was okay. "We just – well, crashed. I'm Cedric Diggory, by the way," he said, holding out a hand genially.
"C- Colin Creevey," Colin stammered, fighting back a blush as he took the proffered hand. "I'm sorry about that."
"Don't worry, we were both at fault."
That was the first time Colin had caught a glimpse of Cedric Diggory. At the time, he had had no idea who the boy was, or which year or house he was in. That knowledge only came a week later, as he watched the older boy battle Harry for the Snitch over the Quidditch Pitch.
But at that moment, blissfully unaware of anything but the brunet in front of him, Colin smiled.
He didn't know it yet, but he'd met the boy who was about to change his life.
Somehow, over the rest of his second year, Colin bumped into the tall fifth-year over and over again. He wasn't planning any of it, but it happened.
And somehow, he ended up becoming good friends with him.
It was an odd friendship, the fifth-year and the second-year, the Hufflepuff and the Gryffindor, but it was something that grew nonetheless.
Colin knew Cedric well enough to know that he would be trying out for the Triwizard Tournament.
They had owled each other back and forth over the summer, and the one thing that Cedric had told him was how important his house was to him, how proud he was that he was a Hufflepuff.
How much he wished that everyone could see what he did in the House of the Badger.
So when the Tournament was announced, Colin knew that Cedric would be a part of it. There would be no better chance to show the might of Hufflepuff than this.
All of Hufflepuff was there when Cedric put his name into the Goblet of Fire. So was Colin, watching from the Gryffindor table.
It was only when the other boy smiled after successfully submitting his name that Colin understood exactly what he felt for Cedric Diggory.
Friendship had never stood a chance.
"Cedric Diggory!"
For a moment, Colin's heart stopped. And then the Goblet flared green again and it started beating once more.
Even though he knew it was wrong and horrible of him, especially when the last name to be read was Harry Potter's, there was still a little part of him that was happy that there was a fourth champion. It meant that the chances of anything happening to Cedric just went a little more.
"Can you please do something about them?"
Colin looked at the pile of badges that had been pushed towards him by the exasperated champion. It was obvious to anyone looking at him that Cedric was completely exhausted, and the way his house-mates, and even Professor Sprout, were acting was not helping him in the least.
"Of course," he murmured, grabbing hold of them. If there was anything he could do to ease Cedric's burden, he'd do it happily.
"Dragons, Colin! Can you believe it?" Nandini shrieked into his ear. Beside her, Michael was jumping up and down, yelling in excitement at the sight of the huge beasts.
Colin scowled. As soon as he had seen those- those unnaturally large lizards, he had started panicking.
And then Cedric came onto the field and while he did well, he was also burned something horrible all over one side of his face. He could see the blood, a light red ochre, staining the ground, and it made him want to throw up.
That was Cedric's blood on the ground.
Colin's heart forgot to breathe until he met Cedric in the makeshift Hospital Wing and made sure that was fine.
"Why in Merlin's name did you try something that was so dangerous?" Colin demanded. "Are you insane? You could have been killed!" he exclaimed, voice rising sharply over every new syllable. Without waiting for a reply, he continued rating at the Hufflepuff sitting in front of him, letting out all his worry and terror.
Cedric let him ramble for nearly five minutes before he moved closer to him, bent down, and kissed him abruptly.
It was a rather effective way of shutting him up.
Colin stared at Cedric, lost for words. When it became obvious that the other boy wasn't about to explain his actions, he struggled to find words.
"W- What was that?" he stuttered, face ablaze.
"I don't know," Cedric admitted, a faint blushing creeping up his face. "You just looked so adorable that I couldn't help myself."
And before Colin could say anything, he leaned forward to grab his lips in a chaste kiss once more.
Cedric went to the Yule Ball with Cho Chang.
It had been a joint decision between the boys. Colin still didn't know what they were – friends, something more, or boyfriends – but whatever it was, Cedric had acknowledged that it gave Colin some rights over him. So he had spoken to him about his plans for the Ball, and Colin had agreed easily.
As much as would love to walk into the Great Hall, rainbow pin worn proudly on his dress robes and his arm in Cedric's, he knew better than to do that right now. Not when there was the threat of Rita Skeeter, combined with the shadow of international diplomacy hanging over the event.
The Triwizard Tournament was neither the time nor the place for such an announcement to take place, and Cho was more than happy to go along with the ruse. After all, according to Cedric, she was hiding her own feelings for her best friend, and she had no idea how Marietta would react if she let her know.
So Cedric went to the Ball with Cho, but he returned to Colin's side the next day.
Sometimes, Colin thought Dumbledore knew everything. After all, there was no other explanation for the fact that the Headmaster had explained to him the fact that he was taking people who the Champions would miss the most for the Second Task, and that he was taking Cho to make sure that Colin and Cedric's secret wasn't revealed. He still kept Colin from Cedric for the rest of the night to make sure that he didn't tell the older boy the details of the Task, but it didn't matter.
The fact that he was the one who Cedric would miss the most was enough to warm Colin from head to toe.
It was the happiest year of Colin's life.
iii.
"Everything that we did and built and wrote and thought and discovered will be forgotten and all of this will have been for naught."
Cedric came to meet him before he walked into the Third Task.
"My mom once told me that even though being deeply by someone gives you strength, loving someone deeply gives you courage. And she was right, you know that right," he whispered to Colin, "You're the one who gives me the courage to continue on in the Tournament, the knowledge that you're out there, waiting for me. I think-" he hesitated. "I know this is wrong, especially considering the fact that you're four years younger than me, and you're only thirteen, but I think I've gone and fallen in love with you," he confessed in a rush of words.
Colin leaned up and pressed a kiss to Cedric's lips. "I love you too," he whispered back, "And I'll always be waiting for you."
Harry returned with Cedric's body.
They said he was dead, gone, never coming back. And all Colin could think of was the fact that he would never see Cedric's perfect smile, or his gorgeous eyes aimed at him ever again.
He didn't want it to be true. He didn't want to believe it.
Cedric could not be gone. He had told Colin at the start of the Tournament – he had promised him – that he would return, and he wouldn't break his promise.
He couldn't be dead.
But nothing could change the fact that Cedric was dead, and that he would never return.
And Colin – little, thirteen year old Colin – knew enough to know that he had just lost the great love of his life.
When Colin was fourteen, Harry started Dumbledore's Army, training any student interested in it in Defence Against The Dark Arts.
At least, that was what he said it was.
Harry may have actually believed his words, but Colin knew better. For all that he said that it was a DADA study group, the fact remained that it was also the only group training the students to fight and survive in a world suddenly fraught with danger.
To Colin, it was like a lifeline.
He had had Cedric pulled away from him cruelly and abruptly – if he could do anything to make sure that no one else had to face the loss, he'd do it gladly, and Harry's training was much needed in that crusade.
All Colin could think of throughout what was supposed to be his sixth year was that he should have been there, at Hogwarts, fighting alongside the rest of the DA. He shouldn't have been hiding in some no-name cottage in the backwaters of France.
But he had to protect his little brother, and he knew that Dennis would follow him if he left, so he kept quiet and never let the anger he felt at the fact that he couldn't make the Death Eaters who had stolen his Cedric show.
Then the DA Galleons heated up with a plea for help, and everything changed.
Dennis followed him back to Hogwarts and the war. It was the only thing that worried him. But then McGonagall made it clear that those students not of age couldn't stay back in the Hall, and the last of Colin's worries fled. He already knew he was going to fight, rules or not, but the knowledge that Dennis would be safe helped to alleviate his worries.
And then the doors opened, and the Death Eaters rushed in.
Body after body after body. There were so many of them, more than Colin would ever be able to count.
As he viciously stunned one of them, he let out a growl that would have horrified anyone who knew him and stepped savagely on his already broken ribs. As the scum let out of a pained hiss, Colin bent down and whispered, "I wish all of you would just go to hell already."
Before the man had a chance to reply, Colin has disappeared back into the fray of fighters.
Had it been any other time, place and enemy, Colin liked to pretend that he would have hated himself for becoming the warrior he had changed into. He was Colin Creevey, a photographer. He was not the man who received the faintest thrill of pleasure in shredding a fallen Death Eater's already broken bones.
But the truth was, that naïve Colin had died along with Cedric Diggory, and the new one that Voldemort and his Death Eaters had forged was more than happy to grasp any chance at revenge he possibly could.
In the end, it wasn't anything grand that brought down Colin's quest for revenge. A combination of a stunning spell that Colin dodged nearly fully and a tripping jinx that he stumbled into meant that he was thrown right across the room.
His head hit the stone wall with a sickening crack.
He was, perhaps, the youngest loss during actual fighting.
After the dust had cleared, and the winners had won, Colin would be lauded as a hero. He was the child who had stayed back to fight a war for a world he could easily have escaped, at an age when all that the world required of him was for him to escape and survive.
He had done neither, choosing instead to stay and fight for what was right.
Colin Creevey unknowingly became a symbol of a generation oppressed by war and prejudice, a lasting reminder that even people from the most humble backgrounds can rise to the highest levels of fame.
But at that moment in the middle of the Great Hall, those thoughts were the last things on Colin's mind.
As he hurtled towards the wall, he knew was going to die. And a part of him grieved, wondering how his parents and Dennis would react to the news of his death. But a bigger piece was at peace.
They found Colin's body with a smile on his face.
Cho Chang would later tell them that it was to be expected. In death, Colin was allowed the one thing he could never have in life.
In death, Colin Creevey was finally given the opportunity of living out his forever with Cedric, like he had always dreamed about.
iv.
So yes, Colin Creevey was perfectly aware of the rumours that his interest in Harry Potter had spawned.
But they were just rumours, and Colin couldn't care less. After all, no one, no matter how perfect and heroic their history caused them to be viewed as, could ever rival the boy whose arms were around Colin.
Colin Creevey had Cedric Diggory, and as far as he was concerned, the rest of the castle was free to say and believe whatever they wanted to. At the end of the day, he was the one Cedric had chosen.
He was the one whose life was inextricably linked to Cedric's, and there was nothing in the world that could be better than that.
NOTE: Yes, I know there's a huge age gap between them at this point. But a)nothing actually happens between them but a few chaste kisses, and b) considering the couples in see in my college and have seen in my school, this gap is nothing, so it's not like this isn't realistic.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The two quotes in italics in the fic are from John Green, the summary quote is from J.R. Ward.
Yes, I know it's a random pairing, but my muse wants what my muse wants. I hope you liked it anyhow!
Please don't forget to drop a review on your way out :)