Not Blind faith ( a one-shot)
Summary: He had fought hard. More than anything he had fought bravely. An underage school kid against a seasoned death eater was no fair fight but Colin had stood his ground and showed the courage that Gryffindors were famed for...
Fear. It was pure undiluted fear that was running through his veins now. His heart was thumping unnaturally fast and his breath came in shallow gasps. His wand was clenched in a sweaty fist and his legs were shaking uncontrollably.
'I can't do this,' the thought came automatically, the instinct to run overpowering. 'I can't be a hero. I can't do it.'
He raised his hands, wand still tightly gripped, and covered his ears against the confused jumble of noise that sounded from around the corner. The battle was a mere heartbeat away from encompassing him, the shrieks and shouted curses slowly, inexorably creeping ever closer. Yet still he stood there, pressed against the wall, a bold Gryffindor scarf wrapped tightly around his neck.
The shaking had traversed his whole body now and he lowered his hands slowly, the wand violently shuddering. He stretched his wand arm in front of him in an approximation of a battle stance Harry had shown him, and took a deep gulp of air, forcing himself to slow his breathing.
"I can do this." The words were unheard by those in the melee, but he knew he had spoken them and they strengthened his resolve, "Harry needs us to fight for him, and I won't let him down.
"I won't let him down."
There was a split second while Colin Creevey tensed his muscles then he took a quick step away from the wall. And then another...
"Stupefy!" "Expelliarmus!" "Impedimenta!" "Avada Kedavra!"
The spells rushed passed as the young wizard dropped to the floor. But he was on his feet again in seconds, wand tightly held and determination in his eyes.
"Stupefy!" he cried, pointing his wand in the direction of a snarling Death Eater. He missed. "Stupefy!" he yelled again, and again, "Stupefy! Stupefy!"
The Death Eater snorted in derision, blocking all the spells effortlessly and advancing on the terrified boy. "Avada Kedavra!"
Colin threw himself to the side, eyes unconsciously squeezing shut, and landed on the rough ground ripping skin from his bare hands. He was still alive. Looking up almost tentatively, he saw his would be killer now embroiled in a fierce battle with the former Professor Lupin, their wands scything the air and spells colliding with loud bangs.
A scream sounded from behind and he spun round quickly, almost losing his footing in his haste. Seamus Finnigan was writhing on the ground, the cruciatus curse being administered by a lean, scarred Death Eater.
Almost unthinkingly he raised his wand and shot a desperate stunner at the man. Yet again he missed, and he could feel dry bile rise in his throat. Seamus was still screaming in agony and the Death Eater was smirking in unholy satisfaction. The black-cloaked figure raised his wand finally, letting up on the cruciatus curse, but almost immediately levelled it at the seventh year again.
Colin was frozen as the words began issuing from the twisted lips, "Avada–"
'No!' the silent scream filled the young wizard's mind, and suddenly he found he could move. "Impedimenta!" The spell was a frantic shriek, a twisted high-pitched mockery of Colin's voice, but the red beam still lanced out from the wand tip. And this time he did not miss.
The Death Eater was tossed away from Seamus' prone body, colliding with a second cloaked figure rushing past. Both Death Eaters were thrown to the ground and rose back up with murder in their eyes.
Colin gulped and felt the tremors return to his legs. Suddenly, unexpectedly a red beam of light burst from the ground and hit the first Death Eater squarely in the chest. The brief moment of surprise was all Colin needed, and he sent a matching jet of light at the second Death Eater. The man keeled over silently, collapsing on top of his colleague and Colin exhaled in unmistakeable relief.
"Seamus?" he asked tentatively, turning to the Irish wizard and hurriedly helping him to his feet, "Are you ok?"
"Much better now, thanks to you." Seamus flashed a quick grin, "I owe you one Colin."
Then an explosion rocketed the area, sending chunks of masonry flying across the battle field and throwing all the fighters to the ground, many unconscious or dead.
It was the acrid smell of burning flesh that brought Colin round, dizzy and choking in the thick smoke that seemed to have invaded the area. He raised a hand to his head and it came away sticky with blood. He staggered to his feet, wand still clenched tightly in his bloody hand, and stumbled towards where the smoke appeared to be thinning. Seamus was nowhere to be seen, but Colin tripped over unmoving bodies slumped on the stone, unable to tell if they were friend or foe.
The air was clearer now, great wheezing gulps of it being forced down Colin's throat by his screaming lungs. A purple beam lanced towards the teenager, a misfire originating from the man Professor Lupin had saved him from earlier. He ducked and spun away, eyes noticing a lone Death Eater levelling a blackened wand at Luna Lovegood's unsuspecting back.
"Protego!" The spell bounced off Colin's shield, alerting the Ravenclaw to the danger she was in. Together, the two sixth years shouted stunning spells, the Death Eater collapsing under the combined strength of the two spells. Their eyes met briefly but before either could speak a word Ernie Macmillan appeared out of nowhere, shouting something incomprehensible, and flung himself at the pair, bringing them both flying to the floor as a volley of spells heated the air immediately above their heads.
The trio landed in a tangled mess of limbs, bruised and slightly dazed. Colin tentatively raised his head and noted with relief that the three students appeared to currently be unnoticed by the cloaked figures dancing across the grounds.
"Everyone alright?" Ernie asked anxiously, holding out a hand to help Luna up.
"Yeah," Colin nodded, his voice scratchy and uneven, "Thanks."
"No problem." Ernie attempted a grin although it was more of a grimace.
An Irish accent floated across the grounds, "Take that, you slimy death eater scum!" roared Seamus, a curse blasting into his opponent.
The three hurried over to their fellow DA member and Colin noticed that the right side of Seamus' body was darkened by spreading blood. "Got hit by something in the explosion." Seamus explained, "Though I'd lost you there, mate. Glad you made it out."
"Duck!" Luna cried suddenly, with no trace of her usual airiness.
The four dived to the ground, the streak of green narrowly missing Ernie. Colin scrambled to his feet and shot a stunner at their assailant. It went wide and the death eater smirked. "Missed again, boy."
Colin's eyes widened as he recognised the man as the one Professor Lupin had saved him from before. Seamus and Ernie rushed up to stand beside him and the three of them sent a barrage of curses and hexes at the death eater. However the man was more than a match for them and no spell hit home.
Ducking an ominous looking purple curse, Colin noticed Luna leaning over a figure slumped on the ground. From the brief look he got he thought he could see Luna's face sparkling with tears.
Suddenly a battling pair crashed into the middle of the group, momentarily separating them from the death eater. Colin felt his heart leap into his throat as he recognised Bellatrix Lestrange duelling furiously with a pink haired witch. They were screaming insults at each other, the words lost in the melee, but their snarling faces made the meanings crystal clear.
A coldness descended on the area and immediately Colin felt his fears rising. His heartbeat was increasing and he felt the sudden urge to crawl into a ball and hide until the battle was over.
"Look, Dementors!" called Luna, standing up and rushing to join the others. Colin caught a glimpse of the person lying on the ground and felt his heart skip a beat as he saw the lifeless eyes of Remus Lupin. Bile rising in his throat he spun away, feeling his eyes sting with tears.
Ernie was pointing in the direction of the Dementors, "And look. There! Its Harry, Ron and Hermione!"
The Dementors appeared to be gathering around the trio, but nothing except a few faint wisps of silver were emanating from Harry's wand.
"We have to help them." Seamus declared, but a jet of green light whooshing past Colin's ear made the four spin around and come face to face with their previous opponent.
In a split second Colin had made up his mind. He shot a quick Impedimenta at the death eater and shouted "Go." to the other three. "I'll hold him off, you three go and help Harry."
"Are you mad?" Seamus roared, ducking a stunner and retaliating with one of his own, "You can't fight him on your own!"
Ernie and Luna joined in with the fight, shooting more stunners at the death eater. "Harry needs your help. And my Patronus is weaker than all of yours." Colin told Seamus. "If Harry dies then we all die. I really do believe that."
Seamus hesitated, then nodded and clapped a hand on Colin's shoulder. The younger Gryffindor sent two stunners in quick succession, the death eater having to conjure up a shield to block them.
"Go!" he repeated. Luna caught Colin's eye briefly and he felt a rush of affection for his quirky friend. There wasn't time to say goodbye but he felt that Luna of all people would understand the unspoken farewell.
The three rushed off in the direction of Harry, Ron and Hermione and Colin was left, alone, to face the death eater.
A haze was clouding his vision. Colin stirred feebly. The ground was hard beneath him, his skin felt sticky with blood, and his throat was raw from screaming.
He had fought hard. More than anything he had fought bravely. An underage school kid against a seasoned death eater was no fair fight but Colin had stood his ground and showed the courage that Gryffindors were famed for.
Colin had had little hope from the beginning. How could he, alone, have beaten the man who had killed Professor Lupin? But it didn't matter. The unnatural cold had gone from the area and that meant that Harry was safe. Maybe not for long, but for long enough to do what he needed to do.
It was not blind faith. Colin truly believed that Harry Potter would defeat You Know Who. Maybe not in time to save him, but in time to save the world. Before the battle, he had never once thought that he might not be there to witness the victory, but the harsh reality had quickly set in and as he sent Luna, Ernie and Seamus to help Harry, he knew. Knew that he was facing his death.
The world was fading into grey around him. Battle cries were fading and even the pain was diminishing. He thought briefly of his brother Dennis and the rest of his family. He would never again get the chance to tell them he loved them. He hoped they would know. That he was fighting because he loved them. Because how could he let his brother grow up in a world where he would have to fear for his own life? What kind of Gryffindor would he be if he stood by and did nothing?
He could see nothing but blackness now. The pain had vanished and his body felt light, as if he was floating. A brief moment of panic struck him. He didn't want to die in the dark. He wanted to see the light one more time.
Wearily he forced his eyes to open and gazed upon the bright sun. He felt content. Comfortable.
The bright light enveloped him.
He had fought bravely.
He had died bravely.