A./N.- For Fire The Canon's April Fanfiction Tournament's Competition, round two. I used the song "Here I Am" by Leona Lewis as my prompt.
Thanks to Dobby'sReincarnation to looking this over for me!
Standing in a corner of the Room of Requirement, Dennis pulled his brother to the side. Just a few days ago, Neville had summoned them using their old DA coins, and they were hiding out, hoping to take down the Carrows.
"Colin," Dennis said in a low voice, "I'm scared. I-it's all happening so fast, and..." He blinked rapidly as his older brother gave him a shaky smile.
"We're all scared, Den," he answered. "I am, too. But you know Harry. He'll get us out of this. He has to."
"I don't know anymore," Dennis whispered, shaking his head. "How can we be sure that Harry even wants to help us? How can we be sure anyone does? People we trust now could actually be Death Eaters for all we know." Dennis paused, looking as though he wanted to say something more. After a moment, he burst.
"How can I even trust YOU, Colin?" he cried. "Y-you could have... You could've decided to go over to the dark side, you and all my friends and..."
"Dennis," Colin said, his entire body trembling, "I- how could you even-" He broke off. "No," he said firmly, "Just no. I'll always, always, always be there for you, for Hogwarts, for Harry and the DA and for everyone. You can always come to me. I promise."
Colin's eyes were full of tears as he hugged his brother tightly. Nodding slightly, Dennis managed a small smile.
"Okay," he mumbled, "Thanks. I'm going to bed now, okay?" He slipped out from his brother's arms and walked back to his hammock. Even though it was only 8 o'clock, he fell onto it, letting the tears fall freely. He was worried. Scared. Alone. And he may have been 14, but he still went to his big brother for help when he needed it. Colin was the only other person who could really under his Wizarding World problems from the point of view of a Muggleborn. He was the only one who really and truly understood him, and Dennis loved him for that.
He fell asleep sprawled on the covers with tears still streaking his cheeks.
The next evening, Neville came back from yet another detention with lash marks on his cheeks and arms, and blood dripping from his nose.
"Hi, Deddis," he managed, "Do you hab any ti-hues?" Dennis quickly ran to get him some, and sat back down on his makeshift bed. A few minutes later, Colin sat down beside him, and Dennis nudged him.
"Hey, Colin?"
"Yes?"
"I... It's hopeless, you realise. Nothing's going to happen anymore. You know those "Special Award For Services to the School" in the library?"
"Yeah?"
"I always wanted one of those. I've been working as hard as I can and helping students and teachers and everything. But now the only way that I'll be considered "servicing" the school is if I try to use the Cruciatus curse on a bloody first year or something! I used to want to be on the Quidditch team, to do well on my OWLs and now... Now I'm not going anywhere in life, Colin. None of us are. We can't even leave this bloody room, because we're not allowed to be at school. And no one gets how much it hurts that I can't do anything anymore!" He let out a choked sob and pushed his brother's arm away.
"Dennis," Colin said quietly. "It's going to be okay. We'll get through this together, yeah? We always did before Hogwarts, and we still will. When you need help or a shoulder to cry on, you know you can come to me. I'm not going anywhere, Dennis. I'll always be here. Always." And Dennis believed him; Colin had never been wrong before.
Just a few minutes later, Harry appeared, and both Colin and Dennis leaped up from the hammock to join the crowd of people around him. Within minutes, though, Harry was gone again, and everyone was being crowded into the Great Hall. The moment McGonagall was done speaking, Colin turned to his little brother.
"Get out."
"I know, they just said that! Come on!" But Colin shook his head.
"I'm staying, Den. You're not the only one who wanted to help the school; I'm fighting, and I'm not changing my mind on this."
Dennis nodded slowly. He trusted his brother more than anyone else in the world, and simply nodded as Colin whispered, "I promise I'll still be here when it's all over."
"And it will be over," Dennis said quietly, hugging his brother tightly. "I'll see you tonight... Though you probably won't want to talk to me, I might be a little-"
"I don't care what you'll be; it'll be okay, and I'll be there to listen. I'll always be there," he repeated, before dashing away. Dennis walked away, the ghost of his brother's arms around him the only source of comfort.
A week had passed since the battle, and at last, the graves were all standing erect in a large patch of grass.
A sign assuring everyone that "They All Died A Hero's Death" was suspended in midair above the grey stones, and Dennis was angry.
He was angry at Colin for not fulfilling his promise, for being nothing more than a cold, dead body stuck in a box. When he was feeling hopeless, Colin always used to be the one to stitch his broken dreams back together. But not anymore.
He was angry at the sign. "A hero's death"? Dennis wondered what that even meant. Were some deaths less heroic from others, just because they fought different battles? Did a Muggle who died of cancer die a less heroic death because his battle didn't involve other men? Or a teenager who took his own life, because his wounds were just too deep?
But most of all, he was angry at the sign for not understanding. Not understanding that however heroic these people may have been, Colin was greater than them all. Colin was a quiet hero, the kind who did the right thing not for the fame, but because he really cared. And now he was cold, gone, incapable of loving or caring or doing anything but decaying until he was nothing more than a pile of bones in the ground.
Dennis remembered his brother's last words to him.
"I'll always be there," he had promised.
Well, Dennis thought bitterly, Here I am, but you sure aren't.
"You lied to me, Col," he whispered. "This is probably the most I've ever needed you. And this time, you're not coming back."