Hello everyone! Here is my newest story, a Colin Creevey / Gabrielle Delacour OS which is slightly AU because during GoF, Gabrielle is not eight years old but has the same age as Colin.

Summary of this OS: Colin Creevey doesn't believe in love at first sight… That is, until he sees Gabrielle Delacour for the first time.

Rating of this OS: K+, for mentions of character deaths (off screen)

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, everything belongs to J.K. Rowling. I don't make any money out of this story.

.:.

Written for:

- the Ultimate Random Pairing Challenge: the pairing given to me was Colin Creevey / Gabrielle Delacour

- the Dialogue For Days Challenge: the dialogue given to me was: "One of us is right. The other one is you."

Word count: 988 words

Love at first sight: Colin Creevey and Gabrielle Delacour

Colin Creevey doesn't believe in love at first sight… That is, until he sees Gabrielle Delacour for the first time. She isn't even that beautiful when he first catches a glimpse of her. Her silvery blonde hair is not silvery blonde anymore; it's darker because of the water. But still, there is something like a halo all around her.

He hurries and takes a picture of her while she is coughing and getting out of the water.

He doesn't see her again until the last of the three tasks of the Triwizard Tournament. And she is standing there, by her sister's side, and when all eyes are fixed on Fleur, his are glued on Gabrielle. She is as radiant and as beautiful as her sister this time, just… smaller.

After her sister, traumatized, gets out of the maze, he can't help it. He turns towards his brother and asks, "Do you think she'll be okay?"

He doesn't know who he is talking about, obviously, because he answers, "I think so, she's out of the maze now."

He sighs and wonders if this is the right time for talking about matters of the heart with his (too young) little brother, and so he drops the subject and just shrugs.

It's the end of the task, and Cedric Diggory and Harry appear out of nowhere, and Harry's holding Cedric's too still body, and Colin knows. Deep down, he knows he's dead. And when he hears Gabrielle and Fleur scream, his doubts are confirmed.

A few days later, he's walking by the lake when he sees her, sitting by the water, alone. He gathers his courage and hurries to stand next to her. He clears his throat and she looks up at him, and there's a sadness in her eyes, a sadness he just wants to disappear.

But right now, all he can do is present himself, "I'm Colin. Colin Creevey."

She just nods and then turns back towards the water. She doesn't introduce herself, she just says, "You're 'ere because you pity me, right?"

He frowns and makes a move to talk, but she starts again, "I'm fine. I just need to be alone."

"You're not fine. How could you be?"

"I 'ave to be fine," she corrects herself. "I 'ave to be strong for my sister."

"She's the one who should protect you, Gabrielle."

She looks up at him once again and asks sharply, "'Ow do you know my name?"

"You're Fleur's sister. Little sister, which means she has to take care of you, not the other way around."

"She needs 'elp right now. She was friends with Cedric Diggory, you know."

He wonders if it's the right course of action, but she is just so irritating, and he can't help but say, "We were all friends with Cedric, I think. It's not a reason to let you down. So I think…" He stops again and asks himself if he should say it, but after a few moments, he goes on, "One of us is right. The other one is you."

She scoffs and turns back towards the lake. She's obviously hurt by what he has just said, and he curses himself for being so straight-forward. He apologizes hurriedly, and just when he is about to turn around and leave, she whispers, "You're right, I theenk. But…"

She trails off, and he takes it as an invitation to sit next to her. And then, he takes out of his pocket the picture he has taken the first time he's seen her. He gives it to her, and she grabs it, and he sees her laugh for the first time.

"I look ugly in this!" she just exclaims. "And it doesn't move, so it can't change," she notices after a while. "Why can't it move?"

"You see this?" he asks, holding out the camera he carries everywhere with him. "It's a Muggle camera, so the photos it takes don't move. Ever. I think it captures the beauty of a moment far more than a moving photograph."

"I'm not beautiful in zat picture!" she laughs, studying herself again.

"But you're not ugly at all either," he reassures her, and she smiles warmly. Until she hears something he takes a few more seconds to notice.

"It's time," she says, and she gets up. "It's the ceremony for Cedric."

They walk back to the castle, and it's the last time he talks to her until his sixth year.

The final battle is about to begin, he knows it, and he's waiting in the courtyard when he sees a familiar silvery blonde mane. He thinks it belongs to Fleur, but his heart skips a beat when he realizes it's Gabrielle. He hasn't seen her for three years, but she has just the same effect on him.

She seems to notice him too, as her steps falter a little and she finally walks towards him, far more calmly.

"Gabrielle," he greets her with a little smile.

"Colin," she nods in return. "Before you ask, I came 'ere because we stayed in England after the wedding, and… I couldn't let Fleur fight alone."

Still the same accent… he notices.

"Do your parents know you're there?" he asks.

"Do they need to know everything?" she replies with a sly smile.

"This is important!" He just can't bear that she's acting so… carelessly about this. "We could die here!"

"We won't," she assures him, and he just looks at her doubtfully. She tries to smile reassuringly and uses his words from three years earlier to lighten the tension, "One of us is right. The other one is you."

And he believes her. He believes her even more when she suddenly kisses him, standing on her tiptoes. It's not a long and deep kiss, it's brief, and even barely on his lips, but it makes his heart falter all the same.

He doesn't get to know she was wrong.

I hope you liked this! :)