JK Rowling owns Harry Potter, I am not JK Rowling except in certain very interesting parallel universes.
Colin Creevey is looking over his pictures when he feels something tickling his shoulder. Turning back, he sees that it's a long black hair, and his face rather close to someone else's face. He jumps back, making a strange gulping sound and scraping his arm on the back of his chair. The girl standing near him hardly seems to notice. She continues staring intently at the camera.
"Erm, excuse me?" Colin squeaks out, when it becomes apparent that she is, in fact, not likely to take her face to a more comfortable location across the room. She turns to him, making direct eye contact, looking terribly serious.
"Parvati Patil." She holds out her hand politely, and smiles. "Those are great pictures."
Immediately, Colin breaks out into a massive grin. "I'm Colin! Colin Creevey. Thanks! I just learned this new spell which helps give the photos a little more movement, and I-"
As Parvati sits down and begins to smile back, Colin continues to babble on about pictures. "One second." She walks over to another girl, and begins talk excitedly, occasionally gesture towards where Colin is sitting, beaming brightly over at her. They walk back, and the other girl rolls her eyes.
"This is Lavender," Parvati tells him, "we've got a proposition for you."
Click! Colin snaps a shot of the couple making out in the broom closet, and shows it to a wickedly grinning Lavender.
"Oh, that's perfect!" She smirks a little more as the couple in the photo continue to eat each other faces, movements matching perfectly with the real culprits. "That will show up very nicely in the magazine." They continue to the common room, and meet up with a frazzled but cheerful Parvati.
"I've got the horoscopes nearly finished! I think Gemini might not be quite right, though." She shoves a chart in Lavender's waiting hands. Colin stares at the neat letters, looking quietly for his own horoscope and bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"You're only saying that because you're a Gemini." Lavender sighs. "I think we can really do this! News about Hogwarts from students Hogwarts."
Parvati shrugs. "I just hope we can pull it off."
"It's going to be brilliant." Colin grabs her hand and holds it for a second. "It's going to be great!"
"Thanks, Creevey, I think-"
"Oh look, it's Harry." Lavender nudges Parvati, who has stopped talking to look at Harry with a faint blush on her face. "Why don't you go talk to him?"
"He was so mean to Professor Trelawney, and . . . ." She twists her braid around her finger, and Colin watches her nose crinkle up. " . . . . so . . cute . . "
He steps in front of here, a human shield between her and Harry, saying "C'mon, let's go figure out the first article! We've got a picture to show you!" Lavender smirks a little, but says nothing as Colin says the password and opens the Fat Lady's portrait for Parvati.
"Hey, Colin!" Parvati comes rushing down the stairs, and into the corner of the Common Room where he's sitting. "I've just had the most wonderful idea! Colin, go to the Yule ball with me!" She waits a moment for him to catch on, before adding, "Please?"
"Yes." Colin says, as enthusiastic as she is once he understands the question, ignoring glares from seventh year who are revising, and snickering from the picture on the wall behind him.
"Oh, we'll be able to get the best stories out of this night ever! You can take pictures and I'll write up the news. We're finally going to start the magazine." Parvati freezes. "I've got to go tell Lavender!" She bounces up, pecks Colin quickly on the cheek, before darting off, shouting, "Lav! I just thought of the best thing!"
"Hattie! Hattie! Parvati's asked me to the ball!" Colin shakes his friend excitedly. "I'm not sure if she likes me, but this means I get to go!"
"She asked you to the ball, didn't she?" Colin nods. "Well then, she likes you, mate."
"But it was for the Gryffindor Grapevine, Hattie, and I mean she kissed me, but I think she was just so happy about the magazine, and-"
"She kissed you? Colin, are you an idiot?"
"Yes, well, no, just on the cheek-"
"Just be happy, she likes you! Now help me figure out someone new to ask, or you'll be there and I won't." Hattie sits down, and looks quizzically around the library, eyeing up the fourth years.
"Didn't you ask Harry?" Hattie blushes.
"Not so loud! He, um, turned me down." She began to play with the tips of her cloak. "Rather rude about it, too."
"But he's Harry Potter, why would he be rude-" Colin began, before realizing this was the wrong tactic. "He's probably already got somebody to go with, Hattie, that's all."
"Hmph. You just go daydream about kissing Parvati, under the stars, as the music swells-" Hattie ducked, giggling, as an unread copy of 'Hogwarts, A History' went sailing over her head.
"What are we going to call it?" Lavender asks, flipping through an article on Celestina Warbeck's new single. "We're going to need a name for the magazine."
"Hmm. Hogwarts Tell All?" Parvati suggests, leaning over to see the article and giving Colin a whiff of her fruity shampoo.
"Boring. What about The Dazzler?"
"Naw." Parvati takes the article. "OWL Express? We could tell gossip with a side of smarts."
"What'll we call it after fifth year?"
"Gryffindor Grapevine."
"I really like that." Colin quickly adds.
"Alright, then." Parvati eyes crinkle up happily. "We've got a name!"
"Do you think Celestina's really in a secret relationship with a giant?" Lavender asks.
"Doubtful, but I could see some sort of non-human, after all she does say 'we aren't meant to be, but without you I cannot see'." Parvati rests her head on her fist thoughtfully.
"Maybe she's talking about a pair of glasses?" Colin jokes, clearly not a Celestina fan. Parvati pokes him in the side, laughing, and they joke as Lavender returns to they article, occasionally glancing at the pair with knowing eyes.
"Lavender's decided to be called Daisy in articles, so people won't know it's her. I think it's awfully silly, after all Gryffindor is in the name. It can't be that hard to put together. But she won't shut up about it, so I think we've got to get our own names."
"Like a secret identity?" Colin looks at her brightly.
"We'd better make a shared one, or everyone will know because you're the only one around here taking pictures. But everybody knows you don't like gossip. It'll confuse people more." Parvati began to write things down. "What about both of our names together like, Cratil. Hmm. Or Preevey. No. That sounds like Peeves. Carvati? Or-"
"Polin?" Colin adds, and they smile at each other.
"Perfect." Parvati writes it down with her quill, and adds a little heart around it. "Polin." She playfully pats him on the head. "Obviously.
Then she gets up to grab a book, and Colin says quietly, "Obviously".
"Colin, I can't go to the dance with you."
"Why not?" Colin laughs awkwardly.
"I got asked to the dance. You know, on a real date." Colin frowns.
"Oh, Colin, I know, it's the scoop of the year, but it's Harry Potter, I mean, you understand can't you? It's not like we were really going together." Parvati touches her braid nervously. "I mean, this was all just a project, and he's Harry, you know. I mean, Harry Potter!" She opens her eyes wide to get the point across, before giving up. "Sorry about the story and all. See you around, Creevey."
Colin gulps a bit, and smiles weakly up at her, feeling for just a second that perhaps he didn't like Harry so much, after all.
When Colin Creevey finally gets the courage to ask about the Gryffindor Grapevine again, it's his fourth year, but he doesn't feel any older, or more confident because Parvati Patil got older, too.
"What's the point?" Parvati sighs, when Colin finally asks if they are going to be working on the magazine this year. "Anything we put out has to be be approved by Her Tackiness"-as Lavender had dubbed Professor Umbridge-"both of us our busy with DA, Lav's only got time for won-won and we've got our OWLs to worry about, anyway."
And Colin tries to smile and is very careful not to tell her that of course, information was the point, and Dumbledore's Army was the point, and she was the point, and and he was they point and obviously, they were the point.
Obviously.
Hope you all like my oneshot. Hattie is supposed to be the third year Hufflepuff girl Harry turns down in the fourth book. Reviews would be wonderful, thank you for reading!