AN: A fic idea that just popped up into my head!
For some reason, I am extremely fascinated with Zacharias Smith. I dunno, I guess I just like how much of a blunt douche he is? He's great, and I love him.
There's not many Zacharias fics as I'd like, sooooo, I took the liberties to make one! Zacharias/Colin, because it's so fucking odd, and I was like, 'yeah, why not? It could work'.
No one was ever really his friend. They were simply tolerate of him.
Who'd want to be friends with Zacharias 'blunt-as-hell' Smith, anyways? No one could be able to stand his frankness for long periods of time; his dorm mates could attest to it.
Hell, even Ernie bloody Macmillan would get annoyed with him, and he was the most pompous little worm in the school! (So much so, actually, that it really annoyed the other houses.) And if anyone ever mentioned Ernie, the first word used to describe him would be 'pompous' without a second thought.
So, if one of the most irksome people that Zacharias knew could easily be sick of him, then he must be one hell of a piece of work, huh?
He really didn't mean all the scathing comments, though. (Okay, he knew that was a blatant lie. He meant everything, or else it wouldn't freely pass his lips as quickly as they usually did, now would it?) And, he honestly tried to be civil. (This one was in the gray area; he tried, but sometimes there was a time or a place or a person, and he wanted to be anything but civil.)
But he just didn't know how to get anyone to stop being a big baby enough to snag and trap them into an iron-held friendship. (Okay, maybe that was a lie. He honestly thought that everyone had one brilliant trait— some being their bravery— and he could be frank and bitter to the point where Snape himself looked like a normal person.)
So Zacharias just…grudgingly conceded that he'd be a friendless bloke, forever abandoned in this damn, crazy school full of morons and snoggers. They were missing someone as brilliant as him, anyways. (Actually, he never considered himself remotely brilliant enough, but his pride and natural arrogance just wouldn't allow him to concede the point, even to his inner self.)
Well, that was before he met Colin Creevey, enthusiast extraordinaire. (—And actually met, not just sneer and had acknowledge as that crazy little squirt that towed that camera, with hair that was much more luscious and handsome than his, even if they resembled each other with the basic blonde and curliness.) The kid that bothered and stalked and fawned over Harry Potter all the bloody fucking time like his own personal paparazzi or something.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Somehow, one day, the boy suddenly came up to him, sticking his hand out.
"I don't think I've ever properly introduced myself! I'm Colin Creevey," the boy said enthusiastically, beaming at the older boy.
To be blunt, Zach was utterly baffled. This enthusiasm in an introduction actually rivaled—no, surpassed—that of Justin Finch-Fletchy, when they'd first met on the train to first year. Back when Zacharias wasn't so bitter and blunt as he was now (—which had grown considerably as time had passed; the escapades of Potter and the 'Golden Trio' could do that to any jealous sod. And Zacharias Smith was a jealous sod, a fact he'd resigned himself to.)
During that introduction, Zacharias could have done many things. He could have sneered, he could have taunted, he could have brushed it off—he could have done anything that was customary, really. (Or customary for him, at least.)
The one thing he did do was stare, borderline on gaping, at the peppy boy.
And at that time, for once, his sharp tongue failed him. Words failed him, and he was never one for having nothing to say. (This actually made him anxious. He was rarely, if ever, rendered speechless.)
Creevey's smile never wavered as he looked expectantly at Smith to shake his hand and return the introduction, as was customary. His large, bright eyes bore into his, waiting patiently despite how giddy the boy usually was.
"Wha…?" Zacharias said eventually, his mind completely blank, and still scrambling to find something to say. (Something— anything—could have worked, really.)
"Colin Creevey—Gryffindor 4th year," the boy elaborated, assuming that the Puff had no clue who he was or which house he was, despite his infamy in the school. (Which the boy most likely ignored, Zacharias thought blithely, and probably took it as genuine interest and popularity, void of any negative connotations.)
Zacharias just kept staring at him, uncharacteristically quiet. That is, until the truth of the matter arose in his mind; that of how oblivious and stupid this kid was.
Seriously, though—Colin was an avid fan of Potter, and he was coming up and introducing himself to some bloke that utterly despised Scar-Boy. (Zacharias had obviously not restrained any of his skepticism and utter disdain for Potter in that first meeting of the D.A. in the Hog's Head.)
Nor did Zacharias say even one word to the Creevey boy. Not a lick of acknowledgement.
And that is why he thought Colin Creevey was stupid. (Oddly endearing, but stupid, nonetheless.) Which is how he came about blurting the thought out.
"Are you daft?" he said incredulously. (And like many a time before, he so wanted to take it back, to just grab it and go. He always seemed to convince himself, albeit weakly, that he meant every word and that he shouldn't feel guilty, that people need to hear the truth more.)
The silence was a bit tense, the boy's arm falling limply to his side. Colin's face fell, his eyes reflecting the hurt etched in his features, except five times stronger. Zach felt his stomach squirm with a mixture of discomfort and guilt.
But, somehow—and Merlin knows how—that boy then slid a grin on his face, as if it was nothing. As if Zach didn't hurt him (Which he knew he did. He saw it in the momentary weakness of the kid's features.)
"Oh! Sorry, I just wanted to get to know all the, ah, others. You know?" he said, putting some emphasis on 'others'. With that, Zacharias quickly understood, and his face naturally tried to morph into a scowl, which he fiercely fought. (Because, really, he was part of the D.A. and he should get used to it, and…
He didn't want to scare the kid away yet. Hurting him more would feel, well…Like kicking a puppy. A poor, naïve, enthusiastic puppy.)
"Oh, right," he said neutrally, nodding his head.
The Creevy boy brightened at that, a hopeful look in his eyes that made Zacharias a bit uncomfortable. (Okay, that was putting mildly. He was very uncomfortable. Because this was honestly the first time someone, a peer, had given him such a look—one that wasn't negative whatsoever— in a long time.
And it made him feel light and fuzzy inside. The new sensation was weird, and it was kind of freaking him out.)
"Well, I'm Zacharias. Zacharias Smith, Hufflepuff 5th year," he replied eventually, forcing himself to just say something and not leave them hanging in another long, awkward pause. (And, truthfully, to not cause the boy to get hurt again, by his oh-so-marvelous brand of tact.)
"Well, it's good to finally introduce myself, Zacharias!" Colin chirped, beaming at him. He put out his hand to shake again, and this time the Puff didn't hesitate to shake it.
The kid's hands were warm, oddly so, and incredibly soft. A bit like Hannah's hand, if his memory served him correctly.
(Yes, he thought back to that time in third year where she tripped and he'd caught her hand, righting her. Her hand was dainty and soft, and he'd never wanted to let go until she did it herself. It was a bit awkward after that— but not for the obvious lingering of his hand. No, but rather that she was so clumsy to have tripped so spectacularly. She'd have fallen flat on her face if he didn't catch her.)
Unlike Hannah's, however, were that they weren't dainty. They were still rather inviting, and feminine, and just had something there that he couldn't really describe. They just weren't her hands. (And it actually felt… wonderful…to hold them, for this exact reason.)
Colin pulled away first, and his hand soon felt very cold and lonely without that slightly smaller one in his, fitting perfectly in place.
"Well, I'll see you later, then! I'm off to Charms!" Colin said keenly. "Goodbye, Zacharias!" With another blindingly bright smile, and a little wave, the boy turned and was off speeding towards the Charm Wing, as hyper and quick as a pixie.
Zach watched him, mesmerized, and shook his head fondly once the boy was out of sight.
"I'm sure I will, then," he murmured, a grin tugging at his lips. "Colin."
-o-o-o-o-o-
The days that followed were about the most enjoyable that Zacharias can ever remember in the recent years. Colin always seems to go out of his way to meet and chat with the Puff, for which Zach was very grateful.
It makes him feel…important. As if he has a true friend. He's been so, so very lonely, before, that the simple chats are enough for him.
The perky boy grows on him considerably. Soon enough, Zacharias goes to hunt him out, going to him instead of letting the boy always trail after him. (He tells himself that he isn't following the boy, per se. Just…going to him.)
He finds the time with the elder Creevey boy highly enjoyable, and yet he tries his best to tone it down so it's not so obvious and suspicious. Because he wants the boy to be his, and his alone.
Colin would be his little secret. He doesn't want people to know and to judge and to try to pry the clinging boy away. (He tries, he really does, to try to convince himself that he himself isn't the one that clings. It kind of fails, because he knows that he clings to the younger boy, like a lifeline. And he knows that he follows the boy around like a puppy, rather than the other way around.)
He's been deprived too much of a friendly face that doesn't tire of him. He's needed a true friend that puts up with him and all his bluntness and snide remarks and nasty sneers. And Colin is that friend.
Zacharias often wondered why the boy wasn't in Hufflepuff. He was everything that Zacharias was not: kind, helpful, enthusiastic, friendly, loyal. A true-blue Hufflepuff at his core, and a great friend as well.
(So why wasn't he in Hufflepuff? Well, it's probably because he idolized and followed Potter around, and got put there, in the house full of foolish, arrogant plebeians.)
But despite being in Gryffindor, it felt as if Colin was right at home with the Puffs, with him. And that's all that really mattered to Zacharias, in the end.
It didn't matter how different Colin was from him. They still found common ground, and they still enjoyed each other's company. (Zach more so than Colin, but he'd never tell the boy. It would be too embarrassing, too emotional, and way too sappy.)
-o-o-o-o-o-
And that was the start of their friendship, odd may it be. That of two people at completely opposite poles, in terms of personality and ethics, shunned by their fellow class and House mates, and banning together.
That of a lonely boy finally finding a friend to love and to be with and enjoy.
(A friendship that Zacharias Smith had dreamed of for years, in his solitude.)
-o-o-o-o-o-
They'd been fairly alone, before properly meeting each other. And with that introduction, they really weren't alone anymore.