A quick author's note here before I start. First off, I don't own this
great series. If I did, I wouldn't have made everyone wait three years or
so between books four and five. Unacceptable. Anyway, this is about Colin
Creevey and his story. We all know what has happened to Harry Potter so
far, but we really don't know all that much about Colin. This starts
shortly before Colin goes to Hogwarts and will continue on as long as
people continue reading it. Maybe all the way to graduation, who knows?
Well, read on and let me know what you think.
Soft light came from the kitchen, made by the small light over the counter that was always left on in case Dennis wanted a drink in the middle of the night. That light was all that lit the living room, illuminating little and throwing deeper shadows as well. Colin Creevey was sitting on his couch early one Saturday morning. Having always been a morning person this wasn't much of a surprise. But this was quite a special morning so he was up even a bit earlier than normal.
As he sat on the couch the grandfather clock in the corner quietly announced to him that it was now a quarter after four. The sun was still a good two hours away from making its debut above the horizon. As he was wiping the last of the night's eye boogers away he heard the familiar sound of his father's milk truck pulling up the street.
Colin listened as his father got out of his truck, nearly falling out by the sound of it, and made his way up the walk to their door. His father's keys rattled in the lock and the door slowly pushed open. Only after his father had stepped inside did Colin have the thought of opening the door for him. Colin shrugged it off as his father shut the door.
"Up early again, Squirt?" his father asked him, setting his wallet and keys on a small shelf of their entertainment center.
"Yes I am. I woke up about half an hour ago and I couldn't fall back to sleep."
"Well, why don't you watch a little telly? It is kind of spooky with you sitting here in the near dark."
"I would, but there really isn't much on right now unless I want to order some sort of cooking product or jewelry."
"True, very true. Early morning telly isn't all that wonderful." A peaceful silence fell between them as Colin's father relaxed and started taking off his boots.
"So, how was your night?" Colin finally asked after the boots had been set in their usual spot beneath the couch. A spot much hated by Colin's mum, that is.
"Oh, it wasn't that bad. We had everything filled by midnight or so and I was on the road after a quick bite of lunch. Or would it be dinner?" Colin smiled and giggled at that little line. He knew it was coming since his father said it every single time he was asked that question. It had developed into an inside joke between them over the years. Colin had heard it a good thousand times but it still brought the same smile to his face. Had anyone else have said it, it wouldn't have been the same.
"Well Squirt, I think that I'm going to head off to bed. I'm tired and your mum has all sorts of lovely things for me to clean and fix today while you are gone, so I'd better get some sleep."
"Goodnight," Colin said and tried to shield himself from the noogie he knew was coming. Alas, he was too late as his father's hand found the top of his head.
"Goodnight, Colin," his father told him as he walked up the steps to the bedroom.
Colin leaned back into the couch and relaxed. He took in the near silence and inhaled deeply. Colin had always loved quiet and solitude. He loved his family dearly of course, but sometimes the hustle and bustle of the house wore on him. Times like this were his favorite by far.
Colin soon realized that he was incredibly thirsty so he stretched and rose to his feet, flexing his muscles until they felt nice and relaxed. Colin walked into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of milk to rid himself of the feeling of a hamster box in his mouth. He stopped with his glass in hand as he heard a few birds chirping from outside. Directly outside the screened window he saw a small bird, most likely a robin he decided, sitting on the brickwork. Colin watched the bird with curiosity as it preened itself until it finally flew away. He finished his milk and set the glass in the sink. He'd wash it a little later on but right now he didn't want to wake anyone up with the running water and the devilish sounds the pipes always seemed to make.
As he was walking out of the kitchen his eyes caught two pieces of what his mum called parchment stuck to the refrigerator by assorted magnets (Drink Milk!, one of them read, obviously from his father's company.) He picked one from the cool metal and reread it for the thousandth time in the past two weeks.
"Dear Mr. Creevey," the letter started, "we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Colin stuck the letter back under the magnets and paused before he pulled the second sheet off. He was still quite amazed that something like this could possibly be real and more amazed still that it was happening to him.
When the letter first came, mysteriously, as the post wasn't due for another few hours that day, only he was up and about. He had no intention of waking his father up over something that seemed like an obvious joke. So, he set it aside and had already forgotten about it by the time his mum and younger brother returned after a morning of errands.
"Colin," she called as she set a bag of groceries on the counter, "What is - - -." Colin had just walked into the kitchen and was preparing to ask her what she was talking about when she let out what sounded like a hyena's yip.
"Mum?" he asked, not quite sure what she had stepped on.
"Oh, Colin, you got a letter!" she said, throwing her hands in the air and knocking over a container of eggs. Colin seemed to be in motion before she was.
"You mean that thing isn't a joke?" he asked as he got back to his feet after saving the eggs from exploding all over the floor.
"No dear, it's a real place."
"So there is a school for witches and all that here in England?"
"Yes. I'm so glad you got in."
"Mum, if I could ask how you've heard of it, since I've never."
"Well, remember how my sister Mira always wears those weird clothes?"
"You mean the ones that Dad calls her 'hippie wardrobe'?"
"Yes, those. They are actually wizard's robes."
"So, she went there then?" Colin asked, beginning to become incredibly intrigued.
"She not only went there but she graduated at the top of her class."
Colin looked at her in disbelief. "You mean that all this time Aunt Mira has been a Wizard and you've never mentioned it once?"
"Yes and no." Colin looked at her and raised an eyebrow in question. "What I mean is that she isn't a Wizard, she's a Witch. And for the 'no' part, I don't think I have mentioned it."
"Well, why not?"
"It isn't something that she really wants talked up, Colin. The Magic world goes to great length to keep their secrets hidden from the rest of the world. I think I'd do her a great disservice if I went around blabbering that I had a Witch for a sister. I'd also probably get more than a few odd looks, I think."
"I guess you would," Colin said and he grinned, imagining his mum on a soapbox telling a crowd of strangers about her magical sister.
"I think I'll call her right now," his mum said as she seemed to bounce to the phone. She saw the look on her son's face and made a placating gesture to him. "Don't worry. I'll tell you everything I can once I get off the line with her. Just hang on." She picked up the receiver and quickly dialed her sister's number as Colin left the kitchen by the side door and went into the back yard.
"So I'm a wizard now, it seems," he told a bird that landed on the tree branch above his head. The bird seemed quite indifferent and began to sing. Colin glanced back inside the house and saw his mum excitedly talking on the phone. He grinned at her and started walking to the swing in the far corner of the spacious back yard.
He sat on the small swing that he had helped his father build and hang when he was five or so. As he began to pick up speed he started thinking about all the questions that he'd have to ask his mother. He had made a list of twenty or so when his aunt suddenly appeared right in front of him, causing him to fall of the swing backwards and land in a most unflattering position.
"Well hello, Colin. I hear that you got accepted into Hogwarts today," she said with a slight grin on her face.
Colin rose to his knees and began wiping dirt from his shirt and shorts while he looked at her in amazement. "How...how'd you get here so fast?" he finally stammered out, dumbstruck.
"Quite simply, actually. I Apparated."
"You what? Did it hurt?" Colin sounded both interested and concerned, not knowing what in the world 'Apparating' was.
"No, silly. It means that I used magic to transport myself from my home to here. All I did was wave my wand and say a quick incantation and here I was."
"Just like that?"
"Uh huh. Just like that."
"Wow." Colin really didn't know what to say. The one thing he did know at that particular instant was that there was no longer any question of whether or not he wanted to go to Hogwarts. The answer was a resounding yes. If he could do what his aunt had just done, it would be completely worth it.
"Alright," Mira said after a few seconds of Colin's silent staring, "let's go inside and see that mum of yours." She reached a hand down to her nephew and helped him to his feet.
"Can you teach me to do that?" Colin asked her as they walked back to the house.
"I'm afraid you're a bit too young still, Colin. Maybe in a few years."
Colin heard more than he ever thought possible about people he hadn't known existed outside of fairy tales in the next few hours. He'd learned about topics from Apparating to Quiddich and scores more in between. He'd heard stories about the fabled school of Hogwarts and it's headmaster Albus Dumbledore (who in Colin's opinion sounded very much like Santa Claus). He also heard the story of You-Know-Who and the Potter family. When he heard that he nearly cried over the sadness of the whole thing. Now, when Mira told him that the Boy Who Lived was attending Hogwarts, Colin nearly fell out of his chair.
"He'll be starting his second year in a month or so, Colin," Mira told him.
"Wow. So I might actually meet him." Colin zoned out for a few moments while he tried to contemplate meeting someone with that much fame. It would be about the same as meeting some of his sports heroes, he decided, maybe even better.
"You probably will," his aunt told him.
They spent the rest of the morning and the better part of the afternoon sitting in the backyard talking about all sorts of things magical. Colin was quite sad when his aunt announced that she had to be leaving and run a few errands that she had pushed aside earlier in the morning.
"Well my magical nephew, I'll see you soon. If you thought that our little chat was interesting, you just wait until we get to Diagon Alley."
"I can't wait, Aunt Mira!" Colin nearly shouted in excitement as he, his mum, and aunt rose to their feet. He rushed to Mira and hugged her tightly. She ruffled his hair.
"It was great to see you, Mira," Colin's mum told her sister as they exchanged a hug of their own.
"You too, Sam. We'll have to do this again before your other son gets a letter." Samantha nodded her head in agreement. Mira stepped a few yards away and pulled her wand out of her pocket. She waved it while saying something that sounded French to Colin and with a smile, was gone.
"Wicked," was all Colin could think of to say.
"Yes, I think that 'wicked' does about cover it." The two of them gathered the various glasses and plates and headed back into the house. "Now let's see where your father and brother have gotten off to."
The missing family members were found and dinner was soon made. Dennis was nearly as full of questions about the whole situation as Colin was. So curious in fact that he was hardly quiet until he went to bed three hours later.
"Will you be able to pull a rabbit out of a hat?"
"I don't know, Dennis."
"Could you make Dad's boots float?"
"I don't know, Dennis."
"So, will you be able to turn into a ghost, Colin?" Dennis asked him after waiting a moment.
"I don't know, Dennis," Colin told his brother, becoming a bit tired of the constant questioning.
"That would be neat if you could."
Quiet finally filled the Creevey household after the youngest member had retired for the evening. Colin and his mum were sitting in the living room watching a bit of television while his father was upstairs preparing for the evening's work. Colin's mind was far removed from the television though, he was trying to imagine everything that might go on at Hogwarts and quite a few other magical topics.
"Mum, what does Aunt Mira do? Does she have some sort of magical job?" Colin asked in the midst of a very annoying commercial.
"I, well, honestly don't know. I think she works for something called the Ministry of Magic. I don't know what she does, maybe a secretary or something."
"I'll have to ask her about it when we go to Diagon Alley," Colin told her and became lost in his thoughts again.
Brought back to the moment a bird chirping outside, Colin looked over the second sheet of parchment. This was his list of everything that he would need for the upcoming term. A cauldron. That sounded partly reasonable. Eyes of this, scales of that. Most of it sounded either completely cool or completely and absolutely gross. "Oh well," Colin thought as he looked the list over. His aunt said that they could find all the things on this list in the place called Diagon Alley. Dennis had been in London more than a few times before and had never seen a sign for the place. It must be as well-hidden as Hogwarts.
Colin set the sheet back under its magnet and was startled out of his reveries by the sound of feet even littler than his coming down the steps. He leaned back against the counter as watched as Dennis walked in the room, at first completely oblivious to Colin's presence. The young lad's eyes were squinched half shut and he had a horrible case of bed-head. For a second Colin wondered if Dennis were even awake or if he were sleepwalking. It wouldn't be the first time, Colin thought, remembering the Toilet Incident a few months prior. Dennis' eyes suddenly popped full open and he dropped his ever-present blanket and nearly jumped out of his Superman pajamas as he noticed his brother.
"Cripes, Colin! You nearly gave me a heart attack," Dennis told him as he regained his breath and picked his blanket off the floor.
"Sorry Dennis," Colin said with a giggle. Anyone could tell that Colin was anything but sorry.
"Get me a glass down since you're so sorry then," Dennis told his brother as he opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a bottle of juice. Colin handed one to him and watched as Dennis poured.
"So, today is your big day, huh Colin?" Dennis asked him as he put the bottle back in the refrigerator.
"Yes it is," Colin said and couldn't help but look at the list again.
"Did you get any sleep at all last night?"
"I got a little until your snores woke me, Dennis."
"I don't snore!" Dennis told him.
"Oh, of course not. Then I was awoken by your chainsaw." Both boys tried to look serious but both failed miserably and they broke up laughing.
"So," Dennis asked him after they finally stopped laughing, "do you figure you could make a bowling ball talk?"
"Dennis," Colin said in a voice full of exasperation. In the preceding weeks Dennis had asked him what seemed like every conceivable question about what he would be able to do. But, every time he was able to come up with a new one. "I don't know. Maybe."
"That would be neat." Dennis started walking out of the kitchen. "I'm going to flip the tube on. Wanna come with me?"
"Sure." They both left the kitchen and headed out to the living room and unceremoniously jumped on the couch. Dennis wrapped himself up in half his blanket, offering the rest to Colin who took it and did the same. It might be the middle of summer but the mornings were still chilly.
The soft glow of the television lit the room. Halfway through a cartoon of some animals doing cute little things Colin heard a raspy snore coming from his left. "Oh sure, you don't snore do you?" Colin softly said as he got himself more comfortable. The cute animals went off the air, being replaced by a bunch of robots or something. "Only a few more hours until Aunt Mira gets here," Colin told himself as he felt the Sandman creeping up on him. Colin tried to fight it but it wasn't happening. Apparently he needed a bit more rest before his big day at Diagon Alley. He quickly joined his brother in dreams.
Alright...I hope that worked out alright for you. It's my first piece of real writing in about a year, schoolwork aside, so it might not be all that great. Let me know what you think in a lovely review.
Soft light came from the kitchen, made by the small light over the counter that was always left on in case Dennis wanted a drink in the middle of the night. That light was all that lit the living room, illuminating little and throwing deeper shadows as well. Colin Creevey was sitting on his couch early one Saturday morning. Having always been a morning person this wasn't much of a surprise. But this was quite a special morning so he was up even a bit earlier than normal.
As he sat on the couch the grandfather clock in the corner quietly announced to him that it was now a quarter after four. The sun was still a good two hours away from making its debut above the horizon. As he was wiping the last of the night's eye boogers away he heard the familiar sound of his father's milk truck pulling up the street.
Colin listened as his father got out of his truck, nearly falling out by the sound of it, and made his way up the walk to their door. His father's keys rattled in the lock and the door slowly pushed open. Only after his father had stepped inside did Colin have the thought of opening the door for him. Colin shrugged it off as his father shut the door.
"Up early again, Squirt?" his father asked him, setting his wallet and keys on a small shelf of their entertainment center.
"Yes I am. I woke up about half an hour ago and I couldn't fall back to sleep."
"Well, why don't you watch a little telly? It is kind of spooky with you sitting here in the near dark."
"I would, but there really isn't much on right now unless I want to order some sort of cooking product or jewelry."
"True, very true. Early morning telly isn't all that wonderful." A peaceful silence fell between them as Colin's father relaxed and started taking off his boots.
"So, how was your night?" Colin finally asked after the boots had been set in their usual spot beneath the couch. A spot much hated by Colin's mum, that is.
"Oh, it wasn't that bad. We had everything filled by midnight or so and I was on the road after a quick bite of lunch. Or would it be dinner?" Colin smiled and giggled at that little line. He knew it was coming since his father said it every single time he was asked that question. It had developed into an inside joke between them over the years. Colin had heard it a good thousand times but it still brought the same smile to his face. Had anyone else have said it, it wouldn't have been the same.
"Well Squirt, I think that I'm going to head off to bed. I'm tired and your mum has all sorts of lovely things for me to clean and fix today while you are gone, so I'd better get some sleep."
"Goodnight," Colin said and tried to shield himself from the noogie he knew was coming. Alas, he was too late as his father's hand found the top of his head.
"Goodnight, Colin," his father told him as he walked up the steps to the bedroom.
Colin leaned back into the couch and relaxed. He took in the near silence and inhaled deeply. Colin had always loved quiet and solitude. He loved his family dearly of course, but sometimes the hustle and bustle of the house wore on him. Times like this were his favorite by far.
Colin soon realized that he was incredibly thirsty so he stretched and rose to his feet, flexing his muscles until they felt nice and relaxed. Colin walked into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of milk to rid himself of the feeling of a hamster box in his mouth. He stopped with his glass in hand as he heard a few birds chirping from outside. Directly outside the screened window he saw a small bird, most likely a robin he decided, sitting on the brickwork. Colin watched the bird with curiosity as it preened itself until it finally flew away. He finished his milk and set the glass in the sink. He'd wash it a little later on but right now he didn't want to wake anyone up with the running water and the devilish sounds the pipes always seemed to make.
As he was walking out of the kitchen his eyes caught two pieces of what his mum called parchment stuck to the refrigerator by assorted magnets (Drink Milk!, one of them read, obviously from his father's company.) He picked one from the cool metal and reread it for the thousandth time in the past two weeks.
"Dear Mr. Creevey," the letter started, "we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Colin stuck the letter back under the magnets and paused before he pulled the second sheet off. He was still quite amazed that something like this could possibly be real and more amazed still that it was happening to him.
When the letter first came, mysteriously, as the post wasn't due for another few hours that day, only he was up and about. He had no intention of waking his father up over something that seemed like an obvious joke. So, he set it aside and had already forgotten about it by the time his mum and younger brother returned after a morning of errands.
"Colin," she called as she set a bag of groceries on the counter, "What is - - -." Colin had just walked into the kitchen and was preparing to ask her what she was talking about when she let out what sounded like a hyena's yip.
"Mum?" he asked, not quite sure what she had stepped on.
"Oh, Colin, you got a letter!" she said, throwing her hands in the air and knocking over a container of eggs. Colin seemed to be in motion before she was.
"You mean that thing isn't a joke?" he asked as he got back to his feet after saving the eggs from exploding all over the floor.
"No dear, it's a real place."
"So there is a school for witches and all that here in England?"
"Yes. I'm so glad you got in."
"Mum, if I could ask how you've heard of it, since I've never."
"Well, remember how my sister Mira always wears those weird clothes?"
"You mean the ones that Dad calls her 'hippie wardrobe'?"
"Yes, those. They are actually wizard's robes."
"So, she went there then?" Colin asked, beginning to become incredibly intrigued.
"She not only went there but she graduated at the top of her class."
Colin looked at her in disbelief. "You mean that all this time Aunt Mira has been a Wizard and you've never mentioned it once?"
"Yes and no." Colin looked at her and raised an eyebrow in question. "What I mean is that she isn't a Wizard, she's a Witch. And for the 'no' part, I don't think I have mentioned it."
"Well, why not?"
"It isn't something that she really wants talked up, Colin. The Magic world goes to great length to keep their secrets hidden from the rest of the world. I think I'd do her a great disservice if I went around blabbering that I had a Witch for a sister. I'd also probably get more than a few odd looks, I think."
"I guess you would," Colin said and he grinned, imagining his mum on a soapbox telling a crowd of strangers about her magical sister.
"I think I'll call her right now," his mum said as she seemed to bounce to the phone. She saw the look on her son's face and made a placating gesture to him. "Don't worry. I'll tell you everything I can once I get off the line with her. Just hang on." She picked up the receiver and quickly dialed her sister's number as Colin left the kitchen by the side door and went into the back yard.
"So I'm a wizard now, it seems," he told a bird that landed on the tree branch above his head. The bird seemed quite indifferent and began to sing. Colin glanced back inside the house and saw his mum excitedly talking on the phone. He grinned at her and started walking to the swing in the far corner of the spacious back yard.
He sat on the small swing that he had helped his father build and hang when he was five or so. As he began to pick up speed he started thinking about all the questions that he'd have to ask his mother. He had made a list of twenty or so when his aunt suddenly appeared right in front of him, causing him to fall of the swing backwards and land in a most unflattering position.
"Well hello, Colin. I hear that you got accepted into Hogwarts today," she said with a slight grin on her face.
Colin rose to his knees and began wiping dirt from his shirt and shorts while he looked at her in amazement. "How...how'd you get here so fast?" he finally stammered out, dumbstruck.
"Quite simply, actually. I Apparated."
"You what? Did it hurt?" Colin sounded both interested and concerned, not knowing what in the world 'Apparating' was.
"No, silly. It means that I used magic to transport myself from my home to here. All I did was wave my wand and say a quick incantation and here I was."
"Just like that?"
"Uh huh. Just like that."
"Wow." Colin really didn't know what to say. The one thing he did know at that particular instant was that there was no longer any question of whether or not he wanted to go to Hogwarts. The answer was a resounding yes. If he could do what his aunt had just done, it would be completely worth it.
"Alright," Mira said after a few seconds of Colin's silent staring, "let's go inside and see that mum of yours." She reached a hand down to her nephew and helped him to his feet.
"Can you teach me to do that?" Colin asked her as they walked back to the house.
"I'm afraid you're a bit too young still, Colin. Maybe in a few years."
Colin heard more than he ever thought possible about people he hadn't known existed outside of fairy tales in the next few hours. He'd learned about topics from Apparating to Quiddich and scores more in between. He'd heard stories about the fabled school of Hogwarts and it's headmaster Albus Dumbledore (who in Colin's opinion sounded very much like Santa Claus). He also heard the story of You-Know-Who and the Potter family. When he heard that he nearly cried over the sadness of the whole thing. Now, when Mira told him that the Boy Who Lived was attending Hogwarts, Colin nearly fell out of his chair.
"He'll be starting his second year in a month or so, Colin," Mira told him.
"Wow. So I might actually meet him." Colin zoned out for a few moments while he tried to contemplate meeting someone with that much fame. It would be about the same as meeting some of his sports heroes, he decided, maybe even better.
"You probably will," his aunt told him.
They spent the rest of the morning and the better part of the afternoon sitting in the backyard talking about all sorts of things magical. Colin was quite sad when his aunt announced that she had to be leaving and run a few errands that she had pushed aside earlier in the morning.
"Well my magical nephew, I'll see you soon. If you thought that our little chat was interesting, you just wait until we get to Diagon Alley."
"I can't wait, Aunt Mira!" Colin nearly shouted in excitement as he, his mum, and aunt rose to their feet. He rushed to Mira and hugged her tightly. She ruffled his hair.
"It was great to see you, Mira," Colin's mum told her sister as they exchanged a hug of their own.
"You too, Sam. We'll have to do this again before your other son gets a letter." Samantha nodded her head in agreement. Mira stepped a few yards away and pulled her wand out of her pocket. She waved it while saying something that sounded French to Colin and with a smile, was gone.
"Wicked," was all Colin could think of to say.
"Yes, I think that 'wicked' does about cover it." The two of them gathered the various glasses and plates and headed back into the house. "Now let's see where your father and brother have gotten off to."
The missing family members were found and dinner was soon made. Dennis was nearly as full of questions about the whole situation as Colin was. So curious in fact that he was hardly quiet until he went to bed three hours later.
"Will you be able to pull a rabbit out of a hat?"
"I don't know, Dennis."
"Could you make Dad's boots float?"
"I don't know, Dennis."
"So, will you be able to turn into a ghost, Colin?" Dennis asked him after waiting a moment.
"I don't know, Dennis," Colin told his brother, becoming a bit tired of the constant questioning.
"That would be neat if you could."
Quiet finally filled the Creevey household after the youngest member had retired for the evening. Colin and his mum were sitting in the living room watching a bit of television while his father was upstairs preparing for the evening's work. Colin's mind was far removed from the television though, he was trying to imagine everything that might go on at Hogwarts and quite a few other magical topics.
"Mum, what does Aunt Mira do? Does she have some sort of magical job?" Colin asked in the midst of a very annoying commercial.
"I, well, honestly don't know. I think she works for something called the Ministry of Magic. I don't know what she does, maybe a secretary or something."
"I'll have to ask her about it when we go to Diagon Alley," Colin told her and became lost in his thoughts again.
Brought back to the moment a bird chirping outside, Colin looked over the second sheet of parchment. This was his list of everything that he would need for the upcoming term. A cauldron. That sounded partly reasonable. Eyes of this, scales of that. Most of it sounded either completely cool or completely and absolutely gross. "Oh well," Colin thought as he looked the list over. His aunt said that they could find all the things on this list in the place called Diagon Alley. Dennis had been in London more than a few times before and had never seen a sign for the place. It must be as well-hidden as Hogwarts.
Colin set the sheet back under its magnet and was startled out of his reveries by the sound of feet even littler than his coming down the steps. He leaned back against the counter as watched as Dennis walked in the room, at first completely oblivious to Colin's presence. The young lad's eyes were squinched half shut and he had a horrible case of bed-head. For a second Colin wondered if Dennis were even awake or if he were sleepwalking. It wouldn't be the first time, Colin thought, remembering the Toilet Incident a few months prior. Dennis' eyes suddenly popped full open and he dropped his ever-present blanket and nearly jumped out of his Superman pajamas as he noticed his brother.
"Cripes, Colin! You nearly gave me a heart attack," Dennis told him as he regained his breath and picked his blanket off the floor.
"Sorry Dennis," Colin said with a giggle. Anyone could tell that Colin was anything but sorry.
"Get me a glass down since you're so sorry then," Dennis told his brother as he opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a bottle of juice. Colin handed one to him and watched as Dennis poured.
"So, today is your big day, huh Colin?" Dennis asked him as he put the bottle back in the refrigerator.
"Yes it is," Colin said and couldn't help but look at the list again.
"Did you get any sleep at all last night?"
"I got a little until your snores woke me, Dennis."
"I don't snore!" Dennis told him.
"Oh, of course not. Then I was awoken by your chainsaw." Both boys tried to look serious but both failed miserably and they broke up laughing.
"So," Dennis asked him after they finally stopped laughing, "do you figure you could make a bowling ball talk?"
"Dennis," Colin said in a voice full of exasperation. In the preceding weeks Dennis had asked him what seemed like every conceivable question about what he would be able to do. But, every time he was able to come up with a new one. "I don't know. Maybe."
"That would be neat." Dennis started walking out of the kitchen. "I'm going to flip the tube on. Wanna come with me?"
"Sure." They both left the kitchen and headed out to the living room and unceremoniously jumped on the couch. Dennis wrapped himself up in half his blanket, offering the rest to Colin who took it and did the same. It might be the middle of summer but the mornings were still chilly.
The soft glow of the television lit the room. Halfway through a cartoon of some animals doing cute little things Colin heard a raspy snore coming from his left. "Oh sure, you don't snore do you?" Colin softly said as he got himself more comfortable. The cute animals went off the air, being replaced by a bunch of robots or something. "Only a few more hours until Aunt Mira gets here," Colin told himself as he felt the Sandman creeping up on him. Colin tried to fight it but it wasn't happening. Apparently he needed a bit more rest before his big day at Diagon Alley. He quickly joined his brother in dreams.
Alright...I hope that worked out alright for you. It's my first piece of real writing in about a year, schoolwork aside, so it might not be all that great. Let me know what you think in a lovely review.