Disclaimer – I have nothing to do with Harry Potter it all belongs to J.K. Rowling, 20th Century Fox, and whoever else.

A/N – This was done for a Valentines Day challenge in a Yahoo group, and had to be set around a Gryffindor and someone from one of the other houses. In this case I used Colin Creevey and Susan Bones just to be different. Hope you like and please, please review.

*

Piles of pictures were laid out across a wooden table in the back of the library. Beady, staring, and inquisitive eyes peered upward. Blues, greens, browns. Glassy and intense.

One picture stood out, sat out to the side. A large stretch of green grass filled the frame, dots of white breaking it up where daisies grew. The sun was low in the sky, reds and purples fading into the once azure sky. One figure stood in the bottom left hand corner, she had ice blue eyes, and flowing auburn hair. Her head was tilted up to the sky, the wind blowing in her hair, and a peaceful smile graced her pale pink lips. She was also holding a red rose between her fingertips, and the picture captured one of the petals drifting down to the ground.

The boy stood beside the table lowered his hand down and took the picture within his fingers, bringing it up close to his face to examine it. Her glittering eyes stared back into his own, and he felt a soft smile tug at the corners of his mouth. Attempting to hide it, he tossed the picture back down, and gathered everything back up together, before throwing it all into his book bag.

Hazel eyes darted around the room, and he stepped away from the table, making a beeline for the main doors. Once out in the deserted hallway, he sucked in a deep breath. Why was it thinking about her made him so nervous? Everyone got a crush at one time or another. The fact that she was in a different house and year made it a bit strange though, especially as Harry had been getting the impression that he'd been after Ginny. Ginny was a friend though, simple as that.

Sighing lightly Colin started his trudge back towards Gryffindor Tower. The pitiful fact was that if he went back now the only thing he'd have to do would be homework. So maybe it would have been better if he'd gone on a walk around the grounds. He decided to do just that. Turning on his heel, he walked down the hallway, head held a little higher than usual.

For once in his life, he decided to ignore everyone one around him. Colin time, that's what this was. Time to reflect, time to think, time to try and get HER off his mind. As he turned the corner he collided with someone else, falling on the floor, and the contents of his book bag falling across the floor. Photos spilled out across the stone, and he quickly scrambled around picking them all back up.

'It's Potter's stalker,' a voice said coldly, only a few feet from where Colin was crouched. He closed his eyes. Of all the people to walk into it just HAD to be Malfoy. 'Too busy dreaming to look where he's going,' continued Draco, his tone receding into a low growl.

Colin continued his fumbling, trying his hardest to pretend Draco wasn't there. That was until his fingers fell upon his prize picture at exactly the same time Draco's leather clad foot did. He let his eyes travel slowly upward, swallowing hard, as he followed the fold in the trouser leg in front of him. As his eyes fell onto Draco's face, the blonde crouched down, prising the picture from Colin's fingers.

Grey eyes sparkled, and Draco's lips curled into a devious grin. 'Who's this? Found some else to stalk?' he asked. A moment later his smile fell away, and he stood almost in contemplation, eyes still firmly fixed on the picture. Colin continued to watch, wondering what was going to happen next.

He took in several deep breaths, trying to stay calm, but Draco did something to send him over the edge. The blonde stood there, his eyebrows knitting together, before he blatantly licked his lips, muttering, 'Wouldn't say no.'

Emitting a growl, Colin jumped up, yanking the picture from Draco and then taking a few steps back. 'She wouldn't say yes to you though,' he said, gritting his teeth, holding the picture close to his chest. 'No one would!'

'And suddenly stalker boy's better than me, who'd have thought it,'  Draco leered, rising up slightly on the balls of his feet. It was then Colin noticed Crabbe and Goyle closing in on either side of him. That was it then, his short lived life as a wizard was truly over. He was going to die right there in the middle of the hall with the entire school milling around to ridicule him.

Closing his eyes tightly, he pulled the picture closer against his chest, beginning his silent prayers. Something along the lines of 'Please God, don't let me die without one kiss from her…' he only hoped it would work. He heard footsteps closing in on him and then two sets of hands grasping his robes tightly, and before he knew where he was he found himself pushed up against a wall, Draco's cold staring eyes only inches from his face.

The Slytherin seemed to do a double take and then stood back, crossing his thin arms over his chest. 'Don't tell me you've managed to get a girlfriend… someone that can actually understand your growing obsession with Potter,' he said quietly, his eyes inquisitively looking Colin over. 'The only thing that would make sense is if she is blind, which obviously she must be.'

'Shut up, you don't know anything!' Colin spat quickly, struggling a little within the restraints of Crabbe and Goyle's hands. 'You don't even know her!'

That it seemed had given Draco some kind of leverage and his eyes lit up again, devilishly glinting in the candlelight. 'Actually I do… Hufflepuff, red hair, blue eyes, not exactly stick thin unlike Weasley… that would make it Bones,' he stated, a knowing nod following up. 'Strange how these things go…' he added, his voice sinking into a whisper. Then he was silent as if thinking a few things over.

As the silence settled Colin started to struggle again, the picture floating down to meet the cold stone. Hands held him tighter, and he heard a slight cracking noise as he was shoved back into the wall again. It started as a twinge and before he knew it a sharp pain was creeping down his arm, numbing every nerve. He tried to suppress the little whimper he made, but it was impossible. Biting on his lip he held back the tears of pain threatening… and then surrendered himself to the cloak of black swallowing him up…

*

'Don't cry…' a female voice suddenly whispered, 'don't let him get to you.' He kept his eyes closed as he felt a dainty hand caress his cheek lightly, warmth filling him from the touch. The pain had taken him over so wholly he hadn't even noticed his captors walking away, and leaving him to sink down onto the floor.

As the realisation of where he was dawned upon him, he pulled his knees up against his chest, laying his head upon them, and letting her continue her actions. Her smooth skin moving back and forth, occasionally pausing and wiping small crystal tears away. 'Hush…' she whispered, her warm breath tickling his skin as she leant into him.

Gathering himself together, Colin managed to muster the courage to speak. 'What happened?' he asked huskily. 'Where did they go?' Blinking his eyes, he opened them up, staring into the darkness of the hallway. 'Did they--'

His mutterings were quickly cut off by a finger being placed against his lips, and those blue eyes he loved so much came into view. 'You passed out, Colin,' she told him gently. 'Professor McGonagall happened to be walking by and she got rid of them, Slytherin is a few points down now, and they all got detention as well.' She sighed lightly, her breath disturbing his mousey hair a little. 'I think they deserve more that that though, but she said it was up to Professor Snape.'

'Something like expulsion?' asked Colin, laughing a little. He soon stopped as pain raced through his body more quickly than you could say broomstick. 'But Professor Snape wouldn't do that,' he added in a grunt, 'he actually likes Malfoy.'

'He's the only one,' Susan said, nodding her head. 'Are you okay now? Because I have a Divination class to go to, I don't want to be late.'

'I'll be fine,' he replied, trying his hardest to keep a brave exterior even though he was dying inside. 'I'll just take a walk to the infirmary, go and see Madame Pomfrey.' Lowering his eyes, he took his gaze from her face, and then feebly attempted to pull himself up from the floor, using the wall for help. 'Might take a while, but that's what I'm going to do,' he said, and then when he noticed her opening her mouth to protest, he quickly added, 'I WILL be fine.'

Susan nodded again, and he watched as she got up herself, giving a little wave and dashing down the hallway in a blaze of black and red hair. That was the moment he fell back down onto the mottled stone, just completely collapsing. Of all the people to find him in the hall in this state. Why couldn't it have been Ginny? It SHOULD have been her, then at least it would have saved him on some embarrassment.  Things like this were always happening to him, no matter how hard he tried he'd always mess up and make a fool of himself.

Trying to get back to his feet once more, Colin took a deep breath as he placed his hands on a windowsill and pulled himself up. Finally reaching standing he started down the hallway, dragging his book bag after him, along with his wounded pride. The bit of it he had that is. He couldn't help the sigh that escaped his lips, and it was followed up quickly by the uncontrollable urge to punch the wall, although that would probably be ten times more painful than his shoulder.

As he reached the infirmary he was faced with Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall stood in the entrance, as usual Professor McGonagall was scowling but it soon turned into a look of worry when she saw him. Madame Pomfrey dashed over and took him into her arms. He was actually glad she did, a wave of dizziness had been creeping over him, any moment he would have collapsed to the floor again.

'Where's Susan?' Professor McGonagall asked quickly, voice strict yet gentle. Her glasses were slipping down her nose a little and as she followed them across the room to one of the empty beds, she pushed them up again. 'She was meant to be looking after you.'

Colin moved slightly on the hospital bed as Madame Pomfrey helped it onto it, then leant forward as she persisted to fluff the pillows. A moment later he sat back and sighed with relief as he actually began to feel comfortable for the first time since the incident. He ran his fingers in his mousey hair and then replied his head of house in a whisper, 'She had a class to go to,' he said quietly, 'I told her she could leave me.'

Professor McGonagall was obviously not happy about this, and she let out a little frustrated grunt. 'Fine, fine,' she said sternly, 'but next time Mr. Creevey let her stay with you please, it looked like you could have used a little help getting up here.'

He nodded sadly, his gaze drifting down to the white sheets on the bed, he hadn't even realised Madame Pomfrey had left their little group. But he realised that when a pair of his blue and white striped pyjamas landed on top of his lap and a bottle of something was slammed down onto the bedside table. 'Right, let's get you changed Mr. Creevey, you're going to be spending the night I'm afraid,' she said. 'Professor, if you excuse us.'

'Of course, I have a 5th Year class to go to anyway,' replied Professor McGonagall, nodding her head in reply as a light smile crept over her lips. 'See you in Transfiguration on Monday Mr. Creevey, I hope you'll be feeling better by then.' Then she left, her green cape billowing out after her, her small black heels clacking against the stone, echoing throughout the hallway outside.

Then he remembered. It was Friday. That meant he wouldn't have to go to anymore lessons until Monday. Definitely a good thing, and it would make keeping his head down a lot easier. Avoiding Malfoy would be a piece of cake. He smiled to himself until he realised that Madame Pomfrey was going spare at the fact he was just staring into space and not doing what she asked. He took hold of the pyjamas and changed into them quickly, handing his school robes and uniform over to her.

Shortly afterwards, she left, telling him to rest and that she'd be back in a few hours to sort his shoulder out. Which was fine, Colin could wait all day, he still had the memories of when Gildroy Lockhart had tried to fix Harry's arm, and then Harry had to re-grow his bones. From what he'd heard, it wasn't a very pleasant experience. Although this was different, Madame Pomfrey would be doing what Lockhart had attempted to do.

Shaking the thought away he scrambled beneath the covers and laid his head on the pillows, letting his eyes drift closed. Pulling the covers a little higher up around his neck he let his thoughts move over to Susan. It was strange that she had been the one told to look after him. He was sure Malfoy would had been pretty annoyed if he'd seen, in fact maybe he had seen. Smiling at that, he started to feel sleep taking over and just let himself float away with the moment.

*

'Mr. Creevey, you have a visitor…' Madame Pomfrey's voice suddenly came crashing into Colin's dreams of his redhead, and he clicked his eyes open, staring up at the rafters of the infirmary. Sunlight was almost blinding his vision, and he gave an idle glance to the window to find the early morning sun shining through the stained-glass. Patterns of purples, reds, and greens swirled together across the walls, glittering brightly.

Smiling, he turned his head to the left and found himself staring straight at Susan. If it was even possible she looked more radiant than usual, her pale skin bathed in the golden light, and her crystal eyes sparkling ferociously. Wow that was a sight to behold forever. 'Hi,' she said softly just as Madame Pomfrey gestured to a chair beside the bed. Susan sat herself down, smiling brightly at Madame Pomfrey just before she left.

'What are you doing here?' asked Colin quickly, he couldn't help it but it had been the first thought running through his mind. 'You should be doing something better with your time than visiting me…'

Susan looked at him out of confusion a moment and then her eyes saddened and lowered down to her hands clasped neatly in her lap. 'I just wanted to see how you were… and maybe I thought that you…' she paused, hesitantly, licking her lips lightly. He couldn't help but watch her as her, take in every little movement she made. Every nervous gesture. The redhead tucked a strand of her silky hair behind her left ear, and then continued, 'Don't really know how to say this, but…' she stopped again, cutting her own words off.

'What?' Colin found himself asking out of desperation, slowly sitting up on the bed, leaning towards her a little. 'Say what?'

'I've been getting the impression that you… like me?' she mumbled, although the last two words were more of a question, she'd seemed so doubtful about it all. She shifted in the seat nervously, her eyes moving back to his face at last. They were glinting with what looked like hope. No, it couldn't be. Dreams didn't come true for him, they never did, only nightmares.

He swallowed hard as he felt discomfort sweeping over him as well. How do you tell the girl that you like that you like her? He couldn't exactly just come out with it… or could he? Sucking in a deep breath, he reached out his hand and traced her jaw with his index finger very slowly. Susan jumped at the contact, eyes wide, like a deer caught in headlights. 'That's because I do,' he whispered to her, and dropped his hand down.

Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion, but she actually lent closer to him, resting her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. She brushed her hair out of the way with her fingers, and then chewed on her lower lip a moment. 'Colin, why?' she asked softly.

'Is it a problem?' questioned Colin in reply, shifting again on the bed, his eyes wandering around the room, going anywhere as long as he didn't have to look at her face. 'Because I… well, I think you're amazing,' he added, beginning to pick at a stray piece of cotton on the edge of the covers. If that wasn't explaining, he didn't know what was, because they were the only words he could find anyway.

'I think you're crazy,' she told him flippantly, a light sigh escaping her. 'You… I…' she stuttered, leaning closer to him, her elbows resting on the edge of the bed instead. She was looking at him quizzically now, almost like she was asking a silent question.

Then completely out of the blue the redhead dropped from the chair, crawled to the edge of the bed, laying her palms out on flat and rising up to press her lips against his. He didn't know what to do, he just sat there frozen stiff, his hands falling limply at his sides. Telling himself to return the kiss, he moved to reach his hand up, but she pulled away from him. The contact that he'd wanted to revel in being taken away.

'Sorry, I doubt you wanted me to—'

Colin cut her words off quickly, leaning into her and kissing her lips softly, just as she had done with him. She instantly returned it and fireworks went off in his head. Placing his palm lightly against her cheek, he snaked his other hand around her waist and pulled her closer to him, causing her to move slowly up onto the bed. Her small hands pressed against his chest and he gently deepened the kiss, moving his hand from her cheek and tangling it within her auburn locks.

He was needing air but he couldn't bring himself to break the kiss. He'd have to though. Pulling away only a centimetre or so, he sucked in a deep breath and licked her lips lightly, surprisingly she parted her lips a little and her tongue flicked out to meet his. He jumped back at the contact, his hazel eyes widening. A moment later he gushed a stream of apologies.

It was all strange though. Colin hadn't exactly had a lot of encounters with girls, mainly because they all decided that he thought Harry was more important. But he'd never been given the chance to prove to them otherwise. So kissing wasn't exactly his forte. Especially French kissing, that was definitely new to him.

Realising that she was staring at him, he blinked a few times and then looked deeply into her eyes. He stayed completely still for a few moments before leaning up to kiss her once more. This time was better without doubt, it was simple, soft and sweet. He pulled back a few seconds later and smiled shyly. 'I don't know why you were sorry,' he whispered.

Susan smiled back at him, mirroring the coyness. 'Just don't know how to handle myself in situations like this… that's all,' she replied. 'But I think that went okay, don't you?'

'Seemed alright to me,' Colin said, his smile widening.

She grinned, then asked, 'Want to try it again?'

'Do you really need to ask?' he replied and pressed his lips against hers once more.