Snapshots
By Montley
Those who are small, fragile looking beings seem to never get along well with others, only because their bodies make them easy targets as people always ignore the elephant-sized heart growing inside their chest. To them, it is always easy to tease the smaller person, only because someone bigger was hurting them as well.
XXX
Life at school for fifth grader Colin Creevey was what he detested the most, more than anything else in the world. Because of his stature, people compared him to a baby every day, pushing him against walls, intimidating him with their size. He only had one lone friend, another small girl named Malia Greeley, and he was her only friend as well. But she was even more timid than him. They had been friends since kindergarten, and she could always make him smile even on his worst of days.
Every day was the same; he would wake up to the burning sunshine, get dressed, ride the bus in which people threw miscellaneous items at him, and try, just try, to stay sane throughout the day. His parents always asked him what happened at school or how was the day, but he would never stop lying to them. He would tell them everything is fine and that everyone is nice. He did not want them to worry about him. They did not need it.
He needed an escape, but sometimes he could taste vengeance against his peers when odd things would happen to them. Books would fall on their heads from out of nowhere, they would start having a coughing fit erratically, but Colin's favorite was when it was as though a force field surrounded him, and no one could touch him anymore. It struck fear in them, but it excited Little Colin Creevey, making him feel brave and strong.
But despite all of the bullies, Colin still had his camera. He would snap a photo at least once every day, of Malia, of his brother, of his mother or of his father. It gave him a small piece of happiness in his long days, and the four main people in his life never minded getting their picture taken, they even encouraged it because it made him happy.
Deep down inside he knew that he was different from the rest of them, but not in the way that he is smaller. Instead it was in the way that deep down he knew that he was powerful, with something out there waiting for him to find it.
XXX
"It's not fair," Malia cried. Colin held onto her, tears sliding down his own pale cheeks. "I don't want to die, Colin."
"I don't want you to die either, Mally," Colin answered, holding onto her tighter, for Malia had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. The doctors had only said she had two months left. This was going to be her last week attending school, her last week in class, and her last week of being bullied.
"Thank you for being my friend, Colin," she said, parting from their hug and wiping at her eyes in fear that the other children would see her cry. Colin did not care to wipe his tears away for there was no need.
"Don't say that," Colin urged. "I can help you, you've seen what I've done to those other guys, what I can do. Maybe I can make it so that-."
"Stop, Colin," Malia requested quietly, silent tears streaming down her sickly pale cheeks, her blonde hair stuck to her face. "The doctors know best."
Colin was silent; he hated this, he hated everything, and now he was going to lose his best friend. He could not help but weep along with Malia, a poor girl close to losing her life too early.
He blocked out the rest of the world for a moment, not caring to notice the larger boys approach him and push him towards the nearest wall.
"Ickle baby Colin crying again," a boy named Tyler teased as two other boys laughed in his face, their breath tickling his face.
"Leave him alone," Malia shouted through her tears.
"Shut up," another boy named Jackson snapped as he pushed her down, forcing her fragile body to slam against the blacktop of the school grounds, bruising her.
"What is wrong with you?! She has cancer you idiots!" Colin screamed, his tears being replaced by white anger as the boys were forced by apparent nothingness to move away from him.
But the biggest boy, Jackson was able to break through, grab Colin and throw him towards where Malia was lying on the ground, weeping softly. Colin stood up again much to the other boys' astonishment. He ran up to Jackson and pulled his own arm back, releasing it and punching the larger boy square in the face, forcing the boy to fall backwards. The two others ran away in fear, towards the closest teacher.
"She has cancer," Colin moaned, staring at his fist, not even looking up to see when the teacher rushed over and grabbed him by the arm.
XXX
"It's okay, Colin, seriously."
"No, it's not."
"It is, Colin. Be brave for the both of us, be brave for me, I don't want you like this."
"But-."
"Please."
XXX
Four months had passed, and it was the summer time. It was warm, and the surrounding children were happy, running through the sprinklers, shouting with pure joy and happiness. But there was one less child in the world to do so, to be happy and live her life.
Four months ago Colin had been suspended from school for a few days, never receiving the justice he had craved, but none of the other boys bothered him again, even Jackson, and he had received few condolences when Malia passed away. His little brother, Dennis, made sure to check on him every day with pitying sparkles in his eyes.
His parents were worried about him, mainly for the fact that he ceased snapping photos of people, but it was mainly because his camera was full of pictures of Malia smiling. It was too painful to even look at his camera. But he knew he had to be brave for her. Shouldn't he?
XXX
His birthday that year brought his spark back instantly. As usual, he received his presents, but the best one was when the doorbell of his house rang shrilly throughout the home. After he opened the door his eyes lay upon a severe looking woman. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and on top of her head was a pointed, emerald green hat. His parents had been suspicious, but when Colin smiled widely, his eyes shining, they smiled too.
All this time he had known he was special. The woman told him that he was a wizard. A wizard for corn's sake! All of it made clear sense to him. It explained how he could ward off bullies sometimes, how odd things happened around him, how Malia survived two more months than what she was predicted. He knew Malia would have loved to see this, to explore this new world with him. He let his mouth form a small, sad smile to honor her memory.
The woman, who he learned was named Professor McGonagall, led him around the crooked streets of Diagon Alley, which was hidden in London, or as she called it, Muggle London. His parents' money was traded in for odd looking coins at a bank called Gringotts, owned by goblins. Actual, living, breathing goblins!
The professor had even taken him, his parents and Dennis into the bookstore, Florish and Blotts where stories and biographies crowded the walls and littered the floor. At the forefront of the store there were actual wizard celebrities named Gilderoy Lockhart and a boy about his age named Harry Potter or, as he learned, the Boy-Who-Lived. The professor told Colin everything about Harry.
Harry had survived.
And for that fact, Colin wanted to be exactly like that boy as he snapped a picture with his camera once again.
Life flew by like snapshots, and he knew that he had to capture every second of it.
This was written for:
The Fanfiction Tournaments Competition
The Creevey Brothers Challenge
Colors Comp: Orange Positive
HP Potions Competition, Black Fire Potion
Gemstones Competition, Pearls
Wand Wood Competition, Ebony