A lot of things changed within Harry's life. A lot in a short period of time.
He'd woken up feeling incredibly disoriented, a blinding light hitting him directly in the face. Immediately, his face scrunched up, eyes squeezed tightly shut. He groaned, for that reason and the tremendous body ache that came on. The pain was worsened when Colin practically leaped on him, giving him a hug.
"Harry!" He'd exclaimed. "You're awake!"
As it turns out, he'd been out for sometime. Ever since they went down in the chamber to save Ginny. And speaking of her, she was alright. He was filled in on what was going on with her. She refused to look in his direction or speak to him; anyone, really. She was apparently very torn up with what she'd done under Riddle's spell. Once she was released from the hospital wing, Fred mentioned she hid out in her dorm on her side of the room. Her dormmates, despite her protesting that she wasn't in control, didn't believe her. They were wary of her and had moved all of their belongings across from her so none of them had to be in close proximity, more than they already were. It upset Ginny further, he'd heard. Her brothers didn't know what to do, especially because she didn't want them to intervene and make it worse. Percy ended up going to Professor McGonagall, however, when one of her dormmates, in retaliation, had an older student conjure up a pair of scissors and cut her hair.
It looked awful; quick snippets that made her look off centered and choppy. Harry only saw a glimpse of it and felt sorry for her. It wasn't her fault what Riddle made her do. Even so, she was suffering the brunt of it now that no one would listen to her otherwise. Privately, he felt Professor Dumbledore should have explained the whole situation and not just the part of her being taken as he'd come to learn. As far as the rest of the students knew, she'd been of sound mind the entire time. It didn't help matters.
Harry and the rest of their friends tried to do their best at defending her. He nearly got into it with Draco Malfoy when the prat loudly wondered why Ginny hadn't been expelled. Harry's hand grasped his wand, wishing nothing more than for a chance to give him what he deserved. Another time, it had been Ernie Macmillan, who felt Ginny should be punished in some way at the minimum for the disturbance she caused the school. Harry and Hermione had to hold Ron back from physically going after him. They all hoped that by next year, things would be different.
And different they were.
Harry didn't expect to hear from Colin that Professor Dumbledore was allowing him to live with him and his family. He assumed he must have been joking.
"What?" Harry stared. "You're not serious."
They were in the Gryffindor dormitory. Colin was sitting criss cross on his bed whilst Harry was putting some things inside his trunk. He'd paused when Colin mentioned that bit of information, hardly daring to believe it. Never did he think he would be rid of the Dursleys until he became of age.
"I am," Colin said simply. "You're coming with me, Harry. You're living with us now."
Harry was rendered speechless. "But..I thought Dumbledore? I thought he said-"
"He changed his mind," Colin said enthusiastically.
"I can see that but how?" Harry didn't understand. Dumbledore had been firm on the subject the last time it was brought up, insistent that it was vital that he remained at the Dursleys for his own protection. He didn't think Dumbledore would relent on the subject.
Colin shifted. "I had a talk with him," He admitted.
Harry felt an odd sensation within his stomach. "You talked to him?"
"Yeah," Colin rubbed his arm.
"Wha...what did you talk about?" Harry felt cold all over. When Colin refused to meet his eyes any longer, he knew his assumptions were true. "You told him?"
"Yeah," Colin visibly grimaced. "I'm sorry, Harry. I'm really sorry. It's just-"
"What exactly did you tell him?" Harry said sharply. The packing of his trunk was forgotten. Eyes boring into Colin, making him squeeze his own eyes shut.
"I told him about the bars. And how they starved you-"
"They didn't starve me," Harry snapped. "They fed me."
"Not very well!" Colin shot back. "Come on, I know you know the difference."
Harry was suddenly standing right in front of him, glaring down with a coldness that Colin had never seen from him before. "It was none of your business to say anything!"
"Shouldn't you be thanking me? If it wasn't for me, you would be going back there!"
"It's nothing I couldn't have handled!" Harry said stubbornly.
"Nothing you couldn't have-" Colin trailed off, making a noise of anger. "Honestly! How are you not grateful?"
"Maybe I would've been if you waited and talked to me before doing it. You didn't have to say anything about that stuff."
Colin turned away from him, his back facing Harry. "Fine then," he said flatly without turning back around. "Then tell Dumbledore you want to go back to your relatives. You can stay there for all I care."
He stomped off before Harry had the chance to say anything else.
All of Hogwarts, especially the Gryffindor house, became acutely aware of their argument. It would be difficult not to unless one were that dense. Harry and Colin had done much of everything together until now that they weren't; he'd gone off to the Ravenclaw table to sit with Luna, alongside a quiet, bashful still recovering Ginny. While Harry sat with Ron, Hermione and his other dormmates at the Gryffindor table. Seamus had been exceptionally curious as to what happened, badgering Harry needlessly about it. Dean stepped in, glancing apologetically at him while telling their Irish friend that it was none of his business.
Ron and Hermione were the slightest bit concerned by this abrupt change. They attempted to talk to Harry about it, but he didn't want anyone else knowing; the less people who knew, the better. No doubt they were curious. Ron was used to being told everything and somehow he'd known Harry was lying when he made up some excuse to explain as to why they were currently not speaking to each other. No one else who had overheard-thanks to Ron's lack of volume control-believed it either. But Harry was not willing to divulge any information about it. No matter how much they wanted to know. It took some prompting from the older students-Percy in particular-to get certain others-Seamus-to stop asking.
Harry didn't think he was being unreasonable about this; his anger was justified as Colin had no right to say anything, even to the headmaster. It was told in secrecy for a purpose, which was not to be shared. Another part of him felt torn. He did want to escape the Dursleys and the Creevey's had been kind to him, nearly to an unbelievable degree.
But on the other hand..
It didn't almost didn't feel right. The Creevey's weren't his parents, they would never be no matter what the paperwork said. What would his parents think of this? Would they be alright or would they feel incredibly betrayed? Harry tried not to think about that. He didn't know what they would think and he wouldn't ever. It was a harsh way of thinking about it but the only way to get his mind not to jump to conclusions.
In the following days before all the students were to leave Hogwarts for the summer holidays, Harry did a lot of thinking. He didn't want to lose Colin as a friend, he wasn't even certain he was still angry anymore. The fire had mostly fizzled out. He was just...
Uncertain.
Uncertain of what was to come.
He should have been thrilled, excited. But he wasn't. He kept wondering how this would all turn out in the end.
/
Now that the danger has passed, Oliver Wood insisted they all practice with the time that they had left to make up for what was lost. At the end of it, Harry was still in his quidditch uniform when he spotted Colin sitting on the courtyard. He was alone, half heartedly fiddling with his camera. They were still avoiding each other at the moment, purposefully looking away whenever they managed to make eye contact.
Hermione, while she didn't know the root cause, said this has gone on long enough and was utterly ridiculous and that both of them should just apologize to each other and be done with it. Ron ended up agreeing with her, looking a bit like he'd swallowed a lemon while doing so. It was eerily reminiscent of how his Aunt Petunia looked during when she was forced to say something to Harry.
He knew they were right. He might have overreacted some. Harry wasn't used to people caring about him quite yet. And so, after practice was over, he forced himself to approach Colin on the courtyard, mouth going dry as he realized he honestly didn't know what to say after his outburst.
"I'm-"
"I know," Colin rose to his feet, hands immediately going into the pockets of his trousers. "I know you are. I am too. I shouldn't have said anything without asking."
"And I shouldn't have overreacted," Harry admitted.
"Are we okay again?"
"Yeah," Harry said with a smile. "We're alright."
/
And so, by the time they boarded the Hogwarts express to travel back into the muggle world, peace was restored between the two of them once more. Their compartment was full this time around; the four of them in addition to Harry and Ron's dormmates, as well as Luna and Ginny. It was a bit of a tight fit. Luna, Ginny and Colin sat on the floor instead of squeezing into the seat. They all talked and laughed and had a grand old time. Harry honestly enjoyed it. It was nice having more friends than just Ron and Hermione. He cared about them, of course. They were his first friends and nothing would ever change that.
When they arrived at the station, Colin craned his neck looking for Dennis and their parents. Hermione told him they were likely on the other side of the barrier. Evidently, because they weren't magical themselves, they could only get through to the platform if they had their child with them. Colin nodded at her explanation.
Harry got to see Mrs. Weasley again. Her husband was at work and added that she would be delighted if he came to visit sometime during the summer. Her husband would love to meet him. Her invitation was extended to Colin as well. Harry rubbed at his neck shyly, saying he'd think about it.
Harry and all his friends promised they'd keep in touch for the summer. For the first time in...ever, he felt extremely light. They gave him a one armed hug which he wasn't quite used to but he tried to feel relaxed anyway. Except for Hermione. Hers was rather bone crushing. He was actually sure she could've cracked a rib if she tried. By that time, he saw Fred, George and Lee hop off the train, snickering amongst themselves. That was apparently suspicious activity and Mrs. Weasley's alarm bells went off; she immediately questioned them over it.
Percy got off the train as well. He was holding hands with Penny Clearwater, his smile wide and cheeks red. Oliver Wood was behind him, chattering animatedly about quidditch to no one's surprise. Percy told everyone that if they had any difficulties with the summer homework they needn't hesitate to owl him for it. Penny offered the same if Percy was too busy.
Before long, trunks in hand, Colin and Harry went through the barrier to get back into the muggle world. He was greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Creevey's smiling face. Dennis was beside Mr. Creevey's legs, his face lit up as soon as he saw them. Harry was stunned when Mrs. Creevey pulled him into a hug. He binked dumbly at first, then tentatively reciprocated.
Is this what being hugged by mother felt like?