Snapshots and Thundersnow
Chapter 6: Tryouts and Tutoring
A/N- Well, we have HBP, which I knew would totally demolish this fic. No spoilers here, it's now officially just a very AU year 6 story. I refuse to change anything I had planned just because I was proven dead wrong... hehehe. Meanwhile, I wish Dennis had told me beforehand thathe was going to be a major character in this story, I could've done his wand and Sorting... oh well.
"Let's have a look... calm down, calm down! So much enthusiasm! And a great deal of curiosity, yes, and an eagerness to learn... plenty of loyalty... a great protective instinct, not afraid to speak your mind... a strong will... yes, I'm quite sure you belong in GRYFFINDOR!"
It had taken Colin something along the lines of three lessons to decide he didn't like flying. He tried not to call it fear... just a preference to keep his feet planted firmly on the ground, thanks very much. Maybe it was because he was Muggleborn. Or maybe it was because he had the common sense to realize that humans weren't meant to be sitting on broomsticks fifty feet in the air...
He wondered how many people would associate Colin Creevey with common sense, and opted to think about something else.
Dennis was exactly his opposite so far as flying was concerned—nothing seemed to thrill him more than shooting around high overhead. His skill didn't quite match his enthusiasm, but who was Colin to point that out? The brothers had talked their father into buying a broom (this had included saving up their pocket money all summer, which he imagined was more a symbolic gesture) before Dennis's second year, and while he hadn't tried out for the team then, this year he was ready.
They trooped out to the Quidditch pitch a bit early Thursday night, Dennis clutching his Cleansweep 7 and Colin dragging one of the school's Shooting Stars. (He didn't like flying, but never let it be said he wasn't a good brother!) Since they quite obviously didn't have their own Quaffle, Dennis had brought his football along and they tossed that around instead, with Colin playing some combination of Keeper and Chaser. The less said of those efforts, the better.
Even if he weren't determinedly biased, Colin would've said Dennis was good. Not as good as the two Chasers who'd graduated last year, but then again, they'd had a lot more experience hadn't they?
A few others had joined them on the Quidditch pitch and once the team arrived, Colin was quick to land before anyone thought he might be trying out. The team right now consisted of four people—Harry, Ron, Andrew Kirke, and Katie Bell, who (from the way she was ordering everyone about) Colin guessed was the captain.
Ginny Weasley came up and greeted him.
"I thought you were already on the team?"
"I'm trying out for Chaser," she explained, "Harry's Seeker after all, and I'd rather be a Chaser anyway... I thought you hated flying."
Colin nodded to Dennis, and Ginny understood.
"Weasley! In the air!" Katie yelled. "Creevey, are you—"
"No," Colin answered a little more forcefully than he'd meant to, and all but bolted for the stands. He thought he caught Ron laughing.
He watched the Beater tryouts with great interest. A bunch of highly competitive people trying out for a position that involved whacking heavy balls at other people to unseat them? The outcome of that was obvious. It looked more like a war up there than a sport.
He hesitated. Given current events, that was a bad word choice.
Beater tryouts ended when a fourth-year took a bludger to the head and had to be taken to the hospital wing. Katie, not flustered in the least, paired up the four potential Chasers and sent them up. Ginny and Dennis were paired together, against a pair of second-years Colin didn't know. At first they just practiced passing to each other and tossing the Quaffle through the goals. Tryouts were probably decided right there—the second-years were great passers, but barely ever got the ball through the rings.
Nonetheless, Ron went up to try blocking their shots, which only made the second-years do worse. Colin got a fantastic photograph of Ginny and Ron colliding in midair (he wasn't certain it was intentional, but who knew with Quidditch), letting Dennis slam the ball through the hoop.
Tryouts were called off when it started getting dark, and Katie announced that the team would be posted in the Gryffindor common room the next day.
Dennis was uncharacteristically quiet as they walked back to Gryffindor tower. "Don't be so nervous, Dennis, you looked great up there. There's no way either of the others get in over you!"
"Yeah," Dennis grinned, "but I can't help being a little nervous..."
Colin was about to say something else encouraging when a flicker of motion caught his eye. Movement in the shadows...
"Colin, what's wrong?"
He looked again. Nothing was there. "I thought I saw something moving..." Dennis looked unconvinced, things were always moving, but Colin couldn't think of anything else to say. He shrugged and changed the subject. "Come on, race you back to the tower!"
By the time they got back to the Gryffindor common room, Colin had quite forgotten about the incident.
Snap woke Colin up at four in the morning, gnawing on his ear. "OW!" He shot into a sitting position and looked around, but everyone else in the fifth-year dormitory was still sound asleep. "Snap, what'd you do that for?"
Snap chattered something and Colin, who didn't understand anything of dormouse-chatter, shrugged it off and tried to go back to sleep. No success.
"Okay, come on." He crawled out of bed and headed for the common room. At least now he'd be able to get a chair by the fire—
"So what if he's here? He's only the world's biggest prat, we'll just ignore him."
"But if he is here why haven't we seen him?"
"Finally has the sense not to show his face—"
"Yeah, because Percy's always been so good at not being noticed."
"But surely the Ministry wouldn't be trying to interfere again, not now?"
Colin ducked back into the dormitory, deciding this was a bad time to approach Harry and his friends.
Percy? Surely they were talking about Ron's brother, who'd never seemed like the world's biggest prat to Colin. What was he doing back at Hogwarts? And for that matter, how did they know he was back if they hadn't seen him?
It didn't really matter, and it really wasn't any of his business. He resolved to forget about what he'd overheard—but lying awake in bed with a dormouse chewing his ear wasn't a great environment for getting things out of his mind.
His thoughts turned to Quidditch. The team lists couldn't possibly be posted fast enough. Dennis would make it of course, and then there'd be talk of upcoming games to distract him, and watching practices, and of course the games themselves...
"Snap, mate, does my ear really taste that good?"
To his surprise, the gnawing stopped. "Thanks."
He spent the rest of the night thinking up ways to train Snap.
The fifth-years were studying more advanced Dark creatures, today's subject being werewolves, the majority of which were supposedly working with Lord You-Know-Who. Colin paid close attention, certain it was important, but he couldn't help thinking... knowing how to repel a werewolf wouldn't do much for him if he ran into a Death Eater.
He stayed after class. Winters was a little intimidating, the way he kept his hood up and you could never see his eyes... Colin steeled himself. He had to ask. The attacks had started again, a Ravenclaw Muggle-born had just lost her parents, certainly he'd understand... hopefully...
"Professor?"
Winters had been writing something on the board, preparing for the next lesson. Now he turned to Colin and smiled. "Is something wrong?"
"No, it's just... uh... there's something I wanted to ask..." He hesitated, not quite certain how to go about explaining himself. But there was something oddly comforting and... familiar?... in Winters' smile.
Then it was all pouring out, his Muggle background, learning nothing from Umbridge, his fears all summer, knowing that if something happened he would have to protect his family, and he wasn't sure how... he trailed off. Winters was still smiling, but it was sad now. "So I was um... just wondering if there were any chance I could take extra lessons," he finished rapidly.
The room was very quiet for awhile, and Colin wondered if he'd just made a big mistake. It wasn't really fair to ask a teacher to go out of his way to—
"Let's see your schedule," said Winters, his voice strangely soft.
Colin fished the slip of parchment out of his pocket, noting a few teeth marks that hadn't been there when he put it in his pocket. He grinned slightly and gave Snap a pat on the head as the professor looked over his schedule. He nodded. "Right after your Thursday Herbology class, does that sound all right?"
"Great!" As if Colin were going to argue. He opened his mouth to ask something else, but Winters beat him to it.
"If your brother can come at that time he's more than welcome."
Colin thanked him profusely and hurried out of the room. "Did you hear all that, Snap?" he asked, pulling the dormouse out of his pocket. "Dennis and I are getting extra lessons, and we'll be able to defend Dad, and..."
Snap yawned.
It was odd though, he reflected as he rushed to share the good news with Dennis. Why did Professor Winters seem so familiar? And why, when he was so mysterious and creepy, had Colin been so inclined to tell him so much?
Percy stared after Colin for a long time after he was out of sight. Poor kid. He realized with a start that many of the Muggle-born students must be feeling the same way. If families of fully-qualified wizards could fall victim to Death Eaters, what chance did they have?
It was a depressing thought.
Less depressing, but more surprising, was what Percy realized a moment later as he write the extra lessons on his own schedule. He'd shifted to prefect mode without even thinking about it. Colin had obviously been desperate to confide his fears to someone, even Perfect Percy the Prefect had never been that good, but...
He went back to his office. "Everything, Hermes... I'll teach him everything I know." The thought that this all could've been prevented would not leave Percy alone. If only the Ministry had taken Harry seriously, not let He Who Must Not Be Named get strong... maybe... "It's only one person but... it's a start, isn't it?"
Hermes just stared at him, with that 'you-humans-are-crazy' look Percy knew too well. It wasn't the first time the owl had been right, and no doubt it wouldn't be the last.