"What's that?" Neville asked, looking up from his Potions homework as Ginny entered the Common Room the following evening. A dented, slightly damp box was tucked safely under one of her arms.

"Dunno." Ginny plopped down on the couch next to Lavender, who lifted her eyes from her homework and greeted the other girl with a tired smile. "It was delivered to me right after dinner."

"Who's it from, then?" Parvati snapped her textbook as her gaze drifted towards the box.

"Dunno," Ginny repeated as she dropped her bag down on the ground next to the couch. She shook the box slightly, much to Parvati's horror.

"Be careful!" She chastised. "It could be delicate, who knows what's in there."

"Maybe it's dangerous," Seamus said excitedly, throwing his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook aside and leaning forward in his chair. "Maybe a Death Eater sent it to you."

Parvati hit him over the head with her book. "Don't sound so excited, Seamus." She then turned back to Ginny. "He's right though, it might be dangerous."

"Only one way to find out," Ginny said cheerfully, tearing the box open and peering in. Neville and Lavender looked at each other and shrugged as they too abandoned their homework to participate in the unwrapping.

"What is it?" Seamus asked, practically bouncing in his seat. The anticipation was obviously eating away at his fragile patience.

"It's a magic camera," Lavender said, surprised, as she looked over Ginny's shoulder and down at the contents of the ruddy box.

"It looks like George's old camera," Ginny supplied, referring to the camera her brother had received for his fifteenth birthday. She shrugged and reached for it.

"Wait!" Neville yelped, grabbing her wrist before her fingers could brush against the item. "It could be cursed! Remember what happened to Katie Bell?"

"That's a little dramatic, don't you think?" Ginny asked with a roll of her eyes.

"No, it isn't," Lavender and Neville objected in unison.

"Would it make you feel better if I go get my Sneakoscope?" Ginny sighed, looking first at Lavender on her left and then Neville to her right. Neville thought for a second, then nodded reluctantly. Ginny jumped up from the couch and dumped the box into Lavender's lap, who shrieked and shoved it onto the floor. She sprinted up the girl's dormitory staircase, red hair swinging behind her.

"This seems fishy," Parvati said as she squinted at the mystery box. "Why would a mystery person send Ginny a magical camera?"

"It could've been Voldemort," Lavender said nervously. "Or Malfoy, or Lestrange, or-"

"You're worrying too much," Ginny called as she trotted back down the stairs, clutching the Sneakoscope in one hand. "All of our packages are searched before entering Hogwarts, would they really let me receive a cursed box?"

"I wouldn't put it past the Carrows," Lavender muttered as she twisted her hair in her hands.

"Alright, let's test this out." Ginny set the Sneakoscope on the floor next to the box as everybody held their breath, waiting for it to light up and spin. It stayed quiet, motionless on the carpet. Ginny looked up and grinned at them. She grabbed the camera out of the box and sat back against the couch once again.

"Well, it's not cursed." Seamus shrugged, sounding somewhat disappointed.

"There's still something weird about it," Parvati said, pulling out her wand and waving it briskly. "Aparecium!"

Immediately the sides of the camera fell away, revealing a smaller, older camera. "What did you do?" Ginny cried out as she stared disappointedly down at the small object in her hands.

"Just a revealing charm I swear." Parvati held up her hands in defense. "I was totally right, though, wasn't I?" She said, sounding pleased.

"Hey, I know what that is," Seamus held out his hand and Ginny passed it to him. He turned it over a couple of times in his hand. "This is a muggle camera."

"Who would send you a muggle camera? And why would they disguise it as a magic camera?" Neville frowned, taking the object away from Seamus to study it.

"I bet the Carrows would've thrown it away if they saw it was a muggle camera. You know how they feel about muggles. To answer your other question, Neville, I know exactly who sent this." Lavender grabbed the camera, recognition beaming in her eyes. "This is Colin Creevey's camera." She poked at a latch and it popped open, revealing a piece of paper.

Ginny gaped as Lavender handed her the piece of paper. "How the hell did you know that?"

Lavender rolled her eyes. "Do you know how many photoshoots I had with him over the years? I was his favorite model so I had to learn how his little camera worked at some point. He always told me that I looked like some muggle star, I can't remember her name."

"Colin," Ginny whispered, face crumpling as she opened the note with shaking hands. A wave of sadness hit Neville as he thought about the small blonde boy who would've been in the sixth year with Ginny.

Parvati seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Poor Colin," she muttered, "he's probably on the run right now. With all the other blacklisted muggleborns, no doubt."

"Ginny?" Neville asked tentatively. Tears were welling up in the ginger's eyes and she clutched the paper with white knuckles. When she had finished reading it she passed it to him silently. He took it gently and began to read aloud:

Dear Ginny,

I hope this package makes it to you, it took a lot of convincing to get this girl to let me use her owl. As you may already know, I'm on the run right now with Dennis. We've been to several different safe houses, including one of your relatives'. Myrtle, I think her name was? Wretched woman she was, but it was kind of her to take us in. We had to leave our parents behind in France which was sad but it's the only way they'll be able to stay safe. I wish we were at Hogwarts with you right now but it's for the best that we aren't. I sent you my camera with a favor attached, please keep it until I can come out of hiding. I don't want anything happening to it and you're the person I trust the most to keep it safe. Use it to document what's going on at Hogwarts with Snape as Headmaster, share your story. Please don't try and write to me, I don't want you getting into any trouble with the Ministry. But I've still got my galleon so I can keep up with DA news. Don't worry too much about me and Dennis, I think that everything is going to be okay real soon.
Stay safe and long live Harry Potter!

Colin

"Bless his heart." Lavender murmured once Neville had finished reading. "Thank God he's alive."

"I miss him so much," Ginny whimpered, wiping furiously at her eyes. Lavender wrapped her arms around her. "I wish we could help him, it's not fair that he has to go through all this."

"But we can help him." Parvati leaned forward and clasped Ginny's hands in her own. "He gave you a very important job, Ginny. You have to keep his memory alive at Hogwarts while he's not around. It's like he said, he trusts you above everyone else to take care of his camera. Do you think you can do that?"

Ginny held up the camera, looking at it with watery eyes, and nodded. "I think so." A ghost of a smile appeared on her face.

"Good. Now come on, let's get you ready for bed." Parvati and Lavender helped her up from the couch and guided her towards the girl's dormitories. They bid the boys goodbye over their shoulders as they disappeared, leaving Neville and Seamus alone in the Common Room with their unfinished homework.

Seamus dragged his hand down the side of his face and sighed. "I always liked that Creevey bloke. A little pushy sometimes sure, but he had a good heart."

"It's not fair that he can't be here right now," Neville said angrily, hands clenching into fists.

"Hey." Seamus put a hand on his shoulder. "It's all going to be over soon. We'll get Colin out of hiding and things will go back to the way they were. I can assure you that if the DA can help the situation in any way then we will."

"You're right." Neville relaxed slightly. He sighed, sinking back into his armchair. "You're right, of course."