Hello everyone! I'm back yet again, and this time I'm combining prompts from my two competitions. The first one is for the Quidditch League, round 3, where I'm captain. The prompts were all song prompts from the musical Hamilton. My main theme I got was to write about a duel. I'm not really a fan of the musical, but the song I got, Yorktown, seemed pretty cool. We have to pick some lyrics to include, so I chose, "I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory."

My other comp, The Houses Competition standard fic, is for Hufflepuff House, where I am the Defense Against the Dark Arts class position. My prompt that I picked is the [object] malfunctioning Portkey

Let's go, hope you enjoy the story!

*A quick note. Dennis is going to be characterized a bit differently than he is in the books, so be forewarned that if you like excitable and hyper Dennis, you won't find him here.

Word Count: 1227

As Colin Creevey stared at the normal ceiling of his normal bedroom in his equally normal house, he resented everything that had led him to be there. The Death Eaters had taken over the wizarding world, and it was no longer safe for him and his family to be involved in it. Ginny Weasley had shown him some protective charms she'd learned from Hermione Granger, and he'd implemented them around their house, taking hours to perfect them with his amateur skill. The protection was working, but only if none of the family left, or allowed anyone else in.

From the minor bits of information he received from Neville and the others through the enchanted coin from the DA, the wizarding world was getting more and more dangerous by the day, so this was little trouble. Dennis wished, however, that he could go beyond them, see his friends or walk down the street. Given the current danger, though, that was impossible.

Dennis and he were both wanted by the Ministry. They'd gotten letters ordering them to go to the Ministry and be recorded in what was known as the 'Muggleborn Registration Commission'. According to Neville, this was simply a smokescreen in order to root out all the muggleborns and dispose of them. The Creeveys had moved from their house in Wales to a small flat in London so that they would be untraceable, but they were still scared. Colin or Dennis stayed on watch at all times, just in case they were found and attacked.

Colin had drawn the short straw tonight. Dennis was asleep in the next room, and Colin was awake, terrified for his family and worried for his friends still at school. He had never felt like this before. Moving his gaze from the ceiling to the picture on his nightstand of a family trip to Paris before his first year, he ruefully thought of his excitable younger self. He'd give anything to be like that again, believing that the wizarding world was just a wonderful place. He wanted to use the item inside, the Portkey that Neville had given him at the end of the previous school year with the words, "Use it when you need to get back here." However, he knew that, until someone was willing to make a stand, he never could.

His thoughts were interrupted by a burning sensation in the pocket of his pyjamas. Confused, Colin pulled the enchanted DA coin from his pocket and stared as the previous words, Keep safe please from Ginny, changed to, Harrys in the Room of Requirement. We're fighting. Come quickly.

Colin couldn't believe it. After almost a year of sitting at home terrified for himself and everyone he cared about, they were finally going to be able to do something. They were finally going to fight.

He was halfway through putting on his robes and yanking open the drawer to pull out the portkey, a snapped quill, when he heard his bedroom door creak open. Gripping his wand, he aimed it, but immediately relaxed as he saw it was just fourteen-year-old Dennis. His brother held up his own coin and said, rather grimly, "You saw it, too?"

Colin nodded. "Yeah, it's finally happening. We're going to show You-Know-Who he can't just take over without a fight."

Dennis gave his brother an incredulous look, eyeing the open drawer. "We can't go, we're just kids!"

"What was the whole year we were in the DA preparing us for, if not to battle You-Know-Who?" Colin demanded. "You can stay, but I can't just let my friends fight for their lives without me." He pulled out the broken quill being used as a Portkey, knowing he only had to hold it for a few seconds before it would transport him away. But nothing happened. He stared at the Portkey, willing it to work, but it just stayed immobile and… a normal quill that belonged in the bin.

He was further taken off guard by Dennis drawing his own wand and casting a spell. "Incarcerous." Colin immediately found himself covered in ropes, and he scowled at his younger brother. "Colin, think. If we go, we're likely going to be sent back anyway. We're too young to fight in a huge battle, McGonagall would never…"

"I don't care what McGonagall says!" Colin exclaimed, struggling furiously against his brother's ropes.. "I'll sneak in and fight! I can't just sit by and let this happen."

Dennis' eyes grew sad as he asked, "Even if it means you might die?"

Colin gave his brother a firm look as he said, "I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory. Me, Mum, Dad, our friends at school, random people we hear about on the radio. I can't just sit by while others take the risk."

Dennis tried to respond, but before he did, Colin had managed to twist his wand to face his bindings and said, "Relashio!" The ropes fell to the floor, and Colin jumped up and raced out the door before Dennis could stop him, throwing a quick, "Impedimenta!" behind him to slow Dennis down

They were outside before Colin heard Dennis exclaim, "Colin! No! Expelliarmus!" The spell missed by quite a ways, but it was enough to stop him. Unfortunately, Dennis still kept going, barreling straight into Colin. They crashed to the ground, elbows and knees striking each other. Colin felt a heavy impact to his face. A sharp pain, and then blood spurting from his nose.

"You can't stop me from going," Colin warned as they finally stood and faced each other. "I'm not letting my friends and everyone at Hogwarts do this alone, I have to help."

"Your Portkey malfunctioned," Dennis reminded him. "How are you going to get to Hogwarts, anyway?"

It took Colin all of two seconds to come up with the answer. "I'll run to the Leaky Cauldron. I can either Floo to the Hog's Head from there or get the Portkey looked at and fixed." He knew from previous notes on the DA coin that The Hog's Head Inn was an entrance to the Room of Requirement. It seemed all too likely that would be where everyone would go, to avoid the new Death Eaters installed both in the village and in the school itself.

Dennis sighed in defeat. "I suppose I can't stop you if you're that determined. Can you just promise me something?"

Colin nodded earnestly. He understood his brother's reluctance to let him go, but he had to help his friends. How could he call himself a Gryffindor if he didn't? "Anything, Dennis."

Dennis took a deep breath before he spoke. "Please, come back. I don't know what I would do if I lost you. And Mum and Dad…" His voice broke, and Colin couldn't resist approaching his brother and embracing him.

"I promise. I'll be back before you even realize I'm gone." He tried to sound like his old chipper self as he said it, but at Dennis' discouraging look, dropped that and said, "Seriously, Dennis. I can't make any full promises, but I will fight hard and I know I'll make it back to you by morning."

Extricating himself from his brother, Colin dropped the now useless Portkey and started to run. To what, he wasn't sure, but he knew that he had to keep running.