Chapter 5

"Hey, Colin," Colin heard someone calling him as he was on his way to breakfast. Turning around, he saw that it was Harry.

"Hey, Harry," said Colin. He was still getting used to being on better terms with Harry.

"I was wondering if you wanted to sit next to Hermione and me at breakfast," said Harry when he was close enough to talk normally. Hermione was standing behind him.

"Sure," Colin smiled.

Harry smiled back, "Excellent," the three students went to find seats at the Gryffindor table. Harry sat to one side of the Weasley twins, throwing Ron a dark look while he sat, and Colin sat on his other side.

"So, Colin, do you have any plans for the day?" asked Hermione to make conversation as she spooned eggs onto her plate and poured herself some pumpkin juice.

"Not really," said Colin with a shrug.

"How about you come with us?" asked Harry, "Hermione's gonna help me prepare for the first task."

"Really?" asked Colin, sounding more than a little excited, "that sounds brilliant!"

"It's a date then," said Hermione, looking at Harry with a knowing smirk. He gave her an agitated look. Colin was too happy to notice.

Later that day, they were in an abandoned classroom.

"You've got to keep practicing, Harry," said Hermione as she held her book opened to the chapter on summoning charms.

"I'm trying, Hermione; it's just so difficult," he made another attempt to summon one of the pillows he was using for practice. It was barely in the air when it plopped back down.

"At least you're making them move now. That's an improvement," said Colin. He was looking through a book on dragons for useful information.

"Thanks, but I've still got a long way to go before I can summon my broom from the dormitories," Harry said.

"What if one of us was to bring it down to the first task? That way you'd only need to summon it from the stands," said Colin.

"Is that allowed?" Harry asked, turning to Hermione.

"I don't see why not, as long as you don't enter the arena with it," she answered thoughtfully.

"Then that's brilliant, Colin," said Harry happily, "I'm glad you're here,"

Colin blushed slightly when Harry said that, "Thanks,"

"Is there anything in that book about a spell to block their fire breath?" asked Harry.

"Not so far, but I'm only half way through the book- OH MY GOD!" Colin shouted, dropping the book.

"What, what happened?" Harry asked, alarmed.

"I just came across a very detailed diagram of the dragon mating process,"

Harry doubled over laughing, and even Hermione giggled in amusement.

"You can laugh, but you didn't see it! Apparently they don't lay their eggs until after they're fertilized," he said in disgust.

"It probably doesn't help that the females eat the males after to provide nourishment to the fetus as the shell develops," said Hermione, barely suppressing her giggles now.

"Trust me; you haven't seen anything until you've seen my cousin tuck into a plate of kippers,"

Colin's POV

I laughed at Harry's joke about his cousin. But then I got to thinking. I don't know much about Harry other than what I read about him in books.

What must his home life be like? What does he like to do in his spare time when he's not at school? These questions and many others were circling around my head. I wanted to know more about him. Not the Boy-Who-Lived, but the boy.

Does he ever think about me? No, I had to push that one away. Just because he's being nice to me now, doesn't mean that he'll feel that way.

Later that day while we were gathering up all of the scattered pillows and various other objects that Harry was practicing onHarry ff, while Hermione returned the books to the library, I decided to start a real conversation with him.

"So you live with relatives?" I asked lamely, "You mentioned a cousin," I added.

He seemed to be thinking for a moment before he spoke, "Yeah, my mother's sister and her husband."

"What're they like?" I asked curiously.

"You really want to know?" he asked, looking at me with a serious expression. An expression like that usually meant that the answer wouldn't be pleasant, yet I nodded my head, "They are unpleasant, narrow-minded people that hate anything that is out of the ordinary, including me,"

I was shocked that anyone could hate Harry, or at least anyone that wasn't a Slytherin.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked," I said, suddenly very nervous. I looked at my shoes, shamefully.

"It's alright, you didn't know," he began moving the desks back into their places, "Besides, it's a bit refreshing to be asked about something other than Voldemort, even if it is rather depressing."

Suddenly, I had a worrying thought, "Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"Feel free not to answer but… erm,"

"Yeah, Colin?" he asked patiently.

"Have they ever… erm… did they ever," I swallowed before I finished, "hit you?"

Harry leaned back against the desk he just replaced and crossed his arms, "Not a lot. They usually just like to boss me around or ignore me."

"I'm sorry," I said, but instantly regretted it. I was feeling sad for him, and I hated myself for it because he doesn't want that. How I knew that, I didn't know.

"Don't be, it's not your fault,"

I still felt sad for him, even more so because he was being so casual about it. He doesn't deserve a family like that.

"Hey," I looked up to see him standing directly in front of me now. He put a hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry about it. It's not even as bad as it used to be. It's still miserable, but since I started Hogwarts, they're too scared they'll be turned into dung beetles if they mistreat me. Plus I actually have friends here," He looked into my eyes, "People that I love."

I didn't know what to make of that last statement but before I could say anything, the door opened.

"Professor McGonagall," Harry said in mild surprise.

"Potter, Creevy," she acknowledged us both, "You must have both failed to notice that it's almost curfew."

"Sorry Professor. We'll head back to the common room straight away," said Harry. He looked at me and then I followed him out of the classroom.