The Making of a Hero

Colin handed the Daily Prophet to his brother. It had been carefully handed to him this morning by Lavender Brown as he delivered the milk to her door. She had looked pale and frightened, and after glancing at the headlines he knew why.

"Susan Bones is dead."

Dennis gasped as Colin broke the news.

"Wha...wha...what?!"

"Just read the paper. Apparently the Patils have been receiving death threats as well and Macmillan has gone into hiding. Do you see the connection?"

Dennis looked blank for a moment as his mind skipped over the more obvious answers to the one that clearly had his brother so concerned.

"They were all in Dumbledore's Army!"

"Yes," Colin said. "So we have to be even more careful now. I'm off to the bank to deposit our checks. You watch Dad and don't let him know anything is wrong. Do you have your wand on you?"

"No, it's upstairs in my trunk."

"Go get it. I'll be carrying mine as well. I should be back around dinnertime."

And with that Colin left to walk to the bank down the street.

The lines at the bank seemed to get longer and longer every time Colin deposited his checks. He looked at his watch impatiently. At this rate he'd be lucky to be home to help his father prepare the dinner, and that was something he did as often as he could. He loved his dad, but he had this horrible tendency to add too much spice to everything...

Suddenly, interrupting his train of thought, two men burst through the door. Colin looked at them curiously for just a moment, thinking they must be in an even bigger hurry than he was, and then turned his attention back to the teller now only two people in front of him. He quickly spun around again when he heard a woman scream.

She was in the grip of the larger of the two men, and he had a gun held to her head. The other, wirier man was leveling a gun towards the rest of the people in the bank.

"On the floor, all of you!"

Colin quickly complied as his hand unconsciously went to his wand tucked into the waistband of his jeans. A quick stunner when the men were distracted...now would be the perfect time.

Colin hesitated. The images from the Daily Prophet flashed in front of his eyes. Sweet Susan Bones, her hand barely visible through the open door as the Dark Mark loomed over her home...

The Ministry still tracked the use of underage magic, and the Ministry was corrupt. Colin was not yet seventeen. Any magic used here could alert Death Eaters to exactly where he was. He had a dilemma.

"What would Harry do?" he muttered quietly to himself. Harry, ever the hero, would probably decide that the lives of people here at the bank were more important that his own life. Still, Harry didn't have a younger brother and aging father at home depending on him. The decision was taken out of his hands as the smaller man heard his muttering and came over to investigate.

"Did you say something, kid?"

Colin didn't answer at first. Then the man kicked him in the ribs.

"No!" Colin gasped. "I didn't...didn't say anything."

"I'm not sure I believe you. I think you might have a cell phone on you and you're alerting the police to our presence here at this bank. And we can't have that, now can we."

The man then proceeded to search Colin. He struggled at first but another kick made him decide to just let the man look. It wasn't like Colin had anything on him to interest the man anyways. The next sentence out of the man's mouth had Colin regretting his decision to allow the search.

"What are you doing with this stick, boy?"

"It's nothing, just something for a model my brother is building."

"Hmm..."

Colin heard the loud snap as the robber broke his wand in two. He winced. Now he knew he had made the wrong choice. He should have helped these people when he could. Now he was just as helpless as the rest of them.

Suddenly, the loud noise of a bullhorn made everyone in the building jump.

"We have the building surrounded. Come out with your hands up and no one will be hurt."

Apparently one of the tellers had pressed some sort of alarm and managed to alert the police that they were being robbed. As police rushed the building and arrested the two men, Colin didn't feel relief. All he felt was dread.

After the long hours of questioning at the police station, all Colin wanted was to go home, have some dinner, and sleep for hours. He was sure that his father and brother were worried about him by now. He turned the corner to his house, noticing that the streetlights seemed unusually bright tonight. That was when he noticed the Dark Mark. The sinister green glowing symbol was what illuminated the street, and it was hanging over his house. He broke into a run. His father, his brother...he knew what he would most likely find at his house, but he could still hope that one of them had managed to hide or was out of the house at the time.

He threw open the front door, not bothering to be cautious. As far as he knew, once the Dark Mark was cast, the Death Eaters vacated the premises, so he had nothing to worry about.

"Dad!" Colin called, frantic. "Dennis!"

Not a sound was heard. The front room looked eerily undisturbed. Then he walked into the kitchen. The Death Eaters had found them at dinner it seemed. His father simply looked shocked as his body leaned back in his favorite chair at the head of the table. Dennis on the other hand...Colin had to turn around and fight back the bile that was threatening to escape. His only brother had died fighting. Dennis was bloody and a grimace of pain was on his still face. The contorted position of his body indicated the Cruciatus curse, and Colin was sure the Death Eaters had questioned his brother about his whereabouts. He knelt by his brother's side.

"Oh, Dennis." A single tear rolled down Colin's cheek, followed by several more. "Baby brother, I'm so sorry I wasn't here to protect you."

An eerie, high-pitched laugh sounded behind him.

"Oh, boy, did you really think that you could save him? All of you followers of Potter...you think you can do anything. Bones was the same way. It is our pleasure to remind you of your mortality."

Colin turned around, his hand going for his wand before he remember its earlier snapping at the bank. Bellatrix Lestrange stood in the kitchen doorway. Behind her were three masked Death Eaters.

"If it makes you feel any better, he died crying your name. And he didn't give up your location. We just figured you'd return to your home at some point. So predictable...just like your poor dead brother and father."

Colin lunged at her, seeing red. He didn't care that he was outnumbered or that he didn't have a wand. He just wanted to cause her pain. He was stopped by one word.

"Crucio!"

Colin writhed on the floor for what felt like hours, hearing the Death Eaters' laughs in the background. Finally, it stopped. Colin spat out blood and felt it run down his chin. He had bitten his lip.

"So, Creevey, are you ready to die?"

Colin struggled to stand. He had made the wrong choice earlier. He hadn't defended the other people in the bank even when he had the power to. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. He twisted suddenly, grabbed the knife he had seen on the counter behind him, and hurled it at Lestrange, just as he heard her cry,

"Avada Kedavra!"

And Colin Creevey knew no more.