A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words (Harry Potter Fanfic)

Spotting Sirius Black

"I think I caught Sirius Black on film."

Which at first was both frightening and exciting at the same time, although the more Colin thought of it, the more threatening and less thrilling such a prospect became. His mouth started to open and close, and his eyes blinked rapidly while his breath sucked in.

"I bloody caught Sirius Black on film," Colin thought to himself. "While our family was on vacation in France."

"Are you sure?" Dennis asked.

Colin opened his eyes, squinting at the photo as it dried. He swallowed, watching the man with the Black hair and gray eyes look around as he stood near—Colin's mouth began to open like a fish out of water again.

"What?"

"He—Sirius Black," Colin said, swallowing, unpinning the picture to get a closer look at it. "He's by Hermione Granger and her mother."

"Let me see," Dennis said, getting out of the seat he usually sat in whenever he entered the photography lab. He leaned over to look at the picture. "Well, that certainly is your classmate and her mum. But is that really Sirius Black?"

"It looks like him, right?" Colin said.

Dennis frowned, his eyes closing. "Um, I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"He's not so messy," Dennis said.

"What?" Colin looked at his brother in disbelief, his head tilting as Dennis continued to frown at the picture.

"I thought Sirius Black had a beard. And long hair," Dennis protested.

"He could have shaved. And cut his hair."

"Are you sure? He doesn't look it to me." Dennis said.

"No. He looks like Black," Colin said. Yet, in the back of his head, he couldn't place what exactly made him come to that conclusion beyond the fact when he looked at the two men; there did, in fact, seem something quite similar to the two of them, almost aristocratic-like.

"Shall we check then?" Dennis said, letting out a sigh. "Because I'm sure it's not."

"We've got to let it dry," Colin said, continuing along, looking for more pictures, and yet he only found the man in that one picture. And every time he saw it, his stomach would churn, remembering his upper classmate was near that man while remembering as well she'd also been a victim of the Chamber of Secrets the previous year.

And then came the agonizing wait for the photos to dry, to which he sat at the kitchen table, now looking at the article, quite sure of himself that the two men looked like each other, which in turn meant his upper classmate was in trouble. His mother came in, turning her head. "Colin. Why are you so fidgety."

"Colin thinks he spotted Sirius Black in one of the photos he took on our trip!" Dennis said excitedly.

Their mother stared, not reacting to the comment. "Sure you did."

"I really did," Colin said, looking at his mother.

"Dennis, did you see Sirius Black in one of the photos."

"Colin says as he cuts his hair. And shaved," Dennis said, frowning.

"Colin Creevy! Really?" his mother said. She then nodded her head once. "Are those pictures dry yet? Why don't you go and get them, dear?"

Colin got up, and Dennis got up to go with him.

"Hold it! There only needs to be one of you, but you know Dennis, your dad and I don't want you messing in there unsupervised!" their mother said, which resulted in Dennis sitting down with a loud thump and scrape, a sigh escaping.

Which, of course, left Colin to go and get the picture he had brought out. He set the picture down, pointing at the person in question. "See. Sirius Black."

"I don't see it," his mother said. "I mean, his hair is shorter, and he doesn't have a beard." Her eyes narrowed. "Wait? Is that your classmate from an upper year, Ms. Hermione Granger? And her mother?"

"Well, yes. Which means we need to definitely report it!"

"Sweety, I think that's Mr. Granger, not Sirius Black."

"What?" Colin frowned, looking at the picture. Dennis leaned over.

"Oh! Mr. Granger! That makes more sense!" Dennis said, starting to laugh.

"No, it doesn't!" Colin said. "Dad!"

"Oh, Colin! Your father gets up early to make his deliveries. Do you have to wake him during his nap?"

"Yeah, but," Colin frowned. "I'm sure of it."

"Sure of what?" Colin's dad said, letting out a yawn as he came in.

"Colin thinks Hermione Granger's dad is Sirius Black!" Dennis said, still laughing, now louder than before.

"He what?"

"I never said that. That isn't Mr. Granger," Colin said. "It's Sirius Black."

His father came over, looking first at the photo that Colin had taken, then at the newspaper, and then at the photo. "I mean, how can you tell?"

"His hair is black, and his eyes grey!" Colin said, pointing at the picture. "See, he—oh, he's disappeared."

"That's because the Granger girl's father disappeared. You likely took that right before he wandered off, Colin dear, so the photo shows him doing that since it's a Wizard photo."

"And how can you know Sirius Black has black hair and grey eyes?" Mr. Creevy said, shaking his head to turn on the television which went straight to the news.

And the news was reporting on Sirius Black.

Colin's eyes widened, his finger pointing at the screen. "See! See! His hair is black, and his eyes gray! I didn't make that up! It's on the colored Muggle news broadcast."

Colin watched his father's eyes blink while his mother continued staring. Dennis let out a laugh. "I still don't see it."

His father cleared his throat. "Colin." He pulled the picture closer. "I'll give you that Mr. Granger has black hair and gray eyes like this Sirius Black, but that doesn't mean he's, Sirius Black."

"But, I'm sure it is," Colin said, frowning, feeling he needed to warn Hermione Granger as soon as possible, for even the Muggle news reported that he was a mass murderer. He swallowed.

"I am sure that is Mr. Granger," his mother said.

"What if, though, Sirius Black killed Mr. Granger and took his place? I mean, that's completely possible with magic, isn't it?" Colin said.

"Bed!" his mother said, pointing to the stairs. "I'll bring you some soup, but I think you're overstimulated. Maybe even had too many fumes from the dark room, young man!"

Which, of course, made his younger brother chuckle. Colin frowned, quickly grabbing the photo and heading up the stairs as he heard his parents asking what they would do with him, but then suddenly, he heard his father yell up the stairs. "And don't bother your classmate with this nonsense, Colin."

Colin sighed. "As if I can before the term starts. We don't have an owl of our own, nor do I know where she lives."