Harry Potter One Shots (Vol. I)

Chasing the Report (Cormac McLaggen)

Were my hints too easy again?

I've realised how difficult it is to come up with hints that aren't too obvious for characters. Either we, as a fandom, are too obsessed with the characters, my hints are too easy or some people are cheating (jk.)

I trust my wonderful readers too much to think you're doing that. Maybe I'll start giving one or two hints from now on? But do you guys like the whole giving hints thing?

Anyway, without further ado - as almost all of you correctly guessed - here's Cormac's one shot (not gonna lie, he and Percy were hard to write for - almost as hard as Tom Riddle)

The wizarding world was curious about Cormac McLaggen, the star-studded keeper who had emerged from the shadows of the bench at the start of the year and had taken the word by storm. And the Daily Prophet was going to give them the exclusive they were looking for.

To the general population, he was more than a pretty face. Sole heir to the McLaggen family fortune, and an unbeatable keeper he garnered interest from both quidditch and non-quidditch fans alike. But to those that had gone to Hogwarts with him he was something else. He had, at one point, been so arrogant that an encounter with him left an unpleasant taste in your mouth but, apparently, he had changed following the Battle of Hogwarts. He was a good quidditch player, a good friend and a good son.

But to me, he was someone else. He probably had no recollection of the little fourth year that he had approached after the battle.

Hogsmeade was plunged into chaos as the underage students waited around for some news about what was happening. We knew that Harry had won, that we had won but that was it. No one had mentioned the list of casualties, the list of those that we had lost and I couldn't shake the ill feeling in my stomach. Dennis had run off somewhere in search of his friends as they tried to get some news from the castle to try and find out where our older brother was. Colin had stayed behind to fight and even my desperate pleading hadn't been enough to change his mind.

"Miss Creevey," a tap on my shoulder followed the words.

Turning around to face the person that was demanding my attention, I stared up into the face of a man. Cormac McLaggen - he was one of the few to come down to Hogsmeade to relay news to us. We were forbidden from going up to the castle yet.

"Yes?" I asked, wringing my hands together nervously.

McLaggen's face was contrite as he searched for the words to say. But even before he had said a word, I knew. "I'm sorry-"

"Please don't say it," I cut him off, a hand outstretched pleadingly towards him. "Please don't say what I think you're going to say."

He swallowed thickly, but continued. In that moment, I hated him for it, but a few months later I would thank him for being brave enough to give me the first piece of closure I needed. "I'm sorry but your brother, Colin, he was one of the casualties of the war."

I dropped to my knees, wailing and crying in the middle of the Hogshead. If only he had listened to me. If he hadn't been so pig-headed then he would still be - he would have been

An arm wrapped around my shoulder, momentarily stopping my crying. Knowing that it was probably Dennis, I turned my face into his chest and cried my heart out as my brother patted my back. I have no idea how long I stayed like that until I heard Dennis call my name. But his voice was too quiet to have come from the man holding me.

I pulled away, looking up into McLaggen's face. Embarrassed beyond belief, I rose to my feet and faced Dennis who was standing, stunned at the scene he had found me in. Catching sight of the trail of tears running down my face and my bloodshot eyes, he instantly held his arms out.