Hello, everyone! This can be seen as a spin off of A Flame In A World Of Snowflakes, but it can also stand alone. Like A Flame In A World Of Snowflakes, it focuses on a bond between Minerva McGonagall and Colin Creevey. Enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

WARNINGS: BULLYING, MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE, BOYXBOY (ONLY MENTIONED IN A FEW SENTENCES, THOUGH), GIRLXGIRL (ONLY MENTIONED IN A FEW SENTENCES, THOUGH)

A knock sounded at the door to Minerva's office, and she glanced up as Madam Pomphry entered the room.

"Madam Pomphry, what can I do for you?" Minerva asked, barely glancing up from grading her second years' papers.

"Minerva," Madam Pomphry said, and her emotional tone was so drastically different from her usual distant voice that Minerva looked up. "You need to see this."

Minerva stood and followed Madam Pomphry to the hospital wing, and the nurse led her over to a hospital bed, and Minerva gasped.

The student was a boy, but she couldn't make out much else due to the enormous amount of bruises covering his body. His left arm and right ankle were both in casts, and his right wrist was bandaged. He was only wearing a pair of shorts, so she could see the black and blue marks covering his torso and the bandages wrapped around his ribs. You could hardly see any of his pale skin beneath the dark colors of his bruises, and his face was swollen with two black eyes, a bloody nose, a split lip, a split chin, and cuts and bruises on both cheeks. His forehead had a bandage over the left corner, just below his hairline, and his hair was highlighted with blood, so Minerva couldn't even tell what his hair color was.

"What happened?" Minerva asked.

Madam Pomphry shrugged. "I don't know yet. A student found him like this."

"Who is he?" Minerva asked.

"I don't know for sure, but this was found beside him. I was hoping you would recognize it," Madam Pomphry said, handing her a camera.

Minerva prayed it wasn't his, but when she glanced at the side of the camera, she saw its owner's name carved into it.

"Colin Creevey," she whispered. "Oh my goodness."

She stared at Colin's battered body, his bruised and bloody face, and she was surprised when tears sprung to her eyes.

"I'll wait with him until he wakes up," Minerva murmured.

Madam Pomphry nodded before rushing off to help some other patients, but even as the nurse healed other students, her mind never quite left the poor, injured boy lying in that hospital bed.

Minerva isn't sure how long she sat there, holding her student's hand. Colin was only a second year; who could beat him up to this extent?

"Oh, Colin," she whispered. "Who did this to you?"

A moment of silence passed before a soft groan sounded, and his previously limp hand tightened around her's.

"Colin," the teacher murmured, and she watched as Colin blinked open his swollen eyes, cringing at the bright light and the pain he undoubtedly felt as he came to.

"Pffeser?" he slurred.

Minerva nodded. "Yes. It's Professor McGonagall, Colin. How are you feeling?'

"Hurts," he managed.

"I know. I'm going to go get Madam Pomphry, and I'm sure she'll give you something for the pain," Minerva assured him before standing up from her chair and approaching Madam Pomphry, who was assisting a student covered in painful boils.

"Madam Pomphry," Minerva said. "Colin Creevey is awake."

Madam Pomphry nodded before handing the student in front of her a jar.

"Apply this to the boils and then relax until I tell you you're free to go," she instructed before approaching Colin's bed.

"Mr. Creevey," she said, sitting on the edge of his bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Hurts," he answered.

The nurse nodded. "I expected that."

She placed the needle of a syringe against the boy's vein before injecting a clear liquid into Colin's arm.

"It'll help with the pain," she said. "Now, Colin, what happened? Who did this to you?"

Colin swallowed. "No one. I fell," he mumbled, not meeting their eyes.

Minerva and the nurse exchanged a glance before Minerva sat in the chair at Colin's bedside.

"Colin, I'm sure you can understand why we find that hard to believe," she pointed out. "Colin, you look like you got in a fight with the giant squid. Colin, please, tell us what really happened."

Colin remained silent.

Minerva sighed. "Okay. You can tell us when you're ready."

Minerva stood and followed the nurse to the other end of the Infirmary.

"Minerva," Madam Pomphry said, "I believe you may be the only one who can get through to Colin."

"Why me?" Minerva asked.

"It's no secret that Mr. Creevey doesn't have many friends at this school. You're about the closest thing to a friend he has, Minerva. If anyone can get him to talk, it's you," Madam Pomphry pointed out.

Minerva sighed. "I'll do my best, but when I get my hands on whoever did this, I'll see to it that they never step foot on the grounds of Hogwarts again."

Madam Pomphry nodded. "I might just help you with that."

"Good morning, Colin," Minerva said a few days later as she sat beside Colin's bed.

Colin smiled, weakly. "Hi, Professor."

"Are you feeling any better?" Minerva asked.

Colin shrugged. "A little. I can talk better."

Minerva nodded. "Colin, it's been five days, and you still haven't told me who did it."

Colin immediately started to shut down, and Minerva knew if she let that happen, she'd never get an answer out of him.

"Can you at least tell me why they did this to you?" Minerva asked.

Colin swallowed. "He found out something about me, and he… didn't like it."

Minerva frowned. "What did he find out?"

"He found out… I'm gay," Colin confessed. "He doesn't like gay people, apparently, so he told me he might as well rid the world of one more abomination."

Minerva sighed. "Colin… who is he? He doesn't deserve to get away with this."

Colin remained silent.

"Did he threaten you?" Minerva asked.

Colin's silence was basically his answer.

A week went by; Colin was healing, and soon enough, he was released from the Infirmary but wouldn't be allowed to attend classes and was put on bed rest for another two weeks.

"Colin, please… you need to tell me who did this to you," Minerva murmured.

Colin was sitting in the chair across from her desk, and the sight tugged at Minerva heart strings. Colin's arm and leg were still in casts, and the way he fiddled with the bandage around his right arm seemed so pitiful. The black eye, the bruises, the scratches… it all made him seem so small. Smaller than he already was.

Minerva honestly couldn't believe someone could do something like this to the twelve year old photographer. Minerva saw Colin as the son she never had (although she'd never admit that to anyone, not even Colin), and it physically pained her to see him in such a state, and she wanted to see to it that whoever did this to him was expelled.

Colin remained silent.

"Colin, this person… he could do this to other people and get away with it if you don't speak up. You may be the first, but you may not be the last. He could put another student in the Hospital Wing, or he could do worse. You have the power to stop that before it happens."

Minerva could see what she'd said had gotten through to Colin. Colin may not care about his own well being as much as he should, but he did care about the safety of others, and he didn't want anyone to feel the pain he had had to endure.

Colin took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll tell you. The person who hurt me… his name is…"

Minerva stormed into that Charms classroom with Albus and Madam Pomphry by her side. Everything seemed to stop when the students caught side of her enraged expression.

She stopped in front of his desk and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Marcus Flint, you have been expelled from Hogwarts for putting a student in critical condition in the Hospital Wing. I have called your parents. We want you off of Hogwarts grounds by tomorrow afternoon, and if you ever step foot on Hogwarts grounds again without specified permission from the Headmaster or myself, you will be arrested for assault in the first degree and trespassing. Feel lucky we are not pressing charges for what you did to this student," she spat. "If it were up to me, I would have you arrested for assault, but since it is your first offense, you are not being arrested, and you will not hear from us on these charges again unless you violate the specific rules we have given you to never step foot on Hogwarts grounds again. Return to your dorm room immediately and start packing."

Marcus Flint knew better than to argue; he swallowed and ran from the room with his tail between his legs.

"Marcus Flint was just expelled," Oliver Wood whispered.

A cheer sounded, and Miranda was surprised when multiple students started celebrated, and she was even more surprised when she saw that Percy Weasley was one of them.

Percy saw Minerva staring at him in shock, and he shrugged.

"Professor, this may be the first time he's been caught, but it's not the first time he's hurt someone. Why do you think gay couples are scared to make their relationship public in this school? Flint would beat them until they couldn't move if two guys or two girls even held hands in the hallways," Percy said.

Minerva's eyes widened.

"But now people can be openly gay without worrying that it would be their ticket to the hospital wing," Oliver said.

Minerva watched as two Slytherin girls engaged in a very passionate kiss while two Ravenclaw boys hugged, tightly. A female hufflepuff kissed the girl beside her on the cheek, and that girl smiled. Minerva was the most surprised when Oliver's hand slipped into Percy's, and they exchanged shy but very happy grins.

Minerva couldn't help but smile as freedom from the fear Marcus Flint had made the students feel was given to the boys and girls of Hogwarts. Freedom to be themselves.

In my opinion, this was not as good as A Flame In A World Of Snowflakes, but I hope you still enjoyed it!

Please leave a review or a PM to let me know what you think! Thank you all for reading! Goodbye, everyone!