Colin had been his friend and was now his boyfriend. It hadn't taken any thought - honestly, Zach hadn't thought before making the decision - to choose to keep secret what Colin asked him to. Zach knew the Ministry didn't like Colin, and he...had thought at the time it was just some stupid mistake of some sort. Clearly, anyone who knew Colin...but he knew better now. Tewdric's book had told him that much and much much more. But it was Colin, and Zach was an ass and a bastard and a horrible boyfriend, but he wasn't that horrible. And he nodded at the question.
Zach was chewing on his lower lip, pulling off little strips of skin. Apparently his lips were chapped. Or his habit of chewing them had gotten bad enough they may as well have been. Zach wasn't sure. And the way Colin spoke, it was so good and kind it hurt. It hurt because Zach knew Colin meant it, and Zach didn't deserve it. He didn't. He didn't. He didn't. If he had, he wouldn't have forgotten Cedric. He wouldn't have been blissfully happy while Cedric rotted in the ground. They had been happy before Cedric had been murdered, and people didn't do what Zach had done to people they loved, not if they were decent.
It almost made him cry, just hearing it. "You deserve better," Zach mumbled. It was hard to look Colin in the eye. If he got it, if he understood...Zach couldn't see that happen to Colin's face. It'd hurt too much.