Written for the Cluedo/Clue challenge for the prompts 'Gregory Goyle' and 'Coat' and 'Serene'.
This got away a bit from the prompts but they are still present. Writing Luna is hard since she's got such a unique way of thinking, but I tried.
Greg Goyle isn't the sharpest guy ever, he's well aware of that.
Though marginally more intelligent and quite a bit less vicious than Crabbe, he nonetheless spent the majority of his Hogwarts career backing up Draco and hurting people.
He's accepted responsibility for his actions, knows that he was stupid and cruel.
Crabbe died. Greg didn't. And like Draco he has turned over a new leaf.
There are some who will never forgive, but a lot that have, many surprises among them. Potter is civil, and Granger too (even though it takes Greg a while to turn mudblood to muggleborn in his head).
Draco has a coat.
Draco has many coats, in fact, but he has one particular coat he loves beyond all the others. It goes with everything, has a flattering cut and makes him look (in his own words, since he's never needed help with his ego) 'even sexier than usual'.
It's a muggle coat, shockingly, and he takes great care with it, knowing that attempts to magically fix any damage won't work nearly as well on a non-magical piece of clothing.
Greg has seen Draco wear the coat for a number of important occasions since he purchased it a year previously, but none of those occasions apparently live up to what he's planning to do now.
Which is ask Hermione Granger to join Malfoy Industries.
Draco took over the family business a year after the war ended and he completed his NEWTs. He's been attempting to revitalise it ever since, hiring a diverse range including muggleborns and half-bloods, and attempting to remove the taint of his father's actions.
The Slytherin in Greg knows getting Granger, the Gryffindor golden girl and beloved war heroine, would be a coup. Granger's not too bad, even if Greg does think she can be a bit of a bossy, bleeding heart, know-it-all.
What can he say, he's trying to change, trying to re-learn the doctrines shoved at him for almost two decades, but it is a slow process and it's sometimes hard not to think of Granger as a mudblood irritation. However, it's been six years and Greg can see the good points in most of those he once despised.
Except Ron Weasley. He'll never understand what anyone sees in him, or why Granger dated him for three years.
So life is pretty good. Greg has a job at Malfoy Industries in their Creature Department (he has a knack for it) and the company is going from strength to strength.
Then, of course, Draco gets it in his head to start a weekly tradition of asking Granger to join Malfoy Industries.
Granger is downright friendly with a number of former Slytherins. Draco, Greg knows, wants to be one of those friends.
Unfortunately for him, Granger seems to prefer hexing him.
More specifically, she seems to take some perverse pleasure in regularly setting Draco's favourite coat on fire.
The witch is downright terrifying, even to someone who has faced a legion of dark wizards and Voldemort himself.
It just seems to make Draco more enamoured, though, and Greg does wonder briefly if it is some weird kind of flirting.
He does not want to think too closely about it.
"Ow, ow, damnit, help me Greg!"
Draco is cursing as he burns his fingers trying to pull his coat off.
When he finally throws it down to the ground his fingers are red, his usually perfect hair is singed and he's missing half an eyebrow.
The coat is undamaged.
Greg wants to laugh, but in respect of a decades long friendship he refrains.
"Merlin, that woman is a complete pyro," Draco shouts, "a total mental case too."
That doesn't stop Draco from momentarily grinning with a soppy expression that should never ever be seen on a Slytherin's face. Greg is more than a little disturbed.
Greg shrugs. Draco has made it clear that he wants Granger at Malfoy Industries.
According to Daphne and Astoria, who work in the Charms Department, Draco also wants Granger in a more personal way. Greg takes their word for it. So he can't praise Granger for igniting Draco's favourite coat, but he can't be rude or Draco will just get irritated It's all very confusing.
"You were rather rude," says a dreamy voice from behind them, and Greg admits he jumps about five feet because they were definitely alone in the room before.
Luna Lovegood smiles at them and Greg shudders a bit because that girl is creepy and always around and always completely calm. He once saw her sat in the middle of a room with spells flying, escaped creatures and Daphne in a temper (terrifying to behold) and all she did was smile serenely and hum a song Greg didn't know under her breath.
Totally bonkers, that girl.
"Stop telling her what she already knows," Luna continues, "tell her what she doesn't yet quite believe."
And then she skips out of the room with the same dreamy smile still affixed to her face and with a sparkle in her eyes that says she's just given them the answer and all will be well.
Greg has no idea what's just happened or what Lovegood is saying but he does notice she's got a really nice dress on – tye-dyed with every colour of the rainbow – and her hair is pretty shiny.
He may watch her leave for a little longer than is necessary.
Granger continues to set Draco's coat on fire as he continues to offer more and more exorbitant packages if she'll only move to Malfoy Industries.
She thankfully continues to use the same magical fire that scorches bits of Draco's skin and hair but never does any damage to the coat. Greg doesn't think he could handle the whining if Draco's coat was destroyed.
Greg watches Draco and Granger talk. It's a record now, five minutes with nothing set on fire yet. Greg thinks he may even have seen Granger smile a few times at Draco, although one of those was when Draco tripped and spilled coffee all over his white shirt, which doesn't really count.
"It's going well isn't it," says a voice from beside him, and though he knows the lilting tone well he has to move quickly to save his drink when he jumps involuntarily in his seat.
"Merlin Lovegood, don't do that," he hisses at her.
She's got the same damned smile she always does, with an aura suggesting not a care in the world.
"How are you Gregory?" she asks, looking away from Draco and Granger.
She's never asked him that before. Normally she just appears, says something cryptic and then vanishes again like some woodland sprite.
"Fine … good, not up to much," he sputters out, still thrown by getting a normal, polite question from her.
"That's nice," she says, "watch out for the Nargles, though," she pauses for a moment, "and you may need to rescue Mr Malfoy."
She's gone before he can ask what in Merlin's name she is talking about, but he realises in a moment what's wrong when he looks over at Draco to see Granger gesturing furiously and Draco's coat, once again, on fire.
He sighs and wishes he was elsewhere.
"How are you always so calm," he shouts at Lovegood one day.
She's spent twenty minutes listening to him rant about Draco's pathetic attempts to entice Granger to Malfoy Industries and the number of fires Greg has had to help put out yet she looks as serene as ever.
"Why should I let the Blumdargs clog up my mind," she asks, "it won't help if I'm angry and someone needs to keep their mind clear and calm. It allows for better channelling of the magic. At least that's the case for me – I've always thought Hermione does some of her best work when she's fired up."
Greg just nods. He's got no idea what Blumdargs are but he thinks he probably doesn't want to know.
Lovegood smiles and skips off humming under her breath.
He watches her go with a little smile.
Luna sits next to him as she watches Draco's continuing attempts with Granger (ten minutes and counting now). She's not Lovegood to him anymore, though he's not sure quite when that happened.
She hands him a sandwich – ham and cheese, his favourite – and smiles like she always does.
He thanks her softly, "why are you so nice to me?"
She looks at him with that deep, penetrating stare of hers that makes so many people nervous.
For once her answer is straightforward, "you're a good man Gregory."
He shakes his head, "I've tortured people, hurt them so badly. Never killed, thank Merlin I escaped that, but I'm not a good person Luna, not by a long shot."
"You've tried to make amends, tried to change. You have changed. I see you with your friends, your support and your loyalty. I know how good you are in the Creatures Department, how gentle you are. It's hard to unlearn what's been sewn onto your brain so tightly, but you did. Your soul isn't black Gregory, it just got a little dirty for a while."
He grips her hand and tries not to cry but it's hard and Luna is beautiful and he kind of wants to kiss her.
But then he hears a cry of pain and knows without looking that Granger will be stalking off and leaving Draco and his burning coat (fourteen minutes, this time, at least he's making progress).
He goes to help Draco, because he's a good friend damnit, and when he looks back Luna is gone.
But he feels calmer than he's felt in years and he knows it's thanks to her.
Greg keeps an eye on Draco and Granger once more. It seems to be a habit now. Draco makes overtures at least once a week and Granger inevitably gets angry and shows her pyromaniac side,
At least he has company now. Luna often turns up to watch, saying little but usually mentioning casually that Draco is still doing it all wrong.
Greg has no idea what his friend is supposed to be saying, but Luna maintains that once he works it out Granger will understand and finally say yes to Draco (professionally and personally).
Greg isn't just there to watch out for Draco anymore. He likes it when Luna shows up. She usually flits through departments with no permanent base so it's hard for him to see her otherwise. And she gives him a sense of peace he rarely feels, as well as an outlook on the world he's never considered.
She's nice to him too, and doesn't hold his past against him. He enjoys that.
He's tried to build up his courage to tell her how he feels, but he's so very nervous, not at all collected and unconcerned like she normally is. She's nice to him but that doesn't mean she feels anything romantic for him – he fully expects to be rejected once he eventually works up his courage to admit what he feels to her.
So when she leans over half an hour into the Draco and Granger show and kisses him quickly but sweetly, he's in more than a little shock.
But he kisses back, because he can't quite believe it's happened but he's wanted it for so long and he's going to enjoy it.
Luna pulls back and beams like the sun at him.
He grins back and doesn't even care that he's probably wearing the same ridiculously sappy expression he teases Draco about.
"I'm going on a hunt tomorrow," she says, "I'm sure the Ministry are hiding some Heliopaths in the Forest of Dean."
Greg smiles shyly, "err, do you need some help. I know a lot about creatures."
"That would be lovely Gregory."
She kisses him gently again and before she goes she looks over at their friends, "guess Mr Malfoy finally got it right. But I did think he'd realise quicker that all Hermione wanted was for him to show that he wanted her more than her brain."
Then she's gone and he's so ridiculously happy that he has a date with Luna Lovegood that he doesn't even care that he gets treated to a close-up of Draco snogging Granger.
Because for the first time in his life Greg feels perfectly serene and at peace with the world and it's all thanks to Luna.
Greg and Luna get Draco a magically protected, fireproof coat for Christmas, spelled by the best to withstand cursed fire, tampering, dragon attacks and more.
Granger just smiles and says she enjoys a challenge.
Thanks for reading and reviewing. Hope you enjoyed it.