The boy in the last compartment.
On September first, 1998, a lonely eighteen-year-old boy dragged his trunk to get on the Hogwarts express. He was going back because he had no choice. He had barely escaped a sentence in Azkaban and returning to complete his last year of school was a condition of his probation. The Ministry wanted him where they could keep an eye on him. Gregory Goyle walked with his head low, eyes on the floor. Hogwarts was a thousand times better than a cell in Azkaban, but to him, it would be a miserable place. He was warned to not stick with his old friends, as that make the Professors and Members of the Order that were inside the castle nervous and the would give him a harder time. He was not trusted and he could be easily accused of collusion. Not that he had really anyone to talk to. His friend Vincent was dead, by his own fault, yes, when he started that stupid fiendfyre that ended up killing him; Draco Malfoy had been more like a boss than a friend, and he had sent Greg a polite letter explaining the conditions of his own probation and how their interactions would have to be limited to avoid trouble. They would not be in the same rooms anymore, because Draco had been offered a Headboy badge, which sounded like a reward instead of a punishment, but the reason was that the Headboy and Headgirl were in constant contact with the Headmistress so it was actually a way to keep Draco under constant surveillance. So Draco would be sharing private quarters with non-other than Hermione Granger, who had been named Headgirl. So Greg would be going back to the Slytherin Dungeons, and would probably be the only other eight year Slytherin. Most of his classmates decided to fly the country to other schools or simply drop. That was not an option for him.
Greg found an empty compartment on the train and sat. by the time the train rolled, he was still alone. A few people peeked into the compartment and quickly backed up when they saw him. he sighed, resigned to his new faith. He was never liked in school, but people had never dared to be openly hostile with him because they feared him. For a minute he thought about that and the realization made his eyes prickle with tears. Before he could fall into a well of self-pity he heard a female voice. One that he knew well. One that he had secretly coveted for years.
"Oh for Merlin's sake do you have to be a freaking prefect to find a seat on this train?"
Ginny Weasley was having a lousy day. He was freshly dumped by Harry Potter, who had finally grab hold of his balls and told her that he didn't want to be in a relationship and that he was going to join the Aurors instead of going back to Hogwarts. Her brother Ron had dropped too to join George at the joke shop. And her best friend Hermione was now Headgirl and nowhere to be found. She had a funny feeling about her friend and the Ferret. They had been communicating before school started about head duties and were way too polite to each other at King's Cross. With her head in a buzz, she peeked into Greg's compartment and saw it occupied by a Slytherin but did not really registered who before she just kept moving.
"You can sit here," yelled Greg, who couldn't stop the words from coming out.
Ginny backed up and looked inside the compartment, confused
"If you're not scared. No need to be scared…" Greg mumbled lowering his gaze and blushing, mortified.
Ginny lifted an eyebrow and walked in, taking a seat in front of him, arms crossed.
"I'm not scared of you, Goyle," she said huffing.
"I know, I mean, people kinda hate me, you know, like fear me and stuff and I don't want them to…" he said, still looking at his shoes, his face burning, eyes prickling.
Ginny felt her heart cringe. She had never talked to Gregory Goyle before. She thought he was just a big, mean oaf attached to Malfoy's hip. At that moment, Hermione and Draco walked by the compartment, apparently looking at to do lists and planning things. They slowed down almost to a stop to add a few notes in the parchment they were looking at and Draco whispered something in Hermione's ear that made her crack laughing and swat his arm playfully, then they kept walking. Ginny watched the interaction and then looked at Greg, who was staring out the window. He looked miserable. Ginny decided no harm should come from chatting a bit with him on the train ride. She had nowhere else to be after all.
"You know, they may not let us back on the house teams. McGonagall thinks we should give the chance to younger students. I thought I was going to be team captain but they gave it to a sixth-year…"
Greg looked at her, perplex
"But I just bought a new broom. A Firebolt 2…"
He looked so deflated that Ginny regret being the one dropping the news on him.
"Maybe we should suggest that we are allowed our own team. You know, the 7th and 8th years from all houses. There are not many of us. We could do only friendly matches to serve as spar training for the house teams."
Greg's face lightened up.
"That would be amazing. We could be some sort of All-Star Team"
Ginny laughed at that. The change in Greg's demeanor at her comment warmed her heart. Maybe it was possible to forgive and move on. Maybe those on the wrong side of the war need to be offered a helping hand.
At that moment the trolley witch arrived.
"Anything from the trolley dears?"
Greg jumped to his feet, giddiness written on his face.
"Give me a cauldron cake, some chocolate frogs, one box of Bertie Botts' every flavor beans…" he stopped for a second and looked at Ginny, who was smiling at his childish enthusiasm. "You know what, just give me two of everything you have. And add ten chocolate frogs. I'm sharing with my friend" he said, beaming and sounding like a five-year-old. Ginny laughed.
"I think we can share just one box of Bertie Botts' every flavor beans. No need to find multiple ear-wax flavored ones" she said making a face.
Greg laughed and nodded enthusiastically. He gave the witch way too much money and told her to keep the change. Then he sat next to Ginny and poured all the candy between them on the seat. She laughed and conjured two bottles of water form her backpack.
"We're going to need this. And some sort of hangover potion after the sugar rush."
They ate a lot of candy, talking enthusiastically about Quidditch, and making plans to invite people to join the All-Star Team. Ginny munched on a chocolate frog while discussing the perfect line up, without shutting up to chew, and suddenly Greg looked at her and snorted a laugh, water coming out his nose.
"What?" Ginny asked irritated.
He tried to stop laughing but couldn't, so he mimed to his mouth and gasped
"Chocolate teeth" and he kept laughing, unable to catch a breath.
Ginny was mortified. She probably looked like her brother Ron right now, and for some reason, she didn't want to look uncool in front of this boy, who was actually paying her attention and being nice to her. She pulled a mirror from her backpack, performed a teeth cleaning charm and tried to regain some composure. She looked at him, smirked, and pulled a handkerchief from the bag
"Well, you just snorted a mix of water and candy through your nose" and she reached to clean his face with the handkerchief.
He froze. Ginny Weasley, the Gryffindor chaser, the girl he loved to watch fly by him every game was touching his face, looking at his mouth. He blushed. She felt back in control and with one last look she said
"Done." Then she poked his nose with one finger and smiled.
Greg felt like the world stopped turning and then started again. The truth was Millicent Bulstrode had the habit of snogging him every time there was a party in the dungeons and he had some alcohol in him. That was ok because he was to shy to approach any other girl. But now he really, really wanted to kiss Ginny Weasley. He just didn't know how to get to that. It seemed like an impossible feat.