Ron is in a bad mood. It has been two weeks since he made up with Harry and had that talk with Hermione. Things are not back to normal, but they are getting there. It is just that he feels left out. Hermione is spending almost all her time with Bulstrode in the library now. They are planning to go to Australia to find her parents in the summer. It is not like Ron does not understand, he really does. He do not even want to start thinking about what he would feel like, if it were his parents that did not remember him. Still, it should have been him, helping her. Not that he has the skill, he sighs and mutters to himself, as he walks the corridors of Hogwarts, without any destination in mind. 'Mione is the brainy one, and apparently Bulstrode has knowledge and skills she needs. He just really thought it would be him, there at her side, when she finally had figured out how to do it. Instead, he'll be at the Burrow this summer, without her. Probably also without Harry. He shakes his head to himself. Harry will probably be spending the summer at Malfoy Manor this year. Not that they have actually discussed it, but as he is spending more and more time with Malfoy of all people, doing Merlin knows what… And Ron really do not want to think about what they might be doing. He got one eyeful too many of that already!

He knows he has no one to blame but himself, and that he really should not complain. At least they are all friends again. He is secretly astonished that Harry forgave both him and Hermione. He does not know if he would have had it in him, had the situation been reversed.

Not that he understands why Harry would choose to be with Malfoy. Just as he cannot wrap his head around Hermione's apparent admiration of Bulstrode. Bloody Slytherins!

Ron starts to seethe to himself, unconsciously satisfied that he has finally find something to focus his anger on. Slytherins. Scheming, arrogant, manipulating, dark, evil Slytherins! Whatever is wrong with the world, can probably be blamed on a Slytherin, Ron decides. They are the lowest of the low, there is not a good bone in any of them. They are the embodiment of evil, bringers of despair and sorrow to all decent folks like himself.

Being so occupied with coming up with new curse words to apply to every Slytherin that has ever existed, he does not look where he is going and jumps almost out of his skin as he bumps into something warm, big and solid. Grimacing and frowning he looks up at the dumbstruck face of Greg Goyle. He cannot believe it! One more of those friggin' Slytherins!

"Bloody hell!" he blurts out and it is like he opens a floodgate. "I guess you're going to bully me up now then? For taking your space or something? You Slytherins! Going around manipulating people! And you know what, I'm done. I'm not going to take it! What're you gonna do about that, eh? Going to beat me? Punch me til' I bleed? A bunch of manipulating, evil bastards the lot of you! What, you think I'm a 'blood traitor' don't you? Excuuuuuuse me for breathing the same f-ing air as you do, I should be growling, shouldn't I? You, you, you Slytherins! You think you are better than everyone else, don't you? Think you are better than me? What? What are you just standing there for? Aren't you gonna teach me my place?"

"No," Goyle says gruffly, when Ron finally pauses to draw a breath. He does not say anything more though. Neither does Ron, instead he just stares at the other guy, who stands there, looking at him with a puzzled look.

"Oh," Ron says at last, breaking the silence that has come over them. Goyle just nods at him once, before stepping around him, continuing on his way to wherever he was heading. Ron turns around to look after him, and before he knows why, he runs to catch up with him. When he does, he reaches out to touch his shoulder, getting him to stop walking. Calmly looking at Ron, he stops but does not speak.

"They say I've got a temper, you know. That I'm behaving like a child. 'Mione and Harry, that is. And some of the other Gryffindor's. That's my house-mates for you! They don't understand. They haven't grown up with five older brothers! All my life it's always been 'Charlie's done this, Bill's done that, Percy is a prefect, the twins…'" Ron quiets down for a moment. "I've never been anyone special you know. I'm always just the little brother, the side-kick. The childish little kid. I've never been anyone, and I know I won't ever be. I'm just too stupid. I just…"

"You're not stupid," Goyle suddenly interrupts him. Ron startles, he had almost forgotten Goyle's presence, he had been so caught up in his self-pitying rant. "You've got a quick, agile mind. You just need to find what you want to focus it on," he continues. Ron thinks this is the most he has ever heard Greg Goyle say in one go. And none of it is about beating up Ron! He finds himself staring and with an uncomfortable feeling growing in his stomach.

"I'm sorry about what I said about Slytherins, you know," he finally mutters. "It's just… Harry is all together with Malfoy, and 'Mione's spending her time with Bulstrode and I'm just…" he sighs.

"Feeling left out?" Goyle supplies. Astonished, Ron nods. They are quiet for a while, and this time it is Goyle that finally breaks the silence. "I'm stupid for real," he suddenly says, his voice flat and his face sad. Ron does not know what to say, as he has thought just that about the big man several times in the past.

"I'm sure there are something you are good at?" he finally comes up with, voicing it as a question.

"I'm good at hitting people. Not much of an career in that. Also, I don't really like doing that anymore," Goyle confesses, sounding sheepish. Ron just nods, feeling like the whole situation has turned quite surreal. Is he really having a heart-to-heart discussion with Greg Goyle?

"Anything you like to do then, you know, some kind of hobby? That doesn't include hitting people?" he is already halfway down the rabbit hole, might as well continue, he figures.

"I like food," Goyle said, suddenly grinning. Now this is something Ron knows all about! He grins big as well.

"Food is good!"

"Yeah…" there is a wistful sound to the other guy's voice. "I like food a lot. I always wanted to learn how to make it myself, but my parent's wouldn't hear anything of the sort. Said it's all house-elf stuff," he hangs his head and suddenly Ron just wants to get that grin back on his face.

"Rubbish!" he states with force. "You're your own man. I think you should do it. Heck, why don't do it right away?" Goyle looks at him in question. "We'll head down to the kitchens. I'm sure the house-elves won't mind teaching you the basics at least, and then if you find it suits you, we'll find someone to teach you more."

"We?" Goyle looks at him, eyes round in astonishment. Ron grins.

"Yeah, we." He tugs Goyle along toward the kitchens. "I'm looking forward to tasting your creations!"

"Oh," Goyle says, but follows Ron without any protest.

Two month later

"Where did you get those chocolate cakes from?" Hermione asked Ron, frowning. "You got a basket of blueberry muffins just a couple of days ago. Last week it was cinnamon buns and bundt cake. And I can almost swear that at most lunches and dinners you get something on your plate that no one else has." Ron blushes, he has promised Greg not to tell anyone about his experiments in the kitchen. Turns out the big guy really has a talent other than hitting people after all. He mumbles something in response to Hermione, who does not look satisfied.

"Yeah mate, who's this secret admirer you have?" Harry asks with a suggestive wink. He is sitting comfortably on the sofa next to the fireplace, leaning back with his head against the shoulder of Draco, who is deeply engrossed in a thick book he is reading. It is still strange to see him here in the Gryffindor common room, so comfortable with Harry, but Ron is getting used to it. Hermione was a little prickly about it the first times, but after they accidentally got into an argument about something they had learned in the Arithmancy-class they had shared that day, she had started to come around. There was nothing like an intellectual argument when it came to winning Hermione over, after all. Also, Harry seems to be feeling better than he has in ages, and although Ron is loath to admit it, that is probably all due to Draco.

"He's not my admirer," Ron says, feeling himself blush.

"He?" Hermione and Harry exclaims at the same time. "You're getting cakes and all that other stuff from a guy? Mate, I didn't know you swung that way," Harry is grinning at him, while Hermione is just quirking an eyebrow.

"It's not like that," Ron mutters, knowing that his face is probably redder than his hair by now.

"It's not? Please, enlighten us about how it is then," Harry seems determined not to let this go.

"Uhm, he likes to cook and I like to eat?" Ron knows that it does come out sounding like a question, even if he did not mean it to.

"You're telling us that some poor fellow is baking for you and cooking for you out of the goodness of his heart? Not asking anything in return?" Hermione sounds stern and disbelieving.

"Yeah?" Ron knows this sounds bad, but how else can he explain.

"Ron…" Hermione is clearly disapproving now.

"I… It's just… He wanted to learn the basics and needed someone to try out what he's making. I volunteered," Ron figures it is okay to tell it as it is, just as long as he does not tell them about he being Greg.

"He wanted to learn the basics? Oh Ron…" Hermione snatches one of the cakes of his plate before he can stop her. She takes a bite. "This, is not basics Ron. This is really, really good. And you're saying he still does these only for you?" Ron nods, just looking at her. "Ron… This is excellent stuff. He shouldn't be making them just for you. This guy, whoever he is, should be moving on from the basics, as you call them, and start to cook and bake for real. Not just for you. Are you absolutely sure, that there is no other reason he keeps making you all this? Are you absolutely sure it's as innocent that you seem to actually believe?" Ron can feel his eyes almost popping out of his head and the thoughts are rolling around in his head. He nods anyway, but he does not feel as confident as he did just a while ago. Hermione shakes her head at him as she leans back in the chair she is occupying, eating the piece of cake as she continues her studies. Harry just grins and shakes his head at Ron as well, before snuggling up against Draco, who absentmindedly throws an arm around his shoulders to accommodate him.

Ron just sit there, going over the conversations he have had with Greg for the last two months. It was not like the guy was the most talkative person alive. In fact, he seemed to prefer it when Ron did the talking. No matter what Ron let out of his mouth, Greg would just sit there and listen, never judging or admonishing him. It was only when they talked about food that he would say sentences consisting of more than a couple of words. Still, he did not seem to mind it when Ron went on one of his rants. He would just be there, this calming presence that seemed to accept Ron just as he was.

Thoughtfully munching on a piece of cake, Ron started to think about how often they had been hanging out. He had seen Greg earlier that day, and also yesterday and the day before. Thinking about it, Ron realized they had been meeting up almost every day lately. They would always meet with the purpose of discussing Greg's cooking, but how often did they actually end up doing that? Instead they would just… hang. With Harry and Hermione so often otherwise engaged, he had not even had to make any excuses to his friends to manage to meet Greg in secret.

Suddenly, Ron sat bolt upright in his chair, filled with guilt as he remembered how Greg had asked him earlier that day if he would come down to the kitchens in the evening, that he wanted to cook something special and have Ron try it. Ron had eagerly agreed, since Greg really had proved himself to be a wiz in the kitchen. Then, however, Harry had suggested that they would all hang out that evening, since they had not done that in a while now, and Ron had forgotten all about Greg. Stammering something incoherent to his friends, he rushes out and makes his way to the kitchens, hoping Greg is still there.

When he enters the kitchens, he does not see Greg at first. Then he spots him, standing in front of the oven, his back turned to Ron. Swallowing, Ron clears his throat. When Greg turns around and sees Ron, his broad face is split into a big grin that makes Ron's heart ache. He does not deserve that grin. He forces himself to smile at Greg though.

"I'm sorry I'm late," he stammers, wanting to express just how sorry he is but not knowing how.

"That's okay," Greg says dismissively. "I know you have your friends to be with and important things to do. I'm just glad you're here now. Just let me take this out, it should be…"

"Can it wait, for just a moment?" Ron interrupts. He moves closer as he speaks. Greg nods, looking at him inquiring. "I'm not good with words," he starts, before pausing to think.

"You talk a lot," Greg says with a friendly grin. "I think that makes you good with words."

"No, I mean… I… I just, I wanted to say, that this," he gestures between himself, Greg and the kitchen in general, "is important to me as well."

"Nice," Greg smiles, and Ron's heart aches. How can the guy be so forgiving and accepting?

"I mean, all this time, we've been hanging out, and I haven't told you, I haven't even realized myself, how good it has made me feel. How good you make me feel." Ron is blushing now.

"Oh?" Greg is looking slightly confused. Ron wonders if Hermione's suspicions were right, or if this really was all about the food for Greg after all. He gulps, before forcing himself to continue. He is a brave Gryffindor, after all.

"You're really, really good at cooking and baking, you know that right?" He does not wait for Greg to answer. "You should be making this for others than me by now." Greg's face falls at Ron's words.

"Oh," he says again. "Didn't realize…"

"What?" Ron feels he has said something wrong, but is not sure what.

"It's okay. I understand." Greg is avoiding looking at him now. Ron steps closer, not knowing what to do but wanting to do something to find out what went wrong.

"What do you understand?" he asks, feeling like he is desperately grasping for straws, wanting to find out what the other man is thinking.

"You don't want me, I mean my food, anymore. It's okay. I understand," Greg repeats, making himself busy moving around the utensils on the kitchen counter randomly, still refusing to look at Ron.

"No!" Ron blurts out. "That's not what I meant. Merlin, I want to eat your cooking for the rest of my life!" he blushes when he realizes what he said, but he does not take the words back as Greg turns and he sees the look on his face - an almost shy smile is forming and Ron thinks Greg might even be blushing slightly. "I just meant, I don't want to hold you back," he continues softly. "You've got real talent. You really should pursue a career in cooking. Everyone should have the chance to taste your cooking."

"But… You'd still want my food too?"

"I'll always want your food," Ron allows himself to grin, meeting Greg's eyes now and not looking away. "If I had my will, you'd be cooking for me the rest of our lives. I just don't know what you'd get out of that deal."

"I'd get to listen to you. I like your words. I like how you are so full of feelings. No one in my family ever was. You are so alive and spirited and sure you sometimes say bad stuff about people, but you don't really mean it, you're just so full of these feelings that they bubble over and take control of you and I think you are amazing! And you saw me, when no one else did. You listened as well, when I talked about wanting to learn to cook." The last part he says almost shyly, whereas the beginning of his speech was the most vivid Ron has ever heard him.

"You mean that?" Ron's voice is barely a whisper.

"Every word," Greg is stepping closer now. Ron cannot say who makes the last move to finally close the distance, but suddenly their mouths meet and they are tasting each other, the food Greg made forgotten.