"What are you doing in here?" Hermione asked squinting to see the Silhouettes in the dark, sitting on the floor. "You should be in bed!"
"As should you, Granger." The voice replied from the dark.
Hermione picked up on the voice however she could not pin point who it belonged to.
Hermione walked further into the darkness and it was then that she saw Goyle on the floor, with a parcel of sweets and sugary snacks.
Of course, He was eating, Hermoine thought.
It seemed to her that it was the only thing he did, besides acting as one of Malfoy's cronies.
"I am a prefect. I have a reason to be out. I doubt you do." Hermoine replied in a strong voice, folding her arms against her chest.
"Give me a break, Granger. You don't expect me to hold myself to your standards, do you?" He replied while fingering a small sweet in his hand, opening it, then placing it in his mouth.
Hermoine stared at his chubby face in the dark as his jaws moved up and down as he chewed the candy in his mouth.
Hermione took a deep breath, then approached him.
"Can't you do this is your room, or in the Slytherin common room?" Hermione inquired. She was down a few feet away from him.
Looking down, and taking up another candy from the parcel, Goyle replied, " I - want to be alone."
Something in his voice - although she was not sure what it was- made Hermione feel a small ping of pity.
"Fine, but if a teacher come by and spot you, it would be your fault that you got detention." Hermione reprimanded.
"Who else fault would it be?" Goyle replied still not looking up to her.
"Exactly." Hermione finally responded as she turned to walk away.
"You don't have to be polite, you know." He called after her, causing Hermoine to stop and then to turn back to him.
Confused by what he said, she proclaimed, "What are you on about?"
He finally turned his head to look at her, "You think that I am pathetic…and fat, and stupid. Just like everybody else do."
Hermione was indeed more confused. She stared at him for a second, blank faced.
"When did you start worrying about what I thought of you?" Hermione asked. It was her way of avoiding to confirm the statement that he just proclaimed.
When Goyle did not reply, She continued, "I am just a Mudblood remember."
What she said must have really affect Goyle because the next moment, he exclaimed in particular angry tone, " You think you are so perfect, Granger! You think you are so smart. But let me tell you, You're not just a Mudblood, you are a little, annoying, insufferable, judgmental know-it-all. "
Hermione was stunned by his sudden outburst. However, she was not hurt. After all, there was nothing in his proclamation that she hadn't heard before and she figured that she has gotten used to Malfoy and his cronies teasing and constant put downs to let it get to her.
Getting over the initial shock, Hermione replied, "It's obvious that you are upset. However, I doubt that I am the one you should be directing your anger at."
"Find the person who made you angry and beat them up." That was her sad excuse for a joke. This is why she didn't tell jokes. She realized that it was Goyle that she was taking to, and immediately
added, "Actually don't beat them up, just talk to them, that should be proper."
She expected that her joke would have at least softened the angry look on his face but it didn't, reassuring her once again that humor was definitely not her forte.
He shook his head and rolled his eyes as he returned to eating the sweets in the parcel in his lab.
Hermione quietly stalked away.
It wasn't until a week later that Hermione found herself in the same place she found herself that night.
She considered ignoring him, but against her best thoughts she stated, " I am guessing that you do this quite a lot."
He looked up at her, seemingly unaware that she was even there, then a scowl appeared on his face.
"Don't you have anything better to do, mudblood?" He spat.
Hermione did not even flinch at his insult, she was way too used to it, though it was usually Malfoy who insulted her while Goyle and Crabbe stayed in the shadows and snickered.
" I actually do. I have a lot of better things to do actually. But, since I am a prefect, you see, I get stuck with the task of patrolling the corridors and indirectly stuck with the task of comforting Slytherin boys in the halls when its near curfew." Her voice naturally went got higher and sped up throughout the sentence.
"Piss off, Granger." He glared at her. "I don't need your pity."
"Really?" She said under her breath because right now he did look quite pitiful. Apparently, she wasn't low enough and the next seconds Goyle was looming over her. His wide frame backing her into a corner.
She didn't even haven time to register her fear of what he would-could do before he was away from her and she was left in the corner, confused and hyperventilating.