When the train arrived at the Hogsmeade station Ginny picked up her backpack and levitated her trunk. Then she saw Greg carrying his heavy trunk.
"Why don't you levitate it?" she asked casually
Greg blushed
"I can't. I know is Wingardium Leviosa, but it just doesn't work for me."
Ginny tilted her head and her times with the DA kicked in. she had helped loads of young students with their charms. She stood next to him.
"Pull out your wand. Show me how you do it."
He was embarrassed but complied. He tried the spell but was shaking his hand too hard. Ginny put her hand on top of his and softly guided him through the swish and flick movement. He felt like his hand was burning and did not get it the first time. Ginny smiled and moved his hand one more time, then told him to move it on his own. He tried to remember the feeling of Ginny's hand in his and performed a perfect swish and flick.
"Now say the incantation"
"Wingardium Leviosa," he said, imagining that Ginny's hand was guiding him. The trunk floated in the air, ready to be pulled anywhere. Greg felt a knot in his throat. He looked at Ginny, who had a satisfying smile.
"A lot of people fail to do the charms because the professors do not notice their hand movements and do not correct them. Is good to have a peer tutor to guide you slowly through the movements."
"Thank you, Weasley. Thank you so much" he said, his deep voice cracking a bit.
"You are welcome. And call me Ginny, if you don't mind me calling you Gregory."
"Greg."
"All right, Greg," she said, smiling while she walked out of the compartment.
When they got off the train Ginny sprinted towards the carriages. She just saw Draco helping Hermione on to a carriage and no one else was with them. She tried to catch up but the carriage just went off. Ginny gave Hermione a "what the fuck" gesture with her arms. Hermione shrugged and yelled
"Sorry, Heads carriage. Is supposed to wait only for the two of us," she said giving an apologetic shrug, while Draco smirked and wiggled his fingers in a mocking goodbye. Hermione swatted his arm and he pulled out his tongue, earning him another swat.
Ginny turned around and found Greg standing next to her, looking sheepish. She complained loudly
"Can you believe those two? They are not Heads they are big heads. 'Oh look at us we are the head boy and head girl, we are fucking school royalty" she said in a mocking tone of voice that made Greg chuckle. "And isn't Malfoy your friend? Who do they think they are?"
Greg blushed at that
"Me and Draco are not supposed to interact much. Because of the probation. They will be watching for collusion. We don't want any trouble."
Ginny felt a ping of guilt and tried to think of what to say.
"Well, Malfoy is head boy, so he shouldn't be restricted to interact with any students. I'm sure the school will be a bit more understanding that those old farts from the Wizengamot. And you won't be interacting with him alone unless you guys go and lock yourselves in a broom closet. Especially if Malfoy is going to be spending a lot of time with Hermione. Her word is worth gold. So I guess as long as you guys don't go hiding in the usual making out places of the castle you should be fine."
Greg smiled. Ginny had a way to make things look simple. He hadn't felt so at ease in a long time.
When they got to the castle and went to the Great Hall, Greg went straight to the Slytherin table. Ginny saw that Hermione had brought Draco to the Gryffindor table. People were staring at them but Hermione looked nonchalant and Draco was a mask of indifference. They kept talking like this was not unusual behavior. She looked back at the Slytherin table and saw Greg sitting in a corner, alone, staring at his plate. His expression was sad. Ginny sighed and thought that she could catch up with Hermione tomorrow. She stood in front of Greg.
"Mind if I sit here?"
He looked up, his expression brightening. He motioned for her to sit. She smiled and began filling the plate in front of her.
"So I'm guessing tonight the two big heads are too busy with the new students, but maybe tomorrow we can catch up with them, tell them about the All-Star team? They can help us put a word with McGonagall."
"So you think that is really possible?" he asked, nervous about interacting with professors. It had never been his forte.
Ginny gave him a determined look
"It has to work. I cannot not play this year. I'm going to try for the Harpies next summer, this is the year I should be playing the most."
Greg looked impressed.
"Wow. That is so cool."
Ginny tilted her head
"What about you? are you not going to try for any teams?"
Greg blushed. He never even considered it. He was so used to see himself as a failure at everything that it didn't cross his mind that he was really good at something.
"I don't know. Should I think about it?"
"Of course you should. You are scary as hell as a beater. Maybe clean up your act a bit, you know, watch it with the fouls, but otherwise, I think you have a great arm."
He smiled like he just won a million galleons. This was something he could actually do. A very real possibility.
"All right then. Tomorrow we talk to Draco and Granger to help us put a word."
The next day Ginny walked into the Great Hall for breakfast and saw that this time Hermione and Draco were sitting at the Slytherin table. Greg was not there yet. She looked back at the hallway, hoping that he would come soon. Hermione gave her a 'what are you waiting for' gesture and Ginny held up her hand as a sign to wait. Greg came running and smiled widely when he saw Ginny standing there. She smiled back and pointed to Draco and Hermione, that were now staring at them, confused. They took a sit in front of the heads.
"Good morning your majesties," said Ginny with a mocking bow and a hand flare.
Greg chuckled and mumbled "morning"
Hermione tried to ask "how the hell did this happen" in a polite way but couldn't come up with anything, so she just gestured between the other two. Ginny faked naiveté
"Oh, us? We met on the train yesterday, got high on sugar and made friends."
Greg only smiled shyly, buttering a piece of toast, his ears burning. Ginny rolled her eyes
"Hey, Greg offered me a sit in his compartment and I had seen you two being all lovey-dovey and thought maybe I too can give the whole love thy enemy a try, ok? And so far so good, we had a pretty chill time yesterday."
Greg was very grateful for Ginny's support, so he tried a bit of courage
"We got kind of kicked out of the house teams, they want to have the younger students play. So we need your help. We want to ask McGonagall for permission to form our own team, the older students team. We can play friendly matches against the house teams to help them improve. But we really need to play. Me and Ginny, we are trying for pro teams in the summer. We have to play." He looked flustered and lowered his gaze. He had never demanded anything from Draco Malfoy and he was secretly scared of Hermione Granger. He waited to be chastised.
Hermione and Draco looked at each other, impressed.
"That's a great idea," said Draco
"Absolutely, players from all houses together, is a great way to promote house unity, and we really need that," said Hermione.
Greg beamed
"We're calling it the All-Star team."
Ginny grinned, nodding enthusiastically.
Draco rolled his eyes at that but still nodded, face in a smile.
"I think we should support you guys," then he turned to look at his former roommate "good for you, Greg, seems like you found yourself better friends that I ever was," he said sincerely.
Greg blushed and said
"You're all right, Draco. But Weasley here is like very nice and, you know… pretty"
They all awed and laughed, none of them would have ever in their wildest dreams imagined this soft side of Gregory Goyle.
