Better Be Slyherin
II
Magic is Might

The next night, they were to have a small party in the Slytherin commonroom; Malfoy's idea, naturally. Apparantly he reckoned school had not gotten "serious" yet. Gregory Goyle did not really understand why they had to have a party, but he supposed he was just strange for not realising in what way parties were fun. He knew he'd just sit there sipping on his butterbeer and nobody would speak to him.

But he followed Malfoy's wishes.

There was a secret way out from Hogwarts behind a portrait of Gregory the Smarmy in the corridor furthest away on the seventh floor, and that was where they – he, Vincent, Malfoy, Pansy and Zabini were going. When Pansy saw it, she grinned evilly.

"Haha, Gregory the Smarmy, isn't that you, Goyle?" she commented.

Malfoy sniggered, and Zabini smiled a small crooked smile, his eyes glimmering scornfully.

Gregory replied nothing. Without haughty Zabini around, the mood between them was usually all right. But whenever Zabini was with them, Malfoy had that competetive attitude as if he had to show Zabini his right place. And then he took it out on Gregory through sarcastic comments. Pansy did the same, content with not being the chosen one for all of it.

They walked through a dark, chilly tunnel in the ground. It smelled mildly of dirt and maggots. Then they reached Hogsmeade. Gregory supposed they were there to get drinks for the night, but he was never sure because he was not included. He and Vincent were always to wait by the entrance of the tunnel until Malfoy came back. Gregory didn't know how he got the drinks, because he was fairly sure that you couldn't buy alcohol if you were their age; but he did not ask questions. He was used to following Malfoy around – and when Malfoy was not there to follow, he followed Vincent instead.

Vincent was the product of an unhealthy childhood and no mother's love. Gregory was the opposite. He'd actually had a, at least from own experience, normal childhood. No violence, no high society, no haughtiness like he would imagine his friends' families behaved like. His parents loved him properly, even though he was a little slow.

Naturally, Gregory could understand Vincent on some levels. He was, irregardless, his best friend. Vincent had been abandoned by his mum. He barely had – barely could understand – feelings. He wanted to be a Death Eater, and followed Malfoy because that was the easiest way to get there, or that's at least what Gregory supposed Vincent's dad had told his son.

And they had been raised to obey.

It was just a rule of habit, they were accustomed to it. Like the previous day, they'd had their first Defence lesson and of course, Malfoy, outspoken as he was, made it his business to inform everyone what his opinions on Umbridge was. And since Malfoy talked well of her, then Gregory was to do that as well. He was not even told to, he just knew it. He had faith in Malfoy.


The commonroom was unusually warm for being positioned in the dungeons. Probably because of all the people. The Weird Sisters' music was playing on the gramophone, a few people were up dancing in the greenish light they had down there, a few couples were snogging in the sofas. Most of the people were just hanging out, talking.

It was a bit later that night and the party had started. Gregory was sitting with Vincent and a couple of older quite tipsy chaps from the team, Miles Bletchley and Caecus Warrington. Swigged some butterbeer, and had a quite dull time. It was just as it always was.

Slytherin Quidditch team captain, Graham Montague, threw himself into the armchair next to them. "What are you doing sitting, you tossers? I saw you chatting some fat bird up, Goyle." He was slightly sneering. "Well, yeah, you're more likely to get some from someone like that, aren't you, I mean, when you look like you."

Gregory had only exchanged a couple of words to fellow house-mate Millicent Bulstrode about Snape's essay, not to mention how he reckoned Montague was not exactly one to pass out judgements on firm builts even though he may be quidditch captain, but Gregory didn't have to make that big of an effort to ignore the comment or explain himself, because Malfoy, Zabini and Adrian Pucey just arrived and Montague's attention was transferred. Gregory wasn't really listening, he acknowledged they were talking about girls, which ones who looked 'fit' tonight, but he didn't care and was left out of the conversation as he had supposed.

It was exactly as he'd known it would be.

Warrington mentioned something about Pansy, and they started talking about her.

"She's well fit, isn't she, not necessarily her face, but her body..." Warrington grinned. "I'd have a go on her."

He looked over at Pansy and slightly smirked, rolled his lips and gave a small wistle. Gregory noticed that Malfoy, sitting leaning forward, looked disapprovingly at Warrington, who didn't notice, and Malfoy looked away, apparantly adopting a passive role in this topic: he was unusually quiet and did not say much in the matter. Gregory reckoned Malfoy didn't like it when other boys talked about his girl mate like that (she was the only one he had, which meant she was supposedly special, although Gregory knew he and Vincent were Malfoy's best friends, and he and Pansy had only just begun becoming closer as friends).

Pansy was on the other side of the room with her girlfriends. Warrington winked at her, Pansy grinned a bit and gave him a slightly flirty look. Gregory couldn't help but to think that he wanted that too – not with Pansy, because she was too mean, but with any girl. He wanted girls to think he was fit and he wanted to simply interact with a girl. Not that he would ever admit that to any of the lads.

And if he hadn't been so busy thinking about girls he might've noticed Malfoy's face expression when Pansy gave Warrington that look.

"Where's my Butterbeer gone?" asked Warrington angrily when he turned back.

The lads then tried to convince Gregory to go over and pull a girl (he reckoned the main reason they wanted him to do it was for their entertainment of seeing him rejected). He did not answer, he just looked away, which only got them more enthusiastic; evil, but as if they did not think that was noticable.

"What about her?" said Malfoy and jerked his head in her direction.

"Yeah, go on, go have a chat with her!"

Gregory tried to wave it off.

"Yeah, she's fit. Really," he grunted, watching the low-browed blonde dancing with her friends.

"Right, yeah, and," grinned Vaisey, a teammate, "Looks like she's had quite a bit to drink, as well. So you might just get something."

Gregory did not reply. Malfoy was sipping his Firewhiskey in his armchair, watching everyone dancing, looking rather content with life.

Finally, after more persuading, Gregory was sick of it and just wanted to go to bed. So he gave in and walked over to try to talk to her.

"Go and get 'em. Show 'em who's boss," urged him Bletchley when he got up, supressing laughter as if Gregory would not notice.. Gregory was proper sweating on the way over. Just to say 'hi' was embarrassing, he wanted to sink through the ground.

"All right?" he said, and tried smiling a little. He suppose he just looked scary, because the girl looked at him with a frown.

And to try to keep a conversation going was even more embarrassing.

And then someone stumbled into him from behind, and his entire Butterbeer was all over her blouse and she cried out.

Of course the lads were completely wrapped up in their fits of laughter when he returned. Malfoy was lying on the floor clutching his stomach, laughing. Even haughty Zabini had a small crooked smile on his lips.

Of course they'd seen that her white blouse had turned see-through and that Gregory unwillingly had reacted to that. Naturally, the girl was shocked and barked disgustedly "get the buggering hell away from me, you filth!" as her friends tried not to laugh out loud, and instead just stood there with their scornful smiles, whispering.

It was not like the music stopped and the whole room stopped and stared and pointed at laughted at him; everything went on as usually, it was just the girl's friends who had seen. And... of course, his mates who would taunt him immediately because he "had a pop".

"That's all right," said Vaisey when they'd stopped laughing. "I've slung one up her myself," he said, sharing too much detail and Gregory really felt he did not want to know any more.

"I'm going to bed," he said and got up slowly.

He didn't get a goodnight.