On a cold late February afternoon, Virginia Weasley sat alone at the
Gryffindor table in the Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry. With her fork, she unwillingly poked at a piece of pork and
reflected her relationships at her school. She really didn't have any friends
to speak of; she only annoyed her brother and his friends from time to time.
No one paid her much mind, she was just the wild flame-haired loner who
everyone avoided if they wanted to maintain a social status at all.
Ginny's birthday had been earlier that week, whence she had become
sixteen years of age. Her vivid red hair had curled, and when dry fell
halfway down her back, but when was wet and stretched out was halfway to her
knees. At the moment, her tresses were pulled up in a ponytail halfway pulled
through, but one lock had escaped, and she sat there, playing with her food
and pulling at her corkscrew hair, letting her mind wander off and take her
to faraway lands.
Ginny sensed that someone was looking at her, and her muscles immediately
tightened. She slowly looked up, and her eyes fell upon a Slytherin. His name
was Gregory Goyle, a sixth-year, one year ahead of her. He was looking at her
in an almost kind way, if such a large and completely idiotic boy were
capable of being gentle. As soon as their eyes met, he quickly averted his,
but Ginny kept looking at him. There was something strange in the way Goyle
was acting-strange, but not undesirable.
The next week, as Ginny headed to her Divination class, she noticed a
large and bulky figure hurry by her, dropping a book and not even noticing.
Ginny, carefully juggling her own textbooks, picked up the book and called
after him. He didn't notice, so she shrugged and headed up to Divination,
where she was not looking forward to spending an hour in an overheated room
filled with maddening fumes.
In class, as Professor Trelawney was explaining the importance and fine
art of Crystal Balls, Ginny slipped out the book the boy had dropped, and
examined it. It wa fine leather; an aqua-colored book. She opened the cover,
and on the left hand side read, "This Diary Belongs To:". She shut the diary
immediately, knowing that it was wrong to read another's diary, but she
decided that she might as well find out to whom it belonged, so she might
return it to the rightful owner. Cautiously opening the leather book again,
she deciphered the chicken-scratch handwriting (itypical boy,/i she
thought), and gasped when she read, "Gregory Goyle."
Once again shutting the containment of the poor boy's life, she struggled
mentally with whether or not to read it. iWell, it wouldn't hurt... He'd
never know... No, that's wrong! But still... Oh, maybe just to figure out
what he was thinking when our eyes met last week at dinner.../i She opened
the diary once more, before immediately shutting it. i I can't believe I
almost did that! That's incredibly rude and invading on the poor thing's
life! I'll just return it to him today at dinner.../i
Meanwhile, a helpless young boy was turning up his dormitory looking for
a certain lost possession of his.
"What, Gregory, did you lose your blanky?" came the drawl of Goyle's
leader, a fellow Slytherin sixth year by the name of Draco Malfoy.
"No, Draco, it's just that my diary has gone missing! I can't find it
anywhere," mumbled Gregory, embarrassed, now turning over pillows.
"What do you want to keep a diary for? To put your thick thoughts in?
Really, Goyle, I didn't expect you to be literate."
Gregory blushed, as he still searched for his lost diary, and shrugged.
Crabbe, his best friend, walked up and comforted him. "Don't worry, Gregory.
Just give it a rest. Maybe it'll turn up later."
Heeding his friend's advice, Goyle finally gave up, sitting down on his
bed, wondering where the heck his diary could have gone. He finally just
dropped it, and went down to dinner, where there would at least be food, a
comfort in his life.
Ginny arrived in the Great Hall early, the leather book safely in her
pocket, ready to be returned to its owner. She watched every entering soul,
searching for the one to whom the diary belonged. Finally, she spotted Goyle,
entering the Great Hall with Vincent Crabbe and Draco Malfoy, his two
friends. Ginny began to rise, but felt the courage drain out of her as she
saw the ones that were with him. Malfoy would just laugh at her, and she
wouldn't be able to talk to him. She decided just to eat up and wait until he
left to confront Goyle and return to him his diary.
She nearly missed him as he quietly got up and left to head for his
common room. Ginny looked up from eating her food alone, and seeing Goyle get
up alone to go back to his dormitory, she hurriedly excused herself and flew
to the door, exiting right behind him.
Out in the hall, Ginny tapped him on the shoulder. She saw Goyle jump
ever so slightly before whirling around, and upon seeing her, watched his
complexion quickly turn a scarlet red, and ask quietly, "What do you want?"
Ginny was startled by this. She had expected him to say something like
that, but she hadn't expected him to say it so... /i. "I..." she
began, but when she looked up into his eyes, she forgot what she was going to
say.
Regaining her senses, she took his hand and slipping her other hand into
her pocket and extracting the diary, she slipped it into his hand. Upon
seeing the expression of his face, she whispered quietly, "Don't worry, I
never read it." Finding herself extremely embarrassed, she turned around and
ran away, but stopped when he called after her. As Ginny turned around to
face him, Goyle called out to her, "Thank you."
A mere nod on Ginny's part, and she again turned around and fled back to
the Gryffindor Common Room. She stopped in front of the portrait, and said
breathlessly, "Con Agua." The fat lady in the pink dress that was guarding
Gryffindor Tower smiled kindly and slid over, allowing the fifth year inside
the secret walls of the warm common room.
Ginny made her way up to her dormitory, and plopped down on her bed. She
smiled at the ceiling, wondering what exactly his diary had said. Ginny
flipped over onto her stomach and buried her face into her pillow, quickly
falling into a sound slumber.
The next morning, Ginny's eyes fluttered open, and she sighed. She'd had
a dream, a wonderful dream that she had had many times before. She had been
in a meadow, a beautiful green meadow, and she was with a boy. She was not
certain who this boy was, but she was certain that is was someone whom she
cared for very, very much.
The two had been running and laughing together, in fact, she thought, the
boy had been chasing her. It wasn't like he was trying to hurt her in chasing
her, but more like he was chasing her playfully. Chasing her like they were
very close friends. Finally, at the end of her dream, he had managed to catch
up with her, and tackle her gently. Then she woke up.
She often wondered what it might be like, to be like that girl from that
dream. To have someone to play with, who would actually consider hanging
around with her. She undid her hair, and attempted to run a comb through it.
Even if she was a social outcast, she might as well have looked nice in the
process of scaring first years.
It was a Saturday, and by the looks of it, it was going to be a beautiful
day. iA perfect day for a walk,/i thought Ginny, and she started to put
on her robes before realizing that she had slept in her clothes. Shrugging,
she made her way out of the castle and out onto the grounds. Spring had
officially come, and Ginny planned on taking advantage of it.
Twirling around with herself in the early morning sunshine, she spun
until she became so dizzy that she collapsed among the dewy grass, laughing
to herself. She sat up, and made a daisy chain, carrying on a conversation
with herself until she heard another voice, a male voice, murmuring to
himself as well.
The voice came from not too far off, just on the other side of a large
oak tree a few hundred yards away, so Ginny graciously stood up, wiping the
wet grass off of her robes. Ginny walked over to the tree, remaining on her
side of it, listening to the voice. It was murmuring quickly and softly to
itself, and as she listened to the harsh rasping, she discovered that the
voice belonged to no other than Gregory Goyle.
Building up her confidence, Ginny slowly walked around to the other side
of the tree, where Goyle sat with his diary open on his lap. Silently she sat
down beside him, and he was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didn't
even notice Ginny's presence until she said, "A beautiful morning."
Ginny smiled as Goyle jumped, and looking over at her as he shut the blue
leather book quickly. "Er, yeah."
Ginny turned her head to look at him and she said, "I hope I find you
well?"
Goyle looked stunned as if no one had ever asked how /i felt.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm all right. You?"
Ginny looked out towards the lake on the grounds in front of her. "I
guess I'm as good as a social outcast can be," she said, sighing. But then
she looked over at Goyle and saw that he had a somewhat pitying look on his
face, and she laughed.
"What?" he asked, thinking he was being made fun of.
"Oh, it's just I've never seen you show any emotion before," Ginny said.
"Well, I'm not really one to show emotions..."
Ginny was surprised that Goyle knew what the word emotion meant, even
more so to find that he had them. It was as he had said, he wasn't one to
show emotions.
The two new friends sat on the lawn and spoke softly to each other as the
dew dried, and a beautiful spring morning dawned. "Well, Gregory," Ginny said
an hour later, for Gregory was his first name, as she felt the first pangs of
hunger in her stomach. "I don't know about you, but I'm about ready for some
food." Suddenly, she jumped to her feet as Goyle pocketed his diary. "Race
you to the Entrance Hall," she called, as she darted off towards the large
oak doors of Hogwarts. Goyle lumbered clumsily behind her, not being anywhere
as agile as she was. By the time he caught up with Ginny at the doors, they
were both out of breath and laughing.
As they both entered the Entrance Hall, Goyle straightened his robes and
Ginny pulled her hair out of its ponytail, shaking her head so her curly
locks fell all around her. Goyle felt himself staring at her, she was so
beautiful. As Ginny was running her fingers through her hair, she looked up
at Goyle and smiled a perfect smile, one he couldn't resist returning.
Silently but mutually in that look between the two, they promised never
to tell a soul of their newfound friendship. If anyone should discover of the
secret relationship between the Gryffindor and the Slytherin, they would both
lose what little portion of social status they ever possessed. They each were
smarter than that, so they kept their mouths shut, though whenever passing
each other in the halls, they would smile at each other, and they frequently
met out on the lawn.
Finally, Ginny Weasley had found a friend in whom she could confide in,
and Gregory Goyle had someone whom he might talk to that wouldn't laugh at
him or mock him. Both were content with their relationship and delighted in
having a secret friend.
Gryffindor table in the Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry. With her fork, she unwillingly poked at a piece of pork and
reflected her relationships at her school. She really didn't have any friends
to speak of; she only annoyed her brother and his friends from time to time.
No one paid her much mind, she was just the wild flame-haired loner who
everyone avoided if they wanted to maintain a social status at all.
Ginny's birthday had been earlier that week, whence she had become
sixteen years of age. Her vivid red hair had curled, and when dry fell
halfway down her back, but when was wet and stretched out was halfway to her
knees. At the moment, her tresses were pulled up in a ponytail halfway pulled
through, but one lock had escaped, and she sat there, playing with her food
and pulling at her corkscrew hair, letting her mind wander off and take her
to faraway lands.
Ginny sensed that someone was looking at her, and her muscles immediately
tightened. She slowly looked up, and her eyes fell upon a Slytherin. His name
was Gregory Goyle, a sixth-year, one year ahead of her. He was looking at her
in an almost kind way, if such a large and completely idiotic boy were
capable of being gentle. As soon as their eyes met, he quickly averted his,
but Ginny kept looking at him. There was something strange in the way Goyle
was acting-strange, but not undesirable.
The next week, as Ginny headed to her Divination class, she noticed a
large and bulky figure hurry by her, dropping a book and not even noticing.
Ginny, carefully juggling her own textbooks, picked up the book and called
after him. He didn't notice, so she shrugged and headed up to Divination,
where she was not looking forward to spending an hour in an overheated room
filled with maddening fumes.
In class, as Professor Trelawney was explaining the importance and fine
art of Crystal Balls, Ginny slipped out the book the boy had dropped, and
examined it. It wa fine leather; an aqua-colored book. She opened the cover,
and on the left hand side read, "This Diary Belongs To:". She shut the diary
immediately, knowing that it was wrong to read another's diary, but she
decided that she might as well find out to whom it belonged, so she might
return it to the rightful owner. Cautiously opening the leather book again,
she deciphered the chicken-scratch handwriting (itypical boy,/i she
thought), and gasped when she read, "Gregory Goyle."
Once again shutting the containment of the poor boy's life, she struggled
mentally with whether or not to read it. iWell, it wouldn't hurt... He'd
never know... No, that's wrong! But still... Oh, maybe just to figure out
what he was thinking when our eyes met last week at dinner.../i She opened
the diary once more, before immediately shutting it. i I can't believe I
almost did that! That's incredibly rude and invading on the poor thing's
life! I'll just return it to him today at dinner.../i
Meanwhile, a helpless young boy was turning up his dormitory looking for
a certain lost possession of his.
"What, Gregory, did you lose your blanky?" came the drawl of Goyle's
leader, a fellow Slytherin sixth year by the name of Draco Malfoy.
"No, Draco, it's just that my diary has gone missing! I can't find it
anywhere," mumbled Gregory, embarrassed, now turning over pillows.
"What do you want to keep a diary for? To put your thick thoughts in?
Really, Goyle, I didn't expect you to be literate."
Gregory blushed, as he still searched for his lost diary, and shrugged.
Crabbe, his best friend, walked up and comforted him. "Don't worry, Gregory.
Just give it a rest. Maybe it'll turn up later."
Heeding his friend's advice, Goyle finally gave up, sitting down on his
bed, wondering where the heck his diary could have gone. He finally just
dropped it, and went down to dinner, where there would at least be food, a
comfort in his life.
Ginny arrived in the Great Hall early, the leather book safely in her
pocket, ready to be returned to its owner. She watched every entering soul,
searching for the one to whom the diary belonged. Finally, she spotted Goyle,
entering the Great Hall with Vincent Crabbe and Draco Malfoy, his two
friends. Ginny began to rise, but felt the courage drain out of her as she
saw the ones that were with him. Malfoy would just laugh at her, and she
wouldn't be able to talk to him. She decided just to eat up and wait until he
left to confront Goyle and return to him his diary.
She nearly missed him as he quietly got up and left to head for his
common room. Ginny looked up from eating her food alone, and seeing Goyle get
up alone to go back to his dormitory, she hurriedly excused herself and flew
to the door, exiting right behind him.
Out in the hall, Ginny tapped him on the shoulder. She saw Goyle jump
ever so slightly before whirling around, and upon seeing her, watched his
complexion quickly turn a scarlet red, and ask quietly, "What do you want?"
Ginny was startled by this. She had expected him to say something like
that, but she hadn't expected him to say it so... /i. "I..." she
began, but when she looked up into his eyes, she forgot what she was going to
say.
Regaining her senses, she took his hand and slipping her other hand into
her pocket and extracting the diary, she slipped it into his hand. Upon
seeing the expression of his face, she whispered quietly, "Don't worry, I
never read it." Finding herself extremely embarrassed, she turned around and
ran away, but stopped when he called after her. As Ginny turned around to
face him, Goyle called out to her, "Thank you."
A mere nod on Ginny's part, and she again turned around and fled back to
the Gryffindor Common Room. She stopped in front of the portrait, and said
breathlessly, "Con Agua." The fat lady in the pink dress that was guarding
Gryffindor Tower smiled kindly and slid over, allowing the fifth year inside
the secret walls of the warm common room.
Ginny made her way up to her dormitory, and plopped down on her bed. She
smiled at the ceiling, wondering what exactly his diary had said. Ginny
flipped over onto her stomach and buried her face into her pillow, quickly
falling into a sound slumber.
The next morning, Ginny's eyes fluttered open, and she sighed. She'd had
a dream, a wonderful dream that she had had many times before. She had been
in a meadow, a beautiful green meadow, and she was with a boy. She was not
certain who this boy was, but she was certain that is was someone whom she
cared for very, very much.
The two had been running and laughing together, in fact, she thought, the
boy had been chasing her. It wasn't like he was trying to hurt her in chasing
her, but more like he was chasing her playfully. Chasing her like they were
very close friends. Finally, at the end of her dream, he had managed to catch
up with her, and tackle her gently. Then she woke up.
She often wondered what it might be like, to be like that girl from that
dream. To have someone to play with, who would actually consider hanging
around with her. She undid her hair, and attempted to run a comb through it.
Even if she was a social outcast, she might as well have looked nice in the
process of scaring first years.
It was a Saturday, and by the looks of it, it was going to be a beautiful
day. iA perfect day for a walk,/i thought Ginny, and she started to put
on her robes before realizing that she had slept in her clothes. Shrugging,
she made her way out of the castle and out onto the grounds. Spring had
officially come, and Ginny planned on taking advantage of it.
Twirling around with herself in the early morning sunshine, she spun
until she became so dizzy that she collapsed among the dewy grass, laughing
to herself. She sat up, and made a daisy chain, carrying on a conversation
with herself until she heard another voice, a male voice, murmuring to
himself as well.
The voice came from not too far off, just on the other side of a large
oak tree a few hundred yards away, so Ginny graciously stood up, wiping the
wet grass off of her robes. Ginny walked over to the tree, remaining on her
side of it, listening to the voice. It was murmuring quickly and softly to
itself, and as she listened to the harsh rasping, she discovered that the
voice belonged to no other than Gregory Goyle.
Building up her confidence, Ginny slowly walked around to the other side
of the tree, where Goyle sat with his diary open on his lap. Silently she sat
down beside him, and he was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didn't
even notice Ginny's presence until she said, "A beautiful morning."
Ginny smiled as Goyle jumped, and looking over at her as he shut the blue
leather book quickly. "Er, yeah."
Ginny turned her head to look at him and she said, "I hope I find you
well?"
Goyle looked stunned as if no one had ever asked how /i felt.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm all right. You?"
Ginny looked out towards the lake on the grounds in front of her. "I
guess I'm as good as a social outcast can be," she said, sighing. But then
she looked over at Goyle and saw that he had a somewhat pitying look on his
face, and she laughed.
"What?" he asked, thinking he was being made fun of.
"Oh, it's just I've never seen you show any emotion before," Ginny said.
"Well, I'm not really one to show emotions..."
Ginny was surprised that Goyle knew what the word emotion meant, even
more so to find that he had them. It was as he had said, he wasn't one to
show emotions.
The two new friends sat on the lawn and spoke softly to each other as the
dew dried, and a beautiful spring morning dawned. "Well, Gregory," Ginny said
an hour later, for Gregory was his first name, as she felt the first pangs of
hunger in her stomach. "I don't know about you, but I'm about ready for some
food." Suddenly, she jumped to her feet as Goyle pocketed his diary. "Race
you to the Entrance Hall," she called, as she darted off towards the large
oak doors of Hogwarts. Goyle lumbered clumsily behind her, not being anywhere
as agile as she was. By the time he caught up with Ginny at the doors, they
were both out of breath and laughing.
As they both entered the Entrance Hall, Goyle straightened his robes and
Ginny pulled her hair out of its ponytail, shaking her head so her curly
locks fell all around her. Goyle felt himself staring at her, she was so
beautiful. As Ginny was running her fingers through her hair, she looked up
at Goyle and smiled a perfect smile, one he couldn't resist returning.
Silently but mutually in that look between the two, they promised never
to tell a soul of their newfound friendship. If anyone should discover of the
secret relationship between the Gryffindor and the Slytherin, they would both
lose what little portion of social status they ever possessed. They each were
smarter than that, so they kept their mouths shut, though whenever passing
each other in the halls, they would smile at each other, and they frequently
met out on the lawn.
Finally, Ginny Weasley had found a friend in whom she could confide in,
and Gregory Goyle had someone whom he might talk to that wouldn't laugh at
him or mock him. Both were content with their relationship and delighted in
having a secret friend.