Disclaimer-sings- All power to Rowling! I own nothing! I make no money! Lucky, lucky laaaaaaaaaady, Rowling!
"I'm going to have to talk to him," said Hermione out of the blue.
"Him who?" asked Ron as he absently picked at a large pimple on his nose.
Hermione shot Ron a disapproving look before continuing, "I have to speak to Goyle. It's been four days since our talk with Dumbledore and I can't avoid it any longer. Dumbledore may ask to meet with us and if he finds out that we haven't arranged anything, he may takes points away."
"Oh come on, Mione, nothing is worth talking to Goyle over," said Harry with exasperation.
"Besides, it's not like he understands human speech," said Ron who was fighting the urge to pick at his pimple.
"Of course you two would say something like that. If you actually ever willingly studied for something I think I'd die," remarked Hermione, "And would you stop picking at your nose, Ron, that only makes it worse."
Ron shot Hermione a look but stopped picking.
"Anyway, I have to go to Arithmancy. You'd better hurry or you'll miss Divination," said Hermione.
"See you after then," said Harry.
"Maybe not exactly after. I think I'll hurry up and get to Potions early so I can catch Goyle before class. So I'll be meeting you there," said Hermione as she hurried off to class, not giving Harry and Ron a chance to acknowledge, reply, or protest.
-
She didn't want to do it, but she had to. Hermione tried to find a bright side to tutoring Goyle besides the extra credit but she was drawing blanks. Honestly, what had she been thinking? Hermione froze as she saw Draco Malfoy, Goyle, and Vincent Crabbe, Malfoy's other body guard, approaching.
"What? Have Potter the Great and Weasel finally come to their senses and dumped you, Granger," sneered Malfoy as he came up to her.
"I'm not here to talk to you, Malfoy, so you can just bugger off. I'm here to see Goyle," said Hermione angrily, eyes narrowed.
"Goyle, eh? Well, I'm sorry but Goyle isn't interested in mudbloods like you. So, I suggest you go fancy someone who's in your league, which, last time I checked, were house elves, rats, and Weasleys," spat Draco coldly.
"Actually," replied Hermione coolly, "I should think that I would be the one person Goyle wants to see. Right, Goyle? Or can you not recall why? Should I jog your memory?"
At that Goyle got quite white and it was apparent from his expression that he didn't know what to do. Hermione couldn't help but smile at the looks Draco and Crabbe were giving Goyle. Draco's was a mix of anger and confusion while Crabbe's was just plain confusion.
"What's this mudblood talking about?" hissed Draco to Goyle.
But Goyle didn't answer. He went up to Hermione, lifted her up, grabbed her wand before she could, and carried her to a nearby closet, magically locking it behind him. Goyle had never in his life seen Hermione so scared, or scared in general, and the sight definitely caught him off guard. Without her wand, Hermione was defenseless. What use were smarts at a time like that? She was actually on the verge of tears. She didn't dare think of screaming when Goyle had two wands in his large hands. Scratch that, she was more afraid of his hands. He could probably pummel her to death before she got a noise out.
Goyle tried to ignore Hermione's whimpering but he couldn't. Instead he was getting a sick feeling in his stomach and an odd pain in his chest. Could Granger actually have jinxed him without him knowing? Impossible. Holy shite! Was it sympathy he was feeling? Compassion even? Goyle had heard so many things about those words and he couldn't bare to think that he was. He had to squash the feelings.
"Stop your whining, Granger, or I'll destroy your precious wand," threatened Goyle, thinking that would make things better for him. But the look of horror that appeared on Hermione's face only served to scare him more. "Look, look, I won't break it okay," panicked Goyle, "And I'm not trying to hurt you. I just needed to get you away from Malfoy before you told him anything. Here. Take your wand."
Goyle handed Hermione back her wand, which almost proved to be a fatal mistake.
"You wicked boy," said Hermione who pointed her wand at Goyle.
Maybe if she had spared the commentary she could have gotten Goyle, but she didn't and Goyle took her wand back before she could attack.
"Look here, mudblood. I'm not going to hurt you, but if you give me a reason, I gladly will. Tell me what the bloody hell you want and I'll give you your wand," said Goyle.
Hermione once again was scared, but she managed to squeak, "I only wanted to set a date for us to study."
Goyle rolled his eyes, the sick feeling returning, "Tonight, Granger, at 9 pm in the empty classroom on the third floor toward the north side of the castle. Now take your wand."
Goyle threw Hermione's wand at her, unlocked the door, and left leaving Hermione in the closet feeling...well, horrible.
Hermione tried her best to pull herself together. She wiped the tears off her face and blew her nose. Taking a deep breath, she left the closet. Realizing she was extremely late, she tried to quietly enter the Potions class and take the vacant seat next to Harry, but Snape saw her and a smirk played on his lips.
"Ah, Miss Granger, you have decide to honor us with your presence. Here I am thinking that you've taken on the belief that you know everything about Potions and, therefore, felt the need not to attend class," said Snape as he walked between the rows of desks toward Hermione.
"I'm sorry, professor. It won't happen again," said Hermione in a small voice.
" 'I'm sorry' won't do you any good, Miss Granger, when you are dying from a Potion that you never learned in class because of tardiness. Twenty points from Gryffindor. Indeed your tardiness will not happen again," spat Snape before turning and striding back toward his desk.
Hermione's eyes burned, but she was determined not to cry. She chanced a glance in the direction of the Slytherins, only to find them grinning smugly at her and tapping their watches. Hermione turned away quickly, but if she had glanced longer, she would have noticed that Goyle wasn't smiling. Maybe she even would have noticed that they both heaved a heavy sigh at the same time after Snape had regained the attention of the class.
"That greasy git didn't take points away from the Slytherins when Goyle came in late," muttered Ron as he poured what looked like sawdust into his potion.
Hermione sighed again and Harry said comfortingly, "Don't worry about it. It really doesn't matter. We can gain points back easily and it won't go on your records."
"Oh, it's not that," said Hermione while glumly putting the finishing touches on her potion, the same potion that everyone else wasn't even half through with yet, "It's just that, well, it's not important."
"Wait a minute, why were you late?" asked Harry suddenly, "We thought that you stayed behind to get extra homework but..."
"You're acting like someone burned a copy of Hogwarts: A History ," whispered Ron (Snape was watching them).
Hermione poured a sample of her potion into a flask, capped it, and brought it up to Snape. The dour look on Snape's face brought a smile to Hermione's but it slipped away when she got back to the table.
"Well?" asked Ron, half paying attention to Hermione, half paying attention to his over-boiling potion.
Hermione sighed, "I left Arithmancy early as I had planned so I could catch up with Goyle. Well, of course he was with Malfoy and Crabbe and they didn't take very well to me being there. A few words were exchanged and...Goyle locked himself and I in a closet and held my wand so I couldn't reach it."
Harry dropped the handful of wiggleweed he was a about to add to his potion on the floor and Ron missed the fact that his potion was overflowing onto the table and his notes.
"He what?" growled Ron who was steadily turning red.
"Don't worry about it, Ron. Nothing...," began Hermione, but Ron had already gotten up.
Harry grabbed hold of Ron's arm in an attempt to stop him from attracting attention and getting murdered by Goyle (because there was no way Ron would win). This caused Ron to command Harry to let him go, loudly, drawing the attention of the class and Professor Snape. Harry was about to give up and let Ron go when Snape appeared behind Hermione. Ron was suddenly deflated and he stood there numbly with Harry hanging on to his right arm.
"Why do you feel the need, Mr. Weasley, to interrupt my class?" asked Snape, his eyes shining dangerously.
"It wasn't his fault, professor," piped in Hermione, forgetting that speaking up to Snape was a stupid idea.
"I don't remember asking for your opinion, Miss Granger. That will be anothertwenty points from Gryffindor. As for you, Mr. Weasley, I think a detention with me tonight will teach you to stay in your seat," responded Snape coldly.
Ron's face burned with anger and Hermione heaved another sigh. Harry couldn't take it anymore. He opened his mouth to speak.
"That's not fair, professor."
Hermione and Ron looked at Harry.
"Did your voice change?" asked Ron.
"No, I didn't get to speak," said Harry in confusion.
"What did you say, Mr. Potter?" asked Snape, clearly expecting to have heard Harry protest.
"Harry didn't say anything. It was me," said Goyle standing up.
Everyone's eyes were now on Goyle. He turned slightly pink and cleared his throat before continuing on shakily, "I - I just think it's not right. I, uh, was making faces at him and bothering Granger. I made her late. Don't punish them cause of me."
Snape just stared at him, taken aback and surprised. The rest of the class was in a stunned silence, causing Goyle's words to reverberate off the dungeon classroom walls.
Snape collected himself and said curtly, "Well, Mr. Goyle, I'm sorry but you didn't disrupt my class. Therefore, I suggest that you keep any comments or complaints to yourself."
Snape turned around, his robes whipping behind him, and strode back toward his desk. Why would Goyle do that? Hermione couldn't fathom it. She cleaned up her area, put her cauldron away, and borrowed Neville's notes to copy, but she didn't get very far. She just sat there, staring at the papers in front of her. Why would Goyle come to their defense?
