A New Perspective

I don't own 'Harry Potter'

Harry wondered how much he'd been blind over the past seven years and how much he'd managed to miss through sheer obliviousness.

He watched the bigger man through the bookshelves in the library as he squinted at the book and tried to sound out the letters, attempting to read the heavy tome he needed for their Defence essay.

Gregory Goyle was dyslexic.

Harry was familiar with the condition from primary school, having had two separate classmates that had it, and as he watched Goyle try and spell out the overly-complicated Latin incantation he felt like an utter wanker.

For years he'd taken the piss out of him and Crabbe with Ron, but how much of what he thought was stupidity was Goyle's brain just making the letters swim on the page? The longer he thought about it, he realised it was just like the other kids at school making fun of him for being Dudley's 'freaky' cousin.

He was an arsehole, wasn't he?

Well, then.

Harry straightened up and nodded to himself before striding along the aisle and turning into the one where his classmate stood. As soon as the taller man spotted him his features blanked into nothing and he quickly lowered the book, looking for all the world as if he was bored out his mind.

"Potter."

"Goyle. Um, hi, I mean –"

Harry cleared his throat and wondered why he could never speak properly when he needed to. "I was wondering if you wanted to study together right now? That's the only copy in here, and I still need to do the essay. I'm guessing you do too going by how you've got the book."

Goyle frowned at him. "Why? What do you get out of studying with me?"

"You mean other than avoiding Hermione lecturing me until my ears bleed?" he muttered.

He heard a snort and looked up into amused brown eyes and flushed. "Er, please don't tell her I said that. I love her like a sister, but she can talk for hours about the same thing and I really can't listen that long."

"Right. So what else do you get out of this?"

Harry nodded at the book. "I actually do need that book. This way we can both use it and maybe get the bloody thing done quicker. I'm sure you know theory isn't my strong suit."

A slow and suspicious nod was his only response and Harry grinned.

Impulsiveness isn't bad, no matter what Hermione says.

It was amazing what a spur-of-the-moment decision could do, and his eighth year had become infinitely more interesting thanks to his new friendship with Greg.

More and more people had taken notice of how much he didn't give a fuck about what people thought of him, and the students in green were increasingly seen in groupings with other Houses. Apparently his apathy towards his reputation had prompted everyone to reassess the Slytherins and were extending olive branches with increasing frequency.

Greg was also smart. Not Hermione smart, but who was? The taller man was actually really good at Defence theory, and he and Harry had begun swapping theory and practical tips. They were both getting better every day, and Harry had actually managed to shock Hermione into silence with his new-found knowledge.

"Greg?"

"Harry?"

He looked at the brown eyes focusing on him and tried to ignore the squirming feeling in his stomach. It was beyond stupid to develop feelings for someone that would never reciprocate. Besides the obvious of them both being blokes, there was still the fact he was a political nightmare.

And the Crabbe incident. Can't forget that.

"Harry?"

He shook off the unwanted thoughts and nervously licked his lips. "You know those charts and tips I gave you for reading?"

Greg shifted and averted his eyes. "The ones because I can't read properly? I already know they don't fix things because I'm stupid."

"You're not stupid!"

He ignored the shocked expression and took a deep breath. "When I looked into it, I found out the magical world doesn't really have enough knowledge of learning difficulties. You have dyslexia."

Harry pulled out a book that he'd owl-ordered from a store specialising in procuring books from the muggle world. It was written specifically for dyslexic people so they could understand the condition without having to rely on others.

"It means you have difficulties with reading and writing, and it affects the way you plan and follow directions. Dyslexic people also have trouble learning languages and can have trouble with numbers.

"You're not stupid Greg, your brain just makes things more difficult to understand."

The last Potter watched as Greg looked at the book with both awe and disbelief, as if desperately wanting to believe there was an explanation for his difficulties despite his effort. And it was effort, as Harry had watched his new friend try and try again to figure out his written work when he thought Harry wasn't watching.

"Harry."

He looked up to see brown eyes boring into his, every inch of the broad face covered in a determined expression with a nervous undercurrent. Greg's fingers were twitching erratically and Harry could see him swallowing rhythmically.

"Please don't hate me."

Before he could question the bizarre statement, Greg invaded his personal space with a hand on the side of his face and pressed his lips to his.

Harry felt his eyes widen then close, and he relaxed into the very thing he'd been dreaming of with alarming frequency recently. The hand on his cheek was trembling slightly and sweaty, and the lips against his were pursed and forced shut in a very chaste kiss instead of what his imagination had supplied.

Greg pulled back with a wary face as if expecting to be hexed, and Harry smiled softly to reassure the other man. He glanced around the room before smirking.

"You do realise we're the only people who can get in here now?"

And with that, he surged forward to continue where they left off. And hopefully get a little further.

A/N: Hey guys!

Sorry for not updating sooner, but I've been a little more focused on my other fics for a while. Especially as I ignored all common sense and started a new one lol. But here we are again :)

I hope I haven't offended anyone with my descriptions of dyslexia. This was what I gathered from my research, so please let me know if I've said something wrong.

This was a request from Hellfaery on AO3, so I hope you like it!

Until next time!