Gregory was lounging on his bed, legs stretched out in front of him and back against the headboard, a rather well-used issue of one of Molly's many baking magazines in his lap. He had borrowed the old rag under the pretence of wanting to find more recipes he could try when they got back to Hogwarts; but, as he was flicking lazily through the pages, found himself rather distracted by the memories of the previous night.
After he had finally kissed Ginny at the top of the hill, they had stayed a little longer to look at the stars, before they side-along apparated back to the Burrow, where he had followed Ginny upstairs and stopped in front of her room to say goodnight. He had been both shocked and pleasantly surprised, when the beautiful witch had grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him into her room, before her lips found his with ease for a proper goodnight kiss. – A kiss that was much longer, and deeper than the one they had shared at the top of the hill, and had made him needy and wanting for more.
It had taken Greg every ounce of his self-control to leave her after that and go back to his own room, but he really didn't think that staying in her room for the night would have been a good idea. Not with her entire family in the house.
He wasn't quite sure how Ginny would feel if her family found out about the latest development in their relationship. After all, it was one thing to invite the son of a death eater into their home as a friend, but it was an entirely different thing for them to find out that they had kissed, that…they might be more than just friends.
So he had tried to be discreet and act like nothing had changed when everyone else was around, but he couldn't deny that that had been much harder than anticipated. How was he supposed to play it cool, when his heart felt like it was about to burst with happiness? How was he supposed to ignore the fire in Ginny's eyes every time she stole a glance at him, or the secret smiles she gave him whenever her family wasn't looking…and the few brief moments they had had alone…Ginny seemed to have decided that she wanted to savour each and every one of them with sweet and languid kisses that left him breathless and his pants uncomfortably tight.
It was crazy how easily their lips found each other, now that that barrier between them had finally been broken, and he was quickly finding himself longing for her kisses and stealing them whenever he possibly could.
He had just been daydreaming about a particularly good snogging session they had had earlier that day, when Molly had asked them to go feed the chickens and Ginny had shoved him against the wall the second they had entered the shed to press her lips hungrily against his; when the door to his room opened.
"Well… it's official." Ginny sighed, trudging into the room and letting herself fall onto his bed in an overly dramatic manner. "Harry just dumped me as his holidate for the Ministry Yule Ball."
Greg looked up from his magazine and met Ginny's eyes with raised eyebrows. "You were going to that with Potter?"
"Yes." Ginny shrugged. "As friends. So neither of us would have to find a date." She exhaled heavily. "But that was before he went and asked Pansy bloody Parkinson instead. Parkinson! Can you believe it?"
She rolled over and propped herself up on her elbows to look at him, a mixture of shock and disbelief on her face.
If at all possible, Greg's eyebrows raised even higher. "He's taking Pansy?... to an official Ministry event?"
"Yes!" Ginny groaned. "I mean… to be fair on Harry, he did ask if I was okay with it and said that if I can't possibly find someone else on such short notice, he will go with me… but he really doesn't know me very well if he thinks I'll let him take me on a pity date, when I know he would much rather go with someone else." She let out an irritated sigh. "So…" she bit her lip, looking a little sheepish. "I told him I already had someone else in mind anyway."
She looked at him expectantly and all of a sudden Greg understood the implication of her words.
"No!" he spluttered, shaking his head wildly. "Absolutely not."
"What!? Why not?" Ginny probed, looking crestfallen.
"Because…" He argued, looking at Ginny as if she had lost her mind. "- it's an official Ministry event, Ginny. There'll be hundreds of people and it will be covered by all the newspapers."
"So?" Ginny retorted, pulling her lips into a petulant and rather adorable pout. "Hermione is going with Draco bloody Malfoy, and if Harry's taking Parkinson, then no one will pay any attention to us anyway."
She pushed herself up and climbed into his lap, straddling him with one knee on each side, as she pulled herself closer and cast him a pleading, almost desperate look. "I want to go with you." she whined. "Pleease?"
Greg let out a soft groan as he desperately tried to ignore the feeling of her weight pressed against his groin, while simultaneously raising his eyes to the ceiling to avoid her big, and far too manipulative puppy dog eyes.
Honestly, he thought, heart racing in his chest; the girl should have been in Slytherin. She was not playing fair.
"Everyone will see." He tried to reason with her, but feeling his resolve crumble by the second.
"I know." Ginny confirmed. "I don't care. It'll be nice to have them talk about something that makes me happy for a change."
'Happy'
Gregory's heart swooped at the statement, and he finally dropped his gaze to look at her; an erratic flutter in his stomach as he spotted the sincerity in her beautiful eyes.
Swallowing thickly, he stared at her for several seconds, reluctance battling with affection in his chest, until he finally gave in, and with a heavy sigh, let his head drop back against the headboard.
"Ask me properly." He croaked, wondering when he had become so easy to manipulate.
"What?" Ginny's expression morphed from pleading to confused.
"Etiquette, Weasley." He drawled, clinging onto his last shreds of dignity. "If you want me to go on a date with you, you'll have to ask me properly. Like you mean it."
Ginny's eyebrows raised and he could see a distinct glint of amusement flit across her features, as she pulled her lips into a playful and rather self-satisfied smirk. "Okay…" she said, clearing her throat and shifting slightly in his lap, so she could wrap her arms around his neck and look him straight in the eyes. "Gregory Goyle," She said, a sweet, slightly sultry tone in her voice. "Will you do me the honour of being my holidate for the Ministry Yule Ball?"
There were several more seconds of silence in which they stared into each other's eyes, a pleading honey-brown against reluctant hazel-green…Until he finally let out a defeated groan and gave in.
"Fine." He conceded, desperately trying not to roll his eyes at her. "I'll go to the bloody ball with you."
Ginny let out a high-pitched squeal, before leaning in and pressing an enthusiastic kiss on his lips.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she beamed. "I promise I'll make it up to you."
"Yeah, yeah…" Gregory huffed, trying very hard not to picture all the ways she could make this up to him, and cleared his throat noisily.
"So…Potter's taking Pansy, huh?" he asked, in an attempt to steer the conversation, and with it his thoughts, back to a safer subject.
"Yeah." Ginny sighed, rolling her eyes. "I guess we all saw that coming, didn't we?" She pushed herself off his lap and settled beside him, her head resting against his shoulder as she took his hand and interlaced her fingers with his. "I don't understand what he sees in her, but if it makes him happy, then I'm happy for him."
"Ah, she's not that bad." Greg defended his friend. "She's just terribly insecure, is all."
Ginny huffed out a disbelieving laugh. "Pansy Parkinson? Insecure?"
"Oh you have no idea." Greg confirmed. "She never feels like she's good enough, so she acts like a bitch to hide her insecurities. It's all just pretence though." He smirked. "Underneath she's just as soft and cuddly as the rest of us."
Ginny snorted, but her expression grew thoughtful as she ran her fingers absentmindedly across his palm. "I guess it wouldn't be the first time I misjudged a Slytherin." She finally concluded, flashing Greg an affectionate smile. "Maybe I should give her a chance."
Gregory chuckled lightly, before wrapping his arm around her shoulder and placing a soft kiss on her head. "Believe it or not…" he said, an amused quiver in his voice. "But I think you two would really hit it off if you just take the time to get to know her. You're more alike than you think."
"Hmmm…" Ginny hummed, a contemplative look on her face. "I suppose." She pulled her lip between her teeth and shook her head. "It's funny how we were raised to believe that we're all so different, don't you think? …when fundamentally we're all the same." She pondered, sliding down the headboard a little and wrapping her arm around his torso, a soft hum falling from her lips, as she slotted her body perfectly against his. "Because in the end, we all just want to be loved and cared for."