Chapter 11

[Vincent Crabbe]

"You should have seen the face Weasley made when I pointed out that the bookworm wasn't there," Parkinson commented from the side and Bulstrode burst into laughter, even though the other girl hadn't even been talking with her at all. She'd been talking with Malfoy, predictably.

Vincent couldn't help but wince, internally, but still.

"Bulstrode, please, can you leave us be for two minutes without your insufferable shrieking piercing our ears?" his blond "boss" hissed. Someone was feeling particularly harsh, it seemed. Then again, the girl might as well have thrown a wounded animal into a pool of sharks… or a mouse in a pit of snakes, more appropriately.

Sure, Bulstrode had quickly shown Vincent that what he'd heard regarding her desire to ingratiate herself to the "top dogs" was right, and she did so as obnoxiously as everyone said she did. She had also been shut down a whole lot, repeatedly and mercilessly, he found. That had been, however, quite possibly the worst smackdown the poor girl had received… that he'd witnessed, that is.

Not that Vincent didn't agree. She was annoying. However, she was also a kid. They were all annoying, as far as he was concerned. Especially the Slytherins, as far as he was concerned. They somehow managed to make themselves worse by mixing their annoying childishness with politics and nobility.

Credit where credit was due though, Bulstrode kept her smile on her face, even if it did become brittle.

"You are Crabbe, right?" a voice said, catching everyone's attention and making Vincent blink before he turned to look over his shoulder. The person who asked was… not someone he recognized, quite honestly. He was an older Slytherin, that much was obvious, and not from the Quidditch team, but that was as far as his knowledge went. Harry Potter lore didn't care much for characters out of Harry's years and Vincent had his hands full trying to catch up with immediately needed knowledge. "I heard you are the reason Lockhart won't shut up about the Shine Charm. Is it true that you used that to beat a Gryffindor in a duel?"

"Weasley," Malfoy answered in his stead, looking very proud of himself, for whatever reason. "The fool couldn't even fight back, a Shine Charm and some Levitation Charms and he was out."

"Ha!" the older year barked out a laugh then, smacking Vincent's back and shaking his head. "How'd you even think of that?"

"Uh…" he started, looking at Malfoy and half expecting him to answer once again. Alas, he didn't. Good thing Vincent had spent quite a bit of time thinking of ways to bullshit his way out of the hole he'd dug for himself. "... It was… the first thing that came to mind," he said slowly, as if thinking and talking at the same time was hard for him… Which was probably the case for the original Crabbe. "Lockart had just taught it."

"Lock hart, Crabbe. Honestly," Malfoy corrected, rolling his eyes. ' Nailed it,' Vincent thought victoriously, having kept his dumb facade like a pro, if he did say so himself.

"Well, I'll be," the older year said, giving him a confused look as if he couldn't figure out how someone that dumb had managed to pull that off. God, had he screwed up badly. Maybe though, just maybe, he could patch things up. "Anyway, that'll be a nice idea for future duels. I'll remember that. Good job, kid," the guy added, giving him a much gentler pat on the back before leaving.

"Yeah… Good job, Crabbe," Malfoy said and for once his tone wasn't mocking. He seemed mostly… thoughtful. Vincent was pretty sure that was not a good thing. ' Maybe fixing this mess will be harder than I thought,' he couldn't help but lament.

Glancing towards Gregory, he noticed that his fellow transmigrator had left him to his luck… Not unexpected, he supposed. He was a lot more out of his depth than Vincent was. They were both screwed up, it seemed, between Goyle's stunts in his detentions with Snape and his one in the dueling class... Then again, maybe it had been entirely too wishful of them to think they could manage to keep up the act for long.

There was only so much one could act like someone completely different from them, especially when it was at almost all hours of the day every day and without all the information needed.

"Thanks?" he replied as if he couldn't quite understand what was going on.

"Did you buy him a bottle of Felix Felicis, Malfoy?" Greengrass asked, drawing an unimpressed look from the blonde. "Because let's be real, there's no way Crabbe pulled that off on his own."

"Is that the best you can do, Greengrass? I understand that you wish you had purebloods for subordinates instead of…" Malfoy commented, trailing off, glancing dismissively towards Davis, who seemed to be taking a page off of Gregory's book and focusing on her breakfast. " That," the blonde continued. "But there's no need to be that desperate, you know?"

"I've told you not to insult Tracey like that, Malfoy. I don't like repeating myself," the girl shot back, her voice cold as ice.

"It's not my fault that your lackey isn't up to par, you know?"

"As opposed to what, yours?" the girl asked, raising an eyebrow and giving the same look Malfoy had given her friend to both Gregory and Vincent.

"Well, Crabbe managed to do something, at least. When's the last time your mudblood did anything worth noting?" Malfoy asked, looking amused as he riled up the girl. Vincent, meanwhile, died a little inside as he was dragged into their argument without any chance of getting himself out.

"Beating someone with a broken wand is an achievement now, Malfoy? That's a low bar, even for you."

"Still more than your mudblood, Greengrass, but I don't blame you for deflecting. I'd be embarrassed too," Malfoy commented with a smirk, getting some snickering from both Parkinson and Bulstrode.

For once, he didn't bother to shut down the poor girl though, since it worked in his favor. Gregory and Vincent joined a split second later because it was kind of what was expected of them. They'd both learned pretty soon that Malfoy would look at them weirdly whenever they didn't join in on the laughter when he said something "funny".

' I really wish I could have been dropped in literally anyone else,' Vincent lamented to himself.

It was just breakfast and he was already done with life entirely.

"You should quit while you still can, Greengrass," Parkinson chimed in, clearly poking fun at the blond girl.

' Oh God, they are going to continue, aren't they?' Vincent thought, holding back a grimace and hoping against hope that they'd forget he was there at all. In hopes of that, he just turned his eyes to his plate and continued eating. Still, he decided to pay as close attention to the conversation as he could. He might hate the brats and their personalities, but it would pay to know how things looked like in the Slytherin camp's politics.

Despite how exceedingly silly it all sounded, it could affect Gregory's and Vincent's lives. Malfoy's mood and opinion of them could very easily influence their days. The same could be said about everyone else to a lesser extent, except maybe Bulstrode.

"Could say the same about you, Parkinson," the blonde replied, turning her attention to the brunette. Vincent had to give her that, Greengrass could stand her ground very well against Malfoy's side of things. Maybe there was a chance that Gregory and him could make a "master" change with her if she proved to be good. Davis' status as a half-blood was a nice point in her favor, but Vincent didn't want to make such an important decision based just on that.

There was a good chance that Davis had decided she was the lesser of two evils and such. Vincent didn't know if that was worth it for them, considering things could be much worse if they antagonized Malfoy. Alas, it wouldn't be that easy to get out from under the blond little shit's thumb.

"You do know the Malfoys won't care about you or your family, right?" Greengrass continued and there was something very mean in the smile that she plastered on her face. "Last I heard, his father was trying to talk with mine about a possible union in the future. And we hate each other. What does that say about you and your attempts to get closer to him?" she commented, her expression briefly changing to a disgusted one when she got to the "union" part before returning to her vicious one.

' So, betrothals are a thing here?' Vincent noted to himself. ' I should try and find a way to get a better idea of the culture here. Crabbe and Goyle might have been idiots, but they were raised in it. We should know something , right? Something to look for in the RoR.'

Instead of catching up, sometimes it felt like they were more and more behind with every passing day. It was so very frustrating, but alas… that was how their lives went then. They should just keep going. Surely between their continuous efforts and their fledgling occlumency skills they should be able to start making some actual progress…

Or so he hoped, at least.

[}-o-{]

[Gregory Goyle]

The flickering candle lights that illuminated the ancient stone walls of the potions classroom soaked the entire room in a gloomy atmosphere as the last students filled in. The apprehension was palpable in the air as students from both Gryffindor and Slytherin talked to their respective groups about the seating arrangement.

Most of them seemed to pick the same pairings as the previous semester to do the class with. However, there were those who didn't manage to work together well and decided to break their little groups apart to try their luck elsewhere.

It was their only chance to do so, after all.

After this, the only chance they would have to change partners would be if Snape allowed them. For what little Gregory knew about the man, he doubted the teacher would allow his class to be disturbed for such matters. He very much did.

Thus, the last of the students trickled inside the room ready to tackle that situation.

The dark wood tables were already filled with the ingredients for their current class. The pungent smell of vinegar and sulfur filled the air as he stared at the small bowl filled with mushrooms. At its side, vials filled with red viscous liquid and yellow cubes with a crust-like texture were spread around next to a very small pewter cauldron. The assortment of magical materials gave him an idea of the potion they'd be concocting.

A Fire Protection potion if he remembered the curriculum correctly.

Gregory had studied for it, even if some of the nomenclature went over his head, given that he wasn't even fully caught up with the first-year material just yet. However, he was still quite excited to finally start doing something more practical when it came to potions. Theory was still fun and fascinating for him, but he would admit that after he finished the cleaning potion the other day, he felt himself rearing to give brewing another try.

Still, the excitement for the class was soured as he stared at the desk three rows in front of him with apprehension.

He had hoped that he could have been paired with Vincent throughout the semester. Malfoy seemed to have other plans, however. The blond kid had snatched his friend by the arm and all but dragged him to sit beside him at the front of the room, opposite to Gregory's inconspicuous back. Something that seemed to make Vincent incredibly uncomfortable as he sat next to their "Master", who engaged in a conversation with a girl with a bob-cut haircut. Parkinson, if Gregory remembered correctly.

He couldn't hear what the conversation was about from where he sat, but he could already suspect what it was when their obnoxious laughs reached him. Vincent joined in a moment later with a decisively awkward chuckle. It wasn't hard to guess why Malfoy had picked the desk right behind that world's protagonist and his friend, both of which continued to stare ahead, doing their best to ignore the Slytherin's chatter.

"I'm sorry, am I making you uncomfortable?" a clear voice asked from his side, making him almost jump from his stool.

Gregory turned to look at his current desk partner.

Blaise Zabini was a tall kid, almost a full head taller than himself. His brown, slightly slanted eyes stared at Gregory in naked curiosity as he rested his head on the palm of his hand. The candle flames flickered along with the odd glint in the kid's eyes, leaving Gregory feeling like he was being dissected with just a look.

With Malfoy taking Vincent away, that left Gregory and Nott as the only two Slytherins without partners. Something that didn't make the latter happy. The kid fumed and complained to the blond heir about being saddled with the 'slowest of the two trolls'. Gregory hadn't appreciated the comments against him but still opted to keep his mouth shut and lament that the class he was looking forward to was about to get completely ruined.

Or that would have been the case if it wasn't for Zabini calmly approaching Nott to offer his spot next to Parkinson. Something that Nott readily agreed to, with a 'thank you' and a promise to pay the favor back. Gregory, for his part, was left unsure as to what Zabini's intentions were and what to make of the whole thing.

As far as he knew, his reputation was still firmly that of a dullard, so there shouldn't be any reason for someone to go out of the way to sit next to him. Gregory wasn't good at social interactions either, so he didn't know how to react or what to expect. The uncertainty had only left him even more nervous than he already was.

"You've been avoiding talking to me all this time," the dark-skinned kid pointed out, bringing him back to the present.

Gregory's gaze locked firmly with the ridge of the workbench.

He had never been good at keeping eye contact with other people, but something in that particular child made Gregory feel especially uncomfortable.

"Ah- Uhm, no, it's just…" he cut himself off, unwilling to explain that the twelve-year-old was quite unnerving. "I'm just a bit nervous about this class," he continued.

"It's okay. No harm done," Zabini said with a chuckle. "I get what you mean. Professor Snape's classes are always the hardest ones. Even for us Slytherins, no matter what the other houses say," the kid explained. His voice was smooth, calm, and measured. It made Gregory remember those commentators from the documentaries, just that with the slight wavering pitch of someone who was going through puberty. "Besides, I imagine it goes double for you, right? Having to go through detention with the man can't be easy. How's that going, by the way?" Zabini inquired.

"Ah-It's been… good, I think. A bit tiring to clean the cauldrons and the green goop, but it is easier now," Gregory explained, scrambling a little to choose his words on the unexpected topic.

"I see. That sounds tough, but I am glad you're having an easier time now," Zabini acquiesced, rolling with the poor explanation as if it wasn't the equivalent of him stumbling around blindly. "I've seen you at the Mess Hall once or twice, so it's good to know that Snape is at least merciful enough to let you sleep and eat at least, right?" The kid laughed for a moment.

Gregory awkwardly chuckled along.

"He's not so bad if you do the job properly. He's a lot more amenable than I thought he would be when I had to go to his office," he explained, a little more relaxed now at the reminder of his potion detentions.

"I remember that… say, I don't think I've heard why you missed curfew that day. Would it be too much to ask how that happened?"

"I just... got lost on my way back," Gregory admitted, leaving out the important parts just in case. One never knew with the Slytherins.

"That tracks, the castle can be quite hard to move through most of the time. You'd hardly be the first that got lost by taking the wrong turn," Zabini nodded with a hum while reclining back slightly on his stool.

Gregory let out a soundless sigh at the vague description being accepted.

"Though I must admit that I'm still curious about why you got back completely drenched," the kid continued, making him freeze. Right, that had happened, hadn't it? ' Fuck,' he cursed internally while fighting off a shiver that ran down his spine as he remembered the crazy ghost.

"It was like you went for a swim at the Black Lake," Zabini commented, chuckling once again. "Ah, sorry. It wasn't my intention to bring up bad memories. Please, forget I said anything," he apologized, probably mistaking Gregory's mood plummeting as a faux pass on his part.

"It's fine. No harm done," he replied simply.

Before the conversation could continue, the door swung open, calling for their attention.

"Settle down. We have much to cover today and I won't tolerate any interruptions." The professor's cape billowed behind him as he walked towards the familiar podium. The class's hushed whispers quieted almost immediately until no sound was left other than the fires illuminating the place. Nobody was willing to draw the man's ire on the very first class after winter's break.

"I've graded your winter's homework already," the man continued, taking an also familiar stack of paper from somewhere before directing a snidely judgemental glare at all of them. "I must say that I am distinctly disappointed. Though I guess, that was to be expected at the very least…"

Snape's gaze swept through all of them, daring them to defy his remark.

When no complaint came, the man put the papers aside and walked to the rows of tables.

"As you should know, this week's classes will be about the Fire Protection potion," the man drawled as he continued patrolling through the work desk lazily, before sharply turning and staring at the foremost table towards- "Potter! Can you tell me why the wartcaps must be finely powdered in a mortar before usage?" the man demanded rather than asked.

Harry didn't flinch at being singled out, probably already expecting it to happen. A hushed conversation between him and Ron went by for a moment before the latter shrugged his shoulders and hastily flipped through the pages of the previous unopened book.

Gregory winced in sympathy. They weren't even looking in the right chapter, by the looks of it. On top of that, the particular detail Snape was asking about was in a different book.

"Must I repeat myself, Potter?" Snape drawled with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know, professor," Harry huffed with a frown.

"As disappointing as always. Perhaps if you spent more time studying instead of playing around with your broom, you wouldn't be failing such basic questions," the man remarked unnecessarily, earning a heated glare from Harry that was matched by Snape's own.

Gregory took a mental note to remember asking Vincent to skip to what the deal with these two was because even for him it was obvious that they hated each other to the core.

"Five points from Gryffindor," Snape announced and turned around from the get. For a moment, it looked like Harry would protest the decision before Ron shook his shoulder, making the kid's mouth snap shut and turn to look ahead, in the opposite direction from the professor who paced himself through the central space between desks. "Anyone else that might answer the question?"

The room remained deathly silent.

"No one?" the man questioned with a tone that spoke of his further disappointment in all of them.

He scanned through each of the students like a hawk. No one was willing to meet the man's eyes, opting instead to look to the side or their study books to make themselves look occupied. Snape's gaze swept through all of them swiftly before stopping on Gregory.

The man seemed to mull something for a moment before opening his mouth.

"Mr. Goyle, answer the question," the dour man demanded, making him flinch when everyone turned to him. He even heard some of the Slytherins curse to themselves, assuming they'd be losing House points too.

Gregory, for his part, didn't know what to do. His mouth opened and closed like a fish as he tried to decide what to do next. Not because he didn't know the answer, but because he did.

Gregory scanned the classroom in a panic, trying to find an answer to the situation he found himself in. Everyone continued looking at him with dull expressions, clearly not expecting much from him. All he had to do was to answer incorrectly or pretend not to know, he knew. Everything would remain the same as always. All that would happen was that his reputation with Snape would take a hit, which wasn't saying much, really.

If he were to answer correctly though, he didn't know what would happen. A few days before then, he would just assume something as little as this wouldn't raise any kind of attention. It was just a stupid question at the beginning of a single class after all. Yet, Vincent's current situation showed him how things might get out of control.

Everyone continued to stare at him.

He felt bile rise in his throat and became distinctly aware of everything around him. The smell of vinegar and sulfur coming from the mushrooms became even more pungent, more nauseating. The tightness of his clothes due to his fat body made him feel self-conscious. His nails scraped slightly against the rugged wood of the table as he felt a drop of sweat start to form just below his hairline. His face felt like it was set on fire.

He just wished everyone would just stop looking at him already!

"We are waiting, Mr. Goyle," Snape reminded him.

They were trying to avoid any kind of attention until they could at least catch up. Nothing good would come out of answering correctly. Gregory knew that.

And yet…

It was at that moment his eyes met Vincent's across the room. The boy looked at him from beside Malfoy and after a moment that felt like an eternity, Gregory saw his only friend in that world nod affirmatively once and then towards Snape. A go-ahead, if he ever saw one… Or maybe that's just what he wanted to see.

"U-Uhm it's because of the wartcap properties, professor," Gregory said and hastily continued his explanation at the raised eyebrow from the professor as if asking him to carry on. "Wartcaps as a whole are known to generate thick crusts onto everything they enter in contact with. So, if one were to pour them as they were inside the cauldron, it would just solidify the substance. If you powder it in a mortar- Ah! You have to make sure to use dragon hide gloves first. Then, hm, if you powder it, the dust will dissolve into the potion before it has time to destroy it."

Gregory didn't dare to meet eyes with anyone. His gaze remained firmly locked on the yellow cubes inside the magically resistant bowl. Hushed whispers he couldn't quite make sense of started across the room. It was better that way. Gregory didn't want to hear what they had to say. He just wanted to either continue the class in peace or run as far away as his legs could carry him.

"Quiet," he heard Snape's low voice say, cutting through the conversations and bringing the much-needed silence back. "Acceptable answer. Five points for Slytherin. Now, open your books on page 259 and carefully read the instructions before any potion brewing takes place. If I catch any of you playing with the ingredients, I'll…" Snape continued along with the echo of his steps as he moved away toward his podium.

Gregory took a moment to breathe in and try to force what little he knew of Occlumency into practice in an effort to calm his frying nerves. He felt exhausted already. All he wanted was to just brew until the class was over.

"You did good," Zabini said from his side with a light pat on Gregory's shoulder, which made him stare at his desk partner. "You know a lot about potions, huh? I didn't quite think you were the type, but you certainly proved me wrong. Hopefully, I can learn a thing or two, because I suck at them," the kid continued with a friendly smile on his face that managed to reassure Gregory slightly.

Enough for the kid to scan the rest of the class for a moment. At first glance, everyone seemed to have moved on, but he did catch the occasional glance of some of his classmates from time to time. Malfoy whispered something to Vincent while stealing glances at him, while the latter said something back that Gregory didn't quite catch. On the side, a similar situation was happening between those girls, Greengrass and Davis. The rest of the Slytherin and Gryffindor only stared at him occasionally with confused frowns.

"Now, that is a better expression. Cheer up!" Zabini smiled in that same friendly tone and Gregory found himself returning it. Perhaps he was wrong about his fellow Slytherin. He seemed to be quite amicable.

"Now, how about we start with those potions? Snape is already looking at us funny," Zabini pointed out with a small nod towards the professor who stared directly at him like a hawk.

"Right," Gregory answered with a sigh, trying to leave that whole mess aside. He would have to deal with whatever the ramifications for this were later on, but for now, he just wanted a distraction and potion-making sounded like the perfect excuse. "Let's get this potion ready. First, Zabini, do you think that you could cut the bursting mushrooms there?" he asked.

"You can just call me Blaise," the kid said. "And sure thing, anything I should know? I am following your lead here," Zabi-Blaise reminded him.

"Then just call me Gregory, and just cut them normally in halves and try to not squeeze them because they'll explode…"

With that, Gregory's mind centered solely on the potion and how to prepare it, leaving aside his thoughts and the stares he could still feel coming in his direction. He hated being the center of attention. But, he would admit it felt good to finally stop trying to act like an idiot, liberating even. It was like he got rid of a heavyweight.

He didn't know what the consequences for this would be, or if there would be any in the first place.

However, Gregory could admit from the bottom of his heart that for once in his life, he had no regrets.

[} Chapter End {]

Adrian: Well… Do we even need to say anything?

Arc: Gregory being his socially anxious self. Vincent hating life. The usual here.

Adrian: C , pain all around, business as usual.

Arc: We hope you all liked the chapter and, as always, please remember to leave a comment to tell us what you think.

Random Arc Question: Who is your favorite professor in Hogwarts? I've always been partial to Flitwick myself. The guy just seems to love teaching.

Adrian: Leaving aside the Potterverse aversion to letting adults do… literally anything, I'm a fan of McGonagall.

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ