Never the Same, Pt. 4 (PG-13; Pansy, Goyle)
Written for the auswitchathon challenge. This is EXTREMELY AU but a lot of fun. (also using 69: Nemesis at potterverse100)
Title: Never the Same
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
IV.
Greg watched with some consternation as Pansy laughed at Harry’s joke. It hadn’t even been funny but she still laughed as if it was the funniest thing in the world. Bitterness burned inside even though he wasn’t sure why. He’d been happy a moment ago as the three of them walked toward the Quidditch pitch. It was game day.
“Did you tell her you didn’t mean it like that?” Pansy asked, her face changed entirely now that she was smiling to widely. She was… beautiful.
“Of course not. She took it wrong and that’s okay with me. That girl is a nuisance. She thinks we’re best friends because I spent an afternoon with her brother.”
“Oh, Harry. That’s bloody hilarious. I’m sure her face was as red as her hair.”
The two of them kept it up the entire way to the stands where Greg split off from them without another word. They were headed toward the dressing rooms while he was on his way up to the stands. Without either of them, he felt slightly forlorn. He was used to this feeling now after two seasons of watching them fly for the Gryffindor team. Didn’t make it better, though. In this one case, he couldn’t follow after his friends. He and his broom weren’t the best of friends.
“Having fun? I’m surprised they let you walk around alone without an escort.”
With a sigh, Greg turned to the gang of boys hanging near the entrance to the Gryffindor benches. He’d been waiting for this for the last two seasons as well. After Draco had figured out that beating up a Goyle wouldn’t get him thrashed by his father’s friends, it was only a matter of time before he brought together a gang of boys who felt the same as he did. Convincing them that it hadn’t been his idea to be a Gryffindor wouldn’t work. He’d have to use his fists.
“They aren’t escorts. They’re my friends.”
“Parkinson and Potter don’t know the first thing about being friends with the likes of you, Goyle,” Blaise muttered, his face barely obscuring the bright red hair of Ron Weasley who stood menacingly in the background. “They don’t even know how to use your talents adequately. If you’d been a Slytherin, you could have been something.”
“Your bodyguard?” he asked with some sarcasm, but not enough to make any of them angrier. Just enough to convince himself that he really did care about being a Gryffindor. “Not a chance. I’m perfectly happy being a Gryffindor.”
“More like Gryffindork.”
“Oh yeah?” Neville asked. Greg looked over his head at the group of boys that joined him. He hadn’t expected any of them to be down this early since the game was scheduled to start in two hours. “I think you should reconsider this conversation. Maybe we can talk about this after the game, instead. There will be more of us then.”
When the Slytherin didn’t back down right away, the Gryffindor boys (and a grinning Lavender) took a step forward in a menacing way. This did the trick and they watched as the boys melted into the shadows of the stands.
“You didn’t have to do that,” he told the assembled group, thankful that they had. “I would have eventually fought my way out of the group and been in my seat in time for the Snitch to be released.”
Colin took a step forward, his camera hanging from his neck as it always was. “We all owe you, Greg. If it wasn’t for you, we would have been beat up on a lot more by those guys. You taught us to work in a pack. Together, like Gryffindors should be.”
“Well, technically the Hufflepuffs work in packs,” he admitted to them. “That’s where I got the idea. I’m glad that it helped all of you, though.”
Together, they walked up to the seating area, choosing a group of seats together. Lavender squeezed in between his left side and Seamus’ right. It must be a tight fit because he can feel her heat along every inch of his side as if she’s pressed against him so securely that they’re creating their own energy.
“Go, Harry!” he shouts along with the rest of the House. He can just make out Pansy with her head down as she flies a formation with the other Chasers. Just when he starts up a cheer for her, he feels Lavender’s hand slip under his elbow and her head come to rest on his shoulder. While it doesn’t feel as good as it would if it was Pansy beside him, it’s not a bad sort of feeling. Different, but nice.
~~~
So close to the fifth and final part!
Title: Never the Same
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
IV.
Greg watched with some consternation as Pansy laughed at Harry’s joke. It hadn’t even been funny but she still laughed as if it was the funniest thing in the world. Bitterness burned inside even though he wasn’t sure why. He’d been happy a moment ago as the three of them walked toward the Quidditch pitch. It was game day.
“Did you tell her you didn’t mean it like that?” Pansy asked, her face changed entirely now that she was smiling to widely. She was… beautiful.
“Of course not. She took it wrong and that’s okay with me. That girl is a nuisance. She thinks we’re best friends because I spent an afternoon with her brother.”
“Oh, Harry. That’s bloody hilarious. I’m sure her face was as red as her hair.”
The two of them kept it up the entire way to the stands where Greg split off from them without another word. They were headed toward the dressing rooms while he was on his way up to the stands. Without either of them, he felt slightly forlorn. He was used to this feeling now after two seasons of watching them fly for the Gryffindor team. Didn’t make it better, though. In this one case, he couldn’t follow after his friends. He and his broom weren’t the best of friends.
“Having fun? I’m surprised they let you walk around alone without an escort.”
With a sigh, Greg turned to the gang of boys hanging near the entrance to the Gryffindor benches. He’d been waiting for this for the last two seasons as well. After Draco had figured out that beating up a Goyle wouldn’t get him thrashed by his father’s friends, it was only a matter of time before he brought together a gang of boys who felt the same as he did. Convincing them that it hadn’t been his idea to be a Gryffindor wouldn’t work. He’d have to use his fists.
“They aren’t escorts. They’re my friends.”
“Parkinson and Potter don’t know the first thing about being friends with the likes of you, Goyle,” Blaise muttered, his face barely obscuring the bright red hair of Ron Weasley who stood menacingly in the background. “They don’t even know how to use your talents adequately. If you’d been a Slytherin, you could have been something.”
“Your bodyguard?” he asked with some sarcasm, but not enough to make any of them angrier. Just enough to convince himself that he really did care about being a Gryffindor. “Not a chance. I’m perfectly happy being a Gryffindor.”
“More like Gryffindork.”
“Oh yeah?” Neville asked. Greg looked over his head at the group of boys that joined him. He hadn’t expected any of them to be down this early since the game was scheduled to start in two hours. “I think you should reconsider this conversation. Maybe we can talk about this after the game, instead. There will be more of us then.”
When the Slytherin didn’t back down right away, the Gryffindor boys (and a grinning Lavender) took a step forward in a menacing way. This did the trick and they watched as the boys melted into the shadows of the stands.
“You didn’t have to do that,” he told the assembled group, thankful that they had. “I would have eventually fought my way out of the group and been in my seat in time for the Snitch to be released.”
Colin took a step forward, his camera hanging from his neck as it always was. “We all owe you, Greg. If it wasn’t for you, we would have been beat up on a lot more by those guys. You taught us to work in a pack. Together, like Gryffindors should be.”
“Well, technically the Hufflepuffs work in packs,” he admitted to them. “That’s where I got the idea. I’m glad that it helped all of you, though.”
Together, they walked up to the seating area, choosing a group of seats together. Lavender squeezed in between his left side and Seamus’ right. It must be a tight fit because he can feel her heat along every inch of his side as if she’s pressed against him so securely that they’re creating their own energy.
“Go, Harry!” he shouts along with the rest of the House. He can just make out Pansy with her head down as she flies a formation with the other Chasers. Just when he starts up a cheer for her, he feels Lavender’s hand slip under his elbow and her head come to rest on his shoulder. While it doesn’t feel as good as it would if it was Pansy beside him, it’s not a bad sort of feeling. Different, but nice.
~~~
So close to the fifth and final part!