RP: Regrets
Date: 19 May 1999
Characters: Greg Goyle
Location: Outside Nottingham
Status: Private
Summary: Greg visits an old friend.
Completion: Complete
Greg had not intended to come here today; in fact, he had been avoiding it for a year. After yesterday though, he felt better able to do it, like maybe it was the right thing to do. Spending yesterday with Luna had been like a balm on all the wounds that this weekend had opened up for Greg, but it hadn't been able to completely take his mind off things. It was impossible not to think of Vince, and he suspected it would be many years before that would change.
It was a beautiful day, at least. While it was a bit rainy back in Hogsmeade, here outside of Nottingham, where they'd buried his friend, the sun was shining.
"Didn't bring anything," Greg mumbled, "but you'd have laughed or something if I'd brought flowers."
Greg frowned at the headstone, remembering the small group that had gathered here to bury Vincent Crabbe. He remembered thinking that whenever it was that he died, there'd be even less people there to see him. Now, he didn't think he could say that, and it was pretty amazing.
"Passed my NEWTs," he said, "and got a job, with the Ministry. Working with magical creatures. Don't laugh. 's actually pretty good. And I've got Luna now. Luna Lovegood? We were so wrong about her. But everything they told us was wrong, huh? 'm starting to see."
He kicked at the dirt a bit. "You've got no idea, Vince. Wish we both would've learned before it was too late. I dunno if you've seen Draco since, but he's learning too, I think. He's good, by the way. Considering."
Sighing, Greg dug his fists into the pockets of his hoodie. "Sorry I haven't been back. It was weird, not knowing if it was okay to miss you. If I could be different than I was, and still call you my friend.
"But we were friends, weren't we? Best mates. Maybe it got harder to recognise you in those last months. Maybe at the end, you weren't the same Vince. But you and me, we were the same for a long time. I can't run from that. I just wish you hadn't gone someplace I couldn't follow."
He stood quietly for a while, thinking, listening to the breeze. "Things might've been different if I'd said something, and not been so quiet when things got worse that year. Course, a lot of things would've been different if I hadn't spent so much time following other people.
"Vince, I ..." Greg paused a moment, and crouched to put his hand on the headstone. "I miss you. I wish you could see things now. Wish you could see that it didn't have to be this way."
Greg didn't know what else to say after that, and he fell silent, noticing that the grass around the headstone was full of weeds. He bent forward on his knees and slowly started pulling them out.
Characters: Greg Goyle
Location: Outside Nottingham
Status: Private
Summary: Greg visits an old friend.
Completion: Complete
Greg had not intended to come here today; in fact, he had been avoiding it for a year. After yesterday though, he felt better able to do it, like maybe it was the right thing to do. Spending yesterday with Luna had been like a balm on all the wounds that this weekend had opened up for Greg, but it hadn't been able to completely take his mind off things. It was impossible not to think of Vince, and he suspected it would be many years before that would change.
It was a beautiful day, at least. While it was a bit rainy back in Hogsmeade, here outside of Nottingham, where they'd buried his friend, the sun was shining.
"Didn't bring anything," Greg mumbled, "but you'd have laughed or something if I'd brought flowers."
Greg frowned at the headstone, remembering the small group that had gathered here to bury Vincent Crabbe. He remembered thinking that whenever it was that he died, there'd be even less people there to see him. Now, he didn't think he could say that, and it was pretty amazing.
"Passed my NEWTs," he said, "and got a job, with the Ministry. Working with magical creatures. Don't laugh. 's actually pretty good. And I've got Luna now. Luna Lovegood? We were so wrong about her. But everything they told us was wrong, huh? 'm starting to see."
He kicked at the dirt a bit. "You've got no idea, Vince. Wish we both would've learned before it was too late. I dunno if you've seen Draco since, but he's learning too, I think. He's good, by the way. Considering."
Sighing, Greg dug his fists into the pockets of his hoodie. "Sorry I haven't been back. It was weird, not knowing if it was okay to miss you. If I could be different than I was, and still call you my friend.
"But we were friends, weren't we? Best mates. Maybe it got harder to recognise you in those last months. Maybe at the end, you weren't the same Vince. But you and me, we were the same for a long time. I can't run from that. I just wish you hadn't gone someplace I couldn't follow."
He stood quietly for a while, thinking, listening to the breeze. "Things might've been different if I'd said something, and not been so quiet when things got worse that year. Course, a lot of things would've been different if I hadn't spent so much time following other people.
"Vince, I ..." Greg paused a moment, and crouched to put his hand on the headstone. "I miss you. I wish you could see things now. Wish you could see that it didn't have to be this way."
Greg didn't know what else to say after that, and he fell silent, noticing that the grass around the headstone was full of weeds. He bent forward on his knees and slowly started pulling them out.