Lesson Plans

"And that's another ten points for Ravenclaw, as Padma Patil sneaks the Quaffle past Malcolm Baddock!" The spectators, save those huddled in the Slytherin section of the stands, burst out into loud cheers.

Hermione looked up from her book long enough to see Malfoy, his fury evident even from this distance, streak across the pitch to issue directions to Crabbe and Goyle. She narrowed her eyes, trying to read Malfoy's lips, but he was talking too fast and gesticulating too wildly for her to be able to make anything out. Crabbe, she saw, was nodding rapidly, but Goyle seemed to hang back, listening but not really taking part.

She hadn't spoken to Goyle since the night she was attacked over two months ago. Professor Snape had held her back at the end of her first Advanced Potions class after she'd been released from the infirmary to inform her that her tutoring services were no longer required. Hermione had opened her mouth to protest, then thought better of it. She was no longer certain just how much she could trust Goyle, or even if at all. He may have taken her to the infirmary, but he'd also done nothing to prevent the attack in the first place.

Not that it would really have mattered if she had wanted to continue: Ron and Harry wouldn't let her out of their sight for even a moment unless she was in class or the girls' dormitory, and even then one or the both of them escorted her directly to the threshold. It was endearing, she had to admit, but annoying as well. She'd much rather be curled up in an armchair by the fire in the Gryffindor common room than outside on this bitterly cold February afternoon. The Ravenclaw and Slytherin Quidditch teams were fairly evenly matched, too, and the match had been going on for nearly three hours with the Snitch nowhere in sight. Her fingers were so numb she could hardly turn the pages of her book.

"Malfoy looks like he's got something up his sleeve," she heard Ron say to Harry. "I just know he's going to try something dirty."

Harry snorted. "Malfoy cheat? D'you think?" Ginny, sitting next to Hermione, chortled.

"I almost wish he would cheat," Hermione said quietly, so only Ginny could hear, "then Madame Hooch could call the match and we could all go inside and thaw out."

"Agreed," Ginny said, "though I'd rather Cho caught the Snitch than have the match called for cheating." She rubbed her hands together and blew on them. "I reckon I've had enough as well."

"Cho hasn't got a chance against Malfoy," Harry said. "Not on that broom." Hermione looked over to see him watching the Ravenclaw Seeker as she circled the pitch. If he still harbored feelings for her, he kept them well-hidden.

"I don't care who gets the Snitch, I just want the match to be over," Hermione said, ignoring Ron's outraged squawk.

His protest was drowned out by a wave of noise from the stands. Thankful that the match might at last be near its end, Hermione marked her page and looked in the direction Ginny's finger was pointing.

Crabbe and Goyle were headed on a collision course for Cho, coming from opposite directions in order to sandwich her between them. At the same time, the three Slytherin Chasers swooped in to cut off alternate escape routes.

"They can't do that, can they?" Hermione asked Harry. "A whole team can't just gang up on one player!"

Harry, however, either hadn't heard or found better things to occupy his attention. He leaped to his feet and shouted, "The Snitch! Malfoy's spotted it!"

Ron and Ginny were on their feet as well, along with almost everyone else in attendance, all of them save the Slytherins jeering and hissing as Malfoy readily caught the Snitch and raised his fist in triumph. None of them saw Crabbe and Goyle jostling Cho. No one but Hermione saw one of the two Beaters bump the much smaller girl hard enough to knock her off her broom. Not until, that is, Hermione cried out her name and pointed at the falling body.

Suddenly students were pouring out of the stands and tumbling on to the field. Even Ron and Harry abandoned their self-appointed posts as Hermione's guardians and joined the throng as it rushed either to the small crowd gathered around Cho or the Slytherin team. From her perch high up in the stands Hermione could see that Cho was able to get to her feet and limp off the pitch with Madame Pomfrey's assistance, but it was taking a combined effort from Madame Hooch and Professors McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick and Snape to prevent the angry spectators from assaulting Malfoy and his teammates. Hermione watched with mingled shock and amusement as Michael Corner drew his wand on Crabbe, only to have it forcibly confiscated by Professor Snape. Harry, Ron and Ginny, on the other hand, made a beeline for Malfoy; Ron's move to tackle Malfoy was stopped only by Ginny jumping on his back and holding him in a headlock.

Gradually the crowd dispersed. Professor McGonagall was frog-marching Harry and Ron inside. Ginny ran along beside her, no doubt trying to persuade her Head of House that Malfoy had started the brawl that had left both Harry and Malfoy disheveled and covered in grass stains. Professor Snape held Michael Corner, Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein at wandpoint and was likewise ushering them inside, most likely to distribute detentions as soon as they got to his dungeon. Madame Hooch led the Ravenclaw and Slytherin Quidditch teams back to their respective changing rooms, while Professors Flitwick and Sprout ushered the students still lingering on the pitch toward the castle.

Once the pitch was cleared, Hermione moved to the bottommost tier of the grandstands and waited for the players to emerge from the changing rooms. Several Ravenclaws were the first to appear, somber and quiet in the face of their defeat and the injury inflicted on their Seeker. Then Hermione spotted the three Slytherin Chasers, laughing and jeering amongst themselves at the gullibility of their opponents. Next came Malfoy and Crabbe. Hermione could tell they were giddy at their success, but not just from the match; the words "Potter" and "detention" and Crabbe's hyena-like laugh echoed across the empty pitch.

Malfoy and Crabbe had disappeared into the encroaching gloom of mid-winter nightfall by the time Hermione saw Goyle emerge from the Slytherin changing room. Judging from the slump in his massive shoulders and the way he listlessly dragged his broom behind him, he didn't share in his teammates' exhilaration. Hermione climbed down from the stands and hurried across the pitch toward him. "Gregory!" she called softly, not wanting to attract too much attention, "Gregory, wait up!"

He stopped and turned to watch her approach, a sad expression across his bovine face. As Hermione neared he resumed trudging toward the castle again, his head bent downward. Hermione had to run the last few yards to catch up to him and was consequently out of breath when she did.

"Wait," she panted, reaching a hand out both for support and to stop him. Before she made contact, however, he flinched and drew back from her. "Gregory, please. Stop."

He walked on another yard or two before stopping. "What d'you want?" he asked, his voice dull and listless.

"For starters, I want you to turn around and look at me."

He did as she asked, though he kept his gaze firmly fixed on the ground. "There. Happy now?"

Hermione inhaled deeply, partly to catch her breath, partly to sigh. "No, I'm not." She took a step closer to him. She was about to take another, but when she saw his fists clench she thought better of it and stayed put. "D'you mind telling me why you ganged up on Cho Chang like that?"

"What's it to you?"

"What's it to me? I saw you push her. Why'd you do it?"

He shrugged. "It's just a game. She wasn't seriously hurt."

"That's beside the point. What makes you think it's acceptable to push people around like that? I thought I knew you better than that."

"I reckon even you can be wrong sometimes."

He sounded so sad, so lost, she couldn't help pitying him. "I refuse to believe I was that wrong about you. I know you're not a bully, Gregory. I've seen what you're really like, when you're not around...your friends." She drew a breath and plunged in. "Why do you let him treat you that way?"

He shook his head. "You wouldn't understand."

"Don't underestimate me the same way I did you," she said, huffing with irritation.

"What d'you mean?"

She drew hope from the slight increase in his responsiveness; if she could keep him listening, she just might get through to him. "Five months ago I wouldn't have given you the time of day. Look where we are now. As you said, sometimes even I can be wrong. So why don't you give me a chance to understand?"

He never got a chance to answer; a lazy chuckle punctuated the darkness just then, forcing Hermione to acknowledge to herself that she was now in a very dangerous predicament.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" A wand flared and Malfoy stepped into view, Crabbe lurking behind him holding his illuminated wand aloft. "Lovers meeting for a tryst?"

"Get stuffed, Malfoy," Goyle said.

Both Hermione and Malfoy stared at him in shock. "Sorry? I don't think I heard you correctly," Malfoy said.

Goyle's fists clenched so tightly his knuckles cracked. "You heard me."

Malfoy drew closer, twirling his wand in his fingers. "I thought I heard you tell me to get stuffed." He turned to Crabbe. "Is that what you heard?"

Crabbe, grinning wolfishly, nodded. Hermione couldn't help thinking of the troll that cornered her in the girls' lavatory her first year.

"I thought so," Malfoy said, turning back to Goyle. "I reckon somebody needs to be put back in his proper place." He sneered at Hermione. "Though I doubt you can sink any lower than consorting with a Mudblood."

Hermione anticipated Goyle's lunge and grabbed his wrist in a desperate attempt to hold him back. Her fingers didn't even wrap all the way around. "Don't," she said. "He's not worth it." It was a warning she'd issued countless times to Harry and Ron, all in vain, but to her astonishment Goyle seemed to heed her.

"Shut your gob, Granger," Malfoy said. "You can try to poison his mind all you want, but Goyle's mine. Always has been, always will be. He does what I tell him to do. Isn't that right?"

Confused, Hermione looked up at Goyle for an explanation. "What is he talking about?"

"Go on, you great oaf, tell her." Goyle just stared at the ground in stony silence. "Fine," Malfoy said, raising his chin in smug defiance, "I'll do it. His family owes my father a life debt. Until that debt is repaid, their lives are bound to ours."

"A life debt isn't slavery!" Hermione exclaimed as she stepped toward him, sickened by his insinuation.

His wandtip hovered inches from her nose. "What're you going to do about, try to free him like you did the elves?" He laughed. "You're so arrogant, thinking you can invade our world and change it to suit your perverted notions of right and wrong. Well, just because you can teach him to read doesn't mean you can change him. You Mudbloods are all alike --"

"Don't call her that!" Goyle shouted, breaking free from Hermione's grip to move toward Malfoy.

He took several quick steps backward and pointed his wand at Goyle. Then his eyes narrowed. "You fancy her, don't you?" His upper lip curled. "I don't believe it! No wonder you've been behaving so oddly this term. I always knew you were pathetic, but this exceeds even my expectations of how worthless you really are."

"Don't listen to him," Hermione said to Goyle. "You're a far better person than he will ever be."

"For the love of Merlin, stop it with the lovey-dovey rubbish, you're making me ill." Malfoy spat on the ground between Hermione and Goyle's feet. "You two deserve each other. I'll find a way to deal with you later," he added, scowling at Goyle. "C'mon, Crabbe."

"You're such a coward," Hermione said. "I know you've been leading the attacks on D.A. members."

"Yeah?" he said, his eyebrow raised. "So what? Don't tell me you're stupid enough to think your boyfriend here is innocent?" He jerked a thumb in Goyle's direction. "Who d'you think told me how to find you in the first place?"

"Maybe so," she said, glancing worriedly at Goyle, who seemed almost to have shrunk in on himself, "but he was also the one who took me to the infirmary."

Malfoy shrugged. "I reckon even lower life forms can develop a conscience sometimes. It hardly makes him a hero. Just ask your precious Saints Potter and Weasley. They've got the full measure of him."

Hermione bristled, angry on behalf of not only Harry and Ron, but Goyle as well. "If Gregory feels shame, it's because he's not the bully you've tried to make him into. You said it yourself: he does what you tell him to do."

"Exactly. Which means your silly attempt at reforming him is wasted." He gestured casually in Goyle's direction. "One word from me and you won't be anything but a stain on the grass."

She knew she was in dangerous waters, but she couldn't help challenging him further. "What's the matter, Malfoy? Haven't got the nerve to come after me on your own?"

His wand was once again aimed at her. "Careful what you wish for, Granger. This world will be a lot nicer with one less Mudblood in it."

"Not if we have anything to say about it," came a familiar voice. Hermione had never been so happy to see Ron in her life as he, Harry, Ginny and Neville appeared, each of them holding their wands at the ready. "You're outnumbered now, you slimy git."

"Oh, good," Malfoy said. "The hero brigade has arrived just in time."

Ron scowled at him, but addressed Hermione: "Where've you been? You gave us all a fright, wandering off like that."

"I didn't wander off," she said curtly. "You lot left me to see if you could pick a fight with Malfoy."

"Never mind that," he said. "Let's go. It's bloody freezing out here."

"Don't you want to hear what Granger's doing out here in the dark with three Slytherins?" Malfoy said, taunting him.

"Not especially," Harry said. "C'mon, Hermione."

"But it's so rich! Straight from a romance novel."

"You read romance novels?" Ginny asked, her eyebrows raised.

He made a face. "Who needs to read them when we've got one unfolding right here?"

"Leave off it, Malfoy," Hermione said, turning to head for the castle.

"See, this is what I was talking about," Malfoy said to her back, though his words were obviously meant for Goyle. "All along she's been playing you for a fool. Pretending to be your friend, leading you on like a cow in heat. But when she's with this lot, you can be sure you don't even exist."

"Hermione, what is he on about?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose. All she wanted was to get away from Malfoy, and Ron, and even Goyle. Malfoy's jibe about Goyle's feelings for her had left her with an unsettled feeling in her stomach. This was a complication she hadn't anticipated. Despite the source, her instinct told her it was at least partially true, and now she needed time to think and consider her strategy.

"Stay out of this, Ron," she finally said. "It doesn't concern you."

"The hell it doesn't!"

Malfoy laughed maliciously. "What's the matter, Granger, too ashamed to tell your friends you've been fannying about with this lump of a creature?" He pushed Goyle forward, causing him to stumble. Instinctively Hermione went forward to assist him, but he caught himself just in time and turned away from her.

"Hermione?" Harry asked. "Is this true?"

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Harry, I've just been tutoring him!"

"This is where you've been disappearing off to all term? Ron asked, his revulsion all too apparent. "You've been going off to be alone with...him?"

The wounded look on Goyle's face broke Hermione's heart. "So what if I have?" she said.

"But...."

"I don't have to justify myself to you." She glared at her friends as they stared back at her in stunned silence. "Any of you. Who I choose to spend my time with, and why, is no one's business but my own."

"But...."

"But what, Ron? But he's who you think he is? Wrong! He's one of the most hardworking and decent people I've met in a long time, and I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute I've spent with him. And if you would take the time to get past your prejudices," she continued, jabbing her finger into Ron's chest so hard he winced, "maybe you could see for yourself that appearances aren't everything."

With that, she stalked away, furious with Ron, furious with Malfoy, but most of all furious with herself for letting her temper get the best of her. Unfortunately, she realized as she passed Goyle and glanced up just in time to see the look of unexpected hope blossom on his face, the consequences of losing control went well beyond shocking Malfoy and her friends into silence.