It started as a joke DracoxReader

Someone is a coward...

Oliver should consider himself lucky, was it strictly up to Draco and Blaise, he would have spent the night in the infirmary. You, however, along with a nod from Goyle, allowed him to leave the common room of his own will.

"Thank you" Goyle shook his head once Oliver was out of earshot.

"No one talks to our friend like this, is Ben okay?" You remember Goyle mentioning Oliver threatened him and while Goyle was a fighter, Ben was not.

"I don't know. I should go find him though." he shook his head.

"Want me to come with you? If he's in the common room then no one is going to let us in any way" you offered.

"Sure," he nodded.

"Should we all go?" Draco asked.

"We don't want to scare him, you guys wait here and we will be right back" you pulled Draco's face down to yours to press your lips to his quickly.

"Be safe" he instructed.

With that you and Goyle were off into the hallway, the Hufflepuff common room was near the kitchens, so they were easy enough to get to. Though it was on the other end of the castle.

"Can I ask you something?" Goyle said suddenly as you walked in silence.

"Sure" you played softly with the ring on your finger, sometimes forgetting it was there at all.

"What happened to your arm?" While the scar had faded some, it was still all to obvious something had happened, and no one, though you know they noticed, had asked.

"Oh..." you shook your head. "Just.."

"Dark Lord stuff?" he asked. You nodded back to him, running your fingers over the scars on your forearm. It's almost too bad it hadn't happened to your left arm instead, maybe it would have destroyed the mark. "You know you can tell me right? I am going go end up in your boat someday, my dad already is"

He was right of course, you had seen Goyle Senior at many meetings at the manor, though you wager he had no idea who you were until the Dark Lord announced to the table that you had gotten married.

"You really want to know?" You figured out of everyone, Goyle was the most likely to walk alongside you two on this side. Even if you wished he didn't have to.

"I know you won't talk to Greengrass about this stuff, but she's soft. She doesn't understand it, but I do"

"I got splinched"

"Splinched? Like from apparating?"

"Yeah, nearly lost my arm apparating someone to the Malfoy manor... guess the jump from Kings Cross was too much to carry someone who didn't know it was coming."

"Someone, I know?" He asked.

"Yeah..."

"Wait, Longbottom?" he stopped in his footsteps, lingering now in the darkened passages of the empty hallway.

"No, not him"

"Oh" you could see it click in his brain. "But why....?"

"Her dad has been writing things. So she paid for his slander"

"That's..shitty. Wait so you carried her all the way to the manor? That's so far!"

"I know, I was waiting for Draco, but I couldn't wait. That's why this happened" you held up your arm, pulling away your sleeve to expose just how much of your arm had been confused by the scarring.

"The fact that you made that at all, you're strong." you turned the corner to the kitchens. There was a small herd of Hufflepuffs standing in the hallway whispering.