His head shot up as he muttered, "Professor Snape?"

Snape didn't hear him, something Greg was very thankful for. He'd always had a healthy...appreciation for Snape's temper. The man had ridden him hard at Hogwarts- likely knowing just how much of his behavior was an act.

Severus was listing aloud the ingredients of the basic potion he'd been trying to modify for the pain of the Cruciatus curse, trying to discover where he'd gone wrong in his last attempt, when he heard the door swing softly closed.  Abruptly he stopped his musings, and strode purposefully into the main part of the shop.  His normal uniform of flowing robes had been forgone, and he was instead, in a pair of Muggle jeans and a black t-shirt.  Momentarily he regretted this, but seeing who was in his shop, he smiled, a genuine smile, and his attire was forgotten.

"Mister Goyle!  What brings you into Hyacinth Elixirs?"  His voice was changed little from the days at Hogwarts, and he smirked to note the slight look of an unwary student.  That had been his favorite part of teaching, really, that unexpected moment of fear when he first stepped into a room.

"Professor," Greg began softly. He mentally cringed and braced himself. He wasn't a scared eleven year old any longer and Snape wasn't his boggart.  Momentarily distracted by the memory of Longbottom's boggart, Greg smiled wickedly. "I was wandering and stumbled across the place actually."

Severus frowned, "That doesn't happen often, I must admit.  My enchanted pathway tends to scare most people off.  I take it you were trying to escape something?" 

He smirked.  He'd always known there was more to Greg Goyle than was shown to the world, and he had sometimes wished that he could have drawn it out more at Hogwarts.  But there was little time for regrets, and he, Severus Snape, could easily have fallen into the trap of living in the past, had he not been vigilant in staying firmly in the present and watching for the future. 

Greg's eyebrows rose at Snape's blunt, accurate assessment. "Just a tense meeting with idiots who like to waste my time and money."

Severus smirked, "What other sort of idiots are there?  Would you care for some tea?  I was about to make myself a pot, and I can add a couple drops of my Tension Remover.  I recall you often used that before exams."

Without waiting for a response, he turned and strode into his lab, where he set to preparing the tea.

"Come into the back, Mr. Goyle.  My inner sanctum is not horrifying." 

Greg wasn't so certain of that. He nearly tripped over his own feet when he caught sight of what Snape was wearing. He blinked- a couple dozen times- just to be sure he wasn't seeing things. He really was in Muggle clothing! Was the world coming to an end, was the apocalypse upon them?

"Of course not," he finally managed as he stepped into the back room.

Severus gestured to the seat across from his own at the table. 

"Tell me," he said, as Greg sat, "what have you been doing since school and the war?  I had heard you went traveling, yet I didn't hear of your return."

 He stirred his tea in the pattern for the basic pain potion he'd been toying with: left stir, right stir,  right stir, left stir, left stir, left stir.

 Greg sighed. He wished people could just say 'welcome back' instead of asking questions he didn't want to answer. But, this was Snape so he didn't have the stones to tell him where he could stick his question. "I just returned, Monday, in fact." 

Severus could tell Greg was uncomfortable, and so directed his topics elsewhere.

"Have you been following Quidditch at all?"  Snape asked, choosing the first topic that came to mind. 

Greg shrugged. "A bit. I saw an article about Katie Bell playing for the Harpies. She's not grown much taller, but she seems to be a serious threat on the pitch."
 
"You would remember, would you not?"  Severus sipped his tea and looked at his former student.  He'd grown much, and yet was still easy to read, keeping his emotions right near the surface.  He could feel the relief emanating off of the young man, and decided to push him slightly farther, using glimpses of memories to guide his quiet questing of the young man's mind.

"Her friend Alicia Spinnet has just been called to starter for Puddlemere, as well.  All those Gryffindors are really starting to make names for themselves."  He stated it, musing silently about the fact that so few Slytherins had gone on to play professionally.  Perhaps he should have attempted to foster more of a love for the game in his house.  It was also strange to have seen a glimpse of the girl in Goyle's thoughts.

Greg absorbed the information. All he remembered was a tall, slim, and quite adorable brunette that seemed to always be surrounded by her fellow chasers. He just might have to see about checking out a Puddlemere game once she was on full time. "Any of ours playing professionally?"

"I don't believe so.  Marcus Flint was on for a while, but an unfortunate incident involving a bludger and his head rendered him unable to continue.  I wonder if I should have pushed the lot of you harder in it.  This Spinnet girl was always very driven as far as Quidditch went.  The one time I gave her detention that collided with her practice, she insisted that she do ten detentions not on Quidditch days rather than miss that practice," Severus smirked, "Of course, you know how that must have gone, having attempted to wheedle your way out of a few detentions yourself."

Greg chuckled. "That was Draco making me serve his detentions. I didn't dare complain or face his tantrum and your temper."

He watched as a sly smirk appeared on Snape's face. He had to wonder how many of those detentions of Draco's were more to get himself away from Draco than any rule breaking Draco had been caught doing. Deciding that he'd spent enough time with his Head of House to be polite, Greg stood. "Thank you for the tea and the news. It was good seeing you."

"You as well, Mr. Goyle.  You may stop in again at your leisure," Snape spoke as if there was no doubt that Greg would visit again, "and perhaps next time, you shall have news for me."

He stood and whisked the tea away, turning and picking up a small vial.

"Here is some Tension Remover, for the next time you have a meeting with... Idiots."  The slightest of smiles touched Snape's lips, and he pressed the vial into Greg's hands.

"Thank you, Professor."

"And next time you come, Greg, you may call me Severus."

With that he turned back to what he'd been working on, dismissing Greg out of hand.

{Summary} Greg is irritated and ends up at Snape's shop. They catch up a bit.