Chapter Text
Vincent Crabbe had always known he was a little different. While his best friend Gregory would go on and on about which of his second cousins had the largest breasts or which famous witch he’d love to “show a good time”, Vince would nod along pretending to be in agreement. In truth, he wasn’t much interested in the fairer sex. He could appreciate if they made an effort with their appearance or if they were well mannered, but they never made his heart beat faster or his hands start to sweat. When he saw a good looking boy, however, his attraction was undeniable. He took this in stride, just like everything else life had handed to him, because it didn’t seem like he had much of a choice in the matter. His father being a death eater, his future marriage being planned since birth, his status as Draco Malfoy’s “cronie”; all this and more were just part of life. So realizing he liked boys was exactly that- just part of life.
The part he simply couldn’t wrap his head around no matter how hard he tried was what boy in particular he was attracted to. Scratch that- had been attracted to since he first laid eyes on him. Since age 11, every time the golden trio walked by he couldn’t help but stare. Every angry confrontation between Harry and Draco, Crabbe was there glaring menacingly while inside his stomach was full of butterflies from the tiny bit of eye contact between him and the lanky boy. There was just no helping how he felt.
It wasn’t until their sixth year at Hogwarts that Vince actually had a conversation with the young man that filled his dreams. Potions class was more cheery than usual that Monday, Professor Slughorn having given them the assignment of creating their own version of the happiness potion, specifying it to what actually made their partner happy. Of course, this happened to be the one day that Blaise was sick in the hospital wing, meaning that Draco immediately grabbed the closest Slytherin to be his partner. With Draco and Greg paired up, Vince was left standing awkwardly alone until Professor Slughorn saw him and said, “You’ll have to pair up with Mr. Weasley, Mr. Crabbe. And I don’t want to hear any complaints about it!” He added on as he saw both Ron and Vince start to protest. Vince glared at Draco and Greg, who gave him a smirk and a sympathetic shrug.
He grabbed his bag and his wand off the table and slowly walked over to the very back of the classroom where Ron was waiting, already staring confusedly at the cauldron in front of him. Vince’s stomach felt like it was full of chocolate frogs as he finally reached the table and had to look Ron in the eyes. It seemed to be happening in slow motion, the taller redhead boy looked up from the cauldron, blinking rapidly from the steam, the dim lighting somehow highlighting the smattering of freckles across his cheeks, his lips parted slightly, hair askew. As Ron’s blue eyes met Vince’s brown ones, there was a tiny moment where Ron’s face stayed open and his expression was almost kind. But in a second it was gone, replaced by the familiar frown and glare usually reserved for any Slytherin that crossed Ron’s path.
Fuck, thought Vince, I do that to him. I make his face go from warm and inviting to hardened and cold. That wasn’t a good thought. Crabbe remembered perhaps a second too late that he was supposed to frown and grimace back at Ron, so he did, but certainly without his usual gusto.
“I guess we have to read about the potion then,” said Ron stiffly, turning the page in his potions book.
Vince just grunted in reply then sat down in the chair next to Ron and began looking through his potions book as well. The chapter on happiness potions was long and nowhere near interesting enough to hold his attention for long. His mind wandered instead to thoughts of running his hands through silky ginger hair, kissing the knuckles of long slender fingers, his breath ghosting against the sensitive spot below Ron’s ear and hearing a soft moan in response before leaning in to- he stopped his thoughts in their tracks, his arousal already becoming uncomfortably apparent. Vince shifted in his seat and tried to focus on the words in his potions book, but to no avail.
He found himself looking at the back of Harry and Hermione’s heads as they chatted over their cauldron a few rows ahead. He wondered what it was like to have a friendship like the those three. Not that he and Greg weren’t close, but they didn’t tell each other everything and they didn’t face trolls and three headed dogs together. In fact, he and Greg hadn’t even chosen to be friends, they were just forced together from birth and didn’t question it.
A throat clearing from his right brought him out of his thoughts and he glanced over to see Ron frowning judgementally at him. Vince blushed furiously and tried to look busy with his book, but his hands were shaking as he turned the page and he could feel Ron’s stare still on him.
“You haven’t read a single word, have you?” Ron asked.
Vince looked at a spot over Ron’s shoulder and quietly said, “well, it is bloody boring.”
Ron scoffed, “that, and you were drooling over Hermione the whole time! I saw you staring.”
Vince blushed even more, feeling like an idiot for zoning out while looking in the direction of Ron’s best friends. “Was not,” was all he could think to say.
“It’s fine if you have a crush on her, most of the school does, just don’t be so obvious about it. It gets creepy,” was Ron’s response.
Vince sputtered at that, shocked that Ron would be so nonchalant about a Slytherin finding his friend attractive. But some part of him felt compelled to let Ron know that it wasn’t Hermione he was attracted to. Without thinking he blurted, “it’s not her, actually. It’s um, someone else.”
Ron frowned at that and tried to catch Vince’s eye, but to no avail. “Alright, be all mysterious about it. But don’t tell me if it’s Harry, he gets enough attention as is,” said Ron.
“Right, well it’s not him either, so…” said Vince. Then he pointedly turned back to his book and read the sentence, ‘The potion of happiness will not only simulate the feelings of joy and glee, but will also mimic the bodily effects of those emotions on the recipient- more energy, smiling, better sexual performance, etc.’ at least ten times before he was sure Ron had turned away from him.
The last 10 minutes of class passed in what seemed like seconds before Professor Slughorn was saying “Everyone come to class next week with a list of what makes you happy so you can start brewing! No exceptions and no copying lists!” as everyone was packing up their bags. Vince didn’t even bother putting his book in his bag, he just got up and made a beeline for Draco and Greg at the front of class.
Draco grinned mischievously as Vince reached their table, “How did it go working with your little lover boy, Crabbe?”
Vince blushed for what must’ve been the fifth time that hour and gave Draco his most menacing look, “Shut it! He’s not my lover boy and all we did was read, so fuck off!”
Draco seemed unconvinced, “Mmhmm, sure. Just let me know when you pick a wedding date and I’ll be there!” He said laughing to himself.
Greg gave a small chuckle at the joke but he smiled genuinely at Vince. At least there was one person on his side in all of this. They finished packing up and left the classroom, Draco already starting up another one-sided conversation about how ridiculous Potter looked in his new quidditch captain uniform. Vince shared a look with Greg and they both rolled their eyes, Draco truly never knew how to stop talking about Harry Potter.
~~~
Ron smiled gratefully as Hermione finally returned to their table in the library, arms laden with books as usual. Harry barely glanced up at her from where he was staring intently at the Maurader’s Map, following Draco Malfoy’s dot down a fourth floor corridor.
“Harry, are you going to study or not?” Hermione asked, “because if not, why are you even in the library? It denigrates the sanctity of the library as a place of learning. You’re literally obsessed!”
Harry just grunted, barely even hearing her. Hermione turned to Ron in disbelief, “I think we’re going to have to commit him to the hospital if this doesn’t stop soon!” She said, in all seriousness.
“Or we could just lock the two of them in a closet for a few hours,” Ron said with a sly smile. Hermione giggled at that, then got out a roll of parchment and her quill.
“I suppose we should start on our happiness lists, then!” said Hermione, then she turned to Ron sympathetically, “Oh, I forgot to ask, was it just awful being paired up with Crabbe? I thought Slughorn would just let the three of us work together.”
Ron frowned, remembering the few words he had and the Slytherin had exchanged. “It was alright, I suppose. Somehow I found out that he doesn’t have a crush on you or Harry,” said Ron.
Hermione giggled again, “and how exactly did you get to the topic of who you have crushes on? You’ve hardly spoken before today!”
“I sort of asked him,” Ron explained, looking sheepish, “I was just being friendly like you always tell me to be!”
“Well,” started Hermione, with a glint in her eye, “Maybe he was trying to insinuate that he has a crush on you.”
“‘Mione!” Ron exclaimed loudly, finally getting Harry’s attention away from the map, “Don’t say things like that! It’s not even funny. He’s a bloody Slytherin.”
“Honestly, Ron,” Hermione said, “Don’t overreact. Slytherin or not, is it really so strange to imagine someone liking you?”
Ron thought for a bit, “I s’pose I’m just used to it being you or Harry getting the attention. And it’s usually from the opposite sex, anyway. So yes, it is strange.”
Hermione gave him an all-knowing look, “You’re heteronormative upbringing may be influencing your perspective more than it needs to; men can be attracted to other men. Look at Harry and that dot on the map for goodness sake!” She glanced at Harry, “They’re made for each other!”
Ron opened his mouth to respond but Hermione wasn’t finished, “not to mention, Crabbe isn’t the worst person that could have a crush on you. He’s not the unpleasant little boy he once was. I even heard Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones whispering about how cute he is. So you could do worse.” She shrugged, then seemed to be done with the conversation, picking her quill back up and writing furiously.
Ron just stared dumbly at her for a few seconds while trying to process her words. Did she really expect him to be pleased by the prospect of Crabbe liking him? Even if Ron could admit that the Slytherin was not bad looking, he was still Draco’s best friend, the son of death eaters, and a seemingly brainless idiot- Ron had never heard him string more than three words together. It just couldn’t be true, so Ron put those thoughts aside and started in on his potions assignment while beside him Harry tried valiantly to keep his eyes open and Hermione scribbled away, already halfway down her roll of parchment.
Over the next few days, Ron couldn’t help but observe the behavior of Crabbe, especially since they seemed to be running into him, Draco, and Goyle quite often. In the great hall on Tuesday morning Harry began veering toward the Slytherin table, Ron and Hermione discouraging him all the while. But Draco saw them coming and seemed excited for the confrontation.
Draco stood up as the trio stopped in front of the table, Crabbe and Goyle following suit moments later. “Well, well,” Draco drawled, “Come to bid me a good morning, Potter?”
Harry clenched his fist, “You wish,” He said angrily, “Actually, I came to ask where the hell you were last night!”
Hermione tried to exchange a worried glance with Ron, but he was busy watching Crabbe. The shorter, plumper boy kept looking at Ron then quickly averting his gaze, and there was an undeniable rosy tint to his cheeks. Ron couldn’t tell if this was any different to the way Crabbe usually acted, since he’d never paid the boy much attention before.
“What the bloody hell are you talking about, Potter?” Draco’s voice had dropped to a whisper and his neck had turned blotchy and red.
Harry leaned forward, hands gripping the edge of the table, “You know exactly what I’m talking about, Malfoy,” he said in a low voice. A voice one might even consider sultry, but Ron forced that thought out of his mind.
The redness had crept up into Malfoy’s pale cheeks by this point and he seemed to be at a loss for words. He opened his mouth then closed it, still staring at Harry across the table.
“Let’s go, Harry,” Hermione finally said, taking him by the arm and dragging him toward the Gryffindor table.
Ron turned to follow, but not before sparing one more glance at Crabbe. He was looking at Draco in confusion, but noticed Ron’s gaze and met it. For a split second Crabbe actually started to smile, a small cautious smile that made Ron realize what Hannah and Susan were talking about when they called him “cute”. But the smile was gone as soon as it had appeared, and Ron couldn’t be sure he had even seen it at all.
This pattern continued on Wednesday while Harry, Ron, and Hermione were heading to the common room from Herbology class. As they turned a corner into the courtyard they were met with the sight of Crabbe and Goyle standing over someone sitting on a bench. As they approached they realized Crabbe and Goyle were actually comforting the person sitting, and that person was, of course, Draco Malfoy. Crabbe was patting his shoulder while Goyle was saying something and motioning with his hands.
But it was Draco that truly shocked the trio; he looked as though he had been crying, his eyes were bloodshot, his face was blotchy. His usually pristine hair was disheveled and greasy, pieces of it falling into his face. Harry stopped in his tracks as he took in the scene, a frown creasing his forehead and his eyes going dark.
This time it was Ron who started pulling him forward and away from the three Slytherins. Hermione followed, grabbing Harry’s other arm and whispering in his ear. Ron spared a look back and caught the eye of Crabbe, who was already looking in their direction. His face was a mix of despair and delight, eyes bright with hope? but his mouth twisted sourly. Ron tried for an apologetic smile before realizing he didn’t know what he was sorry for and turned back to his friends.