Lying in bed and flat on his back, Vince was dreading the day, it was Sunday and would be able to spend the day with his girlfriend, but having Greg, Draco and the other boys ridicule him made the day dreadful. He groaned, rolling onto his side, he had to think hard about something witty to say to them, he squeezed his eyes shut and groaned again. 'Why can't I be like Draco and never be short of witty come backs?' he thought, 'Maybe I could find a potion to make me smart or May might know a charm, she's good with charms.' Giving another grunt he rolled onto his stomach, "Morning please don't come."
"What are you belly aching bout?" Greg's voice was hoarse with sleep, he looked over at Vince's bed, waiting for a reply from the lump in the four-poster next to him. "Vincent, what are you muttering about?"
Vince didn't reply, he was hoping Greg would think him to be talking in his sleep. 'Damn, he heard me.' His mind was working in overdrive, he had to come up with a few things to spit back at anyone who would crack a joke, but was startled to have a hand on his shoulder and looked over at Greg who was rubbing sleep from his eye. "What?"
"You must be having rotten dreams, you woke me up muttering." Greg said with a yawn, he stood looking down at Vince who lay on his belly. "Are you going to just lay there like a lump? I have some cakes in my trunk and they're still good if you want one."
"I'm fine." Vince lied. 'I can't ask him, he'll get a good laugh if he knows.' He groaned again as he rolled onto his back. "Go back to bed, my stomach hurts, that's all."
Greg shrugged as he started back to bed. "If it's about that girl you can tell me, we've been best mates since we were little."
'How does he know, I should have learned to close my stupid brain.' Vince kicked the covers back and slung his thick legs off the bed. 'He knows so I should just fess up.'
Greg sat on his bed and rubbed his eyes again, yawning. "Where are you off to? It's…" He looked at his watch, but the numbers weren't legible to his tired eyes. "It's crazy early, no one is up yet."
"I know that, but I can't tell you in here." Vince was whispering as he looked around at the other boys who appeared to be sleeping.
"Both of you put a sock in it." A sleepy Blaise snarled. "Some of us wish to sleep."
Vince stood up and adjusted his pajama pants, he left the dorm and went to the common room, it was dark and empty, just the way he wanted it to be at that moment. 'I just got to relax, Greg is dumb just like me so he can't read minds.' The notion angered him, maybe he could find a potion to give him some intelligence, which would impress May.
"Man come on, tell me what's going on, did she tell you to shove off?" Greg's voice startled Vince, he shambled to the armchair he always sat in and threw himself into it. "Didn't mean to scare you, but something is going on, did she show you one of those curses she claims to be so great at?"
"No." Vince stood looking at Greg's shape in murky greenish light that failed to light up the room. "Nothing like that, I don't think she'd curse me."
"If she did I'm not going to laugh, I hear she gave some boy in Hufflepuff a taste, made him too coward to go tattle. Pansy was telling Draco about it, that boy said something about you being a blubbery pig of a boy and she let off some nasty curse." Greg spoke quietly to keep his voice form carrying up to the dorms, he waited for Vince to reply, but none came. "Draco said she surely must idolize Bella."
"Bella scares me." It was the only thing Vince could think of, he finally sat down on the sofa, he was going to tell Greg, he had to tell someone. "I'm a big dumb brute, May has to think up all the witty remarks when someone pokes fun at us. I want to be like Draco and have an endless supply of wit."
Greg could only grunt, his mind was now turning over the thought of what to do to help Vince. "We've been best mates for as long as I can remember."
"I know that." Vince lay down and looked at the dark stone ceiling. "Do you know a potion or charm to make me smart, I want to be like Draco and be charming and good at something other than eating and pushing around first years."
Greg laughed, but stopped to watch Vince sit up. "Sorry, I just don't know anything like that, look in your potions book."
"You can't tell anyone, do you understand?" Vince was growing even angrier with himself, but now he was beginning to grow angry with Greg too. "I can't believe she actually likes me."
Greg grew silent for a few moments, he had to know of something that would help Vince, but his mind could only think of his empty bed and how it was trying to summon him to get another few hours of sleep. "I'm going back to bed." He finally said. "I'll come up with something."
Vince watched him stand up despairingly and head back to bed, he sat with his elbows resting on his knees, he didn't realize how long he sat there until he heard female voices. "Damn!" He yelled, getting to his feet, he didn't turn around to see who the girls were.
Millicent watched Vince's back for a few moments. "What are you growling about?"
"I think we should just leave him alone until he packs away at least a dozen waffles." Pansy remarked, she tugged on Millicent's arm. "Come on, Daphne and May will catch up."
"I'm here, Daphne will catch up." May said cheerily as she jogged up behind them. "She seems to have lost a shoe."
"Your man woke up on the wrong side of breakfast." Millicent whispered, but found it hard to hold back the laughter.
May squeezed between Millicent and Pansy, she walked quickly around the sofa and took Vince's hand. "Tell me what's going on."
"I will later." Vince breathed as he looked over at May and smiled nearly painfully.
May squeezed his hand and gave him the same smile. "Ok, maybe you would like to chat… oh I have an excellent idea."
"May, are you coming?" Pansy asked as she put a hand on her hip.
"Yeah, I'll catch up." May said softly, she looked over her shoulder and gave Pansy a smile, but turned back to Vince. "After breakfast I'll show you something that I know you will think is absolutely splendid."
Vince nodded as he sat down heavily. "I'll see you at breakfast."
"Hey, forget those air heads, they woke me up giggling about Daphne's hair being a mess." May whispered, rolling her eyes and heaving a sigh. "They don't know anything."
Vince lay down on the sofa and grabbed a pillow in a tight hug. "I will see you after your shower."
May squatted down and looked over at the hall to the boys' dorms, she gave Vince a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you in a little bit." She stood up and trotted after Pansy and Millicent.
Vince sat next to May at breakfast, he was still focused on what possible charms or potions could make him like Draco. 'Get with it man, she has to know something.' He thought to himself. 'Maybe Greg will tell her, yeah, I don't have to tell her because he can't keep a secret.' He glanced over at May who was laughing and throwing bits of toast at Daphne who was laughing as she tried to bat the crumbly bits away with a spoon. 'Look at her, you're a fool Vincent Crabbe, you are a great big fool to think she really likes you.' He gave a groan as he put his hands over his face.
"What's wrong?" May asked gently, grabbing the cup Vince had been drinking coffee out of, she found it empty. "I'll pour you another mug."
Draco watched May pour another mug for Vince. "How do you drink that rancid stuff? The tea is still hot and isn't half bad this morning."
May set the cup in front of Vince with a smile. "There." She suddenly realized that wasn't what was bothering him.
"Oh before I forget, May, did you get that paper for Snape done yet, he'll collect it tomorrow." Pansy asked, working on a mouthful of eggs. "Dark Arts is a lot more fun with him teaching it, I feel like we're learning a lot more than we would with someone else."
"Yeah it's done, you want to look at it?" May asked, but looked over quickly to be bumped by Vince, she watched him stand up and leave. "I'll show you at lunch." She started to get up.
"Mairead, he's really upset." Greg said as he got up and motioned for the door. "I shouldn't say anything, but he's been my closest mate since we were little."
May walked with Greg and looked over at him. "So?"
"He's going to ask you for a potion to be like Draco, please tell me that you know one." Greg whispered as he walked May towards the dorm. "He sat up almost half the night thinking about it."
"He doesn't need to be like Draco, that boy is full of himself." May remarked as she crossed her arms. "Has someone been talking badly about him?"
"Not that I know of." Greg continued to whisper, getting uneasy about someone over hearing.
May stopped and thought about all the charms and potions we knew of. "I think I'm going to disappoint him."
Greg gave a loud groan as he watched May stand tapping her foot. "Come on."
Vince looked over from the armchair he sat in. "Hey, could I ask you a favor Greg?"
"Yeah, what is it?" Greg asked as he walked over to Vince and flopped down onto the sofa.
"Is May still at breakfast?" Vince breathed as he looked up at the ceiling.
"No, she's in the hall talking to Peeves." Greg replied, he watched the entrance hoping May would cut the chat short.
"Tell her about what I told you." Vince knew Greg would hear the change in his voice, but hopefully wasn't going to notice it for a little bit.
Greg got up lazily and went to find May. "Hey, he wants to talk to you."
"Who?" Peeves asked quickly, floating around to May's back. "Crabbe?"
"Shut up Peeves, go mess with someone else!" Greg yelled as he tried to shoo the ghost away with his hands.
May laughed as she looked over at the ghost. "He's been having a hard time, so go and see if you can't find out anything and you better have at least one name before I see you again."
"Aye, aye Captain Blauvelt." Peeves said as he straightened and saluted. "I certainly do enjoy watching you torment students."
May shrieked with laugher as the hem of her robe was brought up over her head. "Peeves your on my side!"
Peeves cackled before he took off blowing a raspberry for the length of the corridor.
Greg held the door to the dorm open. "What did you tell him to do?"
May shrugged as she ran over to Vince and threw herself onto his lap. "Has someone been talking about you, if they have tell me because I sent Peeves to investigate."
Vince gripped the arms of the chair tightly, staring at May who had her arms loosely around his neck. "Please May, tell me you know something."
"I'll tell you exactly what I know, Draco is a full of himself little jerk, he uses everyone around him and I don't understand why you would want to be anything like him." May said gently, ignoring how Greg stared at her. "He doesn't have half the skill that you do, I enjoy hearing you yell out curses and the way you smile as those pathetic students scream…" Her voice trailed off as she sighed. "It is just so perfect, not just anyone can cruciate someone for a whole minute, I know Draco couldn't do it."
"You used that one on someone here?" Greg nearly yelled as he walked towards them. "You used it on another student?"
"No!" Vince yelled as he gave Greg a glare. "Don't yell that so loud, I used it on an owl, I'd get expelled if I did that to a student."
"Calm down, I'm just looking out for you." Greg's voice lowered dramatically. "End of term is coming up, do you think we'll see each other over the summer?"
"I don't know, it's only two weeks away, what will you do over the summer?" Vince spoke with a growing smile.
"I don't know, probably be stuck following at my old man's coattails with all this capture Harry Potter business." Greg grumbled as he threw a pillow off the couch. "Since he escaped prison he's been in a right foul mood, mum hasn't wrote me all year so I know he's behind it. That old man despises me, hates mum and nearly everyone else, what about your plans?"
"I was hoping to introduce May to my parents, then I'll be just like you and follow my dad around until September, he'll probably be just as irritated as your old man." Vince grumbled. "I bet May is going to have a wonderful time."
"I doubt that." May whispered. "My aunt, Aileen, she doesn't even know the truth about her nephew, my father, she was told it was Alchemy gone sour and the farm got blown up. They didn't have the heart to tell her the truth since her late husband was an Auror killed by some Mulciber guy."
"She doesn't know that your parents were dark wizards?" Greg asked as he sat up.
"No, I saw how she cried, speaking so highly of my father and I couldn't break it to her, so I put on a sweet smile and played it off. I will more than likely be holed up in her estate, unable to leave." May looked at Vince, but her eyes couldn't stay on his face. "I lied and told her I'm in Gryffindor just so she won't worry about me."
Vince looked over at Greg who was putting his feet on the floor. "What if your aunt sees you talking to me and my dad, will she know who he is?"
"I'm not worried about it, if she puts me out I know how to survive, I'm already seventeen so I can do magic." May looked into the muddy brown eyes that seemed to study her, a shy smile crept across her lips.
"If she does I'm sure mum wouldn't mind have you hanging around, she's usually alone since everything with the Dark Lord keeps dad away for days at a time." Vince looked over at Greg who was laughing. "What, mum is always complaining about wanting company." He smiled, hoping things would go in his favor.