Pairing: Crabbe/Goyle.

Rating: PG.

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. Characters owned by J.K. Rowling.

Summary: Drabble.

Crabbe and Goyle spend all their time together. Lessons, free time, mealtimes - they even sleep together, in the same rooom with Draco's bed in between them like the filling to a Slytherin sandwich. They know that he is going to be important one day (Malfoy son of Malfoy), just as they know it is their job to guard him and use their muscles (brain not brawn). But they don't spend all their time with Draco. He gets annoyed with them and storms off to lock himself in the Potions dungeon and brew various noxious liquids which are no good for anything but killing off errant plants. So Crabbe and Goyle sit in the common room and wait for him to return and beckon them back to his side.

While they sit there, they never talk. They've known each other for years; grew up together, went to the same school, beat up the same children and got told off by the same teachers. There's nothing to talk about any more. They just sit. Crabbe stares at the fire and Goyle at his feet, and the other Slytherins avoid them with whispered excuses about unfinished homework and Quidditch practice as they rush from the room.

So it happens that the common room is deserted. Two little boys sitting on a sofa by a fire, studying everything in the room but each other. So it happens that they look at each other for the first time. Near-identical build and faces that are as similar as Fred and George Weasley's. So it happens that they lean closer, to examine these similarities which have been there for so long and never been noticed. "Your eyes are..." "And your nose-" So it happens that they brush lips, almost accidentally, and stay together, exploring each other with curiosity. Like kissing your reflection, but with warm contours instead of smooth cold glass and the knowledge that this is more than that could ever be.

And this is how Draco finds them.