FIRST YEAR

The Hogwarts Express pulled out from the station just as I found a carriage to sit in. It was almost empty, a single girl sitting in the carriage. At the sound of the door opening she gestured silently for me to come in and take a seat. Sitting down across from her I introduced myself and she did the same, saying that her name was 'Hermione''.

We both started to talk when the sound of the carriage door opening made is pause. Glancing at the door I watched as a small boy stood in the doorway, his cheeks coloured a bright red as if he had been running. He huffed slightly under his breath.

"Has anyone seen Trevor?" He asked without introducing himself.

"Who's Trevor?" Hermione asked as she looked the boy over once.

"My pet toad."

"Right," she said slowly, "And you are?"

"Neville, Neville Longbottom," he said quietly, his eyes flickering apprehensively around the carriage. He was clearly on edge about finding Trevor.

"Would you like some help Neville?" I asked moving to my feet as Hermione did the same. "Three sets of eyes are bound to be better than a single set of eyes."

"Oh, yes. Yes please."

He moved away from the doorway to let the two of us out on the carriage and into the passageway. When the three of us were standing in the passage way I looked down both sides of the train; there were a lot of carriages to check.

"Maybe we should split up," I suggested quietly, "It'll be quicker that way."

"Good idea."

The three of us split up and I walked further down the train to stop in front of a carriage. I peered tentatively into the carriage through the glass to see that it was full of people who were definitely not first years. I swallowed nervously. A small part of me had been hoping that I'd find Trevor in a carriage full of other first years and so as a result I wouldn't need to confront anyone who wasn't a new student.

Letting out a small breath to steady myself I knocked on the door. Nothing happened for a short moment and I raised my hand to knock on the door again. Before my first made contact with the door it swung open and two identical grinning faces looked down at me.

"George," the twin on the left said, looking at his brother, "Look we've got ourselves a little visitor."

George, the twin on the right, pushed his brother out of the way to look down at me. Giving me a beaming grin he thrust his hand towards me. Shaking it meekly, I listened to him as he started to speak.

"I'm George Weasley, the smarter, better looking, funnier, smoother twin." His brother coughed obnoxiously by his side. "And this is Fred, the dimmer, physically deformed -"

"You do realise that you're identical, don't you?" I cut in. Fred started to grin at my words.

"You knocked on the door for a reason didn't you, love?" Fred asked and I nodded. "What was it you wanted?"

"Oh right," I peered round the twins and into the carriage that was still full of people. "Have you seen a toad around here somewhere?"

"Apart from Fred? Nope, I'm sorry love." George shook his head, "I haven't seen a toad around here."

"Well thanks anyway." I went to try a different instead when something bumped into me from behind.

"I'm so sorry!" Someone said from behind me making me turn around.

Neville was standing behind me, clearly nervous because he had bumped into me. I smiled slightly to reassure him. "It's fine Neville, don't worry about it. Trevor's not in this carriage."

He nodded, looking slightly flustered because of the continuous absence of his pet and walked off again. Neville knocked on the door of a carriage further down the train. I turned to follow Neville when a hand clutched at the back of my jumper to stop me. Glancing over my shoulder, I raised both eyebrows at George as he held me captive. He removed his hand and lowered it back to his side when I turned to face him and his brother once again.

"Before you move to follow after your little boyfriend, which house do you think is the best in Hogwarts?"

I looked between the two twins who weren't wearing their school uniform yet, so there was no knowing what house they were in. Instead I gave them the answer that I thought was the right answer to the question.

"Gryffindor."

The twins grinned at me, telling me that I had answered correctly.

"I knew I saw a lot of potential in you."

**********

SECOND YEAR

Second year brought with it an unknown threat to muggleborns, something that the twins never failed to remind me of. I spent my time equally between my friends, the twins and helping Hermione to research whatever this threat was. It only made sense that I helped her; I mean as a muggleborn I certainly felt safer if I took a proactive approach to dealing with something that could come after me rather than taking a passive approach. Maybe that was the Gryffindor courage in me.

Part of me wanted to spend less time with the twins because this whole situation had seemed to make them shift into righteous protector mode and they seemed to think that I needed protecting every waking moment which meant that I wasn't even allowed to leave the common room in order to get to the library on my own. Godric's ghost I was only going to meet Hermione in the library! What could possibly happen me during the five minute walk?

"I'll be fine," I insisted as I tried to lose the twin shadows that had dropped into step beside me from the moment that I had left the common room.

"You're muggleborn," they chimed, perfectly in time. They pulled me to stand between them, Fred standing in front of me and George standing behind me. This way nothing could attack me from in front of me or from behind me. I only rolled my eyes in response.

"Don't pull that face," Fred said, not even needing to look back to see my face. "We have to protect you no matter what you say."

I groaned aloud at his words and tried to walk around Fred in order to avoid this ridiculous formation that I found myself trapped in. But they only sped up and trapped me once again.

"Fred, George, please!" I gave an annoyed sigh, "I just want to go to the library and I know you won't go in there with me."

"How do you know?" George demanded from behind me, "Of course we'll go in there with you."

I let out a sigh. Where did the twin's hatred for the school librarian go? What ever happened to never ever setting foot in the most 'stuffy, fun sucking, horrible room in the entire world'?

Looking around the corridor I searched for someone to save me. As if to answer my silent prayer Neville rushed around the corner. He headed straight towards us and came to stop, bracing his hands on his knees as he fought to catch his breath. Once he had gained his breath he looked up at us, still crouched over.

"Have any of you seen Trevor?"

"Neville I could kiss you," I muttered under my breath as I stepped away from the twins. "We'll all help you look for him."

"Thank you-"

Turning back to the twins I gestured in the direction that led to the library, "I'll look this way. It'll be better if we all look in different places."

Before either of the twins could attempt to protest I rushed down the corridor. I glanced back over my shoulder in order to make sure that they weren't following after me. Thankfully they weren't. Merlin, I was hardly going to confront the heir of Slytherin, I was only going to the library.

I turned back to face the front as I tried to navigate my way towards the library. I had only just turned around when I stepped into a puddle of water. Glancing down at the puddle I frowned slightly, where had it come from?

The water started to ripple and I froze when the reflection shown by the puddle changed. Through the surface of my water my eyes met the yellow ones of the beast.

***********

Slowly consciousness came back to me as if I was waking up from a long sleep. Opening my eyes slowly, I blinked a few times to adjust to the lighting of the room. Glancing around, I couldn't help but frown when I realised that I was in the hospital wing. Why -

The yellow eyes, they must have belonged to Slytherin's monster.

Turning my head to the side I saw that Hermione occupied the bed next to me. Meeting my eyes, she gave me a grin. Madame Pomfrey made her way round the hospital wing, assessing each of the students. When she had assessed Hermione and me, she gave us the all clear. The moment she had said the words, we had hopped out of the bed and made our way out of the hospital wing and to the great hall.

Before I could blink, the twins had left their seats only to sandwich the two of us between themselves. They hugged us tightly and I gasped slightly for breath. Letting go of us, they gave me a firm look.

"It's decided -," Fred began only for George to finish

"- You are never leaving our side ever again."

When the twins had settled back into their seats we both hugged Harry. After Ron and Hermione's awkward handshake I pulled Ron into a hug. Once we had given all of our greetings I settled down between Ron and Neville. Neville cleared his throat slightly and I turned to look at him.

"Did you need something Neville?"

He blinked a few times before speaking quietly, "I - I just wanted to apologise. It was my fault that you were petrified. If I hadn't have lost Trevor, you wouldn't have offered to help and -"

I put my hand on top of the one that Neville was resting on the table and squeezed it once. My eyes widened slightly in shock at the colour that assaulted his cheeks due to the gesture. "It's not your fault Neville, so don't bother blaming yourself." I gave him a smile. "Did you find Trevor in the end?"

He nodded, "I did."

"Good."

**********

FOURTH YEAR

When the announcement about the Yule Ball had been made, I had been excited. We had all been excited. It was an excuse to dress up and spend the night enjoying ourselves. The idea of the Yule Ball had been fun but the practicalities of it had drained the fun out of the entire thing.

Firstly there was the dress, or rather the dress robes. Being a muggleborn, I had no idea where I was supposed to get dress robes from. Thankfully Hermione and I had found ourselves in the same boat and had coordinated with our mums and settled for a day where the four of us would go to buy our dress robes.

Then there was the matter of getting a date. Originally I hadn't given the thought of getting a date much importance. If I got a date then that was good. If I hadn't gotten a date, then well, I would still have fun with my friends. But some very public words from Lavender which labelled any girl who was unable to get a date as undesirable had somehow managed to make all of the girls panic and try to find a date.

Finally someone had decided that it would be best for all of the pupils to receive dance training so that no one embarrassed themselves on the night. Whilst the intention had been well meaning, the entire thing was rather embarrassing. Sitting in a group across from the Gryffindor boys, the girls avoided their eyes as Professor McGonagall looked between the two groups of students in exasperation.

"Merlin this is embarrassing," Hermione leaned over to mutter in my ear.

"Honestly I think we got off lightly," I admitted before explaining myself at her disbelieving look. "The Slytherin's are being taught by Snape. I'd take McGonagall over Snape any day of the week."

Hermione nodded in agreement and we both looked over at McGonagall when she clapped her hands once. "On your feet ladies."

I reluctantly rose to my feet, following the lead of the other girls. When each of the girls was standing, McGonagall was satisfied and looked to the boys.

"Gentleman." The boys remained seated, actively avoiding her gaze. Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes and repeated herself in a sharper tone. "Gentlemen."

Disinterested glances were shared between the boys and I shuffled awkwardly on my feet. Really, the quicker they stood up, the quicker this would all be over. My eyebrows rose in surprise as I watched Neville rise to his feet first and motion to the other boys to stand up as well. I felt an affectionate smile tugged at my lips when I saw how relieved he was to not be the only boy standing any more.

The boys walked around the room trying to find a girl they wouldn't find it awkward to dance with. A hand was offered tentatively to me and I looked up into Neville's eyes with a smile. Slipping my hand into his offered one, I took up the position that Professor McGonagall had shown us.

**********

I was on my way back from a detention with Snape when I heard music coming from one of the empty classrooms further down the corridor. Following the sound of the music to the classroom I stood in the doorway and peered into the room. What I found had me letting out a fond laugh. Neville was in the classroom practicing the dance that we had been taught over and over again.

Making sure to make no sound, I walked into the room to watch him properly. Hopefully he'd have no problem with me watching him. Anyone with a pair of functioning eyes would be able to tell that he could dance well and it was so uncharacteristically Neville that I couldn't help but want to watch him for longer. Neville was always so clumsy in everything he did that it was almost obvious to assume that he would falter and fumble through every second of the dance. But he didn't.

The music began to draw to a close as I walked further into the room. When the music had ended and Neville had stopped in the ending positon I decided that it was safe to call his name. He must have been oblivious to my presence and my voice startled him to the extent that he spun round quickly to try and find me. His movement was so quick that it knocked his centre off balance, sending him flying into me. The impact of him bumping into me, knocked us both into the wall that I had only just stepped away from.

I closed my eyes, flinching as I expected to experience the air squeezed out of me when Neville body was squashed against mine. Only that didn't happen. I opened my eyes tentatively and peered up to find Neville bracing himself against the wall, his eyes wide. Clearing my throat slightly uncomfortably, I looked down at the small space between the two of us and then back up to his face.

"Are you alright?" he asked, breaking the silence but making no move to push away from me.

I nodded slowly, "Yeah I'm fine." Silence enveloped us again and this time I was the one to break it. "You dace very well Neville."

"Thank you." He still hadn't moved back. "Who - who are you going with?"

"No one's really asked me yet."

"Will you go with me," he muttered so quietly that I almost didn't hear him, "To the yule ball?"

"I'll go with you." I nodded, butterflies taking flight in my stomach. "Neville?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you please step back a bit?"

The yule ball was only a few weeks later. The weeks between Neville asking me to go with him to the yule ball and the actual yule ball flew past quickly and I was glad that Neville hadn't let our 'date' make things awkward between us.

Just as he had promised, Neville was waiting for me in front of the great hall. As I reached the bottom of the stairs Neville was there to take my arm. Looking him over once, I smiled up at him.

"You look very handsome." I reached up to tweak his bowtie.

"Thank you," he said looking flustered at my action, "You look very handsome too. No - wait I meant -"

"It's alright Neville," I said, reassuringly, "I know what you meant and thank you."

He seemed reassured by my words and offered me his arm. Taking his arm I let him lead me into the great hall in time for the champions dance. When other couples joined into the dance I offered Neville my hand. He looked hesitantly down at it.

"It'd be a shame to waste all of those hours of practice Neville." I grinned up at him when he took my hand and led me onto the dance floor.

I let Neville twirl me around on the dance floor, hoping that I managed to remember all of the steps so that I didn't embarrass him. But once I had managed to let go of the worry I actually enjoyed myself a lot.

The night progressed steadily and I enjoyed myself a lot in Neville's company. Although we were in the same house, in the same year and shared many of the same classes, the opportunity to talk to him had been very rare. I had known that he was a friendly boy but I hadn't known quite how much I could like him until tonight.

By the time Neville and I decided to return to the common room, only a handful of people remained in the great hall. Slowly we made our way up to the common room, quietly talking as we went. It was way past curfew and many of the paintings had fallen asleep; waking them up would only cause trouble. The heels I was wearing on my feet had long since become painful and I had taken to leaning on Neville to ease some of the pain. He hadn't complained once. Even now he was letting me lean on him as we made our way to the common room.

Once we were in the common room he walked me to the stairs that led to the girl's dorms. I turned to look at him, waiting for something but unsure of what that was.

"I had a lot of fun tonight," I said, smiling softly at Neville.

"Me too," he admitted as a blush crept up his neck. "You - you should probably get to bed, you'll be really tired tomorrow morning."

"I probably should," I agreed and turned to walk up the stairs. Walking up the first few steps, I paused and turned back to look at Neville. He was still waiting at the bottom of the stairs. "Goodnight Neville."

**********

SEVENTH YEAR

A year's worth of suffering under the hands of the death eaters had climaxed into a battle, which would destroyed the place that had been my home for the past seven years around me. The castle walls were rubble by my feet as I followed the rest of the remaining pupils and adults outside, as had been demanded by Voldemort. I stood in the crowd, not caring who was standing around me as the death eaters arrived to stand opposite us. But Hagrid walked towards the 2 crowds carrying -

"Harry Potter is dead."

I felt my breath catch in my throat, my heart falling into my stomach. It was all over. An entire year of fighting against those who tried to oppress us and it was all over. Merlin, I felt like I could crumble to the floor and weep about the injustice of it all. I clutched the hand of the person standing beside me, not caring who they were, to remain rooted to my spot.

My eyes were glued to the lifeless figure in Hagrid's arms. Only when the hand I was holding, squeezed mine, did I look away from Harry's body. Looking up into Neville's eyes, I felt my eyes go wide at the steely determination in his eyes. If he hadn't lost hope yet, then there was no reason for me to lose hope either. Giving my hand another squeeze, he turned his attention back to Voldemort as he goaded us and asked for any Voldemort.

Neville took a step forward and I tightened my hold on his hand, trying to hold him back. He looked back at me and gave me a reassuring smile, let go of my hand and walked towards Voldemort. Before any of us had the chance to doubt Neville, he spoke passionately, standing to defy the no nosed tyrant.

Tears gathered in the corner of my eyes at his words. I blinked away my tears and frowned slightly - for a moment there it looked like Harry had moved in Hagrid's arms. And he had. I gave a startled gasp as Harry flew out of Hagrid's arm, shooting a spell at Voldemort.

Harry's sudden movement brought back our fighting spirit and suddenly the battle was raging on as if it had never stopped in the first place. Everyone ran back into the castle to ward off more attacks from the death eaters. Pushing through the crowd, I stood in the hallway that I had been assigned to guard. My partner, a senior member of the order, had been severely injured and was being tended. I drew my hand, tightening my hold on it; I'd have to do this alone.

Raising my wand I pointed it towards the small group of approaching death eaters. There were too many of them for me to fend off on my own. Instead I pointed my hand to one of the walls of the corridor that the death eaters were rapidly moving down.

"Reducto!"

The wall exploded, taking down two of the death eaters and blocking the path for the rest of the small group.

That was for Fred, I thought vindictively as I turned to run further into the castle. Just thinking about Fred emphasised the unpredictability of this war; there was no way of knowing which moment would be your lost. If I died tonight then I would die for a worthy cause. But I wouldn't want to die with any regrets.

It was with that mentality that I caught Neville's arm as he went to run past me and towards a group of students. Feeling the touch on his arm he turned to look at me. Seeing that it was just me, he loosened his hold on his wand which had been instinctively pointed between my eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his eyes scanning over me as if he was looking for an outward sign of a large injury. "Are you alright? What about the -"

"Shut up for just thirty seconds Neville and listen to me," I said quietly, silencing the boy. His eyes looked into mine steadily and I felt my mouth run dry. I cleared my throat, if I didn't do this now then who knows when I'd work up the courage to do it. "I've spent a while thinking about this and honestly, I might die tonight."

"You won't so -"

"I might Neville," I insisted, "But it's a reality I've accepted. Truthfully I'd hate to die without doing this at least once."

"Doing what?" He asked before I could actually do anything.

Ignoring his question, I took his face in both of my hands. His eyes widened dramatically. Rising onto my toes, I pressed my lips quickly against his. I could feel his lips part in disbelief. Without looking at his face, I pulled away and ran down the corridor only to run head on into a death eater.

I drew my wand before they had even finished their spell, "Stupefy!"

**********

Voldemort was dead and Harry had one. We had one.

It was a little hard to believe. Not even ten minutes ago, we were fighting for our lives and now there was nothing to be worried about. The death eaters had been rounded up and those that had managed to escape were to be captured as soon as possible.

We had all gathered in the great hall to properly mourn those lost and to celebrate those that had survived. Just as I entered the great hall I was greeted by Luna who instantly pulled me into a tight hug. She spun us both round in a circle as she gave a chime of laughter. I hugged her tighter and felt myself smile for the first time today. She pulled back from me and gestured to something behind my shoulder.

Glancing over my shoulder at an approaching Neville, I felt myself pale. I turned back quickly only to find that Luna had disappeared. Merlin, how was I supposed to explain why I had practically forced a kiss onto him? I cleared my throat and turned back around to greet Neville.

He didn't let me get a single word out, he started speaking the moment my eyes had met his. The words poured out of him quickly, the end of one word running into the start of the next. But somehow I was able to understand him.

"I'd hate to lose courage and never actually do this." He muttered.

"Do what?" My voice trailed off when Neville took a hold of my chin and used it to tip my head up. I watched him as he slowly leaned towards me; his eyes scanning my reaction closely. I closed my eyes and waited for the gentle press of his lips against mine.

This kiss, our second one, was different from the first. It was still chaste, just the gentle pressing of lips, but it lasted longer than the first, if only by a few seconds. This time there was no hesitation, uncertainty, and definitely no prominent concern for our own mortality.

Pulling away from each other I looked up into Neville's eyes. He was smiling down at me, his cheeks becoming pink under my eyes. I couldn't help but laugh gently.

"Can I tell you a secret?" He asked after a few moments. When I nodded he continued, "Three years ago, after the yule ball, I really wanted to kiss you."

"I wish you had," I admitted, reaching across to take his hand in mine.

Squeezing my hand in his, he raised it to his lips. "Better late than never."

**********

10 YEARS LATER

Throughout our time at Hogwarts Neville had always shown an aptitude for Herbology and I'd never quite imagined that he would end up becoming the Hogwarts Herbology professor. But the role certainly suited him. He had only been in the position for a few months but he'd already fit the position perfectly. Neville had moved into the caste during the term time and I was left alone our shared apartment. It was extremely lonely and so I'd brought a kitten to keep me company.

Neville had no idea.

Buttoning my coat up and tying my scarf around my neck, I picked up the small sleeping kitten and put her inside of my coat. She curled up against my chest and I cast a warming charm over the pair of us. Once I had made sure that I had everything, I apparated us into Hogsmeade. I was supposed to be meeting Neville at the castle and I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce him to our daughter.

I looked around the street, gathering an idea of my surroundings before heading off towards the castle. The walk, one I'd made so often whilst at school, had long become a memory and I was glad to have been able to do it again. It was a Saturday and so the students were walking to and back from Hogsmeade, looking curiously at me as I walked through the campus. They had no idea who I was and would probably recognise my name more than my face - after all I did write their charms textbook.

"Professor," I called out to the woman who was watching the students as they left. Professor McGonagall turned at the sound of my voice and greeted me with a small smile when I came to a stop in front of her. "Or I should call you Headmistress now, shouldn't I?"

"You may call me whatever you wish," she responded, peering down when my kitten peeked out from behind my coat. She brushed a finger over the cat's head and raised her eyes to mine. "I take it that you're here to see Professor Longbottom?"

"Yes professor."

"Well I won't keep you from him," she said dismissively.

I bid her a goodbye and headed further into the castle. Making my way towards Neville's dorm, I stopped every now and then to engage one of the portraits in conversation - they still remembered me. It surprised me; the portraits had seen thousands of students enter the school and graduate from it and still they remembered each of them.

When I eventually reached Neville's dorm, I knocked on the door and waited for him to open it. The kitten started to squirm from not being able to move so much and I shushed her soothingly.

"It's alright sweetheart," I said gently, running my fingers through her fur. "That's it Angel, just a bit longer and then Daddy will open the door."

Sure enough, Neville opened the door mere seconds later, beaming at the sight of me. I couldn't help but smile back at him as he stepped aside to let me into the dorm. Before I could get my coat off, he had shut the door behind me and leaned down to press a lingering kiss to my lips. He pulled away with a smile and I grinned up at him.

"Merlin, I've missed you," he admitted as I stepped away from him to take off my coat. Before I unbuttoned the coat, I took Angel out from my coat and put her on the side table. She tucked her tail in around her, staring around the room in fascination.

"I missed you too Neville," I said from over my shoulder as I took my coat off.

Neville stepped around me, eyes focused on Angel as he crept towards her. He looked back at me curiously before crouching down slightly so he could offer his finger to her. Angel patted his finger away cautiously as Neville turned to look at me over his shoulder.

"And who is this?"

Making my way towards Neville, I wrapped an arm around his shoulder and put my chin on his shoulder, "This is our daughter, Angel, she's been keeping me company while you've been away from home."

"Have you been very lonely?"

I rolled my eyes at his concern and shook my head, "I was just a little lonely but it turns out you can be easily replaced by a kitten."

"That's good," he admitted, rising to his feet and making my eyebrows shoot up. "I don't want you to get too lonely without me - you might get bored of me otherwise and leave."

"That's rubbish Neville."

His smiled widened at my words and he approached me with his arms held out for a hug. I stepped into his arms instantly, wrapping my arms around his middle, "That's good, I don't want my fiancée growing tired of me so quickly."

"We've been together for 10 years now," I said pulling back to look at him, "If I was eve going to grow tired of you then I would have done so a long time ago."

"You know," Neville started cautiously once I had pulled away from him to look back at Angel who was decided to rip some of Neville's work to shreds. I fixed the paper with the wave of my wand. "The position of the Charms Professor is opening up at the end of the year."

I straightened up, looking at Neville. "And?"

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Maybe you should consider taking it? I mean, you've always wanted to teach at Hogwarts and you clearly know you're stuff if you're writing the course textbook. And you know, you wouldn't be so lonely if we were both living here together. Besides Professor McGonagall thinks you're a shoo-in for the position anyway. That's if you apply that is."

"Neville, sweetheart," I said, cutting off his ramblings. I reached out to squeeze his hand, "I'll think about it. I mean, you're right, I have always wanted to teach here."

"Then let's do it together." He interlinked our fingers, using our joined hands to pull me into his side. "Besides, you already know that Hogwarts will let our daughter live with us."

X1amSMpov