Harry Potter One Shots (Vol. I)

The Knight in Red and Gold Armour (Frank Longbottom)

Did I ever think I'd write a one shot about Frank Longbottom? No.

Did I decide to write one anyway? Yeah I did and I was actually kind of excited to write this one.

But before you go on to read this one, let me give you a little background information about it. Basically, I have this headcanon where in the marauders era Frank was the real Prince Charming of Gryffindor house. (Of course, we don't know which house he was in or what years he was at Hogwarts but I like to place him in the marauder's year and house). But let's be real here, James was too focused on one girl only to notice any others; Sirius was well, he was busy being Sirius; Remus was far too busy dealing with his monthly problem, and Peter was probably an awkward little pea. And I don't know, I just see Frank as this little cutie pie who always did his best to maintain his Gryffindor honour which resulted in him being dubbed as Prince Charming by the rest of the house - or even the school. Then again, it was just a stray thought I had but it inspired this one shot.

I was in such a rush to make sure that this got posted today that I didn't have a chance to edit it. Hopefully, there are not glaring errors~

The summer holidays were coming to an end and I wanted to take advantage of the last of the good weather before we returned to Hogwarts and subjected ourselves to months of typical British weather. But, my parents had decided that we were going to go to the Longbottom home for tea and I wasn't going to pass up the chance to see Frank. We floo'd to their home and as I stepped out of the fireplace, I wiped some soot off from my clothes. Looking around the room I spotted Frank as he stood, clearly waiting for our arrival and when I made eye contact with him, I grinned.

Returning the grin, he crossed the room to approach us. He went to my side, chuckling slightly as he brushed off some soot from my cheek which I'd managed to miss.

"You're always in such a mess," he chided quietly before turning to address my parents. "Mum's just setting up the table. If you want to come through with me; my parents are waiting."

Frank led the way through his home, or rather he directed us through his home. My parents walked before me and Frank hanged back to walk beside me. He began to chatter quickly about all the things he'd done during the summer and all the things he'd wanted to show me but was unable to. I listened in amusement to his ramblings; you could say whatever you wanted about Frank but you couldn't deny that he was enthusiastic about everything.

We reached the dining room where Frank's parents were waiting for mine, squabbling quietly between themselves about something. Their squabble came to an end when we reached the room and Mrs Longbottom reached out to swat her husband's arm to silence him and the older man simply sighed, relenting.

I hovered beside my parents, watching as the Longbottoms greeted my parents and waited for my turn. Mrs Longbottom stopped in front of me and I shuffled on my feet. The older woman had never failed to unnerve me; it was like she was always able to look straight through me to see whatever it was that I was hiding. And well, considering that I was hiding the enormous crush I had on her son, it was particularly unnerving.

"How have you been, dear?" she asked, looking me over with a contemplative glance.

"Well," I said finally, "And you?"

"I've been wonderful, thank you for asking." Clearing her throat, she began to smile softly. Rowena, why was that even more unnerving? "But shouldn't you be more than just 'well'?"

"P-Pardon?" Frank picked up on my stutter, looking to me in surprise as I looked away from his mother. I knew exactly what she had insinuated and there was no point in attempting to hide the truth any longer.