Word Count- 3943
Older Reader, Gryffindor Reader, Angst, Fluff, Neville getting embarrassed easily
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Year One
The first time he saw her was when he was first walking into the great hall for the sorting ceremony. She was sat there at the Gryffindor table, looking as calm and as collected as ever, sat in between the Weasley twins and Jordan. Each of them adorned a smile at watching all the younger years appear before them all.
When he sat down on the stool in front of the rows upon rows of people with the sorting hat placed upon his head, he would be ashamed to admit that when he made eye contact with her for a mere moment, he felt scared, nervous even. This girl he had only just seen appeared to be the prettiest thing he had ever seen during the eleven years of his life. Her smiling face was the best part, he was not entirely sure what she was smiling at, but he loved the look at her. Her smile only grew when the hat bellowed out her house at the top of its lungs- although it has no lungs- and he smiled for the first time since entering the great hall as he sat opposite the girl, shaking hands with everyone, eventually shaking hands with her. She had a firm grip, firm but welcoming and he loved it.
From there it was a simple, easy-going year- besides getting lost all over the castle- going to lessons, to the great hall, back to lessons, it was repetitive, and he rarely saw her about. When he did, however, it broke that repetitive cycle even if it was just for a moment.
Sometimes he is in the great hall with Dean, Harry, and everyone else studying or just simply eating and then she would turn up, the twins and Jordan close behind wearing their Gryffindor gear. It was embarrassing when they found out about his incident at broom practice, but whenever the twins were about to take it too far, she had shut them up and instead stand next to the smaller boy and pinch his cheeks, finding him adorable and comforting him before vanishing again.
Then there was the time Professor Snape threatened him again, going on about how he has never done well in potions. It was late during the evening, after everyone had come back from the great hall, either getting ready for bed or sitting in the common room having a quiet moment to themselves, that he saw her again. She was lounging back on one of the sofas by the fireplace wearing a red hoody, grey sweatpants, and a pair of white fluffy socks, she looked as comfortable as could be. At the time she was reading some book on transfiguration, something he hoped he would not have to read anytime soon.
Neville gathered a lot of courage that night and asked her for help with his potions work, and for once he needed an older student's help.
Neville prepares himself for a no but, shockingly enough, she agreed to help him. But then she called him adorable and by God did the boy's face glow after that. She of course noticed and pinched his cheeks, making the boy go even redder.
Year Two
Second year was much like the first. Going around Hogwarts, getting lost, forgetting which staircase had the step that sometimes vanished. Oh, and the password given to the fat lady to get through the portrait changed again as students from other houses had figured it out, so for safety reasons the door password had to be changed.
It was late in the evening, most students were in their dorms already and Neville, bless the poor boy, had yet again forgotten the password.
He had tried everything that came to mind.
He froze when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking over he saw her again, it was the first time he had seen her so far this year and the only thing that had changed was she was slightly taller, still towering over the poor boy. She smiled at Neville, Neville awkwardly smiling back, and then she proceeded to say the password, 'Caput Draconis'. A lightbulb clicked on Nevilles head, and he wanted to whack himself for not getting the small notebook he had stored away in his bag with the password wrote in it. He needs to remember to use his Remembrall more.
