Disclaimer:I do not own any of the characters, places, or concepts in this fanfic. They all belong, mostly, to J.K. Rowling.
"No, no, no," Neville muttered quietly to himself, so as not to incur the wrath of Madam Pince. "You're supposed to turn into a porcupine, not a pineapple!"
A feminine sneer broke into his concentration.
"What's this?" the matching voice asked haughtily. "Longbottom, you might as well give it up; everyone knows you're a mere Squib in disguise. Why, I bet you couldn't even transfigure a feather into a decent quill!"
"Leave me be, Parkinson," Neville answered, not looking up as he swallowed the stutter before it could escape his throat. You faced Death Eaters, bloody Bellatrix Lestrange, the bane of your parents' existence, for Merlin's sake! What's an only partially-qualified Slytherin witch going to do?
"And what makes a worthless Squib like you think I'll do as you say?" Pansy narrowed her eyes.
Neville finally looked up at the girl, not saying a word.
Pansy seemed a bit surprised at the boy's show of fortitude, and could not hold back the jibe that escaped her lips.
"Well, well," she said, intrigue tinging her voice. "Looks like Longbottom's finally grown a spine. Tell me, Neville, when did you stop being such a quivering lump?"
Clenching his teeth in order to hold back the usual stuttering replies as well as in anger, Neville bit out, narrowing his eyes, "About the time Antonin Dolohov snapped my dad's wand."
Confused, Pansy sat. "Who's Antonin Dolohov? And what does your father's broken wand have to do with any of it?"
Eyebrow raised, Neville asked sarcastically, "You mean you don't know? Surely, you, the girl most often even close to Malfoy's arm, would recognize the name of a Death Eater when you hear one?"
Pansy's eyes widened. "When did you see a Death Eater? Dolohov, was it?"
Neville cocked his head to one side, studying Pansy's face for signs of deception. Finding none, Neville thought a couple more seconds, then nodded his head, making his decision. He leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table and folding his arms.
In a low, serious tone, he first extracted an oath that what was said would not be repeated by the girl, then began the tale of last Spring's encounter in the Department of Mysteries.
"Right," he said. "You remember during the History of Magic exam, when Harry-"
"-Garnered even more attention than usual?" Pansy's pug nose wrinkled in distaste.
"Look, do you want to hear, or not?"
Weighing the pros and cons of further antagonism toward Neville, Pansy decided that perhaps it would be better to listen, and then mock. She closed her mouth, folding her hands in her lap as she sat on the edge of the library's hard chair.
Remembering where they were as Pansy squirmed into position, Neville looked around. The library was fairly empty, but there were a few Ravenclaws huddled at a table about ten feet away. "This probably shouldn't be talked about here," he said, indicating the Ravenclaws with his eyes.
"Where to then?" Pansy stood, quietly pushing the chair in as Neville followed suit.
Thinking fast, Neville said, "I know a place, come on," and began walking down the corridors to the nearest staircase.
Pansy followed, but not without griping, "And this 'place' would be where? I swear, Longbottom, if this is some sort of sick, Gryffindor joke . . ."
Neville whirled to face her, pointing at his angry, not-as-frightened-as-usual expression. "Does this look like a joke to you?" he hissed. "If you must know, we're going to the Room of Requirement. It's the only place I can think of that can guarantee privacy if it's needed."
"Isn't that-"
"-the place where you and all of Umbridge's other little minions found the D.A. last term?"
Pansy nodded, a little resentful at being called anyone's "minion." She seethed inwardly and said, "Those of us in Slytherin have learned that when Draco Malfoy says 'jump,' it is wise to do so. Those who have rebelled, either found themselves at the business end of his wand, or their families in dire financial straights."
"Malfoy's just a git, in my opinion. Besides, he can't threaten much more than a mere curse, with dear old Dad in jail, now can he?" Neville shrugged. "You wanted to know the details though, and I can't think of a better place to start than the beginning; the whole thing began with the D.A, you know."
After they had settled down in the Room of Requirement, Neville started the tale again, starting with the formation of the D.A, and including the little portions he knew of past events.
"So, let me get this straight," Pansy said, holding up her hands when Neville had finally finished. "Potter has visions of what the Dark Lord does, and he saw someone getting tortured, so he dragged you, the two younger Weasleys, Granger, and Loony Lovegood to the Ministry of Magic to save him?"
Neville nodded, and Pansy continued.
"And then, he found out that it was a trap, Death Eaters came, and one of them snapped your wand." When Neville nodded again, she said, "I still don't get what that has to do with your recent confidence levels though."
Neville laughed. Pansy Parkinson, he thought to himself, wasn't so bad after all.
"I faced Death Eaters, and lived to tell the tale, Parkinson," he said. "I think I can hold my own against a spoiled little Slytherin witch."
"You know," Pansy said, a real smile taking the place of her ever-present sneer, "I really think you can."
Author's Notes:How did this thing come into being? Well, I am a member of the InflectoLive Journal Harry PotterRole-Playing Game. One night, I was speaking to the player behind Pansy Parkinson about favorite 'ships.
She mentioned that she was currently on a Pansy/Neville kick, and that intrigued me a bit. I'd never seen any Pansy/Neville fics, and it seemed like a pairing between the two would be a bit out of character. Then, I got to thinking of "The More is My Unrest" by Arabella and Jedi Boadicea.
That fic managed a very good Draco/Ginny pairing, while still keeping both of them in character. I mean, I'm not normally a Draco/Ginny 'shipper, but I really found myself rooting for Draco to get the girl when I read their fic.
So, I thought to myself, What if someone did for Pansy/Neville what Arabella and Jedi Boadicea did for Draco/Ginny?And then I thought, What if Iwas the one to do that?
I don't claim to be as great a writer as those two, but I did my best. Let me know how you liked it.
