Author's Note: I do not claim to own anything except my OC's and the plot lines that you don't recognize from J.K Rowling's series. Also, this is important so PLEASE READ THIS! For those of you who have not read my Living for the Moment series, this will probably not make much sense to you. If you are in the process of reading the series and have not reached Chapter 17 of Book 5, this will also probably not make much sense to you. The only way to fully understand an appreciate this one-shot is if you have read everything up until Chapter 17 of Book 5. With that in mind, I hope you enjoy this! :D

When Neville Met Stevie

Stevie Jackson stood nervously in front of Alexandria Black, one of her four roommates. Stevie had heard that Alex was an amazing fighter and had a terrible temper. She really hoped she wouldn't be on the other end of that temper today. To say that Stevie was an adequate fighter was being too kind. She knew she wasn't the best, but that was why she was here at the D.A meeting. Stevie wasn't naïve enough to believe the bullshit that Umbridge woman was telling them. She got the papers, she read about the disappearances, she knew something big was coming. Therefore, Stevie wanted to be ready when that something came because she refused to go down without a fight.

She sighed and fidgeted as she listened to Harry explain the procedure. How she wished she sounded like everyone else! Being from America and living there for the last fifteen years, it was obvious why Stevie had the American accent. It marked her as different, as an outsider. She heard the whispers about her in the hallways as they gossiped about her past. Some people said she was here to spy on the English Ministry of Magic while others merely believed she had been kicked out of her old school. Stevie ignored the rumors as best she could but it was hard not to when her two "friends" kept pestering her about them. Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown weren't really her friends but they were the only two people who included her in their group. That was another reason why she joined the D.A; perhaps here she could make new friends. Even one new friend would do, Stevie wasn't picky.

"What's wrong?" Alex's kind voice pulled Stevie out of her thoughts as she looked at the other girl's stormy grey eyes. She realized everyone else was beginning to practice.

"I've…I've, um, never disarmed anyone before," said Stevie quietly, looking at her feet and thinking back at her horrible attempts to disarm her opponents back in America.

"That's fine," Alex said with a smile, "It's a good thing you're here then. I'll help you, don't worry about a thing. Now, point your wand at me."

Stevie followed all of Alex's directions but was still having trouble. Alex looked at her thoughtfully before her eyes filled with realization.

"It's no use," Stevie moaned, "I'm just too stupid to get it right."

"No Stevie, you're not stupid at all. You're just too shy and afraid of hurting a friend to mean the attack. That's the thing about defensive magic," said Alex with a smile, "You have to mean it for it to work as well as it should. So, try again and this time, pretend I'm a Death Eater who's about to kill you. Don't worry, you won't hurt me."

She nodded and raised her arm, closing her eyes for a moment. Stevie's mind instantly went to the image of the man whose car killed her sister. Although the man had run off like a coward, Stevie had formed a picture of him in her mind. The man was sweaty and scruffy with lifeless eyes and a wide nose. He always wore a white undershirt that revealed a disgusting beer belly and he also wore dark pants. Stevie's insides boiled with anger at the thought of him so she opened her eyes and raised her wand, pretending Alex was the man who took her sister away.

"Expelliarmus!" she shouted. Alex's wand soared in a high arch and Stevie caught the wand deftly. The two girls stared at each other for a minute before Alex beamed.

"You did it!" she cried.

"Yeah, I really did!" said Stevie and she began thanking Alex profusely.

"I didn't do anything, you found the power inside you to fight back," Alex said with a shrug, "That power is what will keep you going when it gets tough. Now I need to go around and make sure everyone's practicing right so I'm going to find you another partner, okay?"

Stevie nodded and Alex began weaving her way through the crowd, avoiding getting hit by stray spells. The American girl stayed close to Alex as she watched the others. The two Weasley twins were dueling each other while still managing to crack jokes with their friend who announced the Quidditch games. The girl Weasley was laughing quietly at something her partner, a handsome Ravenclaw Quidditch player, told her. The other Ravenclaw Quidditch players were whispering amongst themselves while eyeing Alex up and down lustily.

Stevie sighed as her attention turned back to Alex. The girl was definitely a beauty with her long black hair, tan complexion, and mysterious stormy eyes. Lavender and Parvati complained all the time that Alex knew she was pretty and used it to her advantage. However, Stevie had to disagree with the two girls. From what she saw of Alex, how she carelessly got ready in the morning, obviously not caring about her appearance enough to put make-up on, and ignored the stares guys gave her, Stevie truly believed Alex had no idea how pretty she was.

Must be nice getting all that attention, the American thought sadly as she fingered her dirty blonde hair.

It wasn't that she didn't find herself pretty, for Stevie knew she was semi-attractive because she did get asked out on dates. However, her shyness created a barrier between her and any other boy within a five foot radius that she didn't know. Therefore, at her old school, the boys soon learned to stay away from her.

"Hey Harry, you ready to check up on everyone?" Alex called, causing Stevie to return to the real world once more.

"Yeah, let me find Neville a partner first," said Harry. Stevie liked Harry because he seemed like a genuinely nice person. She had heard rumors that Harry let his "Chosen One" status get to his head but, after seeing him with his friends and everything, she knew those rumors were spread by jealous enemies. Stevie had seen her share of arrogant jerks and Harry was definitely not one of them.

"Already taken care of. Stevie, would you mind working with Neville?" asked Alex, turning around and stepping aside slightly so Stevie could see the two boys better.

Harry was a lean young man with very messy black hair and bright green eyes hidden behind round glasses. He looked like your average teenage boy, except for the lightning bolt scar that Stevie could just barely see behind his bangs. Harry was slowly becoming the new Hogwarts heart-throb, as seen by the carved initials in the girl's lavatories. Although Harry was attractive in some way, he really wasn't Stevie's type.

The other boy, Neville, was taller than Harry and larger. The boy wasn't fat, but he wasn't skinny either. It was as if he still had some baby fat on him, especially his face which was round. His eyes were dark brown, as was his hair that just graced the top of his eyes. He was staring at the floor when Stevie first saw him but then he slowly raised his eyes to meet hers and gave a tiny nervous smile.

"N-No," said Stevie, feeling her nervous barriers fly up instantly as she stuttered.

She was shy enough as it was around strangers who were girls but some strange guy? How was she supposed to find the strength to fight back now? Granted, Neville wasn't a complete stranger to Stevie. They had classes together but Stevie was usually focusing so hard on the class that she barely paid attention to anyone around her. Neville could have been sitting next to her in every class and she wouldn't have noticed. It wasn't that she was trying to be rude but merely trying to catch up to where the other students were.

"Great, we'll be walking around so if you have any questions, raise your hands and we'll come to you," said Harry, "Neville, just remember to concentrate and you'll be fine."

"Stevie," Alex said quietly, "Remember, don't be shy. Neville's an easy-going guy so he won't get mad at you if you rough him up a bit, okay? Relax, he's a great partner."

She just nodded and watched Alex disappear into the crowd. With a deep breath, she turned to face Neville and managed to lift the corners of her mouth slightly in a smile.

…

Neville was glad to have Harry as his partner. Harry was very patient with him and helped him through each step until Neville finally managed to disarm him. As Harry was explaining the value of concentration with a spell, Alex came over to Harry. Neville smiled when Alex waved at him and gave him one of her kind smiles. He remembered during first year when he had a huge crush on Alex, but then again a lot of guys in their year did. She was a pretty girl but that wasn't just it; she also had a quick wit and a vivacious personality. Neville knew that many guys in their year still liked her but his crush turned into friendly admiration. He admired her advanced magical abilities as well as her modesty about them. She never flaunted her skills or made others feel bad because they weren't as good. In fact, Neville remembered the many times Alex had helped him out in their classes. It was because of Alex, and Hermione for that matter, that Neville got through many of his exams.

Alex had wanted to know if Harry was ready to start assisting the other students. Harry mentioned he needed to find Neville a partner, but Alex had come prepared.

"Already taken care of. Stevie, would you mind working with Neville?" she asked over her shoulder and stepped aside to reveal who she was talking to.

Neville had been looking nervously at his feet while Harry and Alex talked and continued to stare down for a moment, as though his tennis shoes held all the answers to life's biggest questions. Stevie, that name sounded vaguely familiar. Wasn't she the new girl in Gryffindor? The one from America? He noticed this Stevie was wearing red Converse sneakers and slowly raised his eyes to see the new girl. What he saw blew him away. How could he have ignored this girl?

Stevie was about a head shorter than him with long, wavy dirty blonde hair that was now pulled back in a ponytail that fell over one shoulder. Her eyes were a darker green than Harry's, but just as bright. Her face was free of blemish except for a few freckles across her perfectly-shaped nose and she was biting her bottom lip out of nerves. This Stevie girl was absolutely gorgeous. Now Neville remembered that they had practically all their classes together, but he had never really gotten a good look at her. Usually he was so busy focusing on what the professor was saying and taking notes because if he didn't, he would be lost in the class. It was probably a good thing that he hadn't noticed her before now because he was sure that now he would be very distracted in the classes that they shared.

"N-No," she stuttered. Neville didn't hear what Harry was trying to say to him as he continued to stare at the girl in front of him. Something about concentrating…well how was he supposed to concentrate on a spell with this beautiful young woman in front of him? He suddenly realized they were alone and he cleared his throat nervously.

"Um…hi, I'm Neville Longbottom," he introduced himself, holding out his hand. She took it and shook it, her small smile increasing in size.

"Stevie Jackson," she said and Neville heard the American accent plainly in her speech.

"So, uh…shall we get started then?"

She nodded and they raised their wands to each other. They stood like that for a few moments before Stevie started chuckling. Neville instantly relaxed his position and laughed as well.

"I guess we should decide who's going first," said Neville through their laughter.

"I'll go," Stevie volunteered and the two of them took their positions again, still smiling.

Neville watched as Stevie closed her eyes for a bit. When she opened them again, Neville saw fierce anger that he froze, frightened by what he saw. For someone that appeared so quiet and shy, this emotion she held was shocking.

"Expelliarmus!" she cried and Neville's wand flew into her hand.

"Wow," he said as he went to get his wand back. That was all he could say.

The two of them dueled back and forth until Alex and Harry called the meeting to a close. As they were leaving, Neville noticed Parvati and Lavender were talking animatedly with Stevie while not noticing the other girl's lack of attention to their talk. He smiled sympathetically and a thought popped into his mind.

"Stevie!" he called, running to catch up to them. He ignored Parvati and Lavender's giggles at his run and stopped when he reached them. "Alex said she wanted to go over something with you before you left. She said it was important."

"Oh…okay," she said with a frown and turned to the other girls, "See you two back in the dormitory."

"All right, but don't forget tonight's "Secret Saturday"! Don't be late!" said Parvati with a girlish giggle and they ran off.

"Please let it be a long meeting," Neville heard Stevie mutter under her breath and he couldn't help laughing quietly. She looked up at him and he stopped, becoming nervous.

"So, uh…what's "Secret Saturday" anyway?" he asked as they walked down the corridor.

"Parvati and Lavender thought it would be fun to spend one Saturday of every month staying up all night while divulging secrets of our past," she replied with a roll of her eyes, "Basically it's me trying desperately to keep my eyes open while the two of them gush over some hot guy or whatever. So why did Alex need me again?"

"Oh, she didn't," said Neville, "I just thought you looked so annoyed being with Parvati and Lavender that I'd steal you away from them. If you want to go back though, you can."

"Like hell I am," Stevie said with the largest smile Neville had seen on her that day, "Words can't even begin to describe how thankful I am right now. What shall we do then?"

Neville couldn't help grinning as Stevie said "we". He thought she would just go back to her friends and laugh at him, but she actually seemed interested in spending time with him. The thought made his stomach flutter pleasantly.

"I have an idea, follow me," said Neville as he turned down a corridor.

Stevie followed right behind him as they wandered through corridors and down staircases. Along the way, Neville pointed out landmarks that would help her remember the way down. She had only been here a few months after all.

"It took me almost two years to learn my way around this place," he told her as they walked, "Even still, I'll occasionally step on a trip step and have to wait for someone to pull me out. Teachers have learned over the years that if I'm late, that's probably the reason why."

Stevie laughed and Neville found he loved her laugh. It wasn't a quiet girlish giggle that most of the Hogwarts female population had. It was a loud, full laugh that came from the gut and filled the corridors. Finally, they stopped in front of a still life of fruit. Neville grinned back at Stevie and stepped aside.

"Tickle the pear," he said.

"I'm sorry?"

"Tickle the pear, go on," he repeated and Stevie raised her eyebrows suspiciously at the painting before complying. She let out a cry of surprise as the portrait swung towards them, revealing a door.

"My old school never had all these secret passageways," Stevie breathed in awe, "Everything was right where it was supposed to be. I like this so much better!"

Stevie followed Neville through the door and found herself in a huge room with four long tables, just like the Great Hall. There were tiny creatures with floppy ears running around in dirty rags while carrying food on trays. One of the creatures noticed the two Gryffindors and let out a cry of delight.

"Master Neville! How can Martha be of service today?" the creature asked, bowing low to the ground.

"I was wondering if my friend and I could have some hot chocolate and biscuits?" he asked politely.

"Of course, Martha will be right back!"

"So…who's Martha?" Stevie asked as the two of them sat at the end of a table and looked around.

"Martha's the house elf I was talking to," explained Neville, "House elves talk in third person, probably because they're usually treated like scum so they feel like they don't have an identity."

"What's a house elf?" Stevie asked, blushing slightly because she had a feeling she should've known.

"You must be a Muggleborn," he said and Stevie whipped her head towards him with a furious glare so he added quickly, "I don't mind, really! I may be a pureblood but that doesn't mean I'm like the Malfoy family. There's nothing wrong with having Muggle parents."

Stevie's face softened and she nodded. They spent the time talking about their families and sharing stories about their school days. Neville told her that his parents left when he was a baby so he now lived with his grandmother. Stevie didn't press the matter and this only made Neville like her more. Usually with pretty girls, he would stutter and be unable to form coherent sentences. Stevie was different; talking with her was like talking with one of the guys. She just had that type of personality that made her easy to talk to, once you got past the barriers she put up of course.

"So what's it like living with Muggles?" he asked eagerly. Stevie smiled as she lowered her mug of hot chocolate and thought.

"Loud," she finally said and smiled sheepishly as Neville laughed, "Even though it's just my mom and dad now, we have a lot of extended family that come by a lot. Dinners were always huge affairs where people would have to shout in order to be heard. Even here in England, we have extended family that come over a lot."

"So you don't have any siblings?"

Stevie's face became grave as she looked down at her fingers. Neville realized he had said something wrong and opened his mouth to apologize but Stevie had begun talking.

"I had an older sister, Kerry, but she died when I was ten," she said quietly and, when she looked up, Neville was shocked to see tears in her eyes, "She was on her way back from work at the hospital when a drunk driver swerved into her lane. Kerry was a resident at the local hospital. She wanted to be a pediatric neurosurgeon."

She looked away as the tears fell down her cheeks. Instantly, Neville was sitting beside her with an arm around her as she leaned on his chest while she cried silently.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked," he said quietly.

"N-No, it's f-fine," said Stevie, wiping her eyes, "I know it happened a long time ago, but it just upsets me to think that the bastard was never found, you know? He's out there somewhere when he deserves to be rotting in a prison cell for what he did. You know, Alex told me I needed to find the courage to mean it when I use defensive magic." Stevie laughed bitterly and continued, "I picture what I imagine the man who killed my sister looks like, and let my anger fuel the spell."

Neville nodded and continued to comfort her long after their drinks went cold. Stevie had never felt so comfortable before with another person who wasn't in her family. This boy wasn't frightened away by her sudden emotional outburst, but was willing to stay by her and even let her cry on his shoulder. From what Stevie had experienced with boys her age, this was quite different from what she was used to and it was also refreshing.

"Thank you Neville for listening to me. You know," she chuckled, "I've never told anyone about my sister before and yet here I am spilling it all out to a total stranger."

"I don't consider myself a stranger to you," said Neville with a playful smile, "We're Housemates, us Gryffindors have to stick by each other. And perhaps we could be friends?"

"Yeah, I'd really like that, Neville," Stevie said with a huge grin and enveloped Neville into a hug. Neville sighed happily as he held his new friend in his arms, vaguely wondering if friends often thought of what it would be like to be more than just friends.

Author's Note: Ta da! Another relationship that will be explored in the rest of this series. Neville obviously likes Stevie romantically but will Stevie ever feel the same way? And if she does, will she ever show it because of her shyness? This relationship is definitely one of my favorites in the series so I hope you all will enjoy it as well. All thoughts and advice on where you want to see Neville and Stevie go are much appreciated. Thank you and please review! :D