A/N after writing a tiny hint of Hermione x Neville in my current WIP I wanted to explore them properly in their own story. I've always liked the pairing and there aren't a great deal of stories out there.

This fic will start right at the beginning Hogwarts first year and will be from Neville's POV. The chapters will be in time order but they will mainly focus on events that occur that are significant to Neville and as such there maybe time jumps and will not run with each chapter beginning where the last left off. As such the chapter lengths will vary a little but typically will be around 1-2k.

This story will largely follow canon events and its slightly based on a what if principal, what it Hermione and Neville's friendship continued to develop after meeting on The Hogwarts Express.

EDIT: This fanfic is currently being redrafted, please excuse mistakes, grammar and spelling issues the new version should be up soon.

Year One Chapter One

Neville Longbottom stood quietly on the edge of Platform 9 ¾ and stared at the gleaming red steam train, The Hogwarts Express, his squirming insides an equal mix of barely restrained excitement and unparalleled fear.

He turned to say goodbye to his Grandmother, it was unlikely to be an emotional farewell. Augusta Longbottom had been born a stern woman and life had hardened her further. Neville's parents had been tortured to complete insanity when he was sixteen months old. They had been repeatedly placed under the Cruciatus Curse by Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband Rodolphus, his brother Rabastan and a younger Death Eater, Barty Crouch Jr. Singled out because of a crazy woman's mistaken belief that his parents knew anything about their missing Lord, Voldemort.

Over the years family members had filled in some of the blanks that Neville had about his Mum and Dad, his Gran had always been reluctant to talk about her son other than to repeatedly assert how superior he was on any given subject to Neville. His parents had been childhood sweethearts, having fallen in love at school, his Dad proposed after Graduation. They had then married and entered the Auror training programme together, Alice becoming pregnant soon after.

Augusta had doted on her Son, Frank, and had come to care deeply for his chosen wife. She had to deal with a Mother's heartbreak over the attack and had then been given an infant to care for in the twilight years of her life. While she should have been enjoying the relative ease of a fun role as an affectionate Grandparent she had instead become a primary care giver.

Neville had been to see his parents the day before. They lived in the same place they had been since they were discovered following the attack, The Janus Thickey Ward at St. Mungo's. The ward housed residents whose minds had been permanently affected by spell damage and were no longer able to function in the wizarding world.

They couldn't speak, at least not in complete sentences and their comprehension of the world around them was often limited. But Neville knew they recognised him when he visited. His Mum's eyes would flash and she would spend the entire time unwrapping the sweets he would bring her and passing him the papers.

Most people said he looked like his Mum, he thought they were being kind. His Mum was beautiful, even after all that time lost to herself Neville still thought so. He was not blind to his appearance, he was slightly chubby, most notably in his cheeks and his teeth seemed a little large for his head. He was often reassured by his Uncle Algie that the men in their family were often a little heavy when younger and when Neville had a couple of growth spurts it would all even out. Neville would take one look at his Uncle's rather pronounced belly and nod along convincing despite not believing a word.

He shared the envisioned terse hug with his Gran and moved to get onto the train, this was it! The first time where he could be himself, not Frank's Son that never quite measured up, not the kid with the tortured parents just him, simply Neville.

Almost as soon as he had boarded the train all of his optimism from literally seconds ago fell away as he realised with complete horror that he had lost his toad, Trevor. He walked into the nearest available compartment and hoisted his trunk up already looking forward to being able to complete such tasks with magic.

It was only when he turned around that he noticed there was a girl sitting on the opposite bench. It was no wonder he hadn't seen her before she was so small, she had to be a first year like him. She had a copy of Hogwarts a History perched on her lap that dwarfed her further. Her hair was insane, he'd never seen anything quite like it. It seemed to move independently around her head reacting to the subtle movements of the train. He wondered briefly it were a living organism that he hadn't heard about yet. She made no response to him entering the compartment and did not acknowledge him now despite him staring at her. He summed up all of his courage and broke the silence;

"Um... excuse me...you... you haven't seen a toad have you?"

The tiny girl raised her head and Neville's gaze was met by caramel brown eyes assessing him "No, I'm sorry I haven't, and you are?" Neville was instantly taken back by her crisp, direct tone, it seemed so at odds with her appearance.

"I'm Neville, Neville Longbottom"

"Pleasure to meet you Neville, I'm Hermione Granger, would you like some help looking for him?"

"Erm yes please"

He followed her out into the corridor where he noticed that she, much like himself, had more than a little difficulty walking straight during the rough movements of the train. Hermione proceeded to knock on every single compartment and enquire about Trevor. By the time they approached the last carriage he was starting to feel a bit tearful and was very grateful that she had taken charge.

When the last carriage door opened there were only two occupants, both boys in their first year, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. He had heard from his Gran that Harry Potter would be attending Hogwarts that year, it was clear by the boy's facial expression, he had worn it enough himself, that he wanted to keep a low profile. He had heard of the Weasley's of course, being a pureblood part of his education as a child had been about the existing pureblood families followed by harsh directives from his Gran on which ones he was allowed to associate with. To some in pureblood circles the Weasley's would be seen as blood traitors, the Longbottom's too for that matter, but his Gran had referred to them as a respectable family, though she had made a few comments about the number of children they had being slightly unseemly... whatever that meant.

With nowhere else to search Neville and Hermione headed back to their own compartment, he was dejected.

"I'm sure he will turn up Neville" Hermione said reassuringly, her tone was much less brittle now. He slumped on the bench seat opposite her.

"So.." Hermione began "what house do you think you will be in?"

"Both of my parents were in Gryffindor, but I think there's a good chance I won't be. Not sure where I will end up. I'm not brave like you need for Gryffindor and not smart like the Ravenclaws… maybe Hufflepuff?"

"Ok, I'm not sure where I would be, my parents are muggles so no indication there, I don't know how smart I could be perceived as being as I've only known about magic for a few months. Everyone from the wizarding world must be so much further along than me" her modest smile waned a touch and he suddenly comprehend how scared she must be. He felt the need to reassure her like she had tried to do about Trevor.

"My family thought I was going to be a squib for a while as I did not show any signs of magic"

"What's a squib?"

"Non magical person born to magical parents. It all got cleared up when my Uncle Algie chucked me out of a window"

"He dropped you out of a window?!" Hermione's voice had become impossibly shrill, her eyes wide like saucers and despite his nerves and worrying about Trevor Neville found he was laughing.

"It was an accident, he was reaching for a meringue, I was sat on the window ledge and I got pushed out. Before I hit the ground I stopped and hovered for a second before landing gently"

Hermione was overcome by a fit of giggles and he couldn't help joining her. After a few moments she straightened out wiping her eyes.

"Oh thats terrible, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't laugh, you could have died"

"It all worked out in the end, Uncle Algie brought me Trevor when I got my Hogwarts letter, I can't believe I've lost him already"

"It will be alright Neville he will turn up"

Hermione was proved right, after arriving at Hogsmeade Station a giant man, who Harry whispered was called Rubeus Hagrid, was clutching a toad and shouting for whoever had lost it to come forward.

"TREVOR!" Neville jumped forward thanked Hagrid profusely and then secured Trevor inside his robes, hoping that he would at least managed to make it to the end of the day before losing him again.

The first years were directed to the shore of the Black Lake to cross over to Hogwarts Castle, this journey was made by boat and only the first years travelled this way. Hagrid instructed that they should be four to a boat and himself and Hermione climbed in behind Harry and Ron. Hermione had gone completely silent, considering she had barely stopped talking to breath on the train ride to Scotland the sudden stillness was jarring. The boat rocked in the water very slightly and her hand instantly jerked from under her robes to grip the side, her knuckles turning white with the force of her hold. Her eyes were firmly closed and her teeth were embedded in her bottom lip.

As the first part of the castle came into view Ron leant forward disturbing the boat again, this time Hermione's other had shot from under her robes to grab Neville's hand. He was momentarily stunned. He had only ever held hands with two people, it had been a long time since his Gran had held his hand but his Mum occasionally still reached for it on their visits.

The boat turned and they got their first glimpse of the whole castle, it looked beautiful in the setting sun. He knew Hermione would appreciate the view, from the amount she had quoted from Hogwarts a History on the way down she must have read the book more than once.

As gently as he could he squeezed her hand, not taking his eyes of the castle. "Hermione, open your eyes, you need to see this"

A moment later he noticed a minute movement as Hermione opened one eye just a fraction then gasped loudly and her eyes opened and went almost as wide as when he had told her about the window incident.

When they pulled into the shore he kept hold of her hand to help her out of the boat, another residue from his pureblood training, when she let go he had to stretch his fingers several times to get the blood to flow back to the tips, she had been clutching him that hard. He found he didn't really mind though.

Lining up for the sorting ceremony Neville lost sight of any excitement he might have felt that day. He had long been intimidated by Gryffindor's reputation for bravery and his biggest fear was for the sorting hat to be placed on his head and for it to declare there was nowhere for him to go, that there had been a mistake and he needed to go home immediately.

Quicker than he would have liked the students in front of him diminished until his name was called. He tentatively moved towards the stool and Professor McGonagall placed the aged hat on his head. His eyes fell on Hermione, already at her seat on the Gryffindor table, she was watching with rapt attention, he had previously thought he would argue for Hufflepuff, there would be no false expectations there, but when he saw her move to the edge of her seat he made no protest and the hat shouted

"GRYFFINDOR"

He was so surprised by the volume of the hats voice and its judgement that he got half way across the hall before he realised that hat was still on his head. He blushed fiercely and raced back to put it on the stool for the next student.

As he moved back to the table he smiled at the pats on the back, handshakes and residual cheering, Hermione made to shuffle over and he nudged in next to her.

"We did it Neville, they have a place for us and it's Gryffindor, home of the brave"

"Home of the brave" he repeated and for the first time the words didn't fill him with dread.