Author's Note: Hi all! This is my very first fanfic! I've been rolling this idea around in my head for quite a while, and it seems it is finally time! A few FYIs about the story: It's completely canonical, up until 07-08-2014 at the Quidditch match. It takes place in present day (aka it begins in August of 2014). Neville is obviously the brain child of JK Rowling. Teegan is mine (aka Teegan is basically me…)

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I appreciate any and all comments. Just don't be a jerk. Ain't nobody got time for that….

The late summer sun was filtering through Greenhouse 2, warming the young man's neck pleasantly. He had been hard at work for hours, pruning, watering, and feeding various plants for the upcoming school year. A new batch of mandrakes had come in earlier that morning and he wanted them to be ready to go for the students. He smiled to himself as he thought about his own experiences with the little buggers. Had it really been nearly 22 years since he had first worked with mandrakes? He shook his head to rid himself of the elderly feeling.

So much had happened since his second year. Not all of it very pleasant either. The second wizarding war had ended nearly 16 years ago, but Neville Longbottom remembered it as vividly as if it had been yesterday. The former Gryffindor had come a long way since his early days at Hogwarts. What once had been a shy and fearful 11 year old boy had grown into a courageous and determined teenager. He still didn't care much to talk about how he had killed the Dark Lord's prized pet snake. He certainly was proud of what he had done, but Neville preferred to be out of the limelight as much as possible. Staying out of the limelight had proven to be a difficult task following the war.

He had spent almost 5 years after the war dodging the public eye. It seemed that everywhere he and his friends turned there was a reporter waiting to talk to them. Neville hadn't been able to even take his girlfriend, Luna, out without them being followed. While the rest of the wizarding world rejoiced, Neville was forced into darkness. It was the constant attention that had finally broken him and Luna up. Neither could take the pressure that being famous came with. The pair of them attracted nearly as much attention as Harry and Ginny. His best friends had been able to remain strong and very much in love; Neville and Luna could not. They split amicably, and he counted Luna as one of his best friends to this day.

All that seemed light years in the past to Neville. Today he was simply a regular guy living a fairly normal life. Well, as normal as a wizards life could be. 6 years after the war Neville took an internship opportunity in the Hogwarts Herbology department. He had become a full fledged professor 5 years after. He was also happily married to his former classmate and current bar keep at the Leaky Cauldron, Hannah Abbot. Life had been pretty good to Neville after the war. That is, until that Rita Skeeter article had emerged.

Neville stood up from where he was crouched on the floor. He wasn't going to think about that right now. He had far too much work to do. The start of the term was less than a week away. Plus he had a staff meeting this evening. There were rumors that they'd finally get to meet the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Apparently she was some young hotshot who had traveled the world before taking the position. Minerva had practically begged the girl to take it. Neville had to chuckle at that. All these years later and rumors and gossip still spread like wildfire. Minerva McGonagal would never beg anyone for anything. Not to mention she had long since retired. Neville assumed there was a nugget of truth in the whispers, though he'd yet to decipher it. He'd find out soon enough anyway.

Neville wiped the sweat from his brow before catching a glance at his watch. Blimey, was it really 4 o'clock already? The staff meeting was set to start at half past 5, and he was nothing less than a royal mess. Luckily he had enough sense to keep extra clothes and toiletries at his office in the castle. He'd have never made it to and from home above the Leaky Cauldron and make it to the meeting in time. Hastily, he made his way up to the castle and to his office on the third floor.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The redhead's snoring could most likely be heard from outer space. At least, that's always what her family had told her. She had an incredibly irritating and loud snoring problem. It shook walls. Today was no exception. The rumbling echoed off the walls of the dingy room above the Hog's Head. It shook dust from places no one had bothered to clean in what seemed like ages. Some of that very dust fell onto the wild curls of Teegan McIntyre. She had fallen asleep at the desk in her room two hours prior. It hadn't been her intention of course. The check list she had been making now lay forgotten and covered in a puddle of drool under her pale face. Her slumber continued until a rather loud snore brought a heavy book falling to the floor. Teegan awoke with a start, her head flying up from the desk. "Wha- who there?" Her groggy voice filled the room as she squinted around her.

After it became very clear that she was completely alone, Teegan blinked herself into a relatively awake state. Her brown eyes found their way to the muggle alarm clock that lay on the floor at her feet. She picked it up and nearly dropped it once more when she saw the time. She had a half hour to get ready and get to her first staff meeting. Was it even possible? Teegan was a procrastinator for sure, but even this was pushing it. She sprung from her desk and immediately began running around the tiny room. Luckily the girl was a brilliant multi-tasker. Toothbrush in her mouth, she frantically searched for her shoes. Armed with one shoe in her hand, she attempted to tame the mop on her head. It put up a good fight, and eventually her hair won. Her mother had told her to look as respectable as she could for the meeting. She wanted to be taken seriously as a teacher, didn't she? Well of course she did! It wasn't her ruddy fault her hair was so uncooperative! In fact, she could place that blame squarely back onto her mother. Genetics and all.

She had been resigned to pull her hair back into what she only hoped looked like a decent ponytail. She had 15 minutes to go, and she was still one shoe down. Where was that blasted thing? She hadn't worn this pair in ages. They were a pair of shiny black leather heels. She only brought those out for very important cases. Of course, she had the brilliant idea of trying them on earlier that day and had promptly lost one. Teegan was constantly losing things. It wasn't much of a surprise given the state of her room. It couldn't be denied that the girl was an unorganized slob. She had been in this room for only 2 days and it already looked like the place had exploded. As she searched under her desk her stomach gave a loud rumble. When was the last time she had eater? Glancing upwards she spotted a chocolate frog wrapper near the waste bin. Had that really been all she had eaten since yesterday? No wonder she was so hungry. The clock ticked down to 5:20. She still hadn't found her other shoe. But she needed food. She'd never make it to the castle without something. She crossed the small room to the ice box and threw it open. The food available was sparse. A jar of pickles, a half eaten bagel, and a black leather shoe.

She rammed the half eaten bagel in her mouth and had just shut the icebox door when she realized what she had just seen. She threw the door open once more and pulled her missing shoe from within. How it had gotten there she could only imagine. Bagel still in her mouth, she struggled to wiggle into her shoes. She hobbled across the room, scooping her bag off the floor as she went. She had 5 minutes to get up to the castle and into that staff meeting. She glanced at the room once more, hoping she had not forgotten anything and turned on the spot. She found herself standing a few yards away from the Hogwarts main gates. She glanced down at her watch and yelped in horror. She had less than 4 minutes to get through the gates and to the Great Hall. She'd have to sprint for it. Teegan took off at a run for the gates, wand raised so the gate would know who she was. She passed through the gate seamlessly, and was very hopeful that she would make it just in the knick of time.

She made it inside of the castle with just under a minute to spare. Feeling rather proudly of herself, Teegan took her time walking through the Entrance Hall that would lead her to the Great Hall. The girl shouldn't have gotten so cocky. Just as she entered the hall, a confident smile plastered on her face, she heard an audible click. The click was very unfortunately the heel of her shoe breaking off from under her. The smile quickly gave way to a grimace of fear as she toppled forward landing with a resounding thud on the floor. Audible gasps surrounded her, which answered Teegan's question of if anyone had seen her fall pretty easily. Her face grew as red as her hair as she lay face down on the floor. The sound of chairs scraping against the floor in an attempt to assist her only embarrassed Teegan further. Being the klutz that she was, how had she never figured out a spell to simply vanish into the floor? It'd have come in mighty useful right now.