So. The Longbottoms. I always loved Neville and found the fact that his parents were tortured to insanity really, really depressing. Here's a story of what happened before all that….at Hogwarts.
The bustling station on platform 9 and ¾ was crowded and warm, as though summer couldn't quite bear to leave for the year. Though it might have come across as a very odd station, what with strange groups of people lugging trunks, owl cages, and broomsticks; King's Cross was actually not even slightly out of the ordinary- that is, not to the wizards preparing to return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. One such family stood by a brick column, gazing out on the frantic crowds.
"Frank, dear, if I told you once, I told you twice, be careful with that! It's fragile!" exclaimed a middle aged witch wearing an unusual hat with a stuffed vulture on top.
"Sorry, Mum," sighed Frank, stowing his glass remembrall into a pocket of a worn, navy blue hooded sweater, emblazoned with the logo, PUDDLEMERE UNITED. He looked around anxiously. Where was that girl? Seriously….
"Hi, Frank!" said a friendly looking brunette with a round, happy face. She stood back, beaming at him. A Prefects Badge identical to Frank's was pinned to her chest.
"Alice! How have you been? You didn't write all summer…"
"Sorry about that…my family was traveling, you see, and I didn't want to make Sora, here, fly so far." Alice poked her tawny owl playfully. It hooted, having been woken up rudely, and promptly began to snore.
"Well, do you want to go get a compartment for after our prefect duties?" asked Frank. Alice nodded and the two said their goodbyes to their families and strode off to the Hogwarts Express.
Frank Longbottom had known Alice ever since, on the first day of school, his toad leaped out of his arms and into her lap. Alice didn't have wizard parents, so she was glad to meet someone who could tell her everything. Two years later, her brother LOOK UP NAME! was also accepted into Hogwarts. As the two friends patrolled the train, Frank watched her long brown hair swishing side to side as she looked around for possible mischief makers. He became so involved in watching the sunlight sparkle in it that when she stopped suddenly, he bumped into her.
"What was that for?' he hissed angrily into her ear.
Alice pointed ahead at what looked like a great deal of black ink. Upon closer inspection, it was a great deal of greasy hair.
"Who did this?" Alice said, striding over to a group of four boys and a livid girl.
"It was him!" the redhead girl, Lilly, shrieked, pointing at an attractive, tall boy. "Sirius did it, he put a hair growing curse on him!"
Frank flicked his wand and the hair began to shrink back to it's normal length, but the damage was done. The pale boy beneath all of that grease was flushed and shaking with anger.
"I only did it for a laugh," retorted Sirius, without looking remotely abashed. He and another boy, James, were looking on at the scene, snickering. A short and a bit round guy also laughed, watching the leaders as though he wanted to make sure he was in on the cool-ness. Remus, the fourth boy in the gang remained silent, eyebrows raised.
Alice snorted. "Only a laugh? Right. Well, I am going to have to speak to our head of house about this, causing their smiles to falter. The boys looked at her and began to plead. Alice did not smile.
"Protego!" yelled Frank, as the pale boy, Severus, sneakily took out his wand to take advantage of their lack of attention to him. He scowled and his jelly-legs jinx never found it's target.
"Good one," said Alice warmly before separating the boys and reassuring Lilly that due punishment would be given.
Frank was still glowing with pride after the start of term feast, and long after he headed to his dormitory, though for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why. A shield charm wasn't terribly difficult, and so why was he so pleased with himself? Shaking his head mentally, Frank shut his eyes and went to sleep.
When Frank woke up the next morning, he was grinning from one rather large ear to the other. His classmate, Jack Dobbins, a short-ish sort of a guy, pointed at his expression and burst out laughing. Soon the dormitory was asking him what he found so funny.
"He totally likes someone! I can tell! His eyes were all misty and he was showing this dopey smile! Who is it Frank? Is it Alice?"
"It was…Just…just a dream I had…" he muttered, tying his shoes quickly and running into the common room. The truth was, he did have a dream. But he couldn't remember much of it; just that Alice had been in it, and that something she did had made him very, very happy. Unfortunately for Frank, his good mood did not last long.
"Double potions? With Slytherin? Again?" Frank dropped his head down, narrowly missing his toad and cinnamon oatmeal by millimeters.
Alice sniggered and looked at the schedule too. "Well, at least we don't have to take it next year," she reasoned. "Unless…well…."
Alice trailed off sheepishly, turning red.
"Unless what?" Frank asked curiously.
"Well…Unless we decided to be aurors…but that's a lot of work and I bet I'd do really badly at it," Alice finished quickly, turning redder and redder with each word.
"But you'd be an awesome auror! That's always been my first choice of job, too. But we'd have to get an O.W.L. in potions, defense against the dark arts, and loads more…"
Now that she was sure Frank wasn't going to laugh at her, Alice joined in on the discussion a little more and they were still talking about it when they reached potions.
The rest of the first week went by without any major problems. To Frank's embarrassment, Jack continued to pester him about who he liked, and when Alice found out, she tried to scare it out of him by putting a jinx on him, right out of the blue.
"Who is it?" she protested, after he had threatened to put a full body bind on her if she kept on attacking him. He just shook his head. He didn't like anyone…did he? A picture of Alice's bright, smiling face filled his head. Stopping abruptly, Alice bumped in him.
"What? What is it?" She peered around him, even though she was only up to his shoulders. "Is James Potter up to something again? I swear, no matter how many detentions I give-"
"No, no, nothing like that," Frank muttered. "See you later…got do some homework."
"But we already finished it!" she shouted after him. Shaking her head, Alice continued to stride towards the lake, presumably to sit on the sun.
Frank went up to the dormitory and sat with his head in his hands. Was it possible he liked Alice? She was certainly pretty…but they were friends, and perhaps it would be better to continue on just as friends. No, it really was better that way. So many things could be injured if they had a messy breakup…Frank's internal argument took a different path when he pictured Alice and him sitting in a cozy coffee shop, hand in hand with a ring on a finger. But that's just…happy endings like that don't happen! Frank balled his hands into fists and the Alice in his brain through a mug at his head. No, it would be better to go slow for a bit. How many crushes actually turn into something forever? Not many, he answered himself, getting off the bed and walking towards the common room.
On whim, he looked out the window to the grounds below, and what he saw made him run down to the grounds on top speed. When he arrived, Alice and Andrew Shormac, a Gryffindor 6th year, were walking back to the school hand in hand. Alice waved at him as they passed, each beaming.
"What…just…happened?" Frank said out loud.
"Ooh, it was so cute, we saw it all!" exclaimed two girls from Frank's year, Hailey and Violet.
"So first Alice was sitting outside all alone, probably because YOU weren't there," Violent started glaring at him. "You know, I was sure you guys would be together. Ah well."
"Anyway," hissed Frank.
"Then Andrew came over to sit with her, and he's awfully good looking. And athletic," she added, as if on an afterthought.
"So they started to talk and then he conjured this fake golden snitch and asked her to hold it," continued Hailey. "And when she took it, this message came out of it, and it said, 'Alice will you go out with me?' It was really cute, and had to have been a lot of complicated transfiguration."
"So they're…? Like, a…?" asked Frank fearfully.
Hailey and Violet exchanged a look, and then saying, as though Frank was a toddler, "Yes, Frank. They're a couple. And a damn good one at that."
The girls flounced away, leaving Frank standing alone, trying not to wonder what Alice and Andrew were doing alone in the common room.
Next time: It's Halloween! Will Frank tell Alice about his feelings? Plus give me feedback! I was thinking about adding another character that might surprise you...xD But only if people like this story.