Title: Fredrick

Author: icicle33

Pairings/characters: (Gen) Neville, Augusta, Ron, Fred and George

Rating: PG

Warnings: minor bullying, some fluff, and a cactus named Fredrick

Word count: ~1600 (complete)

Summary: Augusta Longbottom wants her seven-year-old grandson to go play with the other children rather than sit home all day with his plants. Neville only agrees to go if he can bring his cactus, Fredrick.

A/N: For ashiiblack, who gave me the prompt of Neville talking to his plants. Neville is about to turn eight. Also, please pretend that the Weasleys and Longbottoms live in the same neighbourhood for this fic.

~*Last thing, a special thank you to Dracosluva7 for the beta job, and as always, feedback is encouraged. It makes my day!

~Fredrick~

::::::::::::::::::::::

His heart was like a sensitive plant, that opens for a moment in the sunshine, but curls up and shrinks into itself at the slightest touch of the finger, or the lightest breath of wind. ~AB [1]

x x x

"Neville, dear, why don't you go outside and play? It's a beautiful summer day. I'm sure there will be other children at the park."

Neville turned away from the windowsill and looked at his grandmother. "That's okay, Gran, I rather stay here."

"Nonsense, lad, go out and play. Those plants will still be here when you get back."

"I-I but...what if—" Neville looked down at the floor and started shuffling his feet. He didn't want to leave his plants alone; they needed him, especially his new cactus. "Can I—can I?"

"Can you what, child?" His grandmother adjusted her spectacles and gave him a stern look. "I've already told you, Neville, you're a big boy now. Ask for what you want."

Neville took a breath and grabbed one of his plants off the windowsill, his seedling cactus. "I'll go...if I can bring Fredrick. He needs more light."

Neville's grandmother frowned and then let out a sigh. "Fine, child," she said, "just be sure to play with the other children."

Neville placed Fredrick back on the windowsill and then ran over to his grandmother, throwing his arms around her right leg and smiling.

"Thanks, Gran. You're the best!"

x x x

Normally, it only took ten minutes to walk over to the park. However, Neville took his time since he wanted Fredrick to bask in as much sunlight as possible. He was a cactus after all, and cacti needed a lot of sun. He had learnt that from all the Herbology books he borrowed from his gran's library.

"Come on, Fredrick," he whispered to the cactus, leaning as close to it as possible without pricking his lips. "We're nearly there."

When he got to the park, he noticed that there weren't as many children as usual. There were a couple of girls, icky girls, playing on the swings, and a few older boys zooming around on toy broomsticks. But that was it.

Unfortunately, his gran wouldn't buy him a toy broomstick since she said he might get hurt and they were much too dangerous for little boys. Oh well. At least he had Fredrick and his other plants. Caring for plants was a safe and intellectual activity. That's what his gran had told him. Besides, his mum had loved Herbology, and there was nothing that Neville wanted more than to be like his mum.

"What should we do first, Fredrick?" Neville cradled his cactus to his chest and strolled around the park, trying his best to avoid the zooming broomsticks. When he reached the far end of the park, he noticed a group of redheaded boys, three of them, huddled on top of the blue climbing frame.

Two of the boys looked much older than Neville and were tall and lanky, their freckled faces twisted into crooked smiles. The other boy was smaller and sitting apart from the other boys. He was much younger and looked to be about Neville's age.

Neville attempted to smile at the younger boy, but when the boy just scrunched his nose and blinked, Neville decided that he wasn't that brave. His gran had told him to play with the other children; it wasn't his fault that they didn't want to play with him.

Sighing he took a seat on a nearby bench and started talking to Fredrick. He didn't need those redheaded boys—he had Fredrick. Fredrick was his friend.

"Fredrick," he said in a soft voice, "do you like this spot? There's a lot of sun here and no shade. It'll be good for you, so you can grow big and strong. Soon you'll be as tall as my other plants!"

"What did you just say to us?"

"Erm?" Neville snapped his head up and realised that one of the older redheaded boys had jumped off the climbing frame and was now standing in front of him. "I-I wasn't talking to you," he said, not meeting the older boy's eyes.

"Oh really?" The redheaded boy raised an eyebrow and nodded his head. "Who are you talking to then?"

Before Neville could respond, the other redheaded boy jumped off the climbing frame and joined his brother. Merlin's beard! Twins!

"I-I-" Neville looked down at his trainers and a cuddled Fredrick closer to his chest. "My cac-tus. His name is Fredrick."

The twins looked at each other—their faces set in identical amused expressions and then burst out laughing.

"No way!"

"He's taking the piss, right, George?"

"I don't know. He looks serious to me."

"Ron—get down here now!"

Neville couldn't help but blush. He didn't like these redheaded boys. They were being mean to Fredrick. "It's okay, Fredrick, they don't mean it," he whispered.

"Oh, Merlin, he is serious, Georgie."

"Ronnie! Get down here now!"

Both twins were beet red in the face from laughing and were now clutching their stomachs. "It's not funny," Neville said, his face serious and eyes narrowed. "It's good to talk to plants. They grow faster."

"Right, little man."

The youngest redhead walked over to his brothers, his ginger hair streaked with dirt. "What?" He kept his hands tucked behind his back and looked over at his brothers.

"This boy...what's your name, kid?"

"Neville...Neville Longbottom," Neville answered, sticking his chin out proudly.

The twins started cackling again. "That's priceless."

"It certainly is, Fred." Fred walked over to the younger boy and put a hand on his shoulder. "Listen here, Ronniekins," he said. "You always want to be part of our secret club, no?" The younger boy nodded. "Then you need to prove yourself, Ronnie. This Long-bottom here talks to his cactus. Is he barmy or what?"

"Yeah, barmy as Aunt Muriel," the younger boy squeaked.

" Good one, Ron. So what are you going to do about it?"

The younger redheaded boy, Ron, took a step closer towards Neville and grimaced. Neville bit down on his tongue but didn't back away. "Hiya, I'm Neville."

"Ron," the boy replied, scrunching his nose. "Do you really talk to your plants?"

"I do." Neville smiled at Ron weakly. "This is Fredrick."

"That's a stupid name for a cactus," Ron said, his upper lip, which also had a large smudge of dirt across it, curling.

"It is not." Neville dropped one arm from cradling Fredrick and placed it on his hip. "It's not any stupider than Ronniekins!"

"Take that back!"

"NO! You take it back!"

Ron raised a pale, freckled arm and smacked Fredrick right out of Neville's arms. "No...Fredrick!" Neville shrieked, as his cactus and best friend landed with a large splat on the ground. Neville turned to Ron with watery eyes. "How could you?"

"I-I'm sorry," Ron stammered, his face blanching. "I-I didn't mean. You made—"

Neville ignored Ron's apologies and scooped Fredrick into his arms. "It's okay, Fredrick," he cooed. "I'm going to fix you. I promise." He regarded the cactus' orange pot, which had a large crack down the centre. "It's just your home. We'll get you another home." His eyes were filling with tears. "A better one."

"Wow, Ronniekins, I didn't know you had it in you," one of the twins said.

"Yeah, little bro, who would've thought you were so cruel? You made the poor bloke cry."

"No, I-I didn't mean to...I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, we're impressed, Ron." Both boys flanked Ron on either side and clamped him on the shoulder, holding him in place.

"No! Let go!" Ron freed himself from his brothers' grasp and knelt down next to Neville, who was still cradling Fredrick to his chest, as if it were a wounded animal or a small child.

"Get away from me," Neville spat. "You've done enough."

Quickly, Neville jumped up and took off in a sprint. He needed to get away from these boys and Fredrick needed him. Urgently.

x x x

Neville made it back to his gran's house in record time. His chest was heaving and his sides aching, but he didn't care. "Gran! Gran! I need you!"

"Neville, what is it, dear?" His gran ran into the sitting room and greeted him with a furrowed brow.

"It's Fredrick!" he squeaked. "Please help, Gran!" The tears that Neville had been trying to hold in were now streaming down his face. "Please!"

His gran let out a heavy sigh and then shook her head. His gran seemed to sigh a lot. "What happened, child? Did you drop him? I told you to be careful."

"No, no," Neville insisted, his breaths still rapid and shallow. "It was these boys. They were mean, Gran."

Gran frowned and pursed her lips. "Those hooligans. How dare they? Who was it, Neville? I'll make sure to have a word with their mothers."

"I don't know," Neville lied. "These redheaded boys."

"Gingers?" She deepened her frown and narrowed her eyes. "Oooh...I bet it's those Weasley menaces. Molly has so many of them, she loses track of her brats. Just the other day, I caught two of them digging up our garden. She'll hear words from me."

"No, Gran, please!" Neville started pulling on his grandmother's dress. "Help Fredrick first! Forget about them."

Gran closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, son," she said after a beat. "You're right. Bring Fredrick here."

With a quick swish of her wand, Fredrick's pot was repaired. "There you go, lad." She handed Neville back his cactus. "Good as new. You'll just need to add some extra nutrients and soil."

"Thank you! Thank you!" Neville smiled at his grandmother brightly and hugged Fredrick to his chest. "I'm so sorry, Fredrick. I'll never let anyone hurt you again." He bit down on his bottom lip and then looked at his grandmother. "I don't have to go back there...right?"

His grandmother smiled at him weakly and shook her head. "No, child, you don't. You can stay here with me and your other plants. We can play in the garden."

Neville smiled again and his gran ruffled his hair. "Yes, dear. Stay here where it's safe. Now, how about some biscuits? Let's let Fredrick rest for a bit. He's had a strenuous day."

"Okay, Gran. You're the best."

No, Neville didn't need to play with the other children. He had his plants and his gran. That was more than enough. With his large grin still in place, he placed Fredrick back on the windowsill and followed his gran into the kitchen.

~Fin

A/N: I apologize for picking on the Weasley twins. I love Fred and George, really I do, but I can't help but feel that they were unintentional bullies (with their pranking) when they were younger. Remember Ron's teddy bear and his puffskein? They didn't mean poor Neville any harm, but how could they pass up an oppurtunity to tease a boy who carries around a cactus and talks to it. Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[1] The quote at the beginning of this story is by Anne Bronte. It doesn't belong to me in any way. I just thought it described poor Neville perfectly.

~Icicle