Disclaimer: This is all for fun, I do not claim ownership of the characters or anything recognized from the work of JK Rowling. I am only borrowing them.
Warning: Teen themes, subject to change: mild violence, scenes of a suggestive sexual nature, adult themes including but not limited to death and disease both mental and physical.
[A/N] 4/15/2016. Thank you to toodleoo-writes on tumblr for the second prompt!
-Find Your Roots | Two | I Wish I Could Hate You-
"What is it about me, am I your next project? Your next…seedling to save, Longbottom?"
"Pansy, where is this coming from, of course not! We're friends!"
Dark hairs escaped from the pins in her hair, falling to frame her face, the signs of bangs not quite grown out yet. Neville itched to reach out and brush them away before they get caught in her eyelashes.
"Friends!" she spat, hands balled into fists. Her motions loosened the scarf around her neck, the wool gripping precariously to her shoulder. "Did I give you any indication that I wanted your concern or attention or your friendship?"
The hand slowly rising dropped sharply to his side. Pre-war Neville would walk away, or cry, or some embarrassing combination of the two. But this Neville knew exactly why the sharp claws were out.
Potions was a nightmare that day. Hard enough that it was a mix of returning students with haunted eyes or battle scars, but she was the only Slytherin. Alone. And trying so damn hard. Weeks and weeks of peace lulled the two into a sweet routine of sharing a workbench every class and the corridors after. The whispers throughout the castle were easy to ignore, or so he'd thought.
Neville set his jaw, reaching out to grab both of her shoulders. He counted it as a small victory that even when she was out of her mind with anger, or grief, or guilt or some strange combination of all three, the girl did not flinch away from his touch. The girl who refused to come near to anyone else automatically folded into him.
"I wish I could hate you," she mumbled into his jacket, shoulders shaking with repressed emotion.
He felt her hands sneak into the pockets of his winter coat, something she'd done dozens of times before. This time, he planted a tentative kiss to the top of her head.