A/N: Hey y'all! Have some Pomona. :)

Word Count: 401

Enjoy!

Pomona had always prided herself on being able to coax even the most frightened of flowers into their true potential, and the same could be said of her students, though getting a human being to see their worth was remarkably harder. Still, Pomona had a talent for it; her welcoming nature and gentle encouragement had done wonders for many students.

Neville Longbottom, however, was quite a challenge.

The boy simply didn't believe in himself. There was almost no confidence in him; he felt that he failed at everything academic, he felt he wasn't an interesting person, he didn't believe himself to be brave—even his homework essays were written with the assumption that he was answering incorrectly.

But Pomona could see that there was something spectacular in him. She could see his worth plain as day, and she knew that all he needed was someone to believe in him.

She did so wholeheartedly. He had a real gift in Herbology, and when he was tending to plants, his hands didn't tremble. A soft, genuine smile would situate itself on his face, and nothing could distract him from the task at hand. When no one was watching him, his true self came out.

Pomona assisted where she could, praising him softly in class and writing encouraging feedback when necessary. She didn't baby him, though; her corrections were firm and absolute. Neville learned from each piece of criticism, which was more than could be said for most students.

But, shockingly, it was in his fifth year that he really blossomed.

So many children had withered under Dolores Umbridge's close eye. Pomona had found many students crying and trembling after that woman's classes, and she had to admit that she'd expected the shaky confidence Neville had built up over the past four years to crumble.

Instead, he straightened his spine.

Pomona caught him talking more, making corrections to students' techniques when asked his opinion, and asserting himself more. His wand movements, though they were rare in Herbology, were steady. There was a spark in his brown eyes that had been absent when he first came to school.

As he grew, so did Pomona's heart. There was nothing more gratifying than watching a student grow comfortable in their own skin, and Neville's transformation was an aweing one.

Pomona loved all her students, of course. But Neville Longbottom would always have a special place in her heart.