Author's Note: This short was inspired by the lovely picture "Flora and Fauna" by RosalieLettau on Deviantart

"I don't know why they paired us up; you don't need my help for herbology" Hermione grumbled as they left the class for the lake. Sprout had given them their assignments: fieldwork at the Black Lake.

"Oh, I appreciate it. I'm still not sure I read the book and instructions right. You're better at that part of it. Besides, when I make a mistake, you're the first to notice" Neville shrugged.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but smiled. "You take the criticism; that's all I care about"

"If it's from you, I care"

Hermione paused, changed the subject; "Now, I haven't really mapped the lake; we need over 20 centimeters of depth for both the whitewort and the blackwater sparling"

"I know where the whitewort grows; haven't' really measured the depth but I think that should be at least 25 centimeters" Neville offered, taking the lead.

It was a cool day; their jumpers were appreciated as they approached the lake.

"Right, I'll take the textbook, you're better at specimen collecting so I'll leave that to you" Hermione as always took charge.

"I can forget the page numbers sometimes anyway, so that's a good idea" Neville nodded, "we'll have to get in the water, though."

"It should be relatively warm this time of day, however" Hermione argued as she began taking off her shoes and rolling up her trousers.

Neville turned white at the sight of Hermione's calves revealed but quickly turned to his own shoes and trousers to distract himself.

"Ready?" Hermione looked comfortingly confident as she tied back her hair and picked up the textbook.

"Ready" Neville found himself smiling as he picked up one of the jars they had carried. He was in his element for once; back in herbology, studying the things he loved, for once confident, and he was with one of his best friends.

Hermione was quite comfortable herself. It was nice to see Neville overcome his fear and doubt and insecurity; and that was always good to see. He was the ideal herbology partner; one of the rare times she had a partner on the same level. And his bare feet and legs gave a bit of visual interest too.

Neville winced at the chill of the water, but it proved warmer than the air and he soon became accustomed to it. He could recognize the plant on sight and quickly began gathering specimens.

"It says in the book that the whitewort is symbiotic with dwarf nilgu and we need to find some of those in the lake"

"Right on it."

And so it continued. For the rest of the period they waded in the water, Neville looking over Hermione's shoulder at the book, Hermione looking over his at the specimens.

"Does the assignment care about stages of growth?"

"No, we'll do that in class. You accidentally picked a water lily by the way"

"Oops. Sorry about that. The assignment also says dwarf nilgu, and you picked a regular nilgu"

"I can't judge scale with these images"

"It's not scale, Hermione. Look at shape of the petal; it's more rounded"

Hermione bit her lip in annoyance, but took it in stride as she realized her mistake. "You're right. It is. "

"Sorry. I know you hate being wrong"

"Well, I'd rather have you let me know that get my grade wrong"

"That's why I study with you"

"Thank you." Their eyes met.

Pomona Sprout walked alongside the shores of the Black Lake, keeping an eye on her students. There were the Gryffindors all in their natural teams: Brown and Patil trying to wash the mud from their feet, Thomas and Finnegan splashing each other, Weasley and Potter giggling at an observation one or the other made, and her best students Granger and Longbottom. There was something natural about the two of them working together. In her class, they had this excellent rapport- Neville's enthusiasm and practical knowledge meshed with Hermione's excellent memory, logical mind and keen eye. They had a…chemistry. Something natural, symbiotic; like Flora and Fauna.