This is a Neville Longbottom/OC fanfic. I haven't written in a while, so I'm a bit more than rusty. I've slightly come to terms with the fact that J.K. Rowling asserts that NL/LL will not happen, so I wrote this. Neville deserves more love. Bianca Girardi was created on the sole fact that there are two currently unidentified girls residing in Hermione Granger's dorm. Kinda fluffy, kinda waffy, kinda angsty, kinda cute. Hope you enjoy. So without further ado, my newest fanfiction!

Disclaimer: All characters are the creation of J.K.Rowling with the exception of Kelly Macmillan and Bianca 'Bizzy' Girardi. Time frame: Year Seven. Hermione, Ron, and Harry followed through with the decision to not return to school.

You couldn't tell by looking at them that they were twins. They did share the same slightly rounded nose, almond slant eyes and cheekbones, yes, but to see that you had to look very closely. At a passing glance, he was the day to her night.

His hair was fair and wavy blonde while hers was black. It was straight and sleek, like a raven's wing. His skin was fair from his time spent indoors, striving to please their parents, but hers was slightly freckled from spending endless hours of her youth outdoors reading. His face was thin with their shared cheeks standing out prominently, and her was rounder, demurely padded with a slight layer of baby fat. Both were thin; he was lean and athletically built, and she was just plain thin. The biggest difference however lay behind their eyes. His were green like fresh cut grass and her were dark and velvety blue like a night sky speckled with stars. The stars however, had long since faded.

He spent their childhood needlessly competing with her for their parents' love. He came five minutes earlier, and she followed him kicking and screaming; he had needed a slap on the bottom from the doctor to make him cry. He grew up with the constant fear that she was out to upstage him. Looking back at photo albums, he swore that he had the proof: her first steps lasted a spilt second longer before falling (though he walked first), and her first word was 'kitty cat' compared to his traditional 'mamma.' He took this and the pride their parents bestowed on both of them as proof that she was trying to make them love her more.

She began to hide. Not physically, but emotionally. She allowed herself to blend into the background, letting her brother shine as the charismatic and popular centre of attention. When they went to Hogwarts, Hufflepuff became his house first due to the nature of the alphabet. She came next and the hat fell over her eyes.

"Now you have some potential. What to do with you… I see a desire to learn and go far; Slytherin or Ravenclaw I think." The hat hemmed and hawed and she spoke back to it,

"Hufflepuff, just like my brother."

"But you're better suited to a house where you can meet those of similar tastes and ambitions. Ravenclaw perhaps?"

"No, Hufflepuff! If I end up in Ravenclaw, my brother will think I'm trying to be smarter than him!"

"Hiding will do you more harm than help, since you're so insistent, HUFFLEPUFF!" The last word was announced to the entire hall and she sat next to her brother. Grabbing her wrist he hissed in her ear,

"What took so long?" His grip was cutting off the blood supply to her hand.

"I think the hat took a nap on my head." She tittered nervously. Grudgingly, he released her hand. As she turned to watch the rest of the sorting, she rubbed her wrist, ignoring the bruise beginning to form.

In school, she soon learned to level herself with or below her brother to keep the peace. He apparently seemed to have an inferiority complex. She only answered as many questions as he could, often lagging behind by one for safe measure. She told him that her test scores were either equal to or below his, even though her constant reading often put her a point or two above. She padded her study time, telling him that she studied 30-45 minutes more than he did. She even waited her fourth year to get a date for the ball after him so that he wouldn't think she was more popular, even though this meant she missed her chance with the boy she'd wanted to attend with and had to stag it.

Still, this game of hers kept the peace. Their parents were sufficiently proud of them both, and wrote fond joint letters to them along with separate ones (which were often shared with one another anyways), expressing their love and pride often. Over six years, her façade only slipped a few times, and yes, her brother would get angry with her. He forgave her however when another day would pass of him answering more questions than her, placating him and gaining the house 20-30 points. That's the way things were; Ernie Macmillan was the BMOC of their house and year, and his twin sister Kelley faded into the ether.

Ok, chapter one down. I have the rest of the story written out, so if you like it or just need more to determine whether or not you like, just tell!

Love ya all,

Kitty Kat Mac