Author's note: Sorry for spamming; am in a mood and on a mission to finish a prompt challenge. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the canon, world, and characters portrayed below and you can tell I'm not J.K. Rowling because #transrights

Warnings: NA

The New Herbology Professor

Remus knocked on the door to the Herbology Professor's Quarters only once before the door cracked open and Neville answered, looking slightly overwhelmed and flustered–dark hair standing up awkwardly.

"Remus!" he said with a smile, looking a little relieved. He must have been expecting Minerva McGonagall. Remus remembered the fear she had struck in his heart the first time he had come back to Hogwarts to teach, which made him smile.

"Hello," Remus said. "I know you must be busy settling in, but I wanted to bring you something."

"What?" Neville asked. "Oh, Remus, you really didn't have to…"

"Think of it as a housewarming present," Remus said. "May I?"

"Yes, of course," Neville said, stepping aside to let Remus into his sitting room. He had started putting books on his bookshelf, but his trunk laid open in the middle of the sitting room. Through the open bedroom door, Remus could see that there were loose clothes and half-emptied boxes. Trevor the toad's tank was propped on his writing desk, atop a pile of books about aquatic horticulture.

"How are you settling in?" Remus asked, handing Neville the bag he had brought.

"Okay," Neville said. "The greenhouses are ready to go and all my lesson plans are done. I'm just trying to get everything sorted before the students actually get here, because after that I don't think I'll have time to do anything other than teach and grade and… oh Remus, this is so nice!"

He smiled to himself as he watched Neville unpack the care package he had brought; a tin of tea and packages of Pumpkin Patties and crisps for when the kitchens were technically closed, blue ink and a set of fresh quills because Remus always seemed to run out just as he was halfway through grading, breath mints and dry shampoo for those mornings when you woke up late but needed to be presentable, a fresh pack of chalk since Peaves enjoyed stealing it from classrooms, honey and a vial of Pepperup Potion for when flu season inevitably swept the castle, warm socks for when the castle got chilly in the winter, and a bottle of Firewhiskey because… well, it would surely come in handy.

"I don't know what to say," Neville said earnestly, looking up to Remus with a smile.

"I was the newest teacher once," Remus said. "I remember how overwhelming it feels."

Neville sighed. "It really does… I feel like I should know more or be more cool and confident if I'm going to be a teacher..."

"You should know better than anyone that professors do not always have all the answers," Remus said, thinking back to Neville's nightmarish seventh year at Hogwarts.

"I suppose so," Neville said, ruffling his hair furthermore. "I just… I want to do well for these students. I really, really do."

"And you will," Remus promised. "McGonagall does not suffer fools, nor does she hire them."

"I suppose that's as good an endorsement as I could hope for," Neville said with a grin. He still looked nervous though. "Can I… can I sit with you in the Great Hall tomorrow, at the opening feast?"

"Of course," Remus said with a smile. "I'll leave you to finish unpacking but… Neville?"

"Yes?"

"McGonagall is not the only one who thinks you will be a wonderful teacher," Remus said pointedly.

Neville took a deep breath.

"That… means a lot, Remus. You were always one of my favourite professors, even if we only had you for a year," Neville said. "I still remember the Boggart exercise, on your first day."

Remus cracked a smile. It had been audacious of him to help a student manifest Severus Snape in drag on his first day as a teacher–but, as he had told Severus himself at the time, it was not his fault that a colleague happened to be the most terrifying thing a student could envision…

"Nobody… nobody else had tried to make me feel special in class before you did, with the Boggart," Neville said. "Nobody else had ever tried to make me feel safe and capable in class."

"You know Neville, you taught me something that day too–you and all the other students who were so curious about Boggarts and eager to try the spell and face their fears," Remus said. "Children and teenagers are bright and curious enough on their own. If they want to learn about the life cycles of Grindylows or the history of dark magic legislation, they can and will find a way to do it with or without us. Our most important job as teachers is to show them what to do with all that curiosity, and turn it into the things they'll need outside the classroom. That most often means making sure they realise how capable they are, how to respect their limits, and make sure that they are safe and kind to one another as they learn. I learned quite quickly that that was much more important than anything gradable."

Nevill nodded thoughtfully.

"I'll keep that in mind," Neville said softly.

"They'll be lucky to have you, either way," Remus promised him. "Professor Longbottom."

WC: 859