Chapter 1 - Slow Dancing in A Burning Room

Neville

He heard her before he saw her. Her grating laugh reverberating off the stone walls.

It was already his least favourite class, with the impending torture from Snape, but to be stuck with them for double potions was adding insult to injury.

Swaggering into the dark dungeon classroom came the Slytherins. Strutting about like they owned the place.

Which, he supposed, was accurate. For the next two hours. They pretty much did.

Unfortunately for Neville and Hermione, Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson were seated directly behind them, so they were subjected to two sweaty hours of under the breath insults.

"I wonder if they'll breed Draco." She whispered poisonously while he stirred in the frogspawn. Hermione's fists balled.

"I don't know if even Longbottom would stoop that low Pansy. Even those at the bottom of the barrel must have standards." He hissed as Hermione added the eye of newt. Nevilles eye twitched.

"Even that blood traitor Weasley girl is a step up. I wonder if the Mudblood cried when she found out even Longbottom wouldn't take her to the ball." Pansy spat.

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP!" Neville finally exploded, hands gripping the edge of the table. Pansy and Draco had jumped so violently at his outburst that their cauldron toppled to the dungeon floor.

The four of them watched the bubbling mess spread with dread. Within seconds, Snapes dark shape loomed over them. Neville stole a glance at the Potions Master's face before fixing his eyes back on the floor. He was furious. But to Neville's surprise, it didn't seem directed just at him and Hermione.

"Longbottom. 10 points from Gryffindor for disrupting my classroom. You and Miss Granger will come back this evening to assist Miss Parkinson and Mr. Malfoy in cleaning this mess."

"Sir! You can't be seri-" Snape whirled towards Draco.

"Oh, but I am Mr. Malfoy. As the plague." His voice had gone to that flat, quiet place that Neville knew from experience meant he was beyond livid. "You and Miss Parkinson have embarrassed all of Slytherin House with your…display." He gestured to the steaming puddle on the floor.

"Be glad I am only requiring detention, and that I will not be sending owls to your parents and informing them of this impertinence." Risking a sidelong glance to see their reactions, both Draco and Pansy had gone pale. Odd, considering how often they threatened to inform their fathers of every little infraction. The two Slytherins seemed to have a silent discussion and sat without any further fuss.

Hermione seemed ready to fight Snape on the injustice of their being added to the detention, given the other two had provoked them, but with a light hand on the arm and a shake of the head Neville silenced her. For whatever reason, Snape was clearly in a foul mood. If he was giving his favourite students detention, there was no hope for them.

With a glance back at Draco and Pansy, the former of whom was staring murderously at the spot his hand had touched Hermione, he confirmed that this evening's detention was going to be awful.

They trudged their way towards the dungeons later that evening, Hermione stomping a few steps ahead of him.

"I cannot believe that Professor Snape would blame us for this. They knocked over the cauldron, they were the ones provoking you…" She had trailed off, her voice softening. "Why did it bother you so much this time Neville? Is everything alright?"

He paused, and Hermione stopped to turn to him. Her face was open and empathetic as always, and he knew anything he said to her would never leave this corridor, but still he said,

"Yeah, everything's fine. Just gets old after a while you know. The teasing." She looked at him with understanding eyes.

There was a part of Neville that wasn't sure why he had been sorted into his house and not Hufflepuff like he had always wanted, and he knew without asking that that insecurity lay in Hermione too. The other Gryffindors were ribbed by the Slytherins of course, and even some of the other houses at times, but it wasn't the same as what he and Hermione went through.

He didn't tell her that that yesterday, Sunday, had been his birthday and he'd been to see his parents.

He also didn't tell her that as always, his parents were completely unaware that it was his birthday, and that he was their son.

Finally, he didn't tell her that today, the day after seeing his parents, Professor Moody had shown them the Unforgivable Curse that had made them that way in the first place.

They were quiet as they neared the dungeon. If Hermione knew that Neville was leaving out part of the truth, she didn't mention it. He knew she had her own things going on. He believed that Harry had not entered the Tournament on his own, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to have to compete in the trials all the same. He'd seen the three of them up at all hours trying to figure out how to prepare for the next task. Trying to crack open that egg without deafening everyone in Gryffindor Tower.

It must be stressful, he thought, pushing the door to Snape's classroom open, to be Hermione Granger.

Snape left them with a bucket and scrubbing brushes and took their wands. Pansy and Draco protested of course, but without their usual fervour which was odd.

After half an hour of tense silence, Draco finally snapped.

"This is all your fault, Longbottom." He muttered with venom. Pansy shot him a warning glance but said nothing.

"Not my fault you scare easily Malfoy. You didn't need to tip the whole cauldron over." Malfoy was on his feet before he'd finished talking.

"Say that to my face, blood traitor." Neville stayed on the ground, against every instinct in his body telling him to scarper.

"No thanks." Hermione snickered next to him and he grinned.

"What was that Mudblood?" Draco hissed, and at that, Neville did stand. "Oh, so now you'll get up? To defend your little girlfriend. Your grandmother must be disappointed. You might basically be a squib but you're still a pureblood. You should still have better standards than her."

Before he knew what was happening, his fist had made contact with Draco's face. A combination of momentum and shock took them both to the ground, where Draco quickly got the upper hand back, and thankfully, that was when Professor Snape returned.

His voice carried over the girls shouting at them to stop, and they were blasted apart, suspended in mid air. Snape looked over their faces, and satisfied they weren't actually injured, spoke.

"Enough."

The worst part about Snape was, when he was really angry, he didn't raise his voice. It just took on a scary quiet quality that chilled Neville to the bone.

"I see one evening's detention is not enough of a punishment, if I cannot even leave you alone for half an hour. You will return here every night, and every Saturday until Christmas."

Christmas was over a month away. They knew better than to protest.

"All of you, back to your dorms. Now."

As much as Neville regretted the fact that he and Hermione would be stuck in detention every night for the next month, the reception of the Gryffindors to the knowledge that he had punched Draco Malfoy almost made it worth it. It was almost equal to that of the Quidditch players after a win.

Hermione however was furious at him, so he couldn't enjoy it entirely. Especially when she learned that they would be split up from now on. She and Malfoy were sent to a classroom, and Neville was stuck with Pansy. By the end of the first week, they had cleaned lot of the dungeon classrooms, and were stuck sitting at desks until their two hours were up. Snape took their wands, and the only entertainment they were allowed was their homework.

It was miserable.

Their first Saturday detention finally came, and Neville was dreading it. Eight hours stuck in the dungeon, in silence, with Pansy Parkinson sounded like a nightmare. Especially when the all his friends were out enjoying a Hogsmeade trip.

Since he had all day, he decided to bring all his homework with him to the dungeons. He rationed that at least if he could get everything finished, he'd have tomorrow free to do whatever he wanted.

Pansy, it seemed, had a similar plan. She was already there when he got to Snape's classroom, her things spread over an entire table. He followed suit and picked the only other table without a cauldron on top, unfortunately the one next to hers, and settled in to work.

Snape stopped by once after an hour, but upon finding no blood or fighting, seemed fine to leave them alone for the rest of the day. He had stopped confiscating their wands, after Pansy had complained they wouldn't be able to complete half their homework without them, but made it clear that if so much as one untoward spell was uttered, they would be in detention till the end of the school year.

He had been in such a foul mood lately that they all believed him, and there was therefore, an unspoken and uneasy truce.

An hour passed in silence, before Pansy started to huff.

"Ugh these stupid plants, and their stupid names and their bloody stupid uses." She groaned finally, after yet another 30 minutes of muttering darkly under her breath.

Neville was not sure if he was supposed to respond. Surely, he didn't expect him to. His grandmothers voice in his head reminded him that that would be rude, so after too long of a pause he finally stuttered out,

"Whi-which ones?" She whirled around to face him. Eyes narrowed and face thunderous.

"What?"

"Which plants are you confused about?"

"I'm not confused, stupid." Neville paused, nonplussed.

Well, if you're not confused then what are you exactly? He thought.

Her brow relaxed a fraction. "I'm shit at Herbology." She said as explanation, deflating slightly. Without prompting from him, she continued. "I'm failing, and if I don't pass my OWLS then I won't be able to take my NEWTs and I won't be able to get the job I need to get out of this god forsaken hell of a country." It all came out in one breath.

"OWLs aren't till next year." Was all he could think to say. Her face, which had relaxed a little during her rant, twisted again with distaste.

"Yes, I understand that. But if I'm shit this year then I'm not likely to be much better next year, am I?" He didn't think that agreeing with her seemed like a smart choice, so he said nothing. After a moment of silence, she turned back to her homework.

Years later, he would be unable to explain what possessed him in the following moment, but he could firmly say that it was the turning point for his entire future.

"I'm quite good at Herbology." He said softly. He saw her stiffen from the corner of his eye, but she didn't turn to face him. Gryffindor had only ever had Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, so it was unlikely she already knew this.

"Are you?" she said, cautious.

"Yes. What…what class are you quite good in?"

"Transfiguration." She said, after a moment.

"Hmm." He replied, tense.

A few more minutes went by, the only sounds the scratching of their quills on parchment. Neville was beginning to think she wouldn't say anything at all when finally, she spoke.

"No one can know."

"Agreed."

And so it began. They spent rest of their Saturday helping each other with their homework. It might have been the most he had talked to any of the Slytherins in one sitting. Pansy had been modest, she was very good at Transfiguration, and to Neville's shock, she was quite a good teacher. She was far more patient than he had expected. When one way of explaining a spell to him didn't work, she saw it as a challenge, and came at it from a different angle.

By the end of their required 8 hours, Pansy could confidently tell the differences between a Flitterbloom plant and a Flutterby Bush, and Neville was able to turn a Frog into a mouse. Something he had never been able to accomplish in class.

On their walk back to the tower, Hermione asked how the day had gone, and Neville was surprised to find himself flushing.

"Alright, you?" Hermione flushed too.

"Fine. I got all my homework done so that's something." Before he could say anything more, she took off to the girl's dormitories, and Neville was left wondering why he felt so strange.

The next few weeks passed in much the same way. Neville and Pansy would work together on their homework during detention and would ignore each other outside those hours spent in the dungeons. It was a strange arrangement, but they were in agreement that no one outside of that potions class could know about it.

There was no rule saying inter house friendships, not that they were friends of course, couldn't happen.

Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory were dating, and they weren't in the same house. Daphne Greengrass had been seeing Roger Davies for months before he ditched her for Fleur Delacour.

However, there were no Gryffindor/Slytherin friendships that he was aware of, and certainly no romantic relationships. The rivalries went too deep. Not to mention some of the more unsavoury histories of some of their parents.

"What are you planning to do, after Hogwarts?" He asked her one evening. They had graduated from purely homework to idle chit chat somewhere along the way, and these evening detentions were starting to become the best parts of Neville's day. She set her quill down and turned to him, homework abandoned for the moment. It made Neville's stomach flip when she did that. When she turned to him and gave him her full attention.

It felt like a gift.

"I want to be a Professor," she said, "At Ilvermorny."

"In America?" she nodded, "Why there? Why not stay here?" He thought he might have pushed her a little too far when she looked away from him frozen. He could almost see the thoughts whirling around in her head. Just when he thought she might not actually respond, she spoke.

"Your grandmother, she loves you, yes? Unconditionally?" he paused. Augusta Longbottom was a hard woman, and she wasn't what he'd call warm or affectionate necessarily, but yes. She did love him unconditionally. He knew that without a doubt.

"Yeah. She does." Pansy looked back up at him and smiled sadly.

"We don't all have that." They didn't speak much that night.

They had started to sit at the same table, and on the third Saturday of their homework truce, Pansy said, with what was an obvious attempt at nonchalance,

"Draco asked the other day about you." His quill froze in midair,

"Oh? What about me, exactly?"

"He asked if we're talking during detention. Only I'm not failing Herbology anymore and he's noticed."

"I see." Neville did not know what to make of that. "What did you tell him?" She bit her bottom lip, and he was shocked to discover it made him feel something, very low in his belly. She tucked her shoulder length black hair behind her ear, and Neville was surprised to find himself wondering how soft it would be if he were to reach out and touch it.

"Nothing. I just said the uninterrupted study time has been helpful." She paused, tapping her long painted nail on the desk. "If I did tell him. That we've been…studying, that is. Would that be ok?"

Neville had the distinct feeling that she wasn't actually asking about the studying, but he also really wasn't sure what she was asking either.

"I guess so, yeah. As long as he's not going to beat me up for helping his girlfriend with her Herbology homework." She laughed, and it struck him what a lovely laugh she had.

"I'm not his girlfriend. We're just friends, though there are certain…expectations, so we don't deny it when people ask."

"You're denying it now." She blinked at him, as though not really aware that she'd done so.

"Yes, well. I think I can reasonably assume you're not going to go running to my mother to tell her I'm not really in a relationship with Draco Malfoy are you?" He smiled,

"No, I'm not." She bit her lip again. Neville followed the movement with his eyes. She noticed, and blushed, and they went back to their homework.

A few hours later, Neville asked,

"Do Malfoy and Hermione talk? Has he said?"

"Nope. He says they just sit there in silence and work, and Draco and I, we don't lie to each other."

"That's what Hermione says too, and she's a terrible liar."

"Hmm. Sounds rather boring, don't you think." She smirked.

"Yes," he agreed with a smile, "it does."

Later that day when Harry made a comment about Draco and his girlfriend, Neville almost corrected him, thrilled to know an inside scoop for once, but he stopped at the last second. What Pansy had told him was a secret, and he thought she wouldn't like it if he told Harry. Even though he was about as likely to go blabbing to her mum as Neville was. It was odd but having a secret with someone else filled him with warmth. Even if that person was Pansy Parkinson.

"Have your friends said anything? About Transfiguration that is?" She asked.

"They have, but not just that, I'm getting better in all my classes." She smiled at her parchment. They both had been improving, and in more subjects than just Herbology and Transfiguration.

"And what have you said?" she asked, and he could hear the caution in her voice.

"Same as you, just that the study time has been helpful."

"Hmm."

"What about you? Has Malfoy said anything more?"

"Yes, he has."

"What did you say?" She set her quill down, and faced him.

"I told him you've been helping me." She raised a brow, waiting for his reaction.

"Did you really?" Neville was shocked. "When was this?"

"A few nights ago."

"Wow. I'm shocked he hasn't said anything."

"I…" she trailed off before deciding something and continuing, "I asked him not to."

"Oh." He wasn't sure why, but something like disappointment settled in his stomach. Before either of them knew what was happening, she had reached across the table and had put her hand on his, and he looked down at it, bemused and strangely warm.

"I'm not ashamed that you're…helping me. That we're sort of friends," he looked up from their joined hands and met her eyes. "It's just. You're you, and I'm me." He tried to pull his hand away, but she held firm, and the warmth he had just felt turned to hot shame.

"You're not ashamed to be friends with me, but you are ashamed to be seen with me? Is that it?"

"That's not what I meant. Shit. You know what I said the other day, about your Gran?"

"Yeah." His eyes narrowed,

"My parents, they're…they're not like that."

She was looking at him so intensely, desperately trying to communicate to him something below the surface of the words she was saying. Finally, she just said,

"My parents are bigoted pricks Longbottom, and I don't want them to have any reason whatsoever to think about you. I don't want them near you. Do you understand?" The tension he had started to feel melted away, and he thought he understood what she was trying to tell him.

"Yeah, I think I do. Is…is it ok for you, at home?" Neville had noticed he wasn't the only one affected by Moody's lesson on the Cruciatus curse that afternoon. If he hadn't been trying so hard himself to seem ok, he didn't think he would have clocked the way several of the Slytherins looked ready to throw up themselves. Pansy had been one of them.

She didn't break that intense eye contact when she responded,

"No. Its not." She smiled sadly, and it did not reach her eyes.

They didn't stop holding hands till the two hours was up.

The next night Pansy sat down right next to him when she got to the classroom. Neville said nothing, but his stomach did the flip flopping burning thing he was quickly beginning to associate with her. They worked for a while before she finally blurted out,

"Are you really taking Ginny Weasley to the Yule Ball?"

"Are you really going with Draco Malfoy? He retorted, smiling. She huffed.

"You know Draco and I are only for appearances sake. He's got his eyes elsewhere, the silly git," she paused, and Neville didn't have a chance to think more into that before she said, "Do you like her then? Ginny, that is." She had bitten her lip again and Neville thought for a brief instant that he would like to be the one biting her lip.

"No." he said with conviction. "She's just a friend." He met Pansy's eyes, and tried to convey what he was too scared to say out loud, and she nodded.

A few minutes later, he felt her hand slip into his again, and they stayed like that for the rest of the night.

Neville could tell something was wrong. During double potions that day Pansy was tense and pale, and was very determinedly not looking at him. The stolen glances and secret smiles he'd become accustomed to were gone.

He hated it.

He was half planning how to make some sort of commotion when Malfoy caught his eye. He shook his head the tiniest amount.

So, something was wrong then, and he wasn't to push it. Fine, he'd find out tonight.

He arrived almost half an hour early for detention that night. If Snape thought it was odd, he said nothing, only waved him into the room with a raised brow.

Pansy was already there.

"What's wrong?" The words were out of him before he'd even made it to the desk. Their desk.

The taut stress from before was gone, replaced by open fear.

"It's our parents. Since we're all staying here for Christmas next week, they want to meet up in Hogsmeade this weekend. Draco and I…we had to tell them about our detentions." She was terrified. It was awful.

Neville understood being nervous, he was when he told his grandmother about his detention. She had been so disappointed.

But this? This total fear? He couldn't imagine someone who was supposed to love him inspiring that in him. He reached out and held her hand, usure of what to say. Nothing he could think of seemed right. Seemed enough.

"I'm scared, Neville." Her voice was small. He tugged on her hand gently, and she came toward him.

They got no homework done that night, he just held her while she cried.

He thought absently as he leaned his cheek against the top of her head, her hair really was soft.

Saturday detention came and went the same way. They didn't bother with their homework, only talked, and occasionally Pansy would go silent, filled with dread about the following day, and Neville would hold her.

Sunday came, and he had planned a Hogsmeade trip too, with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. He felt like he was going to throw up the entire time. They made their way down to the village, and he couldn't stop himself from looking for a short black bob in the crowd, or Malfoy's shockingly blond hair. It wasn't until that afternoon when they were settled in at The Three Broomsticks that he finally saw them.

He turned to the door, and Blaise, Theo, Draco and Pansy entered first, followed by what he assumed were Pansy's parents, and Draco's father. Theo and Blaise broke off and sat at a table near Neville and his friends. Pansy and Draco headed upstairs with their parents, hands gripped vicelike together, sending an unwelcome pang of jealousy through him. He knew they she and Draco weren't together, and he truly was glad she didn't have to go through whatever awaited her upstairs alone…but still.

Straining, he could swear he heard a low Silencio being cast before the door to one of the upstairs rooms shut with a click.

Ron, Harry and Hermione were too busy talking amongst themselves to pay much attention to Neville, but Ginny noticed his knee bouncing under the table, and the way he was tearing apart his coaster. She said nothing but gave him a concerned glance. He responded with what he hoped was a reassuring smile, and she returned to her conversation with the others, clearly unconvinced.

He felt like he was on fire. Merlin only knew what was going on upstairs, and could he do nothing about it. He couldn't even talk about it with any of his friends. He'd begun chewing on his fingernail, when he caught the eyes of Theo and Blaise at the table nearby. There was none of the malice he was used to seeing from the Slytherin's in his year, only quiet, solemn understanding. Blaise nodded at him, and he realized that Pansy might not have told only Draco about their growing…friendship. Despite the anxiety building in his chest, there was a tiny glow of something like pride too.

Minutes passed on the clock on the wall, agonizingly slowly, until almost an hour had gone by.

All of a sudden, causing Theo, Blaise and Neville to jump, tense as they were, Narcissa Malfoy blew through the front door. Neville thought he might not have known who she was, but the blonde hair didn't change her resemblance to the witch who had haunted his dreams since childhood, when he'd first seen a picture of Bellatrix Lestrange in the Daily Prophet.

To anyone else watching, she might have just been running late to the meeting with her child and husband. But knowing what he knew about what was probably happening upstairs, he could see she was beyond furious. Quickly looking back at Theo and Blaise and seeing that some of the tension had ebbed from them, and with a tiny, almost not there smile from Theo, he was suddenly very happy to see the woman who looked so much like the one from his nightmares.

She went upstairs, passing behind him, briskly but unrushed. A few seconds later, Snape entered the pub, and took a seat in the corner.

Narcissa must have been upstairs for only a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity. His ears were ringing, and he was so tense he felt about to snap when finally he heard footsteps on the stairs. Neville tried not to physically deflate with relief, but he felt himself sag anyway. Ginny was watching with more attention now, and he couldn't risk turning to see them pass to the door. The temptation to turn and make sure Pansy was ok was almost overwhelming. Desperately he looked back at the Slytherins who were directly ahead of him, and who had risen from their table and were making to leave. Blaise didn't look at him as he passed, but Theo caught his eye and winked, his usual smirk back on his face. He had no choice but to assume that meant they were alright.

Merlin Slytherins were exhausting.

Speaking of which, Snape still sat in the corner. The adrenaline of the last hour flowing through his veins, he excused himself from his friends, citing a need to ask the Professor something about their Potions homework.

Snape raised a brow and sneered at him as he neared. Neville mustered up all his courage, funnelling all his pent-up energy into approaching the Potions Master who just last year had been his worst fear.

"Can I help you Longbottom?" he drawled.

"Thank you." Was all Neville said. Snapes face softened, but he said,

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Now let me enjoy the one day in which I do not have to suffer your presence." He then gave Neville a very slight, so slight it was almost not there, nod.

He scarpered back to the table with his friends, excused himself, saying he suddenly felt rather ill, and made his way back up to the castle as quickly as he could without being suspicious.

Without any evidence she'd be there, he headed straight for the classroom they'd been serving detention in for the last month. To his relief when he swung open the door, she was.

"Pansy." He said, and she launched herself at him. He hugged her as tight as he was able, and she clung to the front of his jumper, her head buried in the wool, sobbing.

"It was awful." She choked out.

Authors Note:

I hope you all enjoy, and if you like Dramione, please check out my other fic, Time After Time, where you will get to see this fic's Neville and Pansy as adults.

Fic name is from one of my very favourite, and often misunderstood, quotes from Anna Karenina.
The full quote is,

"He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking." - Leo Tolstoy