Harry Potter One-Shots [Requests Open]

Practice | N. Longbottom

"It's hopeless! I'm hopeless!"

"Don't give up so easy, Longbottom!" He jumped and turned to face me. He must not've noticed me entering the room of requirement. "Sorry, Neville. I didn't mean to scare ya!"

"Oh, uh, hey (y/n)! It's alright." He looked down at his wand that was in his hands.

"What's so hopeless?" I walked more into the room towards him. He looked back up at me. He seemed embarrassed to say.

"I still can't get a bloody patronus," he sighed. "I feel like I'm the only one who can't get it."

"Ah, now that's not true!"

"Really?" He scoffed. "Name one other person who can't." I thought for a moment. The more I thought, the worse I felt. He was right. "Exactly!"

"Thats nothing to be embarrassed or discouraged about! It's a challenging spell! It's even harder since we aren't being taught by a professor. It just takes practice."

"I've been practicin' every single day!" I'd never heard him raise his voice so much. I hadn't seen him this upset since the Cornish pixie incident during year 2. He sighed and looked away. "Sorry. I'm not trying to take my frustrations out on you, (y/n). That's why I've been practicin' on my own."

"Maybe being alone is your issue," I suggested, shrugging. "A patronus charm is all about happy memories and good thoughts, right? When you're in here all alone, you're stressing yourself out! Just relax and try to clear your mind!"

I walked so I was right next to him. He sighed again before lifting his wand. We counted down together and he cast the spell. Nothing happened. We did it again and nothing happened. And again.

"You gotta loosen up!" I turned to face him and grabbed his shoulders. I shook him a bit, making him laugh gently. "There you go! You just need to calm down those nerves and expectations. Now, try again." I let him go and stepped back off to the side.

He took a second. He did some deep breaths and rolled out his shoulders. I watched as he raised his wand confidently and shouted, "expecto patronum!" Suddenly, a glowing light came from the end of the wand. I grinned as it grew bigger and spread pulsing light throughout the entire room. I couldn't help but start cheering. He was laughing and smiling in disbelief. It slowly faded out and he lowered his wand. "I- I did it. I did it!"

He turned to face me and I threw my arms around him. He hugged me back and spun me around in a circle. I laughed as he set me back down. He seemed to realize what he'd done because when I saw his face again he was blushing. I brushed some of my hair behind my ears.

"That was brilliant! I knew you could do it!"

"Thank you. I wouldn't have been able to do that without you."

I scoffed and shoved his shoulder playfully. "Of course you could've. You didn't need me. You had that in you all along!"

After a little while, the rest of Dumbledore's army joined us and we had our usual training with Harry. It seemed to go by in a blur of spells and lecturing. It was so exciting to be breaking the rules and sneaking around Umbridge this way. And I actually felt as if I was learning. I felt like I could be a good witch.

Neville and I walked out together towards the great hall. "So, what is your happy memory?" I asked. Neville looked at me for a moment. "Unless you don't want to tell me. That's perfectly fine."

"I don't mind telling you," he said, his voice soft. "Its just a bit silly."

"If it's made your patronus and it's important to you, then it isn't silly." I saw his cheeks turn pink and I smiled.

"It's a memory of Christmas. I'm not sure which year it's from, but I'm with my nan and we're visiting my parents." I remember what happened to Neville's parents. It's so horrible. Neville rarely talked about his life outside of Hogwarts, and I didn't really blame him. "My mum handed me a few candies and she was smiling at me and she looked at me like she knew me. I mean, I know that she can't really remember me, but I felt it. Y'know?" He looked back at me. I nodded. "Anyway, that's what I thought of. My mum recognizing me on Christmas Day."

"Neville that's a great memory," I reassured him. I placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked down at the floor ahead of us.

"What about you? What's your memory?"

"The day my parents brought home my little sister. She was just a plump little thing and she was fast asleep in my dad's arms. I remember constantly kissing her forehead and wanting to hold her. I was so excited to get to be a role model for her. I was dreaming up all the scenarios of playing dress up and helping her during her first day at Hogwarts." My smile was bittersweet. I wasn't surprised by Neville's confusion.

"I didn't know that you had a sister."

"Yeah, I don't talk about her much at all." I messed with the sleeves of my robes. "She died a few years ago."

Neville frowned. "I'm so sorry, (y/n)."

"It's alright. What's happened, happened. We just gotta keep on moving along through life."

"Yeah," he agreed. I smiled up at him. We were almost to the great hall. I took one of his hands in mine. His eyes widened, but he didn't pull away. He held my hand. We didn't say anything else after that. Our hands stayed connected as we sat down at the Gryffindor table. I saw Hermione give me a curious look, but I didn't pay too much attention.