I was feeling bad that I gave one of my Tumblr friends a prompt when she'd already started writing something for me. XD So this is the prompt, and I am dedicating this to her. Because she's awesome and wonderful and stuff. :3

I am temporarily taking my RP character, Lizzie Bradley, out of her current universe - AU Next Generation - and putting her here. Because of reasons.

This is my first Neville/OC story. So if it sucks...yeah. :p Please be nice if you decide to review!

Winter Rose

It was one of those bearable December days. One could sit outside without getting too chilly, but it was smart to wear an extra layer if one was going to prolong their stay.

Lizzie made sure to put on her long underwear, just in case.

She'd been a bit eager for the weekend to arrive, and it wasn't because classes that week seemed to be dragging (although she knew that was true for many of her classmates). There was something she'd been meaning to do for a while now, and now that she finally had time to accomplish it, she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity.

"Where are you headed off to?" Susan Bones looked up from her book, curiously eyeing her dormmate. "You're never this excited, unless…"

Lizzie sheepishly held up her sketchbook, shrugging. "There's this lovely little patch of winter rose that's blooming," she explained, wrapping her scarf around her neck. "I want to at least get an outline before it gets too cold out."

Susan smiled, shaking her head. "You're the only person I know who'd want to spend the whole day outside in the middle of winter."

"It's for extra credit…" Lizzie trailed off. That was the pretense she'd come up with if anyone asked. It wasn't a complete lie; she had told Professor Sprout she'd do a side project to make up for the few days she'd missed when she'd been stuck in the hospital wing with the flu…

Susan nodded. "Of course it is."

"You're just jealous that I actually have plans today, Miss Bookworm."

"Speaking of which, weren't you supposed to go for a walk with a certain Gryffindor today?"

"What are you - oh, broom bristles!" Lizzie nervously tugged on a strand of hair. She'd promised her good friend and Herbology partner, Neville Longbottom, that she'd go for a walk with him sometime today. They'd both been rather busy lately and had had little time to spend together, which was why he'd asked her in the first place.

"You forgot, didn't you?"

"I didn't mean to." She exhaled slowly. "I'll just have to meet him out there."

Susan raised an eyebrow. "You're passing up the opportunity to spend time with him - alone, I might add - just to draw a silly flower?"

Lizzie slapped earmuffs over her ears. "It's not a silly flower. It's special. And I'm going to the owlry to send him a note saying I'll already be outside. We can still go for a walk…I'll just do my sketching first."

Susan gave her a knowing smile. "Neville just can't compete with plants, then?"

Lizzie felt unwanted heat rise to her face. "I never said that."

Susan giggled. "You're lucky he loves them just as much as you, Lizzie."

She nodded. "I'll see you later, Susan."

Climbing out of the portrait hole and walking down the corridor, she started to mentally compose a letter in her head. It wouldn't be too long, and he'd understand why she needed to sketch the plant. It was at its most vibrant in winter, and today might be the only day she could sit for a prolonged period of time.

If it were someone else, maybe they'd get offended, or even stop speaking to her. But not Neville. He might even want to sit with her and study it, maybe even figure out how to repot it and cultivate it in the greenhouses. She smiled absently at the thought as she climbed the stairs to the owlry.

Lizzie had grown rather fond of Neville the past couple of years. Up until then, he'd always been a friend to her, helping her with Herbology when she needed it (and in turn, receiving help from her with Transfiguration), sitting with her when she felt sad, spending countless hours talking about anything that came to mind. She'd never considered him as more than the boy with the toad, her clumsy friend, someone who was always there.

And then fourth year had happened. It hadn't been at the Yule Ball when she'd realized it, like most people would have guessed. It was a few days after, on a snowy day not unlike the one outside. They'd been in the greenhouses, tending to the plants that were more susceptible to the cold outside, and had gotten into quite a struggles with the Venemous Tentacula. They'd both gotten covered with dirt and had various bumps and bruises after the ordeal, but they'd ended up on the floor, laughing in relief that they'd actually prevailed without getting killed.

Being that close to him, she realized he had dimples when he smiled, and freckles that were spattered over his nose, and his eyes weren't brown, like she'd previously assumed (they were a nice hazel color). And suddenly, something in her mind told her how very cute he looked, with dirt smeared on his face and his face flushed from laughing so hard.

She waited for the feeling to go away, because she'd been certain that it would. But it lingered the rest of the year, and grew with the next. She'd been paired up with him quite a lot during DA meetings, giving him an encouraging smile whether or not he succeeded. She was patient with him, and he with her; sometimes he was far more capable at mastering a spell than she was.

There was one time, she recalled, where her form had been off, and he'd stood behind her, guiding her arm in the right movements, and she could feel the growing blush crawling up her face at their proximity. His touch had been firm, but soft, as had his voice in her ear, and her knees had felt weak and she'd nearly -

WHUMP.

She'd run right into one of the wooden beams holding the roof up, startling several nearby owls. "Ow," she mumbled, rubbing the side of her head.

She gazed around until her eyes fell on a small speckled owl. The little brown bird was sitting contentedly in one of the rafters, hooting softly.

"Hey there, Elinor," she called. "Can you send Neville something for me, please?"

Elinor turned her speckled head, eyeing Lizzie before swooping down and landing on her shoulder, nuzzzling her head. Lizzie stroked the little owl with her finger before gently tearing a page from her sketchbook and quickly writing a note.

Neville,

There's a patch of winter rose growing next to the bench under that lovely maple I love to sit under. I'll be there sketching it, if you'd still like to meet me and go for a walk.

~Lizzie

She quickly tied a string to Elinor's leg, bringing her to one of the windows. "Fly this to Neville Longbottom, would you, please?"

Elinor launched into the air, flying off toward Gryffindor Tower. Satisfied, Lizzie, bounded down the steps out toward the Hogwarts grounds.