A/N: Thank you, again, for the reviews, and the follows and favorites!

Kerichi: Yeah, I read through the previous chapter again and realized there were many typos and parts that didn't transition smoothly :( But, I am definitely heading for an ending like that, so stay tuned? Yeah :)

Kitcath: I'm glad you love this :o And, Tippy Cornwallis just sounds so fun (to say, and in general) :)) I'm sorry people looked at you weirdly for laughing, but I love that lizard joke too :))

Lady Anatui: I'm glad you like Claire! I wanted to make her an understandable smartass who wasn't too annoying :)

Important: As with most other next gen fics, McGonagall is now headmistress.


Chapter 9: Method Acting (or, The Obligatory Princess Makeover Chapter)

"Tippy...," Gwen breathed, "Your house is amazing!" she ogled the manor, looking idyllic in the snow, like something out of a romance novel.

"Come in. It's freezing!" Tippy laughed, clutching herself, keeping warm in a large, brightly coloured sweater. Even in all its hideous glory, that sweater did not diminish the ethereal beauty of Tippy Cornwallis.

"Hey, Tip," James greeted her with a hug as she ushered Gwen inside. "I can't stay, I've stuff to do before the party, sorry."

"It's alright, we're having a girls' day in, anyway. Thanks for dropping Gwen off, and you," Tippy turned to Gwen, "I'm so glad you're here, Gwen! We're going to have so much fun." The pretty redhead gushed, and Gwen suddenly felt excitement bubble in her stomach. She'd always been a sucker for gal pal type chick flicks.

"See you both, tonight. Gwen, I'm picking you up here, and we're meeting my parents at the party," James said, and the blood drained from Gwen's face.

"What?" she whispered to James as he hugged her goodbye.

"You'll be alright," he whispered in her ear. James walked out of the property's boundary line so he could apparate away. After the Second Wizarding War, magical families were very big on protective charms, and some prevented apparating into or out of the property.

"First, mani-pedis," Tippy announced gleefully. Gwen realised that since Tippy had only an older brother, perhaps she really was excited to befriend her, and not just doing this out of some random sense of charity or politeness.


Meanwhile, somewhere in the vicinity of a town called Ottery St. Catchpole, and not too far from the Burrow, tensions were rising in the Potter household.

"Shut it, Lily, you're, like, 12," Albus called as Lily threatened to destroy his life for the nth time.

"I am fourteen, Albus, stop saying that!" Lily raged.

"I'll stop when it stops bothering you," Al retaliated.

"Albus, where is my mobile?! Come on, it isn't funny anymore," Lily pleaded. Al continued reading his book. "You didn't...you wouldn't..."

"Calm down, I haven't ruined it completely," that was the closest thing to sorry any sibling knew to expect, and Lily was no different. Al reached into a drawer stuffed full with tousled underwear and pulled out an ordinary looking smartphone. Lily pulled a face, but took it from him anyway.

"What did you do?" Lily narrowed her eyes at him.

"I...er, wanted to try out a waterproofing charm," Al shrugged.

"Merlin, you couldn't use your own mobile?!" she cried, trying to turn the device on, and Al only blinked back. "You've already ruined it, haven't you," Lily crossed her arms in disdain.

"I only wanted to see the hardware. Besides, do I really need it?"

"If you had more friends, you would," Lily tried to provoke him for revenge. "You're mental," she added for good measure. Al only shrugged it off.

"Come on, Lils, you're our one and only baby sister. You're mum and dad's favourite! You could make them do anything, including fix your mobile or buy you a new one," Al persuaded her.

"Hiya!" James called as he passed Al's bedroom to get to his. He grasped the situation with one look through the open door and paused. "Did he do some weird experiment on your mobile too?"

"Too?" Lily asked, and behind her, Al rolled his eyes. James reached into his back pocket and pulled out his mobile. Amazingly, it wiggled and shone like rubber as he held it with two fingers.

"Al's attempt at shock-proofing," James laughed.

"Well, at least it still works," Al tried defending himself.

"You're cheerful," Lily observed, eyes narrowing again, in perpetual suspicion of her mischievous brothers.

"Yeah, and since when do you volunteer to go to dinner parties with mum and dad?" Al was eager to change the topic.

James pretended to think for a second, "Since I got a date to bring along," he joked, attempting an air of mystery.

"Does he mean Gwen Vasquez?" Lily turned to Al.

"He means Gwen Vasquez," Al agreed.

"How d'you know about that?" James asked Lily, disappointed at their lack of excitement and curiosity.

"It's a small school," Lily shrugged.

"Oh, Lils, I didn't know when to tell you this, but you're here now, so...Rose and Scorp are coming over for dinner," Al announced.

"Fine, as long as Hugo comes along, and he brings his hard drive with all the movies," Lily replied.

"Deal," said Albus.


"So, Gwen, how'd you and James get together, again?" Tippy asked as she and Gwen soaked their hands and feet in some goopy, snot-coloured potion.

"Oh, you know that embarrassing scene at school..." Gwen replied vaguely, taking small sips from the cup of juice hovering magically beside her.

"I know the when and where, Gwen, but what about the how?" Tippy prompted.

"Okay," Gwen conceded, biting her lip in thought. "At some point, while we hated each other, it turned into fancying the pants off of each other," Gwen said, blushing intensely. You wish, she chastised herself.

"That's adorable, like something out of a novel or those muggle films," Tippy sighed.

"Oh, trust me, it was not as fun as they made it out to be," Gwen rolled her eyes.

"What d'you mean?" apparently, Gwen had underestimated Tippy's keen interest in whatever she said.

"Well, it isn't fun to pine away thinking he could never feel the same way, isn't it?" Gwen suggested.

"But pining is the best part!" Tippy insisted. "When Matty and I were still just friends, I had no idea if he'd ever see me that way, but when he finally asked me out, all those pent up feelings just made the confession so much sweeter," she gushed, and sighed dreamily.

"You two make the sweetest couple," Gwen agreed, taking the first opportunity to switch topics.

"You know what I really love about Matty?" Tippy didn't wait for a response. "I love how he knows I'm not all that, but he's still there for me, anyway." Tippy blushed, but seemed pleased with what she'd said.

"I know what you mean," Gwen encouraged.

"Yeah! Some people think I've got it all, like I'm some ideal, on a pedestal or something, and when I try to be myself, problems and all, they suddenly disappear. Poof!" Tippy laughed, trying to play off the admission as a joke. It was clear to Gwen that she hadn't intended the sudden personal disclosure.

"Yeah, I've seen that happen too often. It's terrible," Gwen paused, "I'm glad you've got Matty now. He seems like such a good person, and you two are a wonderful match," Gwen offered a smile.

"Problems and all?" Tippy asked, deciding she could be even just a little bit vulnerable with Gwen.

"Problems and all," Gwen nodded.

"I think you and James make a good pair too," Tippy admitted. "Falling for someone you once found insufferable...Now, that's 'problems and all'," Tippy chuckled. Gwen laughed along as best she could, though the lying was starting to bother her, just then, in Tippy's room as the other girl allowed her into some of her more private thoughts and feelings.

"We're getting into really deep and gloomy territory here," Gwen joked, "I think we should head back."

"Yeah, I think we've been soaking enough. It's time to play dress-up!" Tippy pulled a hand out of one of her bowls where it soaked in potion, and reached for her wand. With a flick, Tippy's large wardrobe flew open, revealing a slew of dinner party-worthy dresses.

"I've brought a dress...and shoes..." Gwen offered.

"Yes, but part of the fun is playing dress up! Trust me, I don't mind lending you a dress or two, and we can resize them with magic," Tippy pulled a puppy dog face. "Gwen, please? Please for once don't be so polite and let me dress you up like the baby sister I never had?"

"Merlin!" Gwen joked, "How could I possibly refuse when you pull the "only girl" card?" she and Tippy dissolved into giggles. "But seriously," Gwen began, "Tippy Cornwallis, you are the sweetest girl," and Tippy aw-ed exaggeratedly for effect. The girls removed their hands and feet from the bowls and started towelling them off.

"Thank you, Bimpky," Tippy called out to the house elf who'd begun cleaning up after them, as she made her way to her wardrobe. "Favourite colour?" this to Gwen.

"Mm, I really don't have one? Or I have too many," Gwen grinned, "maybe, greens or blues, yellows?"

"Alright, try this," Tippy offered Gwen a sea green cocktail dress, and chose another dress for herself.


"Scorp," Rose whispered to the boy as they waited outside the house for Al to let them in. "Gwen told me everything." For a second, Scorpius's breath caught, thinking Rose meant his embarrassing crush on her.

Scorpius coughed conspicuously. "Did she explain? About the fake-dating, I mean?"

"It's the worst plan in the world," Rose said as confirmation.

"I don't understand how-," Scorpius was cut off by the door opening.

"Hullo," it was Lily Luna at the door. "Where's Hugo?"

"Hey!," the two guests greeted in unison, as though she'd caught them gossiping.

"He might follow later. He's helping granddad with this universal remote he's tinkering with," Rose explained.

"I see where Al got it, then," Lily sighed, letting Rose and Scorpius in. "He broke my mobile," Lily offered.

"But do you really need one?" Rose asked.

"All my playlists were there," Lily muttered despondently.

"At least you had one," Scorp chimed in. "My parents think Google is muggles trying to dig up the wizarding world." Lily wrinkled her nose in sympathy.

"Al's in his room. Our parents and James've already left for that dinner party thing," Lily left them to find Al on their own.

"Gwen fancies James, for real," Rose whispered suddenly, as they made their way, slowly, to Al's room.

"Leave it to those two to complicate things," Scorpius rolled his eyes.

"Hold on," Rose said, louder this time. She grabbed Scorp's hand to stop him, as she bent down to tie her shoelaces that'd come undone.

"Disaster avoided?" Scorp asked, disappointed at his heart for abruptly skipping a beat at the sudden contact.

"Yep," Rose said, gleefully congratulating herself for being so smooth.


The first thought James had upon seeing Gwen descend the stairs in a new dress, with her hair and makeup expertly done, was if perhaps Tip had put a love spell or charm on her. But the idea was impossible, and James couldn't remember having drunk or eaten anything suspicious lately, so why in the world couldn't he take his eyes off her, especially when Tippy Cornwallis was just right beside Gwen.

"...I'm, er...wow...Gwen," James managed as soon as Gwen was close enough. He cleared his throat. "You look good, great," he finally finished.

"Tip insisted on a grand entrance," Gwen explained, self-consciously clutching the borrowed dress.

"You look great," James assured her, with an impulsive kiss, to be sure. Gwen blushed and pulled away.

"You look good, too. Very dashing," Gwen said, inspecting James's dress robes.

"Oh, this old thing?" James joked.

"Well, if you too are done ogling each other," Tippy teased. She and Matthew were arm-in-arm and ready to leave.

"Merlin, Tip," Matty chided her jokingly, "Let them have their moment." James and Gwen blushed deeply, both too fixated on their embarrassment to notice the other in a similar state.

Eventually, the couples filed into a sleek black car, considering apparating would've been harder, more dangerous, and possibly ruinous to the girls' dresses, and hair and makeup. The ride was spent gossiping about who'd be at the party, and the state of the host's home, its grandeur. The subject of NEWTs was carefully tiptoed around, so it wouldn't ruin the evening with worrying and moping. Soon enough, the talk came around to plans for the future, goals and ambitions.

"We know James'll be playing Quidditch professionally, of course," Tippy offered, "and I'm looking into becoming a Healer or maybe going into publishing. And I know Matty's got that Magizoology internship, but I never got 'round to asking you, Gwen."

"Er, it's a bit of a long story, maybe," Gwen started, "but basically, after Hogwarts, I'm going to university," she thought to clarify the obvious, "as in with muggles."

"Really?" James asked, and Tippy gave him an odd look.

"Yeah, Professor McGonagall's been helping me with applications, and translating my grades to something muggles can understand," Gwen shrugged, playing the story down, unconsciously, to avoid ridicule.

"I understand wanting to stay in the academe and all that, but what're you going to uni for? What'll you be studying?" Matty asked.

"I'm hoping to study muggle subjects I can compare with magical ones, like if I could compare the muggle history timeline with that of magical history, or whatever, but...I'm really interested in...Well, it's a bit ridiculous, really," Gwen tried laughing herself off. Everyone watched her expectantly.

"I'd like to become a private investigator," she confessed. "You know, I'd be self-employed, mostly. And I could solve muggle cases with magic, which would be more efficient...secretly, of course, and I'm sure I could get into some exciting adventures, especially with magical cases," Gwen shrugged again, not knowing what sort of reaction to expect from the other three.

"That's...too cool," James admitted. "That is the most out-of-the-blue thing I've heard in a while. I'm actually sort of excited for you. You should write about your adventures!" Gwen blushed some more, glad that James looked as excited about it as she was.

"I agree," Tippy said, "I would definitely read about adventures like that." And then just like that, the car stopped, and they were at the entrance of yet another beautiful large house, complete with snow-dappled magical hedges, trimmed to look like exotic animals, that moved about the property.

"We'll just meet up with my parents, then see the host, and we'll meet you both inside the house?" James asked.

"Sounds good."

"Alright," Matty and Tippy agreed. And Gwen allowed James to lead her out of the car and into the chilly evening, glad for the large coat Tippy had lent her.

"Over there," James said, leading Gwen to a couple who were admiring a particularly adorable enchanted hedge carved to look like a bear. Gwen realised they must be James's parents and her stomach flip-flopped. "I know you're nervous," James admitted, "but if we're going to be a serious couple, it's got to happen sometime." He ran his thumb along Gwen's knuckles soothingly, and she knew he'd have her back. She'd be alright.

"Hey, mum, dad," James called, giving his mum a hug first, and then his dad. "This is Gwen, my girlfriend," James puffed up his chest proudly, and Gwen had to remind herself they were acting.

"Hello, Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter," Gwen shook their hands.

"So, you're Gwen," Ginny started, "I've heard so much about you," she teased James.

"Only good things, of course," Harry interjected, and James groaned in embarrassment.

"James has told me so much about both of you as well," Gwen said, awkwardly feeling her way through the conversation.

"Has he, now?" Harry eyed his son knowingly.

"Only good things," James mimicked good-naturedly. "Mum, Gwen's a fan of yours from your Quidditch playing days, actually." Gwen turned to James embarrassedly, How could you betray me like this.

"Oh, that's sweet. James has actually been gushing about your Keeper skills for years," Ginny pretended a conspiratorial whisper.

"Mum!" James protested. That was one thing he never wanted Gwen to find out.

"Really?," Gwen played along. "Wow, that's incredibly flattering, coming from Gryffindor's Most Valuable Player," she blushed.

"Gwen's parents are veterinarians," James changed the topic, embarrassed at his mother's excitement over being introduced to a girlfriend, for once.

"They work at an animal clinic that doubles as a shelter," Gwen explained.

"You know what they say about dogs," Harry said, "They've got good instincts about people."

"Yeah, I think I've heard that," Ginny nodded at her husband.

"Well, we haven't said hello to the host yet...," James said pointedly.

"Oh, you should. It's bad manners not to, go on," Ginny released them, "It was lovely finally meeting you, Gwen."

"Oh, my pleasure, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," Gwen called out as James lead her away.

"That was only slightly embarrassing, so not too bad," James allowed.

"D'you think they liked me?" Gwen asked.

"I'm sure they did. We did great," James offered a hand for a low five, and Gwen obliged.

Inside the house, guests milled about or sat at tables, surrounded by antique decor and an impressive collection of food and drinks spread about the various rooms. At the entrance of the house, there was a table of volunteers who accepted donations for the construction of a new wing at St. Mungo's.

"There," James pointed out a table in another room where Matty and Tippy sat, talking with their heads close together, and watching couples dance.

"Tippy just had the best idea," Matty said, as soon as James and Gwen were close enough.

"Technically, it was my brother's idea, but Matty," Tippy chided, "let them eat first."

As James and Gwen sat, the plates in front of them magically filled with a sample of every dish. James ate with gusto, while Gwen self-consciously nibbled on the food, afraid to mess up Tippy's dress.

"Alright, well, my parents are letting my brother and I throw a New Year's Eve party, while they go to some stuffy adult one," Tippy confided.

"Yes!" James said excitedly. "I am definitely going. Gwen?"

"Am I invited?" Gwen asked, half-joking.

"Of course, silly. So, will you come?" Tippy asked, expectantly.

"Alright, but I'll have to tell my parents," Gwen admitted.

"Okay, but I'll be expecting you," Tippy urged.

"Tip," Matthew suddenly perked up, "this song..."

"Oh, yes!" Tippy turned knowingly to her boyfriend.

"Would you like to dance?"

"Let's go," Tippy practically dragged Matthew to the dance floor as the classical music Gwen couldn't recognise played on.

Gwen and James had finished eating, making sparse light conversation as they did. The whole time, Gwen was distractedly watching the couples' slow dance. Eventually, James chuckled to himself and stood up, turning to Gwen. He held his hand out for her, palm up.

"Seriously?" Gwen asked, again, half-joking, as she apparently did when flustered.

"Seriously, now, come on," James smiled, tipping his head to the crowd slow dancing. Gwen took his hand and allowed him to lead her into the crowd. James sensed her uncertainty and took both her hands, placing her arms over his shoulders and sliding his hands to her waist.

As the dance progressed, Gwen found herself leaning her head on James's shoulder. James dipped his head and whispered in Gwen's ear: "Don't look now, but the lady at your six o'clock is here for the Daily Prophet." Gwen resisted the urge to look.

"Is she looking this way?" she felt herself blush.

"She was," James responded.

"Does that happen often?" Gwen asked.

"What d'you mean?"

"Do you always have people watching you?" Gwen voice was small and hesitant.

"...Yeah," James breathed out, and the proximity of him, and the sudden warmth on Gwen's neck caused electricity to run down her spine. She pulled away, a little bit, and James touched his forehead to her's. They smiled contentedly at each other.