Author's Note: Here is another chapter. This one is a MAJOR turning point so stay tuned. Oh and I don't know if you noticed but in the last chapter I tried to reverse my mistake regarding the appearance of the Potter children, savvy? Enjoy!

I was now under official house arrest. I was not permitted to go beyond the gate surrounding the Potter property. When Mr. Potter wasn't home I was constantly under the supervision of a grim-faced auror. All my mail was checked before being passed on to me, meaning that a stranger was reading all of Don's mushy love letters before I was. One that caused a particularly vivid flush to come to my cheeks when it was handed to me arrived on December 23rd.

Dear Vera,

I'm counting down the days until I get to see you on Christmas. Remember that night we spent on top of West tower back in October? It keeps popping into my head. Maybe you don't remember. How about I describe it to you? He went on to describe in painful detail the night in question, as though I hadn't been there and didn't remember some of the less virtuous things that had occurred. Good times, aye?

You asked about mum? Well she's getting extremely pregnant and admittedly rather unpleasant to be around. Once when I was younger I saw a cartoon strip in the Prophet comparing a pregnant woman to a Tyrannosaurus Rex. At the time I found it insensitive. But now I've come to realize the cartoonist had a point. They are large, they have rapid mood swings, and they can eat an entire steak in one bite. I swear I saw my mum unhinge her jaw last night at dinner. I can't blame her though. This experience has taught me to be thankful I was born male.

Hope you're okay. What you told me about getting attacked by those men a few days ago really scared me. But I suppose they're in custody now so you're safe again. I can't wait to see you,

Don

Trying to banish the pink from my cheeks, I grabbed a piece of parchment and began scribbling a response.

Dear Don,

I feel compelled to inform you that all mail addressed to me is currently being checked by the Auror Office. I would therefore appreciate, for both our sakes, if you could refrain from describing in such vivid detail some of the more intimate times we've had together. Don't worry, I was in fact present on that night in October and remember it quite well. Deciding this sounded a bit harsh I went on to say,

I miss you too. Things are all right here. Al and I played a marathon game of exploding snap yesterday, and the pranks have continued despite the fact that they must all be performed within the boundaries of the house. It's like a war zone. I can't wait for the two days of peace on Christmas and Christmas Eve and I am positively dreading Boxing Day.

Lily did my nails midnight blue to match my Christmas dress. She couldn't remember the spell to it so she did it the muggle way. Hopefully by the day of the party the nail polish will be located exclusively on my nails instead of everywhere else.

Be patient with your mum. She gave you life for Merlin's sake. She's performing another miracle if you ask me.

See you soon,

Vera

I was rolling my letter up into a tight scroll when there was a knock on the guest room door.

"Come in!" I called as I tied a leather thong around the scroll so as to attach it to my owl. I stood up from the desk chair and turned around to come face to face with James who had just entered the room. I took a quick step back and his brown eyes came into focus. Okay seriously, someone needed to give him a talk about personal space.

"Er…what's up?" I highly doubted this was a social visit. I tried to keep my tone civil. He and I hadn't even acknowledged each other's presence in the last three days, and for good reason if you ask me. I glanced down at the clock. "Isn't it kind of late?"

James looked at it too. "Oh yeah I was just downstairs watching television. Lost track of the time. There was a good show on. Amazing what these muggles come up with, aye?"

Small talk? What the hell was going on? I thought about reaching for my wand but reconsidered when I realised it could be misconstrued as a hostile act.

"So…uh…why are you in my room?" I asked at last.

"I…" He trailed off, suddenly looking uncomfortable. His hand reached back to run through his already messy hair. "I wanted to…apologise." He said the last word so quietly I was almost positive I'd imagined it. While my mind was reeling to make sense of his words he continued,

"I shouldn't have said what I said the other day. It was out of line. No matter what I think of your family, it was low of me to call you names after you'd just gotten news like that. I know it's hard to lose people. Especially people who are important to you."

To this I actually laughed. "You think I actually liked Mr. Nott? Of course not! He's the biggest git on the face of the planet! And Adrian is a right little snot rag. I was just upset he was dead. I don't like when anyone dies. I mean, even the most awful people on Earth are still people when it comes down to it."

He gave me a calculating expression then said, "I see."

"Yeah." I said. "I guess I should apologise too. I shouldn't have accused you of murder. I know you didn't kill anyone."

"That you know of." He said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. What the hell? A joke? I was dreaming. I had to be. I was so shocked by his reaction that I didn't even laugh. An awkward tension descended on us once more. James' eyes strayed down to down to my hand in which my letter was clutched.

"What's that?" He asked casually.

"A letter to Donovan." A strange expression flitted across his face. My heart jumped slightly in my chest though I couldn't figure out why.

"Cool." He finally said. "Well, good night then."

He left quickly.

"Night." I said. Once again I was speaking to the closed door.

A metaphorical white flag was raised the next morning in honour of Christmas Eve. Lily, Albus, and I spent the day in the backyard, building snow wizards, playing Quidditch, and catching gnomes, all of which culminated in an intense three-way snowball fight during which we managed to break two windowpanes and effectively soak and bruise each other, all out of love, of course.

The three of us eventually called a truce and, covered in mud and snow, trumped back into the kitchen.

"Warmth!" Albus cried as we closed to back door. "Thank Merlin, one more minute out there and I would have frozen my test–" Mrs. Potter chose that moment to enter the kitchen, "- nose off."

Mrs. Potter stopped in the doorway and fixed her hands on her hips. "You three are soaking wet! Get upstairs and change! Dinner's almost ready."

"Is dad cooking?" Lily asked carefully as Albus and I went for the stairs.

"Yes. Why?" Mrs. Potter demanded.

"No reason." Lily took off ahead of us. Al and I hurried behind her. It was common knowledge that Mrs. Potter hadn't really inherited her mother's cooking abilities.

I hopped in the shower after Lily and washed the mud out of my hair. Afterward I pulled on a pair of black dress robes with decorative lace on the neckline and waist. I fixed my hair in the mirror and applied a light layer of make-up. Finally, I skipped downstairs and joined Lily, Albus, James, and Mr. and Mrs. Potter. The table was set with a red tablecloth and pale golden napkins beside sparkling crystal plates and cups. Various dishes were strewn across the table with no apparent rhyme or reason and an enormous turkey resided in the center of the jumble. We all dug in with enthusiasm.

After dessert we changed into our nightclothes and congregated in the sitting room to grab a cup of tea before bed. Not wanting anyone else to see me in my ridiculous pajamas, I pulled on a t-shirt and borrowed a pair of sweatpants from Lily. I sat in the armchair facing the window and stirring my tea idly. James, Albus, and Lily were on one couch and Mr. and Mrs. Potter were snuggled together on the opposite one. Mrs. Potter was describing in vivid detail the time she played in the Quidditch World Cup for England. Her three children had heard the story several times and so were simply nodding and chuckling occasionally, but I was absolutely fascinated.

"…and then we all went up into the top box and Kingsley handed Winona Smith the Cup while we all hoisted her into the air on our shoulders." Mrs. Potter finished the story with an enormous smile on her face.

"That's excellent Ginny." Said Harry, smiling affectionately at her. "Why don't you tell Vera about the time we ended up stranded in a muggle airport in Belgium?"

"Oh please do." I begged.

"Alright, well we were on our way home from game against the Belgium Boggarts and I'd brought Harry along. It was just after we got married and I'd just been recruited by the Holy-Head Harpies. Now Harry here told me he had never ridden on this thing muggles call an airplane so I figured it might be fun to try it out. But none of the planes were departing because there was this awful rainstorm. There was lightning and the most dreadful thunder…"

There was a crash. My brain scrambled around to free itself from Mrs. Potter's story. Thunder? I thought as I tried to place the sound. No it was glass. Breaking glass. I looked at the ground to find a small rock surrounded by several shards of glass. I raised my eyes to focus on the window, which I now realised was broken. My mind reeled to try and put the two together. A rock, a broken window…Before I'd reached a conclusion however a jet of purple light shot through the crack in the window. Time seemed to slow down at I watched the flash of light make its way toward me and speed through my chest.

I collapsed to the floor, screaming. Pain equal to that of the Cruciatus Curse was splitting across my spine. It felt as though someone was trying to carve something into my flesh using a blunt knife. I screamed louder, scrabbling at my back, trying to make the pain stop. My t-shirt was soaked in a strange, warm liquid. Blood. I heard desperate shouting above me but could barely make sense of it.

"Ginny, this might be my chance. Can you – "

"Yes, Harry. Go!"

There was the sound of a door opening then shutting.

"James, pick her up and bring her to the table. Lily, go get some wet towels and bandages. Albus, grab the Dittany. It's in my potion kit."

A pair of strong arms picked me up off the glass-covered ground as I tried to control my screaming. I heard heavy, nervous breathing in my ear and quick footsteps. James set me down on a hard surface and a smaller, gentler set off hands rolled me over onto my front. I heard more quick footsteps

"Difindo!" Mrs. Potter murmured. The back of my shirt tore open. There was a collective gasp.

"What?" I demanded. "What is it?"

"Words." Came Albus' voice.

"What do they say?"

"Beware the Half-Blood Prince." Lily read in an ominous tone. I felt the breath leave my body. It returned quickly however in a gasp as the Dittany Mrs. Potter was applying stung my skin. I heard the sounds of her setting the bottle down and picking up her wand. She began to mutter a quick cantation over me. I sighed in relief as the pain in my back receeded.

"Albus, pass me a towel."

I felt warm water trickle across my back as Mrs. Potter sponged at the blood around my currently knitting wounds.

"Vera," She said at last, "Can you hear me?"

"Yes." I replied.

"Good. The cuts are healing. They are pretty deep so there may be some scarring. But you'll be all right. Okay?"

"Thank you so much." I told her.

"No problem. Albus, how about you go grab a t-shirt for her. And James, maybe you can step out. Lily, help me put these bandages on."

Albus and James left and I sat up to help Lily and Mrs. Potter wrap the bandage around my torso, realizing only know that I was lying on the dining room table. Albus tossed an olive green t-shirt through the door and I pulled it on.

"Go ahead and take care of her Albus, Lily. James can you clean up the sitting room? I'm going to go reinforce the protective spells."

Albus and Lily each took one of my elbows and led me over to sit at the kitchen table.

"Want something to drink?" Lily asked. I shrugged and Lily pulled out a large jug of pumpkin juice. Albus and Lily sat around me chattering nervously while James and Mrs. Potter worked around the house. All of them took turns glancing at the back door through which Mr. Potter had left. It had been a half hour. An hour. Two hours.

At last there was the sound of a creaking gate and all four Potters jumped to alert. Mr. Potter entered a moment later, looking haggard and woebegone.

"Nothing." He said in reply to Mrs. Potter's questioning look. "I couldn't catch them. They apparated twenty feet away from the front gate. Then I had to go to the office to tell the others and write up a quick report." He sat down at the table opposite me and rested his face in his hands. "I don't know how they got that spell through our defenses. I'll have to contact Hermione and Kingsley about it in the morning."

He raised his head and looked at me. "Are you alright, by the way?"

I nodded.

"Sorry your stay with us hasn't been exactly fun. With the whole family drama and you know…being tortured thing."

I shrugged. "Eh. Sounds just like Christmas at my house."

He chuckled weakly. "Well I'm still sorry. I'm going to do everything I can to protect you, if that makes it any better." He was serious now.

"I appreciate it." I said, trying to push my appreciation into every syllable.

Mr. Potter inclined his head in reply and addressed Mrs. Potter, "Well I'm going to bed, dear."

She nodded and took Mr. Potter's recently vacated seat across from me.

"You should all get some rest as well." I told the remaining Potters. Lily nodded, yawning.

"You too, Vera." She said. She and Albus stood.

"I'm not ready to sleep yet. I'd like to stay up and think a while." They nodded again and headed up the stairs, dragging their feet in exhaustion.

Mrs. Potter yawned widely.

"You should sleep." I said quickly, not wanting her to feel I was a burden.

"No I'm fine."

"No, you aren't." I contradicted. "Really, go to bed. I'll be okay."

"But – "

"It's alright, mum. I'll take care of her."

I turned. James was lolling against the doorway to the kitchen, looking extremely bored with his surroundings. I stared at him. James Potter had never, in all the time I'd known him, willingly volunteered to spend time around me.

Mrs. Potter looked between the two of us. Seeming to decide that James couldn't do anything too awful to me if we were left alone, she nodded. She ran a hand through my hair affectionately before she stood and walked up the stairs, standing on her toes to kiss James on the cheek as she passed him.

James stared at me intently for a moment. I shifted uncomfortably, trying not to stare back.

"Would you like anything to drink?" He asked finally, turning to search through the cupboards. Okay seriously, what was the deal with the Potters and giving people beverages?

"Uh…some tea would be nice." I replied, bewildered by his sudden good nature toward me.

"I reckon you may need something a little stronger than tea." He said, pulling something off of a high shelf. He set it down on the table in front of me and I recognised it as the bottle of Madam Rosmerta's finest fire whiskey. He looked at me and I shrugged,

"Might be nice to loosen up a bit."

He chuckled and conjured two shot glasses on the wooden surface of the kitchen table. He poured an equal measure in each cup and lifted his own as though in a toast,

"To your good health."

I tapped my glass lightly against his (barely scoffing at the irony) and tossed the liquid down my throat. It tasted dreadful, but left me with a pleasant, tingly sensation in my chest, as though I was being filled with a merry, crackling fire. I held out my glass expectantly and he filled it again, smiling now.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked, deciding to go ahead and get to the point.

He looked at me thoughtfully as he tossed another shot into his mouth. He was quiet for a long time, so long in fact that I'd nearly forgotten I'd asked a question.

"I guess it's because," I jumped as he began speaking, "When that spell hit you and you fell off your chair, I swear for a split second I thought you were dead."

"Wouldn't that just make you happy?"

James frowned at me. "I don't know where you got this idea that I want anyone dead. Sure I think your brother and your family are despicable people, but I'd never want to see any of you killed."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Then why do you treat me like shit?" It seemed I was becoming very straightforward under the influence of the drink.

James set his glass down on the table, thinking again. He thought even longer this time. So long that my intoxicated brain began to wander around in circles.

"I don't know." He said at last. I saw an expression in his brown eyes that confused me. I didn't comment though.

My thoughts became increasingly illogical as the amount of whiskey in the bottle dwindled. James appeared to be suffering this effect as well, but was much more in control of himself despite the fact that he had consumed a third more of the bottle than I had. He began to laugh easily at some of my unintelligent comments and at one point reached across the table to begin stroking my hair in an off-hand sort of way.

"So tell me about yourself." He said at last.

"What do you want to know?" I asked, trying to disguise a hiccup with a giggle.

"Hmmm. Well first how about you tell me what it is that makes my brother and Donovan so devoted to you? Is it your feminine charms?"

I choked slightly on gulp of fire whiskey but just barely managed not to spew it all over him. Feminine charms? Was he mad? I had never considered myself to have any worthwhile charms, much less feminine ones. In fact, the only charms I could use effectively were the ones that came out of my wand.

"If I understand your meaning correctly, you think I'm a tramp?" I said, trying to be careful with my tone and word choice.

"Not exactly. I think a lot of lads like you, both as a friend and a girl, and I want to know why."

My drunk mind was thoroughly stumped. A lot of guys liked me? Well that just wasn't true. Sure there was Donovan and Mark, and Albus and Alex were my best friends. But that's was only…let's see…one, two…I hiccupped…one, two…I had to begin counting on my fingers because I found that I kept arriving on the incorrect number. Four. Four guys. That was hardly a lot.

"Well my relationship with Albus is completely plutonic. And I have a lot of close guy friends but that's mainly because I think girls are kinda…catty. I don't like most of them. Boys are much simpler. And as far as boys who like me as a girl, well I can only think of two."

"Really? Because I can name five off the top of my head."

I gawked at him. Five? Okay I knew I was a blonde but five was just silly.

"You can't name five – "

"Oh can't I?" He took a deep breath and began rattling off names.

"Jeffery Semel."

"Are you kidding? I've only ever spoken to him in Herbology."

He ignored me. "Joshua Pedigree."

"Josh? We dated in like third year. That was ages ago."

"Yeah poor bloke never got over you. Bernard Fibbs."

"The Slytherin? Okay now I know you're messing with me. When I was eleven he told me I should wear a paper bag over my head."

"Probably so he could stop staring at you. Leonard Balif."

"Who?"

"And Spencer Larson." He finished

"Don and Mark weren't anywhere on that list!" I protested.

"Oh I didn't realize we were including the obvious people."

I ground my teeth, not exactly sure why I was irritated at him.

"Well I know a million girls who like you." I blurted out.

He rolled his eyes. "We aren't talking about me."

"Fine." I huffed. We lapsed into silence again. I heard the crackling of the fire in the next room and the gentle chirping of the crickets outside.

"Are you angry?" He asked finally.

"Not sure." I replied, taking another shot.

"Would it help if I apologised?"

"Not sure." I repeated.

"Well if it helps, I'm sorry." I turned to look at him. His amber colored eyes, the same color as butterbeer, were sparkling at me irresistibly.

"It's okay." I sighed. Then making a quick decision I said, "So tell me about you."

James fixed a heart-shattering smile on his face and began to speak. Conversation became much easier after that. He told me about the previous Potter Prank Wars from his own point of view, about his ambition to become an auror, about a Potions essay he feared he may have performed poorly on, about an argument he'd had with Fred about the advisability of becoming involved in the illegal trade of dragon eggs, about several bent twigs on the tail of his broomstick that were causing his left turns to be slightly sharper than he intended, and everything else that had crossed his mind within the last month. All of his thoughts, feelings, ambitions, wishes; he conveyed all of them to me, and I listened, utterly intrigued and fascinated by everything he had to say, even the story of how he had spread butter unevenly across his toast the other morning and how it had irritated him.

In turn, I described my family, my parents' disappointment about how I had turned out, cruel pranks my brother had played on me when we were children, and all the other times when Scorpius had stood up for me and protected me and even played games with me. I told him about my love of helping others and how it made me want to be a healer more than anything, about a Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Bean I had lost somewhere under my bed at Hogwarts and my burning curiosity about what flavor it was, about a fun outing I'd had with Alex and Janie on the lake, about my thoughts on politics and civil law, but most of all I expressed to him how overjoyed I was to know the Potters and about what a good friend Albus had been to me for the past five and a half years. We conveyed to each other every fact about ourselves, from the most trivial to the most personal, and I enjoyed every moment of it.

The room began to spin slightly as we drained the last dregs of liquid from the bottle. I was giggling stupidly about something James had just said when he suddenly pressed a finger to my lips.

"Shhh…I love this song."

I listened closely to the radio, which I didn't even remember him turning on, and detected the familiar tune of a classic Weird Sisters song. James stood unsteadily and held his hand out.

"Come on. Dance with me." He slurred.

"I can't dance." I replied honestly.

"Then I'll show you how." He took my hand and helped me to my feet, steering me over to an empty space in the sitting room. There, he wrapped his arms my waist and pulled me close to him. I sighed and put my arms around his neck, resting my face contentedly against his chest. We swayed back and forth slowly, settling into a comfortable silence filled only with the smooth rhythm of the song. He and I seemed most natural when we were caught in this close embrace. It was as though, standing here together, we were finally where we were supposed to be.

"You know," James said after a few moments, "You aren't like most girls."

I laughed clumsily. "That I do know."

"No I mean it though. The girls I date are so…well…dumb sometimes. It's like they do it on purpose."

"They probably do."

"I don't see why they would. But you aren't like them. You're really…intelligent." I remained silent, unable to think of a response. He continued, "That's not all though. The way you look at the world is strange. I watch you sometimes, when you're deep in thought. It's like, when you look around you're looking at the world in all its wonder and beauty. Other girls – other people really - seem to look at the world as measure of how much they can personally gain from it. How it can help them, not how they can help it. You're so…pure."

I laughed again as something flickered in the back of my mind, "That's what the sorting hat said when it was looking in my head. It told me I had a 'pure heart.'"

"I reckon the sorting hat's got it right, as usual."

"Yep. Pretty smart for a hat."

"Smarter than me. You know, I'm gonna say this now, 'cause I'll probably be too sober in the morning to say it." I looked up at him, well both of him, as I was now seeing double. "I'm sorry I'm such a prat to you. Its just…things have happened between your brother and me and your family and mine that I just can't forgive. I know you aren't like him, but I have to convince myself that you are so that I don't…" He trailed off.

"So that you don't what?" I asked, staring up into his light brown eyes.

"So that I don't do things like this…" He leaned forward, closing his eyes. I closed mine as well, and felt his lips touch mine. Warmth that no amount of fire whiskey could replicate spread from my lips to the rest of my body as he kissed me. It wasn't at all like the kiss we had shared back in the changing rooms. It was gentle and sweet. Yet it was still intoxicating. I soon lost myself in his lips, his smell, his taste…

I pressed my palms against his chest, pushing him toward the couch. He laid down obligingly and pulled me on top of him, kissing me again. His fingers knotted in my hair and he rolled over on top of me. The thick carpet muffled the small thudding sound that was a product of the floor coming up to meet my back. I pulled away from him, giggling.

"Misjudged that distance, aye?"

He chuckled and joked, "What? I totally did that on purpose." Before lowering his lips back to mine. I began to lose track of time after that. Looking back, I could only ever remember brief flashes of what had happened. Kissing him on the floor, crouching over him and kissing him in the armchair, leaning against the wall kissing him…and many other bizarre glimpses into my cloudy memory.

I wasn't sure how we got there, but when I resurfaced at last I was lying on top of him on the couch again. He was stroking my hair back from my eyes, staring into them with as much intensity as he could muster in his drunken state.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing." He replied. "I was just thinking."

"'Bout what?"

"When we were talking earlier, you were so surprised guys fancied you. I still can't figure out why. How do you not notice, I mean."

I considered this. "Mostly because I can't figure out why they would like me like that."

"Well, I know why I like you like that." He answered matter-of-factly.

"I don't get why. I mean, I'm of thoroughly average intelligence,"

"You're one of the best in your year,"

"I'm a sarcastic bitch,"

"You're very witty,"

"And I'm not even insanely pretty."

"You're the most beautiful girl I've ever met."

I didn't know if he was just saying this to get me to kiss him again, but it was working. Grinning in spite of myself, I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his. Time seemed to slip away again. It felt like only minutes when I finally pulled away, sighed, and rested my head against his chest. I could hear the soothing sound of his slow, steady heartbeat.

"I'm tired. 'Night James."

"Good night, Vera." It was the first time in five years that he had ever said my name. Feeling a sense of complete peace I had never experienced before, I drifted off to sleep.

SO there you have it. They like each other. But many other things stand in their way. Please, please, please review. I get so excited every time someone does. And tell me what you think! Your opinions matter. I'll post the next chapter in a couple of days. We are getting into exciting territory here, so keep reading!