Hey guys! So I know I said I'd update the story on Sunday, but really, who would ever choose accounting over fanfiction? Honestly...

I've corrected Charlus and Dorea to Charles and Natalie (if anyone was wondering at the sudden change). Williukea mentioned that the Blacks would have no problem with Slytherins and that these characters being James' parents was just speculation - it's true!

As deant33 pointed out, some of you may think Emma was placed in Slytherin for convenience. Whilst it's true that the whole story would fall apart if it was otherwise, I think Emma does belong in Slytherin. As Dumbledore pointed out to Harry, Slytherins are determined, resourceful and have a certain disregard for the rules. Emma's definitely very determined, and we'll see later that she's resourceful. She's loyal to her family, but so are many Slytherins - and she doesn't have that blind trust in her friends that James has. She's more cautious and afraid of consequences than a "typical" Gryffindor; she's more clever than intelligent (so not a Ravenclaw) and she's not afraid to play dirty if she thinks the end justifies the means (so not Hufflepuff). Also, she always seems to want to prove something: prove she's not scared of the Hat, prove that she's worthy of her Dad's attention etc... Hope that clarifies things a bit!

Thanks to Ash-Caro-Lynn for Beta-ing

By the time New Year's Eve rolled around, everything was almost back to normal. Charles even joked about finally understanding why Emma and James talked about different classmates in their letters. Apparently, they had thought that there were an abnormally large amount of Gryffindors Sorted that year.

The Potter parents had agreed to have Regulus and Sirius come over for a sleepover and - being unable to refuse their darling twins anything - agreed to let them camp in the garden for the night. The twins spent the day excitedly shopping for sweets as Natalie and Charles puzzled over the renewal of heating charms. They had invited their friends' parents over too, so Emma wasn't surprised to see an elegant-looking blonde woman emerge from the green flames of their fireplace at seven o'clock on the dot.

She was surprised, however, at how dejected Sirius looked when he followed a second later. He had been forced into a suit, and didn't look very pleased about it. However, upon seeing the Potter's house, he cheered up immensely and immediately asked where James was.

'Manners, Sirius!' his mother scolded.

'Sorry mother,' he said, before turning to Natalie Potter, who had just bustled out of the kitchen. 'Hello Mrs Potter. Thank you for inviting us. Could you tell me where James is, please?'

Mrs Black opened her mouth to tell him off, but Natalie just laughed. 'He's out buying the sweets with Charles, my husband. I'm surprised Emma didn't go with him.' For Mrs Black's benefit, she explained: 'They're as thick as thieves. Honestly, we almost had to force them into separate rooms.'

'I know what you mean. I'm Walburga Black, nice to meet you,' Mrs Black smiled graciously, and in a blink her features were perfectly composed.

As Emma was admiring how Mrs Black looked like a beautiful model rather than a homely mum, Regulus and Mr Black arrived, dusting off soot before stepping out into the living room. Mr Black greeted Emma's mother with a bouquet of flowers and introduced himself as Orion. Regulus shyly said hello, complimented the house and thanked Mrs Potter for having them.

'It's nice of you to let us come over,' he said. Mrs Black beamed with pride.

'That's how you properly greet your host, Sirius,' she said loftily.

Sirius muttered something darkly under his breath and glared at his brother. Emma hurriedly suggested that she show them the tent where the kids would be sleeping, and her mother offered to show their guests around the house while they waited.

'Don't mind him,' Regulus said. 'He's just upset because our parents are still annoyed about him being in Gryffindor. They almost didn't let him come, but they changed their mind when they found out James was a pureblood with a sister in Slytherin.'

'Don't remind me,' Emma said with a laugh, though she was burning with curiosity about every detail. She wanted to know how it went compared to her own experience, but she knew better than to ask while Sirius was sulking. She still wasn't sure if they were friends or not.

'Miss me?' a voice sang, and a shower of chocolate frogs, Bertie Bott's every flavour beans, and any other tasty treat they could think of rained down into their make-shift fort.

'I like what you've done with the place,' said James, fluffing up one of their many cushions. 'But Mum says food's ready.'

After an awkward dinner with the parents, the four of them scurried into their den to start the real fun. Walburga had mostly talked about how nice it was to find another pure-blood family and how relieved they were when they realised that Sirius wasn't cohorting with Muggleborns. Upon seeing Charles's face, Orion hastily clarified that he was happy because they would have similar backgrounds, so as not to feel too homesick. In the end, the adults laughed about adult stuff, and the kids chatted about what they wanted to do afterwards.

'Okay so you all know the rules,' James said, shaking four beans onto each of their outstretched palms. 'Choose one for each of us. The one with the worst beans gets dared by the one with the best.'

Emma stared at her beans: there was one weird-looking brown one which she immediately reserved for James, and she selected a red one for herself. The red ones were never that bad. Once the beans were distributed, they ate each of the three given to them. The weird brown one turned out to be baked beans: James high-fived Sirius who had got lucky with chocolate, sugared violet and toasted marshmallow. He evilly rubbed his hands together, thinking of a dare. Regulus mouthed a "sorry" to Emma, who was quickly spitting out her dirt-flavoured bean.

'I never knew a sweet could taste so awful,' she spluttered as James poured her another hot chocolate. 'I don't know what you're laughing at, dear brother. The elusive bogey flavour has been discovered.'

James made a face. They both had two awful beans, and one neutral. 'Time to see if we sink or save ourselves.'

'One. Two. Three!'

They both shoved their last bean into their mouth, chewing furiously.

'Aaaahhh! Hot, hot hot!' Emma fanned her mouth. Her "not-so-bad" bean was in fact chilli-flavoured.

'Ha-ha,' James mocked. 'Ketchup. But it's oddly good.'

Sirius shook his head at his friend's weird taste, but there were more important things on his mind. He stood up, and grandly pronounced: 'Emma Jane Potter, I dare you to steal one of my mother's socks.'

James and Regulus gaped at him, but Emma didn't hesitate for a second. 'Done,' she said. 'I'll be back in fifteen minutes.'

In actual fact, she had no idea of what to do as she ran across the lawn to the house. She had agreed to the dare only to prove that she was just as daring as Sirius could be. And to see James's proud face when she got back. And to see Regulus shocked at her audacity. She wanted to prove to the boys that she wasn't just some girl that needed comforting and who cried about her Sorting all the time.

By the time she made it to the dining room, she knew what to do. It was just a matter of the execution.

As predicted, the parents hadn't left the dinner table, and were in an animated discussion about Quidditch. As she entered, her mother rolled her eyes at her. Natalie Potter had never been a huge sports fan, and was engaged in a conversation about mini-skirts and dresses with Mrs Black. She moved to her mother's side.

'Do you know where the spare blankets are?' she asked quietly. 'James doesn't want to get cold when we change into our pyjamas.'

This was a plausible excuse. James had always been a sissy when it came to bedcovers. Her mother excused herself, but while she was getting up, Emma "accidentally" knocked the water jug onto Mrs Black. She felt slightly bad about it: her dress was very pretty, and looked very expensive. Luckily she had aimed well, and the water only splashed on one leg and foot.

'Oh!' she cried, quickly standing up. Emma had forgotten to take into account the fact that the glass water jug would smash.'

'Oh, I'm so sorry Mrs Black,' Emma said. 'I wasn't looking, I didn't mean to!' And she looked at Walburga Black with her best guilty look.

'That's quite alright my dear,' the blonde woman replied, softening. 'After all, it's only a bit of water.'

'Careful!' Charles said. 'The glass is dangerous!'

Luckily Mr Black kept a calm head in this kind of situations. After all, there were many accidents in the House of Black, especially when his niece Bellatrix was around. 'Come dear, let's get you cleaned up. Emma, you should go back to the tent; I'm sure your mother can bring the blankets when we've sorted this out.'

Mrs Black was told to put her wet socks on the radiator to dry, and Natalie looked for something for her to wear while her dress dried. On her way out, Emma filched the sock. Though she had seen her mother's look saying that she was not impressed with her behaviour, it was worth seeing the boys' face when she dangled the sopping pink sock in Sirius's face.

'Done,' she said, blowing out the oil lamp and picking up a glowing wand. 'Now who's up for some ghost stories?'

'Oh, I'll go first!' Regulus said. 'I know a good one.'

The other three were surprised: Regulus was usually quiet, only participating once in a while, but they all huddled up on one side of the den, waiting expectantly.

'You all know the Bloody Baron,' he started. They nodded, shuddering a little. The Bloody Baron was scary.

'Well, there was once a young wizard who was a favourite of the Four Founders of Hogwarts. Many men admired him, and many women fell in love with him, because he was a passionate person. But he only had eyes for one girl, who he had loved from the day of their first Sorting, though she had rejected him. One day, her mother fell fatally ill, and asked him as a final request to find her estranged daughter so that she could make peace with her once and for all. The baron swore to never rest until he did, and he travelled many days and nights before finding her. She refused him once again though, and they quarrelled bitterly. She told him that she didn't love him, and he - in a fit of rage and jealousy - told her that if she couldn't love him, then she couldn't love anyone at all and he stabbed her to death.'

James gasped, and Emma reached for his hand. It was scary how easily people could be killed. But the hand she found wasn't familiar like her twin's, and she glanced across to meet Sirius's surprised eyes. He looked away, but tightened his grasp. She supposed that even Sirius could be scared once in a while. As Regulus continued his story, she thought about Walburga Black and wondered if they were allowed to be scared. She didn't seem like the type to comfort you with a hug and bedtime story.

'And to this day he still wears her blood and his chains in penance for what he did,' Regulus concluded.

'How do you even know this story?' James demanded in awe.

Regulus shrugged. 'I just hear things in Hogwarts.'