A/N: Too short, I know, but I like this one. Also, I'm going to be aging Amber a year in each chapter so as to get to the parts with Charlotte faster, but don't worry I won't be rushing anything, nothing major will be missed but if you have some ideas I'd love to hear them.

Disclaimer: James and the rest of the Potter and Weasley's are not mine but Charlotte and Amber are and there is nothing you can do about it!

Amber was at the stage in her life where she wanted to do everything herself. She wanted to dress herself and feed herself and brush her own hair. Most parents called this stage 'the terrible twos' but James didn't see why, he was more than happy to let her do her own thing.

A lot of Amber's personality had been made clear to James in the past two years and he knew that she would want to do everything herself anyway and not because that was a stage she was in. She was just that kind of girl; he loved that about her and hoped that that didn't change when she grew up. She was also an attention seeker and loved being outdoors. And one of the best traits about her in his opinion was that she now had black hair.

Now that her hair wasn't red, but a dark black like his, James was able to look at Amber without thinking about the circumstances in which he received her. Because when he did it always led to him thinking about Charlotte which led him to compare Amber to Charlotte. Which really wasn't fair since they were so different.

Now he looked at his little girl and he saw just that. His little girl, not some kid he had gotten as a product of a stupid mistake fueled by resentment and loneliness. Instead he saw one of the best things in his life, his daughter. And even though he was a horrible, selfish, impatient, and young parent he loved her more than anything and wanted to make her happy.

In fact James hadn't thought about Charlotte in a long time, it wasn't that he didn't love her anymore; it was just easier when he didn't allow himself to think of her.

James was sitting at the table one Saturday morning, he had tried to feed Amber but she had insisted on doing it herself ("Me do it!") and was getting more on her face than in her mouth. He let her and was trying to read the paper before Harry woke up and claimed it.

That was when he saw the birth announcement. The picture attached to the announcement showed a smiling family of three, a man, his wife and their new born baby. Normally James never even glanced at this section of the paper and the only reason that he noticed the announcement at all was because the woman holding the baby in her arms was Charlotte.

He stared at her in the picture for a moment; she was as beautiful as he remembered her, though not as young. James couldn't help noticing that she had filled out more since he had seen her last, which made her look more like a woman than a girl. And her face had lost its childish roundness. Even with these differences he knew that it was Charlotte. He would never not be able to know. She looked happy as she smiled and cooed at the little baby in her arms, James assumed from the blue blanket it was wrapped in that it was a boy. Her eyes-which were still a mixture of green and light brown-shined with all the love and anxiety of a new parent.

He didn't even glance at the man in the picture-he wouldn't think of him as Charlotte's husband-the guy was nothing but an embodiment of what James should have.

He folded the paper, not able to look at the happy little family any longer.

The pain that had lain dormant inside of his heart, that he had struggled to repress for so long knowing all the while that it would never go away, had resurfaced with just one glance at a picture. It was irrational to feel this way, he knew that, it wasn't like he and Charlotte had any history as a couple, or even as friends for that matter.

He sneaked another glance at the picture of Charlotte; torturing himself with images of her standing beside of him and beaming at their baby. Imagining what it would be like to have a home and a life with her and then knowing that that would never happen.

The pain must have shown on his face as he thought of the impossibility of his fantasies because even Amber noticed.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" he heard her ask.

James shook his head, closing the paper one more time and placing it on the counter behind him, so as not to be tempted to look at it again.

"Nothing sweetheart," he assured her, smiling sadly when he saw the mess she had made of herself. Try as he might he couldn't get the image of Charlotte with that man and their baby out of his head.

He could feel and unjust hatred toward the man who married Charlotte. All the while feeling guilty for his hate because he knew that it wasn't fair. For all he knew Charlotte could be very happy with that guy. In fact it was very likely that she was happy, they had had a baby together after all. James wanted Charlotte to be happy.

"You love me don't you" he asked Amber. In an irrational need to know that someone loved him, and needed him, even if it wasn't the person he wanted, it was something.

"Yes," she said positively. "I love you lots, Daddy!"

And since her hair was black and not the offending red James was able to smile at her and say, "And I love you lots, Amber, I always will."

Because the main difference between Amber and Charlotte was that Amber loved him.

A/N: Review please!