Sometimes Love takes work

I felt like writing here today, and was struck with a little curiosity/meme sort of thing for fellow fan-authors, so if you'd like to play...

Tell me about or post about a character who didn't really grab you in the canon --- maybe you liked them but without passion, or maybe you even disliked them --- but whom you then fell in love with in the process of writing them or inventing their role in your fanfic.

I don't know if it's a universal experience, but it struck me as an interesting thing...

( My recent notable example... )