Chapter Text
Prologue
Hogwarts 1972
Gryffindor tower
“Is this a promise ring James? Evans will be relieved that it’s for me and not her.” Sirius laughed and handed the ring back towards James.
“Keep it. I got these from the family vault with my Dad. We went during the Easter hols.” James forced open Sirius’s hand and laid the ring on Sirius’s palm. “Please Siri. These rings are special, if you press your thumb here” he turned the ring to show an inlay along the edge. “If you press here, I’ll be able to come to you, no matter where you are.”
Sirius looked at the ring again, it was a simple iron band but the detail work was beautiful and very old. “James, I doubt it will work behind the warding my father has. He’s a paranoid old git, paranoid but highly skilled.”
James was close to tears, Sirius sighed and slipped the ring onto his right hand. He let out a small yelp of surprise “It’s warm! You didn’t tell me it was going to do that.”
James laughed then and pulled his best friend into a fierce hug. “Promise me you’ll use it if they hurt you. I will come get you and bring you back with me. No matter what.”
Sirius nodded into his best friend's shoulder. “I promise James. I’ll never take it off. Where’s yours then? Let us see it then.”
James held up his right hand where his matching ring sat on his middle finger. Sirius grinned. James walked back to his trunk to stow away the last few belongings before the end of term feast. “I mean, technically these are weddings rings- oof”
“I KNEW IT!” Sirius shouted as he tackled James onto the bed causing them both to giggle. Neither bothered to look up when they heard the door to the toilet open. Remus rolled his eyes at the pair as he made his way to his own bed to finish packing. “Any big plans for this summer lads?”
“Quidditch and helping Mum around the estate. I’m to start learning how to run things.” James had finally worked his way free from Sirius’s grip. Though Sirius was smaller than James, he was scrappy. James shrugged back at Remus, “How about you Rem?”
Remus folded his school jumper and gave under his bed a last look. “Oh you know, helping Mam and my Dad around the house. Not much else to do in Wales.”
Sirius perked up “Think you could manage to slip away to London for a visit?”
James ignored them and looked around the room, his first year at Hogwarts had come to an end. He had made 3 of the best friends you could ask for and met the girl he swore he was going to marry someday. But overall it felt like something was missing. He just didn’t know what yet, but it warmed his heart to see his best friend absentmindedly playing with the ring on his right hand. Sirius might not be safe, but now he had a way out.
Chapter 1
Godrics Hollow
December 1979
“JAMES DON’T YOU DARE WALK OUT ON ME!”
James slammed the door of the cottage behind him and stormed off. He had grabbed his broom on the way out the door, usually a quick pass around the garden would do him some good and help him clear his head. He pulled out his invisibility cloak and activated the runes on his broom. Moony always called them his “deflector shields”, he kicked off hard shooting off into the night sky.
Everything was falling apart, they were no closer to ending the damn war then when Dumbledore recruited his parents nearly 5 years ago and himself 3 years past.
His parents, Monty and Effie were two of the sweetest people alive until Dumbledore sent them on a mission that got them killed. It had been just a regular Tuesday morning, James had seen them for breakfast and was an orphan by dinner. Dumbledore had the nerve to try to hold the next order meeting at the Manor. What better way to honor their sacrifice than to use their ancestral home and its wards.
James had taken all of 3 seconds to promptly lose his shit and kick them all out. After 3 months of Lily’s coaxing he eventually relented and let them use a smaller building on the grounds, but no one but a Potter was setting foot inside the Manor. James had essentially warded it off, opting to stay at the Heir’s cottage in Godric's Hollow. He and Lily would have been living there once they married either way. The Manor was for the head of the family. He missed his parents so much he couldn’t breathe. Monty would have been proud of him for walking away before he said something in anger. Effie though, she might have just lost it and set Lily’s hair on fire or worse. Effie was sweet, but if you wronged her family she had a wicked streak a country mile wide.
He flew for 30 minutes before he realized he wasn’t exactly sure where he was at the moment. He settled and just looked up at the sky, he looked for Sirius. What am I gonna do Pads?
Sirius was his best friend, his brother by choice if not by blood- his platonic soulmate, but he couldn’t go to him right now. Sirius and Moony had been fighting so much lately and James knew Moony was due to leave on assignment soon. James might be losing faith in Dumbledore by the day, but Remus and Lily were his staunchest defenders. The old man, once so brilliant and all knowing to James, was now just a feeble old man sending children to do his dirty work. He kept bothering James for his cloak. James wasn’t even sure how he knew about it to begin with, so with every request he simply played dumb.
His father always told him “No one but you and your person can know about this. Your job is to guard it, use it to keep yourself safe and someday when the time is right, you’ll pass it on to your son or daughter. This isn’t for your pranks Jamie. This has been in our line as far back as stories have been told. I am giving this to you because I know that you will use it well.”
He’d never told anyone about it, he’d thought about telling Sirius a million times but the Marauders had the map. That was something they all had equal ownership of. He would have told Lily if they married but that was out the window now. How she thought he’d stay with her now, he’d never understand. She wasn’t even sorry. If she’d been honest it might have worked out, James had never believed that you had to be blood to be family. But he wouldn’t be lied to in his own house, not by the person that claimed to love him above all others. No, family was everything to James.
James looked up at the stars one more time to gather himself. “It’s done now. Might as well make it final.”
After a quick triangulation spell to figure out where he turned towards home. The glow of the cottage was still so warm and welcoming, Lily had told him it looked like a fairytale cottage come to life from her favorite bedtime storybook when she was little. She might have said not to come back, but this was his cottage, his home. He was the head of the Potter estate and no one would be kicking him out of anywhere.
He removed the cloak and stowed it in his extended pocket. He had wanted to have his wand out and ready, but he didn’t think Lily would hex him or anything. She wouldn’t be happy but he would not give her the satisfaction of becoming the victim. He made his way into the kitchen and pulled a glass from the shelf and poured himself 3 fingers of Ogden's finest. He had barely taken a single swallow when he heard her coming down the stairs with her latest reports for the order.
He turned, Lily had always been all fire and quick to anger especially when she thought she had the moral high ground. “You’re back.” She waited for a response, having received none she carried on. “You know, I never thought you’d be like this. Out of all of your friends. Sirius? Maybe.”
James took a beat and looked at her, she was wanting a fight and he’d be damned if he was going to give it to her. She threw the reports onto the counter, “Finally decided to not be a deadbeat?” She waved an arm in frustration. “Maybe say congratulations Lily, I can’t believe we’re having a baby Lily. I’m so excited Lily” she crossed her arms and waited, eyebrows raised.
James tipped the glass and took the rest in one swallow. He looked up and with no emotion said what she wanted to hear. “Congratulations Lily, you’re having a baby Lily. I bet you’re excited Lily. I however am not.”
She started to yell again and he raised a hand silencing her. “Before you start, I already know it’s not mine. No, you won’t be able to change my mind. I don’t know whose it is, but I do know for sure it’s not a Potter.”
Her hair crackled with power “How dare you?! Of course this is your baby.”
James sighed and sat his glass down. He moved out of the kitchen and down the hall towards his study. Lily followed but kept herself a few steps behind. James made his way to his desk and waved his wand over a set of runes. He pulled a heavy book from the drawer and laid it on the desktop. Lily looked from the book and back up to his face, clearly knowing something was about to happen but for once, she didn’t have an answer.
James cracked his neck and tapped the book. “I’m not sure how all families record it, but there’s always a record. Did you know that Gringotts uses spells to verify the blood line for any claim?” She shook her head. “Some families have tapestries; I’m sure you remember hearing about the one the Black family uses, my Amma’s family in India had a mosaic. All pure blood families have something. The Potters have this.” He rested his hand on the cover.
“This is the Potter Ledger. I was reviewing it today actually, looking over accounts and would you believe drawing up paperwork for you to have access to the accounts once we married.”
Lily looked up from the book at that. “What does this have to do with our baby?”
James scoffed but opened the book “Don’t play dumb Lily it doesn’t suit you.”. There were tabs along the outer edge, he moved to the silver tab and opened the book. “This is the Potter family tree.” He pointed to the bottom, “See this? This is my name. I am the last of my line, even if we weren’t married my child would appear here. My family are pure bloods, sure. But they’ve never cared about it specifically, people have married into my house from every part of the globe. My direct line is pure blood by pure chance. See here.” He pointed to a higher branch on the tree, “This is my great Uncle Rastus, he married a muggle born from the states. They have 2 biological children and have adopted 3. But see, they are all listed as his children.”
Lily looked confused “James I don’t understand, something must be wrong with this book. This is your baby.”
James appreciated that some of her fire had cooled. “Lily, the only way that’s my baby is if I fathered it biologically, magically or adopt it. I don’t need to know what happened. At this point I don’t care. We” he gestured between them. “We are done. I expect you to have your things packed and removed in the next half hour. Any jewelry I have bought for you is yours to keep however that.” He pointed to his mothers necklace “That will be staying here. Take it off now please.”
Her hair sparked “And if I don’t?”
He pressed both hands onto the desk and leaned over “Then I will notify Gringotts and they don’t take too kindly to thieves. We both know my mother wouldn’t want you to have it now anyways.”
There was a flash of guilt in Lily’s eyes at that.
“Would you have told me?”
Lily paused then, she thought for a moment. James searched her face for any hint of reason or remorse. She sighed “I don’t know James.”
“Did you ever love me?” He stood back from the desk.
“That’s not fair!” She raised her chin in defiance.
“The hell it’s not. I thought we were in a good place. What happened?” James threw his arms open in annoyance.
Lily’s shoulders slumped. “You aren’t who I thought you’d be, I’m not who I thought I was either.”
“Do you love him? Whoever it was?” James was surprised to find that he hoped she did. He was even more surprised to find that it was the lie itself that had bothered him more than her cheating. He knew he’d have to look at that a little deeper once she’d left.
Lily sighed, her arms dropped to her sides. “James, what do you want me to say? It wasn’t serious, it was a few times and it didn’t mean anything.”
James looked down at the ledger again. He ran his finger over his mothers name and missed her so much that in that moment he couldn't breathe. “A few times?”
Lily stopped. He knew she hadn’t meant to say it had been an ongoing thing. He took a deep breath and felt his magic settle. He stood tall and looked her in the eyes.
“After today you will no longer be admitted to any of the Potter properties without being escorted in by myself. You are no longer a friend to the Potter House and will no longer be able to seek refuge within it. I wish you good luck and I do hope that you and your baby are well. I will send Maisie to help you with your things. If you try to remove anything that belongs to the estate, I will notify the Aurors and Gringotts immediately. Time to go, Lily.”
She reached up and undid the clasp. Without a word she laid the necklace on the desk, turned on her heel and all but fled out of the room.
James opened the top drawer on the desk and pulled out a small box he used to hold notice pins. He placed the necklace inside then stored it away in the drawer with the ledger and then called out for Maisie. A small elf appeared with a pop “Yes Master James?”
“Lily will be leaving the cottage tonight, please help her pack all of her belongings only. Anything that belongs to the estate stays here. She is no longer recognized or to be received by this House.”
Maisie’s ears lowered in sadness “Of course Master James.” James knelt down beside her “I am sorry Maisie. I know you cared for her, but she has betrayed me and this house. I would never order you to be unkind to anyone, but she will go.”
The elf nodded and popped away to help Lily. James couldn’t relax yet he found himself twisting the ring on his left hand it was a self soothing thing he’d done for years. James knew he needed to keep moving, moving to the bookshelf on the opposite wall and he pressed the shelf in, causing the hidden door to open leading to a small altar room. There he had a miniature keystone. The full estate wards were kept and maintained at the Manor, but this was the Heirs cottage and had a control option for emergencies. The Muggle War of the Roses had bled into the wizarding world as well, during the constant change in the Muggle Monarchy magical estates often needed quick transfers of power. James assumed the titled families like the Blacks, Malfoys and even the Prewett's had similar ward setups in their estate homes. The Potters were an older house than most of the sacred 28, however they held no Muggle titles, they were the landed gentry. He knew that the Blacks and Malfoys both had seats of power in the Muggle house of Lords. He always got a kick out of the idea of Orion Black having to go into Muggle London to sit for Parliament. The Prewett's held the equivalent of an Earldom, James had spent and evening in Gryffindor tower his 3rd year listening to Gideon go on and on about the estate and what his role would be. He had tried to pass the muggle side to Fabian, being the younger twin. But Fab had wanted nothing to do with any of it. So Gideon would be Lord of both Prewett Keep and the Earldom.
With a small amount of blood and some carefully worded changes, it was done. Lily was no longer recognized by the estate and would not be able to enter any Potter property without being brought in by James himself. James would have to notify Dumbledore that the order was no longer welcome on the property either. Another family could take up the mantle of homebase. The Potter estate had been handling the lion's share of safety and security for the order for years.
He made his way back to the kitchen to see Lily appearing with her old school trunk and a suitcase. “Where am I supposed to go?”
James shrugged “I don’t know Lily. Call the father, call a friend, I really don’t care.”
“I never thought you’d be this fucking heartless James.” Her eyes were furious.
He threw his arms out, “I never thought you’d cheat on me and lie to my face about it but here we are. Goodbye Lily.”
She stormed out the door and didn’t bother closing it behind her. James pulled out his wand and conjured a patronus “Take this to Padfoot and Moony, Lily and I are done. She just left. I’m closing the floo and I’ve locked down the cottage for the night. I will talk to you tomorrow but I wanted you to know, she lied and she cheated.Ledger doesn’t lie.”
Prongs shimmered and sped off into the night. James locked down the floo when he felt it. His ring warmed, after a moment it burned. Sirius had never used it before, not even that summer he left Grimmauld and came to his house. James quickly doublechecked the locked the wards, he didn’t know what he’d be bringing back but only he and who he allowed in was getting in after this.
James knew the patronus hadn’t reached him yet, Sirius was in real trouble. James opened a cabinet and grabbed his full moon med kit and his broom. He then turned on his heel and followed the ring's pull.
He expected to land in or near a fight. He did not expect to be on a rock in the middle of a horror show. Inferi were groaning and snarling and making their way up from the water. He heard it then, “SIRI I’M SORRY. PLEASE” James moved. He was shocked to find Regulus Black being dragged back towards the water covered in blood. They locked eyes and Regulus cried out, “JAMIE HELP”.
Without thought or hesitation James moved he threw a bombarda and knocked the inferi closest to Regulus back, he grabbed him under the arms and pulled with all his might. Regulus thankfully was not as cumbersome as his brother, James threw him over his shoulder and moved back up the rock face throwing curses behind him to keep the inferi away. There was a pedestal in the center, James grabbed his broom and kicked off as the inferi made their way up the bank.
His balance wasn’t great, but it helped that Regulus wasn’t fighting him anymore. He didn’t seem to be moving at all. “Lumos Solem!”
The light flooded the cavern and James was horrified by the scene below. The entire lake was crawling with inferi like ants in a kicked over hill, they were moving back into the water and away from the light. James knew it wouldn’t stop them for long and he’d only ever managed to apparate from a broom once before and he had chalked it up to accidental magic more than actual skill. He looked around the cavern and saw a beach. He knew could make due with that.
He activated the runes on the broom and managed to haphazardly pull his cloak around the both of them, if they couldn’t see them, they couldn’t attack them… Hopefully.
He lowered Regulus from his shoulder to sit across his lap. Regulus, like Sirius, had always been pale, but now he’d almost gone grey.
James hovered on the beach as quietly as he could. He let one foot touch the beach and turned to dissapparate…. and nothing. Fuck.
He stayed on the broom keeping an eye on the water, it wasn’t calm by any means but the dead weren’t crawling onto the beach yet. Just then James heard a pop toward the rock face, an elf was there looking distraught. James could hear it crying out “Mmm-master Regulus.”
James wanted to pump his fist in the air in triumph but he couldn’t move lest he lose his grip on Regulus. He knew that the elf that had always loved Regulus, now if James could only remember the damned elf’s name. Sirius had hated him. Creeper? No. That wasn’t it. Kreacher? That might be it. James flew silently closer to the elf and pulled back his hood. “Kreacher?”
The elf whipped around and went from anguish to murderous in seconds flat.
“You’re not meant to be here.”
James pulled the cloak open to show Regulus leaning into his chest. “I have your master, he’s badly hurt. Can you get us out of here? I can try to save him but not here.” James looked back to the water, a pale hand shot up breaking the surface.
“Kreacher now! Godric's Hollow Heir’s cottage. I can save him, but we have to go now!”
Kreacher to his credit didn’t hesitate, he moved to James side he put a knobby hand on James’s broom and grabbed James’s arm with the other. With a pop they were gone.
In the time it took to blink they reappeared in the back garden just outside the ward line. “Kreacher, take hold of my trousers so you can cross through the wards.” Kreacher did, once they crossed through Kreacher snapped the door open, James let the broom drop and he hurried Regulus inside. He laid him out on the table, the blood loss had been substantial.
“Shit, okay. Kreacher, I need a basin of warm water and clean linens. Maisie!” The small elf appeared “Oh Master James, yous needing Ms Effie’s kit?”
“Yes, hurry please Maisie.” Maisie popped away, while Kreacher hurried about the kitchen gathering supplies. James opened his emergency kit and pulled out two blood replenishing potions then quickly tipped them into Regulus’s mouth. He massaged his throat to make him swallow. The robes were in tatters. Regulus had lost a shoe at some point. James couldn’t care about that, he grabbed the shears off the counter and cut what was left of the trousers and shirt away. Regulus looked as if he’d gone through a wood chipper, a horrifying muggle device that Remus had shown him in a film the summer before. James cast a diagnostic, surprisingly the flesh wounds were the least of his problems. All of his internal organs were flashing anywhere from orange to worryingly red. James began casting additional diagnostics, it wasn’t a cast curse or hex, it had to be a poison.
Kreacher hurried back in then and stood by Regulus’ head, he began wiping blood from Regulus’ face. “Master Regulus ordered Kreacher to leave him, Kreacher did not want to but could not disobey.”
James looked down into the young man’s face. He looked so terribly young, not that either of them were old now. 18 was barely of age in the Muggle world. He looked back to the elf, poor thing looked like he had been ready to throw himself back in the water to go with his Master if he couldn’t save him.
“Kreacher, do you know what happened to him?”
Kreacher nodded “It was the Dark Lord's potion. Kreacher told Master Regulus that he would drink it again, Master refused.”
James grimaced, “Of course he did. What color was the potion, do you remember anything about it?”
“It was green, and terrible. Makes you see such terrible things”
James looked at the elf, he was shaking. Maisie popped back in with his mothers medical kit. James began sorting through, he wasn’t sure how much time Regulus had left.
“Alright, Kreacher can you open his mouth? I’m going to give him a bezoar first.” James forced the bezoar in and waited. 30 seconds and nothing. He cast the diagnostic again, no improvement, but not any worse either. It seemed to slow the progression of the potion.
James watched for another agonizing 30 seconds. Still no improvement, he went back to the kit. He knew they only had 4 more doses of Wiggenweld left. He’d have to brew more. Too bad Lily had been a cheater, she was unfortunately better than him at medical grade potions. James didn’t have time to think of any other options, he had been studying more Eastern medicine along with his healers training but now was not the time for him to second guess himself.
He grabbed a vial and moved to Regulus’s side. He gently tipped his head back and poured the potion into his mouth. He had to help massage it down his throat. James checked the diagnostic again. This time there was a small change. The damage around his kidneys was now a lighter shade of orange, moving towards yellow. The red around his brain and heart though were still violently vivid.
James looked to the two worried house elves, “Now we wait to see if he can keep fighting.” Kreacher nodded and took a cloth, he dipped it into the basin and then began wiping the wounds along Regulus' right arm. James looked down at the left, there it was.
The dark mark.
Though it had been nearly fully destroyed, angry gashes had ripped nearly all of the skin from his forearm away. James could see the shredded remains of muscle and tendons along with an angry black something. He got closer- fuck. It was moving, it was like it was alive and thrashing around.
“Maisie, upstairs in my old school trunk there is a blue box, grab it please. It cannot be summoned.” She was gone and back in a blink. “Here you are Master James”
He took the box and removed a small vial. He looked at Regulus’s face. There was no hate, no sneer, all James could see was a young man that had been hurt his whole life, a boy that had called out to him for help. He removed the lid and dropped two drops into the open wound that was once the dark mark.
It hissed.
James backed away from the table “What the fuck? Maisie a hex box, quickly!”
The wound hissed and poured thick black smoke, the diagnostic began flashing red then black. Regulus sat bolt upright and screamed. James felt a tear slide down his own cheek at the sound.
James had never in his life heard such a cry. It was the guttural sound of a dying animal more than anything human. The last of the smoke fell to the ground and Regulus dropped back onto the table like a stone.
“Fuck. Regulus! Wake up!”
James looked at the diagnostic once more, everything was black. James took the small vial and dropped the remaining contents over and into the gashes above his heart. He remembered Lily teaching them CPR. She had been horrified to learn that wizards just relied on spells for resuscitation or potions. James began pressing on the boy's chest. After a few seconds he could feel his arms burning. Regulus’ face showed no sign of pain now, James hated that he looked peaceful. Grief flared in him and he continued the compressions.
“Don’t do this you little shit. Your brother wants to be the one to kill you after he hugs you.” He looked at the diagnostic, no real change. In a rage he stopped the compressions and thumped the boy's chest. “WAKE UP” he did it again.
After the third time he saw it, his heart was beating again. The red had faded to orange around his heart. Kreacher was sobbing and rocking in the corner, Maisie was finishing locking the black smoke in the hex box. Once she was done she removed it, James would have to find a way to drop that in a volcano somewhere. After a few moments of silence he let himself take a deep breath and felt his shoulders relax, be it ever so slightly.
“Maisie, please put some coffee on, it’s going to be a very long night.”
Outside thunder rolled, James remembered his Gran saying something about an old superstition about thunder in December but to what end he couldn’t fully recall. Whatever was happening outside the cottage was not his concern, right now he just wanted to save his best friend's brother.
It was indeed a very long night. The early dawn light had begun creeping in the kitchen window. James sat up from his spot near Regulus’s head. He checked the diagnostic, nearly all of the orange from the night before had faded to pale yellow save for the heart, that was still orange. His brain was still worryingly red. James took another wiggenweld potion and poured it down Regulus' throat. He noted that he didn’t have to help it as much. James was relieved it had a sedative in it, he couldn’t risk Regulus waking up with this level of brain damage. He still wasn’t totally sure he’d wake up at all.
Maisie brought a steaming mug of coffee over and sat it by his wand. “Master James must eat and get some rest. Kreacher and I can look after the boy.”
Kreacher had refused to move from Regulus’s side. He held the boy's hand in his and murmured to him all night about how he was such a good boy and how he needed to rest and to get better.
James swallowed the coffee in two gulps.
“Thank you Maisie, you two need to be sure to eat and rest as well.” He learned down and whispered, “Make sure Kreacher eats something, he loved Regulus so. Regulus would be sad to see him so distressed.”
Maisie nodded, “Don’t you worry about Kreacher, Maisie will see that he takes care of himself.” James took another look at the diagnostic when he felt a brush along the wards, he grabbed his wand and moved to the front door.
A patronus was pacing the property line, James looked back to the elves “I’ll be right back. If any of his vitals change, Maisie come for me at once.”
He made his way down the path, Padfoot was pacing. James could almost laugh, he’d never seen a patronus and person more in tune with each other. James looked around before he stepped through the wards. Sirius's voice boomed “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? GET YOUR ASS HERE NOW!”
James took a moment to vanish the blood from his clothes, sighed and turned on his heel. A moment later he was standing outside Remus and Sirius’s flat in Diagon Alley. He had barely raised his hand to knock when the door was thrown open and a furious Remus Lupin dragged him inside.
Remus threw him into the sofa, “What the fuck James? You’re gonna bail on your own kid?”
James was tired and for a moment had no idea what Remus was on about. Then he remembered, Lily. Without a word, only a flick of his wand James threw Remus across the room.
“She fucking cheated on me you prick. It’s not my kid!”
Remus was back on his feet “Lily wouldn’t cheat on you, you know that.”
“She fucking did. You know what happened when I confronted her about it?” Remus shook his head. James took a breath to try to calm himself, he didn’t even bother to get up. Sleeping in a chair all night wasn’t comfortable at any age.
“Nothing. I showed her the ledger and she knew she was caught. She left. Though I can see just how much our friendship has meant to you over the years. Good to know where you stand.”
Remus was frozen. “James. I’m sorry.”
“Save it. Where is Sirius?”
At that moment Sirius came bursting through the floo half mad with grief. “He’s missing, presumed dead.”
“You know who?” And “Who?” Were both asked at the same time. Sirius fell into Remus’s arms, he stayed there for a moment shaking with grief.
James closed his eyes. “Is it Regulus?” Sirius nodded. James stood and walked over to his friend and put a hand on his shoulder. He was about to tell him the truth but something niggled in his brain. Regulus still might die, he couldn’t say he’s alive only for him to die again that night.
Sirius turned to face James. “I always figured one or both of us wouldn't make it through this war. But I really wanted to see him again.”
James opened his arms and Sirius stepped into them. “Hey, you never know Siri. Crazy shit happens every day.”
Sirius laughed at that. He pulled back and wiped his eyes. “I can’t believe Lily cheated. She showed up here last night asking if she could stay. I said no, that one felt bad and took her to the Leaky. Ledger doesn’t lie though.”
James nodded “I know.”
Sirius pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one offering it to James. He shook his head. Sirius carried on “Any idea who it was?”
James laughed “No. Last week I was going through the vault looking at rings. I didn’t see this coming.”
Remus had sat down in a chair. He had wisely decided to say nothing, rather kept quiet and observed. James could see that he was torn. Remus loved Lily. She was a sister to him. Sirius however, was going from grief to anger quickly.
“I can’t believe she fucking lied. Want me to kill whoever it was? I’m just pissed enough that I don’t think I’d mind the stay in good old Azkaban.”
James pulled Sirius down on the sofa with him. “Pads - do nothing. She made her decision. I’m done. I am going to take some time and get over it, but she is having a baby. I’m not gonna make her life hell for it. Whoever it was, hopefully they are good and step up for the kid.”
Sirius nodded and James watched as the grief and anger faded away from him. James looked him over, dark circles under his eyes and he looked overall just bone tired. “You need to sleep Sirius. Promise me you’ll get some rest.” Sirius had begun to retreat into himself. James knew better than to try to reason with him right now. He pulled the full moon kit from his pocket and grabbed a dreamless sleep. He held it out, “Please take this. I know you hate them, but you need to rest right now. Want to go back to the Manor?” Sirius shook his head.
“No. I’ll stay here. Will you be alright?”
James smiled and held the potion out to him again. “I will be. I’m gonna take a few days and be sad, probably burn her pillow. Maybe cry for a bit. I’m keeping the cottage locked down. But send a patronus and I’ll come. Or call for Maisie and she can let me know. I’ll check in soon okay?”
Sirius nodded and downed the potion. He handed the empty vial back and James pocketed it. “Good man, let Remus get you to bed.”
Sirius stood and hugged him. James felt his heart break when he heard the sniffle at his shoulder. “I still loved him.”
James pressed a kiss into his best friend's temple. “I’m sure he knew.” Remus stepped forward and took Sirius, pulling him into his side. “James I’m so-“
James shot him a glare. “We will talk later. Take care of him Remus.” With that James turned and walked out of the flat. He didn’t bother with finding a dissaparating point; he just turned and with a pop was back home.
Back in the cottage James looked over the diagnostic, the heart was improving gradually after the second wiggenweld. The brain was finally improving, the red was less violent, not quite pink but moving in that direction. James gave a sigh of relief.
“Will Master Regulus live?”
James looked down into Kreacher’s face. “I believe he will. We will watch him for a few more hours. He can have another vial of wiggenweld this evening. For now let’s start with dittanty wraps with murtlap essence on these open wounds. Once those are done we can move him to the guest room. He will heal faster if his body is comfortable.”
Kreacher set to work in silence. Maisie moved about the kitchen preparing tea and breakfast for all of them. Finally they had the boy wrapped, a manic laugh escaped James. Kreacher looked at him, clearly startled.
“I’m sorry Kreacher. I had the most ridiculous thought just now. He looks more like a Mummy than himself.”
Kreacher gazed at the boy and smiled “Master Regulus always loved reading stories of curse breakers in Egypt. He wanted to be a curse breaker before the other one left. But now my Master is the Head of the House of Black.”
James furrowed his brow “No, Orion is.”
Kreacher shook his head. “No, my old master is gone. Only the mistress and Master Regulus remain.” James looked down into Regulus’s face, strange how their circumstances overlapped. Both were forced to step into their roles as heads of the family before they had wanted. Sirius had been trained for that role every day for nearly 17 years, Regulus had had less than a year. James pulled out his wand to lift Regulus from the table. “I normally would carry him, but this way will keep any more pressure off of his wounds. Kreacher I must ask you not to inform your mistress that he is here.”
Kreacher shook his head “No. I am sworn to Master Regulus. I am not to tell anyone from the house of Black what he was up to.” James made his way to the guest room where Maisie, bless her, had readied the room. The fire was lit and the sheets looked like they were made of cotton gauze.
Maisie helped place pillows under the boy’s legs and arms. “Master James must rest now. Sleeping at a table is not sleeping. Take a shower and Maisie will bring a tray then to bed. Kreacher and Maisie will watch over the Master's friend.” James allowed himself to be pushed from the room. He made his way into the bathroom and turned on the shower. After a few moments the steam was billowing. James added some dried herbs and flowers to a bag and tied it to the shower head. Almost instantly the smells of his childhood filled the room. His muscles relaxed, he peeled off his clothes and stepped into the warm spray.
After an arguably indulgent shower James wrapped a towel around his waist and made his way to his bedroom. He chuckled at the sight of pajamas laid out for him, Maisie hadn’t done that since before he’d left for Hogwarts. But dutifully he pulled them on, he grabbed the bacon roll off the tray and tucked in. James knew he had one more thing to do before he could sleep, he rummaged around his nightstand and pulled out the audio recorder. Sirius had found them on an outing to Muggle London and was obsessed with it. James had found it incredibly helpful while studying for his NEWTS. The practice of using it to study had proved helpful in his early days of healer’s training. He put a new tape in and made his way back to the guest room.
He ran the diagnostic again and saw more improvement in the boy's nervous system. He pressed record “Patient, 18 year old male presented with gashes covering 80% of his body. Surface wounds were cleaned and treated with Murtlap and dittany wraps. Internal wounds show catastrophic damage to brain and heart, the patient was in total organ failure. Treatment included a bezoar which held the unknown potion where it was however was not able to heal. 2 blood replenishing potions were administered as well as the first dose of Wiggenweld within the first 10 minutes. Wiggenweld showed signs of improvement. But minimally. Pt had a wound on left forearm, applied 2 drops of phoenix tears. Wound healed but patient went into immediate distress and heart failure. Diagnostic went black. CPR was administered and after approximately 3 minutes patient was breathing again. Wound wrappings were changed every 2 hours. 6 hours after first dose a second wiggenweld was administered. A third dose will be given in 8 hours if improvement follows expected course.” He clicked off the recorder and laid it on the bedside table.
James brushed the hair back from the boy's face. “Maisie.” She popped in beside him. “Please wash Mister Regulus’ hair. And dry it please. The last thing he needs is to smell like those things when he wakes. He will already be panicked enough.” Maisie nodded and popped off for supplies.
James made his way back into his room, all signs of Lily were gone. Her book was gone from her bedside table, her robe wasn’t thrown across the end of the bed. Their picture was no longer on the windowsill. James pulled back the duvet and fell into bed. He set his alarm for 3 hours, he’d need to change the dressings. With one last sigh he felt his body drift to sleep.