Disclaimer:

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

The sky had finished darkening when James returned to the tower.

He had a couple of hours until dinner and a potion to finish.

James climbed to the last floor of his tower and opened the door to his new laboratory.

The smell of ingredients immediately reached his nose and made him smile.

In such a short amount of time, this tower went from rubble to a wonderful lab.

He had not held back when asking for tools from Lord Pollux. Much of what he had requested was not truly necessary for this particular potion, but he knew the old man's pockets could take the hit.

At the end of the day, this was nothing. He could have asked for a mountain of gold in exchange for saving the life of the Patriarch.

"Mmm… let's see." He examined the potion carefully. The liquid had a light blue tone and seemed to almost glow as the magical spoon stirred the contents of the cauldron.

"Looks good. It's been a while since I've done this one."

This potion had no name. And the reason for that was… that this was something James had invented in his previous life.

One of his first students was a very joyful and adventurous Muggle-born girl who came from a family of archaeologists. As such, she became a curse-breaker and traveled all over the world.

In one of her journeys, she came across a strange artifact while studying some primitive ruins in South America.

She got a bit careless and was cursed by the artifact. But this was not a curse like she had encountered before.

The healers she went to were able to identify it as 'The Withering'. A powerful ancient curse that sometimes affects unfortunate wizards and witches while interacting with artifacts they shouldn't have been touching.

The curse is called as such because it literally causes the body to slowly wither away, with no way to slow it down or stop it. The only remedies that healers could do were merely acting as painkillers, to make the process less unpleasant.

But in the end, everyone affected by The Withering ended up dying within one to three years at most.

When his student returned to him with such a deadly curse, James spared no effort during the next months to study a cure for it.

No one had found it yet, but there had been some healers from the past who had made some advancements toward it.

Even with all his resources and talent, it took James almost two years to finally perfect a cure.

Unfortunately, his student was not able to last long enough to receive it. But he did manage to save many other lives after that.

"Almost there…" James poured the liquid from the cauldron into a ceramic flask, as glass would affect its properties. He then moved his wand over the flask and performed a long chant.

As he did, the liquid went from a light blue to a pure white substance that glowed with pure light.

James wasted no time closing the lid and sealing it. "It is done… now it's time to deliver it."

The potion had to be taken in the next twelve hours, or it would be worthless.

James lifted his wand and, without hesitation, Apparated away from the tower.

The cold air of London hit his skin with no mercy, and he hurried to cast a Warming Charm over himself.

He then looked ahead at the unassuming old house with peeled paint and rusted metal balconies.

This is what Muggles saw when they glanced toward the Black Estate. As soon as James crossed the boundaries of the wards, the building changed and was now looking brand new and pristine.

The slick black stone that formed the walls of the entrance was covered in runic symbols that offered immense protection to its inhabitants and horrors to anyone who tried to break inside.

He hadn't gotten to the door when this one opened by itself, revealing the displeased expression of his least favorite house-elf.

"Master was not expecting a visit today." Kreacher grumbled, clearly displeased at having to open the door for him.

"He will like this visit, I can assure you of that." James told the elf before pulling the flask from inside his robe and handing it over, along with a series of notes written on a piece of parchment. It was better not to come inside the house unannounced. If another member of the family saw him, they would make a fuss about it.

Especially if it was Sirius's mother. She had been very displeased with the way he had taken her son away.

She could not argue with the Patriarch, but she could certainly argue with him if she saw him.

"Give these two items to Lord Pollux." He had no qualms about trusting the house-elf with this delivery task. No matter how grumpy and unpleasant Kreacher was, his loyalty to the House of Black was absolute.

"You will hand them only to the Patriarch in person and won't speak with anyone about it. Is that clear?"

Kreacher glared at James with a deep frown. "Yes, Mister Potter, Kreacher will do." He took the flask and the note. Then he waited.

"That is all, you can close the door." James turned around and walked away, hearing the door being sealed shut behind him.

He would have requested the elf to keep his visit a secret from the rest of the family, but the creature was not going to follow an order like that.

James was about to leave the boundaries of the wards when he felt as if he was being watched and turned around. His amber eyes moved across the many sets of windows but could not see anyone in them.

"Oh well…" It's not like his visit was going to be a secret for long.

As he crossed the wards, and after making sure that no Muggles were nearby, James lifted his wand and Apparated away.

He was convinced that he would receive news about Lord Pollux very soon.

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