"Ready?" Harry had a calming hand on James' shoulder. He was sitting on his bed, in his hand the cup of Skele-gro, which looked much less exciting and more disgusting than the Draught of Peace. He took a deep breath, and nodded resolutely.
"First, I'm going to immobilize your head and neck," Harry repeated for the umpteenth time. "Then, I'll vanish the bones in your neck. You shouldn't feel a thing as my magic will support your head. You can drink the Skele-gro once I'm done, but I may have to assist if you find it difficult to swallow." Harry waited a few moments for James to calm before once again repeating the steps while actually carrying them out this time.
He kept a tight leash on his magic immobilizing and supporting James' head as he vanished the bones. There was no sign that it worked, but Harry knew it did. "You can drink it now," he prompted. James blinked, as if trying to feel something, but was relieved to realize he really didn't feel his bones literally just disappear. He brought the cup to his lips and drank deeply, nearly having to spit it out at the thick, cloying taste. Luckily, his throat muscles worked fine and he downed the cup quickly, before Harry slid it out of his hand and put it away.
"Now I'm going to lower you down gently. You might feel like you're falling, but you won't." Harry extended his magic across James' entire upper body and slowly lowered him on his back. Once he was down, James carefully swung his legs up and onto the bed as well. "How do you feel?"
"…Weird… that I can't move… but not uncomfortable."
"That's good," Harry summoned a chair and took a seat next to the bed. "It'll take a few minutes for the potion to start kicking in. You'll probably feel a sort of dull burning sensation where the bones will grow in. Don't try to fight it, but definitely tell me if you are in too much discomfort."
"It shouldn't be unbearable though," Harry reassured. "At most, just enough to keep you from sleeping. But not more than you should be able to handle."
James released another slow breath as he stared up at the ceiling of his new little home. "Yeah." He reached out blindly with his right hand and grabbed… something – maybe Harry's arm? "Well, you said you'd tell me a bedtime story, doc."
"You're ridiculous," Harry barked out a laugh, but twisted his hand to lightly wrap his fingers around James' wrist. "Alright. I'll tell you how I wound up having to regrow my arm in my second year then. It all started with this teacher…"
James' neck bones had regrown in just under three hours. He had squeezed Harry's wrist lightly when the throbbing sensation started up, but relaxed soon after. Harry had continued his tale and absentmindedly pat James' wrist in comfort as he did. It seemed he was right about James' pain tolerance, as the man had easily fallen asleep not long after he'd finished his tale; about an hour in.
Harry had stayed to monitor the progress, and was pleased with his final diagnostic scan to see the new bones had grown in perfectly. He released the immobilization spell and pulled up James' blanket over his slumbering form before slipping out quietly and heading to bed himself.
The next morning, he exited his home to see James just outside. James had his hand on the back of his neck, and he looked up when Harry appeared. "Harry! It… it worked?"
"It did," nodded Harry, pleased. "Good as new, just as we'd hoped. I took the liberty of doing a diagnostic before I left, I hope you don't mind."
Shaking his head vehemently, "not at all. I don't really feel any difference, but I can tell the usual level of stiffness is gone!"
"Yes, and you should find that your occasional neck pain will be gone too." Harry grinned at James' clear excitement. "Let's get some breakfast before we discuss anything else, alright?"
As they ate, James had already decided that he would be willing to go all-in for the first option; that is, basically regrowing his entire skeleton, section by section. He was assured after yesterday's experience that it wasn't really that bad.
Harry had to slow him down and remind him that even though it was relatively painless for him, major sections of his skeleton would take much longer times. And they also needed to have appropriate periods of rest in between. Harry suggested regrowing all the major points of concern – his shoulders, spine, and hips – and that his legs were the least concern and could be easily managed with Jidea's vibranium suggestion.
James readily agreed, and Harry mapped out a suggested plan to regrow the sections over the next two or so weeks. They would leave his spine for last, as it was the most delicate section and would likely take more than an entire night.
When they had finished breakfast, Harry had excused himself to inform Jidea and Nollewi about James' decision and to plan the next few weeks. He left James with a list of simple neck stretches to work on for the next few days to make sure he builds up full motor control over the new bones.
Following a carefully laid out plan cross-checked by both Harry and Jidea, James slowly regrew sections of his skeleton over the next twenty days. Each section was followed by at least three to five days rest to both acclimatize his new bones and also work on physiotherapy to correct his now over-compensating posture and walking.
The shoulder and hips passed more or less similarly to the neck bones, though they required almost double the time to regrow. Harry kept a strict eye on James after doing the hips, and sat with him each morning and night to go through the exercises and stretching needed to ensure full range of movement and familiarity.
They saved his spine for last, and it took more than the entire night. At first, Harry was worried James would not be able to fall asleep, but luckily the man proved him wrong and fell asleep after about two hours of relaxed conversation. When he woke, however, James was surprised to realize the process was still not complete as he tried to get up and was frozen by Harry's immobilization spell.
He turned his head and spotted Harry dozing on the plush chair he had transfigured last night, surprised that Harry had chosen to stay rather than go back as he did every other time. Though he probably expected that it would take longer this time anyway. "Harry," he whispered, not wanting to startle him. "Harry."
Harry's body twitched, then his eyes flew open and body stiffened momentarily, before relaxing when he remembered where he was. He rubbed his eyes as one hand patted along the bedside table and grabbed his glasses. "Oh, good morning, James," he yawned.
"Morning," James chuckled. "How's my spine lookin', doc?"
Harry shuffled forwards and snatched his wand that he had also left on the table, waving it around James' form. He inspected the scan, "looks good so far. It seems to be regrowing from top to bottom, and there's still a few vertebrae left before it reconnects to your hips."
"How long do you think that'll take?" James groaned a little, wanting to stretch his body after waking up but not being able to and feeling mighty dissatisfied. Not to mention he was worried what would happen if he needed to pee and it still wasn't finished. Oops, he probably shouldn't think about peeing right now. Think about food instead… wait—no that'll make him hungry and he can't eat right now either. Damn, ok…
Watching the curious flashes of emotion going through James' face, settling between irritation, confusion and frustration, Harry started laughing. "What're you thinking about?"
"I'm trying not to think about anything that will make me want to move," James bit out.
"Such as?" Harry asked, eyes crinkling in mirth.
"Oh you know, needing to use the toilet… hunger… a mysterious itch that's just appeared on my back…"
Barking out a laugh, Harry shook his head. "You're ridiculous. Don't worry, I doubt it'll take any more than another two hours at most. If you really need to do any of those things, just tell me."
"And what'll that do?" James did not pout petulantly, nope.
"Well don't forget," Harry waited until James was looking at him to wave his fingers. "I have magic."
James blinked a few times, then incredulity caused him to start laughing; but it came out weakly as he couldn't feel or contract his lower body just yet. "And you call me ridiculous."
Harry's estimation was right, as just over an hour later the process was complete and he released the immobulus. He was quick to place bracing hands on James' side and instruct him to be careful and get up from his side, using his arm to assist. Once sitting, he checked on James' feeling and then walked him through some very simple back stretches.
After being deemed ready, he helped James onto his feet and the man swayed for a moment before standing tall. "Feels… different, somehow. Taller… lighter?"
Nodding, "your spine bore the brunt of the prosthetic's weight, which made it compensate by leaning a lot to one side. You probably feel lighter now that the built-up stress on your bones is gone. You may also be a bit taller with your spine now straightened up like it should be."
They parted ways briefly to each wash up, but met up again not long after by the edge of the lake to go through their daily routine of stretching exercises. At first, James had found it a little tedious, but the routine soon became calming and enjoyable over time. After another hour of their morning stretches, both men made their way into the communal building for breakfast.
"Well hello there, boys," Jidea and Nollewi were both already there and done with their breakfast. Nollewi smiled at them in greeting as Jidea ran an inspecting eye over James' form approvingly. "How do you feel, James?"
"Really good, actually," he answered. Chuckling, he added, "like a new man."
"Well, you wouldn't be wrong there. Your skeleton has almost entirely been made new over these past weeks," Nollewi commented cheerfully. "I'm almost a little bummed to be leaving soon. But of course I'm glad you are feeling much better already!"
Nollewi and Jidea had about a day or so before they would switch out with the next 'shift' of healers. They had organized it to happen once the Skele-gro process was over, since they had helped oversee it from the beginning. James nodded, he had become much more relaxed around the two over the past few days.
Nollewi was only a few years younger than Harry, though she wasn't a trained mind healer, and was a perky and cheerful presence around their little 'village' that she had cheekily and ironically named 'Jamestown'. She always greeted him and had no qualms chatting with him whenever possible, but was observant enough to back off when he wasn't in a sociable mood.
Even Jidea and her dry wit had grown on James. She reminded him a little of a stern house mother. She had coordinated the settling in of 'Jamestown' and thanks to her their little village was working like a well-oiled machine now. Speaking of the woman in question, she spoke, "indeed, now that your body is better, Harry can start focusing on your mind."
He opened, then closed his mouth, not sure what he was going to say. He settled with looking at Harry, who was still gathering up some breakfast.
"That's right," Harry nodded without turning to look at them. "I believe Oran is coming with the next shift. He's going to handle helping to reinforce your legs as the last part of our agreed treatment plan. In the meantime, we're going to start working on your mind."
He took a seat opposite the two women, and gestured for James to do the same. Rummaging through his pocket, "and to begin with," he placed two small vials in front of James' breakfast. "Say hello to your next round of potions," Harry grinned cheekily.
James sent an unimpressed, dry look at him before taking the vials in hand and saying monotonously, "hello."
I literally came up with 'Jamestown' on the spot. I rewrote that bit from Barnestown Jabarnetown Barnesville Jamesville Jamestown. I settled on Jamestown as a little ironic jab to Pocahontas and the whole "white settlers" thing. Thought it was fitting since Shuri likes to make settler references too so I figured the other Wakandans would probably find it amusing lol
