Chapter 1

A/N: I own nothing but this plot.

James POV

Something was very wrong. I groaned as I put my hands to my head.

"Honey? What's wrong?" Lily said behind me in concern.

"Nothing, just a little headache," I said. "I'll be fine. No worries."

Lily stared at me. "If you say so." she shrugged and turned back to fuss over Sabrina.

I reviewed my memories again. They did not make any sense. I don't have any recollection of ever visiting Gringotts, and as Lord Potter, I should be doing so regularly to check my vaults. It is my duty and responsibility as head of the Potter Manor. Then how come I never followed through with it? My father taught me how to be a proper pureblood lord, and this is both irresponsible and intolerable. Still, things didn't quite add up. I thought about the Gringotts letter I got this morning that I hid from Lily. I had a feeling that she should not know about it.

The letter had said:

Dear Lord James Charlus Potter,

This is confirmation that all of your vaults and fortune will be taken over by one Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore and one Lily Evans-Potter. Please come to Gringotts by June 12, 1985 if any further changes are to be made to this contract.

Ragnok
Head Goblin of Gringotts (Britain)

Why is it so hard for me to think? I feel like I have grown sluggish. I wracked my brain….

Does this mean my wife and Dumbledore have been stealing my fortune? But, why? I would have given Lily full access to my vaults as my wife, but why would she do this behind my back? Something is very wrong. I need to go to Gringotts.

I got up and headed to the library to meditate before I leave. I pulled down a tiny black book and the wall disappeared. It led to my private quarters; the only room that Lily didn't know existed in the Potter Manor.

I walked in to face a room with brown coloured walls, a cozy stone fireplace, and cream coloured carpet. I sat in front of the fireplace and walked around my Occlumency shields only to be terrified at what I saw.

My shield was the Potter Library, where I spent the most time in as a child. I knew hidden passages and chambers that were littered around the huge room, perfect for hiding. However, it was a wreck. A lot of the books were rotting, which meant that my memories have been tampered with. There were wards around several hidden passages, which meant that I have been Obliviated many times. I poked the wards and screamed in pain before I opened my eyes.

Why did I stop checking my Occlumency shield? I think I stopped checking in my fifth year in Hogwarts. That was such a long time ago. My Occlumency was pretty strong so it had to have been a powerful wizard who caused this kind of havoc in my mind. I got up. I need the goblins. They will be able to help and I had a sinking feeling that Albus Dumbledore, and my wife, I snarled in my head, had played a big part in my messed up state-of-mind.

I got up and fetched the floo powder and tossed it into the flames before shouting, "LEAKY CAULDRON!"

I stumbled out of the fireplace and brushed off all the soot.

"James! Great to see ya'. Can I get ya' something?" Tom boomed.

"No thanks, Tom. Just need to visit Diagon Alley." I murmured.

Tom nodded and turned back to pouring butterbeer into mugs.

I quickly walked to the exit and headed towards Gringotts, summoning the letter from my quarters.

Walking in, a goblin greeted me.

"Lord Potter, we've been expecting you. Follow me."

I nodded and followed.

The goblin led me through multiple hallways before stopping at the door.

"This is Ragnok's office. Head goblin. Please go in."

"Thank you." I nodded.

The goblin looked surprised but ushered me in.

"Lord Potter. My name is Ragnok. Please have a seat."

"Thank you." I nodded and sat down. "Before we start, can you check if my memory had been tampered with and also check for potions and blocks?"

The goblin looked shocked before nodding and taking out a sheet and a knife.

"Three drops of blood should do."

I nodded and took the knife.

After dripping three drops of blood onto the page, writing started to appear.

Name: James Charlus Potter (Lord)

Blocks: Intellectual Block (90%), Magical Block (88%), Dark Arts Capability Block (100%)

Charms: 693 Compulsion Charms

Curses: 294 Imperius Curses

Potions: 2468 Amortentia Potions

Memories: 60 Obliviations, 81 Planted Memories

Ragnok and I stared at the sheet in shock.

Ragnok recovered first. "With this amount of damage, I must ask how are you still alive?"

"Potters are always stubborn," I murmured, attempting to make light of the dire situation. "I can't believe they did this. No wonder…"

"I can remove all the damage, for a price." Ragnok said looking serious.

"I'll do it. I have the money, just take it from the Potter's main vault," I said looking up.

Ragnok nodded. "It would be about two million four hundred and one thousand two hundred and four galleons for this amount of damage."

I nodded. "That's a mouthful… But if it means taking control of my life again, it's worth it."

The goblin nodded and stood up. He called out to a goblin in Gobbledegook before motioning me out to the hall where we were joined by three more goblins. They started to head deeper into the tunnels and I followed. Soon we reached a doorway and went inside to what looked like a huge ritual room.

"Lord Potter, I request that you sit in the middle of the room and apply five drops of blood on the runes. You should be warned that you will be here for a long time and there might be some pain. You will also most likely be disoriented after you have been cleansed."

I nodded. "Thank you."

The goblin nodded and I headed towards the middle of the room. I sat down and grabbed the rune knife sitting next to me. Slitting the middle of my palm, I let exactly 5 drops of blood ooze out onto the runes. I watched as the runes glowed red.

The goblins started to chant and suddenly a storm of memories came rushing through my mind like a tornado. I saw many glimpses of memories flying around in my mind: Slytherin dorms, Malfoy, Dumbledore. Before I could process any of the memories, I felt my mind clear. It was like taking a breath of fresh air. Then I screamed as the blocks were ripped from my core. It was excruciatingly painful. I closed my eyes and when I opened them again a while later when the pain receded I noticed that there were a couple of deep slashes along the walls, the goblins were covered with a shield, and I could feel years of unused magic buzzing around me. I was going to have to cover that or else Lil - Evans - I corrected myself - and Dumbledore would be suspicious.

Then, suddenly, I felt all of my attachment to Evans melt away.

After floating in the air for a while, the ritual ended and I landed on the ground with a thud. I sat up, my mind whirling. I went into my mindscape and pushed all of the memories into a secret compartment at the back of the huge library where I knew held nothing else. I'd sort them later. I opened my eyes again to see expectant faces of the goblins.

Ragnok cleared his throat. "Welcome back Lord Potter. How do you feel?"

I took a deep breath. "Refreshed… Stronger… and a whole lot darker." I grinned viciously at Ragnok.

Ragnok returned the smile, all of his intimidating teeth showing. "Good. Now I believe I have some information that you would like to be made aware of, Lord Potter."

I nodded, "By all means, lead the way Director."

Ragnok bowed before walking out.

We walked back to Ragnok's office and sat down.

"Does the information have something to do with this?" I took out the letter from my pocket.

The goblin nodded. "I believe that Albus Dumbledore and Lily Evans have been plotting to steal your fortune. I think they were trying to do it in a way to have you give your consent without being aware of it."

"By using the Imperius curse and Obliviates." I added darkly.

The goblin nodded again.

"Is there any way to fix this?" I asked.

Ragnok gave me an intimidating toothy grin, "Yes, there is." The goblin pulled out a drawer and shuffled through it until he found the parchment he was looking for. "If you sign this, the keys to your vaults that your wife and Albus Dumbledore possess will return to you. All of the items and galleons that Albus Dumbledore took will also be returned, no matter where it is or if he has them or not. He will be forced to pay you back the exact amount owed to you no matter what. As Lily Evans-Potter is your wife, the money she took cannot be summoned back, but all of the books and items that she took from your family vault will be forcibly returned."

I nodded as I read through and signed it. I took my wand out and concentrated a bit, letting my magic settle into the ink.

"I have trouble remembering, but is it possible to terminate my marriage with Evans?" I asked.

"Yes, if the reasons are worthy enough, and I say that in your case, it is most definitely." Ragnok grinned ferociously; he seemed to enjoy rectifying what to him, must be a rare occurrence. "As you carry the title of Lord Potter, you merely need to exclaim on your magic your termination of marriage. I'm aware that you have children?"

I nodded, "A girl and a boy."

"Then you can decide whether your wife gets visiting rights."

I nodded. I thought about Sabrina and Hadrian. Sabrina seemed to be in league with her mother. She will not be pleased to be separated with her nor do I want to associate myself with such spoiled behavior. Her attitude would ruin the Potters' reputation more than it already has. But Hadrian, on the other hand, was a perfect pureblood heir. He acted as he should. He must have read the books in the Potter library as I never taught him the etiquette. Bright kid, unlike Sabrina.

"I know what I'm going to do when the situation arrives." I informed the goblin. "May we pick up where we left off a week from now? I need to sort my thoughts."

"Understandable. Next week, same time. Do not be late." Ragnok nodded.

"May I use your floo?" I asked.

"You may, Griphook will take you to it."

I nodded. "Thank you. May your gold flow."

The goblin looked surprised and nodded at me with a glint in his eyes. "And may your enemies' blood flow thick."

I nodded and followed Griphook out.

When we reached the stone floo that the Goblins had, I bid farewell to Griphook and called out, "POTTER MANOR!"

I wasn't prepared for the scene that I saw before me when I went through.

A/N: Sorry this was so late. I posted this right before exams. Probably wasn't the best idea. I already had this written up, to be honest, but I wanted it to be beta-ed before I post it. So I had my friend to do it, but she couldn't do it until she was done exams too... So it took a while. So the prologue had been beta-ed if you want to reread it, nothing majored changed though, just the occasional grammar/spelling mistake.

I'm also going to visit China next week too... for a month, so I won't be able to post either. Sorry for making you guys wait :/ I picked a bad time to post this fic. Forgive me please?

Oh, and Lucius/James pairing won. :)