James trots downstairs after Remus and Sirius only to be waylaid by Lily in the common room.

"Here," she says and puts a vial in his hand. "For sore muscles. Make sure to eat properly too."

James stares after her as Lily leaves, a grin slowly splitting his face. He turns to his friends. "Did you see that?!"

Sirius scoffs. "Are you kidding me? She was all over you last night, thinking you were about to pass out, she nearly followed you up to bed."

"What? I don't remember that!"

"You were a little strange yesterday," Remus points out.

James laughs, clutching the vial to his chest. "It's happening! Boys, it's happening, brace yourselves!"

"While it happens, you can catch up on homework because it's OWLS year and you're behind," Remus says idly.

James' smile drops off his face.

Sirius pats him on the shoulder. "I'll get your charms and transfig, Remus can go after potions and care. You've got the rest."

James is running around collecting homework and assignments from the teachers – a lighter load compared to all that he missed but his parents talked to the school and explained the kidnapping incident.

It's a bit difficult though because they can't exactly say a future Sirius Black is the perpetrator, not when the man has no identity or home to stake out and it might just get James' Sirius in trouble. (James' Sirius is a hundred percent willing to get into trouble to fuck up his older self for killing Peter and taking James but that's neither here nor there.)

Something to think about later, considering James has just realised he's being cornered by three Slytherin sixth years.

"What do you want?" James demands, arms full of papers, isolated on the fourth floor. He has his great uncle's wand, also fit for transfiguration like James', but it still doesn't feel right and fighting one-on-three with upper years is going to be a nightmare.

"Just checking in," Rosier says idly. "How have you been...James?"

"We are not on first name basis," James scoffs. "And no, I don't know what you've heard, but getting on my good side doesn't mean I'm going to put in a nice word for you with Voldemort."

The Slytherins share a look.

"We were told to make sure you're safe," Yaxley says. "Come to us if someone is giving you trouble."

They leave and James flips them off as they go.

The next day, James is watching the map in bed, bored, and spots a familiar name on the seventh floor and pacing back and forth before the name disappears. "His middle name is James!" he squeals at how cute that is and then scrambles out of bed, shoving the map into a pocket.

He takes a left as soon as be bursts out of the portrait entrance and then skids to a stop, bowing to armour that bows back. James leapfrogs over the cold metal and darts through the hidden tunnel that slopes up, taking two lefts when the intersections pop up, eventually having to crouch and then crawl at the end.

James peeks out through the one-way portrait and sees no patrolling prefects of professors before kicking the picture open and falling out. He takes the stairs two at a time and half collapses against the frame of Barnabas the Barmy.

"Harry, Harry, Harry," James chants as he does a quick back and forth before slamming open the door that appears. "Harry!"

Harry whips around in shock, having just barely swung a leg over one of James' old broomsticks he brought from Potter Manor to better search the towering stacks of the lost items. "James – I was-"

"Come and play with me!" James cheers.

Harry darts a glance back towards the stacks. "I need to do…two quick things."

"Can I help?" James asks, jogging forward and clambering up onto the broom behind Harry.

"You…can destroy a wardrobe," Harry allows, kicking off the ground and flying them up. "And you will not go into the wardrobe or leave the area until I'm done with the other thing."

"I make no promises," James says solemnly.

Harry is already regretting this. "If I lose you in here, I'll be very sad."

"Awww, okay I'll behave," James coos, wrapping his arms around Harry for a hug.

Harry maybe flies around a bit longer than necessary to keep the hug going but eventually drops off James at the vanishing cabinet to wreak some havoc while Harry takes off again to find the diadem.

After half an hour, James reports the vanishing cabinet is definitely dead now. At an hour, James topples over a stack and barely dodges the landslide after. At two hours, James gets lost and needs Harry to fly him out. At three hours, James has fallen asleep on a baby grand piano, glasses askew.

Harry is gripping his wand, broomstick dropped at his feet, panicking because he can't find it. He can't find it in the stack it should be, and not anywhere else in this giant room – he can't summon it, he can't hear it, the only thing that responds to Parseltongue is a giant marble statue of a snake and she doesn't know where the diadem is either.

Did Voldemort just not get around to hiding it yet? Harry always assumed Voldemort made the Horcrux and then immediately hid it but maybe the war just isn't bad enough yet for the Dark Lord to take such countermeasures. He's definitely made the horcrux by now. Right?

Harry sighs and picks up the broomstick, heading off to find James.

James wakes up back in his bed in Gryffindor and when he sits up, blinking blearily, he feels something roll towards the dip in the mattress and bump against his hand.

James' wand is lying beside his hand. He stares at it for a long moment. Black couldn't have gotten in, Sirius and Remus would have given it to him personally, if it was a Voldemort supporter they would have made it known the Dark Lord got it for James to get some kind of favour back.

It was Harry.

Harry was in contact with Black.

James picks up his wand and wonders if he loves Harry more than he loves Peter.