On the evening of Thursday October 8th, 2020, Albus sat with James and Hugo in the stands during Gryffindor Quidditch practice for the first time. (Tuesday's practice had been canceled due to lightning.)
"Hey, Albus?" asked Hugo, "How do you feel like your attempt to develop closer relationships with James and Lily has gone so far?"
"I think it's off to a good start," said Albus confidently, "I don't yet feel that close to James and Lily. I will have to spend more time with them before I reach that point. But I can definitely say that even after only a few sessions of sibling time with James and Lily that I already feel far more warmth towards them than I have for a long time."
"I could sense that after our sibling time session last night," said James happily, "You know, I had never really thought much about the fact that Lily and I are not as close with Albus as we are with each other. To me, it was just kinda the way it was, and I didn't think much about it. But now that the process of Lily and I attempting to develop stronger bonds with Albus is underway, I'm finding I really welcome the prospect."
I'm glad to hear that, James," said Albus with a genuine smile, Hi five, James?"
James and Albus exchanged hi fives and both smiled.
"If I may ask, James, Hugo," said Albus cautiously, "How are your and Devon's relationships with Ainsley, Stephanie, and Samantha holding up?"
"Perfectly fine," said Hugo with a smile, "The very day Professor Longbottom informed us that the ZoomBroom had in fact carried a Hurling Hex, Ainsley and Stephanie apologized and made good with us and we've been on great terms ever since. Samantha never apologized but just expected things to go back to normal once the issue was solved."
Next nanosecond, practice started and James, Albus, and Hugo looked on. Samantha and Lily were clearly the best players during this practice and that was in fact the norm.
After practice, Samantha, Stephanie, and Ainsley all went off to take "me time" in their respective rooms while Fred and Roxanne went off to take brother-sister time.
Meanwhile, as planned, Albus joined James, Hugo, Devon, and Lily and the five of them would spend the rest of the night together. They decided to stay on the Quidditch Pitch and just fly. No racing. They just had fun flying together.
Things seemed to have been going well. And then Saturday, October 10th, 2020 came.
On Saturday, October 10th, 2020, both James and Lily woke up feeling very weak.
Both James and Lily decided that they needed to visit the hospital wing.
Albus, Devon, Hugo, Fred, Roxanne, Rose, Pamela, Ainsley, Stephanie. and Samantha all tagged along to support them.
As fate had it, Madam Pomfrey had taken the weekend off and Healer Cochlain was filling in for her.
"Hey, Ainsley," Healer Cochlain greeted her daughter.
"Hi, mom," said Ainsley tonelessly, "James and Lily aren't feeling well. They claim to feel very weak."
"Mr. and Miss Potter," requested Healer Cochlain, "I am going to put feathers in front of both of you. Please try to levitate them."
Healer Cochlain placed a feather each in front of James and Lily.
James and Lily both raised their wands and cried "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Nothing happened.
Healer Cochlain got a grave look on her face when she saw that both Potters had been unable to levitate their feathers. She raised her own wand and performed a Diagnostic Spell.
"Mr. and Miss Potter, you both have Core Depleting Virus," Healer Cochlain informed them sadly.
"What is Core Depleting Virus?" asked James and Lily together.
"Core Depleting Virus is a rare magical virus that attacks a witch's or wizard's magical core. Although it is rare, it tends to run in families albeit usually in the same generations. When it does occur, it tends to happen to siblings. The virus simply eats away at the core until it becomes useless. "
"is there a cure for Core Depleting Virus?" asked Lily urgently, looking at James.
"It's complicated," sighed Healer Cochlain, "Core Depleting Virus is not deadly but what it does is it robs its victims of their magical powers by destroying their magical core. In order for a victim of Core Depleting Virus to regain his or her magic, he or she must receive an organ donation of either a one third, half or full magical core. If a one third or half magical core is implanted, it will grow into a full magical core within a day or so. It is actually a pretty quick procedure. This surgery has been performed nine times in the past. The donor has died each time. It seems as though a witch or wizard gets a shock to the system if his or her magical core is removed. Also, just as there are different types of blood, there are different types of magical cores. The recipient must receive the same type of magical core as he or she originally possessed. Implanting a foreign magical core would be fatal. I am going to use my Diagnostic Spell to see what types of magical cores you both have and test everyone else here for a compatibility match."
Healer Cochlain took her wand and performed her Diagnostic Spell on everybody.
"Mr. Potter and Miss Potter, you both have type P magical cores. The only match is your brother, Mr. Potter." explained Healer Cochlain, "Mr. Potter, be aware that your brother and sister can still live without this operation. But they must have this procedure done to regain their magical powers. You will be sacrificing your own life if you agree to do it."
Everyone sat in silence for a few minutes and a few nanoseconds. When Albus finally spoke, his voice was cracking with emotion and conviction.
"J- James, L-Lily, you both have too much to offer to the Wizarding World to lose your magic. I guess it wasn't in the fates for me to live to adulthood. In addition to how much you both have to offer our world, I personally want you both to achieve as much as you possibly can and if I have to give my life up completely so you both can have better lives, then I will do so." croaked Albus.
"T-thanks, Albus," chorused James and Lily in incredibly sad voices.
"Mr. Potter, would you like to say any goodbyes before this operation?" inquired Healer Cochlain.
"No," said Albus clearly, "That would create emotions that would cause people to try to talk me out of this. I'm committed to it. I'm committed to sacrificing my life so that James and Lily may have better lives.
"Very well, I'm going to give all three of you Dreamless Sleep Potion."
Healer Cochlain fed James, Albus, and Lily very strong dreamless sleep potion and laid all three of the on beds on their stomachs and used a small knife to cut open James's, Albus's, and Lily's stomachs.
Healer Cochlain used her stainless steel medical tongs to remove Albus's magical core from him.
However, unlike the previous times this operation had been performed, including three times in Healer Cochlain's career, Albus did not die upon the removal of his magical core. Noticing this, Healer Cochlain decided to cut Albus's magical core into thirds rather than seconds so that she could give Albus a piece back if a miracle was indeed happening.
Healer Cochlain carefully picked up one third of the magical core with her stainless steel medical tongs and carefully placed it into James's system, repeating the process for Lily. As Albus was still breathing, she did the same for him.
Healer Cochlain then pointed her wand at James's stomach and shouted "REPARO!" and the hole she had cut into James's stomach healed instantly. Healer Cochlain then sealed Lily's and Albus's stomach's back up as well.
Everyone stayed in the hospital wing overnight.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Potter, and Miss Potter," called Healer Cochlain when she saw they had awoken on Sunday morning, "I am going to give each of you a feather and I want you to perform the Levitation Charm."
James, Albus, and Lily all raised their wands.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" cried all three Potters at once.
The very next nanosecond, all three of the feathers began to rise. And rise. And rise.
"Bravo!" cried Healer Cochlain happily, "All three of your magical cores have been fully regrown."
"Albus survived?" cried Lily weakly, "I can't believe it."
"Nor can I, said James.
"Mr. Potter is the first donor to have ever survived this surgery," said Healer Cochlain matter of factly.
James, Albus, and Lily all exchanged long and tight hugs and Albus spoke up.
"You know," said Albus honestly, "I have taken James and Lily for granted. All this time I've been jealous of my brother and sister for everything that has happened to them rather than enjoying seeing my brother and sister be so successful. In fact, I've felt cold towards them often and even been a prat to them at times. While the sibling time has helped me feel more warmth towards them by starting to create more of a bond between us, I was still jealous of them. Not anymore. I could have died missing out on enjoying James's and Lily's success and that would have been a shame. James and Lily are wonderful people and deserve everything they get. James, Lily, I promise to be a better brother from now on. I've been given a second chance and I'm going to use that second chance to become a better person and a better brother."
"You were always a great brother in the inside," said Lily warmly, "You proved that by being willing to sacrifice yourself for us."
"Especially, since Lily and I could have lived without the surgery," added James warmly, "Your willingness to do that proved how much you truly support us when it comes to it."
The others all remained silent as the Potters spoke. They knew this was James, Albus, and Lily's moment and not to interfere.
"Albus, "said Lily, "I'm glad to see how your perspective has changed but I can also understand your prior jealousy. While I do believe the sibling time is doing its job, I do hope you can find a niche of your own. I will help you find a niche of your own if it's the last thing I do."
"And I'll help Lily with that if I can," vowed James.
"Albus," said Lily emotionally, "Your willingness to give yourself up has made it possible for James and me to continue to do what we love to do, and we can't express our appreciation for that enough."
"Lily said it all," agreed James weakly.
The ultimate result of the shared experience of Albus being a magical core donor to James and Lily was that it bonded them instantly.
While sibling time was no longer necessary for bonding, James, Albus, and Lily chose to continue taking sibling time. But now instead of bonding time it would be something to look forward to because they were bonded so tightly.
They were released from the hospital on Sunday Night and on Monday night they had the first meeting of the Hogwarts Planning Club.