CHARLUS FELT AS THOUGH HE WAS BEING WORSHIPPED as Sirius took to kissing each of his fingers tenderly before moving up to his neck, tracing the outline of his jaw softly. Unable to take another second of what felt like teasing, Charlus grabbed Sirius by the front of his shirt and used his foot to kick the door close behind them. Thankfully, Maeve had taken it upon herself to leave and give the two their privacy.

Once they were in the room alone, Charlus, still with a firm hold of Sirius' shirt, pulled his husband closer until their lips were barely touching. A slight smile formed instantly as he could the vibrations of Sirius' laughter against his lips. It was a far cry from the first kiss they shared back when they were two shy adolescents coming to terms with their feelings and their sexuality. As adults, they were more confident in their actions, comfortable in the presence of each other despite being separated for years.

"Some things never change," Charlus muttered playfully, " you're still such a tease."

Suddenly, Sirius had him by both shoulders, holding them apart for a moment as he gave Charlus an incredulous look.

"Me? I'm the tease!? You had me chasing after you for nearly half of term if you don't remember! I was damn near going mad wondering if I should take a risk, only to find out that you had feelings for me the whole time. If anyone is a tease, it's you! Flirting with me, I-"

He was left unable to finish as Charlus guided him forward by the back of his head and brought him into a kiss. It wasn't their first kiss or the kiss they shared on their wedding, but it still gave Charlus the same spark in his chest that coursed through the rest of his body. No matter how soft Sirius' lips were, or how strong his arms were as he held onto Charlus, what Charlus craved most in those moments was the feeling of familiarity between them.

Each kiss brought up a pleasant memory that they shared, ones where they laughed or ones where they both felt safe among each other. Charlus couldn't really describe it but he was always his most confident when around Sirius. And even after years apart, it seemed nothing could dull the feelings they shared for each other.

They had taken their time together for granted during war times, never really understand that one day they could have each other, the next day, one could be gone forever. But Sirius knew what it felt like to lose everything so suddenly and now that he had Charlus back again, he wouldn't do anything that would jeopardise the second chance he was given.

Meanwhile, Maeve took her leave while the couple spent some much needed time together. However, she did not venture far as she was still on shift. She sat on one of the small benches in a quiet corridor and leaned her head back to rest. Her mind hadn't stopped racing since Charlus had woken up in St Mungo's. She was always trying to figure out what was going to happen next, but it was clear that she would truly never know what Charlus' next move would be.

She didn't know much about Charlus before he woke up in the hospital. She only knew that he was loved by his family, friends, and husband, and that was enough for her. But seeing his determination and how quickly his mind worked to come up with solutions, it was impressive, to say the least.

On the surface, Charlus appeared wildly innocent, perhaps it was the boyish features he carried into adulthood with his messy hair and cheeky grins. And when he first woke up, he was easily overwhelmed by everything, which was completely understandable. Learning so much horrible news in a short time would be enough to drive the strongest person to tears. But slowly, Maeve was beginning to see the original Charlus emerge.

The one who didn't just take answers at face value but questioned almost everything around him until he was satisfied. And during the nights where Sirius had been asleep in the hospital bed if Charlus wasn't at his side, he was sitting by the window, thinking. Whatever he was thinking about, took his full attention.  He looked as though he was playing a game of chess, carefully calculating his next move.

And Maeve wanted to know what the next move was going to be.

But that was going to have to wait because it seemed Charlus was waiting on someone else to make a move first. Who he was waiting on, she wasn't sure and she was almost too afraid to ask.

"Excuse me, Ms Elpis?"

She jumped at the sound of someone calling her name, quite formally as well. Thinking it was one of the Head Healers on shift, Maeve quickly sat straight up, only to be met with a familiar face that she had met once before.

Remus Lupin stood before her once again, looking awfully tired. There were fresh scratches on his face and some on his hands that he apparently attempted to hide behind long sleeves. The bags under his eyes had grown darker since the last time she had seen him. If there was a hell, Remus had gone there and somehow managed to come back.

"Can I help you, Mr Lupin?" she asked. "You're not here to cause trouble, are you?"

Maeve meant it in a slightly joking manner, but she could only remember how well Remus' last visit had gone. Charlus didn't need any additional stress and neither did Sirius. And the last she heard, Remus and Sirius hadn't been on good terms even before the war ended.

"No, no, none of that," Remus said, " I wouldn't dare. I'm actually here to apologise. He was right. Charlus was right the whole time and I didn't believe him. I should have listened to him or at least tried to. I should have known to take Charlus' a bit more seriously, after all,  he was never one to blurt something out just to say something. He always could back his statements up. I guess I was just letting old wounds hold me back from trying to understand him. Sorry, I don't mean to unload all of this on you-

"No need to apologise," she said, " I think I understand. I just want to make sure that Sirius remains as calm as possible and the same goes for Charlus. Stress only makes matters worse, especially during the recovery stage. So let's keep it peaceful, alright?"

She waited until Remus nodded his head in agreement before pushing herself up from the bench. Leading the way to Sirius' room, she continued to steal a couple of glances out of the corner of her eye in Remus' direction, noticing all the marks on his skin.

When they reached the room, she placed her hand out to knock but paused for a moment.

"When you're finished here, come find me, I have some silver dittany for those marks."

Remus stared at Maeve for a couple of seconds, wondering if he had heard her correctly. It was one thing for a Healer to suggest dittany because it was a well-known healing and restorative herb. It was another to suggest the silver mixture which was specifically used on werewolf bites and lycanthropic wounds. But before he could question her choice, Maeve knocked on the door and walked away.

A moment later, the door opened and Remus came face to face with Sirius.

Charlus remained sitting on the bed, where he had been cuddled up in Sirius' side before someone knocked at the door. He was more than surprised to see Remus on the other side of the door and instantly, could feel his body tense as Sirius had been the one to answer it. Remembering their last encounter where Remus was dead set on believing Sirius was a traitor, Charlus prepared to intervene if a fight broke out between the two.

"I didn't mean to disturb you two," Remus began, avoiding eye contact with Sirius, " I just wanted to come by and-"

"See if the rumours were true?" Sirius countered. " See if the traitor was actually free?"

Charlus couldn't hear what Sirius' responses were, and didn't know what was being said as Sirius kept his back to him. But he could tell by Remus' body language that it was not a happy reunion between the two.

"Actually, I was coming to apologise," Remus replied, " you would know that if you would let me finish speaking."

"Like all the times that you let me finish talking while we were at the Order meetings. Every time that I tried to prove that I wasn't the traitor, I distinctly remember you interjecting every opportunity you had to say otherwise."

"Sirius, that was six years ago-"

"And it was your testimony against me that convinced the rest of the Order that I wasn't one to be trusted. Maybe if you hadn't filled everyone's mind with doubt, I would have been given a trial. You're just as guilty as Peter in my eyes-"

"You know that's not fair! If it slipped your memory, you accused me of being a traitor as well."

"That was after you pointed your finger in my direction first! You knew what you were doing at the time. I would have never dared to think you were a traitor if you hadn't gone after me."

Charlus could see Sirius' hands grip the doorway to the point where his knuckles were turning white.  After everything that had gone down in the recent days, the two were still holding onto old wounds, set on fighting each other.

Standing up from the bed, Charlus made his way over and got in the middle of the two men.

"Are you two fucking kidding me right now?" he asked, looking back and forth between them. " After everything that has happened, you two want to pick up where you left off? Peter was found guilty of being the traitor and you two still want to waste time bitching at each other? I didn't do this so we could find ourselves back at square one! Peter was the traitor! He manipulated everyone, including you two. That's it. It's time to say sorry to each other and get the fuck over it."

He pushed Remus out of the doorway so he could step into the corridor.

"Charlus!" The two called after them, but of course, Charlus didn't turn around as he stormed off, leaving them alone.

"Oh good," Sirius huffed, " now you've gone and pissed him off."

"ME?!"

Charlus left the warmth of St Mungo's and stepped into the cool night air. It was refreshing against his hot skin as he needed a moment to cool off. He knew old wounds were the hardest to heal, especially if they were left open to fester over a period of time. But he was tired, even Maeve's sleep draught hadn't been enough. Everything had been non-stop since he woke up and he was just hoping for a moment of peace.

Horrible memories of Order meetings ending terribly with Remus and Sirius fighting made Charlus' head hurt. He remembered how much it pained James to think of his friends fighting among each other. And any pity that Charlus had felt for Peter was gone in an instant, knowing it was all Peter's doing.

Rubbing his hand over his face, he wasn't surprised to feel a hand tapping his shoulder, probably one of the two men coming to apologise to him, if not both of them. Or maybe it was Maeve coming to check on him after hearing all the commotion.

"I don't want to talk right now."

There was another tap on his shoulder, leaving him to sigh and look over his shoulder. However, it wasn't Sirius, Remus, or Maeve coming to check on him.

"Mr Potter, could I have a moment of your time?"