THE MORNING AFTER a good night's sleep, Charlus opened his eyes and found himself with a rather stiff neck. Slowly pushing himself into a sitting position, he glanced over to see that Sirius and Harry were still sound asleep, and judging by their awkward sleeping positions, they were probably going to wake up in the same discomfort. However, they looked too peaceful to be disturbed, so Charlus allowed them to continue sleeping while he rose from the sofa and left to use the toilet.

Already in the morning hours, Charlus shifted from his dream world back into calculating every move he was going to make next. Everyone around him seemed so confident that everything was going to go perfectly right, but Charlus never found himself able to settle for such comfort. Sure, his mind was a bit more settled, knowing that he had Harry again, but it would foolish to let his guard down when it came to opposing people like Albus Dumbledore.

Even a few minutes later, with a toothbrush in mouth, Charlus paced back and forth. It wasn't just enough to get even with Dumbledore or outsmart him a couple of times, Charlus knew damn well that he always had to be a step ahead and that meant, planning for every possible outcome. Yes, he had many plans up his sleeves, but only one could work without issue, but which one?

Once his bladder was empty and his teeth were brushed, his pacing did not come until an end until he came upon quite the scene in the kitchen.

The last person he expected to see, sitting upright at the table, was Walburga.

A slight movement in the doorway caused him to glance over and catch only a glimpse of Kreacher's head before the house-elf disappeared from view. Curiosity held its grip on Charlus' mind until Walburga turned her head to face him.

"Sit."

Despite not being able to hear the tone to her voice, Charlus detected no anger, malice, or demanding nature to her request. She gestured her hand to the available chair closest to her, leaving Charlus no choice but to take a seat. For a moment, nothing happened, no one said anything and neither one of them moved. If Walburga was about to say something insulting to him, she was holding back behind a very tired expression.

In the past, Walburga had nothing kind to say about Charlus or his family. He remembered when Sirius would become overwhelmed and upset with how the Black family spoke of supposed "blood-traitors." And there were plenty of times, that Walburga stooped as low to make fun of Charlus for being deaf, mocking the use of his hands for communication, or claiming that it was something of a curse, delivered onto the Potters because they friendly with "mudbloods."

Charlus had every opportunity to lash out at her for everything that happened in the past, for everything that had been said, even if he wasn't present for it. However, he felt no satisfaction, yelling at a woman that was standing on the threshold of death. No matter the demons she carried, all Charlus could see was a fragile old woman.

"Tea?"

Another word from her, but she didn't wait for him to answer as a teacup appeared moments later, filled to the brim. Charlus didn't bring himself to say he didn't want to tea, but he didn't touch it either. Instead, seconds later, he watched as she began to cough. Her frail body shook violently and Charlus could see her gasping for breath before fighting into another fit. She pulled a small handkerchief from her robes and continued as she covered her mouth.

Charlus summoned his own glass of water and pushed it towards her as she lowered the handkerchief. Her face was red, her eyes slightly teared from straining so hard.

"As much as I appreciate the offer of tea in the morning," Charlus finally said, "I think you ought to go back to bed. I'll fetch Maeve to do fix something up about that cough of yours-"

"There is nothing your little Healer can do for me," Walburga replied, giving him an exhausted look. "Just sit down and let me speak for a moment or should I write it down for you?"

Seeing as he didn't think she could get through writing a whole sentence without keeling over, Charlus told her to speak instead.

"When is it too late to apologise?" she asked him.

Taken back for a moment, wondering if he had read the words off her lips correctly, Charlus tilted his head in bewilderment. Her eyes squinted as a ghost of a smile appeared on her face.

"The last thing my father said to me before his passing was "sorry" and before I could ask what he was sorry for, he took his final breath. Now I sit here and I wonder, was his sorry for the way he raised me? Was he sorry for raising me in such a closed-off world, only to realise at the end that he was wrong? After all, purebloods don't live longer than mud..muggle-borns, do we? No, and even magic cannot cure everything. I did everything my mother and father told me to do from the time I was young, thinking it would let me live a long wonderful life, but did I?"

She shook her head.

"No, maybe for a brief time, I fooled myself into believing that times were perfect, but then everything started to fall apart. Sirius left, Regulus died, Orion died, Sirius went to Azkaban, and I was stuck here, wondering why? I did what I was told and lost everything that was near and dear to me. And I could blame everyone around me, and I did. I blamed your family, I blamed Dumbledore, I blamed you, and guess what? It didn't change anything. But you know what, you changed things? You saved my son when I couldn't. Your family saved him before when I was the one hurting him, and then you saved him again."

Charlus wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say. He felt it would be in poor taste to just outright agree that everything Walburga was saying was correct. Clearing his throat, he pulled his chair closer to the table and looked at her once more.

"I love your son," he said," and so did my family. My parents thought of him to be their third son, my brother saw him as a brother. And I know that Harry is going to love him as an uncle. All we ever wanted for Sirius was for him to love himself. And I don't think he was ever able to do that fully because in the back of his mind, no matter how much you hurt him, he still wanted somewhat of your approval. Maybe he just wanted to hear sorry or maybe he just wanted to hear I love you from you, from your husband, from Regulus. He can't get that from Orion or Regulus anymore, but he can still hear it from you. You said you never knew the reasoning behind your father's apology, but you can tell him the reasoning behind yours. If you wish to apologise."

She didn't respond right away, perhaps going over what he had said to her or lost in her thoughts. Taking a sip of the water he had given to her earlier, Walburga eyed the wedding ring that rested on Charlus' finger.

"You all don't plan on staying here much longer, I assume?"

"Not if everything goes according to plan," Charlus told her, " if I ever figure one out completely."

Raising a brow, Walburga looked directly at him. "You think you can outsmart Dumbledore?"

"I've done so on several occasions already and I don't consider that by luck. But I know what type of person he is, he's a strategist-"

"He's a manipulator," Walburga scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "He likes others to do the dirty work. Don't be surprised if he doesn't attack you directly, he has plenty of people that he can manipulate to do his bidding. He likes to watch where things fall before he takes any action himself. Look at the credit he gets with your nephew for ending the war, but look what happened to my son."

"You're right, he has more people working for him than I ever will," Charlus said, "but numbers aren't everything. You see, a chess player could have more pieces on the board than his opponent, but if his opponent has the right pieces, he can still win. I know he won't make any bold moves, he's being watched heavily right now. Harry is to thank for that, the people adore him, and right now, they believe that Dumbledore and Fudge are incompetent in keeping the wizarding world and Harry safe. Technically, if I think about, I probably have the numbers on my side right now, but Dumbledore has those pieces that could flip everything."

Scratching the top of his head, Charlus sat back in his chair. " I've been using smokescreens mostly to get by so far. I just need one more ruse and then I can give Harry, Sirius, Remus, Maeve....everyone the happy ending they deserve."

"Will you allow me to achieve some happy ending for myself by letting you get that happy ending for them?"

Looking at the handkerchief that Walburga kept in her hand, Charlus immediately began to shake his head.

" No, I couldn't ask you to-"

Suddenly, her free hand reached across and grabbed his. Her cold fingers wrapped around his wrist, desperate but still, somewhat weak.

"Please, let me help Sirius by helping you. Before I leave this world, I have to make some sort of peace with it. With my son. There may not be much left to me, but I can help. I have money-"

"Money is not the issue," Charlus said, " however, I do wonder something."

"What? What is it?"

Charlus needed one more smokescreen to ensure victory over Dumbledore and if Walburga was willing to help, maybe they would be able to live happily ever after.

"How familiar are you with Knockturn Alley?"

Charlus Potter knew how to line up his pieces on the board quite well, Albus could not deny that. Known as quite a genius during his academic years at Hogwarts, he should have known that Charlus would have gone to great lengths to get the upper hand. It was clear that the Dursleys terminating their custodial rights would take place the same day Albus was expected to be held trial. Of course, he knew the trial itself wouldn't land him behind bars in Azkaban but it would last long enough that he wouldn't be able to get any leverage on keeping known whereabouts of Harry Potter.

The Headmaster could understand Charlus' love for his nephew, after all, Harry was his only surviving member of the family, not to mention the son of his twin. However, he wished Charlus would see the bigger picture, understand that he only wished to keep tabs on Harry for the child's own safety. He had made sure the sacrificial protection spell had put into effect but everything had been turned upside down on its head when Charlus awoke in St Mungo's.

After a traumatic experience brought on by war, Charlus wanted to take Harry and Sirius, and run into hiding. He had good intentions, but Albus feared that only danger would follow them. He believed that Charlus was limited and putting himself and others in danger.

But he couldn't deny that Charlus had been one step ahead of him since waking up and he knew that the young man probably had another plan to ensure a clean getaway.

Fudge was of no use anymore, too afraid to tarnish anymore of his reputation, so Albus found himself with limited options. He needed to discover what Charlus' next move was and put his own piece on the board before Charlus could call out checkmate.