RITA SKEETER was as ambitious as she was beautiful, a rather deadly combination. Her quill was her most trusted companion as she chased her next big story. Of course, she had been one of the many vultures that lurked outside of St Mungo's with the hope of catching one of the heavily sought after men for a personal interview. And while the other journalists had long gone home, back to the warmth of their homes and the company of their families, Rita lingered a little longer and her commitment paid off. It was even more fortunate that she had managed to catch Charlus Potter outside the hospital alone.

At first, she hesitated to approach him, simply because he seemed irritated and there was potential that he would blow her off. However, if he was angry enough, perhaps she could get him to vent enough for a good story.

"Rita Skeeter," Charlus said as he came to meet her gaze, " you truly do not carry a shameful bone in your body, do you?"

"I sleep better without it, Mr Potter."

Charlus could only watch as her hands moved in various signs between them, leaving him to raise a brow. He had not been aware that she could sign, whether she had learned enough in anticipation of having a conversation with him or not, Charlus could admire the dedication. Which was why he decided to humour her for a few minutes.

" The signing was a nice touch. So, what do you have, Rita?"

Her eyebrows knitted together for a moment. "Don't you mean what do I want?"

"No," he answered, " I know what you want, Rita. That's always been quite clear, I meant what do you have for me? What do you have that I would want in trade to give you the story you seek?"

Rita's lips curled into a smirk as she appeared to be enjoying herself. " Mr Potter, are you sure you weren't in Slytherin? You are quite cunning behind those innocent boyish features of yours. No complaints though, I enjoy my conversations among intellectuals. It's a rarity these days. And to answer your question, I think I might have something to pique your interest."

Charlus didn't say anything, but glanced in the direction of St Mungo's, giving the hint that she only had a limited time to make her case or he was heading back inside.

"I managed to get some information during Peter Pettigrew's trial that you might find valuable to know."

"He was found guilty," Charlus countered, " that's all I care about. He can spend the rest of his days rotting away in Azkaban."

"Can I quote you on that?" she mused. " Anyways, it's not the verdict that I thought would interest you, Mr Potter, but what Mr Pettigrew confessed during the trial. It involved your husband, which could definitely have some nasty repercussions if the Ministry decided to investigate. You two might want a little heads up."

There was a possibility that Rita was lying to him, but it was also possible that she did have some information that would be proven useful. Peter was capable of saying anything in hopes of gaining mercy during his trial.

"Why would the Ministry investigate Sirius if he was just found to be innocent? And how did you manage to get in on the trial, Skeeter? I didn't think they alerted anyone of what was taking place in hopes of keeping everything hush."

"I have my ways, Mr Potter. But surely you know that you caused some embarrassment for the ministry, specifically Fudge. He's been doing anything to save his career and you haven't exactly helped him in that matter. He had been hoping to keep you quiet, but this whole scandal has swept the wizarding world. Everyone is covering the story, the Ministry of Magic looks incompetent. If there was something that they could get on Sirius Black and make him look not as innocent as you make him out to be. That would be fortunate for them and not so fortunate for the two of you, correct?"

Charlus kept his expression calm, not daring to give away any sort of nerves in front of Rita. She was watching him carefully, trying to note any sort of twitch or jitter that she could use against him.

"The Ministry is incompetent and if they wish to follow the rumours of a criminal who outsmarted them for six years, so be it. They will only look like fools, in the end, I'll make sure of it."

"I thought that might be your answer, but I warn you, Pettigrew decided to bring your late brother in the mix as well. Along with Remus Lupin and you...as accomplices."

Suddenly, the cold air around him didn't feel so refreshing, but rather chilling as he shivered slightly. He was sure he already knew where Rita was going with the conversation, but he had to know how much had been revealed during the trial.

"Fine, Rita," Charlus sighed, " let's have a talk. Meet me at the Leaky Cauldron in fifteen. I have to go inside and let the others know where I'm going before they worry."

"I look forward to our conversation."

Entering St Mungo's once more, Charlus made his way to Sirius' room where he found Sirius and Remus still arguing. He ignored them completely as he entered the room and started pacing back and forth. Upon seeing his return, Remus and Sirius immediately stopped their arguing and went to apologise to him, but as soon as Sirius saw what Charlus was doing, he placed his arm out to stop Remus in place.

"Wait," Sirius said, " he's thinking about something, leave him be."

Sirius remembered his days staying at the Potter home after he had been disowned by his family. At the time, Charlus had all the dreams of being an inventor just like his father but in order to think properly, he would walk up and down the halls of the home whether it was in the early morning or late evening hours. Some days it would drive James absolutely mad because it was rather distracting especially when Charlus would walk back and forth outside of James' bedroom door. Eventually, James would send off his brother by throwing a pillow in Charlus' direction.

A few minutes or so later, Maeve came in and saw Charlus pacing as well. She went to interfere before Sirius stopped her as well.

"How long is he going to do that?" she asked.

"Until he figures out whatever it is."

Suddenly, Charlus came to a halt and gave a small nod of his head as he confirmed his idea with himself. He grabbed his robe from the back of the chair and headed in the direction of the three that were patiently waiting to see what he would say. But instead, Charlus grabbed Sirius gently by the neck and pulled him down to place a kiss on his forehead before walking out of the room.

Maeve went after him quickly, running until she caught up with him and jumped out in front of Charlus.

"Where are you going?"

"There's something I need to take care of," he told her, "if you would excuse me-"

Maeve folded her arms over her chest, giving him a look that dared him to try and get passed her without giving her a proper reason.

"Look, I don't want to alarm the others," he whispered, " but I am meeting up with Rita Skeeter. Before you question if I've gone mad, the answer is perhaps. But she might have information that will be useful later on. I need to remain one step ahead."

"This is Rita Skeeter, Charlus, you know of her reputation, don't you?"

Of course, Charlus was well aware of Rita's reputation. Only a fool would go against her without their guard up.

"I can handle her."

Entering the Leaky Cauldron, a faint smile appeared on Charlus' lips as he thought of the time where he and James had begged their mother to let them go to the pub on their own with Sirius in their company. Euphemia had been against the idea until the last minute and they had been ecstatic. But would an adventure to the Leaky Cauldron be without James getting into some form of trouble?

  Initially, Charlus had gone with every intention of enjoying some pub food, but as James continued to brag about his advances on Lily, the twins had somehow found themselves engaged in a bet that involved James hitting on a woman inside the pub. Which, unfortunately, for James turned out to be a man.

Standing in the entranceway, Charlus suddenly felt a sharp pain in his sides, the same pain he had felt after laughing so hard at James' misfortune. He placed his hand over his side, letting out a small laugh to himself before grimacing from the pain until it subsided.

"I wasn't sure if you were actually going to show up," Rita said as she approached him, " or if you were sending me here to get rid of me."

Charlus pointed to an available table, inviting Rita to sit as he pulled her chair out and pushed her in. He took the spot across from her and almost making a duckbill shape with his hands, he brought it up to his mouth to sign his command.

"Speak."

"You certainly don't like to waste time, do you? Can't we order drinks first?" Rita asked, but judging by Charlus' expression, she decided not to test her luck. "Alright fine. During the trial, Pettigrew hoped he good get a plea bargain by revealing some information. Past Death Eaters names that didn't really interest anyone since they had already been handled years ago. But then he threw out a very interesting bit when it came to how he had managed to hide all these years. He is an unregistered animagus, and he claims that your late brother and Sirius Black are ones as well. And you and Remus Lupin are well aware of this."

"Ha!" Charlus let out a sharp laugh. " And they believed him?"

"Initially, they didn't," she said, " but he did tell a very convincing story about how he, your brother, and Sirius all became animagi to help Remus Lupin on nights of the full moon. It sounds quite scandalous, a werewolf within the castle and three illegal animagi. Dumbledore did testify that Remus Lupin is, in fact, a werewolf, which led to the Ministry suspecting that there might be truth to Peter's story. After all, his animagus form was revealed to be a rat."

Charlus had taken to biting the inside of his cheek so hard that he was beginning to taste blood.

"James Potter was said to be a stag and Sirius Black is said to take the form of a dog. Care to comment, Mr Potter?"

"I'm sure my husband will get a laugh out of such a tale," Charlus replied. " If they believe Peter it seems they are only taking his word out of malice since they embarrassed themselves. We have nothing to hide."

"Are you sure? You know the penalty of being an illegal animagus, don't you? A trip to Azkaban!"

"Why, Rita, you look awfully flustered over such a punishment," Charlus said, watching her eyes dart from left to right for a brief moment, " care to share?"

She quickly straightened herself in her chair and placed her hands in her lap. "I think you misunderstood my point. The point is, if what Peter said is true, Sirius can find his way back to Azkaban. Along with you for being an accomplice, perhaps even Remus Lupin could be found guilty of some charges. It would be a perfect opportunity for the Ministry to wrap up loose ends and win the people's favour back. They can say whatever they want once you're in Azkaban, who would come to your defence?"

Charlus leaned against the backing of his chair, his smile reappearing. " Rita, I live in a world surrounded by silence, but that does not mean I will be silent. You want a good story, let me help you out because then we'll both get what we want."