AZKABAN had been known to play tricks on the minds of the prisoners. There had been many nights where Sirius found himself outside of the prison walls, snuggling next to Charlus by a roaring fire. There had been instances where he could hear the voices of his loved ones, as clear as day, calling out to him. But each time, it turned out to be a trick and Sirius found himself trapped in his cell once more.

It seemed Azkaban decided to play the cruellest of tricks as it presented Charlus before him. Sirius never wanted Charlus to see him in his locked away state, too ashamed of what he had become. And yet, there was the image of Charlus, gently caressing the side of Sirius' face, apologising to him. What did he have to be sorry for? He claimed he was late, but Sirius knew it was all his fault.

He had been too late to save Charlus, to save Lily and James, and to save Harry from an unknown fate. He was the one who was sorry and no matter how many times he shouted it out in the darkness of his cell, it never made a difference. They were all dead and Sirius was to blame for all of it.

And just when he was about to take advantage of the situation and free himself from his mental prison permanently, Azkaban knew a way to drag him back down. They used the idea of Charlus against him, trying to make him believe that his late husband wasn't actually dead, but standing right in front of him. But Sirius knew all too well, that it wasn't going to last. As soon as he allowed himself any bit of joy or happiness, it would all be taken away from him in a blink of an eye.

If he had just fallen to his death as he planned, it would all be over.

It pained Sirius to push Charlus away from him, but he knew it wasn't the real Charlus in front of him. There was only one way to be reunited with the real Charlus; he glanced over his shoulder once more in the direction of the window. He went to turn his body, only to feel hands grab him to hold him in place.

"No! Stop!" he yelled out. "Let me go!"

Sirius believed it was actually a dementor that was attempting to grab him and hold him in place while it tried to feed. He wouldn't be fooled by illusions of happiness anymore. It was a trick, to make him feel a small burst of happiness before it was sucked away.

"Sirius, I need you to calm down before you hurt yourself. It's me...Charlus-"

"CHARLUS POTTER IS DEAD!"

For a moment, Charlus remained completely still after Sirius pushed him away. He was unsure of how to handle the situation as Sirius entered a state of panic. Even though Charlus was standing right in front of him, he wouldn't bring himself to believe it and Charlus was able to see a glimpse of the extent of damage that had been done since Sirius was locked away.

He looked behind him where Fudge and the other Auror stood with Peter behind them. Fudge appeared absolutely terrified at the possibility of Sirius trying to attack. On the other hand, the Auror looked ready to step in at any point if Sirius got too carried away for his liking. Sirius was already in a fragile state, Charlus knew that any harsh confrontation would only make matters worse.

"Sirius," he spoke again, " I don't know who told you I was dead, but I'm not. I've spent the last six years in St Mungo's trying to recover, but I'm here now. I'm here for you, to bring you home. I know it's been hell for you in here, I should have come sooner. Forgive me, but please, I can't lose you again."

His voice cracked near the end and Charlus could feel a heavy lump in his throat that prevented him from continuing. When he thought of the reunion between the two, Charlus imagined it to be much different in his head. He thought of Sirius walking out of the cell, happy to see him, the two reuniting in a hug as they promised each other that they would never lose one another again.

The reality of the situation was watching Sirius tuck himself in the corner, pleading that Charlus leave him alone.

At a loss for words, Charlus took a step back not sure with how to proceed. But it was the Auror that stepped forward to try and help.

"Mr Black, on behalf of the Ministry of Magic, your name is being cleared of all crimes," he said, " you have been found innocent on the capture of Peter Pettigrew."

With a wave of his wand, the Auror summoned Peter's body over, allowing him to fall outside of the cell. At first, Sirius didn't bother looking over until Peter struggled to move and when he finally lifted his head up, his entire expression changed.

Fear left Sirius' gaze, replaced with instant anger as he came to face Peter Pettigrew once more. It was the same anger he felt the night that he went after Peter and lost everything. Another opportunity had presented itself and all Sirius could think of was killing the rat before he could hurt anyone else. Jumping up to his feet, he lunged forward ready to attack but was stopped as Charlus placed his arm out.

"He's the traitor! It's him!" Sirius cried out. "He betrayed James and Lily! He betrayed..."

His eyes trailed up until they met Charlus'. "He betrayed you."

"I know he did, Sirius," Charlus whispered to him, " I know what he did. Everyone knows now. That's why he's here, that's why I'm here. You're free, it's time to go home. Please, it's time to go-"

"But you're dead! Bellatrix told me! She told me that you didn't make it. How could you be here?"

"Sirius, you should know better not to believe every word that comes out of that ghastly woman's mouth. You were the first to tell me how manipulative she was, years ago. She would say anything to bring you pain and clearly, it worked. Don't let her words live in your head."

"But if she's wrong, then that means-"

Reaching out one of his hands, Sirius started touching Charlus' arms, travelling up to his chest and only stopped when he touched Charlus' neck, tickling him. The familiar sound of his husband's ticklish chuckle nearly brought him to collapse to the ground. If he was being honest with himself, every image that had always presented itself to Sirius before was based on the last memory he had of seeing Charlus. But the man in front of him, while it still looked very much like Charlus, he was obviously older by a few years.

"You're here?" Sirius signed to Charlus, pointing to the ground they were both standing on.

With a smile, Charlus nodded his head and his fist. "Yes, I'm here."

Instead of the two reuniting in a hug as Charlus hoped, he was left catching Sirius in his arms as he became overwhelmed and fainted. He remembered how many times Sirius took to lifting him up in his arms, usually the stronger of the two, but that time, Charlus took to holding him up and carrying Sirius out of the cell.

Fully prepared to leave the prison as soon as possible, Charlus went to walk down the corridor when his leg was grabbed. He looked down to see that Peter had broken free of his magical chains out of desperation.

"Please, please, Charlus," Peter continued to place his hand near his mouth in the pleading motion, " please, don't leave me here! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, please don't leave me here!"

There was a small sense of pity that Charlus felt for Peter as the Auror intervened and dragged Peter into the cell where Sirius had been. But as he looked down at Sirius, who was still unconscious in his arms, all sympathy and pity dissipated. He didn't bother responding to Peter's begging as he turned around again and walked off, carrying Sirius to freedom.

Maeve had been pacing the floors since Charlus had left with Bathilda and as it grew later into the evening, she worried that something terrible had happened. Eventually, she had to leave for her shift at St Mungo's or face the wrath of the Head Healer on duty. She did leave a note for Charlus at home, telling him to contact her as soon as he got home to let her know he was alright.

She knew that Albus Dumbledore held a lot of influence within the wizarding world, she hoped that Charlus hadn't said something to land him in trouble. However, Charlus had been dead set on a personal mission since waking up, there was probably nothing that was going to stop him. Not even Albus Dumbledore.

Just as she was finishing treating an overly ambitious, not to mention amateur, potioneer's severe burns, Maeve stepped out into the corridor for a break, only to hear a commotion down the way. Hurrying to see what was taking place, she realised she shouldn't have been so surprised to see Charlus making his way towards her.

In his arms, he was carrying the body of Sirius Black.

A million questions raced through her mind and she didn't know where to begin, but Charlus intervened before she could decide.

"I know that I've asked a lot of you recently," he began, " but if you help him, I won't ask you for anything else. I'll never bother you again, I promise."

When Charlus had left the flat that morning, his plan had been to just speak with Dumbledore and yet, it was obvious that he had gone above and beyond in such a short amount of time. She couldn't help but let out a small, but happy sob for him as Charlus appeared to be a walking miracle. The man that everyone believed wouldn't live for very long when he arrived at St Mungo's stood strongly, holding his husband in his arms.

"Oh Charlus," she said with a shake of her head, " do you really think you're going to get rid of me so easily? Come on, let's get him in one of the rooms and settled."