SIRIUS DID NOT TRUST RITA but he did trust Charlus enough that he was willing to hear what his husband's plan was going to be. Charlus had always been a person to calculate every move rather than running into a scenario blindly and hope for the best. After Charlus' departure, Maeve had returned to the room, one: to put an end to Remus' and Sirius' arguing, and two: to let them know that Charlus was meeting up with Rita Skeeter at the Leaky Cauldron. 

Suddenly, the argument between the two came to an abrupt end. Both knew what kind of journalist Rita Skeeter was, she had certainly had a reputation that followed her. The reputation that she was willing to do anything for a good story that would boost her career further. At first, Sirius questioned why Charlus would dare to talk to her, but he realised there had to be a reason. And before Remus could go after Charlus with a warning to be careful, Sirius stopped him.

"Let him talk to her," he said, " he must have a reason for it."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Maeve questioned. " I know Charlus is smart, but Rita is known to twist people's words. It's her speciality and unfortunately, there are people out there willing to believe every word she writes down. "

"Charlus knows this," Sirius told her, " you said it yourself, he's smart. Beyond that, he's a genius and that's not me being biased either. He must have seen some benefit to talking to Rita, he wouldn't do it otherwise. He's never been a fan of gossip. That's why he was in here pacing the floors before he left. He has a plan and we need to wait on his return."

The discussion ended as soon as Charlus returned, looking rather cold. But seeing the three of them gathered and no one argued, he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Maeve used her wand to summon Charlus' blanket over from the armchair and he was immediately wrapped around in warmth. Sirius guided him over to sit down on the edge of the bed, while they waited for him to speak.

Pulling his arm out, Charlus aimed his wand at the door, and within a second it was closed over and locked.

"I'm sure by now that you two know that I went to speak with Rita," he began, noting Maeve's faint blush. " We all know her reputations, but we can't deny that she has always been rather resourceful when it comes to getting information that isn't exactly known. As of right now, she is an ally, rather than the enemy."

"Charlus," Sirius knelt down in front of him, using Charlus' knees to support him, " what information does she have that could be of use to us?"

"Somehow," Charlus said, " she managed to sit in and listen to Peter's trial. He confessed to his crimes, but in hopes of getting a plea bargain, he offered more information to the Ministry. He spoke of his illegal animagus abilities while deciding to drag you and James into the mix as well. The Ministry can't go after James, but they can go after you, and you know they will."

"What?!" Maeve exclaimed. "Why would do that? They wouldn't just take Peter's word, right? After all, he played them for fools for six years pretending to be dead. It's not like he's telling the truth."

The room went silent and Maeve's eyes widened as she watched Sirius suddenly transform into a large, black dog. Immediately, she took a seat, wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into.

"Now that we've cleared that up," Charlus said as Sirius returned to his human form, "Fudge is angry with me. His career as a Minister has been tarnished by this mistake. He's attempting to recover in any way possible. Peter went into details of our school years, just when I thought he was feeling remorseful, he decided to throw all of us under. Even if I'm not an animagus, I am considered an accomplice."

"That fuckin' rat!" Sirius growled. "We should have killed him when we had the chance! Letting him rot in Azkaban was being too kind."

"Wait, I can testify against the accusations," Remus said, " I-"

"You're considered an accomplice too, Remus," Charlus sighed, "Peter told them everything. Everything else he told the Ministry checked out to be true, they are going to wonder why he would lie about this specifically. We all the punishment of being an unregistered animagi."

"Azkaban," Sirius muttered, " and I'm assuming the same could be said for accomplices. They would send all of us to Azkaban. No....No! I'm not going back! I can't go back there! I'm not losing you again! I-"

Charlus reached out and grabbed Sirius' hands with his, squeezing them to gain his attention before he went into his full-blown hysterics.

"You're right, Sirius, you're not going back because I'm not going to let that happen. None of us are going to Azkaban because I have a plan. I just need to trust me, I need all of you to trust me."

Sirius and Remus nodded their heads, but Maeve still looked quite worried. " I do trust you, Charlus, but I don't trust Rita. What does she get out of all of this?"

"Every journalist's dream. One hell of a story, Maeve."

Maeve wasn't sure how she was going to help with the plan because she truly only saw herself as a simple Healer, but Charlus told her to give herself more credit. She couldn't believe that the Ministry would go so far to try and incriminate Charlus and the others after everything had happened. But then again, she knew how corrupt politics could be and she wouldn't put it past Fudge to do anything to save his reputation among the wizarding world.

Charlus told her that she didn't need to worry too much and if she didn't want to be involved he would understand. However, as Maeve told him before, he couldn't get rid of her so easily. She was far too invested and was curious as to how everything would pan out. And Charlus promised that if things did go wrong, he would protect her name.

He only asked to make use of her home for the time being. The Christmas holidays were coming up and Charlus and Sirius didn't have a home of their own. Remus claimed he was moving place to place as well, sometimes sleeping on the sofa at his father's home, so he couldn't be of service. They just needed to spend the holidays at her place, and he was sure before the new year that all the drama would occur.

She didn't protest, in fact, it gave her the opportunity to look after all three of the men as she invited Remus to stay as well. He seemed more than hesitant in the beginning, but Maeve insisted. After all, if the plan was going to work, everyone had to be on the same page. However, Charlus was being rather secretive about the plan, leaving her worried about how well it was going to go.

"Has he told you anything?"

It was the first morning after Charlus, Sirius, and Remus had stayed in her home. She told St Mungo's that would be caring for her patients outside of the hospital, allowing them to recover and readjust to the outside world once more. They could have easily argued that Charlus seemed fine on his own, but they couldn't argue Sirius' condition, allowing her to take her leave.

However, Charlus seemed to take over with Sirius' needs as the couple was practically inseparable. But it was Remus that she was concerned about. Slowly, Maeve was putting the pieces of the fragmented story together. When she had first met Remus at St Mungo's, she had completely ignored the condition, but upon seeing him again, it was becoming more than obvious.

Most people, especially those who possessed magic, would not walk around with wounds and scars on their faces if they could help it. She had a feeling that the marks Remus had were not easily healed and there were a few things that simple healing magic could not heal.

Like werewolf bites.

Silver dittany was used to seal lycanthropic bites and wounds, although it was extremely expensive and Remud made it clear he didn't have a lot of money to his name. Werewolves were ostracized by society, they found it difficult to find work, which left many of them poor. Maeve didn't want to make assumptions, but it was hard not to come to her own conclusions with all the facts presenting themselves.

It was that morning as she applied the mixture to Remus' wounds that she decided to start up a conversation with him, regarding Charlus' plan.

"No, I don't think he's even told Sirius what the plan is," Remus said, staying perfectly still as she applied the rather cold mixture to his face. " I think he's keeping it to himself, in case something goes wrong, he can take the full blame."

"But he needs our help, doesn't he?"

"Of course, but we can help him without knowing everything. It keeps everything simple that way."

"Hmm...."

Maeve didn't seem fully convinced but she didn't push the matter any further. Perhaps even if Remus knew more, he wasn't going to reveal it. Despite being upset with Sirius, he still seemed to hold loyalty to his old friends.

"I wish I could help more," Remus said to her suddenly, " it's all my fault anyway."

Maeve stopped dabbing the ointment on and gave him a look. "How is this your fault? Peter is the one who decided to take you all under with him."

"Sirius, James, and Peter wouldn't have become animagi if it weren't for me. I'm the reason Sirius is in this mess, even more so since I'm the one that accused him of being a traitor in the first place."

"Charlus said both accused each other, it wasn't just you. You thought he could be because of his family and he thought you would be...because...."

Remus knew Maeve was not stupid, although she had been beating around the bush as if she was waiting for him to confirm her conclusion. He let out a heavy sigh and looked away from her. There was no sense in hiding it, she clearly knew as she prepared the silver dittany specifically for him.

He just hated saying it out loud.

But the least he could do was be honest with her, after all she was doing for all of them. She didn't have to open up her home and she certainly didn't have to commit herself as much as she did.

"I was bitten when I was four years old," he began quietly, "by a werewolf named Greyback. Long story short, my father offended him and he wanted to get his revenge by going after me. My family suffered greatly afterwards. We had to move constantly and I never thought that I would be allowed to go to Hogwarts. But the day came where my letter was delivered and Dumbledore showed up to my home telling me the precautions the school would take to accommodate me. It was absolutely wild, for a moment, I felt normal."

No longer applying the ointment, Maeve gently placed her hand over one of his as she could hear the man's voice shake.

"You don't have to tell me anything you're not comfortable with-"

"No, it's alright, you have the right to know if I'm staying under your roof," he said. "When I got to Hogwarts, I didn't think I would make friends, but I did. James, Charlus, Sirius, and Peter. And when they eventually learned my secret, they were willing to help me. James came up with the idea originally. The others joined in. Charlus didn't want to be an animagus but he helped tremendously with the process. They actually succeeded where they would keep me company on nights of the full moon."

"That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard."

"But if I had known that Peter would use it against all of us..."

"There's no way you could have known such a thing, Remus," she said, removing her hand as she noted how red he was becoming in the face. "You can't put all the blame on your shoulders, it will only weigh you down."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Remus attempted to force a small smile on his face. "Thank you...I understand if you don't wish for me to be under the same roof as all of you-"

He was stopped as Maeve took a clean cloth from the table and placed it in his mouth playfully, warning him that he wasn't allowed to talk like that anymore. Taking the hint, he continued to be still allowing Maeve to finish her work.