NOTHING HAPPENED. The smile on Fudge's face faded instantly as the dog remained on all fours, looking up at him. Confused, he turned to Charlus', who was glaring in his direction, while Maeve had her hands clapped over her mouth in shock. Remus looked as though he had lost ten years on his life span from the all the stress piled into one moment; the only one who was smiling was Rita as her quill feverishly jotted down everything that had just happened.

"B-b-but, the dog, it's black and-"

"As are plenty of dogs in the world, Minister," Charlus said. "Yes, this one, in particular, has black fur, and is in training to become my new hearing dog. You attempted to attack my prospective service animal."

Fudge's eyes widened as Rita's quill wrote down the claim. "What?! No, I didn't do that! I was attempting to reveal-"

"An accusation that you received from a war criminal that betrayed my family! You took his word over mine. How many times will you taint the names of the innocent and try to lock them up? Having Sirius serve six years wrongfully should have been enough. But because you faced embarrassment over your mistake, you attempted to cover it up with this nonsense."

"No, I-"

"You tried to accuse my husband to send him back to Azkaban to make it seem like you didn't make a mistake in the long run. And you were going to make Remus and I accomplices to send us to Azkaban to tie up loose ends. How low of you. And to make matters worse, you attempted to do this on Christmas Eve to keep the matter hushed. By the new year, people would learn what had taken place and you would get the new year off to a good start."

As Fudge scrambled to find the words to defend himself, Rita took a step forward with a feigned look of horror.

"And correct me if I'm wrong, Minister, but do you have a search warrant on you approved by Wizengamot?" she asked in an innocent tone. "Because if you don't, oh dear, that won't be very good, will it? Your only proof of evidence to defend your search was the word of Peter Pettigrew, who was found guilty and thrown in Azkaban. I can't imagine how they would take such news."

"YOU!" Fudge threw one of his fingers in Charlus' face. "You're as evil as they come! You...You planned all of this!"

"Me?" Charlus pointed to himself. "Minister, I was attempting to enjoy the holidays with my family. You came here on your own account, with two Aurors no less to stir up your own trouble. I was hoping to finish up a simple interview with Ms Skeeter and then share in a meal. You dared to show up here, not only accusing my husband but my late brother as well. You illegally searched Ms Elpis' home and then proceeded to attack an innocent animal!"

"If this isn't Sirius Black, then where is he?! Hmmm? Are you hiding him?"

Suddenly, the front door swung open, and Sirius walked in, dressed in wrapping paper with a bow, decorating the top of his head. He yelled out "Merry Christmas!" with his arms stretched in the air, only to freeze completely when he noted Fudge, the Aurors, and everyone else in the room staring at him.

Slowly, his arms fell down to his sides and he cleared his throat.

"What's going on here?" he asked, making his way to Charlus side.

"Nothing," Charlus said, " The Minister was just leaving, wasn't he?"

"This isn't over, Potter!"

Charlus stepped forward as the Aurors hurried out of the door and urged Fudge to follow them.

"You're right, Minister, this isn't over. You have a hefty lawsuit coming."

"Why you, son of a-"

Maeve didn't allow the Minister to finish as she quickly closed the door and pressed her back against it.

"Holy shit."

Placing up silencing charms around the flat to protect their privacy, Maeve reinforced her windows and doors to make sure there would be no more surprising visits. She cleaned up the mess that the Aurors had made during their search before rejoining the group. Charlus and Rita seemed to be the only ones not losing their minds over the ordeal and even though Maeve was part of the plan, she could still feel her heart racing inside of her chest.

"Charlus, what the hell is going on?" Sirius asked. "And who the hell is this?"

Sirius pointed to the dog that came to rest at Charlus' feet, looking slightly jealous at another black dog being that close to him.

"This is Moose," Charlus said, bending over to scratch the dog behind the ears " and he's a very good boy. He was training to be a service dog but failed the test because he's too friendly with strangers. Maeve and I were discussing hearing dogs a few weeks ago one evening. Of course, I don't really need one, but look how cute he is!"

"He's alright," Sirius said quietly. "But I still don't understand-"

"Moose has been waiting on adoption and it was just his luck that he was a big black dog. He couldn't become a service dog, but Fudge didn't know that. He was too wrapped up in proving Peter's accusation to save his own arse. He was willing to act first and think later. Moose loves greeting people, but we had to let him sleep or he would give too much away too soon. But as I told you before, he loves people a little too much. When he heard all of us out here, he wanted to greet, so of course, he made some noise."

"That attracted Fudge's attention," Remus said in awe, " that's why he sent the Aurors to search without a warrant. He thought it was Sirius. And it all happened while Rita was conducting her interview with you. So obviously, it's going to hit the Daily Prophet by tomorrow morning."

"Try tonight's edition," Rita interjected. "I work fast."

"But how did you pull it all off?" Sirius questioned further. "How did you get Rita here at the right time? How did you know when Fudge was going to show up?"

"Well, I can't take credit for that," Charlus chuckled, " Rita, if you would...it's only fair, you know."

Maeve, Remus, and Sirius watched as Rita rolled her eyes before she suddenly transformed into a beetle. Within seconds, she was back in her human form, straightening her hair and smoothing out her clothing.

"I thought it was funny that Rita would be granted access to a speedy trial, so I assumed that had to sneak her way in. There are magical barriers placed up in the Wizengamot court so that people just can't sneak in with invisibility spells. But Rita gave herself away with how flustered she became over the discussion of punishments for being an unregistered animagus."

"You're very impressive, Potter," Rita said, " I'll give you that. Salazar Slytherin weeps knowing that he missed out on having you in his house. And you gave me one of the greatest stories, so a little blackmail was worth it. But I think we're even now, aren't we?"

"Of course, I look forward to reading your article, Rita. Have a nice Christmas."

Rita saw herself out after wishing everyone else a Merry Christmas but all the attention returned to Charlus as he let out a little yawn.

"All this commotion," he said, " I could really use a nap right about now."

But he wasn't getting away so easily as Sirius climbed over Moose and sat in Charlus' lap. "So, this whole day was already planned out then? Me going to Ollivander's was just to get me out of the house?"

"And me going to the Apothecary and spending what felt like an eternity in there?" Remus added, watching as Maeve blushed and excused herself to check on the roast.

"Well, you did need a wand, Sirius, and Maeve did need those ingredients, Remus. It just so happened that the timing worked out very well. I couldn't reveal everything to any of you. Maeve only knew enough to go get Moose, but nothing else. I had to do all of this in case something went wrong, I wasn't going to drag all of you down with me."

"It scares me a little with how much you are capable of doing," Sirius told him. "Honestly, that mind of yours, Charlus."

"I did what I had to do. Fudge wanted to save his reputation to the point of desperation. Even Dumbledore tried to assist him by telling him how good you and James were in Transfiguration. Clearly, I stepped on some rather big toes when it came to getting you out of Azkaban. I was hoping we didn't have to go down this route, I didn't have any intention of ruining Fudge's career. I wanted to keep him as an ally."

"Why? Besides being the Minister-"

"That was exactly why I wanted to keep him. Dumbledore was in charge of placing Harry in a home after James and Lily died. He chose Harry to go to the Dursleys of all places, for reasons, I don't know. But I guarantee that Harry isn't in a good situation right now unless Petunia and Vernon have miraculously turned themselves around. Which I highly doubt, judging by how McGonagall delivered the news to me. I am going to fight for Harry's custody, but I have a feeling Dumbledore is going to fight me."

"Wouldn't he want the best for Harry?" Remus questioned. "I don't think he would purposely keep Harry in a harmful environment."

"There hasn't been a discussion about Harry coming to live with me," he said, " or rather, us. He was also willing to save Snape over Sirius-"

"What the hell did you say?" Sirius immediately stood up, causing Moose to jump up and look alert as well. "What do you mean he was willing to save Snivellus over me?"

"Meaning, Snape became a professor at Hogwarts, while you went to Azkaban. I'm sorry but it's true. Your devotion to the Order meant nothing to him. Even after I caught Peter and presented him to Fudge and Dumbledore, they were still questioning your innocence. McGonagall was the only one willing to back me up. Now that I've upset both Dumbledore and Fudge, I know it's going to be a fight to get Harry. If Fudge doesn't lose his position as Minister over all of this, he's going to try and make our lives a living hell. So we need to act fast."

Sirius folded his arms, his jaw clenched tightly as he walked around the living room, trying to keep his temper. Knowing one of his childhood enemies was walking around freely without suffering any consequences for his actions, but rather being rewarded with a secure career.

"Do you have a plan?" Remus asked Charlus.

"Not yet, but I'm working on one. Let's just try and enjoy this Christmas together and pray that Harry will be okay and can hold on just a little while longer."

Remus went to go help Maeve in the kitchen, leaving Charlus and Sirius alone, along with Moose. Charlus pushed himself up to approach where Sirius was sitting by one of the windows, still obviously upset over the news earlier.

"I know you're upset, but it's hard to take you seriously with you still being wrapped up in wrapping paper and a bow on your head," Charlus told him, but Sirius didn't even bother smiling. "Oh, come on, Sirius. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the plan-"

"I'm not upset about that! I'm upset that Snape of all people was given a pass for all of his crimes and for what? He attacked multiple members of the Order on numerous occasions during the war. He damn near killed Gideon one night and almost killed Marlene, and yet, he's a fucking professor."

Charlus thought about telling Sirius that Snape was also the one responsible for telling Voldemort about the prophecy that involved Harry and Neville but decided against it. There was no point, Sirius was only going to be even more upset and it would do nothing to change the past.

"Who the fuck does Dumbledore think he is? When we were younger, we all put him on a pedestal. He was a hero and now...now look at him..."

"I know, I thought the same thing when I learned about all of this. But we can't let our emotions get the best of us, Sirius. The only way to beat Dumbledore is to play the game he plays, only better. I'm sure he knows that we're going to try and get Harry. I'm sure he's taken precautions to stop us. So now, we have to develop our own plan. Just remember, this isn't about Dumbledore, or Fudge, or even Snape...this is about Harry. We both made our promises to James."

Sirius let out a heavy sigh before his shoulders slouched in defeat. "You're right, you're right. This is about Harry. That's what we need to focus on."

"Good, we'll think of something. In the meantime, can you at least smile for me?" Charlus asked. "After all, it's Christmas Eve and we're together again."

"I know, why do you think I dressed up like this?" Sirius laughed. "I feel bad about not getting you anything. I was almost tempted to get a box, turn myself into my dog form, and jump out of it. Thank goodness I didn't go through with that."

"Does that mean I get to unwrap this present tonight?"