❝If by my life or death I can protect you, I will.❞
The Chosen One is kidnapped from the Dursley household and it turns out to be the best damn thing that's happened to him.
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CHARLUS TWISTED HIS WEDDING RING AROUND HIS FINGER, lost in his own world as the day carried on around him. He was stuck between a feeling of uselessness and uncertainty when it came to what his plans were going to be once he was outside of St Mungo's. He was counting on leaving as soon as he possibly could, as soon as Maeve allowed him to, he would be gone. However, it seemed like such a long time away as he wasn't making any progress because he spent so much time trying to learn what had happened after he had fallen.
His main focus above all fell between Harry and Sirius. Charlus needed to free his husband from Azkaban, knowing that Sirius had to be innocent. And there was no telling where Harry had ended up after the events. He hoped his nephew was somewhere safe, somewhere full of love and warmth. Harry deserved that at the very least after everything he had been through. But Charlus couldn't figure out anything or do anything to help if he was trapped in bed all the time.
He needed to focus on Maeve's exercises that he deemed silly so that he could learn to use his muscles again. Magic was helpful in some ways, aiding in him keeping the muscle strong when it hadn't been in use, but it couldn't teach Charlus how to put it to use again. It was a tedious and slow process in the recovery stage, but he knew he had to be thankful for one thing.
At least there was a recovery stage for him.
The best way he could get through it all was pretending that Sirius was there with him, helping him along the way. When he forced himself up to his feet, Charlus imagined that Sirius was beside him, holding onto his arm, just in case he fell over. And every time that Charlus began to whine or complain about feeling stiff, there was Sirius waggling his brow in a perverted manner. It was enough to get him through the tasks, but it wasn't enough for Charlus because he knew very well that it was only his imagination and nothing more.
Sirius wasn't really there, James wasn't there either when he pictured his brother sitting by the window. It was just Charlus' coping method to envision his loved ones around them, but some days it brought him even more pain.
To know what had happened to Alice and Frank Longbottom, he wasn't brave enough to ask what happened to other members of the Order. Even members that he wasn't particularly close to, they had all put in their blood, sweat, and tears into the cause, and many of them didn't get a happy ending. Shaking his head, Charlus tried to dismiss all thoughts surrounding the Order and began to slowly turn himself in his bed to perform his routine exercise to get the blood flowing in his lower half.
However, as he turned to face the doorway, he saw a familiar face standing there patiently as they waited to be acknowledged.
"Remus?"
Remus took a step further into the room, dipping his head in greeting as Charlus glanced him over. The two of them were of little words initially, especially since neither of them really knew what to say to one another. The last time Remus had seen Charlus, it had been after a nasty spat between Remus and Sirius. They had gone back to their usual accusations as yet another secret had been leaked from the Order. Sirius pointed his finger at Remus and Remus pointed it right back, both of them dealing low blows.
