July 1979

Freya paced anxiously in the living room of Sirius's apartment late that night, making Sirius roll his eyes at her from his seat on the couch. When she finally stopped pacing, Freya tangled a hand in her hair and tugged on it nervously. "Where is James?" she demanded. "I thought he would have shown up the minute he heard at St. Mungo's, but instead he hasn't been seen all day. Where is he?"

Sirius sighed. "For the tenth time, I don't know, Freya. He'll be along soon; I'm sure."

The fireplace filled with bright green flames, and James stepped out of the fireplace into the flat. His glasses were askew, and there was a purple splotch of bruise on his jaw. Freya gasped and rushed over to her brother. "James, where the hell have you been?" Freya asked. "What happened to your face? Are you ok? Please, please tell me that you didn't go after Regulus."

James smirked slightly. "I can't tell you that, baby sis. I did go after Regulus, and I found him, too."

Freya's bruised face grew pale. Unconsciously taking a step back from her brother, Freya stammered, "N-no, no, no. P-please, tell me you didn't."

James shrugged. "He deserved a lot worse after what he did to you. Don't worry though, I managed to catch him drinking alone in the Leaky Cauldron. Damn Slytherin didn't even pull his wand on me; it ended up just being a big fistfight in the pub," James stated proudly, yet sounding as though he regretted not having the chance to curse his brother-in-law properly.

Freya shook her head, a slight groan escaping her lips. "James, please tell me you didn't hurt him."

James and Sirius exchanged wicked grins, before James answered, "I didn't hurt him too badly. A broken arm, a sprained wrist, a broken nose. St. Mungo's will have him patched up in minutes, unfortunately."

Freya turned away from her brother, sighing as she collapsed into a chair. "I have to go home," she mumbled. "You've had your stupid revenge, James. Now please, just let me go home."

Sirius growled, "No way in hell you're going back to that place."

James added, "He's right, Freya. You promised me that if he hurt you again, you'd let me get you out of there without a fight."

Freya snapped, "I never promised that. I agreed that you could try to get me out of there if he hurt me again, but our plan is working, James! I can't just leave; I have to go back."

Sirius roared, "No! Absolutely not! I don't care what plan it is that you two have cooked up; nothing can be worth what's happening to you, Freya. Please, we love you so much; don't do this to yourself."

Freya entreated, "Sirius, please, just stop. I get that you two love me and want to protect me, but I don't want to be protected. I want to go home. I can fight my own damn battles."

James rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because that's clearly working out so well for you. Let your family take care of you, Freya."

"Regulus is my family," Freya snapped. She stood up slowly, every muscle in her body aching. "James, Sirius, I'm done arguing. I'm going home. Regulus will get hurt if the Death Eaters find out that I'm not there anymore, and I still love him enough that I could never want that to happen."

James sighed, exasperated. "Freya, I'm not letting you go back. He hurt you in ways beyond belief. I thought he'd hurt you in a lot of ways, but I never expected this. You know that if Mum and Dad found out about this, they would never let you anywhere near that man again."

Sirius muttered darkly, "Charlus would bloody murder Regulus if he found out."

"Don't think I'm not tempted to tell him, Sirius," James drawled. "But I think if we did that, Freya might legitimately kill us."

Freya glared at her brother. "Don't think I'm not tempted to bloody murder you right now just for getting into a fight with my husband at all," she sneered in a very Slytherin-like manner. "James, I'm your sister, not your wife. You don't get to tell me where to go or who to associate with. I am married, and I am going to go home to my husband whether anybody likes it or not. If I don't, every single person I know will get hurt until I am back there. It probably won't even be Regulus who goes around hurting people to try to get me back, either, although I'm sure he'll have a hand in it somehow. His family will not stand for this. I'm going back, and you aren't going to stop me."

Sirius said from where he sat, "He's not alone, Freya. All of us are backing him up on this. You're staying here with me. End of discussion."

Freya screeched, "This is most certainly not the end of the discussion! There's nothing to even discuss. I'm going home."

James snapped, "Just because we're the Order of the Phoenix doesn't mean we don't know how to keep people prisoner, Freya. We can keep you here against your will if we have to in order to keep you safe, and don't think we won't do it. I mean, Sirius already has your wand to keep you from apparating away, and this place is warded to the point where it's a miracle that I can even find it. You're staying whether you like it or not."

Freya pointed an accusing finger at James. "You will pay for this, James. I'm not the little girl you grew up with anymore. I'm not unwilling to hurt you anymore. The second I manage to get my hand on my wand, you will pay, and you will pay dearly."

Glaring at his sister, James replied, in a voice that made Freya think he was worried about her sanity, "I'm sure you feel that way now, baby sis, but I know once you realize how much better your life is here, you'll change your mind. You'll thank me for this one day, Freya."

Two weeks passed, and Freya had yet to have managed to get hold of her wand again. The only exceptions were when she went with Sirius to work at the Ministry, but then she was closely watched between Sirius and the Longbottoms that Freya couldn't even go to the restroom alone, much less make an escape.

Currently, Freya, in her animagus form, lay curled up in a ball at one end of the sofa, Sirius lounging lazily on the other end, watching her curiously. After a long silence, Sirius asked softly, "Freya, you're almost always a fox these days. Why don't you ever want to stay human? That way you could talk to me, James, Lily, Remus, Peter, and everyone else that comes by and loves you and wants the best for you." Freya didn't answer for a few minutes, so Sirius continued, "Please, talk to me."

Freya huffed, then turned back into her normal self. She snapped, "I don't want to talk about what happened, Sirius."

Sirius frowned. "I didn't say anything about talking to me about that, although you're certainly more than welcome to, and I honestly wish you would. I just meant talk to me about something, anything. Talk to me about the bloody weather and how much bloody rain we've gotten since you've been here for all I care, just please, talk to me. All this time as a fox and the constant silence, it makes me worry."

Freya screwed up her face at that. "I don't like all these people constantly worrying about me," Freya muttered darkly.

Sirius replied, "Don't make us worry about you then, Freya. It'd have helped put an end to all the worrying if you hadn't gone and insisted on marrying a Death Eater. You could've married me instead, you know."

Freya chuckled bitterly. "Oh, please! You and I had a few one night stands within a couple months, then I was suddenly off the market and out of your bed, you got jealous and couldn't stand it, and now you're convinced you're in love with me. You don't love me; you just wish it was you leaving hickeys and sex bruises on my body instead of your brother."

Sirius shook his head, grimacing. "Freya," he groaned softly. "That isn't it at all; surely you know that."

"Actually, I don't know that," Freya grumbled. She remained silent for several minutes, and Sirius begrudgingly allowed her the time to think. Freya stood up suddenly, shaking her head. "I'm going to bed."

Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose, frustrated with her stubborn streak, then mumbled, "Good night."

Freya woke up screaming, the heavy feeling of someone's hands on her shoulders reinforcing her panic attack. She continued to shriek and begged, "No, please, no. Not again, please."

A soothing voice broke through the panic-induced haze of Freya's mind. "Freya, you're ok. You're safe. No one's going to hurt you here; I promise, love," the distinctly male voice said as Freya thrashed about, fighting against the hands holding her down.

Freya's eyes snapped open, and she found herself staring into Sirius's worried grey eyes. She stopped fighting against him, but instantly demanded, "Get your hands off me."

Sirius frowned and sat back, removing his hands from Freya's shoulders. Freya sat up and scooted away from him, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs as she leaned against the headboard of the bed. Freya fought back tears as he asked gently, "Were you having a nightmare about what he did to you?"

Freya shrugged, refusing to look Sirius in the face. "Sort of," she said hoarsely, the unshed tears constricting her throat. "Bellatrix came back and said the first time around wasn't enough. She said Regulus was going to have to do it all over again, but this time in front of the Dark Lord and the other Death Eaters. So he was going to do it again. They were talking about a couple of the other Death Eaters maybe helping him out this time, to 'show him how it's done.'"

Freya broke at that point, choking on a sob as the tears finally began to fall, and Sirius ran a hand through his hair, unsure of what to do when it was so clear that any attempts at a comforting touch would not be well received. He settled for leaving his hands on his lap, palms-up, ready to be taken if she decided she wanted him, and said in his most reassuring voice, "I'm so sorry, Freya. I'm sorry that any of this has happened to you. I promise you, though, that Bellatrix, Regulus, and all those little Death Eaters are never going to touch you again. James, Remus, Peter, and I won't let them. Please, believe that. Hell, it's why you're here being held against your will."

Freya shook her head. "This is killing Regulus, you know," she informed Sirius. When he merely gave her a confused look, she elaborated, "He probably thinks I've left him by my own choice. He was already falling to pieces over what he did to me; if he thinks I've left him…" Freya shivered.

Sirius's face hardened. "Good, he should regret what he's done to you. I don't care what excuse he's given you; nothing makes this all right."

Freya said, her voice crackling because of the tears, "He doesn't try to make excuses. He spent the whole night apologizing, and while I was asleep he made a potion for me to take away as much of the pain as he could. He stayed up the whole night trying to make things easier for me and apologizing and…" Freya trailed off, succumbing once again to her sobs.

Sirius grimaced at the sound of Freya's crying, wishing there was something he could do to make things better for her. "May I?" he whispered, offering his hand to her. When she nodded, he took her hand in his, entwining their fingers together. Freya felt her heart clench at the action, guilt washing over her for willing allowing Sirius to take such liberties when she knew how he felt about her and how upset Regulus would be when he found out. Sirius scooted closer to her and mumbled, "I wish I could undo everything he's ever done to hurt you."

Freya sniffed, wiping tears off her face with her free hand. After a few minutes, Freya asked softly, "Can you get James here for me? Please?"

Freya could see the hurt in Sirius's eyes as he realized that she didn't want him to comfort her, but she wanted Sirius to leave her alone too much to be bothered by it. Sirius sighed heavily, then nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'll get James. I'll be right back, and he'll be here with me. Don't worry," Sirius said quietly.

As soon as Freya was certain that Sirius had gone through the Floo, she crawled out of bed and slipped out of the room. Finding Sirius's potions cabinet, she searched through its contents, huffing in annoyance when she couldn't find what she wanted. After a few minutes of digging, she found three vials of a turquoise blue potion and pulled them out. She stared at the bottles of potion for a moment before drinking the first one. A wave of calm washed over her, but she still felt anxious and as though her chest might explode from the pain, so she went ahead and knocked back the second dose. She shivered at the chill the blue liquid sent down her spine, and her hands shook slightly as she started to take the third dose. As she sipped at the liquid, Freya heard the woos of the Floo and someone step out of the fireplace down the hall. Dizziness overwhelmed Freya, and she eased herself down to sit on the floor. The door to the room opened, and James rushed over to her, kneeling down beside her. The vial in her hand was still half full, and James took it from her gently. Observing the other empty bottles, James said, distraught, "Oh, no. Freya, what did you do?"

Sirius caught up with James, and it was as though someone had knocked the air out of his lungs. "James, that's Draught of Peace," Sirius exclaimed. "That shouldn't have done anything to her but relax her. What's wrong with her?"

James motioned to the two empty glasses of potion sitting on shelf. "I think she drank too much of it," James said anxiously as he supported his sister's woozy head.

Freya mumbled, "Jamie, it hurts. Make it stop."

James frowned. "What hurts, baby sis? Tell me what's wrong."

Freya leaned against James, resting her head on his shoulder. The room was spinning around her, and she fumbled as she reached for James's hand. She smiled slightly as she slurred, "My chest has been hurting since you took me away from him."

Sirius's face hardened. "You mean since we saved you from that Death Eater you call a husband?"

Freya yawned, but James could feel the way her entire body trembled under the effects of the overdosed Draught of Peace. She snuggled closer to her brother, her face completely relaxed. "I just want my Regulus back," she garbled as she closed her eyes, burying her face into James's shoulder.

Tears pricked at James's eyes as he said, his voice tight, "Quick, let's get her to St. Mungo's."

Freya woke up the next night, her head pounding. She moaned and threw an arm over her eyes, trying to block out the light of the room. She heard shuffling, and then a hand was on her arm and James's voice was in her ear. "Hey, baby sis! Are you ok? Do you hurt? How are you feeling?"

Freya whispered, her voice raspy, "Jamie, water. Please."

James nodded. "Sure, sure. I'll be right back."

James left her alone in the room, and Freya grumbled, "Kreacher."

A loud pop announced that the house elf had apparated to a spot next to the bed. "Yes, Mistress Freya?" the house elf said enthusiastically.

"Where am I, Kreacher?" Freya mumbled, having still not opened her eyes yet.

"St. Mungo's, Miss," the house elf answered.

Freya thought it over for a moment, then instructed, "Kreacher, go home to Regulus and tell him I'm here. Have him come here immediately and get me out of here. If he's here, his authority as my husband will supersede James's authority as my brother, and Regulus will be able to take me home."

Kreacher replied, "Of course, Miss Freya." There was another loud pop, and the house elf was gone.

James reentered the room, a glass of water in hand. He gently removed Freya's arm from over her eyes and helped her sit up enough to drink the water. She covered his hand on the glass with hers and drank greedily. James placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head as he pulled the empty glass away from his sister. "How are you feeling? Are you ok? What were you thinking? You know better than to take multiple doses of a potion in a row like that," James babbled.

Freya leaned into James's hold. "I think I'm ok. My head hurts. James, I… I miss you, Jamie."

James held her hand in both of his, then whispered, "I miss you too, baby sis. You've been so distant since graduation. I thought that with our plan we'd see a lot more of each other than we are."

Freya caught the pain in her brother's hazel eyes, and she felt tears sting her eyes. "I'm sorry, Jamie. I'm trying my hardest to balance everything."

James blinked back tears of his own and kissed Freya's hand. "Don't be sorry, Freya. You're doing the best you can in a very difficult, very dangerous situation. I just worry about you so much. I don't want you to deal with all that danger anymore. It hurts to see you suffer like this."

Freya bit her lip for a moment, holding back tears as she looked into her brother's eyes. "Jamie, I —"

"There you are, Freya!" Regulus exclaimed as the door flew open, and the man rushed to his wife's side, pulling her away from James in order to hug her himself. Regulus's eyes were bloodshot, there were horrible dark circles under his eyes, and he appeared as though he had lost a few pounds in the two weeks that Freya had been gone. He squeezed her tightly to his chest as he declared, "I've missed you so incredibly much, Freya. I'm so so sorry; please don't ever leave me again. I'll do anything to make you happy, Freya. Please, please, come home to me."

James frowned at the married couple, but remained silent, knowing his protests would do no good now. Freya rested her head against Regulus's chest, content to lounge in his arms, and looked over at James. "I love you, Jamie," she said softly. "Thank you for taking care of me, but I want to go home."

James nodded, his temper flaring in his eyes as his jaw muscles clenched. Turning his attention to Regulus, he threatened, "So help me, if I ever hear or even suspect that you have ever hurt my sister again, even in the tiniest of ways, I will make that Lord Voldemort of yours look like a declawed kitten in comparison to what I will do to you; got it?" Regulus nodded quickly, stroking Freya's hair tenderly as he gently rocked her back and forth on the bed. Seeing the love for Regulus shining in Freya's eyes, James decided to let it end there, for his sister's sake. James gave Freya his attention, then said lovingly, "I love you too, Freya. I'll see you soon, ok? Promise me?"

Freya glanced up at Regulus, who nodded slightly. Freya answered cheerily, "Yes, you'll definitely see me soon." James nodded with a slight smile, then stood up slowly. He handed Freya's wand to Regulus, then left the room. Freya's face fell as she mumbled, "I'm so sorry, Regulus."

Regulus shook his head and continued to rock her. "Sweetheart, don't apologize. I deserved every bit of worry you caused me. I'm the one who should be sorry. I'm so sorry for what I put you through." His eyes grew wide. "You're not in here because of what I did, are you?"

Freya shook her head. "I was upset and anxious and hurting, and I missed you. I guess I was out of my mind or something. I took more than double what I should've of Draught of Peace, and it didn't sit well. I guess James and Sirius brought me here to make sure that I came through ok."

Regulus bit his lip hard to keep from crying, nearly drawing blood. After a few moments, he took a shaky deep breath, then asked, "Darling, why would you do that? You could've done damage to your body that was beyond repair."

Freya said tearfully, "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to. It just wasn't working with the first vial, so I took another, then I started drinking a third, and at that point I didn't know why I was doing anything. I just knew I felt sick and so sleepy, and everything inside my chest felt tight and hurt like hell, but also so empty. I just wanted it to go away."

"You didn't leave me of your own free will, did you?" Regulus asked softly.

Freya looked Regulus in the eyes and answered fiercely, "No. I would never leave you."

The corner of Regulus's mouth twitched up in a half smile. "Good, I'm glad," he whispered happily. He leaned down towards her mouth, then froze as he saw her flinch slightly. Just then, a Healer came into the room to check up on Freya's progress, and Regulus was shooed away from his wife. An hour later, and Freya had been checked out of St. Mungo's, and Regulus apparated her home to 12 Grimmauld Place. Freya followed him up to their bedroom, at one point stumbling on the stairs, so Regulus carried her up the last flight of stairs. Freya hesitated, but snuggled against his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck before they reached the top of the stairs. Regulus placed her gently on the bed, then whispered, "Freya, I'm so sorry. I've been going out of my mind wondering if I'd ever see you again. I'm a horrible monster for hurting you the way I did. The fact that you were in so much pain because of what I did to you... it kills me. I'm so incredibly sorry, Freya."

Freya scooted over to make room as Regulus crawled onto the bed beside her. She reached out and took his hand in hers, entwining their fingers together. "Regulus, I forgive you. I'm still working on not feeling hurt or angry about it, but I still love you, so I forgive you," she said firmly.

Teardrops slowly began to escape as Regulus fought to control his emotions. "Thank you, Freya," he choked out. "I love you too, so incredibly much." He paused a few moments, then he said, his voice steadier, "I'm looking for a way out of this for us."

Freya scrunched up her nose in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Regulus ghosted his fingertips over her cheek, observing the yellow remainders of the now-faded bruises he had formed on Freya's body. "I mean I don't want to be a Death Eater anymore. If they're going to force me to treat you like this, and then everything else they make me do…" Regulus shuddered. "It's not what I thought it was, and although my father would never admit it to anyone, it's not what he thought it would be either. He's been steadily increasing the wards and protective spells on the house ever since he found out from my mother what happened between us and Bellatrix. I think it must've been a wakeup call for him too. He's losing faith in the Dark Lord, and so am I. I want you away from all of this, safe."

Freya smiled, seeing the man her husband really was for the first time in what felt like years. "I want us both away and safe," she said softly. "Why don't we just go to the Order of the Phoenix? They'll keep us hidden and protected; the Death Easters would never find us."

"It isn't that easy," Regulus groaned. "The Dark Mark on my arm allows the Dark Lord to track me wherever I go. I can't just run away; no matter who was hiding or protecting us, he'd find us and kill us. If we do this, I have to either kill him or hold the key to his demise."

Freya frowned. "I don't know, Regulus," she murmured.

"Well, I do," Regulus said authoritatively. "And maybe, just maybe, I might be able to figure out that piece of information sooner than you'd think. He's been very cryptic lately, but very smug about it. He's done something. I think something to keep himself from dying if he should ever be attacked. I don't know what yet, but… I'm going to stay, and the two of us will keep on as if nothing has changed, but I'm going to start digging into it. I know it hasn't always, but for me, our marriage comes first, and I am going to make damn sure that we can live our lives in peace without sick, twisted bastards like the Dark Lord coming after us."

Freya blinked hard to keep herself from crying. She threw her arms around Regulus's neck, pushing him over and crawling on top of him as she hugged him as tightly as she could, hiding her face in his neck. Startled, Regulus placed his arms around her small waist automatically and gently rubbed her back. Freya whispered, "I have been waiting for so long to hear you say that, Regulus."

At that, Regulus squeezed her even tighter. "I'm sorry it took so long," he whispered back.

Freya replied happily, "As long as it's finally happened, I couldn't care less about the past." She pulled back slightly so that she could see her husband's face properly. "You can touch me again, Regulus. I know I basically told you that I never wanted you to touch me again, but I take it back now. This — you fighting to get us safely away from the Death Eaters — it makes me feel like I can trust you again."

Regulus brushed her hair out of her face, then tenderly covered her cheek with his hand. Freya leaned into his touch, a look of pure bliss on her face. Regulus asked nervously, "Are you sure?"

Freya answered, "Yes. I want you to kiss me, touch me. Make me forget all of the horrible things that happened and replace the memories with the way you love and make love to me. Please."

Regulus captured her lips, and it felt as though Freya's world had been set on fire. She leaned into it, and the slow, affectionate caresses of his hands all over her body made her tremble with need. She carefully unbuttoned his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders when she was finished. Staring at his bare chest and abdomen, Freya said accusingly, "You have lost weight while I've been gone."

Regulus flushed and looked away from her. "I've barely eaten the last couple weeks. Ever since what happened. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep… I could barely get out of bed. I managed to convince my parents you would come back, so the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord never found out you were gone. I got lucky; I could barely keep myself together enough to keep it a secret. But I did it, because I knew if I ever saw you again, if you ever came home to me, then it would be very important that it seemed you had never gone. If they had known you'd disappeared…" He shuddered. "I don't even want to begin to imagine what they would do to you, or force me to do."

Freya kissed Regulus soundly on the mouth. Pulling away, she whispered, "Thank you, Regulus. I love you."

"I love you too."

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