November 1979

The start of November brought with it the death of Orion Black. Healers declared his death to be due to unknown natural causes. Regulus took his father's death hard, and Freya struggled to comfort him every day leading up to the funeral. The night before the ceremony, Regulus spent the entire night sobbing with his head in his wife's lap; neither slept that night. The funeral was a quiet affair three days after Orion's death which included all Black family relatives, with the exception of Sirius. Walburga and Bellatrix both seemed almost smug during the proceedings. Freya held Regulus's hand tightly in hers, trying her hardest to console the man whose face betrayed none of the storm of emotions brewing just under the surface. After the funeral was over, Freya and Regulus sat in their bed, Freya wrapped securely in her husband's arms, reading the Daily Prophet together. Regulus suddenly broke the silence by saying, "I want you to call in sick to work for the rest of the week."

Freya looked up at him, furrowing her brow in confusion. "Why?" she asked softly. "Is the Dark Lord planning an attack on the Auror office or something? Shouldn't I know about something like that?"

Regulus shook his head. "It's nothing like that," he muttered. "This is all me. I'm worried about your safety, and the baby's. This last week or two has been rough around the Dark Lord. He's done something, something really really bad if my suspicions are correct. I don't want to tell you in case I'm wrong, I'd hate to scare you for no reason, but even if I am wrong, I want you to stay in this room. I don't want you anywhere near my mother. She —" Regulus choked up, and Freya realized that tears were filling his grey eyes. He took a deep breath, then started again. "My father was losing faith in the Dark Lord too. That's why he put up all those protective enchantments on the house that weren't here before. My mum must've found out, because… I – well, I think she poisoned him, and I think Bellatrix helped her."

Freya bit her lip as Regulus began crying again. "I'm so sorry," she mumbled, feeling rather pathetic that it was the only thing she could think of to say.

Regulus took several slow, deep breaths, calming himself and wiping away his tears. "My mum is going mad, and Bellatrix has been out of her mind for a long time now. I want you to keep as far away from them both as you can, and never eat or drink anything that either I or Kreacher hadn't tasted first. You never know with her; she might come after you next, not knowing that the only heir to the House of Black is currently forming in your belly."

Freya nodded slowly, still not sure why he insisted on keeping her pregnancy a complete secret. After they had found out, Regulus had compelled her to write James and Lily to tell them that the test was negative, and he had written the same to Barty Crouch, Jr. Of course, as soon as she had gone the chance, she had met with James in secret the way she had so many times to betray the Death Eaters, and when she had told him the truth, James had been overjoyed at the idea of being an uncle, even if the father was a Death Eater. "What are you going to do?" she asked uncertainly.

Regulus sighed. "The Dark Lord has asked to borrow a house elf for a task. I've volunteered Kreacher with instructions for him to return to me no matter what. I'm hoping Kreacher will gain information that will confirm or deny my suspicions about things. I'm giving him Kreacher in the morning. I'll stay here with you until he returns to us. After that, well… we'll see."

"Ok," Freya whispered, pulling herself closer to Regulus and laying her head on his chest. She blinked back tears as she whispered, "Regulus, I —" She paused, swallowing hard. "I'm scared," she said, barely audible, burying her face in his bare chest.

Regulus squeezed her tightly to him, kissing the top of her head and breathing the scent of her hair in deeply. "So am I, sweetheart," he whispered."

Two days later, Kreacher turned up in their bedroom nearly dead. Regulus spent days nursing the house elf back to health before he was finally well enough to resume his duties, causing Regulus to secretly bring in another elf to cover for Kreacher to Walburga. Finally, Regulus sat down with Freya in their bedroom, and said quietly, "My suspicions were correct. The Dark Lord has done something truly horrible, and now he cannot die."

Freya turned white, fear filling her eyes. "What – what do you mean, he can't die?" Freya stammered.

Regulus sighed. "The Dark Lord has created a horcrux." At the confused look on Freya's face, he explained, "It's the worst kind of dark magic. You split your soul in half by committing a murder, then you take one of the pieces and put it in an object, and that way you're protected if something happens to you, and as long as the horcrux hasn't been destroyed, you cannot die, that piece of your soul will live on and can be used to resurrect you."

"So, even if the Dark Lord dies, he won't be truly gone," Freya said with a shudder. "What are we going to do?"

Regulus looked down, suddenly unwilling to meet her gaze. "I'm going to get Kreacher to take me to where the Dark Lord used Kreacher to hide it, and then I'm going to steal it. Kreacher will make it back alive with the horcrux, but… I'll probably die."

Freya turned a violent shade of green, and she had to force herself not to vomit before she protested violently, "No way, Regulus! No way in hell I'm letting you die. I'm going with you."

Regulus snapped his eyes up to meet hers, fury glowing in his face. "Bloody hell, no. I'm not risking the lives of my wife and child on a suicide mission like this. You can forget that."

Freya glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest, but knowing he was right — she couldn't risk the baby's life either. Her own life she wouldn't hesitate to give up to protect Regulus, but she couldn't kill her baby in the process. "Fine, I won't go along. At least let me contact my brother. Let somebody from the Order go with you; give yourself a chance to come home alive, please. Don't kill yourself like this; your wife and daughter need you."

Regulus snorted, raising an eyebrow at her with a arrogant look on his face. "What makes you think our child is a girl?"

Freya continued to narrow her hazel eyes at Regulus and replied, "I don't know. Just a feeling. You're avoiding the topic at hand."

Regulus shook his head, standing up from his seat beside Freya on the bed. He snapped, "I'm not avoiding the topic; the subject is closed. I'm going, and I'm going solely with Kreacher. You will stay here in this room, and will not leave it again until we return, and if Kreacher returns without me, then you'd better damn well get out of here and go somewhere safe. No matter what, Kreacher is bringing that horcrux back here to you. The two of you will likely have to destroy it without me. Take it with you and go stay with someone you trust. Your brother maybe, or mine… Just somewhere safe."

Freya began to argue, "But —"

"No," Regulus shouted, the angry word making Freya flinch. "End of discussion."

The next day, Regulus was in the shower, preparing himself for his attempt to steal the horcrux. Freya sat in their room on the bed, brushing tears off her cheeks as she called out for the house elf. Kreacher appeared and awaited her orders expectantly. Freya said softly, "I don't care what Regulus has ordered you to do, Kreacher. I know you'll take my side on this one. I'm commanding you to make sure that no matter what, Regulus comes home to his wife and child. He's willing to risk killing himself, but I'm not willing to lose him. No matter what, bring that man home to me."

Kreacher bowed low, his large ears brushing the floor. "Yes, Mistress Freya," Kreacher answered obediently.

It was 3 a.m. before Kreacher apparated into the bedroom, dragging a soaking wet Regulus over his shoulder. The wizard nearly crushed the poor house elf, and Freya rushed over to help Regulus on to the bed, laying him down. Remembering everything Regulus had done to heal the house elf of the same poison, Freya began nursing Regulus back to health. When he was feeling better a couple days later, Regulus croaked accusingly, "You changed Kreacher's orders behind my back. I had told him to save himself and get out. Instead, he rushed into a crowd of Inferi, dived into the water after me, and saved me. I don't know how he managed it either, I was so far gone by then."

Freya simply nodded, watching his face with tears in her eyes. "Yes, I told him to save you no matter what the cost. Instead, he managed to bring back what I imagine must be the horcrux and you. You haven't any idea how much I love that elf right now. When he came back, as soon as I was sure you were going to live, I kissed him right on that great big nose of his. You should've seen him blush."

Regulus smiled slightly and brought a hand up, barely touching her face before letting his hand fall back down to the bed. Freya took his hand where it lay and squeezed it. "Thank you," he said hoarsely. "I love you."

"I love you too," Freya replied gently. "Now, please, let yourself rest. It's the only way you're going to get better." Regulus nodded, and a few moments later he was asleep again.

Freya left Regulus in Kreacher's capable care to meet James in the sketchiest Muggle bar she'd ever seen. She found her brother waiting for her, leaning against the bar playing with the drink in his hand but not actually consuming it. Freya sat down beside him with a heavy sigh. James wrapped his arms around her instantly, and she gratefully leaned into him. James buried his face in her hair, reassuring himself that she was alive, healthy, and whole. "How are you doing, baby sis?" he asked softly.

Freya sniffled, then whispered, "Things are bad, Jamie. Really, really bad. We have to get out, but we don't know what to do. I'm sure Regulus has ideas he hasn't told me yet, but he's still recovering and —"

James frowned as he pulled away and sat down on the bar stool next to Freya. "Recovering? Recovering from what?"

Freya sighed. "The Dark Lord, he… Oh, Jamie, it's awful, it's really awful… Regulus found his weakness and is ready to exploit it, but as hard as Kreacher and I have tried we can't figure out how to destroy it. As soon as he finds out it's missing, though, he'll kill us all for sure."

James placed a hand on Freya's shoulder, shaking her gently. "Slow down, Freya," he pleaded. "You're leaving out a ton of information. Start over, and include all the details."

Freya took a deep breath, blinking away tears, and tried again. "Regulus discovered that the Dark Lord had made a horcrux to keep himself from dying. Regulus, he – he stole it from him, right out from under his nose. We've no idea when he'll realize it's gone, but as soon as he does, he'll know it was Regulus. The Dark Lord will murder us both in his fury, and if we can't destroy the bloody thing then it'll all have been for nothing. We have to go into hiding, but if the Dark Lord knows we're still out there, then he'll never quit looking for us, and thanks to Regulus's Dark Mark, he'll find us."

James sat there slack jawed, processing the terrifying information. "Oh, Freya," he moaned, shaking his head.

Freya stared at him with wide, fearful eyes. "Jamie, please, don't tell anyone. Not the Order, not Dumbledore, not Sirius or Lily. Absolutely no one. Please, I'm begging you," she implored, grabbing at James's sleeve and digging her nails into his arm.

James answered, "Of course, Freya. I'll keep the secret. You know I'd do anything to protect you. I'll even help you go into hiding without being looked for, but how do you plan on doing that?"

Freya shook her head. "I have no idea. Regulus is the one who's so good at deceiving people. I mean, I can fool people, but this is too big. He's going to have to come up with this one." She paused, wishing for a moment that she was allowed to drink alcohol in her condition. She certainly felt things would go smoother with Regulus if she were slightly inebriated. "Regulus doesn't know that I've been passing you information. Actually, he doesn't realize I've had any contact with you that he wasn't around for. He's going to be so pissed when he realizes I've told you all this; when he finds out what's been going on, he's going to kill me," she grumbled.

James sighed. "He won't kill you," he said, as though it pained him to admit that his brother-in-law might have a decent quality. "He loves you and that baby too much, probably."

Freya snorted. "Of course he won't literally kill me," she teased. "If he ever did try that, you and I both know that I'd drop him to the floor in a heartbeat. Not dead, of course. But he'd wake up in Azkaban, and he'd know who put him there," she said thoughtfully. Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she smiled at James. "Of course, that's something I'll never have to worry about again. He's leaving the Death Eaters as soon as he wakes up and tells me how he plans to do that."

James nodded, a slightly amused smile playing on his lips. "Well, Lily and I have a few safe houses all over the place. How does a nice little isolated cottage in Ireland under a Fidelius Charm sound to you? It'd just be the two of you, and you could have yourself a house elf, that one Regulus is so bloody fond of maybe, if you like, to keep food supplied and whatnot, so you'd never have to leave and you'd stay safely under the charm."

Freya nodded. "That sounds perfect, Jamie. Thank you."

When Regulus woke up again the next day, he felt like his old self again. He smiled when he saw Freya sitting on the bed next to him, reading some book on advanced charms. He pulled himself up and kissed her sloppily on the cheek, making her giggle. "Thank you, Freya," he said happily. "I would've died back there if it weren't for your order to Kreacher. You saved me."

Freya turned and kissed Regulus hard on the lips, only breaking away when she absolutely had to for air. "Thank you," she replied softly. "For going after that bloody horcrux and saving us from living like this anymore."

"Where is the locket now?" Regulus asked, his face suddenly filled with worry.

Freya frowned. "In the drawer of the nightstand," she answered slowly. "Do you know how to destroy the bloody thing? I've been researching for days in every book Kreacher brings me from the library downstairs, but I can't find anything useful."

Regulus shrugged. "I have no idea. For now, we keep it hidden, away from the Dark Lord, and we do the same with ourselves. We have to leave here, tonight. Send an owl to your brother. Tell him that the worst has happened and that you saw me die tonight beyond a shadow of a doubt, and that you can't go on without me. Tell him you're committing suicide. They'll never find my body, so the world will believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Death Eaters murdered me for some reason or another. The assumption when they can't find your body will be that you were compelled to write that letter at wandpoint by a Death Eater and that you were murdered too. I don't know where we'll hide, but we'll figure out something."

"Umm, about that," Freya mumbled. "There's a big something I need to tell you, and you're not going to like it."

Regulus frowned, narrowing his eyes at his wife as he stood to change clothes. "What's that?" he asked suspiciously.

Freya fidgeted nervously under his steady gaze. "Well, umm, about that brother of mine, James…" She swallowed hard, then the words poured out of her mouth faster than she could stop them. "James and I have been meeting in secret ever since I became an Auror. That's why so many Death Eater plans are getting screwed up by the Order of the Phoenix. I've been telling James everything the Death Eaters are up to that I know of, and every time I sabotage the Aurors he corrects it through the Order. I met with him last night and told him all about the horcrux and our need to escape. I can tell him to feed the others the story about our deaths, and they'll believe it. He's offered us a safe house in Ireland under the protection of the Fidelius Charm, and he'd be our Secret Keeper. I'm sorry; I know it was dangerous and stupid and put us at risk, but I couldn't stand by and actively do harm to people I love without counteracting it somehow. James is the only one who knows about what I do as a double agent. Just please, forgive me and take him up on his offer of a safe haven."

Regulus was absolutely livid — Freya could see it in his eyes. He opened his mouth two or three times as though to say something, then thought better of it, and shut his mouth again. After several minutes, he said coldly, "Pack lightly. The less you bring, the better. Bare essentials. We don't want people like my mother taking a look around up here and realizing we're not dead, we've just run off somewhere. Tell Potter to be ready to enact our plan as soon as possible. I want to be gone from here within the hour." Freya, dumbfounded by his callous reaction, stared up at him dejectedly, then nodded and stood to pack her belongings.

James stood with his sister and brother-in-law and their house elf outside of a cottage in northern Ireland surrounded by green woods, and he frowned at the distance that had been created between the pair that he had noticed as he had cast the Fidelius Charm with them. Whatever it was that divided them, it made his baby sister unhappy, and James didn't like that. He decided that he'd have to fix that, even as his sister hugged him and thanked him for everything. James laughed off her praise. "Ah, it's nothing," he said with an easy smile. "It's what any good big brother would do for their baby sis."

Regulus snorted. "Sirius would never do this for me," he sneered.

James feigned a look of deep offense. "Why, Regulus, you're Sirius's little sister? What are you doing married to my Freya, then?" he asked in as serious a tone as he could muster, and Freya couldn't help the laugh that escaped her. Regulus glowered at them both, and James continued more soberly, "Honestly, though, if Sirius knew everything that I knew about the two of you, you know damn well that he would do the exact same thing. He's still your brother, Regulus. He hates that you're a Death Eater, and he hates that you've stolen the heart of the woman he loves and married her, but he still loves you, his brother. He'd protect you if he thought you needed protecting for the right reasons."

Regulus nodded. "Thanks," he said softly. James gave his sister one last hug and left the couple alone. Regulus dismissed Kreacher with a wave of his hand, and ushered Freya inside, casting nervous glances around them before shutting the front door behind them. Freya collapsed exhaustedly on the couch, and by the time Regulus turned around to face her, she was asleep. Regulus sighed, resigned to letting her sleep, when she suddenly rubbed her face, awake again. He tilted his head as he watched her, worried. "Are you all right, Freya?" he asked as he sat down next to her.

Freya frowned, curling up in her corner of the couch with her knees pulled up against her chest. "Yeah, I guess," she yawned. "I'm just glad to be safe and away from the Death Eaters. We can just live our lives however we want, as long as we stay in the house at least. We can be normal."

Regulus furrowed his brow, reaching out and delicately tracing her jaw with his fingers before tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "No, I meant physically. You were just asleep for under a minute. Are you feeling all right?"

Freya sighed. "I haven't slept since before you went with Kreacher after the horcrux. I couldn't sleep, I was so worried about you after you came back, then as soon as you were well we met up with James and all this. I wouldn't be surprised if I fell asleep for a few seconds."

"That's not good for you or the baby," Regulus said firmly, annoyance showing in his eyes.

Freya rolled her eyes. "Then don't go nearly getting yourself murdered anymore, and I won't spend three days with no sleep nursing you back to health."

"You need to go to bed. Now." Regulus's voice had an authoritative tone that left no room for discussion.

Freya's mouth tightened into a fine line. She shook her head. "You're such a stubborn prick sometimes," she muttered.

"Why's that?" Regulus growled. "Because I'm willing to do whatever it takes to protect us while you run around putting us in danger at every turn? Because I always tell you what I'm doing when it could possibly in some way touch your life, yet you continuously go sneaking around behind my back with the very people who want me dead or arrested?" Regulus shook his head, a bitter smile on his face. "Yet I'm the one who's wrong here."

"Damn it, Regulus," Freya snapped loudly. "I've told you I'm sorry, ok? I did not sneak around with people who wanted you dead. I had meetings with my bloody brother that I kept a secret from you, the same brother who is fucking protecting you from being tortured and murdered ruthlessly by your bloody Dark Lord," she said, ridiculing the former Death Eater's use of the title.

Regulus stood up, running a hand through his hair. Glaring at Freya, he shouted, "I would've given anything for you and that baby, to keep you out of harm's way, even if it meant giving up my life! You damn well nearly threw me under the bus just to clear your bloody conscious! If you'd have even thought about it for five minutes instead of just rushing in like a bloody Gryffindor, you'd have realized that if you had gotten caught by either side, the Dark Lord would have killed us both! How do you think that would have ended for our little baby?"

Freya screeched back, standing up herself, blue sparks shooting involuntarily from the end of the wand in her hand, "I am a bloody Gryffindor, Regulus! You seem to keep forgetting that I'm not a sneaky, slimy little snake like you, and I don't want to be! I hated the way we lived, and I was damn careful when I met with James. I never got caught. Don't you dare tell me that I was wrong for being willing to put myself at risk to try to protect innocent lives!"

Regulus growled, a deep, guttural sound in his chest, pulling out his wand and throwing a curse at a vase under the window behind him in anger. A bright blue light pulsed from his wand and hit the vase, and the resulting explosion threw pieces of the porcelain vase all over the room. A shard cut Freya's cheek, while another lodged itself in her shoulder. She cried out and dropped down onto the couch, clutching at the injured joint. Regulus had managed to protect himself with a Shield Charm, and he gasped when he realized Freya was hurt, immediately kneeling down in front of her and placing his hands over hers on her shoulder. "Freya, I'm so sorry," he blubbered. "I never meant to…"

Freya shrieked, "Just get away from me!"

The vicious fury in his wife's eyes nearly made Regulus obey Freya's command, but he steeled himself and snapped, "No. Don't be stupid, Freya. Let me heal you. You can't get that out yourself, and I'm the only one here who can do it for you. Now just shut up and let me fix you."

Freya glared angrily at Regulus, but otherwise made no move to pull away. Regulus pushed her hands away from her wound, and as gently as possible pulled the piece of porcelain from where it had lodged itself just under her right collarbone. Freya whimpered as he took it out, forcing herself to glare at the ceiling as tears welled in her eyes. Once the shard of vase had been removed, Regulus tenderly cleaned the wound and healed it completely. He moved to heal the cut on her face, only to find Freya's wand quickly pointed in his face. "All right," she hissed. "You've done your duty to the mother of your child. Now leave me alone."

"That's an awfully deep gash, Freya," Regulus reasoned. "It'll scar your face; I doubt you want that to happen."

"Then I'll heal the damn thing myself," she retorted, crawling toward the other end of the couch away from him and standing up. "Just leave me the hell alone." She stormed off down the hall, finding the master bedroom and slamming the door behind her and locking it with a spell that couldn't be undone with a simple Alohomora, leaving Regulus behind on his knees in the living room with his head in his hands.