May 1980

They were fighting again. The days they didn't fight were few and far between. Despite the fighting, the two never stopped loving each other, and they found themselves making love on a regular basis, particularly after fights, to try to remind themselves of why they were in this situation together in the first place. Regulus was particularly moody and irritable, spending most of his time trying and failing to destroy the locket that they'd risked their lives to steal. After these failures, he usually went after Kreacher and Freya with a vengeance, taking out his frustrations on them, then drowning his guilt and frustration in alcohol.

Struggling even more than Regulus with the isolation, Freya found herself almost entirely reliant on her owls from James. The letters from Sirius during the first couple months were always more difficult to read, as he struggled with grief from her supposed death and pleaded with her to admit that it was all a lie. She always re-sealed those letters and sent them back in an effort to make it appear as though the owl couldn't find her. Her brother always did her best to keep her spirits up, not only keeping her informed with the latest news, but also sending her all her favorite things, from candies to books to music, as regularly as possible without arousing the suspicions of others. Freya often wandered around the woods and nearby Muggle village in her animagus form; observing the Muggles helped relieve some of the loneliness which she was suffering. Naturally, this habit only served to fuel more arguments between Freya and Regulus.

Now they were fighting after another failed attempt to destroy the locket. Regulus's dark spell, which Freya couldn't even begin to identify, had bounced off the locket and hit Regulus instead. He'd struggled to breathe as he instructed her how to undo the damage he'd done to himself, then smacked Freya across the face for not having managed to shield him from the spell. She'd gotten angry; they'd shouted at each other. He slapped her again, hitting the same mark as before, and she'd hexed him, storming out of the house, taking to the woods in her fox form. Even as a fox, she could feel the welt swelling around her eye painfully. She could hear Regulus shouting for her from the house, but she ignored him. She'd wait to come back until he was calm, and they could kiss and make up, again.

Suddenly, a stab of pain shot through her belly. The pain had been coming and going all morning, and Freya feared she was fully aware of the cause. As soon as she heard Regulus go back into the house, slamming the door behind him, she transfigured back into herself and disapparated, reappearing on the front stoop of a small cottage in Godric's Hollow. The cramping in her stomach increased from the pressure of apparation, making her double over in pain as she banged on the door and screamed, "James!"

The door opened with Lily standing on the other side, green eyes wide with shock. "Freya? But - but you're dead…"

James brushed past his pregnant wife, wand trained on his sister. "What did you turn my toffees into when you were four?" James demanded, eyes hard with skepticism.

As the pain in her abdomen slowly began to fade, Freya panted, "Brussel sprouts… your own… fault for… stealing my… Ice Mice…"

A grin spread on James's face. He quickly pulled Freya into the house and shut the door behind her. "Why the hell aren't you in Ireland?" he asked, trying his best to seem angry with her, but too overwhelmed with relief and happiness at seeing her in his home that he couldn't wipe the grin from his face. "Where's Regulus?"

Lily shook her head, confused. "James, what is going on? How is she —"

"I'm sorry, Lily," James said hurriedly, examining the bruised lump on Freya's temple with gentle, hesitant fingers. "They came to me for help months ago, darling. I had to hide them quickly, from everyone, and I couldn't tell anyone the truth or the whole story would've fallen apart."

"Spy games," Freya said bitterly, wincing at the pressure from James's inspection.

James sighed, focusing on his baby sister again. "What happened?"

Despite the pain to her eye, Freya leaned into James's tender touch. The past two years or so had been absolute hell, and she had missed her brother more than anything in the world. "It's stupid, really," Freya mumbled. "I think I'm in labor. I can take his anger, his jealousy, the fighting, the loneliness, the pain, but I get slapped with childbirth, and suddenly, I'm a frightened little kid and have to run away to my big brother." James frowned, and Freya continued, "I'm sorry, Jamie. I never should've —"

"Don't worry about it," James dismissed casually. "Lily, I'm so sorry I lied to you about her, but I —"

"Had to protect her; I get it," Lily sighed, shaking her head. "I don't like it, but I get it. St. Mungo's?"

James eyed Freya. "What do you think? Risk it?" he asked.

Another wave of pain crashed on Freya, and she grunted, grabbing James's arm hard enough to leave bruises as she tried to hold herself together. "Yes, yes, I don't care. I just want a healthy baby."

"Is Regulus all right?" James asked as he guided Freya to the fireplace. "Why isn't he with you?"

"He's probably drinking again," Freya snarled. "Leave him in hiding. Let the world keep thinking he's dead." James and Lily both frowned but neither commented.

The tiny baby wrapped in pink slept softly in Freya's tired arms. Freya yawned before continuing to stare in amazement at the red-faced little girl. Her head already had a fine coat of black hair, and beneath her closed eyelids, Freya knew her baby had hazel eyes that looked exactly like her own. Glancing around, Freya saw that Lily had fallen asleep in a nearby chair, and James was standing guard outside her room at St. Mungo's. Freya was just about to put her baby down in her little crib when she saw something she couldn't believe. Sirius had approached James in the hallway, and the two talked for a minute before her brother-in-law rushed into her room, James staying in the hallway. Sirius barked, "You're alive? What the hell, Freya? Why didn't you tell me? Where's my idiot… brother…" He trailed off, finally noticing the baby that had been sleeping in Freya's arms as she woke and began to cry from the sudden ruckus. Lily groaned in her corner, rubbing her eyes before standing and joining James in the corridor.

Freya sighed. "I had no choice, Sirius. James was the only one who knew. Regulus and I couldn't tell anyone other than our Secret Keeper or no one would have believed we were really dead. You had to believe it, too."

Sirius nodded. "Ok." Freya frowned, the lack of argument from Sirius disconcerting. "Is that my niece?" he asked softly as the baby screamed its frustration at being awake. Freya nodded, shushing her child and trying to coax her back to sleep. "Can - can I hold her?" Eyes wide with surprise, Freya nodded again and handed the baby girl to Sirius. He shushed her and rocked her gently, and her tiny fist clenched around his finger as she calmed down, hazel eyes watching Sirius's gray ones with utter fascination. "What's her name?"

Freya smiled tiredly. "Annabelle Vega Black."

"She's beautiful," Sirius whispered as Annabelle yawned, her grip on his finger loosening slightly as she drifted off to sleep again. Sirius took a deep breath, then said, "Freya, I've got to tell you something, and you're going to hate me for it."

"What?" Freya asked, not sure she wanted to know.

Sirius cleared his throat. "Before I tell you, I want you to know the truth. I love you; I always have. I was stupid letting you go back at school. I was scared to commit when I was so young, but I also thought you'd always be mine, even if we weren't able to be together. Clearly, I was incredibly wrong, and I'm sorry…"

"Sirius," Freya interrupted. "What did you do?"

"Please, believe me, I never meant for it to happen, and I wouldn't have gone there if I'd known he'd…"

"You went to see Regulus?" Freya gasped.

"James told me where he was while you were in labor," Sirius admitted. "He told me that Regulus had been treating you like shit while you were in hiding together, and I had to confront him about it. I couldn't let him keep doing that to you without at least trying to stop him."

"Sirius, what did you do?" Freya hissed.

Sirius looked up at her, eyes filled with guilt and tears. "Freya, I… he's dead." Every muscle in Freya's body turned to stone; she couldn't breathe. Her heart monitor said it was still beating, but she couldn't feel it in her chest. Sirius rushed, "Please, let me explain. It was self-defense; I swear, it was self-defense."

Her voice somehow finding its way out of her throat, "Y-you… you killed him?" Sirius took a step back from Freya's bed, still holding Annabelle. "What the hell did you do?" Freya demanded.

Sirius knocked on the door, and he couldn't say he was surprised when Regulus opened the door with red eyes and a bottle of firewhiskey in his hand. "Hey, baby brother," Sirius sneered. I think we need to talk, don't you?"

"Go to hell, Sirius," Regulus snarled, walking away into the living room of the house, not bothering to shut the front door. Sirius followed him into the house, ignoring the Slytherin's remark. "Freya's not here," Regulus sighed. "So obviously you didn't come here for her."

"Actually I did come here for her," Sirius replied casually. "You're not treating our girl right, baby brother. You're still abusing her, treating her the way Dad treated the rest of us. I'm not going to stand by and let you hurt her anymore."

Regulus snorted, pouring himself another glass. "She loves me, Sirius. She'll never fall for you, no matter how many times you try to play her little Gryffindor knight in shining armor."

"Right, well if I'm playing her hero, that would make you the villain, you know," Sirius reminded.

Regulus drained the glass in his hand, slamming it down on the glass coffee table. "Maybe I am the villain," Regulus snickered. "I'm the monster that hides under children's beds to scare them. I'm the bad guy who kidnaps the princess. I'm the monster that gobbles up good little girls and spits them back out, leaving them every bit as much as a monster as I am."

"That never had to be you, Regulus," Sirius said. "You could've chosen to be one of the good guys. You could've been her hero."

Laughing fully, Regulus stood up, fingering his wand. "I tried that, and you know, being the good isn't really working for me." Taking a step toward his brother, he mocked, "What, did you think you'd come here, maybe find me in an emotional state, take me in your arms, and we'd be brothers again? Don't make me laugh. You'll never be my brother again, you blood traitor, and you'll never be able to take Freya away from me. My hold on her mind is too powerful for you to break."

"Are you saying you've been using the Imperius Curse on her this whole time?" Sirius asked suspiciously.

Regulus chuckled. "No. I never needed to. Sweet, innocent pureblood like her? She wanted to believe the best of me, no matter what evidence there was against me, to prove I'm really the big bad monster, and oh, did she ever believe what she wanted to see."

"You never loved her," Sirius accused.

"Of course, I loved her," Regulus jeered. "But once the Dark Arts take hold of you, they never let go. Their hold on me has always been greater than hers."

Regulus twirled his wand in his fingers casually, little green sparks lighting from the tip, and Sirius watched him warily. "You used her."

"I gave her what she wanted," Regulus shouted, startling Sirius, though the older Black didn't dare to show it. "She wanted me, big brother; she fell in love with a monster and asked to be with me forever. Damn it, I gave her what she wanted. It's not my fault she chose to burn in hell with me."

Sirius pulled his own wand from his pocket slowly, eyeing his brother warily as he poured himself another drink. "Finish your drink, baby brother," Sirius said firmly. "Then I'm arresting you for domestic abuse, rape, and many, many other crimes, including being a Death Eater."

Regulus snickered, shaking his whiskey and making the ice rattle against the sides of the glass. "You are signing my death warrant, Sirius," he said, and when he looked at Sirius, his eyes were full a happy madness that Sirius had never seen in his brother before. His mother, maybe, but never his brother.

Sirius said, "I'm sorry, but you've left me no choice. I've got to protect Freya and your baby from the damage you could do to them. She's in labor at St. Mungo's, by the way. Maybe Crouch will be generous and let you visit one last time to meet your baby before sending you to Azkaban."

"I can assure you, Sirius," Regulus said slowly, setting the glass down again. "I have no intention of going to Azkaban." Turning his wand on Sirius, he shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"

Sirius jumped out of the way at the last second, and the two brothers managed to both disarm each other. Regulus took a swing at Sirius, and Sirius punched back, making contact with Regulus's abdomen. Regulus bent over in pain, grabbed hold of Sirius's arm pulled it behind his back, snapping it and making Sirius cry out in pain. Regulus wrapped an arm around Sirius's throat, choking him, and Sirius backed him toward a wall, but the pair tripped over the glass table and fell on it, smashing it. Sirius panted, crawling toward his wand as Regulus stood slowly, pulling a long shard of glass out of his side. Sirius reached for his wand as Regulus came out him with the shard of glass. "Reg, don't. No, don't," Sirius pleaded, regaining his hold on his wand. "Expelliarmus!" The shard of glass flew from Regulus's hand, and he stooped over and picked up his wand from the ground as Sirius aimed at him. "Regulus, please," Sirius begged. "Don't make me do this."

Regulus smirked, the sanity gone from his eyes as he raised his wand. Sirius spotted a large piece of glass on the floor nearby and summoned it to himself as Regulus shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" The Unforgivable Curse hit the glass as it hovered in front of Sirius, reflecting off the item and rebounding on Regulus.

Regulus fell to the floor, and Sirius dropped the glass to the ground and hurried over to his brother. "Regulus? No, please, Regulus," Sirius moaned. "Don't be dead, Regulus, please, no…"

Sobbing, Freya cried, "How could you? He was your brother!"

"I never meant to hurt him," Sirius insisted, tugging a little pink hat over Annabelle's head. "He came at me, I had no choice."

"Of course, you had a choice," Freya snapped. "You could have stunned him; you could have paralyzed him. There were a million things you could have done instead, but you chose to kill him!"

"You weren't there, Freya," Sirius growled. "He was a mad man, completely out of his mind. There was nothing I could do."

"You could have left us alone!" Freya screeched, making Annabelle start crying again. Sirius rocked and shushed his niece as Freya continued, "You could have stayed the hell away from him, and me. We were doing ok. You could have left us the bloody hell alone."

Tears streamed down Freya's cheeks as James entered the room, taking Annabelle from Sirius and stepping between Freya and Sirius. "That's enough, both of you," James hissed.

"Prongs —"

"No, Sirius, I said enough," James repeated. "Get out of here. Let my sister grieve. And you," he said, wheeling on Freya. "I'm sorry, but Regulus was doomed from the minute he took the Dark Mark, and you chose to get involved with him after he made that choice. You screwed yourself over there. I get that you loved him, but he never treated you right. You're free now; no one is going to hurt you ever again. Grieve for the loss of your husband and the father of your child, then move on."

Sirius opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and walked out, closing the door behind him. He stopped in the hallway outside the door as Remus walked up, keeping the werewolf from entering the room and speaking with him quickly, likely explaining the situation to him. Freya said tiredly, "James —"

"Hush, now," James said gently. "I'll take care of Annabelle. You're exhausted, and you just found out that Regulus is dead. Get some sleep; you need it. We'll all still be here in the morning." Freya sighed, nodding, ignoring the sting of tears in her eyes and trying to lay down. "And Foxy." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Welcome home," James said, leaning down and kissing Freya's forehead. "You don't ever have to leave again. You don't have to run; you don't have to hide. You're home."