Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.

A/N: Thanks to givetherabbitthefreakintrix, Blizzen, and sheeiilaa for the reviews!

Chapter 23

"Nice to see those beautiful eyes again, Miss Potter."

"What happened to me this time?" I muttered, sitting up slowly. "I don't think I was around Dark Magic long enough to take me out like that." Before Madam Pomfrey could even open her mouth, though, the doors flung open and Harry marched in.

"What the hell were you doing at Malfoy Manor?"

"I'll leave you two some time alone," Madam Pomfrey said before she quickly departed.

"Well?" he added after I didn't answer. I sighed and paused for a moment, refusing to look at him.

"Don't take this too bad, alright?"

"Take what too bad?" Harry asked, still angry but now sounding apprehensive. I paused again – so long that Harry had to repeat his question.

"Obviously you know how Draco was supposed to give me that potion, but that he didn't and just pretended to, and what, exactly, it does." Harry nodded slowly. "Well, on Tuesday, Riddle had a talk with Draco about how he was already getting tired of having to use him to 'control' me. So, he told Draco to make me obey him constantly as well and, since then, I've been 'forced' to go have one-on-ones with him twice so far."

Harry was silent. I finally looked up from my lap at him and saw his face a mixture of emotions, from anger, to disappointment, to terror, to confusion.

"You mean…just you and him? Alone?" I nodded slowly. At first, he seemed to settle on being angry, but then he looked horrified and he started shaking his head slowly. "No…no! Nick, he's going to kill you!"

"No, he's not."

"How can you be sure?"

"I just…I just am. Please believe me. Trust me, Harry, I know what I'm doing." Harry sighed and sat in the chair next to me, taking my hands in his and squeezing them gently.

"I do, I swear," he said quietly. "I'd trust you with my life, Nick. But…it's him I don't trust. How can you be sure he won't just get pissed off one day and kill you out of fury?"

"I –"

"Nicki, listen, he'll just kill you, we both know he will."

"But –"

"You can't be sure that he won't –"

"Yes, I can," I contradicted.

"How?"

"Because…because Riddle's in love with me," I blurted. I didn't think it was a good idea for him to know that – I didn't think it was a good idea for him to even know that I had to obey Riddle and see him in one-on-one meetings, but now he knew this and…I was horrified about how he would take it.

Harry was silent. I was terrified to look at him. It's funny that I'm not even afraid of Riddle, but I'm afraid of my own brother.

"No," Harry said quietly, defiantly. "No…he can't. He doesn't." I sighed, annoyed, trying desperately to evade the topic.

"Why do people think it's so impossible for somebody to be in love with me?"

"It's not that it's impossible for anybody to be in love with you, it's just impossible for him to be. You know as well as I – no, actually you know better than I – how impossible it is for him to love! And, even if he does, he'll probably murder you or something and say that he did it because he loves you. It's too dangerous!"

"I know how dangerous it is," I replied quietly. "But the risks are worth it!"

"Mhmm, and what have you learned so far that I don't know?" I didn't reply. How could I? He was right; I didn't know anything about their plans. All I knew was…shit, all I knew was that he loved me. Although I suppose I could use that to my advantage.

"Me?" Harry continued. "I know a lot of things. Like –"

"Okay, I get it, so far I haven't done much, but I will, I swear!" I exclaimed. "Please, Harry, I've already had Regulus down my throat about this, don't give me that talk again."

"Fine," Harry replied, standing up so quickly that the chair squealed. "I'll just talk to Dumbledore about it." He turned to leave, but I grabbed his wrist before he could get far.

"Harry, please –"

"Nothing you say or do will change my mind," he said. "I care about you, Nicki, I love you so much. I don't want to see you hurt." He yanked his wrist out of my hand.

"Harry –!"

"Mr. Potter, if you're going to rile up my patients I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Madam Pomfrey said as she hurried out of her office.

"That's fine," Harry snapped, still staring at me furiously. "I was just leaving." I sighed, admitting defeat, as he hurried from the Hospital Wing, slamming the door behind him. I huffed, sat back and crossed my arms.

"Is everything alright, Miss Potter?" Madam Pomfrey asked, staring after Harry.

"Fine. Can you tell me what happened to me now?"

"I'm not exactly sure," she replied. "I can't quite figure it out. It seems the Dark Magic came back into your system somehow. Were you around any that you know of?"

"I…I don't think so…" I said, thinking. "I mean…nothing that could make me pass out that fast…maybe…" Madam Pomfrey sighed a long sigh and sat down on the bed.

"Look, Miss Potter, you may not think it, but I'm in the Order too," she said quietly after a moment. "I never come to meetings because I'm always here, but I'm still in it. I know a lot more than I should, and I know your position. Were you at Malfoy Manor recently?"

I stared at her for a long moment before I spilled it out to her, everything that I had been through that night – or, rather, that morning. She listened while I stumbled over my words to get it out, and, finally, when I was finished, she said quietly,

"It was probably that curse. I don't know, exactly, what it was, but I've heard of it before. It used to be really popular, but now hardly anybody knows of it. It's really Dark Magic – it doesn't take much to kill a person. But still, it doesn't seem as if you've had enough…"

"Then what is it?" I asked quietly, almost dreading the answer.

"I'm going to run a few more tests, if that's alright." I nodded slowly. "Alright, lay back, and I'm going to put a Sleeping Charm on you for a while, alright?" I nodded again as I laid back and stared up at the ceiling.

I didn't hear her say anything, but I suddenly felt drowsy, even though I had been wide-awake just seconds before. It lasted for a few seconds before everything went black….

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Well…I figured out what has been causing you to react so strongly to it."

"What's that?" I was terrified to know the answer. Not only was I afraid that it would be something so horrible I wouldn't be able to go back to Malfoy Manor ever, but I was afraid because I had an idea what it could be, and only hoped to Merlin that I was wrong.

"The Dark Magic never fully left your system. I finally got it all out now, though. There shouldn't have been enough in you to cause you to react that way, though."

"Then…then why did I?"

I thought I already knew the answer, and, by Madam Pomfrey's next words, it was obvious that I did.

"…You sound as though you already know."

Shit.

I buried my face in my hands and nodded slowly. It can't be true…it can't be… I thought desperately. But another side of me was saying, but it is.

I hate this.

"Yeah…yeah, I know," I replied quietly after a minute. "I've been thinking that might be why. But…I didn't want it to. That's why I never brought it up."

"Does anybody know, besides you and me?" I shook my head slowly.

"No. I'm terrified, that's why I never told anybody. I didn't want it to be true…"

"There's still the chance that it could be wrong," she said after a moment. I looked up at her hopefully. She explained quickly. "It's quite early to tell for sure. Sometimes, after a traumatic incident like your recent near-death one, your body just…reacts strangely and things like this happen."

"How can I know for sure?" I asked.

"I'd recommend checking the Muggle way in a couple hours, days even." I knew what that meant, but didn't reply. We were both silent for a long moment. Finally, Madam Pomfrey set her hand on my shoulder gently, and I looked up from my.

"You need to tell somebody. I don't care who – Regulus, Lily, James, Harry. Somebody. You need someone to help you through this, whether it's true or not, at least until you're ready to tell everybody else." I nodded slowly.

"Yeah…I know…"

"You can leave, if you want," she said. "You're probably anxious to see your family. It is eight."

"That's not too bad," I replied. "Only eight hours since I left. I'm sure they're all fine." She stopped, as she had started for her office, and turned back to face me.

"Hun, it's eight in the evening. You've been gone for 20 hours."

Shit.

I hurried back to Grimmauld Place as fast as I could and found almost the entire group in the dining room in the basement. They stopped and stared at me as I entered, looking around for Regulus. I needed to speak to him.

"Nicki! Where have you been?" somebody called, but I was too busy to figure out who.

"I…where's Regulus?" I asked, not answering their question. He wasn't in the room.

"Well, he was under the impression that you had either been murdered or kidnapped by Voldemort," another voice said. "He wanted to go and kill him. So we had to lock him in his room." Fabian was right in front of me. He had been the one speaking. "Might as well go find him now, let him know you're okay."

I sighed slowly, ignoring the questions nearly everybody was shouting at me, and hurried up the stairs to the top landing and then over to the door. I waved my wand and unlocked the door before turning the knob and pushing it open slowly.

When I didn't hear or see anything, I quietly closed the door behind me and called out,

"Regulus?" There was no answer. "Regulus, it's me." Still no answer. "Are you there?" I entered the room fully and, to my surprise, didn't see him anywhere. "Hello?"

Maybe he's in the bathroom or something, I thought, confused, as I rushed over to the bathroom door and flung it open.

Nothing.

I turned back to the bedroom, about to panic, and that's when I noticed it.

Actually I noticed two things. The first was the window above the bed. It was pushed wide open, and a thick tree branch swayed in the wind right outside it. The second was a piece of rolled up parchment lying on the desk. I could see green ink on it, and I knew instantly that it wasn't from anybody in the Order or any Aurors.

Slowly, I picked up the parchment and rolled it open, scared out of my mind about what could be on it. It was unfamiliar handwriting, but I could tell it had been rushed.

Looking for your fiancé? If you want her back – alive, that is – you'll come meet me at the front gates. I'm sure you know where.

"No…" I said slowly, shaking my head and throwing it down. "No…Regulus!" I exclaimed, trying to convince myself that he hadn't left, that he hadn't taken the bait. "Regulus!" I ran back into the hallway, checked Sirius' room, and then the bathroom again. Finally, I leaned out the open window and looked down for him.

I was horrified. He had obviously gone, escaping through the window. And, if Riddle had his way, Regulus was probably dead by now. Tears were threatening to overpower me, but I held them back.

No, I thought. No crying. You're going to find him. Don't tell anybody. Just go, find him, and get out, before Riddle can do too much to him.

I didn't even leave a note in case somebody came up to look for me. I climbed onto the windowsill immediately and grabbed the thick tree branch right outside before climbing onto it. I didn't even climb down the tree before I gripped my wand tightly and Apperated to the gates of Malfoy Manor.

It was eerily silent as I nearly ran up to the front doors and threw them open to reveal the empty Entrance Hall. Not sure exactly where to go, I found myself heading down toward the Drawing Room Riddle and I usually met in, where I threw the door open to find Riddle sitting at the table as though waiting for me.

"Hello Nicole," he said once I had slammed the door behind me. "What are you doing–?"

"Where the fuck is he?" I exclaimed, cutting him off, as I walked quickly up to the table.

"Who, my dear?"

"You know very well who," I snarled, setting my hands on the table and leaning toward him. "Regulus. Where is he? I saw your fucking note. Leave – him – alone." Riddle reached up and ran the back of his hand across my cheek gently. I didn't have the time to push him away.

"Maybe I'll give your little fiancé back to you…on one condition."

"What's that?" I asked, feeling as though I already knew the answer.

"If you'll do a little something for me."

"I am not having sex with you," I snapped. "I'll find him myself if I have to." I turned to leave, but Riddle called with a steady voice,

"Stop right there or I'll kill him now." I stopped and turned back to him, terrified.

"You can't," I said quietly and shakily. "You're right here, and he's not." Riddle merely shrugged and said,

"Get back over here and sit down." I had to; I would be putting Regulus' life in danger if I didn't, and I couldn't do that. Never – especially not now. To my surprise the chains didn't jump up around my wrists. "Now just rest, alright?" I felt my eyes slowly filling with tears before I blinked them back and nodded.

That's when I felt it. I was suddenly becoming drowsy. Despite the fact I was wide awake seconds ago. I had felt the same exact thing just an hour or two ago.

"No!" I exclaimed quietly as my eyes started drooping. "Stop, I know what you're doing! It's a…a…a Sleeping…Sleeping Charm…"

And everything went black.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I felt myself slowly coming to. For some reason, I couldn't open my eyes. It took me a long time to realize just what was going on, but, once I did, I found myself panicking.

I felt as though I was wearing little clothing – if any. I could tell I was lying on a bed, with my hands tied to the headboard about half a meter apart. Something was tied over my mouth so I couldn't talk…or maybe so I couldn't scream.

My eyes flashed open suddenly. I didn't recognize the room I was in, and I didn't see Riddle anywhere. I realized that I wasn't completely stripped; I still had on my bra and panties. I started to struggle with the cords keeping my hands tied up, tugging on them, desperately trying to break them. For some reason, wandless magic didn't even pop into my head.

"They're not going to break."

I didn't expect it. Riddle, who seemed to be nowhere, had suddenly spoken up. I looked over and this time, I saw him. I don't know where he had been hiding, but now he was standing right next to the bed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I exclaimed, continuing the struggle with the constraints. Riddle didn't answer as he climbed onto the bed and set one leg on either side of my hips, resting his entire weight on me.

I didn't know what to say as he leaned forward and set his lips against mine, setting his hands on either side of my head to hold himself up and moving his legs and hips until he was comfortable.

I couldn't do anything to fight him. I tried to buck him off, but he moaned and I knew that, if anything, he liked it. His lips slipped down to my neck, which he started to lick and kiss and bite.

"Please…" I said, panting. "Please, stop…Riddle…Tom…please…"

He kept working his way down my neck to my upper chest and then right between my breasts. My bottom lip was quivering slightly as his hands fingered my panties, as though ready to rip them off at any second.

I didn't even notice him remove his shirt or pants, but somehow he was suddenly clad in only his boxers as he grinded up against me, his erection digging into me. His lips stayed off of mine, though, and were mostly on my neck and chest. His hands groped my breasts, massaging them for several minutes.

"Riddle…please, stop…"

"I must say," Riddle muttered, his lips still against my neck, "you are, possibly, the most beautiful and sexy woman ever."

His cold hands trailed from my breasts down my sides gently and held my hips for a minute, so tightly I knew I would have bruises the next day, before traveling to my crotch. He didn't go beneath the panties, but he still fondled with me for several minutes before I yelled,

"Stop!"

Riddle, shocked by my sudden outburst, paused, but only for a second, to ask,

"And why would I do that?"

It slipped out. I didn't want to tell him – especially not before Regulus knew – but I couldn't stop it. I don't even know why I thought it would get him to stop, but, for some reason, I thought it would. And, so, I exclaimed,

"Because what kind of sick bastard wants to have sex with a pregnant woman?"

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