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

A/N: Thanks to givetherabbitthefreakintrix, PenNameless1994, Blizzen, sheeiilaa, and littlehampir13 for the reviews!

Chapter 24

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

Riddle was silent. I could still feel his breath on my neck, where his lips lingered, inches from it. I was terrified, to say the least. I knew he was bound to freak out and not only kill the baby, but Regulus as well. If he wasn't already dead. Which he wasn't. I was determined that he wasn't.

I didn't know what to do except half-sit, half-lay while staring up at the ceiling helplessly, hoping for Riddle to just get it over with and kill the baby. Or me. Or do whatever the hell he had planned. The suspense was, honestly, the worst part.

Maybe he knew that. Maybe that's why he was being so silent.

Finally, after years, Riddle leaned back so he was straddling and sitting on my hips It wasn't very comfortable, but I didn't care. I was still terrified.

"But…we never…we never had –"

"You're so fucking stupid!" I exclaimed. "I'm engaged! What makes you think that, if I get pregnant, it has to be yours?" I knew screaming at him wouldn't do much for my situation, but I had already accepted that no matter what I did, I couldn't be in any worse of a predicament than I already was.

Riddle leaned forward and slapped me across the face. I gasped and closed my eyes tightly to hold back the tears.

It didn't work. They soon overflowed anyways.

What was with all the crying? I guess it was just hormones.

Riddle was silent again after the slap. Not for quite as long, though; instead of years, it was months. Or maybe just weeks. I didn't even know anymore. But before too long, he climbed off and sat on the edge of the bed, his elbows resting on his knees, staring at the floor. At the same time, the chords keeping my hands tied up disappeared.

"Get out. Now."

I stood up quickly and threw my clothes and shoes, which were in a pile on the floor, on quickly. I felt my wand in my pocket and headed for the door, almost sprinting.

"Don't tell anybody what happened here," Riddle spoke again before I could reach the door. "And don't even think about going to find that retched husband of yours."

As if, I thought as I scrambled out of the room and down the hall. There was absolutely no way I was leaving Regulus there. I threw a Disillusionment Charm on as I headed down the hallways and staircases toward the dungeons, where I knew Regulus would be, whether he was dead or alive.

I basically ran down the dungeons hallway, searching in each cell for him as I went – most of which were empty. I kept muttering things like, "Fuck," and "He's such a dick" and "God dammit," and, when I got close to the end, I let out my anger by yelling, "Fucking asshole!"

It was then that I saw him, in the very last cell.

He was lying on his side, with his back turned to me. I could already tell he had taken a beating; his shirt was practically shredded, holding on by what seemed like a thread. One of his pant legs had been ripped off completely at the knee, and blood was splattered in several places on his showing skin.

I felt my breath caught at the sight. Anybody passing would've thought he was dead. I refused to believe it. He couldn't be…he just couldn't be.

But as I slipped into the cell, I found myself begging him mentally. Please…please…don't let him be dead…please, Regulus, be alive…be okay…for me…for the baby…

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

(A/N: This is Regulus' POV now for a bit ^_^)

There was no way in hell I was leaving her there. He had probably already fucking murdered her and I was probably walking to my death forever unable to help her. But there was still that chance she was alive, and I wasn't going to risk it.

As I climbed out the window, a part of me thought that maybe he was lying. Maybe she wasn't there. But I couldn't take the chance, because what if she was there?

Why had the entire Order been stupid enough to make it nearly impossible for me to get out of the door, but didn't even bother with the windows? Sometimes I wonder how they manage to even come close to winning these wars.

I didn't even climb down the tree before I Disapperated – right to the gates to Malfoy Manor.

There he was. I could see him through the dense, dark trees. Even had I not expected him and known exactly what to expect, I would recognize him anywhere. He was tall, even more so than me, black-haired with dark, bloodshot eyes. He had a cruel smirk playing at his lips when he saw me.

"Mr. Black," he said calmly. "Nice to see you –"

"Where is she?" I snarled, wanting to take out my wand and curse him but terrified that if I tried he would hurt her.

"Who?" he asked innocently.

"You know damn well who," I snapped. "Nicole. You got your wish; I'm right here. Now let – her – go."

"No, no, not yet," he said maliciously, shaking his head. He started to say more, but I was so pissed that I couldn't hold it back; I whipped my wand out and pointed it at him so it was pushing, most likely uncomfortably, into his neck.

"Let. Her. Go." Riddle laughed.

"You better put your wand down, or I'll never let her go. I can make her hurt from here if you don't listen, you know."

"How? You're right here –"

"I have more than one hundred Death Eaters in the Manor as we speak," he said, still laughing. "How do you know I don't have some way to communicate with them right now? And if you think I don't, but I do, how would you feel if you caused the death of dear Nicole?"

I sighed – he was right. Even if he didn't have a way, I couldn't risk it. I slowly lowered my wand and stowed it back in my pocket.

"What do you want from me?" I asked after a moment.

"Well obviously I want you dead." I stared at him blankly. Duh…I thought. Riddle explained quickly. "With you out of the way, I have a more of a…chance with your lovely fiancé. As I'm sure you well know, I quite…fancy her."

"If you kill me," I growled, "you'll have less of a chance with her than you already do. And the chance of you getting her is already…below zero." Riddle shrugged but didn't say anything more. Instead he threw the gates open and told me to follow him in.

As we walked into the Manor, I couldn't stop seeing it. Seeing him with her. Holding her close to him, kissing her, running his hands all over her body. Loving her. And I could see her holding him, and kissing him back and that's what hurt the most.

But I could also see her fighting him, struggling to keep him away from her, but he kept pushing. Actually, this might have hurt the most, because at least I could tell that, if she kissed him back, she wasn't hurting. If she was fighting him, I knew she wasn't happy.

I don't know where we went once we had entered the building. Down some hallways, down some stairs, turned right, left, up another staircase…it went on and on. Finally, Riddle opened the door to a room and led me inside, slamming the door shut behind me.

Aside from a long table down the middle with a single chair at it, the room was empty. Unsure what to do, I stood there. I wanted to kill him, to curse him to, as I've heard said, "infinity and beyond." But I knew if I did, there was almost no chance I would see Nicki again…at least, see her alive again.

"I shouldn't be telling you this," Riddle muttered. I looked up at him.

"Telling me what?" I inquired. He looked up at me too.

"I suppose I can tell you. Not like you'll ever be able to tell anybody now…" Confused, I remained silent. "Your little fiancé has been given a potion by somebody you trust. A Mr. Malfoy, I believe. She has to obey everything he says – it's like the Imperious, only she doesn't have a choice. And she has to obey me too."

I shivered. Even though I knew this wasn't true, the thought of it terrified me. Riddle smiled evilly at me.

"Her own brother is on our side, too," he continued. "I bet you never expected that, did you?" I didn't respond. After a minute, Riddle said, "Sit," motioning to the chair.

"I'd rather not," I muttered, shaking my head.

As soon as I had spoken, I heard it – a scream. It sounded as though it were coming from directly above us. At first I couldn't tell who it was, but then I recognized it – Nicki.

"No!" I screamed, my eyes widening. "Stop – I'll sit in the stupid chair, just stop!"

As soon as I finished, it stopped. I was panting, staring up at the ceiling hopelessly. I couldn't help her…if I tried, I knew I would be overpowered by Riddle and the Death Eaters, and that would be worse for her if that happened.

"Well?" Riddle asked. "Are you going to sit or not?"

I slowly sat in the chair. As soon as I had, chains sprang out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around my wrists, holding them to the arms of the chair. I tried to tug them free, but I was too late – I was stuck.

"Want to know what they're doing to her up there?" Riddle asked, smirking at me. I didn't even have time to answer before I felt it.

It seemed to start in my veins. It was even worse than the Cruciatus. It felt like my insides were on fire. I had never been in so much pain. It was so much pain I couldn't even scream or move for several minutes, but when I finally could, I couldn't hear my screams because my ears were popping. I was arching my back off of the chair and my wrists were trying to get free involuntarily.

It stopped after several minutes. Riddle was laughing maliciously.

"If you don't behave, not only will you get more of that – she will too. And just a second too long can fatally harm someone."

I was panting so much I couldn't talk for several minutes, but Riddle seemed to be waiting for me to respond, so when I finally could, I stuttered,

"Don't…don't h-hurt her…I-I'll do what…whatever you say. Just…leave her alone…p-please." Riddle continued to smile while he nodded.

"If you behave, I won't."

"What do you want?" I finally asked through gritted teeth. I was still pissed, but now I was terrified – I would do anything for him to leave Nicki alone, to let her go, but who's to say that he won't just hurt her anyways?

"Break up with her," he ordered. I felt my eyes widen as I looked up at him.

"What?"

"You know I want her…I want her more than anything…break up with her, or I'll kill her."

"If you want her more than anything, why would you kill her?" I snapped.

I instantly regretted it. I heard a sharp scream from above us just as I felt what felt like a whip smacked my back through the chair. I felt my shirt rip and blood pour down my back.

"Whatever we do to you, we do to her," Riddle explained. I was leaning forward so my back wasn't pressing up against the back of the chair, panting and staring at my feet.

"I just…I don't understand…" It happened again – another scream, another whip. This time, I was silent after it had happened – if it had only been me, I wouldn't have been silent and just born it, but it wasn't just me, it was her too.

"Break up with her, and tell her to come to me –"

"How could I convince her to come to you?"

Three more screams, three more whips – two on my front, one on the back. I clenched my teeth together to keep from screaming.

"I don't know, that's your problem, just tell her to."

"No!"

I couldn't stop it. I hate to say it, but I'd rather she was dead than with him. He'd probably torture her daily, and I didn't want her to have to deal with that. Maybe it's horrible of me to think that, but it's just what I thought.

I felt my right ankle snap, and a loud gasp of pain from above us. My left wrist snapped, too, and then there were two more whips; one to the front, one to the back.

I felt myself slowly fading in and out of consciousness. Somehow, I had started bleeding at my temple on the right side. I don't remember being hit or anything there. I do remember having the curse that was worse than the Cruciatus put on me again, but I didn't have enough strength to scream – it seemed Nicki did, though, because the last thing I remembered was hearing her scream, "Regulus!"

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

I remember being sore. I didn't know where I was at first, but then I heard the cell door close and remembered what had happened. I turned my head just enough to see some Death Eater lock the door to the cell before turning and leaving down the hall.

All I could think about was Nicki. Was she in the same position as me? She definitely wasn't in the cell – even though I could only move my head and my eyes were half shut, I could tell I was alone.

Everything went black again…

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

I couldn't see…but I could hear. I knew I was still in the cold cell of Malfoy Manor. I had no idea how long I had been there – hours, days, months. Your guess is as good as mine.

The first thing I heard was hurried footsteps. They were light – it had to either be a child or a girl. Then I heard what seemed to be a familiar voice yell, "Fucking asshole!" I heard the cellar door slide open quietly soon afterward but didn't have the strength to turn my head to see who it was.

There was silence for several moments after the door slammed shut loudly, echoing down the long hallways. I laid there, unable to move at all, waiting, until the person finally started walking slowly forward. I could tell it had to be a girl, because the shoes sounded like heels against the stone ground. They kept walking until they were walking around me, and their lower legs and feet came into view.

I knew who it was immediately by the shoes; simple, black, ankle boots with heels.

Nicki's favorite pair of shoes to wear out.

I didn't understand what was going on. If she had really been tortured like I had, how was she walking, let alone in heels? There was no way…

She knelt down beside me – I had a clear shot up her skirt – and slowly reached a small, cold, shaking hand down my shirt, probably to search for a heartbeat, all the while muttering,

"C'mon, Regulus, don't be dead…please don't be dead…please…"

Obviously, she couldn't see my eyes half open, staring up her horrified eyes. I was surprised to find that, despite the fact that she supposedly had been tortured along with me, her face was only slightly red, she seemed to have a handprint across her face, and there was something that appeared to be a hickey or burn on her neck.

Her hand started shaking even more violently. I figured she couldn't feel my heartbeat, just as she started to get frantic.

"Nicki…"

I don't know how I had gotten it out. I guess I just knew that she would panic if I didn't somehow let her know I wasn't dead.

I heard her breath catch as her eyes met mine as I opened my eyes just a little bit further.

"Reg…" she muttered, running her free hand through my hair gently, looking on the verge of tears…or maybe as though she had been crying. "Regulus, I'm so sorry…"

Why are you apologizing? I thought. I wanted to ask her, but I couldn't get it out – I couldn't even open my mouth.

"It's going to be okay," she whispered. "I promise…I'll get you out of here…trust me, okay?"

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

When I finally woke up completely, I found myself in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts. Sirius and Remus were sitting next to me. Remus was grading papers, Sirius was reading a book – neither realized that I was awake until I sat up slowly.

"Hey Regulus," Sirius said, setting his book to the side and leaning onto his elbows. "Feeling better?"

"Loads," I grumbled, sitting up slowly. "Where's Nicole?" I could see Remus roll his eyes – he was probably thinking that of course the first thing I would do would be to ask about her.

"Harry took her back to Grimmauld Place," Remus said, putting the papers aside with Sirius' book. "She didn't want to leave – it took Harry and Madam Pomfrey an hour trying to convince her to."

"They had finally convinced her to go back. She really needed to sleep and eat something – she'd been here for over twelve hours."

"How long have I been here?" I grumbled, rubbing my aching forehead.

"About thirty hours."

"It's eight in the morning, Tuesday, right now," Remus added. I groaned.

"Can I leave? I need to see Nicki…"

"You should probably ask Madam Pomfrey," Sirius pointed out. He paused. "But she's sleeping, and since when have I ever done what you should do?" I smiled slightly. "Go ahead." Remus seemed to protest but didn't say anything as I slipped out of the bed and hurried out so I could go to Grimmauld Place.

I was in such a hurry that I didn't even remember how I got to Grimmauld Place. All I know is that next thing I knew I was standing in the front hallway of Grimmauld Place. The hallway was empty, but I heard voices drifting up from the dinning room in the basement and started for it.

"Regulus, you're back!"

Before I could even see who was in the room, I found Scarlet throwing her arms around me. I hugged her back and looked over her shoulder to see who was in the room. It was pretty much everyone.

Except Nicki.

"Where's Nicki?" I asked, pulling back from Scarlet and searching the room, yet again, for her. Scarlet shrugged.

"Probably in your room. That's where she said she was going yesterday when she came back."

I didn't even say anything to anybody else before I spun around and hurried up the stairs to our bedroom, praying to Merlin that she was actually there and hadn't snuck out or something. Not that I'd put it past her…

She wasn't there.

"Shit, Nicki, why must you be so Goddamn irritable!" I exclaimed, pissed, annoyed, and slightly worried. I checked the bathroom and even Sirius and Scarlet's room before I ran down the stairs, checking each and every bedroom and bathroom as I checked.

And then there she was. In the bathroom on the first floor. She was sitting on the ground with her back against the wall across from the toilet. Either she was asleep or just had her eyes closed. She was wearing the same thing she had been wearing when I had seen her just before she had somehow managed to get us out of the Manor – a flowery skirt, a black top, and her favorite black boots.

"Nicki?" I asked quietly as I pulled the door shut behind me. She didn't answer and merely laid there, her head back against the wall, her ankles crossed, and her hands on her stomach. I walked forward and sat down beside her, slowly wrapping my arm around her shoulders.

As soon as I had touched her, she jerked her head up and her eyes met mine. We stared at each other silently for a minute before she suddenly threw her arms around my neck, burying her face in my shoulder.

"Reg…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" she muttered into my neck.

"What are you sorry for?" I asked, holding her close to me. "It's not your fault…I shouldn't have listened…I should've known that he wouldn't really hurt you…"

Nick leaned back, looking me in the eyes.

"I wasn't even there," she said quietly. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"You weren't?" I asked, confused. She shook her head. "Then where were you? Who was that screaming?"

"It was probably just a recording or something," she said. "But I promise you it wasn't me. I was at Hogwarts, in the Hospital Wing."

"Why, are you okay?" I asked, concerned. She had been there so often lately, I knew they weren't just coincidences.

"I'm fine," she assured me, taking my hands in hers. "It was the same thing as last time…the Dark Magic." She paused. "But…that's not it."

"What…what do you mean?" I asked, slightly apprehensive. Nicki looked down at our interlocked hands and didn't reply for several minutes.

"I…I'm pregnant."

A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.