Hello!

Thank yous to everyone who Followed, Favorited and Reviewed last chapter. 134ever, FleurSuoh, Selkura, Navy Bow, Calimocho, and xXMizz Alec VolturiXx; I love you all so much!

I really cannot believe that this fic has made it to 50 chapters. Thank you all for sticking with me. And don't worry, there is still a ways to go. =)

The pain that coursed through Regulus's veins was simply indescribable.

A thousand hot needles piercing his skin… a hundred knives hacking away… a huge hammer being swung repeatedly against his body… None of those were even close to explaining the pain that he had just experienced.

Regulus's head hung limply against his chest as his body tried to reinstate control over his still unresponsive limbs. Each breath he took was shallow and felt like acid in his lungs; a cruel side effect even after Voldemort had proclaimed the younger wizard loyal beyond even his most devoted followers.

He honestly wasn't sure how he was able to withstand the torture. The Dark Lord was a very practiced wizard in the Dark Arts, and 'Crucio' was a favored spell of his.

But despite his own doubt, Regulus had survived. He was mostly unharmed, his mind was intact and his body just needed to readjust to not being under the horrendous Unforgivable... hopefully.

Voldemort threw the door to the library open with a triumphant flare and ordered Regulus escorted back to Hogwarts immediately.

Regulus arrived back in Hogsmeade supported on the shoulders of two Death Eaters. His body had somewhat recovered and was now responding in a sluggish, delayed manner. He said nothing to his escorts before stumbling forward and making his way back to Hogwarts.

Breathing was still uncomfortable as he walked and his feet felt like lead as he forced them forward up the path to the castle. When he finally reached the huge front doors of the school, Regulus was only able to push the doors open a meter or so. He squeezed through the small gap and quietly snuck in.

He quickly found a small alcove and sat down behind a rather large suit of armor. Regulus took a deep breath and was shocked at the sob that escaped his mouth when he let out the air from his lungs. He shook his head slowly and cradled his head in his palms as he waited out the emotional response that he had kept buried through the whole horrific ordeal.

When Regulus felt his breathing return to a normal pattern and his chest no longer feel tight, he carefully extracted himself from behind the armor and made his way upstairs instead of down to the dungeons.

He needed to get a message to Marlene… and he wanted to see Sirius and Hermione.

"He's not that late…" Marlene was pacing around her small kitchen in her flat in Muggle London. It was five past nine, and she hadn't heard back from Regulus yet. She hated feeling useless and loathed feeling helpless even more. But that's exactly what she was currently…

Marlene stepped out onto her narrow balcony and looked in every direction she could, to see if there were any owls on their way to her.

The sky was dark, but clear for miles… there were nothing in sight.

The witch huffed, annoyed at herself and Regulus equally, and ducked back into her apartment. She had to vigorously rub her arms to ward off the chill that had set over her that late evening. But she soon realized that the chill was only growing stronger… and may not have been completely due to the weather. Marlene finally gave in and grabbed a light jumper off a nearby chair before she quickly scribbled out a message to Hermione.

'Regulus was supposed to check in at 9:00pm. I have a terrible feeling about this and I'm very worried. Should I apparate to Hogwarts?'

Marlene didn't know the other witch very well. They had really only interacted during classes, but she knew Hermione to be brilliant. And Regulus had mentioned specifically in one of his letters that if anything happened to him, Hermione would be the one to contact.

She attached the rolled up parchment to her borrowed barn owl, Dina, and sent her on her way.

It felt like hours before Marlene heard the tapping on her window. She leapt from her chair, where she had finally settled on only a few minutes before. She was in such a rush to read the piece of paper that one of the corners ripped off in her haste.

'Come to the cottage.'

Regulus had told Marlene about the cottage only after having a full out war with Sirius. The older Black brother had been reluctant to divulge the location of his home to anyone outside his circle of friends. But Regulus had insisted… then he had pleaded… and then he had just resorted to yelling; that's when Hermione had gotten involved.

The witch had quickly sided with the younger Black; with a little smirk on her face that Regulus had been unable to determine a cause for. Hermione had been able to convince Sirius that it was only logical for Marlene to know and be allowed into the Cottage. She was, after-all, a fellow Order member as well as Regulus's fake girlfriend and designated contact person.

But when Marlene reappeared at the edge of the protection wards, she was a bit confused.

There was no house of any kind in sight…

Then suddenly two people rippled into existence right in front of her as they took a step toward her.

"Good to see you again Marlene. I wish it was under better circumstances," Remus nodded his head cordially and motioned for her to follow him and Peter through the now obvious cloaking spells.

"Sirius and Hermione have not received any word from Reg yet either?" Marlene was shorter than both the wizards beside her, but she found that the adrenaline that was pumping through her made it quite easy to keep up with their longer strides.

Remus shook his head and sighed deeply, "I'm afraid not. Sirius threw a fit when Hermione told him about Regulus not checking in with you yet."

"Is he concerned?" Marlene had hoped that coming here would calm her down, but if Sirius was worried...

"Yes. But seems more cross with himself than anything else…" Peter's voice was considerably lower than Remus's as they reached the door of the rather large house.

"I'm sorry to say, our actions tonight may have contributed to whatever has happened to Regulus," Remus looked a bit paler as he spoke again.

Marlene felt her stomach jump and her face grew warm as she clenched her teeth. She wasn't sure why she would feel such sudden hatred for people she usually got along easily with.

"...Yelling and sulking about it isn't going to do Regulus any good," Hermione's voice was laced with concern and a little anxiety.

Remus and Peter led Marlene through the house; past the open entryway, along the elegantly furnished sitting room and into a very sizable kitchen where Sirius and Hermione stood.

"You don't understand... this is my fault. If anything happens to Reg, it will be because of my stupid actions," Sirius slammed his closed fist onto the kitchen counter, which caused a mug of tea to tumble over the edge and crash to the floor.

Hermione visibly jumped at the shattering sound.

"That's enough, Padfoot. You're not going to be able to reverse anything that's been done by yelling your head off and breaking things," Peter puffed up his chest and gave his friend an almost stern look.

Remus stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Hermione's shoulder. He gave her a tight squeeze, "Marlene is here. You speak to her, We'll handle Padfoot."

Hermione looked between Remus, Peter and the still fuming Sirius and nodded her head, "Thank you."

Hermione only took a few steps out of the kitchen before rounding on Marlene, "How long has Regulus been gone?"

"He owled me a little after seven, tonight," Marlene noticed the worry lines that marred the other witch's face; it aged her quite a few years.

"You mentioned that he was late checking in with you."

"Yes," Marlene found it difficult to swallow as she attempted to retell the most recent events of her night, "Regulus said he would owl me again at nine, so that I would know that he was alright."

"How did he tell you this? Was there something in his wording that was concerning?" Hermione looked like she was in deep concentration, evaluating each and every outcome, even though she was still carrying on a full conversation.

Marlene was amazed at the other witch's multitasking, "He only wrote a short sentence. 'I miss you nine times over.' With that and the rumors I heard about a fight in Muggle London with Sirius and some Death Eaters… and with Reg still not getting in touch with any of us…"

Hermione shook her head, "I don't understand your concern over a simple note like that. Was it coded?"

"In a way," Marlene dug her fingernails into her palm. She knew how childish and silly her words must be sounding, but she knew that something had happened to Regulus, "He's never been late when owling me back. And I realize that this is going to sound a bit ridiculous but… When Reg and I usually write each other, it's pages and pages of random things. We write about anything we can think of really; trying to get to know someone so well that you can fool the world into thinking you've dated secretly for months is very hectic and strange, to say the least. But this letter was a single sentence."

"And I'm assuming that when he stated 'nine' that was a signal that you two had agreed upon earlier."

Marlene nodded, "We agreed to incorporate a number into whatever our signal would be, and that would translate into a time. And no, I don't believe he was thinking a meeting with You-Know-Who would last until nine in the morning."

"No, of course not," Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breathe. "If Regulus hasn't contacted you back yet, I'm inclined to agree with you… something has happened."

A bit of relief flooded Marlene's mind as Hermione confirmed that her worry wasn't unfounded. But as soon as the relief settled in, a sharp pain zipped up her spine sending a shaking chill over her body.

"But if Regulus is in trouble, he knows to come here… the night he was Marked he came here to recover," Marlene realized, after trying to address the other witch several times, that Hermione was not speaking to anyone in particular. Hermione was simply talking out loud to organize her thoughts. "So if he isn't here, he may not be able to get away from where ever he is being held… but it would be very suspicious for a student to disappear from the castle..."

"Do you think he might be back at the castle… and he just can't find a way to contact anyone since it's past curfew?"

Hermione actually snorted at the suggestion, "Ravenclaws really don't like breaking any rules do they…"

Marlene scowled at the stereotyping.

"No, I don't think that would matter for him," Hermione cleared her throat rather loudly in an attempt to ease the tension in the air, "If Regulus didn't have access to an owl, he would just sneak up to my apartment and…"

Hermione froze.

Marlene's scowl shifted into a concerned frown, "Amelia?"

Hermione took off. She tore through the house, quickly ascending the steps to the second floor, without uttering a single word.

Marlene had to speed walk, and even jog a few times, to keep up with the other witch, "Amelia… Amelia? What's going on?"

Remus, Peter and Sirius had heard the commotion and followed Marlene's string of unanswered questions to find where the witches had run off to.

Hermione was in the master bathroom throwing any kind of medical potion or ointment that she could find into her little purple bag.

"What are you doing, Mia?" Remus asked as he snatched one of the blood replenishing potions and held it out of her reach to call her attention.

"I know where Regulus is," Hermione stated flatly as she held out her hand impatiently, "... If he's not being held with the other Death Eaters, that is."

"Where?"

"Where?"

Sirius and Marlene had spoken in unison. They looked at each other with equal looks of unease.

"Well, if he's not with Voldemort, he'll be back at the castle. They can't afford to call attention to him by keeping him away from Hogwarts for extended periods of time anyway; that's why Regulus hasn't been getting called for regular meetings," Hermione secured her bag and began leading the small group back down the stairs. "As soon as Reg returned to the castle, he would have gone looking for me or looking for a way to contact Marlene. And since he hasn't done either of those things, the only logical thought I have left is that he is very injured and held up… probably somewhere between the Slytherin common room and my apartment at Hogwarts."

Hermione took a small jar off of the mantle over the fireplace and held it out to each person. She threw a handful of the glittering green powder into the flames, "Come on then. We have an Order Member to find. Amelia McGonagall's personal quarters."

Regulus wasn't quite sure how he had managed to get all the way up to Hermione's apartment. It had seemed even further away than usual… but that might have had something to do with the alternating dull and sharp pain that still plagued Regulus's body as he walked along the corridor.

"Pyrrus." Regulus muttered to the horse painting before it swung forward and allowed him into the cozy quarters, "I really must ask, why she picks such obscure, old Greek names for her passwords…"

Regulus stumbled over the threshold and fell to the floor. A searing pain shot up to his elbow as he threw out his arms in an attempt to brace the fall.

The air had been knocked out of his lungs, and Regulus found the pain difficult to ignore as he laid there on the floor of Hermione's sitting room. He glanced around and found that his eyes were losing their ability to focus. And before Regulus could even try to pull himself up off the floor...

He passed out.

Regulus had not been as badly off as Hermione had originally suspected ; there was some brain bruising, internal damage, two broken fingers and a twisted wrist. But the witch knew that it could have been much worse…

Peter had brought Madam Pomfrey to diagnose the injuries, while Remus woke and filled in Professor McGonagall with what information they had so far. Hermione had forced Marlene and Sirius to stay out of they way, often by rude reminder, so that she and Poppy could work more efficiently in addressing and healing Regulus's wounds.

The younger Black brother was now sleeping, rather peacefully, on Hermione's bed. She didn't mind in the least, but Hermione did order Peter and Remus back to the cottage to get their rest since her quarters weren't big enough to house so many people. It was rather cramped with just the four people that remained, but Hermione knew that she would never be able to convince Sirius to leave… and Marlene was proving to be just as stubborn.

She had managed to persuade Sirius to take a nap on one of the sofas; he had taken a quick hangover cure and Hermione insisted that the nap would help insure that the little potion would work. She had tried to get Marlene to take the other couch, but the Ravenclaw would not be moved from the chair that had taken up station next to Regulus. Marlene mentioned how helpless and guilty she felt for not being able to help the injured wizard, so Hermione had given up trying to move her and instead just watched as the witch fell asleep on said chair.

Hermione curled up in the empty sofa and was just beginning to drift off when a familiar but gravelly voice called out to her.

"...Her...Hermi…"

Hermione bolted upright and ran back into her bedroom as quickly as possible.

"Regulus?" She sat down on the edge of the bed and ran a diagnostic spell over the now semi-conscious wizard, "It's alright, take your time, Reg."

Marlene was now awake and stared at the struggling wizard with wet eyes. Sirius had also been roused by his brother's calls and now stood at the doorway, waiting patiently for his girlfriend to assess the situation.

"Well, you seem to be doing better. Poppy didn't expect you to wake until the morning," Hermione made sure to use a gentle tone as she spoke, "How's your hand feeling?"

Regulus easily opened and closed his fist, "Seems to be working per... perfectly fine." He glanced around the room and took in the concerned faces of his brother and friend, "Everyone alright?"

Hermione rocked back a little as she attempted to cover a chuckle, "Aren't we supposed to be asking you that?"

"Possibly. But I already know that I feel like shite. I wanted to make sure everyone else was faring better," Regulus found that laughing hurt... a lot.

I wanted Regulus to be able to show off how much he's changed and how much he wants to do good... Also wanted to throw a few Marlene moments in there. hehe.

Thoughts?

Please Follow, Favorite and Review!

***Reviews are absolutely wonderful...

Always,

Misha

Ps. Check out the other stories by me: 'Begin Again' (which is now complete!), 'The Bookworm and The Prankster' and 'Penelope Jackson: The Lightning Thief.'