Hypatia barely resisted the urge to rest her head on Regulus' shoulder as Sirius told Draco about Hermoine's family in the most dramatic fashion possible. The truth was Regulus was right last night. She was exhausted. Still, some of her weight shifted against him without her realizing.

"Are you tired?" Regulus asked in a whisper.

"I am," Hypatia admitted.

Regulus intertwined their fingers, "As soon as Sirius is done we can go to our new room and rest for a while."

Finally Sirius finished his tale, and Helene looked at Hypatia with concern. "Are you sure you are well, ma cherie?"

"The last forty eight hours has been taxing," Hypatia admitted.

"You need to take care of yourself," Hector admonished. "You're not invincible."

"I agree," Hermione piled on.

"Sweet Merlin," Hypatia sighed. "Am I being bullied into self care? Is that a thing?"

"Yes," Regulus confirmed. "I propose that we all take a few hours to rest, and reconvene in the Dining Room for dinner at six. In the meantime, the elves will be happy to assist you if you require refreshment."

"Which rooms are ours?" Hermione asked.

"Whichever you want. There are still a ton open from The Order. You can have my old room if you want. It has that big walk-in closet."

Hermione's eyes lit up in excitement, "Oh, I'm so excited! Come on Mom and Dad, I'll show you around. Boys, grab the bags, won't you?"

Hypatia watched them go with a fond smile.

Regulus turned to Cissa, "So, you were working on the Master Suite?"

Cissa nodded, "I wasn't able to do a lot with what we had here, but I was able to remove their belongings, and brighten up the place a bit. Winky and Dobby placed your bed up there. They should be done moving Hypatia's things by now. They were waiting for you to leave the room."

Hypatia's cheeks pinked as she remembered what had kept them in her room all morning. Regulus couldn't help the smile that pulled at his lips.

"Right well, I think we'll go rest for a bit."

Regulus fled up the stairs with Hypatia holding tightly onto his hand. He loved his family. He'd do absolutely anything for his family, but right now he needed a little break. They passed Hypatia's old room, and then the room that had always belonged to Regulus, and carried on to the very top floor.

"I've never been up here," Hypatia told him.

"Neither have I," Regulus admitted.

The door at the top opened of its own accord. The room was huge. The walls were made of pale stone that rose tall, giving way to magnificently carved arches. It reminded Hypatia of cathedrals from the Middle Ages. Regulus' large bed, made of dark carved wood, sat under three tall windows. The light filtered through them beautifully.

Hypatia spun around. There were two wooden doors in the wall, one leading to a large bathroom that reminded her of the prefect's bathroom at Hogwarts, and a large walk-in closet. When she came out, Regulus was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for her.

"What do you think?" Regulus asked.

"It's nice, if a bit bare. We have lots of room. What do you think?"

"I think I'm glad you won't be walking around the house in just my shirts anymore. You looked entirely too good like that to be seen by the Weasley twins."

"I meant about the room," Hypatia teased.

Regulus shrugged, "I like it. I can't imagine my parents here thougb. It's so light and airy, and they were always so heavy and Dark."

Hypatia came to stand in front of him and ran her hands through his hair. Regulus closed his eyes and let himself relax against her.

"Are you going to tell me what that business was with the cup?" Hypatia asked.

Regulus groaned, "You're supposed to be relaxing, and that is not relaxing."

"I need to know. Don't I?"

Regulus pulled back, "You do, but I warn you, it's terrible."

Hypatia sat down on her Hogwarts trunk, which Dobby had been kind enough to fetch for her. Regulus told her about the horcruxes, and she fought the urge to be sick all the while. When he explained how he almost died trying to destroy one, she did throw up.

"I'm sorry. I just...it's terrible Reg. I can't lose you. I don't think I can live without you now."

Regulus vanished the mess and pulled her onto the bed with him.

"No one will take me from you. I promise."

She pushed him back so she could look in his eyes. She knew it as soon as he explained what a horcrux was, but she needed to hear him say it.

"I'm a horcrux, aren't I?"

"No."

"Regulus."

"You were. The soul bond removed his soul fragment."

Hypatia broke down into sobs, "Why would he do this to me? Why?!"

Regulus held her, and rubbed her back. "I don't think he meant to. Something must have interfered with his magic."

Hypatia's tears began to calm a bit. She focused on breathing deeply. Finally after several minutes she was able to speak again. "Dumbledore said it was my mother's love."

Regulus sighed heavily.

"You don't think that was it?" Hypatia asked.

"I think the Dark Lord killed many people whose mothers loved them. If love could save someone from an Unforgivable, there'd be a lot more witches and wizards alive right now."

"Well then what was it?" Hypatia asked.

"If I had to guess, I'd say one of two things. The first option is that your magic spontaneously reacted in a way that would save you. Sirius told me you were able to produce a Patronus as a third year. Most adults have trouble with that. It may simply be that you are the most powerful witch of our age, and your magic acted to protect you, even though you were young."

Hypatia didn't know what to think about that. She didn't particularly want to be the most powerful witch of their age. "What's the second option?"

"The second option is that your parents delved into Dark magic to save you. Perhaps they put blood wards on you when the war started, or another arcane spell. There's lots of ancient magic for protection, if one is gifted enough to use them."

"Dark magic? You really think they would do that?"

"Potter's are famously protective. I imagine there was nothing James wouldn't do to ensure your safety."

"Nothing except break from Dumbledore," Hypatia said bitterly. She laid back on the bed, and Regulus followed her. She closed her eyes and ran her hands through her hair. She peeked one eye open to see Regulus looking at her. "You really don't see them when you look at me?"

"Who?"

"My parents of course."

Regulus shook his head as he laced his fingers through hers. "You have your fathers unruly hair, I suppose, but that's as far as the resemblance goes."

"People say I look like my dad, but I have my mothers eyes."

"Is that where they come from?" Regulus asked. Hypatia nodded.

"I admit I don't think I ever looked in your mothers eyes. I knew who she was, but I don't think I ever spoke with her. There wasn't really a reason for me to."

"That's a relief," Hypatia admitted. "I know people mean it as a compliment, but I want people to see me for me, not as an echo of who they were."

Regulus pulled her so she laid on top of him, her head resting on his chest.

"You are spectacular in your own right, Hypatia. Don't let those who live in the past dictate your future."

Hypatia sighed happily as Regulus scratched her scalp, "That's so soothing."

"Try to sleep, love. I'll wake you up with enough time to get ready for dinner."

<><><><><><><><><><><><>

"No! No! No!"

Hypatia's screams filled the room, echoing off the arched ceiling. She sounded like she was being tortured. Regulus rushed out of their bathroom. He pulled Hypatia into his arms, shocked to see she was still sleeping.

"Hypatia, wake up. I'm here. You're safe! You're safe!"

Hypatia thrashed harder for a moment, until her eyes fluttered open and recognition filled her eyes. She sobbed even harder. Something about being held opened the floodgates. It was easy to hold back her emotions when she had to stand alone, but not so much when half of her soul was staring back at her from a pair of gray eyes.

Regulus rocked her gently as she cuddled against him. Slowly her sobs stopped. She vaguely realized that Regulus was wet, and had a towel wrapped around his waist. He must have been in the shower when she started her nightmare.

"I'm sorry, Regulus. I didn't mean to bother you."

"Hypatia, stop apologizing."

He dropped a kiss onto her hair and held her a little closer. "Are you okay?"

"I had a nightmare."

"What about love?"

Hypatia shook her head, but Regulus tilted her face up to him.

"Tell me."

"The night Voldemort returned. They killed Cedric Diggory in front of me. They...they tied me to a headstone and stole my blood."

Regulus stiffened, "I'm going to kill them, Hypatia. I promise you."

Hypatia ran her hands over Regulus' still wet abs, and he tried hard to focus.

"Doesn't murder tear the soul?"

Regulus blew out a deep breath. Hypatia's wandering hands made it a bit hard to think. He grabbed her wrist to still her hand before it dipped beneath the line of his towel.

"Magic is not as black and white as Dumbledore teaches in his school. There are a million shades of gray. Murder can tear the soul, but it doesn't have to. A lot rides on your intentions."

"Have you killed a person before?" Hypatia asked in a whisper, her hand escaping his grasp and snaking underneath his towel, stroking his length. Regulus sucked in a breath.

"I have, as have you."

She froze for a second before her lips pulled up into a smirk. Ah, so he realized that, did he? Most people glossed over the fact that she had taken Voldemort's life at the age of one, Quirells at the age of eleven, and whatever life resided in Tom Riddle at twelve. She had nearly killed Bellatrix Lestrange at the Ministry of Magic.

Hypatia got onto her knees and repositioned herself in front of Regulus. She pulled at his towel until it unraveled, revealing him to her. This conversation shouldn't be such an aphrodisiac, but it was, because she trusted her husband.

He was clever, cunning, and vicious. He wouldn't kill someone without good reason. Not if he could avoid it.

"Who?"

"Death Eaters."

Hypatia licked up the length of him, her touch far too gentle. He had killed Death Eater's. Men just like the ones who stalked her nightmares.

"Names?"

"Don't play games with me Hypatia."

Hypatia batted her eyelashes innocently and kissed the head of his penis, making his eyes roll back in his head. She hovered above it like her blowing him was conditional on this, and he supposed it was.

"McNair, Lestrange Sr, and White."

Hypatia took him into her mouth, sucking in her cheeks just like he liked. She paused when she came up, and pulled off his cock completely. Regulus groaned at the loss of her.

"Tell me why."

Regulus tried to marshall his thoughts as Hypatia began moving again. Fuck, it was hard to think. She paused completely and looked up at him, and he forced himself to speak.

"They were monsters. They liked to hurt people, to hurt women. I couldn't allow it."

Hypatia gave up her game, and moved with purpose. Regulus gripped her hair in his hands, unable to resist the urge to thrust up into her mouth. He could see her ass and tits from this angle, perfectly round and bouncing with her movements.

"Fuck Hypatia, such a good girl taking my cock. Fucking perfect."

Hypatia felt a rush of warmth to her core at his words. She found it incredibly hot that he had killed Death Eater's. Whether or not that made her a bad person, she didn't particularly care anymore. Because everything was Regulus, and endless glorious shades of gray. She'd paint the world in the color that graced his eyes if she could.

Hypatia moaned around his cock, and the vibrations sent him over the edge. He spilled down her throat. After swallowing she hopped off the bed and smiled at him demurely as she tip toed backwards.

"Where do you think you're going baby girl?"

"I want to bathe before dinner."

"I'm joining you," Regulus said as he got to his feet.

"But you just got out."

Regulus crossed the room, scooped her up into his arms, and headed to their bathroom.

"Oh shush, and do what Daddy tells you." Hypatia squeezed her thighs together. Regulus looked down at her with raised brows. "Be a good girl, and I might just make you cum."

"Yes daddy."

Regulus bit his lip with the effort to control himself. He sat her on the edge of their massive pool-like bath, facing him. He stepped between her legs, and cradled her face in his hands.

"One day soon I'm going to fuck you. You'll be a gorgeous, shaking mess for daddy. Then we'll always be together. We'll be fully bonded. Do you think you're ready for that?"

Hypatia nodded her head frantically. Just his words set off an inferno in her. She was sure he delighted in torturing her, in drawing out these moments. She squirmed, but his fingers dug harshly into her hips, stilling her movements.

"Oh no, not right now, Hypatia. We only have an hour before dinner, and I intend to take my time with you when we finally consumate our bond."

He unhooked her bra, and cradled her breasts in his hands. Hypatia arched into his touch. Regulus smiled at the bruises littering her curves from their time in the Dining Room. He ghosted his fingertips over them posessively. Perhaps he had been too harsh.

"Did I hurt you?" Regulus asked, concern lighting his features.

"No! I liked it," Hypatia rushed to reassure him.

Regulus smirked, all concern fleeing his features at her words. "Of course you did. Do you want to take a bath now?"

Hypatia nodded.

"Well then we have to take these off, don't we?"

He peeled down her underwear and threw it to the side. He picked her up, wrapping her legs around him, and entered the bath. The experience of the bath was enhanced by the taps of scented bubbles. Regulus held her tight, kissing her senseless. Hypatia wiggled her hips, trying to slide down, and reach his hardness.

Regulus pulled back, "I said not now baby girl. Can you listen? I have big plans for our first time. I'd hate for them to be spoiled all because you can't be patient."

Hypatia bit her lip. She did want him, more than she'd ever wanted anything, but she could wait. If Regulus said he had big things planned, she knew he would deliver, and she wanted so badly to please him.

"Of course I can daddy. I'll be good."

Regulus smirked, "Come here. I want to help you wash."

He pulled her to the deeper end, where the bubbles came up to his chest. He picked her up and set her on the wide ledge. He grabbed a new loofa the elves had left for them. He scooped up bubbles and rubbed the loofa over her. It sent pleasant tingles over her body as he rinsed them off with water.

"This feels so good," Hypatia told him with a smile.

It was so simple, but intimate. She felt so spoiled by his attention, by the time he spent running the loofa up and down her legs and over every part of her skin. Regulus smiled up at her. She really was magnificent.

"I know something that will feel even better."

Hypatia blushed, "You mean?"

"Come here."

She was already on the edge of the ledge, in the perfect position for Regulus to bury his face in between her thighs. Hypatia's hands were in his hair instantly. She was already so worked up from his teasing that his tongue had her climbing towards her peak almost immediately.

"More daddy, please."

Regulus smiled against her clit before returning to her task. He added his fingers, curling to a spot inside of her that made her muscles start to tense. He could feel her excitement through their bond, radiating back towards him.

If it wasn't for his plans, he'd say forget dinner, and take her here and now, but no. It would be worth the wait. He'd concocted the plan as she slept.

Hypaita shattered around his fingers, his name on her lips. She leaned back on her elbows, completely limbless.

"Come here love, I'll hold you."

Hypatia sank down into the water and curled herself around Regulus. She rested her head on his shoulder as her hands played with his hair.

"Aren't we supposed to get dressed at some point?"

Regulus sighed, "I suppose so, though I like you like this."

Hypatia laughed, "The feeling is mutual."