The room is dark, only a gas lantern lighting up the space. The room is empty except for shapes covered in shadows. I can barely see anything, I'm too far away.

I can't see anything, but the whole situation feels wrong. I have a pit in my stomach and a feeling in my gut that I shouldn't be here, but something tells me to stay.

The room is cold and damp, sending chills down my spine.

I try to step forward, but my legs won't move.

A door creaks open from the side of the room, and someone joins me in the room. As they get closer, I see their mask. A Death Eater mask. They're carrying another lantern, brightening up the room slightly.

The uneasy feeling in my stomach only grows.

The masked person walks right past me, like I'm not even there.

Only when the Death Eater gets to the middle of the room, can I make out a figure sitting in a chair. They're bound to the chair by ropes.

That's when I see their face.

Regulus.

His face is bruised and bloodied, his cheek split open. His breathing is heavy and shallow.

The Death Eater sets the lantern down on a table, retrieving their wand from their sleeve.

"Time's up, traitor," They mutter.

It's a feminine voice. One that sounds vaguely familiar but I can't quite place it. His mother? No, too cheerful.

"Are you going to tell me what you did? Or will I have to force it out of you?"

Regulus doesn't respond. His hands are limp in the cuffs, his chin tilted up, an unmoving expression on his face.

"Fine. If you want to speak, I'll force it out of you."

A wand is raised.

"Crucio!"

Regulus doubles over in pain, the chains being the only thing holding him upright. He screams out in excruciating pain.

I go towards him, only to realize that my legs won't allow me to move.

I try to call for him, only to realize that I have no voice.

I'm helpless.

Regulus's screaming stops as the spell is dropped.

"Had enough?"

Regulus chokes, "Nope."

His screaming resumes, this time it's louder. His entire face is screwed up in pain as he doubles over, his body twitching.

I try to scream out for him, I try to move, but I can't. I can't do anything but watch. Hot tears stream down my face, wetting my cheeks and rolling off of my chin.

The love of my life is screaming out in pain, the curse unrelenting on him.

"Mer-, wake up!"

I felt his hands on shoulders.

My eyes shot open and all I could feel was sheer panic running through my veins. My heart was beating out of my chest, and my breathing was labored.

"Hey, hey, you're okay," Regulus said, his voice calming me down.

He turned a lamp on, illuminating our bedroom.

I glanced around our bedroom, my eyes falling onto my husband.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my voice shaky.

Regulus held my face in his hands, brushing his thumb across my cheek. "I'm okay," He said. "Are you okay?"

I could feel my heart rate returning to normal, replaced by an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

"What was it this time?"

I stared at Regulus, taking in every inch of his face. He was okay.

"Um, it was you," I muttered, not looking him in the eyes. "They-, they were torturing you, and I had to watch. I couldn't move or speak."

Regulus tilted my chin up so that I was looking at him.

"I'm right here, love," He said. "I'm okay. You're not getting rid of me that easily."

I leaned into Regulus's touch, taking comfort in the cold feeling off his rings against my cheek.

"Do you want to go back to bed?" Regulus asked. His voice was groggy and his hair was messed up from sleep.

I glanced over at the clock.

3:26 am.

The images of him being tortured lingered everytime I blinked.

"No, can we stay up for a bit?" I asked.

Regulus nodded and gave me a small smile. "Of course, let's go make some tea."

He grabbed my hand and led me out of our room and downstairs to the kitchen.

We have a routine now.

Since the first war, I've had occasional nightmares. They were very frequent for the first year or so after, then they became a rare occurrence. But since Voldemort came back, they've come back. They're different every single time, but they always end with someone that I love dying or being tortured and me not being able to help them. Sometimes it's Regulus, sometimes it's Atlas and Elio, and sometimes it's Marlene. Just as a reminder of the person I couldn't save.

Regulus has nightmares too.

Sometimes it's drowning. A vivid recreation of what went down that night in the Cave. Other times it involves his mother and the awful childhood he had.

His nightmares are rare, but when they do happen he's shaken up for a day or so after.

So, we have a routine.

We either both go back to bed, or we get up and make tea and sit on the couch talking until exhaustion takes over and we fall asleep on the couch.

It makes me mad.

We shouldn't have to do this.

We shouldn't have been sent into war at the age of eighteen. We shouldn't have to go to war again.

I vaguely registered the kettle whistling before Regulus handed me a cup of tea. He put his arm around my shoulders and led us into the living room. We sat down on the couch, a throw blanket draped across us.

Regulus ran his hand through my hair and took a sip of his tea before meeting my eyes with his. He watched as I took a sip of tea, the warmth of the drink easing my anxiety.

"Tell me what you're thinking about, love."

I cupped my mug with my hands.

"I think that we need to do everything possible to keep the boys safe and out of this," I said. "If Dumbledore wants us on missions, we go on missions. If he wants us doing undercover work, we do undercover work."

Regulus nodded, "So we'll just be blindly following his orders."

"Yes. I don't like it, but we can trust him," I continued. "He kept me alive during the first war."

An unreadable look passed over Regulus's face before it was replaced with a frown.

"You're right," He said, "It's not just about us anymore."

We both fell into a comfortable silence, the entire house feeling much too quiet without the boys or without a dog. Halley died two years ago from old age, and we have yet to get another dog. I want one, of course, but now doesn't seem like the right time.

"Have you talked to anyone else about all of this?" Regulus asked.

I shrugged, "Yes, but it's not the same. Most of them don't have kids, like Sirius, Remus, and Emmeline. Then Jack wants nothing to do with this even though he's got Natalia to protect."

"I think he'll come around eventually," My husband replied. "At the end of the day, everyone just wants to protect the people that they love."

I cupped Regulus's cheek with my hand, the silver band off my wedding ring cold against his warm cheek.

Regulus leaned into my touch, a small smile of contentment on his face.

I closed the distance between us and brought my lips against his, kissing him slowly.

When we broke apart, my husband rested his hand over mine on his cheek.

"I would do anything for you, you know that?" Regulus whispered.

I nodded, "And I would do anything for you, darling."

Regulus smiled, "L'amour de ma vie."