Jondrette Girl | Regulus A. Black [2] ( ON HOLD)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Settled by one of the tables that shared a view of the street outside, Éponine impatiently waited on Regulus' arrival, hoping he would show sooner rather than later. It had been a battle in itself to convince Euphemia and Fleamont to leave her at the Leaky Cauldron, as they claimed it was no place for her to be by herself. The three came to the agreement that the couple would do a quick round of shopping around Diagon Alley and then return for Éponine. They made it abundantly clear that they weren't anticipating Regulus to show up.

She was sure between the letters she had sent to them, Sirius had managed to talk to Euphemia and Fleamont in person. He more than likely voiced his doubts about his little brother suddenly switching sides, and Regulus abrupt departure from the train station, left Éponine with little ground to argue on. She told them, of course, that she was certain that he would arrive at the Leaky Cauldron and then everyone would have to give Regulus a chance.

But as time went on, Éponine could feel the overwhelming shadow of a doubt, looming over her. Regulus had claimed that he had been thinking of going to his parents' home throughout the train ride, however, failed to mention it until they were just outside of the station.  Éponine wanted to believe that he simply hesitated to mention it sooner because he was nervous about her reaction. Obviously, she didn't want to go back to Grimmauld Place when he asked her, but she didn't want him to go either.

His reasoning though didn't sound that far-fetched. It was very possible that Walburga and Orion were out, visiting family members over the holidays to keep up with appearances for the sake of their reputation. And she knew how much Kreacher meant to Regulus, so returning for the house-elf didn't sound as crazed as others would make it out to be. Not to mention, Regulus wanting to reach out to his father one last time, she couldn't hold it against him either. She had never tried to reason with her parents after she had left, but that was because there wasn't much of a relationship for her to want to save.

Memories of Walburga and Orion flooded her mind as she sat quietly with only Toulouse keeping her company. Before Walburga had called her a "wretched whore" or whatever was the insult of the day, Éponine remembered how she had finally seen the other side of the woman she had feared for so long. Those vulnerable moments that made Walburga more than just a member of the Black family, but a mother, a wife, a friend. As for Orion, he had always treated Éponine with kindness and she would be the first to admit, it hurt her more to betray them than it did her own parents.

Éponine hadn't thought about her parents in so long, she wondered if they actually missed her? Maybe not enough to change their ways for her, but did they miss her at all? Near the end, they seemed to abandon her, but Walburga claimed they always asked about her in their letters. She never understood why they just couldn't make time for her, rather than making it seem like she wasn't important anymore.

It doesn't matter, Éponine told herself as she reached out to scratch Toulouse between his ears, it wasn't like they were going to change, so there was no sense in reminiscing or asking all the "what ifs" that were never going to happen.