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

Chapter Two

The silence that followed Éponine's question to Sirius was enough to make a slight bit of self-doubt return to her chest. She wondered if she had taken too long to pursue any sort of chance that she stood with dating him. She wouldn't blame him if he had moved on or decided to pursue someone else, after all, there had been no agreed commitment that Sirius had to wait until Éponine was ready again if he ready to date someone else. And as he gently took her by the arm and led her off the side, Éponine prepared herself mentally to be rejected.

"Nin," he began, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that the others weren't eavesdropping, " are you sure about this? The last we spoke...well, I don't want you to feel pressured or-"

There was such a sense of relief that Sirius was not flat out telling her "no" bringing Éponine to smile as she reached out and gently held the sleeve of his shirt to get him to stop rambling.

"You gave me the time I needed," she said, " and you've been so supportive of me. I'm sure about this. At least, we can give it a chance, right? And if it doesn't work out in the way we think, I hope that you'll always want to be my friend."

The nervous expression that had previously taken over Sirius' face, suddenly vanished, replaced with a rather giddy grin. He quickly took the hand that had been holding his sleeve and held it in his before agreeing to the date, shortly after, bringing Éponine into a hug. One that she embraced wholeheartedly.

Her graduation ceremony symbolised an ending to one chapter of her life, but she would never forget the memories she had made at the school; good and bad. All of them had been a part of allowing her to become the person she was currently, and she was ended to end on a good note, before starting another chapter of her life. One that involved her being part of the Order of the Phoenix, and hopefully, making a difference in the world, while also still pursuing her own form of happiness.

She and Sirius turned back to the others, who seemed to be anxiously awaiting the confirmation. But as they both turned, they could see James in the distance, talking to Dumbledore. Curiosity got the best of them, waiting until James returned to figure out what the headmaster had wanted.

"There's a meeting tonight," he announced, looking slightly apologetic as he noted that Sirius was still holding Éponine's hand. "Dumbledore wants the rest of the Order to meet with Éponine, the sooner the better."

While the message had been something Éponine should have anticipated, it still managed to catch her off guard. It seemed Dumbledore didn't want to waste any sort of time once she had graduated to get her involved. She could see the frown developing on Sirius' lips, but she gave his hand a squeeze, reassuring him that they could always go on a date the next evening.

She was ready to see what life would be like serving in the Order.

Éponine wanted to take the Hogwarts Express back to Kings' Cross Station one last time to keep Gian company, promising Sirius that she would make her way back to the flat before the meeting while leaving Toulouse in his company. She bought Gian loads of treats off the trolley, promising that even though she would be busy over the course of the summer, she would still make time to visit him. It was rather bittersweet for her to know that she wouldn't be able to spend time with him at Hogwarts anymore.