Les Misérables | Regulus A. Black [1]

Chapter Three

[Chapter Three]

"What is wrong with your hand?"

The question caught Éponine off guard for multiple reasons, one of them being the fact that Regulus was actually talking to her without prompting from an adult and two, his question concerned a part of her that was mainly focused on her well-being. Quickly, she glanced at her hand to see that the red spot from where she had washed it repeatedly in her earlier bath had yet to fade. Placing her other hand over it again, she ignored it as if it was nothing, nothing more natural than the freckles on her face as if it were supposed to be there and not a result of her trying to wash away the crusty affections of an older man. 

"It is none of your concern," she answered sharply, not daring to look in his direction as she replied. Simply because she feared that he would see right through her front with the piercing cold eyes of his. Afterwards, she realised that she could have easily come up with some sort of lie that would have made the situation less suspicious, but there was no going back in that moment, she had to fully commit to her own cause. Her response sounded harsh and paranoid, but it was all for good reason.

People never asked her things with genuine concern or any other reason but to mock her or tease her. Regulus was among one of the faces that she associated with one of the most embarrassing moments of her life that she had yet to forget. There she was, minding her own work in the library as she worked on her Transfiguration assignment and her Charms essay. Éponine had tucked herself in the far back corner of the library where she wouldn't be bothered, but it appeared as it became well-known that it was one of the areas where she hid away. She felt people approaching her at one point, bringing her to lift her head up, only to swallow nervously when she saw the faces of Avery, Mulciber, Regulus, and a couple of others in their company. 

"Finished the Astronomy assignment yet, Rosier?" Avery asked her with a sly grin, making her feel uncomfortable. It was similar to the smile that Ernest gave her when they were alone int he household, a look that meant that there was something beyond the question being asked of her. Wanting to keep the conversation brief, she quickly nodded her head, but before she could turn back to her work, Avery continued while the others watched. 

"Mapped out all the star charts, have you?" He said before grabbing one of the chairs and sitting down in front of her, leaning his arms over the back of it. "Must come so easy to you, considering you have all the constellations mapped out on your face."

Her reaction had been instantaneous as she let out a small sobbing noise before catching it in her throat. Her eyes already began to water as she could hear the others laughing and she stupidly decided to look over in the direction of the others to see the smiles on their faces. One of the smiles belonged to Regulus, she couldn't ignore that and it filled her with such anger as looked down at her books.