Les Misérables | Regulus A. Black [1]

Chapter Nine

[Chapter Nine]

Orion would be the first in the household to be surprised by how quiet things had become, practically overnight. The sounds of Regulus' and Éponine's bickering finally seemed to come to a halt and for some reason, it didn't offer a sense of relief, in fact, it made him rather nervous. Despite the fact that they weren't arguing with one another, he still went to check on them throughout the house, in fear, that one of them had finally killed the other out of pure annoyance. But it wasn't the case at all, they seemed to have no murderous plots crossing their minds. However, they weren't making any effort to spend time with each other either. Regulus would hide away in his room, while Éponine hid in her room or the library. 

The only time they seemed to share any interaction over the course of the next few days was during mealtime, but even then they were quiet. Walburga had informed her husband what Regulus had dared to say to the girl after he had spoken with both of them and it left the father in shock that his son would stoop so low to get a jab in. He knew he had raised Regulus better than that, Éponine was growing up to be a fine young woman. Educated and polite, came from a proper family and shared in the beliefs that many upheld within their circle. Yet, Regulus and his friends seemed to have focused solely on outer appearance, which wasn't exactly fair in Éponine's case. 

It was no secret that the girl had suffered a few years with her complexion, but that was naturally out of her control.Her parents had tried quite a number of remedies for her face, but many of them only made it worse for the girl. Orion remembered the discussions with Victor, as the man claimed that some of the mixtures led to the girl's face cracking and peeling. Some made it look like she was suffering from burns, nothing had been working for them, until recently. Finally, they were able to find a solution, an expensive one, but a solution that cleared up Éponine's face. But Orion could see that the damage still lingered, even if it wasn't external, the girl had suffered greatly over the years due to something that she could not help. 

Even with her face clear, she still had her insecurities and apparently, Orion's youngest son had not been helpful when it came to boosting her self-esteem. Instead, he was one of the members that had taunted the girl, leading to further problems. Orion hoped that his message to Regulus about protecting Éponine would get through to his son so that the two could share in a happy life together and hopefully, leave the past behind them.

The perfect opportunity was approaching the two teenagers to see what their life could be, as the wedding between Narcissa Black and Lucius Malfoy was to take place during that afternoon. While Éponine's parents would be in attendance, along with plenty of others, Éponine was still in the care of Orion and Walburga, attending the ceremony and gathering with them and Regulus. 

The same morning of the wedding, Walburga had the girl up quite early to get ready to attend, although Éponine saw it as quite unnecessary to be awake so early considering it only took several minutes for everything to be done with the use of magic. With her hair curled and placed up and simple pink pastel coloured dress robes that resembled a light coloured rose, Éponine had plenty of time to read before they were to leave the Grimmauld Place. She sat at the dinner table, with her book propped in her lap, listening to all the sounds taking place around her.