Les Misérables | Regulus A. Black [1]

Chapter Ten

[Chapter Ten]

The wedding was to take place at the Malfoy Manor and all would be in attendance, however, Walburga insisted that they arrive early to be there for one of her nieces. Although Éponine was quite sure that Walburga just wanted to be there for the sake of claiming that she was one of the first to arrive. It didn't really matter to the girl though, after all, the morning wasn't off to a bad start. She had shared an interesting but nice sort of breakfast in Regulus' company, much to her surprise. The two of them had spent time laughing together as Regulus tried to convince her to try tea without milk and sugar while she got him to sip a bit of her tea. 

It was nice to share in a nice moment with Regulus, she couldn't remember a time before where they had actually shared a good memory, probably because they never did. Even when they were little before school started, they didn't have much positive interaction. Some of it was Regulus' fault with his standoffish attitude or the way he spoke harshly to Éponine when he didn't understand her. But Éponine was somewhat to blame as well, at the time when they first met, she was meant to marry Sirius, so she figured if she had to shell out some of her attention it would be at Sirius. Otherwise, she never went out of her way to include Regulus in a conversation and when he was around, she would practically ignore him by keeping her eyes focused on whatever book was in hand.

Despite reading so much, Éponine never really considered herself to be extremely intelligent. She wasn't the top of her classes, she was an average student in most of the classes and excelling in a couple. The problem was the reading material, if she didn't find it interesting, she could hardly retain anything she had read. If she found the story to be worthwhile, she could recite it perfectly, problem was, she hardly found the school work fascinating enough to remember all the time. 

She did have a love for History of Magic though, mainly because Professor Binns had them read quite often and she loved the stories of their history, the good and the bad. Then there was Care of Magical Creatures, Professor Kettleburn was a strange sort, but she really did love the creatures. It was showing more and more recently as she was spending more time around Kreacher, wanting not only to protect him but all the house-elves that served her family and others. And last, but certainly not least, she loved Herbology, not only for the warm atmosphere of the greenhouse but reading up on all the plants and their uses. 

When it came to Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Astronomy, and Defence Against the Dark Arts, Éponine couldn't claim they were her strongest subjects. Often times she mixed up spells, using the wrong one in class or she would place too few or too many ingredients in her cauldron during Potions. Her reaction time was slow when it came to actually defending herself in Defence Against the Dark Arts. She considered it practically borderline pathetic and her parents were always urging her to try harder. They didn't want her to come across as stupid to others, not for her sake, but the sake of the family's reputation. 

"What do you consider to be your strongest subject at school?"

The two teens were waiting in the main room of the home, standing in front of the fireplace as they would be taking the Floo Network to arrive at the Malfoy Manor promptly. Walburga was working on the last few details of herself but told Orion to gather the two so they would be able to leave shortly. Orion remained in the room with them, but off to the side, staring out one of the windows. He appeared to be feeling a bit down since coming downstairs but didn't say anything except to gather Regulus and Éponine in front of the fireplace.