Les Misérables | Regulus A. Black [1]

Chapter Sixteen

[Chapter Sixteen]

Entering the Prefect compartment reminded Éponine of the first time she had travelled to the UK after leaving France behind, everything felt so incredibly foreign. Despite the fact that she had been attending school with the same faces for years, it was like she didn't recognise any of them and they didn't recognise her. But that wasn't all true, she knew a few names of those inside, but she didn't know the slightest thing about them otherwise.

 In front of her, Regulus led the way inside the compartment, not having said a word since his confrontation with Sirius. She wanted to offer up some words, something that could possibly comfort him, but she wasn't sure what there was to say. Éponine didn't know what it felt like to feel the tug and pull, the turmoil of not being able to turn to a sibling when they were right there. The girl didn't have any siblings, she had been an only child from the time of her birth, but Regulus was different. He was an only child now, but he wasn't always one. Just by the way he carried himself, his shoulders slightly hunched, his gait slow, and his jaw clenched, Éponine understood that just talking to Sirius had been emotionally draining for Regulus.

He probably wanted to reach out to his brother, he probably felt a moment of happiness when he heard the nickname "Reggie", but it all went downhill from there because he knew that Sirius wasn't coming home and they were never going to be what they once were. It didn't help the situation that James Potter had been standing there, to Regulus, that was his replacement. It was who Sirius chose as his brother over him and Éponine couldn't imagine that pain. If matters weren't bad enough as they entered the compartment, Éponine's gaze settled on another of Sirius' well-known friends, Remus Lupin.

Remus was another Gryffindor that Sirius considered to be his brother, leaving the situation to become even more awkward as the only available spots left were right next to the older boy. Not wanting Regulus to subject himself to any more pain, Éponine slid behind him quickly and took the first seat next to Remus, allowing Regulus to sit at the end. Both boys looked at her at the same time, but she ignored them as she focused down at her shoes. Regulus didn't say anything as he took the last remaining seat, glancing across the way with a slight scowl on his face.

Lily Evans was another Gryffindor Prefect, a muggle-born one at that, leaving Regulus and Éponine to feel uncomfortable. It was common for their families to express their detest for those that were considered "mud-blood" and "blood-traitors" but unfortunately, at school, they were the minority with their beliefs. Many times, those that did believe in the supremacy, found their beliefs questioned, Éponine had found it to be a subject that led to many arguments within classrooms and corridors.

But from the time they were young, the children of the families had heard the same thing over and over. Muggle-borns came from families of muggles, more than likely descendants of squibs, even the purest of heart families couldn't argue that squibs brought their families shame. Muggle blood mixing in wizard blood could only lead to problems, it tainted the blood. There once was a time, spoken in stories that the children only heard by the ear, where magic blood and Muggle blood was completely separate. There was no such thing as Muggle-borns at the time and there was no such thing as squibs.