Les Misérables | Regulus A. Black [1]

Chapter Thirty-Two

[Chapter Thirty-Two]

While Éponine had found their first date to be exhilarating and liberating as she so put it, Regulus found it still to be a disappointment. He heard plenty of stories and heard plenty advice over the years when it came to the idea of taking a girl out on a date and unfortunately, he had been unable to execute that properly the first time around. Not that it was his fault, the forces of Emmarentia had worked against him, along with discovering that his brother along with his friends were illegal animagi and the idea that there was a werewolf on the castle grounds. It definitely made it difficult for anyone to work out a proper date with all of that drama around them.

But Regulus knew he had another chance, mainly because Éponine still wanted to talk to him and well, neither one of them really had a choice. Even if they didn't give dating a go, they would still find themselves locked in a marriage. Not to mention, Regulus wanted to make a good impression when it came to the girl. He had heard over time that first impressions were the most lasting, but Regulus didn't want to believe that entirely. He wanted to believe that while they did not get along, in the beginning, that people were allowed to grow and learn.

He had not been the kindest to Éponine in the past, but he was willing to prove to her that he could be kind. She had already seen some of what he was capable of, he just wanted to show her more. So in hopes of working on his own redemption, Regulus passed Éponine a note while they were in Potions class. Unfortunately, he had arrived later to the class and while he would have taken to sitting next to her, it seemed Emmarentia had beaten him to the spot as she was partnered up with Éponine that afternoon.

After listening to Professor Slughorn drone on about the Strengthening Solution for the majority of the hour, he had finally allowed them to start collecting the ingredients to get started. However, before Éponine could stand up from her stool, she caught sight of the parchment paper that landed before her on the table. Emmarentia had seen it as well and the two of them looked over in Regulus' direction, but the boy was already busying himself with the task of opening his potions book to the appropriate page. 

Turning to Emmarentia with a confused but curious look on her face,  Éponine held up the small piece of parchment paper as if Emmarentia would have any insight as to what it was.

"Well, don't just look at me," Emmarentia whispered to her, " open it!"

With a nervous twitch of her hands, Éponine began unfolding the paper slowly, unsure of what was going to be written on the inside. It wouldn't be the first note someone had passed to her, but in the past, they had been nothing nice, leaving her to feel anxious about it. However, as soon as she read over the first written line, she felt slightly silly for allowing herself to get so worked up over seemingly nothing.

It was an invitation and not just any old invitation, but one to go on a date with Regulus when the first trip to Hogsmeade came about. Perhaps she should have expected such a thing, especially since she knew that Regulus was not thrilled with how the first date had panned out between them, but it still caught the girl off guard. Enough that she became so excited and proceeded to knock over the potion ingredients that Emmarentia had just brought over.