Les Misérables | Regulus A. Black [1]

Chapter Forty-Two

[Chapter Forty-Two]

Upon reaching the girl's dorm, Éponine was visibly upset as she kicked off her shoes and plopped onto the end of her bed. As cruel as fate seemed, life seemed to enjoy the idea of kicking while she was already feeling low. She had no idea what had possessed Regulus for his actions in the Common Room and while it was not the worst thing he could have done, it had only added to all the stress and anger that she was already feeling. Her parents had practically dropped her off like a parcel on the Black household doorstep as her entire young life had been washed away with the only sole importance being her marriage with Regulus in the future. It drove her mad that she had once been their pride and joy, their only child that they loved devoting time to, but now she could see what their intentions had been.

She was nothing more than one of the potential broodmares back at the farm. She was conditioned to look beautiful, taken care of properly and perhaps a little bit spoiled, just so that she would be the perfect selection when it came to the stud. The stud being Regulus when the time came for them to actually have children and continue his line. However, she was a broodmare that thought that she was going to be a show horse. She thought she was going to travel places, see the world and be able to run free, jump, and just live an exciting life as something more. It was nothing more than she had been raised to be shipped off eventually and while she kept trying to go back to her "home farm" she was left in the care of the "Black stables."

It all seemed to settle in her mind when she thought back to when she was much younger, still expected to marry Sirius at the time when her mother claimed that it would rest on her to carry the Black surname. She didn't understand it back then, but she understood it now, her parents had done their job and now they were wiping their hands clean of her.

She knew eventually that it was going to come down to the idea of living with Regulus rather than being at home, but she didn't think her life was going to be so separate from her family before the marriage even took place.

So perhaps in Regulus' mind, when he said the word "mine" he meant in an affectionate way, perhaps to say proudly to the world or everyone in the Common Room at least, that she was his girlfriend and he was happy about it. Maybe if it had happened at a different time, she would have found herself flattered by such a remark, never thinking in the past that Regulus would think so highly of her in that manner. However, due to her parents, she could only hear it as her just becoming his property.

That's how her parents viewed her as they so easily detached themselves from it all and the thought had leached itself into her mind to make her think at that moment, that it was how Regulus saw her as well. Of course, Éponine had hoped that when she saw Regulus that it would settle her mind and that he would be able to offer her some comfort, but that had quickly changed after what took place. She had reacted quickly simply because she was upset with other matters that she couldn't bring herself to disclose because she thought it was going to cause more problems for herself.