Les Misérables | Regulus A. Black [1]

Chapter Forty-Six

[Chapter Forty-Six]

On the day of Christmas Eve, Éponine had been happily reading over Regulus' shoulder by the fireplace when she was summoned to Walburga's and Orion's room to speak with the matriarch of the Black family. Despite sitting close to the fire, she felt a cold chill run up her spine as the invitation had been rather unexpected. Especially since they had been around each other during breakfast and Walburga showed no signs of wanting to have a word with her. The only comforting aspect was that Kreacher did not seem fearful about delivering the message; he appeared calm which made her consider that it didn't have to be a bad thing.

With a small sigh that she had to abandon the chapter just as the story was getting good, she pushed herself up to head over to the stairs. Regulus agreed to hold the place and wouldn't continue while she was gone. It brought a faint smile to her lips before she nodded her head and made her way upstairs.

Kreacher led the way, mumbling to himself that he needed to get a start on dinner or the family wouldn't be eating until very late. Éponine was about to tell him that he was free to go, she didn't need him as her escort, but at the same time, she still found his company to be rather comforting. He had given no insight as to what Walburga wanted and since the first time she had met her, Éponine had always found herself nervous. Back to when she arrived at the Black household to meet with Sirius for the first time, Walburga had given her a once over and made her judgements right then and there.

She picked at small things such as height or Éponine's skin condition, did she have anything else to scrutinise?

Before reaching the door, Kreacher came to a halt and with a snap of his little fingers, the door opened. At first, Éponine didn't move, waiting for him to go first, but as the house-elf cleared his throat, it was clear that he wasn't invited; she had to venture in alone. With one shaky step after another, Éponine walked in to find Walburga sitting at her vanity mirror. She wasn't dressed for the day, only wearing a thin slip as she readied herself. The door closed behind her, and within seconds, Walburga turned to give her full attention.

Similar to Bellatrix, there was something very haunting about the eyes of the women of the Black family. Éponine couldn't quite pinpoint what it was, but she would say it was very close to an angry sorrow that seemed to spill out whenever someone made eye contact with them. The rest of their body language, carried them to be strong and powerful women, but it was that little piece trapped in their eyes that said differently.

"You don't have to stand so far away, Éponine," Walburga told her, " here, come sit."

Rather than sharing the small bench, Walburga stood up and motioned for Éponine to take her place. For a moment, she thought about protesting, claiming she could sit somewhere else, but she thought it was best not to argue in the slightest. Instead, she sat down and watched as Walburga came to stand behind her in the mirror.