Les Misérables | Regulus A. Black [1]

Chapter Forty-Eight

[Chapter Forty-Eight]

After Bellatrix dared to mention the Dark Lord within the home, Éponine found herself with a lump in her throat and her eyes wide in reaction. Of course, she had heard about the one who had deemed himself the Dark Lord. He had been active for decades, but in recent times, his follower count seemed to grow exponentially. He had been the topic of many discussions shared between pureblooded families and his recruitment already found itself within the walls of Hogwarts, she knew that first hand.

Severus Snape had taken it upon himself to use his bitterness over Lily's rejection to start recruiting students in Slytherin. He had pledged his loyalty to the Dark Lord, the one who wanted to end muggle-borns and their supporters. Which meant, he wanted to see people like Lily Evans and Gian suffer. Severus had tried to get Regulus interested by hazing his mind with thoughts of being able to save Sirius from persecution if the time came. Thankfully, Éponine felt as though she had intervened at the right time to save Regulus from making such a rash decision that was only based on emotion rather than logic.

"I've heard of him, yes," she finally answered, too afraid to meet Bellatrix's gaze afterwards. "What of it?"

"What of it?" Bellatrix repeated in a mocking tone. "Have you heard anything about what I just said? While our mothers destine us for a life of basically becoming them, the Dark Lord has better promises. We have freedom and power in the world he wants to create."

"H-How does he go about doing that?"

Bellatrix curled her legs beneath her, pulling her long skirt over them as she leaned back against the sofa. There was almost a dreamy look on her face as she stared off into the distance.

"If it wasn't for blood-traitors, we would have never had to deal with squibs and those mudblood products. They tainted magical blood all those times ago and to this day, our people are still paying for it. Our families wouldn't be so caught up on who married who and the need for children wouldn't be so desperate if the world had just remained how it was supposed to be. If wizards and witches had kept it pure, we would have more options and as women, we would have more freedom to do as we please."

It appeared that Bellatrix was reciting words of another, a practice preaching that had sold her from the very beginning. Just from their earlier discussion, Éponine knew that Bellatrix had been angered by the idea of just becoming a housewife after Hogwarts, especially after being the top of her classes. She wanted nothing more to show that she was powerful, but the only power her family would grant her came in the form of becoming a mother.

Without a child, she had just become another one married off and all eyes turned to the next generation such as Éponine and Regulus to carry on the pureblooded lines.

"But how does he go about accomplishing such a world?" Éponine questioned again since her question had yet to be answered. "Muggle-borns and blood-traitors already exist now, they have for decades. How does he create a world where purebloods are given options and freedom again?"