Les Misérables | Regulus A. Black [1]

Chapter Two

[Chapter Two]

With every fine dress that Éponine owned packed away in her trunk, the girl faced her mother, wondering if the woman had neglected that at the end of the summer, she was to return to school and she simply couldn't wear dresses. Noting the concerned look on her daughter's face, Heloise reassured her that when it was time for Éponine to return to Hogwarts, the contents of her trunk would change, but for those moments, everything packed in her trunk was meant to make an impression on young Regulus Black. Éponine shuddered to think what she was becoming, nothing better than the mares that Ernest Nott presented to her father when the studs were ready. 

Each brooding mare was carefully examined because lineage only went so far, it was about conformation as well. It followed the bone structure of the horse, the body proportions, as well as the muscular structure. Each category was examined to see if they could breed perfection and within the pure-blooded families that were becoming a smaller pool with every passing year, Éponine had to become the next perfect brooding mare to produce young that would go on to greatness. After all, destined to carry the line of the Black family was considered an honour and a pleasure. Although Éponine didn't quite see it that way, she did understand the importance of blood purity, however, she thought that many within the families were too obsessed with it, to the point where it clouded their judgements and often time ruined aspects of their families.

And what did it matter if she and Regulus produced healthy children but the marriage was not one of happiness? What example would that set for the child? Luckily, Éponine's parents loved each other and Regulus' parents seemed very much in love over the years she had known them, but would she and Regulus be as lucky as their sets of parents? If not, what would their child come to witness and how would that affect them during a time most crucial towards their development? Éponine didn't even want to think of such things, she was only fifteen, the last thing she wanted on her mind was the discussion of children. 

But that was what her mother was trying to prepare her for, a summer that would lead her to become one step closer to being with Regulus for the rest of her life. All the while, the girl simply drowned out her mother's advice of how to carry herself when in the presence of the members of the Black family, as she realised that with the upcoming fifth year that she would be facing her O.W.L.s, exams that would determine what subjects she would be able to continue taking in her sixth and seventh year. 

However, her mother became quickly aware that her daughter wasn't paying attention and snapped her fingers in front of Éponine's face before telling the girl to bathe before she was due to leave. She also told Éponine to use the heavier perfumed soaps before the girl was allowed to leave the room. Éponine didn't have to be told twice, anything to escape the lecturing of how she had to present herself while spending the summer forced in the company of others. She retreated upstairs to her bath and began running the hot water, to the point where it was hot enough to nearly burn her skin.