Les Misérables | Regulus A. Black [1]

Chapter Fifty-One

[Chapter Fifty-One]

Éponine wanted nothing more than to take back everything she had said in that very moment and spend the rest of the night apologising to Gian for ever hurting his feelings. As soon as Severus walked away with his satisfied smirk, Éponine reached for Gian, hoping to explain her actions, but as soon as he did, the little boy lashed out at her. He threw his hands up, smacking hers away from him. His face was strewn with tears that stained his cheeks as they travelled down. The ultimate look of betrayal as he didn't understand what he had did to her, in order for her to say such a thing.

"Gian, you don't understand," she barely managed to get out, "I'm trying to-"

"I thought you said it was an awful word to use, I thought you were different from the rest of them! But it's not true, is it? No, you are just like the rest of them. You don't think I belong here, you think I don't deserve to be here!"

"No, it's not what you think. I only said those things because-"

He didn't wait for her answer, he didn't care what she had to say. As soon as she had taken to using such a horrible insult against him, he didn't need to hear anymore. Gian left Éponine to stand alone in the corridor after he wiped his face and entered the Great Hall.

"I only said those things because I'm a coward."

Since the summer, all Éponine wanted to do was gain some control over her life. Yes, she knew what was required of her, but she had hoped to find her voice and put her foot down when things were getting to be too much for her. She had managed beautifully in the beginning, finally finding the voice that only ranted in her head for so long and allowing it to speak out loud.  For once in her life, she felt strong when she stood up for herself.

And then the likes of Bellatrix and Severus had managed to take it all from her in such a short amount of time. She knew that is was Severus that went calling to Bellatrix as soon as Éponine stepped to him, telling him to leave Regulus, Avery, and Mulciber alone. He knew the power that Bellatrix possessed within the family, her ranking among those that served the Dark Lord. He had every intention of getting Éponine in trouble without confronting her himself.

Severus was the true coward behind it all, but he had revealed that Éponine wasn't as strong as she believed herself to be.

Long after Gian had entered the Great Hall, Éponine continued to stand there, staring off into the distance as she thought about what she should have done rather than what she did. She should have thanked Gian a million times over for thinking about her enough to get her a gift. She should have apologised for not getting him one and when Severus came into view, she should have grabbed Gian's hand protectively, staring Severus down the entire time as she led Gian into the Great Hall.

But she didn't do any of that.

Bellatrix had managed to instil fear inside Éponine with just a simple threat. Before the start of the summer, Éponine didn't believe she had much to lose. She found herself rather miserable all the time. However, spending the summer with Regulus, suddenly having friends, and a real sense of what family should feel like, she suddenly had everything to lose. And to make matters worse, it made Éponine sick to her stomach that Bellatrix had threatened her with the likes of Ernest Nott.