When Regulus arrived at King's Cross Station that very morning, he didn't know what to expect. While his parents gushed in the background, claiming how proud they were of his accomplishments, he was busy paying no mind to them. Instead, his eyes were scanning the crowds of students and parents for any sign of Éponine.

Since that day in Diagon Alley, Éponine had been living in his mind rent-free. He didn't dare tell his parents or anyone for that matter that he had seen her. He sure if they knew of his plan to win Éponine back that they would completely disapprove. But he didn't care, if he was able to get her back, his family was just going to have to deal with it. He made it clear to both his mother and father, that he wasn't accepting any more marriage prospects. In fact, whenever a new name was introduced, he grew angry and reiterated that he was not going to be with anyone else and he would do everything in his power to sabotage it.

Walburga took it as a sign that her son needed more time to heal and eventually, he would come around and be more willing to marry a nice, pretty pureblood girl that wasn't a blood-traitor. But Orion saw it differently, he knew his youngest son was holding on hope that, one day, Éponine would come to her senses and come back. Because it was the same hope that Orion held onto, thinking one day Sirius would come home.

With her nowhere in sight, Regulus said goodbye to his parents and started to make his way towards the Hogwarts Express. He could hear his mother call out to him, telling him to have a good year, but he didn't bother to turn around. When he reached the step to board, Regulus looked over his shoulder to see that his parents were already gone. However, he also witnessed Éponine pass through the barrier, holding hands with his brother.

Upon seeing them at Flourish and Blotts prior to the start of term, Regulus had thought nothing of the two of them being seen together besides being two blood-traitors supporting one another. But he was suddenly reminded of how Éponine had grabbed Sirius by the wrist when she led him away from the confrontation. Or all the times he had seen her attend all the other Inter-House Quidditch matches with Sirius, but hadn't shown up to one where Slytherin was involved.

Neither Éponine nor Sirius noticed him in the distance, only making things worse for Regulus as he witnessed his brother lean in and kiss Éponine on the corner of her mouth. If that wasn't enough to turn him green with jealousy, he certainly didn't like the way she blushed and smiled afterwards.

However, he made no scene as he quickly boarded the train and made his way to the Prefect's carriage where he knew he would see her shortly and several minutes later, she arrived.

Regulus watched as Éponine's gaze travelled over him before settling on his Head Boy badge. The widening of her eyes was the perfect reaction, bringing a smirk to his lips, but she didn't look amused at all. He could hear her mutter something under her breath as she looked away from him. It seemed she was contemplating whether or not to leave the compartment, possibly wait until some other prefects arrived before returning. However, Regulus chuckled to himself as she took to sitting across from him, crossing her legs, and folding her arms across her chest.

There was something about an angry Éponine that he found wildly attractive.

She took to staring intently out of the window, set on ignoring him until the first prefect arrived. Judging by the intimidated look on the new prefect's face, the tension inside the compartment was overwhelming. Thankfully, she wasn't the only one to arrive as others slowly piled in. And while they all seemed to be waiting on either the Head Boy or the Head Girl to say something, Regulus kept his gaze on Éponine.

Realising that everyone was waiting on her, Éponine shot a quick glare in his direction before she pushed herself to stand. She stood in the centre of the compartment greeting everyone and then paused to allow Regulus to introduce himself. Of course, he made no attempt and simply sat there, leaving an awkward silence to fall over the compartment.

She didn't allow his silence to faze her though, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the list of responsibilities that had been delivered to both her and Regulus, along with their Head Girl/Boy letters. They were instructed to read the responsibilities out loud to the new prefects, mostly explaining that they were to set an example for the other students and assist them when needed.

Éponine didn't stutter once.

Such a far cry from when she had first made prefect and didn't believe she was worthy of holding such a position among her peers. She would remain quiet for most of the meetings, hoping to go unnoticed for the most part, never really taking into consideration the privileges and advantages she had in her grasp.

Regulus actually found himself listening to everything she said, even though he had heard the list of responsibilities twice before over the years. When Éponine finished, she didn't bother asking if had anything to say, only opening up the floor to any questions that the other students had. Her prior explanations seemed to be clear enough that no one had anything to question or comment on, the students only waiting around to be dismissed.

Finally, she turned to Regulus, expecting him to say something and so he did.

"You can all leave now."

There was no need for him to say it twice as the prefects practically pushed each other out of the way to escape the compartment first. It left Éponine shaking her head in bewilderment as she had to wait for them to all go before she had a chance to leave herself. Once again, she started muttering things under her breath, he caught onto a few words like "unbelievable" and "irresponsible."

But when the last prefect hurried out, Éponine went to follow, only to have the compartment door slide closed in her face. She paused for a moment before turning around, coming face to face with Regulus.

Over the past couple of years, he had grown in height,  enough that they weren't at eye level anymore, but he didn't have to lower himself too much to meet her gaze. Her dark eyes once had looked at him with such a softness, were currently narrowed up at him, a frown pulling at the corner of her lips.

"Épi," he said her name softly, wanting to keep her listening for as long as possible. "I-"

"Don't call me that," she said quietly, " you're not allowed to call me that anymore."

"Oh, so are the pet names only reserved between you and my brother, Nin?"

Her reaction was a dead giveaway, between the visible hard swallow and the rosy tint that was suddenly visible on her cheeks, only to be followed by an eye roll.

"Honestly, even if it was, that's none of your business."

"I happen to recall a time where you said you'd rather still marry him over me. Seems that still holds true."

Perhaps that had been a step too far because, for a moment, the annoyed expression on her face vanished. Replaced by eyes glued to the floor and a shake of her head that tousled her hair. He thought he heard the sound of a sniffle before she leaned her head back for a minute as if trying to hold back a few tears. Then she looked at him again.

"Regulus, I don't have time for your petty jealousy or whatever you wish to call this. I don't have time for you. Unless....unless you are here to tell me that you've finally seen the error of your ways and that you are willing to take the proper steps to become a decent human being?"

"No, I'm-"

"Then we have nothing to talk about."

She turned to leave, but Regulus reached for her arm to turn her back around. "Épi, wait-"

Suddenly, he found the tip of her wand pressed to the middle of his throat. Her other hand held the front of his shirt, abruptly pulling him closer as her wand dug into his skin. The tears from before were gone as her gaze met his again, he was only met with coldness and he had no idea how to react. He hadn't even noticed when she pulled the wand.

"Repeat after me, Regulus," she whispered, so very close to his lips that he could feel them tingle. "We. Have. Nothing. To. Talk. About."

The pressure of her wand was removed as she released the hold of his shirt and seconds later, she slid open the compartment and left, leaving Regulus with a sore neck, but the rest of his body on fire.

Éponine returned the compartment where she had left Gian and Toulouse earlier. However, she did not return in a good mood, but rather all kinds of worked up. She nearly slammed open the door, causing Toulouse to puff up in fear before he noticed it was his owner coming back.

"Can you believe it?!" she screeched as soon as she was inside. "Dumbledore made him Head Boy? Has he completely lost his mind? I actually worked hard for this position! I put in the time to make the marks, I was responsible, I did the right thing! But apparently, anyone can just become Head Boy! I should have known once they made James one. Although at least he didn't actively discriminate against part of the student population! What is going on? Am I in a nightmare again?"

She started pacing back and forth, her heart pounding so loud in her chest that she could barely hear her own thoughts.

"Then, he had the nerve to use my old nickname and my new one! Like we were just good old friends! He hasn't spoken to me in almost two years and suddenly, it's "oh hey Épi, did you have a nice summer?" Well, those weren't his exact words, but still, it falls about the same in the category. Ugh, I just cannot believe any of this! Dumbledore makes him Head Boy, what is he going to do next? Make Severus Snape a professor at the school! Ha!"

Suddenly, she stopped herself, knowing that her rambling on wasn't going to change anything. The shock itself was starting to wear off, although her anger was another story. However, she couldn't ignore the three unfamiliar faces that were all watching her, wide-eyed and quiet as she looked at them.

"Who are you three?" she asked. "Oh shit, don't tell me I wandered into the wrong compartment."

"Nin," Gian called out to her. "These are a couple of first years that I invited to sit with us while you were gone. I was just telling them on a scale of one to ten that you're a definite ten when it comes to being cool, but I think after what we all just witnessed, I'm gonna have to drop you down to an eight."

Éponine sighed as she plopped down beside Gian and allowed Toulouse to climb into her lap.

"That's fair."

A/N: