Since his reconciliation with Éponine, days and nights had become blissful again for Regulus. There was such a relief that was lifted from his shoulders that it nearly felt physical. Waking up every morning and having breakfast with Éponine was something he looked forward to and it helped him sleep the whole night through. They would attend classes together where he was free to talk to her and not have her look at him with such disappointment. And during the early evenings when neither one of them were on duty, they would cosy up on one of the sofas in the Common Room, and read together until one or both of them had fallen asleep.

That particular evening, Éponine had fallen asleep first during their reading. He had only noticed when she failed to turn the page of the book, bringing him to look down. She looked awfully content, her expression remained peaceful as her breathing slowed. Toulouse was settled at her feet, more than likely attempting to keep them warm as he napped away.

Her back was settled into Regulus' side, while her head leaned against the backing of the sofa cushion. He reached up one hand and brushed away the several locks of hair that had fallen into her face. He thought about waking her up and telling her to go to bed where she would more than likely be more comfortable. However, before he said anything, he watched as Emmarentia entered the Common Room area and made her way towards the dorms.

The stolen glance in the couple's direction had not gone unnoticed.

He quickly proceeded to wrap his arm around Éponine's shoulders in a protective manner, having her lean further into him.

While everything seemed perfect between Éponine and Regulus as a couple, not all was well on the outside and Regulus knew it. He could tell Éponine knew it as well as she remained more alert whenever someone approached them, as if they would be attacked at any given moment.

Even though Gian cheered in triumph at Regulus doing the right thing, there were many that were not happy for reuniting of the couple.

Avery and Mulciber were among those that glared in their direction whenever in passing. Regulus tried to reach out to them individually to reason with them and explain what was going on, but they wanted to hear nothing about it. Avery spat a "bloodtraitor" in his direction, while Mulciber merely shook his head, trying to block out everything that Regulus was trying to tell him.

And after his quidditch "accident" there had been consequences to follow that as well. However, it didn't come across as a bad thing in Regulus' position as Emmett lost his position as the Slytherin team's captain. It was Professor Dumbledore himself that had made the removal and instead, made Regulus the captain of the team.

One would have been overjoyed to be made Quidditch Captain, but Regulus didn't believe for a second that it would go over so well. All of his dormmates hated him for one reason or another, he was labelled as a blood-traitor, and before the week was even over, word had already travelled to his parents about his betrayal.

The letter came on a couple of days before while he was sitting and eating breakfast in the Great Hall with Éponine and Gian. The morning post was delivered and he found a Howler before him, jittering about on the table. The Howlers were obvious by their vibrantly red envelopes and the way they moved about, ready to burst at any given second. He didn't touch it, especially after he noted who it was from. He looked up at Gian, who looked absolutely terrified but when he looked over at Éponine, she remained unfazed.

"Destroy it, Regulus," she told him, " there's no sense in listening to it. Trust me."

Glancing back down at the Howler, Regulus frowned. He had never received one from his parents, although he had witnessed many of them arrive for his brother in the past. Normally, his mother would send him a letter, asking if a rumour was true or asking for Regulus to explain. Perhaps the Howler wasn't what he and the others were expecting it to be. Perhaps it wasn't his mother or father yelling at him, but maybe just full of so much emotion that it couldn't be placed in a simple letter.

Rather than listening to Éponine, Regulus grabbed the Howler and left the Great Hall. Of course, Éponine and Gian weren't far behind, knowing what was to come. He thought about bringing it to the Common Room, or maybe to his dorm room to listen to it, but the Howler didn't give him either of those options as it proceeded to explode in his hands.

"REGULUS ARCTURUS BLACK!"

Walburga's voice was cold enough to freeze the flames of hell as it echoed in the corridor.

"Have you completely lost your mind?! How dare you embarrass this family! After everything your father and I have done for you, this is how you show your gratitude? I should have known you still had feelings for that wretched whore-"

"Wretched whore," Éponine repeated, " that's a new one."

"What has she tempted you with, Regulus? A life of freedom with no responsibilities and duties? That's what tempted your brother and you wish to follow down the same path as him? We taught you better than that. Or were you tempted by something else, perhaps the space in between the little whore's legs-"

Éponine shook her head. "Well, Walburga, tell me how you really feel about me."

And while Éponine humoured Walburga's insults and remained unbothered, Regulus couldn't believe what he was hearing. He expected his parents to be angry with him, after all, no one had forced him to make such a decision, he had decided to do it all on his own. But his mother was so quick to paint Éponine as a "whore" when in reality, she was the furthest thing from such an insult. And even if she was, it was no one's business because it wasn't what led Regulus to make his own decisions.

Sex had been the last thing on his mind as he mulled over the teachings of Toujours Pur and what Éponine, Sirius, and Gian had been telling him for so long. However, it wasn't the first time Walburga had painted a dastardly image of someone, training their name and reputation. She had made Sirius out to be a wicked and horrible child after he had fled, in hopes that it wouldn't reflect poorly on her as a mother.

And now, she was trying to make Éponine out to be some sort of temptress that was leading her youngest son astray. Unable to take anymore of his mother's yelling, Regulus removed his wand and destroyed the Howler, something he should have done when Éponine advised him to before.

He slumped to the floor, feeling so weak at the moment, not to mention overwhelmed with shock.

Éponine approached his side moments later, kneeling down beside him as her hand came to rest on his shoulder. The two stared at the little pile of ashes that littered the floor before Gian came over and kicked them away.

"I'm so sorry, Regulus," she said softly.

"I'm not," he replied, " it just shows me that you were right all along. All those things she said about you, it was like she didn't know you at all. Like she never cared about you. How could she say those things? How could my father let her send something like that?"

"This is how they do things, Regulus," Éponine sighed, " it's how they taught to do it. First, comes the anger, in hopes that they can scare you into coming back. Then comes the sad letters, begging you to come back. If those don't work, they cut you off. Financially, however they can. They try to make your life as difficult to enjoy without them. This is only the beginning, so stay strong."

And as predicted, the angry letters became sad letters where Walburga attempted to guilt trip Regulus into reconsidering his decision. She blamed herself for being a bad mother and not being there for him when he was feeling doubtful. As eerie as it was, Éponine had predicted everything that was going to be said or done, but it wasn't because she was a Seer but because she had already lived through it and so did Sirius.

Which brought up the next obstacle for Regulus to tackle, his older brother.

After years of just arguing back and forth, Regulus had to face Sirius and tell him that he had been right all along. It wasn't a matter of swallowing his pride, but he didn't know how willing Sirius was going to be when it came to believing that Regulus had a change of heart. Éponine had told him that Sirius had been doubtful about her intentions in the beginning, but quickly warmed up to her.

But besides the fact that Éponine was gorgeous and Sirius had a hard time turning away a pretty face, she didn't have the Dark Mark on her arm.

"Let me talk to him in person," Éponine told him the night before, " he's going to be in Hogsmeade because we were going to celebrate his birthday since Gian and I weren't around for it. Let me talk to him and tell him what happened. He might overreact in the beginning, but it's best if you two don't argue."

With that plan in mind, the trip to Hogsmeade was the next day and Regulus was beyond nervous about the results of Éponine's visit with Sirius. He could feel the churn of jealousy in his chest, remembering that Sirius had stolen a kiss with Éponine before the start of term and in his last letter, told Éponine that he had something important to ask her. She remained quite oblivious to such an implication or maybe she didn't care. After all, their relationship had picked up where they had left off and she seemed happy.

"Merlin," Éponine yawned a few minutes later as she shifted under his arm, " what time is it?"

"It's going for midnight now," Regulus told her, " I was going to wake you, but you looked so peaceful."

"Well, I should probably head to bed and you should do the same. You're going to need all the rest in the world keeping up with Gian tomorrow. It's his first time in Hogsmeade and I already know he's going to race around to hit every shop."

Regulus snorted at the rather motherly tone that Éponine took whenever she discussed Gian but agreed as he nodded his head, allowing her to stand up first. She handed him the book before making her way towards the girls' dorms.

"Uh, Épi," Regulus called after her, " aren't you forgetting something?"

Immediately, she came to a halt and spun around. "Oh!"

Regulus stood there only to watch as she quickly scooped Toulouse into her arms. He was about to say something when he heard her laugh and then made her way over to kiss him.

"Got you," she giggled against his lips.

"Yes, you're so hilarious," he whispered before taking her lips in his and putting an end to her laughter.

Remembering all the shy kisses they had exchanged before, Regulus adored those memories, but couldn't help but relish in the way Éponine kissed him now. One her hands always found a way to touch him, whether it was his neck, his hair, or the top of his chest that left the rest of his body to tingle. Not to mention, the way she kissed him, not the slightest bit of hesitation, leaving him to practically fall under a spell of sorts as he let her guide him in every way.

He was rather taken back when her tongue grazed over his lower lip, paired with a little nibble, and as his eyes widened, Éponine took a step back from him, laughing at his expression.

"Goodnight, Regulus, sleep well."

"You expect me to sleep after that kiss?!"

A/N:

Get ready for the drama next chapter, I think it's going to be fun! And thank you cendriia for another beautiful work. I need to come up with a different way of telling you that you're wonderful.

Also, Happy New Year to all of you beauties!